Ritual's First Virtual Event Offers Conversations on Pregnancy in Quarantine

Ritual, a direct-to-consumer vitamin brand for women, has made it a point to anchor its marketing in scientific facts rather than foggy wellness messaging. And with many of its subscribers still in quarantine, the brand is investing in educational virtual events to keep them engaged and informed. The brand is gearing up to host its first virtual event, Make Your Self: Motherhood Edition, featuring healthcare professionals, wellness experts and baby product founders discussing topics related to pre- and post-natal care and early motherhood. The free event streams live from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. PST on YouTube Premieres on June 24. Ritual CEO Katerina Schneider, who founded the subscription-based company in 2016, said the brand decided to host the event to provide helpful information for new and expectant mothers, and stress to customers why prioritizing their health right now is important. The topic is personal for Schneider, who welcomed her third child in May. “This time of life comes with so many questions, but combined with everything going on in the world around us, it felt increasingly important to show up for our prenatal community and beyond,” Schneider said. “We want our consumers to feel empowered with valuable information and feel like they have the support of our community during this isolating time.” [kickout id="1"] For the six-hour event, Schneider and other Ritual employees will moderate seven panels that focus on different stages of motherhood. Schneider said the brand crowdsourced questions from employees and customers to develop the session topics. Sessions include: Pre-Pregnancy 101: For Thinking and Trying Rethinking Your Registry: What You Really Need for Your Baby's Arrival For When It’s Time: Your Questions, Answered Breastfeeding Basics: From Getting Started to Pumping and Beyond From Nutrition to Self-Care: How to Prioritize Yourself After Birth Raising a Good Sleeper (for Your Sake & Your Baby’s) Juggling Priorities: When Work Is Your Other Child Panel participants include Erica Chidi, co-founder and CEO of Loom, a sexual and reproductive health education platform; Haylie Duff, co-founder of kidswear brand Little Moon Society; Dr. Suzanne Gilberg Lenz, an obstetrician-gynecologist; Heather Turgeon, sleep specialist and co-author of the Happy Sleeper; and Corky Harvey, co-founder of breastfeeding resource platform the Pump Station. “We curated the event to be a knowledge bank for women throughout all stages of thinking, trying and when it’s time,” Schneider said. “Whether you’re thinking about starting a family, may currently be pregnant with your first, second, third or more, or you’re a mom who is experiencing the early phases of motherhood, there is a session for you.” The brand's internal event team pre-recorded each session via Zoom, which Schneider said allowed the brand to draw a wider net of speakers with schedule flexibility. During each session, viewers will be able to interact with Ritual team members through a live chat function on YouTube Premieres. The content will also live on YouTube after the event. [kickout id="2"] “We also felt it was incredibly important to make this content as widely available as possible,” Schneider said. “This information often comes with a cost, and right now, women need to be able to access this content more than ever.” For every viewer that tunes in, Ritual will donate $1 (up to $5,000) to the Black Mamas Matter Alliance, a Black women-led organization that offers resources for and works to ensure the wellbeing of Black moms before, during and after pregnancy. Schneider said the brand plans to continue hosting virtual events and release branded content while in-person gatherings remain unsafe. “We are always looking for ways to support our customers beyond our products and events play a role in that,” she said. “It’s exciting to see how engaged customers are online right now and we are excited for future events for our brand, especially since we have products for different stages of life, from pregnancy to post-menopause.”