Transparency and Traceable Science with the Revolutionary Founder of Ritual, Katerina Schneider

Discover the visionary mind behind Ritual the health and technology company that is reshaping the supplement industry through traceable science and sourcing. In this exclusive interview, we had the pleasure of speaking with Katerina Schneider, a trailblazer committed to providing women with absolute transparency and better health through better ingredients. With accolades such as Forbes 30 Under 30 and Inc.'s 100 Female Founders, Katerina's passion for revolutionizing the supplement landscape shines through in Ritual's groundbreaking approach. Join us as we delve into Katerina's motivation, the science behind Ritual's products, and their mission to set a new standard for wellness.

Amy Cohen Epstein: Today we have the privilege of speaking with Katerina Schneider, the founder and CEO of Ritual, a health and technology company that is transforming the supplement industry through traceable science and sourcing. Kat founded Ritual on the belief that better health begins with better ingredients and that women deserve absolute transparency in their supplements. As a trailblazer in the industry, Kat has been recognized on Forbes 30 Under 30, Inc.'s 100 Female Founders, and Marie Claire's New Guard 50. Thank you Kat for being here. Okay, I'm jumping right in. How did you get this started? What was your motivation? Let's dive into this world of supplements.

Katerina Schneider: Sounds good. Thanks for having me. I'm very excited to be here for a lot of reasons. Ritual, as you mentioned, is a health and wellness company that is setting a new standard in the supplement industry through traceable science and traceable sourcing. My journey began long before I was pregnant, but I was four months pregnant when I started the company. I always knew that I wanted to be an entrepreneur my whole life. My family immigrated here to the US from Ukraine, so I was a refugee and we lived in a welfare hotel in Brooklyn, and my dad became an entrepreneur and my mom ended up working on Wall Street. So I was always around that kind of entrepreneurial hustle. As I mentioned before to you before we started, my mom actually had breast cancer and I became deeply passionate about health….

“The industry was extremely opaque, lacking science and transparency, and I knew that all of us deserved better.”

Then when I was four months pregnant my whole world changed, and I knew that I needed to take a prenatal supplement but there wasn't a brand that I trusted. The industry was extremely opaque, lacking science and transparency, and I knew that all of us deserved better. And so I set out not to only reimagine the prenatal vitamin but really set a new standard in the entire industry. And I'm so proud that that's what we've done, and we now have the number one selling prenatal vitamin in the US online. We've had over a million customers to date, surpassed nine figures in recurring revenue a couple of years ago, and have been growing ever since.

Amy Cohen Epstein: Okay. So I have to totally stop you and go back for a bit. How old was your mom when she was diagnosed with breast cancer and how old were you?

Katerina Schneider: It was the start of college for me. My mom was, I think, in her late forties.

Amy Cohen Epstein: Okay, so you were like 18, 19?

Katerina Schneider: Yeah, around there.

Amy Cohen Epstein: And your mom is okay?

Katerina Schneider: My mom is okay now. And so what's interesting was she started her career... she's probably the most inspiring person I've ever met... she is my inspiration for being a mom and a professional... she didn't know any English. She learned English, ended up working on Wall Street on the trading floor, and she really managed a lot and it was extremely stressful for her. And we often talk about how stress resulted in health issues. And so she actually quit her job in investment banking and then she turned to macrobiotics. And so that was really interesting because I was exposed really early to macrobiotics early on in my life. We were exposed to Ayurveda and all these different alternative medicines.

Amy Cohen Epstein: So, it was like a thing

Katerina Schneider: Yeah, it was a thing, and it was always interesting to me because it was a little woo-woo and it wasn't scientific and my mind works in kind of more of an analytical medical space. And so I was always trying to find meaning or science behind it. I was like, "Is this on PubMed what we're doing?" But it was interesting because it kind of exposed me to alternative medicine, nutrition, supplements, psychology, food, and all these different things that I wasn't really into before.

