Cherie Hoeger - Saalt (Episode #010)

Cherie Hoeger — Modernizing Reusable Period Care, Menstruation Education, Changing Stigmas, Believing the Mission, Building Pro-Family Workplaces, and More (#010)  

“And so we realized that there was so much power that one period cup could have to literally keep girls in school, break cycles of poverty, help their confidence, help them become young women and mothers who could provide for their families.” — Cherie Hoeger

Cherie Hoeger (@cherie.hoeger) is the CEO & co-founder of Saalt (@saaltco), a company aiming to modernize reusable period care. In 2018, Saalt launched its flagship product—the Saalt period cup—with the vision of making cleaner, more sustainable period care accessible to everyone. 

Leading Saalt's social impact efforts, Cherie began networking with impact partners to provide their period cups to underprivileged girls and women so they could confidently manage their periods, stay in school, and lift themselves out of poverty. Now in their third year in business, Saalt has donated over 12,000 cups in over twenty-two countries to create a wave of informed cup users who then act as mentors for other donation recipients. 

Before starting Saalt, Cherie had been an entrepreneur in multiple ecommerce ventures and worked as a technical writer with fifteen years of publication experience. Most recently, she co-authored seven editions of collegiate textbooks in the field of fitness and wellness. 

Cherie is the mother of five daughters, and considers them her greatest success.

Please enjoy this wide-ranging conversation with Saalt co-founder, Cherie Hoeger, and Moms Who Build host, Margie Chuang!  

For more about this episode, visit www.momswhobuild.com/home/cherie-hoeger-saalt-episode-010. 

Show Notes

• What inspired Cherie to start Saalt and how she developed a reusable, sustainable menstrual cup. [2:10]
• How Cherie learned about the menstrual cup market. [6:54]
• The opportunity to change stigmas and modernize reusable period care. [8:18]
• Saalt’s product and branding design process. [8:25]
• Saalt’s early milestones and the stories behind them. [10:41]
• The intricate tie between menstruation and education. [12:20]
• Saalt’s “Back to School for Her Too” campaign. [13:10]
• How Cherie was able to take the Saalt cup mainstream and get Saalt products onto the shelves at Target. [14:38]
• One of the best decisions Saalt made before launching. [18:20]
• Getting to 1,000 members and Saalt’s launchpad. [18:30]
• Building Saalt’s community. [21:10]
• About the Saalt Cup Academy and how it took on a life of its own. [22:29]
• Selecting charitable partners and how to navigate those partnerships. [23:42]
• Cherie and her family’s trip to Nepal to teach women and young girls about the benefits of the Saalt cup and how to use it. [27:42]
• Margie and Cherie talk openly about their individual period experiences. [34:02]
• Building Saalt’s progressive pro-family workplace. [37:54]
• Cherie’s approach to worklife optimization. [44:15]
• Entrepreneurial lessons that Cherie hopes to pass along to her children. [48:15]
• What quality can make entrepreneurs successful. [53:50]
• What’s next for Saalt and innovation in product technology. [55:16]
• Rapid Fire Questions. [56:09]
• Parting thoughts and encouraging words. [59:09]

For more about this episode, visit www.momswhobuild.com/home/cherie-hoeg