I always recommend that new brands start small and scale up organically, first with their local markets, then regionally, then – once they have built up their capabilities – take the leap toward national retail chains. And most of the successful brands I’ve interviewed in the past have done just this.

Nat’s Nuts is an example. Founder Nat Harington started selling at one farmers market, then added a few more, then local retail stores, expanding slowly. It’s only now, 10 years later, that his products are in 4,000 independent retail stores nationwide, and he is looking to make the jump into national chains.  

Beverage brand Osia spent months driving around Denver with cases of Osia in the back of their car, speaking directly to independent retailers, managers, and buyers to get their product on shelves and build their capabilities. Finally, a RangeMe submission to KeHE’s Trendfinder Program landed them a golden ticket and we’ll soon start seeing them on the shelves nationwide.

Cartwheel, which makes a natural lice treatment kit called Nit Happens, did the exact opposite. Within months of meeting a Walgreens buyer at ECRM’s Health Care Session last year, the company landed a purchase order for 6,000 Walgreens stores nationwide – before the product was even finalized for mass production. What’s more, it successfully executed its massive rollout, landing on the shelves this past March. 

I sat with Cartwheel Co-Founder & CEO Joanna Shu at this year’s Health Care Session to unpack just how she was able to accomplish this rare feat (see our full interview below) with her company’s flagship product.

Reimagining First Aid: The Science Behind Nit Happens

Nit Happens is a lice treatment kit that provides a natural alternative to traditional lice products that rely on chemical pesticides. Its formulation relies on a unique physical mechanism rather than chemical toxicity, according to Shu. By combining organic coconut oil, diatomaceous earth, and walnut shell powder, the gel leverages mild cosmetic abrasives so that when parents massage the gel into dry hair using the product’s integrated soft silicone brush, the mechanical action destroys both the lice and their eggs.

"We're making better first aid products for families," Shu says. "And we started with a high emotion, high urgency category, which is lice treatment. This product, it's all natural, nothing toxic, and it's clinically proven. We're a class one liquid medical device and we have the clinical data to prove it."

To make the stressful experience more pleasant for families, the product is formulated to smell like oranges. Fun marketing graphics and taglines like "No more Mr. Lice guy" which was stitched on the back of the branded jumpsuit Shu wore for her ECRM buyer meetings further contrast the product with its clinical, intimidating legacy competitors.

Six Minutes to a Retail Grand Slam at ECRM's Health Care Session

The catalyst for Cartwheel’s massive purchase order occurred during a meeting at the 2025 ECRM Health Care Session. While retailers frequently vocalize their desire to act as innovators and category disruptors, few are willing to assume the operational risks associated with unproven brands. Walgreens proved to be the exception.

When Shu entered her designated 10-minute RangeMe Discovery Hub meeting with the Walgreens category buyer, she did not possess a finished commercial inventory, historical retail sales metrics, or localized test market data. Instead, she brought clinical validation, a clear vision, a humorous banner reading "Oh Nit," and a rough packaging mockup.

The response was instantaneous. Within the first six minutes of the pitch, the Walgreens buyer granted verbal approval for a 1,000-store distribution deal. But the real shock arrived six weeks later when the retailer expanded the purchase order.

"We had a 10 minute meeting, but within six minutes we had a yes for 1,000 stores and we were blown away," Shu recalls. "And so obviously we did not have enough money for even that. And then six weeks later, the buyer came to us and said, 'Actually, you've been approved for 6,000 stores.' And so that's total panic."

Walgreens’ decision to back an unproven brand nationwide allowed them to claim market exclusivity for the product. In return, Cartwheel dedicated its entire introductory marketing funnel toward driving retail traffic directly to Walgreens, opting to deprioritize direct-to-consumer website sales.

Navigating Scale-Up Panic and Last-Minute Financing

The leap to 6,000 stores exposed a massive capital deficit. Since Nit Happens is regulated as a medical device, manufacturing protocols required a full-scale commercial production run rather than a small, iterative batch. Cartwheel faced a mandatory $500,000 upfront production cost.

Securing capital under these conditions proved to be a significant obstacle. Despite possessing a binding purchase order from one of the largest pharmacy chains in the country, traditional banking institutions refused to extend lines of credit to a brand lacking commercial sales history.

"Since we had never sold, we had no proof," Shu says. "Banks were like, 'Who are you? Get out of my office with your weird suit.' Nobody would really fund us without any sales proof."

Faced with an institutional standstill, Shu pivoted entirely to venture fundraising and angel networks. The binding Walgreens purchase order became her primary leverage point while pitching on the road. Ultimately, an existing investor stepped in to salvage the timeline by issuing a specialized production loan.

Even with the capital secured, execution came down to the wire. The funding cleared during the winter holiday season, forcing Shu to manage high-value bank transfers manually. "I'm at the bank waiting for the wire to come in and then sending wires out,” she says. “It was really stressful.”

Winter Storms and Retail Supply Chain Acrobatics

With financing secured, Cartwheel faced the monumental task of coordinating an international supply chain to meet strict retail delivery windows. To manage the operational complexity, the company hired a fractional operations expert to oversee logistics.

