Did You Bring the Hummus? with Kimberly Winters

Today, I am joined by Mariquita Solis. Mariquita is a dedicated Vegan Empowerment Coach and transformational speaker who leads the Animal Ministry at Unity North with passion. Certified in Plant-Based Nutrition from eCornell and a Reiki healer, she brings vast knowledge to her role. Mariquita orchestrates immersive forest walks at the Chattahoochee Nature Center in Roswell Georgia, infusing each with transformative essence. Committed to fostering connections with nature, she volunteers with wildlife and serves on the board of the Earth Care Ministry, inviting others to join her on a journey of harmonious coexistence with the natural world.

To connect with Mariquita:

Today, I am joined by Lisa Rimmert of On the Nose. Lisa is a standup comedian and writer based in the Seattle area. In 2021, she launched her company, On The Nose, LLC, through which she helps to change the world through effective and humane communication. Current and past clients have included Beyond Carnism, Farm Forward, Woodstock Farm Sanctuary, and Volunteers of America. Lisa published her first book, a memoir, in 2022. Titled Stay: My Forever Friendship with an Aging Dog, it earned her a prestigious award for Best First Book from the Independent Book Publishers Association. She's currently working on a second dog-related memoir. When she's not writing, Lisa can be found telling jokes to audiences at bars and clubs around Seattle and beyond. A lifelong animal advocate, the topic of animals and their well-being serves as a through line connecting all of Lisa's projects.

Lisa and I became fast friends, which I think will be pretty clear as you listen to this episode. The only thing stopping us from getting up to regular shenanigans is the fact that we live on opposite sides of the country. 

I had the pleasure of reading her book Stay after Lisa and I recorded this episode so I’ll share my thoughts now. Buy the book, if you’ve ever loved a non-human animal you’ll find parts of yourself in this book. It brought me back to moments with my senior cat Cookie, that first moment you realize they’re a senior and each moment after. Lisa so beautifully captures her experience and friendship with beloved Dakota. It’s a beautiful and poignant tale I feel lucky to have read. 

To connect with Lisa:

Today, I am joined by Dr. Elisa Beth Haransky-Beck of Enlivening Consciousness. Dr. Elisa has been a Holistic Eye doctor specializing in optometric vision and movement therapy as well as natural vision improvement since 1987. Elisa has practiced raw living plant-based foodism on and off since 2012 and the Spiritual Nutrition lifestyle since 2015. One of Elisa’s volunteer passions is with Vegan Spirituality-Southwest PA which she founded in early 2019. She teaches EmbodyVision Yoga on Zoom to elders from around the world and is a Spiritual Nutrition counselor with a Master’s degree in Spiritual Nutrition.

This is a great conversation around eye health, some surprising connections between eye health and movement (surprising for me, anyway!), and of course, Elisa’s book. Elisa guides us through a brief meditation, don't worry, we tell you when it starts so if you’re driving you may want to skip this section and come back to it once you’re stationary.

To connect with Dr. Elisa

Today, I am joined by Adam Kelly of Green Edge Health. Adam offers diet-focused life coaching, empowering his clients to build a healthy relationship with food and use it as a tool to thrive, rather than cope. Adam himself struggled with emotional eating or using food to cope with the internal and external struggles in his life. He’d fall into negative habits and constantly feel trapped in a cycle of unhealthy eating that always made life that much harder. That was until he studied the power of life coaching and mindset work. He discovered that the unavoidable routine of food could be harnessed to seek out and resolve difficulties in his life that were holding him back. The strategies he learned turned his life around for good and he’s never felt stronger or healthier and now it’s his life's mission is to pass this on to to his clients and you, the listener. Too many of us struggle with food in one way or another and it feels like an overwhelming nightmare that affects every area of our lives. It doesn't need to be this way and Adam has the solution for you.

Adam walks us through how powerful our mindset is, how as mentioned in his bio, food can be a tool to thrive, why it matters to pay attention to the food messages you receive from those you love and the corporations who want you to buy their food, why some foods are crazy addictive, and more! 

