Saalt: The Mission-First Startup Proving Profitability and Purpose Can Scale Together
By Hannah Mae, December 2025
In 2018, Cherie Hoeger launched Saalt with a simple premise: period care could be radically better for people and the planet. In just a few years, the Idaho-born brand has proven that thesis with remarkable momentum.
Today, Saalt employs 30 full-time staff, roughly a third of whom are based in Boise. The company generates over eight figures in annual operating revenue and grew 45% year-over-year following 30% growth the year prior. While its direct-to-consumer channel leads sales, Saalt’s retail footprint is unusually wide for a young brand: Target, Walgreens, Walmart, Whole Foods, Nordstrom, REI, CVS, and Amazon in the U.S. and EU all stock Saalt cups and reusable underwear.
From day one, Saalt’s growth has been driven by something bigger than market demand. Across more than 50 countries, Saalt has donated over 130,000 menstrual care products through a network of nonprofit and community partners—an impact footprint that continues to expand as fast as the company does.
Earlier this year, we sat down with Cherie to gain deeper insight into the motivations behind Saalt and the principles that guide its operations. Our conversation revealed a leader driven by conviction.
Cherie designs around time – she doesn’t defy it, she builds for purpose – not PR and she measures success in impact just as much as margin.
A Purpose That Shows Up in Systems, Not Slogans
Many brands talk impact. Saalt operationalized it.
Cherie pinpointed three core initiatives that demonstrate how intentionally designed infrastructure and strategic global partnerships can transform menstrual health outcomes at scale (here’s why menstrual freedom matters).
Global Product Access Across 50+ countries, Saalt has donated more than 130,000 period care products to help address the affordability gap in period care. These efforts support girls’ education, dignity, hygiene, and environmental benefits through reusable solutions. Each donation is part of long-term partnerships.
Sanitation, Safety, and Menstrual Dignity Saalt designs beyond product. In Uganda, the company funded four community latrines and a water holding tank to improve privacy and hygiene. In Nigeria, it sponsored the drilling of a borehole that now delivers 6,000 gallons of clean water daily to approximately 150 residents for only $3,500. Two more are being planned.
Crisis Response that Stays Sustainable During disasters, disposable goods can overwhelm fragile infrastructure. After the Lahaina wildfire, Saalt supplied reusable products to the affected population, reducing waste while meeting urgent health needs. Similar efforts followed major wildfires in California.
These initiatives reflect a common theme: Saalt treats purpose as responsibility.
Why Saalt Believed This Business Model Could Work
Cherie looks to mission-driven exemplars—Patagonia, Cotopaxi—as proof that social and environmental accountability attract loyalty, not risk. Cherie saw the trend early in her daughters: Gen Z and Gen Alpha are reshaping markets. Their purchasing power and workforce expectations overwhelmingly favor sustainable, transparent brands.
Studies bear it out: more than 75% of Gen Z and 72% of Millennials say they’re willing to pay more for sustainable products. Over 60% say a company’s environmental and social track record influences their employment decisions (source, source and source).
For CHerie, the cultural signal was even more concrete. “Teenage girls didn’t want to buy from Shein because of child labor practices.” Awareness, she realized, had evolved into conviction. The future consumer wouldn’t tolerate values-blind capitalism.
Building with Lean Resources—and Uncompromising Integrity
Cherie begins with “you don’t need major resources to start” — it’s possible to build with meager revenue and a clear mission. Saalt began with an SBA loan to fund inventory, and Cherie bootstrapped the rest, pulling from her 401(k) and relying on her real estate background and personal platform to get things off the ground. For the first six years, the company operated lean and scrappy.
From the start, Saalt made a deliberate choice to donate 2% of revenue rather than profit — a decision rooted in transparency.
As Cherie puts it, revenue is “hard to fib,” while profit can be adjusted after big stakeholder distributions or expenses. This honest accounting approach reflected Saalt’s commitment to integrity and measurable impact.
