Who is Kirsten Maitland?
Kirsten Maitland, originally from England, took an unusual route to running a vegan fromagerie in Austin. She started working at 12, held restaurant and barista jobs, served in the U.S. Navy as an air traffic controller on a destroyer, and then spent more than a decade as an agile coach at Microsoft and Expedia. A lifelong cheese lover, she gave up dairy after going vegan and could not find plant-based cheese she liked, so she and her husband, Fred Zwar, began making their own from cashews, water, salt and cultures, aging early batches in a small wine fridge.
Rebel Cheese opened in Austin's Mueller neighborhood in 2019, won CultureMap's Best New Restaurant award in 2020, and added a subscription program during the pandemic. The company reported $2.5 million in 2022 revenue. On Shark Tank in Season 15 the couple asked for $750,000 for 5%; Mark Cuban offered $750,000 for 10%, Lori Greiner joined him, and they accepted. Afterward online sales surged, and the company added a stall at New York's Essex Market and wholesale accounts.
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