As chief executive officer of Bragg Live Food Products, LLC, Linda Boardman guides strategic growth and expansion for this legendary brand founded more than a century ago.

Following in the footsteps of Founder Paul Bragg and Patricia Bragg, Boardman is guiding Bragg into the modern era with a fresh take on this time-tested product ingredient.

Prior to taking the helm at Bragg in 2019, she was president of Branch Brook Holdings, an investment partnership between Swander Pace Capital, Jefferson Capital Partners, and United Natural Foods, Inc. that invests in natural and specialty product companies. Before Branch Brook, Boardman was president of Applegate Farms and also led the private label group at Whole Foods Market, known for its 365 brand.

Boardman holds an AB in economics from Harvard University, and attended the School of Business at Boston University.

Question: After a long tenure in the natural products industry, you recently took over at Bragg as CEO. What is your vision for the company?

Answer: The Bragg brand has been synonymous with time-tested health solutions for more than a hundred years and is known by consumers all over the world for bringing forth the benefits of organic apple cider vinegar. Since I took the helm in 2019, we have been focusing on bringing the benefits of apple cider vinegar (ACV) to consumers in new, better tasting, and more convenient ways, with products such as Apple Cider Vinegar Shots and ACV Supplements.

Question: You started your new role at Bragg just as the coronavirus pandemic began. How did that affect your work and the company as a whole?

Answer: Like most companies, we moved to a remote working setup, which was particularly challenging. We had many new employees, and it is critical to our success as an organization to have a strong culture and alignment with the company’s mission. Though it felt daunting early on, we found that we could still develop meaningful workplace connections and instill company values while working remotely. Our culture is rooted in collaboration and transparency, to ensure our whole team shares in our successes and failures.

As you can imagine, with people’s interest in health during the pandemic, we saw a tremendous spike in orders. We were able to see our way through a trying supply chain with a lot of cooperative hard work. As a result, we brought a lot of new people to our consumer base.

Question: Given Patricia’s role, Katy Perry’s and now yours, please discuss the impact and longevity of female leadership at Bragg.

Answer: Women leaders have played a vital role at Bragg for a great many years, and I’m proud that this continues to be the case today. Taking a look back, when Patricia took over the company in the 1970s, it was a time when not many women were in the corner office. She grew Bragg into the iconic brand that it is today, always championing the health of consumers through engaging product education, following in the influential footsteps of the company’s pioneering Founder Paul Bragg. Today, 50 percent of our board of directors are female. That includes me, as well as our most famous member: Katy Perry.

I am often asked about Katy’s ties to Bragg and how she came to work with a 100-year-old natural foods brand. Katy grew up in Santa Barbara, where Bragg is headquartered, and her family counted Patricia Bragg as a friend, as well as a member of her parents’ church congregation. The two have had a special friendship since Katy was a child. In fact, Patricia bought Katy her first guitar! Bragg products have been part of Katy’s wellness routine for years, so when Patricia felt it was time to hand over the reins of this iconic brand, she of course thought of Katy.

Female leadership pervades the organization beyond the board room. I believe that getting different points of view into the discussion is critical to our brand’s success and a huge part of our collaborative culture.

Question: What can natural product retailers look forward to from the company?

Answer: We’re continuing to expand our supplement line, and we have more exciting things to come in the future. We are excited about our two new Flavored Nutritional Yeast Seasoning products. Those are just starting to hit stores. Our True Energy apple cider vinegar supplements have launched on ecommerce and are starting to ship into brick and mortar retailers now. We’re also excited about our Apple Cider Vinegar Blends which are a big hit with influencers.

So many of us here at Bragg have seen firsthand the health benefits of a daily dose of Apple Cider Vinegar. Personally, I enjoy 2 tablespoons of our ACV Blends in a tall glass of water mid-morning everyday—I am partial to Cranberry Apple flavor, but I honestly love them all.