Good morning, everyone!
Welcome to St. Louis! It’s an honor to stand before you at CONVERGENCE 2025. I am so thankful to be here with this group of colleagues, friends, and industry leaders. It is moments like these that you recognize how fortunate we are to be part of an industry focused on improving health outcomes and working with such innovative, open, and collaborative individuals, companies, and communities such as those gathered here today.
I sincerely appreciate the foundational relationships and friendships that we share now and into the future and thank you to CRN for bringing together this team focused on shaping a productive landscape for our industry and the consumers we serve. I would also like to thank the CRN staff for this impressive venue and the City of St. Louis for welcoming us this week.
We find ourselves in St. Louis, in the middle of America, in what was known as the Gateway to the West. I am originally from Atlanta and now live in Philadelphia, so this is a new area to me as it may be for most of you. But a few items to share with all of you: St. Louis was the launch point for Lewis and Clark as they set out west—a time of discovery. It was also the host of the 1904 World’s Fair, which, believe it or not, was a platform for nutrition innovation—much like an early Expo West.
A remarkable new nutrient-dense innovation that has impacted millions of lives was broadly introduced to the world here: it was called “peanut butter.” It was also where another impressive discovery was made—TUMS was created by a pharmacist here in St. Louis nearly 100 years ago, for all of you Haleon team members in the audience.
In the 1930s, St. Louis’ Homer Phillips Hospital was a leader in integrating nutrition as a component of patient care—addressing deficiencies in underserved communities well ahead of its peers. This example of a little-known hospital in St. Louis is replicated time and time again in our industry, as we collectively amplify often unexpected discoveries in nutrition and wellness to advance public health for generations to come.
While on stage at CONVERGENCE and representing the best in our industry, I reflect on my years in grassroots public health across East and West Africa—working with the CDC, the Carter Center, and the UN’s Operation Lifeline Sudan—which taught me that advancing public health isn’t just for those in “the field,” but rather a shared responsibility for all of us.
I’m reminded of why we do this work: why we invest in science, advance clinical trials, build pharmacovigilance studies, safety studies, toxicology analysis, examine nutritional gaps, and evaluate consumer preferences in delivery format, taste, and ease of use. Why we build GMP facilities and work with those who replicate our standards of quality and safety. Why we gather here as CRN members. Ultimately, it is so that we can deliver life-improving products with assured quality and that deliver the health benefits they are intended to—for the benefit of the public’s health.
One of my mentors, Bill Foege, once said, “No one thanks you for the illness they never got.” Think about that: every child whose eye health was impacted by simple vitamin A supplementation, every mother whose folic acid supplementation supported a healthy pregnancy—these victories are silent, yet profound.
This is our cornerstone: to champion prevention through nutrition—not for applause, but because it transforms lives. Even if we are never thanked. On a personal note, this year has been a gateway moment for me, too. I recently joined a startup—ReCellience15 & Fatty15—to advance another fatty acid to overcome dietary intake gaps throughout the lifecycle.
The science is exciting, but so is the story behind it. I joined a small team of public health “nerdy do-gooders,” as they like to call themselves, founded on innovation and discovery. It reminds me that all progress begins with risk. Innovation never comes with a guarantee, but it always comes with the potential to transform lives. Fundamental discoveries continue to be made in nutrition. Our field is still young, still evolving, still capable of surprises.
And that’s what excites me about being here with all of you. Because this spirit of exploration isn’t unique to one company or one product. It’s woven into the fabric of our industry. Think back: every major step forward—whether it was omega-3s, probiotics, botanicals, or personalized nutrition—started with someone willing to take a chance. When I think about the spirit of this industry, I think about that willingness. We are not a “wait and see” industry. We are a “try and build” industry.
At a time when the public health needs of our nation are so important, that spirit of innovation is exactly what we need. Tara said it well last year when she compared our industry to mountains formed under pressure. External forces—regulation, media, competition—press on us. But instead of crumbling, we rise. Right now, those pressures are intense. The FDA is in the midst of a regulatory shake-up. States are experimenting with new restrictions. Media coverage often oversimplifies or misrepresents our science. But those pressures are also opportunities. They push us to innovate, to regulate ourselves more transparently, to tell our story more powerfully.
Pressure doesn’t just shape rocks—it shapes industries. We can look at the current moment as an obstacle or as an inflection point. I choose the latter. Despite our incredible gains in a time of unprecedented innovation in our industry, we still find gaps in access. According to the USDA, more than thirty-four million Americans live in food-insecure households.
Children go to school without the nutrition they need to learn. Adults head to work without the energy they need to thrive. Seniors struggle with chronic conditions worsened by nutrient deficiencies. For all of our advances, the basics are still out of reach for far too many people. That’s why I keep coming back to public health as our central purpose. We are not just here to build brands or launch products. We are here to improve health outcomes.
