Cherie Hoeger is the co-founder and CEO of Saalt, a B Corp based in Boise, Idaho that makes reusable period care: medical-grade silicone cups, discs, and period underwear. She started the company in 2018 after a call with her husband's aunt in Venezuela, who could not find pads or tampons in stores.
Saalt is sold at Target, Walmart, REI, and costco.com, and Cherie has appeared on Good Morning America and The View. Saalt gives 1% of revenue to partners in menstrual health, girls' education, environmental sustainability, and water, sanitation, and hygiene, and has launched its own 501(c)(3), the Saalt Foundation.
Before Saalt she worked as a technical writer and ran e-commerce ventures. On this episode she explains how reusable products tie into period poverty, school dropout, and B Corp governance, and how nonprofits that serve women and girls can partner with Saalt.
Timestamps:
[00:47] What is Saalt, and what is its mission?
[01:08] How did a phone call to Venezuela lead Cherie Hoeger to start Saalt?
[02:14] Can reusable products help solve period poverty?
[03:53] What is period poverty, and what happens when girls have no period care?
[05:04] Is it documented that girls leave school when they start their periods?
[06:23] Why isn’t every woman already using reusable period products?
[08:41] Did Cherie’s own skeptical daughter switch to a cup?
[09:54] What is different about reusable products now compared to 5 or 10 years ago?
[10:56] Cup, disc, or underwear: which one fits you?
[12:18] What makes Saalt period underwear different?
[13:17] What does Saalt offer for teens and first periods?
[14:36] What is a B Corp, and why did Saalt choose that path?
[17:34] What is the difference between the shotgun and the targeted approach to giving back?
[19:17] Why does Saalt give 1% of revenue instead of profit?
[19:58] Which nonprofit partners does Saalt work with, and what happened in rural Nepal?
[21:47] What did a girl in Kenya say after receiving a cup?
[22:14] How does Saalt measure the impact of its giving?
[25:03] Will reusables overtake disposables in the next 10 years?
[27:23] Is the market share for reusable period products growing?
[27:53] How can listeners and nonprofits get involved with Saalt?
[29:23] How did Saalt respond after the Lahaina wildfires?
[30:02] What advice does Cherie leave for nonprofit leaders?
Guest Links:
GTZP Links:
.svg)
.svg)
.svg)
.svg)
.svg)
.svg)
.svg)
