Scott Steinford, now the CEO of Health Wright Products, is a strategist, organization optimizer, author and speaker. From starting companies and building companies to facilitating their acquisition, Steinford has an extensive and awarded track record encompassing the pharmaceutical and nutrition industries. He has held CEO or president roles in organizations such as Trust Transparency Center, ZMC-USA, Doctor’s Best and Zenwise Health/Zesty Paws, and guided non-profit trade organizations such as the CoQ10 Association and Natural Algae Astaxanthin Association. Steinford has made a career of redefining excellence with an unapologetic commitment to ethics.
 

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Health E-Insights: What is the Trust Transparency Center?
 
Steinford: Trust Transparency Center (TTC) is a boutique strategy and insights firm with over 60 years of experience in the natural products industry, including a deep understanding of all aspects of the global supply chain and what it takes to be successful in today's ever-changing climate. TTC utilizes trust transparency principles to provide insights and guidance to nutritional product stakeholders in the areas of business and go-to-market strategy, finance and mergers and acquisitions, compliance and risk management, strategic services, organizational culture development, and trust transparency coaching. The organization's Single Ingredient Trade Association (SITA) incubator program establishes a third-party baseline for ingredient quality, identity, and appropriate category definitions and standards.
 
Health E-Insights: You mention trust transparency principles, what are they?
 
Steinford: In my book, The ROI of Trust Transparency, I introduced a new thought process where we remove the “and” from the common phrase “Trust and Transparency” to develop one mindset that exponentially expands the power of both words. By taking trust and making it visible, we can improve our relationships, other’s confidence, and, ultimately, the reputation that follows us wherever we go. By believing in the power and importance of transparency we elevate our thinking about what we do before we do it. In short, trust transparency is making trust apparent in your life and believing in the power of transparency. These two words, when combined, and not separated, provide an exponential power to your life.
 
Health E-Insights: How do you partner overall with trade associations? 
 
Steinford: Trust Transparency Center works to steward, protect and promote dietary supplement ingredients across key categories. Our SITA incubator program establishes a third-party baseline for ingredient quality, identity, and appropriate category definitions and standards. We also support involved ingredient manufacturers in their efforts to develop science and education to deter valueless commoditization.
 
Health E-Insights: Why are these single ingredient trade associations important?
 
Steinford: SITA receives the benefit of utilizing shared resources provided by Trust Transparency Center to the association itself. This compression of time and expense leaves more resources to the individual organizations to focus on the two elements which contribute most greatly to successful ingredient sales, education, and science. Discussion with industry regulators such as FDA, EFSA and others is often the sole burden of the branded ingredients. Many smaller, or lesser known, ingredient manufacturers benefit as well from the success of the branded ingredients expenditures. This concept of shared benefit holds true for consumer and brand education and science expenditures as well. By providing a forum to encourage and allow all manufacturers to become involved, the opportunity to build the ingredient faster is supported. Examples of SITA success can be found with the Natural Algae Astaxanthin Association identifying and forcing the removal of brands providing false label claims involving synthetic astaxanthin. The CoQ10 Association has made considerable and consistent achievements to achieve a greater awareness of the power of CoQ10 to complement the number one prescribed pharmaceutical drug class known as statins.
 
Health E-Insights: Besides CoQ10 and astaxanthin, what other ingredient categories does Trust Transparency Center support?
 
Steinford: Trust Transparency Center, with managing partner Len Monheit, provides leadership and serves the Global Prebiotic Association, the Global Curcumin Association, the Coconut Coalition of the America’s and the Council of Science and Innovation in Cannabis and Cannabinoids. Trust Transparency Center also offers stewardship for many other ingredients, providing promotion and protection for the ingredients without formal organizations surrounding them.
 
Health E-Insights: What is one key message you want your prospective clients to know? 
 
Steinford: Everything good incorporates trust. Trust Transparency Center strives to build trust within our industry not only for what we represent but for who we are, as a whole and as an industry.
 
Health E-Insights: If you could trade places with any other person for a week, famous or not famous, living or dead, real or fictional, with whom would it be? 
 
Steinford: For one week, I would trade places with Mark Blumenthal of the American Botanical Council. He is the most intelligent and entertaining person I know. I also have come to know that my wife not so secretly loves him. I don’t blame her.
 
Health E-Insights: If Hollywood made a movie about your life, whom would you like to see play the lead role as you?  
 
Steinford: The obvious answer would be George Clooney because he is so cool and good looking, but the real answer is probably Zach Galifianakis because he is unique like me and was fired by George Clooney in the movie Up in the Air, and that is as close to George Clooney as I could ever hope to get.