Amy Cohen Epstein: And that's such a pivotal age for a young woman, being that age of seeing your hero, your mom, stronger, bigger than life, being diagnosed with breast cancer and then going through the treatments. It certainly shapes and changes you, obviously, speaking from experience. I remember when I was pregnant with my first child and I was 25, I was pretty young, and the doctor had given me a supplement to take and I couldn't swallow it. It was the biggest pill I'd ever seen in my life and I literally couldn't swallow it. I tried multiple times. It came right up. And literally, this is what he told me, "Take a Flintstones multivitamin." And I thought, is that a joke? If you look at the ingredients, there's literally nothing on the ingredient list that... no offense to Flintstones... but there's nothing on the ingredient list that is medicine.

I mean, it's sugar and different kinds of sugar and coloring. And I thought this cannot be helpful. And he literally said, "It's fine, you'll pee it all out." And I thought, "Well then, what's the point?" And I was pretty healthy at 25. I'm probably healthier now, but I couldn't imagine putting something in my body that wouldn't even stay in my body, and that had no benefits to me, let alone this unborn child. But I don't have the wherewithal of that time in my life to start a company and come up with my own prenatal vitamin. Or, where I was living and what I was doing there weren't that many options. So good for you for figuring that out…. You're obviously an entrepreneur by blood and spirit, but how did you take that first step?

Katerina Schneider: So my background's actually in venture, so I was running Troy Carter's fund here in LA. He had invested in over 70 companies, everything from Uber to Dropbox, Warby Parker, and Spotify. I spent so much time around tech entrepreneurs, and I think that really shaped how the company was born and also the funding that we received. I would say early on, the first step was really getting that funding because I wanted us to double down on science, which clearly is very important to you, and was lacking from the industry. But to invest in clinical studies, to invest in certifications, to invest in third-party testing, requires capital —

Amy Cohen Epstein: And time and energy and blood, sweat, and tears.

Katerina Schneider: It's all about doing the right thing at every twist and turn of the entrepreneurial journey. So I knew that I needed a significant amount of capital to do things the right way, and I was very privileged that my background was in venture because I had a lot of venture relationships. But, four months pregnant, it wasn't the most ideal time to raise money because I was starting to show. I went into an investor's office, and this was kind of uncharted territory at the time, I went into an investor's office and I was like, "I'm going to start a family and a business." And the investor was like, "You have to actually choose between the two. You can't do both."

Amy Cohen Epstein: Because they say that to so many men. "My wife's at home four months pregnant and I'm starting a new business." "That's not a problem."

Katerina Schneider: It's a double standard. And I would say it is probably more rare today than it was those days. There weren't really great examples of women who were starting companies pregnant and wanted to build a family. Now I have three beautiful girls and a thriving business, so it was kind of paving a new path. And eventually, I did raise our funding from investors that really believed in our mission and believed that we were going to transform the industry the right way. And so that was really the first step was raising the money. The second step was hiring a team of scientists, and those were our first hires. So I hired a chief scientist.

Amy Cohen Epstein: Where were you geographically?

Katerina Schneider: I was in Los Angeles. I would say a lot of the scientists that I was talking to were kind of all over the country. I knew nothing about hiring a PhD registered dietician and someone in the biomedical sciences field and so that was kind of new territory for me. But I knew that I was the right person to start this because I believed that we needed this, we needed to change the industry in this way. And so I was just committed to finding the best scientists. So we hired our founding scientist early on. He had a PhD in biomedical sciences and was a registered dietician and he'd been in the industry for 30 years. I'm like, "What is wrong with this industry?" And he knew where all the skeletons had been buried because he'd been working in it for so long.

“What I love about our scientific team is it's so cross-disciplinary. We have people from academia to physiologists and it shapes how we think about the formulation process and the products that we put out in the world.”

And he's like, "I wanted to use these ingredients for so long but no one wants to use them because they're so expensive." And it really helped inform kind of the early days and the early formulations. And now we have a team of 20 scientists, full-time PhDs, and registered dieticians. And what I love about our scientific team is it's so cross-disciplinary. We have people from academia to physiologists and it shapes how we think about the formulation process and the products that we put out in the world.