As the business scaled, that commitment shifted to 1% — as Cherie said, “business is hard,” but the principle held: measurable accountability. Through the B Corp process, and with guidance from fellow Idaho for Good board member Elizabeth Keeler, the team learned that the best use of their resources was to partner strategically with nonprofits to make a bigger impact and not try to do all the work themselves.
She mentioned that “many companies take a ‘shotgun approach’ to giving” — donating here and there without focus.
Saalt defined its mission and values early, choosing to work consistently with nonprofits aligned to their three identified core pillars:
This approach built long-term partnerships that let nonprofits focus more on their mission and less on fundraising. Examples include: HER International in Nepal seen here and here, and Style Her Empowered (SHE).
Culture by Design: A Workplace Built for Working Parents
Behind Saalt is a founder who knows the cost of balancing work and caregiving. Cherie credits her husband, family, and six children for fueling the company’s trajectory—and shaping its culture.
One of Saalt’s most unique employee benefits is its on-site preschool, offered free to staff. Two caregivers support as many as ten children daily—a solution made possible by Idaho’s allowances for non-paying childcare programs. Resulting in a culture that recognizes the realities of modern working parents.
Impact also shows up in talent attraction. Saalt has drawn team members from major corporations—including a former VP of Merchandising at Tommy Hilfiger—who chose mission over higher compensation.
Market Barriers, Industry Pressure, and the Reality of Scaling Purpose
Saalt’s rise hasn’t been frictionless. Advertising menstrual products remains challenging, with social platforms flagging or blocking content for using words like “underwear” or showing product photography. TikTok banned menstrualcare ads entirely until recently. Navigating gendered language while remaining inclusive has been another ongoing marketing challenge.
Global supply chains add complexity. With manufacturing in Sri Lanka and packaging in China, tariffs, shipping volatility, and logistics require constant management. And in a category dominated by P&G, Kimberly-Clark, and multinationals with billion-dollar advertising budgets, independent brands often face capital constraints.
Saalt is now exploring strategic investment and private equity partnerships to scale more aggressively—while staying aligned to its mission.
The Personal Operating System Behind the Business
Cherie calls herself someone with “philanthropy bones.” Her StrengthsFinder traits—harmony, discipline, connectedness, consistency—reveal the wiring behind Saalt’s ethos.
Service wasn’t an extracurricular in her childhood home. Her mother, an Argentinian immigrant and Spanish court translator, once housed a young girl facing deportation who lived with the family for five years. Immigrants, neighbors, and strangers regularly found a place at their dinner table.
That lived example shaped Cherie’s MO: if you’re going to work you might as well do something that matters.
Cherie is deliberate with her time and energy. She centers her days around the five things that matter most—faith, marriage, family, health, and contribution to the world. Her morning routine hits all of them: a workout paired with a podcast, meaningful time with her husband and kids, and a grounded start in prayer before the workday begins.
She keeps a strict schedule, protecting her “power hours” in the morning for deep focus—no meetings, no distractions—she accomplishes the two top priorities for the day so that the most important work is accomplished first. The rest of her day is spent responding, supporting, and leading her team.
Advice to Founders
Her message to entrepreneurs considering a mission-driven approach is direct:
“If you’re considering building a business with purpose—go for it. It’s a win-win for your team and your customers. We work around the clock; we might as well do something meaningful while we’re at it.”
For those doubting whether mission can scale, Saalt offers answers:.
Not only can it scale—it can lead.
Revenue grows. Retail expands. Global footprint deepens.
And at every step, the company doubles down on a model that sees business not as an extraction engine—but as an instrument for dignity, health, opportunity, and change.
The Books on Her Desk
Essentialism — Greg McKeown
Becoming Your Best Self Now — Steven R. Covey
The Miracle Morning — Hal Elrod
Atomic Habits — James Clear
For more insight into the company’s global programs, product impact, and data, Saalt’s impact report provides a detailed look under the hood.