At the EWA, we enable C-suite women to mentor each other to achieve personal and professional success. I am honored to share insights from thought leaders who are part of our peer-to-peer community.

This month I introduce Annie Bloomquist, a consumer and digital health executive who has spent her career at the intersection of consumer trust and emerging technology. She led transformations across retail, consumer products, and digital health. She serves on the board of a private equity-backed medical device company and advises growth-stage companies on strategy, commercial execution, and scaling.

Bloomquist: Eighty-four percent of consumers in the U.S. say wellness is their priority. Consumers are wearing their devices and downloading apps. What is failing is the sustained connection that converts intention into behavior change over time. The technology has to work by being effortless, ambient, and acting on behalf of the consumer rather than demanding attention from them. Technology alone does not sustain a relationship. The industry has underinvested in the longitudinal trust that makes a consumer keep going when motivation fades. The tools and data exist. What has been missing is the relationship consumer brands are built to provide.

Bloomquist: Yes, the most valuable asset is the relationship. It’s the longitudinal trust accumulated over years of daily life, and the data that trust makes possible. Consumers who believe in a brand share more honestly, longer. That’s what turns a consumer dataset into a scientific asset. What clinical health platforms cannot easily replicate is that earned relationship. The ones who get it right treat the consumer relationship as infrastructure and build the health platform on top of it.

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