Today we’d like to introduce you to Victoria Gioia.
Hi Victoria, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
In 2019, after learning that my second child would be born with a cleft lip, a nutritional-related birth defect, I turned to Dr. Banafsheh Bayati, MD, a long-trusted OB/GYN, to better understand vitamins, supplements, and prenatal nutrition. Shocked and disheartened as I had believed I was consuming all of the necessary vitamins and minerals to keep my baby healthy, I became determined to better understand how to better support women through their hormonal journeys – and together with Alex and Dr. Bayati, set out to launch Perelel to transform the unregulated, impersonal, one-size-fits-all approach of the prenatal marketplace.
Using exclusively high-quality ingredients in the most bioavailable formats, Perelel’s formulations are informed by the latest medical research coupled with the founder’s clinical insights to deliver the essential nutrients a person needs (no more, no less) for each specific life stage. Though growing evidence indicates that women’s bodies may benefit from certain vitamins not consumed through food, the prenatal industry remains gravely unregulated. Perelel has set out to change this.
Perelel believes everyone has the right to a healthy pregnancy. For every new subscription to their motherhood products, Perelel donates a supply of their prenatal vitamins to underserved communities who lack access to high-quality prenatal care. To date, they have provided over $2.5 million in product donations in addition to contributions made by their donation program to support better women’s health research and advocacy.
Prior to starting Perelel, I had worked in finance, operations, and strategy roles for a number of early-stage companies, including the Honest Company, Olive & June, and Carbon38.
We all face challenges, but looking back, would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Absolutely not! We first went on the road to launch the business in early 2020, thinking we would fundraise and launch in September into a normal world with most likely an in-person launch event. The world obviously changed dramatically in those first few months – funding dried up completely, and there was no “in-person” anymore. So, we had to pivot and adjust our strategy from day 1. Ultimately, I think this was absolutely for the best and has helped us grow more rapidly because we had to be incredibly scrappy and creative, make every dollar count, and really think out of the box for how we could connect with our consumers in a very different world.
Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
We created this company with the mission to create a world with more healthy, supported women and with the goal to really see her wherever she was. When we launched, we felt like so many brands in the motherhood category really catered to the baby and forgot about the woman who created that baby, who changed for that baby, and who was figuring out who she was after that baby. Using our own personal experiences, we felt like we created space for all of the ups, downs, and sideways of the journey, and I have been so proud of our dedication to that. The messages that we receive from canceled customers who felt supported in their journey are the ones that matter most to us, and at that moment, an action from our brand allowed that woman to feel less alone.
Any big plans?
We’re really heads down focused on growing the business today and going deeper in supporting her journey from her first period through end of life. We want to get louder as advocates for women’s health and the massive funding gaps in the space today. We can only do so much as a private company, and while we will continue to launch products using the latest research to support her, we continue to need there to be more investment in research in women’s health so we can all learn more about our bodies.
Pricing:
- All of our products range from $25-55 in monthly subscriptions
Contact Info:
- Website: www.perelelhealth.com
- Instagram: @perelelhealth
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/perelel/
- Youtube: @perelelhealth
