Day: August 24, 2025

• Tracey Halama is CEO of Supergut, a supplement company focused on promoting gut health.
• She told Business Insider she avoids monotony and thrives in “a little bit of chaos.”
• Her daily routine includes rising early, taking 25 daily supplements, and mindful movement.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Tracey Halama, the CEO of Supergut. It has been edited for length and clarity.

I didn’t find the health and wellness sector until I was in my early 40s. I had muddled along for 20 years in a tech career — and I was good at it, but it didn’t really inspire me.

Now, my career is all about building wellness brands that help people feel better, stronger, and more energized. I love creating products that don’t just sell, but genuinely change lives, from introducing collagen to the mainstream when I worked at Vital Proteins to now reshaping the fiber space at Supergut.

Supergut is a supplement company focused on gut health and metabolic wellness. Our hero ingredient, green banana fiber, supports the gut microbiome. With growing awareness around GLP-1s and gut health, we’re aiming to transform the supplement aisle.

As CEO, my job is to bridge science with lifestyle, making our products clinically validated but also approachable and inspiring. It means leading with creativity, accountability, and a vision for growth.

The only way I can deliver on that is by living in a way that keeps me focused and balanced, but I get bored easily and thrive in a little bit of chaos. Variety, creative outlets, and a mix of 25 different supplements help fuel my routine.

Here’s what a typical day looks like for me.

5:30 a.m.: Rise early and start with gentle movement

I naturally wake up with the sun around 5:30 a.m. I’ll usually check my phone quickly — just to make sure nothing urgent has come in — and then I set it aside.

Then, movement comes first: I keep a Stakt foldable yoga mat in my bedroom and spend about 10 minutes stretching. At this stage in life, my goal isn’t intensity — it’s avoiding cortisol spikes and keeping my hormones balanced.

6 a.m.: Functional fuel and a walk

After stretching, I head downstairs to make my “functional hydration” drink to help me feel energized and set my pH for the day. The base is water, but I mix in staples like creatine, trace minerals, and electrolytes. Sometimes I’ll add apple cider vinegar or lemon for variety.

Throughout the day, I take about 25 different tinctures and capsules, including magnesium and Vitamin D, to make sure I’m getting the nutrients I need.

After my morning hydration, I take my dogs outside to walk among the oak trees on my property or play in the pool. Nature is my creativity fuel — some of my best business problem-solving happens while walking in the woods with a weighted vest.

Around 8 a.m., I settle into an hour of deep work before breakfast — usually emails or writing — while the West Coast-based Supergut team is still asleep.

9 a.m.: Breakfast, coffee, and a workout

I believe in starting the day with protein and fiber, but I like to mix it up: cottage cheese with berries and chia seeds, yogurt with Supergut’s prebiotic blends, or scrambled eggs wrapped in Egglife wraps.

My coffee ritual is non-negotiable. I use a half-caf Nespresso pod, add collagen peptides, Supergut fiber, coconut milk, and cinnamon.

I’m constantly looking for ways to stack habits to optimize my time. For example, I blow-dry my hair while standing on a vibration board, and I’ve recently added red light glasses for under-eye care, which I wear while drinking my coffee or in the evening while I relax.

After breakfast, I’ll either head to a yoga class or dive directly into meetings. Yoga is my preferred in-person workout, and I have a Peloton and weights at home for strength training.

11 a.m. to 6 p.m.: Back-to-back meetings

This is where the chaos comes in.

A CEO’s life means constant problem-solving and moving the ball forward daily, even if just by small increments.

I keep myself and the team accountable by writing a to-do list in a paper notebook each morning. Asana keeps our companywide projects organized, but I’m old-school when it comes to my personal goals.

Lunch is often at my desk between meetings, but I aim to eat five small meals throughout the day to avoid blood sugar crashes. If I’m traveling, I keep Supergut bars or Chomps meat sticks on hand for better-for-you options.

After 6 p.m.: Cooking and family time

Until recently, my younger daughter and I would tag-team dinners using ingredients from our garden — herbs, zucchini, even stuffed squash blossoms. Now that she’s off to college, I’m navigating this new empty-nest chapter, but food and color still inspire me in the kitchen.

My evenings are reserved for connection and winding down. I talk daily with both of my daughters — one in college, one working in New York — usually over dinner. I don’t track calories or macros religiously, but I aim for balance and variety, guided by seasonal produce and gut health principles.

After dinner, I take the dogs for a short walk to aid digestion.

Before bed: Red light therapy and continuous learning

One of my biggest investments when I designed my house was building a halotherapy salt room. It’s where I often end my evenings, combining salt therapy with red light for deep relaxation and better sleep.

I’m a lifelong learner, so I often unwind at this point with a book, a podcast — like “Good Hang” with Amy Poehler — or even The New York Times’ Spelling Bee game. For personal topics, I like to learn about attachment theory, but I also like to listen to experts on health and wellness and AI to maintain an edge in business.

10 p.m.: Bedtime

By 10 p.m., I’m in bed, reflecting on the day.

I see myself as a builder of brands, of teams, of ideas. That mindset fuels my days, from functional coffee to late-night strategy sessions. The wellness rituals, creative outlets, and accountability systems I’ve cultivated aren’t just about keeping myself energized. They’re about modeling what it means to live intentionally while scaling a brand with purpose.