Today, I am joined by Katrina Fox Storytelling Consultant at Vegan Business Media.

From her bio: Katrina is a storytelling consultant, personal brand coach and award-winning author of Vegan Ventures: Start and Grow an Ethical Business, the first global book providing success strategies for aspiring and existing vegan business owners. During her journalism career she’s written extensively for niche and mainstream media for more than 25years on animal advocacy and ethical business and was a regular Forbes contributor specializing in writing about vegan and plant-based businesses. A vegan of 28years, Katrina helps ethical business leaders, entrepreneurs and change-makers to find, craft & share the stories to inspire, influence & impact their audiences. She loves glitter, sequins, and disco. 

The love for story-telling runs through this episode as we both nerd-out about it, its so good. 

We discuss finding your origin or journey story, different types of story-telling, how story-telling can make even the most boring things interesting, and knowing when to not tell a story.

Some takeaways:

• Uncover your origin story

• Consider your audience - create a story bank - you'll use difference stories in different situations

• Collect your customers stories

• Write your brand story

To connect with Katrina

Today, I am joined by Dr. Sailesh Rao of Climate Healers. Dr. Rao has over three decades of professional experience and is the Founder and Executive Director of Climate Healers, a non-profit dedicated towards healing the Earth’s climate.

A systems specialist with a Ph. D. in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University, Dr. Rao worked on the internet communications infrastructure for twenty years after graduation. During this period, he blazed the trail for high speed signal processing chips and technologies for High Definition Television, real-time video communications and the transformation of early analog internet connections to more robust digital connections, while accelerating their speeds ten-fold. Today, over a billion internet connections deploy the communications protocol that he designed. He is the author of 22 peer-reviewed technical papers, 50 standards contributions, 10 US patents and 3 Canadian patents.

In 2006, he switched careers and became deeply immersed, full time, in solving the environmental crises affecting humanity. Dr. Rao is the author of four books, Carbon Dharma: The Occupation of Butterflies, Carbon Yoga: The Vegan Metamorphosis, Animal Agriculture is Immoral and The Pinky Promise, and an Executive Producer of several documentaries, The Human Experiment (2013), Cowspiracy: The Sustainability Secret (2014), What The Health (2017), A Prayer for Compassion (2019), They’re Trying to Kill Us (2021), The End of Medicine (2022), The Land of Ahimsa (2022), Animals – A Parallel History (est. 2023) and Milked (2022). His work is featured in the award winning film, Countdown to Year Zero produced by Jane Velez-Mitchell.

Today, I am joined by Nancy Leeds Gribble, Founder & CEO of NourishLiftGrow

Nancy is a Women’s Wellness and Weight-loss Transformation Coach, Plant-based Culinary Nutrition Expert. She specializes in empowering women in midlife and beyond with the information and guidance they need for optimal health, weight loss,  and body confidence. She believes and shares how the transformative power of food can heal, support and build our health and create a body you feel fantastic living in.   It’s never too late to become the healthiest, fittest, and happiest version of who you want to be! 

We begin with Nancy’s vegan journey, how to start making lasting change, she helped me understand that macronutrients aren’t just for the gym bros, and even touches on some things to consider to help balance out hormones. Nancy shares so many great tips and insights in this episode, you might want to take notes, or listen a second time when you can have a notebook handy. 

Takeaways from this episode:

• Own your individual journey, assess to how you got to the point where you’re ready to make a change and solidify your why.
• Focus on health first, if weight loss is also part of your plan trust that it will come as you focus on your health.
• Create awareness, you can only assess how you’re progressing towards your goal if you have the data. 

Mentioned in this episode:

Today, I am joined by Rey Ortega, The Mad Cookie Man. Rey is a pioneer in the plant-based sector with over 30 years of experience. In 1994, he founded the Alternative Baking Company, one of the first vegan cookie brands on the market, which generated $1 million in sales in 1995. In 1997, he founded Sun Flour Baking Co. to create new flavors, tastes, textures, and nutrition products with a longer shelf life and higher profit margins. Sun Flour Baking produces raw and baked gluten-free cookies free of animal products. It also provides co packing, product development, consulting, testing, nutrition facts, graphic design, and wrapping in small batches. Clients include Continental Airlines, Sodexo Marriott Food Service, and Whole Foods. The company supports Farm Sanctuary, the American Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA), and In Defense of Animals (IDA). 

