Good morning! Michelle Obama is starting a podcast, President of Mexico Claudia Sheinbaum celebrates a tariff delay, and Fortune’s Ellie Austin interviews a vitamin and supplement founder calling on Congress to regulate her own industry.
– Healthy regulation. Ten years ago, Katerina Schneider found herself pregnant and frustrated. She wanted a high-quality prenatal vitamin but was unimpressed with those on the market, many of which contained artificial ingredients and high levels of heavy metals. The solution, she decided, was to make her own.
Fast-forward a decade and Schneider’s company, Ritual, sells a range of vitamins for men and women at all life stages. In 2024, the company made more than $250 million in gross revenue. What’s more, since its inception, Ritual has rigorously shared traceability details for every ingredient included in its products, despite this not being required of it in a supplement industry known for its loose regulation. “People deserve to know what they’re putting in their bodies,” Schneider, who serves as Ritual’s CEO, tells me.
Today, Schneider is taking this a step further. With more than 100,000 supplement products currently available, she has written a letter to Congress, urging the government to address “safety and efficiency gaps in the supplement industry.” These gaps are real: I investigated the loose regulation of the supplement industry in a recent Fortune feature story about AG1, formerly Athletic Greens.
Schneider’s calls for three specific updates to federal law: an unpausing of spending freezes at institutions that champion science and research, including the Food and Drug Administration; the establishment of limits around heavy metals in supplements and protein powders; a clearer definition of the term “clinically studied.” Schneider says the latter is frequently misused by brands, resulting in consumers being misled as to the efficacy of products.
Katerina Schneider, founder of Ritual. Courtesy of Ritual The letter also notes that “the burden heavily falls on women’s shoulders” to investigate the safety and impact of supplements. “Women are making a lot of the health purchasing decisions for not just themselves, but their children and their partners and houses,” Schneider says. “We have a men’s multivitamin and most of our consumers buying that are women.”
She emphasizes that Ritual “is not perfect” and still has important progress to make in guaranteeing the efficacy of its own multivitamins. To this end, it has promised to conduct “gold-standard human clinical trials in partnership with leading universities and research organizations” on all its existing products by 2030.
Two years ago, Schneider sent a similar missive to the Biden administration. This new letter will be received in a regulation-averse Trump administration and a scientific climate where the U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., is a fan of alternative medicine who last week suggested some vitamins could be used to treat measles.
And yet, Schneider and Ritual chief impact officer Lindsay Dahl remain optimistic about the possibility of legal reform. “[In] the initial conversations we’ve had over the past two years, there was open interest from both sides of the aisle,” says Dahl. “A consistent drumbeat is needed…and we think it’s our job to continue that drumbeat.”
Ellie Austin
[email protected]
The Most Powerful Women Daily newsletter is Fortune’s daily briefing for and about the women leading the business world. Today’s edition was curated by Nina Ajemian. Subscribe here.
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- In my opinion. Michelle Obama is launching a podcast called IMO through her media company Higher Ground, which she and former President Barack Obama founded in 2018. She and her brother Craig Robinson will co-host the video show, sharing personal experiences and chatting with guests. New York Times
- Sheinbaum’s success. This past weekend, Mexicans celebrated President Claudia Sheinbaum’s successful negotiations with President Donald Trump, as he paused his plans for tariffs on Mexican and Canadian goods. According to El Financiero, Sheinbaum’s approval rating jumped from 70% to 85% last month. Washington Post
- Kelly and Kristi. Small Business Administration head Kelly Loeffler shared her 15 priorities as she steps into the job, with promoting domestic manufacturing at the top. Also, Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem appointed new leaders at the agency, said she would be using lie detector tests to combat employees leaking information to the media, and said detention operations would be expanding in Fort Bliss.
- Funding figures. In Europe, women are raising more than men in deep tech, according to a new report from Female Foundry. Also, in 2024, the overall decline in VC funding impacted female and male founders equally—female-founded ventures saw a 12% decline in funding and venture funding overall dipped 11%. TechCrunch
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Material, a brand strategy services provider, named Laila Worrell CEO. She was previously an operating advisor at Blackstone and co-chair of Material’s board.
Evidation, a health data and research company, named Leslie Oley Wilberforce CEO; she succeeds Christine Lemke. Wilberforce was previously the company’s president and COO.
Ames Watson, a private equity holding company, named Melissa Hahn CFO. She was previously the company’s VP of finance.
Roku named Lauren Benedict VP of global advertising sales and partnerships. Most recently, Benedict was chief revenue officer at Spotter.
GUT New York appointed Deb Freeman as head of strategy. Most recently, she served as North American chief strategy officer at Burson, formerly BCW.
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