How being a little selfish helps Katerina Schneider to become a CEO of Rituals, a stealth health technology company.

The prettiest ornament of woman is not of gold, platinum, diamond or silver, nor a smile she is wearing. It's self-determination - the daily commitment she make for herself, rituals that form foundation for a journey. It reflects in her character like a gem. 

One of the most fascinating research of Jeffrey H. Greenhaus and Stewart D. Friedman on lives and career of over 800 business professional was: The more time that working mothers spent taking care of themselves, the better were the emotional and physical health of their children.

Sounds paradox? Not at all. It's just an another evidence that if you don't take care of yourself, you can't care for others. 

Katerina Schneider, founder and CEO of Ritual that creates the purest, most effective vitamin formulations, and shares every ingredient, source & scientist that made our vitamin a reality, is a remarkable exemplar of it. 

Though vision of Ritual has always been to build a foundation of health for all generation women, the company started with a moment of self-indulgence. When Katerina Schneider was pregnant for the first time, she was unable to find a clean, science-backed, vegan-certified prenatal vitamin she could trust and get behind, So she decided to make it by herself. Here was the origin of Ritual. 

"In a way, I selfishly invested in myself, I invested in something that I knew would bring me a lot of joy, which was combining kind of the science and creative sides of my past and my life—and relentlessly pursuing the product of my dreams", she says. 

And it made sense. With the launch of Essential for Women 50+,  her vision of completing a life cycle of multivitamins for women is starting to come to fruition—even if for Katerina and Ritual, it's really just the beginning.

"It's really empowering to have created a company that has you covered throughout different life stages," she says. "Creating something that supports us for life is a really powerful thought."

The milestone she achieved here was key to success. Along with playing the role of young business woman and a mother of two young children, she learned that key to success was to be a little selfish - the clue of putting her own oxygen mask first so that she can help others. 

That means taking time for workouts, proactive approach for her daily routine like talking, walking, meetings or drinking extra waters for healthy well being. (physical, mental, emotional and social health). As a matter of fact it's not always a linear journey, but neither to be a normal woman. To be a mother is hard. To be a business woman besides mother is a way harder. She chose her hard. Her self-determination made it's way along with ups and downs. 

Here Katrina opens up about her spirit of self-service and rituals that helped her to make it. 

On learning how to make herself from the very beginning…

"I came to the US when I was four years old. My family and I were refugees from the Soviet Union and we lived in a welfare hotel in complete poverty—we came here with $50 and a suitcase.

"My mom was told by our family to go be a manicurist to bring in money. She said no, and went to business school barely speaking English and ended up working on Wall Street. My dad started his own company. So I've had really good examples of self-determination in my life."

On unlocking her most creative idea yet…

"I kind of pursued a more comfortable, traditional path, going into banking and finance. I felt like I was doing the right thing, but it wasn't always bringing me joy or happiness.

"I've always been super creative, and when I got pregnant…it was kind of an interesting period because being pregnant makes you more creative in a lot of ways. I'm incredibly analytical, so I kind of shut off that part of my brain a little bit. So when I was faced with not being able to find a prenatal vitamin that I needed—one that was really science-backed without any shady additives—I had let go of that fear and that analytical part of my brain that told me, 'Hey, you shouldn’t do this.' And I just took that leap. I decided to develop something for all future generations of women."

"In a way, I selfishly invested in myself."

On the obsessive pursuit that followed…

"I wanted to create a vitamin that I knew would work—not just for me, but for everyone. It needed to use only the cleanest, most essential ingredients in their easily absorbable forms with a fully transparent supply chain. People keep telling me to launch a lot of products, and not obsess over a few, but we don’t want to put a lot of mediocre products with good branding out there. I wanted to focus on one at a time and make it the best it could possibly be, and then continuously work to keep it the best it can be.

"What started as an objective for a clean, science-backed, fully traceable vitamin that works has transformed into a mission to empower women to support their health throughout every life stage."

On learning to put herself first for the benefit of all…

"I wasn't making myself a priority in the beginning and there was a point where I was going through the motions: taking care of my kids, taking care of the company, taking care of my husband. But I wasn't taking care of myself. And I became a little resentful and deeply unhappy, and I started to see that in all aspects of my life.

"Then I was like, you know what, I'm running a health company. I should be really healthy too. One of the most basic things that I've done for myself is make the time to work out in the mornings before I go to work. And that is really hard because that means I could get to see my kids less, or I come into work a little bit later, but it keeps me mentally sane."

On the power of "Pick Three"…

"I think it's really hard to put your oxygen mask first, especially when you have really little kids. For instance, last night I was up till 11:30 with a child that was crying and was teething—there are nights when you don't sleep. But I always kind of bounce back from those things by making sure that I overcorrect the next day. If I was up all night working, then the next day I'll spend my first five minutes at work making a green smoothie rich in protein and healthy fats. Or I'll make sure that I go to pilates in the morning, I'll take all my meetings walking, and I'm drinking a lot of water.

"Not feeling guilty has been the hardest thing. A lot of women ask me. 'How do you have a company and have a family? It's not possible.' It is possible. The hardest thing is just how hard you are on yourself.

"Randi Zuckerberg had an article about this saying to pick three things during a given week: yourself, your career, your kids, or your relationship. If you’re trying to focus on all four you’re going to feel like a failure. Pick three to succeed and feel mentally balanced."

On why moms make the best business owners…

"Being a mom is kind of practice for being an entrepreneur. Moms just have the ability to multitask more than anyone. You're literally doing like a million things at once: simultaneously breastfeeding a child and going to the bathroom, brushing your other kid’s hair while you’re on the phone closing a deal.

"It allows me to think about formulation and our omega-3 supplier as well as the creative for an upcoming campaign, while also keeping our financial plans in mind. That’s why I think I would bet on any mompreneur."

On her vision of bringing different generations of women together…

"It's really empowering to have created a company that has you covered throughout different life stages, so that you can go on to do what you really want to do and know that someone’s taking care of you through these different phases. It's so amazing that we're all going through a lot of these different things together. And if we’ve created the single best multivitamin in the world, shouldn’t that be available to my mom or grandma?

"We all deserve better health, so we shouldn't just be focused on millennials—and anyway, we’re all aging. So creating something that is with us for life is a really powerful thought."