We were lucky to catch up with Kirsten Maitland recently and have shared our conversation below.

Kirsten, appreciate you joining us today. How did you come up with the idea for your business?

My parents passed away at a very young age due to cancer. From a very early age, I have always believed that food could heal and that diet plays a vital role in health. As such, I’ve had a lifelong interest in diet and nutrition, always trying to learn everything I can about these topics. In my thirst for knowledge, I one day picked up the book “How Not to Die” by Michael Greger. The book is backed by science, covers the top 15 disease killers in the US, and outlines strategies for preventing and reversing these diseases. When I got to the cancer chapter, I was shocked to learn the correlations between dairy and cancer and gave up dairy overnight.

The challenge was we LOVED cheese and would eat it with most meals. It was terrifying to give up cheese, and we honestly didn’t know how long we would last without it. But….. we’re stubborn and determined, and wanted to make my new plant-based lifestyle work. So, we took matters into our own hands and started experimenting at home. We began learning about the art of aging cheeses and crafted our first 12 wheels of bloomy, rinded Brie in a tiny wine fridge we had set to the perfect temperature and humidity. The initial results blew us away. I vividly remember trying the first iteration of the two-week cave-aged Brie and being transported back to the streets of Paris, where I used to indulge in a rich French brie spread on a baguette. I knew then that we were on to something, especially since the only vegan cheese offerings at the time were either spreads or shreds, and they were no match for a cheese board. They certainly couldn’t be paired with a glass of wine!

Coincidentally, I was starting to dream of new career paths that better aligned with my values. I loved what I was doing as an Agile Consultant but wanted to focus my time on things that would move the needle on my passions: animal welfare, health & nutrition, and veganism. In that moment of trying the Brie, we knew we needed to start Rebel Cheese, which is when it was born.

Fast-forward five years, and the spirit of innovation and striving for betterment remains a cornerstone of Rebel Cheese in our new 9000-square-foot facility, equipped with the country’s largest vegan brie cave—built by dairy cheese cave experts. With obsessive, never-ending R&D, our Brie has won multiple culinary awards and starred in our Shark Tank appearance in 2023.

When our dream started – we hoped to fill that cheese-shaped void in the hearts of vegans near and far. But over these five years, we’ve realized that Rebel Cheese means SO much more to many. Most of our customers aren’t vegan – they’re people who are watching their cholesterol levels, experience lactose intolerance, are affected by the alpha-gal syndrome (an allergy to animal-based products), or love our cheese. We’ve kept our messaging inviting and informative, thrilled that Rebel Cheese may build bridges among friends and family with various dietary preferences and leave a powerful, positive impact on this world, Cheese Wheel by Cheese Wheel.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

Hi there! I’m Kirsten Maitland and I’m the co-founder of Rebel Cheese in Austin, Texas. We are artisanal cheesemakers with a unique twist – all of our cheeses are 100% plant-based. We craft over 20 house-made gourmet, charcuterie-board style cheeses with a brick-and-mortar deli & restaurant in Austin, a cheese shop in NYC, an e-commerce shop and burgeoning wholesale and distribution channel. With clean, ethically-sourced ingredients, and a commitment to replicating the textures and flavors of our most-loved dairy cheeses, we’re creating a future of cheese that’s more sustainable but just as delicious.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

I’ve been a fierce, independent woman my entire life. This started at 15 when I couldn’t bear being a foster kid anymore. I knew I could do better by myself and had proven so by graduating high school early, even though I missed most of my schooling, didn’t have a stable home, and an abusive parent. My social worker felt I was mature enough to sign off on my plan and convinced the British government to take a chance on me and provide me with my tiny apartment across from a 7-11 convenience store. Not long after getting established in my new place, my dad passed away suddenly, and so did my anchor to England.

My mom had heard the news and offered to move me to the United States. She had never made this offer before, and with my father out of the picture, she saw this as our chance to be reunited after 12 years. I jumped at the opportunity to leave my tiny town and took the next available flight into the unknown. I didn’t grow up with my mom, so I had no idea what to expect. What seemed like a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity quickly took a turn for the worst when my mom kicked me out shortly after moving in. I guess I reminded her of my dad too much. It ended up being for the better as she ended up passing away years later from complications due to her many addictions.

After my mom had kicked me out, I found myself homeless in a foreign place with no friends and no way to contact them (this was 30 years ago). I worked as many hours as I could as a barista and in a general store while trying to figure out what to do. The biggest challenge was the need for more transportation. I desperately wanted to go back to college, but I needed the means of transportation to get there. I also had to figure out how to apply for American colleges with new foreign requirements and much older entry ages. I determined my only path forward was returning to England or joining the Navy. I decided on the latter.

I was the third woman to check in to my ship and one of the first female air traffic controllers in the US Navy. I also got to experience working days without sleep, a life-or-death stressful role, and how to be away from everything familiar for six months at a time. These military experiences have undoubtedly contributed to my identity today. Towards the end of my military career, I was hit by a car and transferred off of the ship. Initially, my new job while on light duty was to answer phones until the captain (who also got transferred) realized this and immediately moved me to the technical department. I had no technical experience but was so thrilled to be away from the phones that I would do anything. They immediately started giving me work assignments (there was no time for training), and was required to I figure the new role out on the job.

This became my segue into a successful twenty-year technical career, which I ended as a principle of a sucessful consulting company. One of my most important life lessons taught me that you don’t have to know everything to be good at a task or job.
I learned every job following my Navy career as I went. I never met all the requirements when I applied, but I knew this didn’t need to hold me back. The same is true with our current company. My childhood and Navy experiences were crucial in making me who I am today. They taught me how to work long, grueling hours, survive on nothing, and work under life-or-death stress. As difficult as those times were, I am forever grateful for them, as I wouldn’t be the person I am without them.

How’d you meet your business partner?

My business partner is also my life partner. There are pros and cons to this – ha – but mostly pros. We met at a Putt-Putt gulf league in Seattle. We were both going through divorces and joined to meet new people. Never in a million years did I imagine we would be doing what we are today, but am very grateful and wouldn’t trade it for anything. Not only does our skills, experience and personalities complement each other well, but we also get to work together each day on making our dream a reality, one wheel of cheese at a time.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.rebelcheese.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rebel.cheese/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rebelcheese/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kirstenmaitland/
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/rebel-cheese-austin-2