And if we can keep that goal front and center, everything else—innovation, access, trust—falls into place. Last year, Tara challenged us to expand the Access Initiative, and she spoke movingly about visiting NAFC clinics where patients lined up not just for medical care, but for basic preventive tools—like the supplements we make. That challenge doesn’t end with one chair’s term. It’s a baton that has to be carried forward.
And I want you to know that I see it as my responsibility to do just that. Because access is not a side project. It is central to our credibility and our mission. It answers the question: are we here only for those who can afford us, or are we here for the people who need us most? The good news is that we are seeing real momentum. Jamieson Wellness has already contributed nearly two million dollars’ worth of product.
Nestlé Health Science stepped up with a twenty-five-thousand-dollar foundation grant. And Vitaquest went even further by institutionalizing this effort through VQ Cares—committing five hundred thousand dollars of product annually and offering free manufacturing services for donated ingredients. That is what leadership looks like. Not just doing the right thing once, but building it into the way a company operates.
Think about what that means for a patient at an NAFC clinic. Picture a single mother working two jobs, uninsured, trying to stretch her grocery budget. At a clinic like the one we visited here in St. Louis, she might receive not only care but also supplements to fill nutrient gaps. For her, that’s not abstract. That’s immediate. That’s the difference between deficiency and sufficiency. These are not theoretical benefits—they’re real, measurable improvements in people’s lives.
This is why our partnership with NAFC matters. With over fourteen hundred clinics serving nearly two million patients, the scale of impact is huge. And it’s only possible if we continue to step up. Imagine if every member company here today adopted even a modest version of Vitaquest’s model. The cumulative effect would be staggering. Millions of dollars in product could flow to communities that need it most.
But let me be clear: access alone isn’t enough. Innovation is the other half of the equation. Innovation keeps us relevant. It keeps us trusted. It ensures that what we put into the hands of consumers is grounded in science, efficacy, and safety. Across this industry, we see innovation in personalized nutrition platforms that tailor recommendations to individuals. We see it in novel delivery systems like gummies, fast melts, and beverages that meet consumers where they are.
We see it in next-generation ingredients being studied for brain health, gut health, metabolic support, and more. And innovation doesn’t stop at science. It also includes self-regulation. CRN’s voluntary guidelines on melatonin, gummies, and e-commerce labeling are examples of our industry raising the bar. That’s innovation in trust. It includes communication—campaigns like “Responsible. It’s Our Middle Name.” are innovations in how we tell our story. It includes partnerships.
Access initiatives, clinic collaborations, and educational outreach are innovations in how we serve. A personal favorite is CRN’s effort in educating on prenatal nutrition and how to address the nutrient gaps commonly seen in pregnant and lactating women. Innovation isn’t one lane. It’s a mindset. And when combined with access, it becomes a driver of public health.
The road ahead is about scale. It’s about taking what a few companies have piloted and turning it into a movement that defines the whole industry. I want you to imagine what could happen if every company here—large or small—made access part of its identity. Imagine if local clinics in every city could count on supplement companies as partners.
Imagine if consumers, policymakers, and the media began to see our industry not as just another business, but as a public health partner. That’s the future we should be aiming for. And here’s the best part: it doesn’t require waiting for legislation. It doesn’t require waiting for permission. We can start today. Tuesday’s clinic visit gave us a chance to see this in action. Let that experience be a reminder of why we do what we do.
As we look ahead, I want us to stretch our vision even further. What if by 2030 we could look back and say that our industry helped cut the nation’s nutrient deficiency rates in half? What if we could say that every free and charitable clinic in America had a steady supply of supplements?
What if we could say that innovation in this industry not only drove growth but actually shifted public health outcomes in measurable ways? That’s not wishful thinking—that’s within our reach if we commit to it together. So as we open the second day of CONVERGENCE 2025 here in St. Louis, let’s remember what this city symbolizes. It’s the gateway. The place where journeys begin. A place where we can meet in the middle and set out on new paths.
For our industry, this is our gateway moment. The challenges are real, but the opportunities are greater. We can step into uncertainty with courage, with optimism, and with unity. The formula is simple: innovation plus access equals better public health. If we commit to that formula—not just as words, but as action—we can change the story of health in America. We can make supplements not only essential, but accessible. We can make innovation not only exciting, but impactful.
And years from now, when people look back on this moment, they will see that we didn’t shrink from the challenge. We embraced it. The Gateway Arch was built to honor the spirit of exploration. Let’s honor that spirit ourselves. Let’s be the gateway to better health.
Thank you, and welcome to CONVERGENCE 2025.