The production process required simultaneous coordination across multiple vendors and continents. Component manufacturing experienced immediate friction:

• Component Split Logistics: The primary product tubes were printed and manufactured overseas. Recognizing the volatile nature of ocean freight, Cartwheel split the shipment: half was expedited via air cargo, and the remainder was shipped by sea. This risk-mitigation strategy proved vital when the ocean freight suffered delays; the air-freighted inventory kept production on schedule.

• Weather Disruptions: Severe February winter storms crippled transport networks across the United States. Critical instruction inserts manufactured in Florida became trapped mid-transit at a gridlocked distribution hub in Atlanta. To protect the delivery window, Cartwheel executed an emergency local reprint of the materials.

Despite sliding into home base, Cartwheel achieved a flawless logistics milestone for its March 13th launch. The brand delivered its nationwide order on time in full, avoiding the severe financial penalties and reputational damage typically associated with missed retail launch windows. (For more on scaling up your supply chain, check out my interview with Emily Page for the RangeMe blog post, From Pitch to Shelf: How to Scale Up Your Supply Chain After Your First Big Retail Win). 

Omni-Channel Marketing, Immediate Delivery, and AI Integration

Because head lice treatments are a needs-based purchase rather than an impulse buy, Shu tailored her marketing and technology infrastructure around immediate consumer access. Parents dealing with an active lice outbreak rarely wait days for an e-commerce package to arrive; they require solutions within the hour.

To accommodate this consumer behavior, Cartwheel integrated heavily with immediate fulfillment services connected to Walgreens brick-and-mortar locations, such as DoorDash and Instacart.

To streamline customer acquisition, She introduced an AI-powered diagnostic application. Parents use their smartphone cameras to take high-resolution photos of their child’s scalp. The AI agent evaluates the image to determine if the culprit is head lice or harmless debris like sand or cookie crumbs. Once a positive case is detected, the application directs the user to an store locator showing real-time product availability at the nearest Walgreens, alongside rapid delivery options.

On the grassroots marketing front, Cartwheel targets the frontline of discovery: school nurses. For the second consecutive year, the brand is exhibiting at the National Association of School Nurses conference in Las Vegas. By distributing bilingual informational literature, product samples, and coupon tear-pads directly to nurses, Cartwheel ensures that when a nurse flags an outbreak, the immediate recommendation is to visit Walgreens for Nit Happens.

More to Come: Building the ‘Gross Stuff’ Umbrella

Cartwheel’s operational model is designed for long-term expansion. While Nit Happens remains the foundational hero product, the company is actively scaling a comprehensive portfolio under its parent brand. The name Cartwheel itself was selected to evoke carefree, healthy childhood joy, providing an approachable corporate umbrella for treating otherwise unpleasant family health issues.

Next in the product pipeline is the School Day Spray, a companion detangler cosmetic formulated with natural lab-proven ingredients designed to repel lice and prevent re-infestation. Additionally, Cartwheel is introducing a silver hydrogel wound treatment developed in partnership with the Cleveland Clinic, boasting clinical data indicating it performs three times better than existing silver gels on the market.

The brand is also expanding into adjacent therapeutic categories through strategic licensing partnerships. Cartwheel is currently collaborating with Clearsight Therapeutics to license a novel, specialized medical treatment for pink eye.

"If it's gross, we're into it," Shu jokes, summarizing the brand's niche strategy. "Pink eye, lice, wounds, different spots where you could discover Cartwheel and be like, okay, we're solving this really painful problem for families to build trust. And then from there, okay, trust us to handle your pink eye and handle your wounds."

A Founder's Strategic Advice for Emerging Brand-Owners

Reflecting on her whirlwind retail journey, Shu highlighted several critical lessons for early-stage CPG founders seeking to optimize their retail strategies:

• Prioritize Human-to-Human Networking: Shu attributes her breakthroughs to active, face-to-face engagement, citing her participation in ECRM Session meetings and casual networking events – such as poker nights and line dancing (both of which she did) as critical for building memorable peer and buyer relationships. "In person is so important,” she says. “I've never gotten anything done virtual. It's got to be in person.”

• Adopt a Solutions-Oriented Pitch Structure: Rather than delivering a rigid presentation, design individual pitch decks tailored to each specific retailer. Include photographic evidence of their current shelf layouts to demonstrate precisely where your product fits and how it solves a category vacancy.

• Listen More Than You Pitch: Limit introductory presentations to roughly two minutes. Dedicate the remaining time to open dialogue to learn the buyer's specific category goals, ensuring you do not waste precious time pitching a product they have no immediate intention of buying.

• Maintain Strict Lean Habits with Packaging: Avoid the temptation of high-volume price discounts on packaging runs early on. Consumer feedback and regulatory updates inevitably necessitate design iterations, and excess initial packaging inventory often ends up discarded.

• Balance Visionary Leadership with Strict Operational Oversight: Success requires a functional internal counterweight. Shu attributes her execution capabilities to the professional dynamic she shares with her financial leadership. "I go maybe too fast, and so that's why I have a great balance with my CFO,” says Shu. “So we say I'm the vision, she's the supervision. She's the one being like, hold on, let's see, can we really afford this?"