Kirsten Maitland is the co-founder of Rebel Cheese, an award-winning Austin-based vegan cheese brand backed by Shark Tank investor Mark Cuban. A former U.S. Navy veteran and Microsoft agile coach, Kirsten brings her background in tech innovation to reimagine plant-based dairy through traditional cheesemaking techniques and smart Ecommerce strategy. After leaving a stable four-day tech career to pursue purpose over comfort, Kirsten built Rebel Cheese from a six-bottle wine fridge experiment into a nationally recognized brand featured by The New York Times. From launching DTC overnight during COVID to scaling through broken shipments and real-time customer feedback, her journey reveals what it takes to grow authentically while staying true to your values. Whether you’re building a mission-driven CPG company or refining your feedback loop before scaling, Kirsten shares a masterclass in transforming curiosity and conviction into sustainable growth. In This Conversation We Discuss: [00:03] Intro [00:55] Bringing tradition into modern food innovation [01:30] Turning passion for food into a scalable concept [02:34] Validating a product through emotional connection [03:33] Turning crisis into new growth channels [04:44] Fixing packaging with help from early partners [06:03] Shipping curated boxes to customers’ doors [07:00] Selling out with zero ads or paid marketing [08:00] Turning online orders into lasting connections [08:58] Delaying advertising to protect cash flow [10:21] Stay updated with new episodes [10:31] Learning to sustain momentum after viral moments [12:24] Studying investor dynamics before pitching [12:53] Episode Sponsors: Electric Eye & Heatmap [15:32] Launching fast to gather real customer feedback [18:01] Leveraging AI agents to save time and money Resources: Subscribe to Honest Ecommerce on Youtube Plant-based cheese you'll actually love rebelcheese.com/ Follow Kirsten Maitland linkedin.com/in/kirstenmaitland Schedule an intro call with one of our experts electriceye.io/connect Clear, real-time data built for ecommerce optimization heatmap.com/honest If you’re enjoying the show, we’d love it if you left Honest Ecommerce a review on Apple Podcasts . It makes a huge impact on the success of the podcast, and we love reading every one of your reviews!
