Cherie Hoeger, Co-Founder of Saalt
Name: Cherie Hoeger
Co-Founder: Saalt
What's your elevator pitch?
Cherie Hoeger is the Co-Founder & CEO of Saalt, a women-owned B Corp that creates reusable and sustainable period care products that replace disposable pads and tampons.
What's your story?
An entrepreneur and philanthropist, Cherie champions the intersection of for-profit and nonprofit models through social enterprise and leads Saalt’s social impact mission to end period poverty. Since their launch in 2018, Saalt has donated over 100,000 period cups and underwear to underprivileged women and girls in 50 countries as part of their social give-back program. Cherie is the mother of five daughters and one son, and considers them her greatest success.
What does BEING a FoundHer mean to you?
The inspiration to start Saalt started with a phone call to my aunt in Venezuela. She explained to me that due to the country’s political instability at the time, there were huge shortages of basic consumer staples like pads and tampons. (Now that we’ve gone through this pandemic, we’ve all experienced just how fast store shelves can clear!)
The decision to invent the best menstrual cups, discs and period underwear was deeply personal and driven by my desire to make a positive impact on the lives of my five daughters and countless others both near and far. I believe that by addressing the practical and emotional aspects of menstruation with thoughtful, innovative solutions, we can help young girls navigate this important stage of their lives with greater confidence and comfort.
Everyone should have the right to a safe and dignified period. We empower individuals with the knowledge and long-term solutions to improve their menstrual health, which increases gender equality and opens conversations that bring awareness and break down social stigmas.
How do you support other female founders and women in business?
Cherie is a founding member of Idaho for Good, a community of local Idaho companies that exhibit a commitment to do good in the world, including nonprofits, 1% for the planet, LEED certified, fair trade or organic, social enterprise, sustainable, carbon neutral certified, etc. This organization provides mentorship, resources, training and community for other businesses with similar conscious CSR goals.
What is ONE BOOK that you would recommend every female business owner read?
Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less by Greg McKeown
Who is a female entrepreneur you look up to and why?
Jessica Rolph, CEO & Co-founder of Lovevery and Happy Family Organics, once told me that “success will draw out your biggest supporters and critics, so don't sweat the naysayers.” It was timely advice during a time when we had just had a product recall just a few months after the launch of Saalt. She heard my struggles, re-counted going through her own product recall, and told me, “Just keep hustling and enjoy the journey.”
What are the first five things that you did when you were starting your business?
One thing that we did in the beginning that I think was just so integral, was to create a focus group of 1,000 people - because if you can get to 1,000 people, you can start a movement. If you have 1,000 people who are aligned with your mission, and who believe in your brand, and who are on social media, then then you have something. We used social media to bring our first focus group together, to film their unboxing experience when we sent them free product and we collated the group on Facebook. Social media is especially good for spreading the message of your social impact mission. If you put out content that's educating the consumer about your mission - allowing them to really see where their money goes - then they will get on board.
What is something you do differently from the industry standard?
I firmly believe that every business should have a social mission. But this is backed up by the spending behavior of millennials, Gen Z and Gen Alpha as well as a general culture shift. It’s not just how people are spending, millennials, Gen Z and Gen Alpha really want to work for purpose-driven brands. Every week, my inbox is flooded with CVs from people wanting to work with our company. They say, ‘I don't want to just have a job, I want to work for a company whose corporate values align with my values.' It’s the future of business.
What was an obstacle you overcame to get your business where it is today? Please share the story behind it.
Months after our launch, we started getting consumer reviews on Amazon that our period cups smelled funny when they opened the package. Okay, funny doesn't quite cut it. It was more like a mix of steamed broccoli and gym socks—it was putrid. This was alarming, of course, because as a fragrance-free medicalgrade silicone product, there should have been zero odor. We had no idea why this was happening! We had just launched and poured our life savings into thousands of cups for inventory. Long story short, we found out that we somehow received a contaminated batch of those little silica gel packs used to absorb moisture in a shipment of our packaging tubes from overseas. The cups were perfectly fine, but the smell from the silica packs had been absorbed into the silicone (which is porous by nature). In the end, we had to recall all of our Amazon inventory, send the cups to be re-cured by the manufacturer, and recycle thousands of smelly packaging tubes. It was a tough way to start out, but thank goodness it happened before we were stocked on all Target shelves nationwide the following year. Learning? Be grateful for the mistakes made early on when the stakes are lower, and those silica gel packs can sometimes do more harm than good. :)
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