Amy Cohen Epstein: One of the best pieces of advice I got when I started the Lynne Cohen Foundation 25 years ago was from a family friend who's an incredibly successful entrepreneur and businessman. And he said to me, "Run it a business and run it like an entrepreneur and surround yourself with people who are smarter than you are in the areas in which you don't know about, and learn from them and let them do their thing." And I was 23 years old so I still had a little bit of an ego left where I was like, "What do you mean? I can learn everything." Clearly, 25 years later I've let go of that. I have let go of that.

But I think women, we have that advantage where we can really swallow that and say there's no way you can learn all of that and there's no way that you are going to run a business, gather the financing, have the area of expertise that you had already gained, and, what, be a scientist as well? Using those tools that you had built to gather the best team and find people, like you said, who had been in the business for so long and knew where all the skeletons were buried, and knew what needed to be done to move the needle. I mean, that in itself is just heroic and also what has allowed you to build a product that's better than what's on the shelves.

Katerina Schneider: I agree a hundred percent. It's all about expertise. And I couldn't think of something that deserved more expertise and knowledge than something that people were putting in their bodies during one of the most vulnerable stages of their lives. And so that required excellence on every level, especially with the team that we were going to build. I would say my background in venture allowed me to raise a significant amount of money to do those right things that weren't required by the industry. And to your point, there were people way smarter than I was in a lot of different areas. We're a technology company, we have a lot of engineers on staff, people to run software to scientists. And I knew that my role in it was being a skeptic and knowing our consumer who was also a skeptic. And that's really the secret sauce. It's definitely a balance of art and science and skepticism.

Amy Cohen Epstein: So fundamentally, what is the difference between your prenatal supplement and what was out there or that is still out there? I mean, what is the difference?

Katerina Schneider: That's a great question. We have the leading prenatal, but we actually didn't launch with a prenatal vitamin. We started the company with our flagship multi for women 18 plus. And the reason for that was I really wanted to earn her trust. And that product is the best case study for what we're doing that's so radically different in the industry. So that product now has a peer-reviewed and published human clinical study, and we conducted a clinical study with a major university, not required by the industry. We use ingredients that have their own clinical studies, but then actually conducting a clinical study on the product is groundbreaking. That product also has a patent on the delivery technology.

So we often think about the ingredients and the ingredient traceability, but how is that actually being delivered in the body? And so we've got a patent on the actual technology of the product, and it also has USP verification, which is a leading third-party verification and less than 1% of supplement companies have that certification.

Amy Cohen Epstein: That's amazing.

Katerina Schneider: So it's really this perfect trifecta of everything that I found was missing [in the industry]….

Amy Cohen Epstein: I work a lot with genetic counselors and do genetic testing for women who have a history of cancer in their family… And to me, supplements are preventive care. It's all in the same world and the same vein. And I think you can't talk about genetics, you can't go have genetic testing done, without a genetic counselor with you because there are too many answers, there are too many questions without a real professional walking you through it.

In some ways, I think of supplements the same, and there are obviously so many choices on the shelf…. We're so privileged and so lucky in Los Angeles, you go into a market and there are 1200 supplements for every single thing. And sometimes you look and it's just, well, what's good and what's bad and what's the best? And I feel like you need a little guide next to you to help you out. What's your sort of take on that?

Katerina Schneider: Well, I love that you brought up genetics because I'm not actually going to answer your question — but I will eventually. Genetics is something that was so interesting to me… We have this four-step scientific process for formulating our multivitamins and the first is you go to the market. [At the market] you see the multivitamins and they have 40 ingredients, many of which we're already getting from our diets. They don't take genetics into account. And so that was a really light bulb moment for us. We have 20 scientists on staff. We work with some leading institutions. We have scientists that are advisors like Marie Caudill from Cornell, a world leader on Choline thought leadership. And so when we were formulating our products we created this four-step process where we look at what is it that people are getting from their diets.

We comb enhanced data and leading published data. And the second step is actually looking at lifestyles. The third step is looking at genetics. So we know that genetics impact how we actually utilize certain nutrients. So when I was creating the company it turned out that there was a difference between folic acid and methylated folate where over a third of people had a genetic variation and they couldn't properly utilize folic acid, which was found in most multivitamins. And that there was another form which was methylated folate that bypassed that genetic variation but companies weren't using that ingredient.

