Holiday Special: Join the Dear FoundHer… Forum at 30% off our annual rate and lock in pricing forever. After December 19th, we will never offer this rate again. JOIN US HERE

You don’t need permission or perfect credentials to build a trusted brand in women’s health.

Lindsay Pinchuk sits down with Kat Schneider, founder and CEO of Ritual, for a conversation about building a category-defining company without a science background or a perfectly mapped plan. Kat shares how Ritual began during her first pregnancy as a response to unanswered questions about trust and transparency, and how choosing a DTC model early allowed the brand to educate customers, show real proof, and earn credibility instead of asking for it. What changes when you build trust before scale? How do you move forward when you do not feel fully ready?

Kat also reflects on how that DTC foundation shaped Ritual’s growth and made expansion into retail, including Target, feel intentional rather than reactive. She talks about leadership lessons learned along the way, from hiring mistakes to the pressure many women feel to be experts at everything, and why surrounding yourself with people who are stronger where you are not can change everything. Tune in to understand how intuition and decision-making become the real competitive advantage when you are building something meant to last.

Episode Breakdown:

00:00 Why This Conversation Matters for Women Founders

02:20 How Ritual Started With One Pregnant Founder Asking Better Questions

05:52 Quitting a Job While Pregnant and Challenging a “Niche” Industry

07:39 Building Ritual Without a Science Background

12:58 Launching One Product and Earning Trust Through DTC

20:56 How DTC Education Enabled Expansion Into Target and Retail

32:30 Leadership Lessons and Early Hiring Mistakes

38:14 Three Core Lessons on Intuition, Rejection, and Decision-Making

Connect with Kat Schneider:

Follow Kat on Instagram

Follow Ritual on Instagram

DearFoundHer… Links:

Check out the Dear FoundHer... Female Founded Holiday Gift Guide! 

Join the Dear FoundHer... Forum

Follow Dear FoundHer... on Instagram

Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.