Meet Alex Taylor Victoria (Tori) Thain Gioia | Co-Founders & Co-CEOs

We had the good fortune of connecting with Alex Taylor Victoria (Tori) Thain Gioia and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Alex Taylor, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
Tori: A few years ago, Alex and I were chatting about a new chapter of our lives—motherhood. We realized that we shared the same frustration about the quality of our prenatal vitamins and discovered that most options on the market use a one-size-fits-all approach to prenatal nutrition, which actually fails to deliver targeted nutrients for each unique stage. After having my daughter, who was born with a cleft lip although I had no risk factors or genetic links throughout my pregnancy, I dug into research with my OBGYN and learned that clefts could be caused by folate deficiencies during the first trimester of a pregnancy.

Alex: Meanwhile, when I began my fertility and pregnancy journey with my first child I was drawn to the benefits of timing specific vitamins and nutrients to the stage I was in. I have a thyroid disease so I was hyper focused on my health regimen especially during that time. After Tori and I decided to dive into research, we found three common themes: poor quality ingredients, time-sensitive ingredients and lack of information. Since neither of us have a medical background, we teamed up with one of the nation’s leading holistic OB/GYNs, Dr. Banafsheh Bayati, to spearhead our product formulations and medical content. She later became our medical co-founder to run point on formulation, medical content and community relations. We also formed the Perelel Panel, our team of world-class doctors and leading experts, to work with us to develop, review and inform the products and content we release as a company.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
Tori: Most vitamins use a one-size-fits-all approach to women’s nutrition, which actually fails to deliver targeted nutrients for the specific stages of a woman’s reproductive journey. We’re the first and only OB/GYN-founded vitamin brand that offers clean and targeted nutrition for each distinct stage of a woman’s hormonal lifecycle. We use top-of-the-line ingredients in the most bioavailable formats, with formulations informed by the latest and greatest medical research, coupled with our medical co-founder’s clinical insights, to deliver the essential nutrients a woman needs for the specific stage of life she is in.

Alex: Our vision of creating a world with more healthy, supported women has been deeply ingrained in the fabric of our brand since day one. Tori and I spent our early days learning about the direct connection between nutrition and pregnancy outcomes and were shocked to learn that 1 in 33 babies born in the US are born with birth defects – many of which are nutrition related. As moms ourselves, we felt compelled to make our high-quality products more accessible to women everywhere, so we created a 1:1 giveback model: For every new subscription to our motherhood products, we donate a supply of our prenatal vitamins to underserved women who lack access to high-quality prenatal care. To date, we’ve donated around $1 million in product.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Alex: First and foremost, we’ll have to make a morning coffee and breakfast stop at Erewhon for a few reasons…Tori and I actually met on the patio of Erewhon’s Santa Monica location, which is where our idea for Perelel was born. A few years later, we’ve come full circle and recently partnered with Erewhon for their first storewide brand collaboration in their 56 year history to debut our Perelel x Erewhon Women’s Daily Vitamin Pack + Bloat Relief and the Men’s Daily Vitamin Pack + Bloat Relief.

Tori: We would then pop by the Brentwood Country Mart for a Barney’s salad lunch and shop at Jenni Kayne and Poppy (for the kids) before heading down to the beach to go for a long walk. Finish up with dinner and drinks on Abbot Kinney at Felix or Gjelina!

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
Tori: While our own reproductive journeys certainly served as the impetus for founding Perelel, it was really important to us to partner with investors who understood the tremendous opportunity of supporting women through every stage of their reproductive life cycle. In July, we announced our first round of institutional funding, which was led by Unilever Ventures with participation from Willow Growth Partners; Raissa Gerona, a chief brand officer of Revolve; Courtney Reum, founder of M13; Joan Nyugen, co-founder and CEO of Bumo; Julia Hunter, CEO of Jenni Kayne; and Ali Weiss, CMO of Glossier as well as Whitney Port; Aimee Song; Gaby Dalkin of What’s Gaby Cooking; Marissa Hermer, restaurateur and owner of the Draycott, Olivetta, and Issima; and model Rocky Barnes.

Alex: Our Perelel Panel is also extremely deserving of recognition for their unwavering support and dedication. As we mentioned earlier, we’re exclusively advised by a brilliant group of the nation’s top doctors, practitioners, and experts in prenatal and women’s health. Together, they carefully develop and review all of Perelel’s products and serve as the voices behind the brand’s expert-informed content and educational resources. We’re extremely grateful for their integral roles on our team.

Website: https://perelelhealth.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/perelelhealth/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/perelel/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/perelelhealth/

Other: https://art19.com/shows/perelel-lives

Image Credits
Perelel