Amy Cohen Epstein: Why? Is it more expensive?

Katerina Schneider: It's more expensive and it's less stable. And we wanted to do the right thing so we have methylated folate in our products. And then the last step is looking at how these ingredients and nutrients all work together as a whole. And so that's a really important part of this formulation process. I don't think it's something that you as a consumer need to fully understand when you're navigating the supplement aisles, but I think the biggest takeaway when you are navigating those aisles is that ingredients matter and ingredient forms matter. And I think that wasn't something that was previously really understood or thought of. It's why traceability became a core part of our brand since the beginning. You can go to our site and see our ingredients, where they come from in the world, why they're there, and the final destination of manufacturing. And then more recently we evolved it and put a certificate of traceability tool on our site where people can actually look up their products, not just see where the ingredients are coming from and the final destination of manufacturing, but they can also see the testing and the sustainability of the packaging materials, the certificates.

A great example of why this is important is when you do go to the aisle of a million supplements and protein powders, there are certain issues with that. Heavy metals are a big issue in the plant-based protein section, I would say. The plant-based proteins are notoriously high in heavy metals, but there's really no upper limit or regulation around health protective measures when it comes to heavy metals in plant-based proteins. And so on our site-

Amy Cohen Epstein: That's comforting.

Katerina Schneider: Yes, so be scared, right? So on our site, you can actually go and see our heavy metal results, which is wild because most people don't even realize, I think, that there are heavy metals in everything. We actually list the heavy metal results for our protein powders, which is industry-defining.

Amy Cohen Epstein: Yeah, absolutely. Wow, okay. Another thing to think about is what I'm ingesting and what's actually in there. I think the last thing I want to ask about is the whole world of “organic,” which has been around for decades and decades but become much more popular in the mainstream, especially in the United States, in the last handful of decades. People think that it's organic so it's okay. It's organic sugar, organic cane sugar. And I think you've already hit the nail on the head saying it's more than that. It's really reading into them and seeing what else is in there. And so how does the average person who wants to take a multivitamin, what are the few things that they should look for in an ingredient list? An adult, an adult picking for themselves, and an adult picking for their kids.

“we've just been so focused on things that our products are made without that we have lost sight of what our products are made with. And the evolution is actually setting higher standards for products and traceability

Katerina Schneider: I often say that the future of the industry is the evolution of clean to clear, in skincare as well, we've just been so focused on things that our products are made without that we have lost sight of what our products are made with. And the evolution is actually setting higher standards for products and traceability. Traceability has become our rallying cry as a business. Even this term made traceable, which we trademarked, is really transparency with receipts. And so transparency is telling a consumer, hey, take our word for it. And traceability is actually showing them the proof.

With Ritual, you can go to our site and you can actually see the final destination of manufacturing for our ingredients. You can see the certifications, you can see the testing and all the things that really matter, but we're also setting a new clear standard. It's not enough that it's what our products are made without, although I will say our products are vegan and non-GMO and sugar-free and all the things, I think those are table stakes now. And it's kind of like what else? And a protein is such an example of that where you could have an organic product but it's really high in heavy metals and what is it doing for your health?

Amy Cohen Epstein: Packed with sugar.

Katerina Schneider: Totally. And so I think the evolution for us as a brand is not just creating high-quality products but really pushing the industry forward. So we recently brought in a chief impact officer and launched our impact goals, which we can talk about, but one thing that I'm particularly excited about is that we're rolling out our traceable wellness advocacy standards and they're focused on two things. The first is around heavy metals and pushing the industry to have regulations around setting health protective measures when it comes to heavy metals in supplements and protein powders, like a full stop.

And the second is around the term clinically studied. It's a term that is loosely used and not well-defined. And you have products out there that potentially have ingredients that have been clinically studied maybe, but they're not even in the right dosages that correspond to those clinical studies. We're excited to have actual clinical studies, our own clinical studies, on every single one of our products by 2030. And none of this is required by the industry, but it's a standard that we really believe in.

