Today we’d like to introduce you to Kirsten Maitland.
Hi Kirsten, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
My journey has been anything but conventional. I started working at 12, then spent time in restaurants and as a barista before joining the U.S. Navy, where I served as an air traffic controller on a destroyer. Originally from England, I found myself navigating both literally and figuratively through uncharted waters as one of only two women on my ship.
After the Navy, I transitioned into technology, spending over a decade as an agile coach with companies like Microsoft and Expedia, focusing on innovation. I met my husband Fred quite by accident at a putt-putt golf league in Seattle—our mutual love of food, particularly cheese, made us a perfect match until I decided to go vegan for lifestyle and health reasons. Fred, knowing how much it meant to me, made the same choice.
Rather than dwelling on what we’d given up, we decided to create what we were missing. We began experimenting in our kitchen, learning from dairy experts, and aging cheese in a four-bottle wine fridge. When I took that first bite of our cave-aged brie, I knew we were onto something extraordinary—it reminded me of what I’d experienced growing up in Europe.
From that tiny wine fridge to our current 9,000 square foot factory, we co-founded Rebel Cheese in 2019. We’ve appeared on Shark Tank, secured investment from Mark Cuban, and built a business that’s experienced 140% growth overall from 2023 to 2024, with 463% growth in e-commerce. We now operate an award-winning Austin bistro, a New York Essex Market stall, and ship our artisanal vegan cheeses nationwide.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It definitely hasn’t been a smooth road. As a woman in male-dominated industries, I faced significant resistance throughout my career. In the Navy, I was constantly told I couldn’t succeed, couldn’t do my job, and shouldn’t be there—every day for three years. The tech industry presented similar challenges, with people having no confidence from the get-go that I could do my job because I’m a woman.
Building Rebel Cheese brought its own set of challenges. We were creating something that many people were skeptical about—vegan cheese has historically had a reputation problem. We knew we had to be “defiantly good” because our products would be held against the high standard of the cheeses people grew up with. There was a lot of trial and error perfecting our craft.
Then COVID-19 hit just as we’d found our rhythm with the Austin brick-and-mortar location. Instead of feeling sorry for ourselves, we immediately pivoted to B2B wholesale and DTC online sales, creating a monthly cheese subscription program. What seemed like a devastating challenge actually opened doors we hadn’t considered before and led to some of our greatest growth.
Our current challenge is to carefully and strategically grow our B2B and distribution channels as we scale our DTC channel to create an omni-channel business.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about Rebel Cheese?
Rebel Cheese creates hand-crafted artisanal dairy-free cheeses that elevate the traditional charcuterie experience. We specialize in plant-based cheeses made using traditional cheesemaking techniques—we’re not creating processed vegan alternatives; we’re crafting actual cheese from plants.
What sets us apart is our commitment to traditional methods. We utilize a state-of-the-art cheese cave and proprietary culture blends from Europe to adhere to traditional dairy industry techniques. Our cheeses are predominantly made from nuts (80% cashew-based, 5% almond-based, 10% rice-based) and are handmade—cut, molded, and coated—at our own Austin production facility.
Our crown jewel is our Cave-Aged Brie, which even Mr. Wonderful (Kevin O’Leary) from Shark Tank said you can’t tell the difference from dairy. Our other bestsellers include Tomato Herb Fromage (lovingly called “the pizza cheese”), Smoked Cheddar, and Honee Pistachio Chèvre.
We’re most proud of creating products that can be unapologetically brought to any family gathering and enjoyed by everyone, from your vegan foodie sister-in-law to your meat-and-potatoes uncle. Our mission is to make the world a better place one wheel of cheese at a time, proving that the most delicious, crave-worthy cheese can come from plants.
We operate multiple channels: direct-to-consumer e-commerce (where we’ve seen our greatest success), our award-winning Austin bistro, a New York Essex Market cheese shop, and wholesale to restaurants and grocery stores nationwide. We also offer specialty experiences, such as our once-a-year plant-based fondue and seasonal, curated cheese boards.
How do you think about luck?
Both good and bad luck have played significant roles in my journey. Meeting Fred at that putt-putt golf league was pure serendipity—if we hadn’t both been there that night, Rebel Cheese wouldn’t exist. Sometimes the best partnerships happen when you least expect them.
COVID-19 initially felt like terrible luck, threatening to destroy our newly established brick-and-mortar business. But it forced us to pivot in ways we might never have considered otherwise. That “bad luck” actually led us to discover our most successful sales channel—direct-to-consumer e-commerce—and created opportunities for rapid growth we hadn’t imagined.
Getting onto Shark Tank was another stroke of good fortune. While we worked hard to get there, the timing of our episode airing and the fact that both Mark Cuban and Lori Greiner saw our vision were incredibly lucky. That appearance catapulted our business “into the stratosphere” and gave us credibility that money can’t buy.
Even my Navy experience, which was challenging at the time, proved to be fortunate preparation for entrepreneurship. Those three years of being told I couldn’t succeed every day actually built the resilience I needed to push through the inevitable obstacles of building a business.
I’ve learned that luck often comes disguised as problems, and the key is recognizing opportunities within challenges and being prepared to act when fortune presents itself.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://rebelcheese.com
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/rebel.cheese
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rebelcheese
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@eatrebelcheese
Image Credits
Tracey Stabile (tracey@rebelcheese.com)
