The CNBC Changemakers and Power Players podcast features conversations with leaders shaping the future of business, policy, and culture. In this episode, CNBC's Julia Boorstin sits down with Johanna Mercier, Chief Commercial & Corporate Affairs Officer at Gilead Sciences and a 2026 CNBC Changemaker.

Mercier discusses Gilead's groundbreaking HIV prevention innovation (a twice-yearly injection with 99.9% efficacy) and how her team moved within months of U.S. approval to expand access across Sub-Saharan Africa, where the need is greatest. She shares why impact (not title) drives her leadership, how personal loss reshaped her sense of purpose, and what it takes to lead through global health crises.

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The CNBC Changemakers and Power Players podcast features conversations with leaders shaping the future of business, policy, and culture. In this episode, CNBC's Julia Boorstin sits down with Sarah London, CEO of Centene Corporation — the youngest woman to lead a Fortune 500 company and now at the helm of a $100B+ healthcare giant. London shares how a competitive mindset shaped her leadership, why she believes a CEO should "get all of the blame and none of the credit," and what excites her most about AI in healthcare.

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The CNBC Changemakers and Power Players podcast features candid conversations with leaders shaping business and culture. In this episode, CNBC's Julia Boorstin sits down with Cassandra Morales Thurswell, founder and CEO Kitsch.

Thurswell shares how she turned $30,000 in life savings into a global beauty brand without venture capital or outside investors. She discusses trusting her gut instincts over data and market research, why she deliberately avoided seeking advice from mentors and advisors early on, how she learned business skills through unconventional jobs, and why being underestimated as a young female founder became her advantage.

She also opens up about the pressure and judgment that comes with being a woman building a business, how she's using AI to transform product development and customer engagement, her philosophy on staying true to your own vision rather than following conventional wisdom, and her advice for aspiring entrepreneurs who don't fit the traditional founder mold.

Follow and listen to the "CNBC Changemakers and Power Players" podcast on

Apple and Spotify

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