Amy Cohen Epstein: I love it. It's such a funny term, clinical studies because literally, I think for a long time it had such a weight. [With the word] clinical studies you sort of have this vision of people in lab coats and people coming in and doing studies. And nowadays, who the heck knows? It could mean a focus group of 10 random people in a room with some person from a company. I mean, it's so loose and it's pretty scary.

Katerina Schneider: It's scary because it not only impacts the efficacy of products, but it impacts the safety. And for us, we always make an effort to... when we're using an ingredient, we look at the clinical studies that have been done on that ingredient, and then we take it one step further, like for the multivitamin for 18 plus, and we conduct our own clinical study showing a 43% increase in vitamin D levels over 12 weeks. And that's not even enough, because like you said, there's no one validating that clinical study. You don't know how many subjects are in that study….

We want to be publishing studies so that they can get reviewed by the scientific community and validated. And so we went out and published our clinical study in Frontiers Journal, which I think is the right thing to do, because like you said, with consumers, it's become such a commonly used term. You have no idea what it means. My biggest pet peeve is when people say clinically studied and they actually do have clinically studied ingredients but they don't match the dosage in those clinical studies. How would the consumer know that unless you're reading PubMed and all these things?

Amy Cohen Epstein: Also, clinical studies could be decades old, it can be literally decades old where industry standards have changed and efficacy levels have changed and actual ingredients and the way they're put together have changed. And you can have different ingredients that are studied separately but not together and then the way they interact and commingle is totally a different product when it comes together. I mean, it's a lot to ingest and digest, and we're so grateful that people like you have built this amazing company and are taking it to the next level in such a serious, well-mannered, scientific way. I think we're all better off for it…. I'm just going to ask you one last question, which is if there's one more product, if you could only make one more product, one more supplement, one more anything, what would you do?

Katerina Schneider: Yeah, the idea of it... I'm just excited about creating products in categories where the standards are low. Our customer has really high standards. We have really high standards as a company and it's an exciting challenge for me to see what our customers want. Our customers, we listen to them, we have an impact team and we saw that the number one most requested product to date was in the area of gut health. And so more recently we launched our Symbiotic Plus, which was prebiotic, probiotic, and postbiotic in a single capsule. And it's been a game changer, and our biggest launch to date. It's so inspiring for me to see how it's actually changing people's lives. And what's interesting there, because it falls under that parallel of traceable science and traceable sourcing, that product, a lot of probiotics just get released in the stomach where they get destroyed, where the bugs get destroyed, ours we did an in vitro study in Belgium where we showed that the product gets released in the colon, which is the best place for it to thrive.

Those are the moments that I get excited about. It's kind of flipping something on its head and doubling down on science and best-in-class ingredients. We use two of the world's most clinically studied probiotics in that product. We have a prebiotic and a postbiotic which is kind of a newer area of science. Those are really exciting for me. I think the last thing that, I think not just products, but something that I'm really excited about, is sustainability. And Ritual has been at the forefront of sustainability since day one. We always used vegan ingredients and we almost have the same approach to sustainability that we have to product development with science at its core. And so earlier, we recently became a B Corp-certified company, which is a huge achievement in this category that's so focused on health, but we've completely been asleep at the wheel in the biggest health crisis of our time, which is climate change…..

Amy Cohen Epstein: I love it all. It's amazing. Thank you so much for being here. This has just been enlightening, and uplifting, and I just am so happy to talk to you today. And everything that you've done from the time you were a really young person to now, still a very young person, is remarkable. So thank you for everything you've done for the world, really, and for young people up and to everyone enjoying your products and everyone else should. So thank you so much. The way you're changing the world is really incredible and inspiring.

Katerina Schneider: Thank you for having me. I'm also just really inspired by everything you're doing to change the world as well. And I know that the team wanted to give a code if it's okay.

Amy Cohen Epstein: Absolutely.

Katerina Schneider: The code is SEAM and it's 20% off.

Amy Cohen Epstein: Oh, amazing. Thank you so much.

Katerina Schneider: Thank you so much.