Rey owned Garden to Grill, a vegan restaurant, for five years. With extensive knowledge across the entire product life cycle, he is an experienced formulator within the industry, has designed three facilities, and has sold millions of vegan cookies, keeping eggs and dairy out of the mouths of many. Besides owning ‌five plant-based brands, he has also published two children’s books and is an expert at cannabis infusion for topical and edible products.

To connect with Rey:

Today, I am joined by Anabrese Newman,  a Spiritual Life Coach and Eco-Author & Educator who provides Support & Inspiration that Empowers Empathic & Vegan Changemakers who want to make a positive change in the world while sharing their gifts & living on purpose.

Anabrese provides counsel through her books and video content across social media providing resources to support people with their spiritual wellbeing and discovering their life purpose.

Anabrese is here to spread the principles of Unity Awareness while guiding those who are ready to step into their Eco-purpose with confidence and Spiritual Empowerment for effective advocacy, and Positive Societal Change. Pretty powerful stuff right? As you’ll hear in this episode, Anabrese and I recorded this on the Winter Solstice and I think that vibe is palpable because of that, it made sense to me to post this episode now a few days before Imbolc (on Feb 1). Sit back and enjoy this enlightening and inspiring interview with Anabrese Neuman. 

To connect with Anabrese:

Today, I am joined by Jason and Deb DeSalvo of Cold Brook Farm. Jason is a serial entrepreneur who co-founded Strategic Outpatient Services, Inc. in 1995, a company specializing in the development and management of outpatient Positron Emission Tomography centers and is currently serving as the Company’s CEO.

Jason has served on non-profit Boards including Ethos Farm Project, Coral Reef Alliance, Tewksbury Land Trust, Jazz House Kids and Hoop-A-Paluza; also served as Vice Chairman of Montclair, New Jersey’s Planning Board while a resident there.

Deb is currently working as a farmer and gardener on their regenerative farm, Coldbrook Farm in Oldwick, NJ. 

She is a member of the board of trustees for Raritan Headwaters Association, an organization protecting the 470-square mile watershed of the North and South branches of the Raritan River.

Deb and Jason lived in Montclair for almost 30 years, where they raised their two children, Steven and Julia. While there, Deb worked as an environmental educator at Van Vleck House and Gardens and in the Montclair Public Schools. 

She is a Master Gardener and for a short period of time baked in a local tea shop.

Jason holds a Bachelor’s in Business Administration with Honors and Highest Distinction from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. 

After getting a BA in English Literature and graduating Summa Cum Laude from Hunter College in NYC, Deb was a traffic associate at 1010 WINS radio and traffic manager at Bloomberg News Radio.

She left that career behind to become a stay-at-home mom.

Jason and Deb live in Oldwick, New Jersey, where they regeneratively farm heirloom grains, fruits, nuts and vegetables. 

To connect with Deb and Jason:

Today, I am joined by Christine Cook Mania, writer, yoga teacher, and humane educator. Christine has devoted herself to a vegan lifestyle and studying its benefits to human health, the environment, and animals since 2005. Born and raised in Indiana, Christine holds a Bachelor of Arts in journalism from Indiana University and a Master of Arts in humane education through the Institute for Humane Education in partnership with Antioch University New England. She lives in the Pacific Northwest with her husband, two cats, and a dog, all three of which were adopted from shelters.

Connect with Christine:

Today, it's just me! Tune in as I discuss Veganuary, fur coats and social media, fat vegans, and my word of the year for 2024.

If you're interested in the workshop/office hours I mentioned in this episode, let me know! Email didyoubringthehummus@gmail.com with Veganuary Office Hours in the subject line to let me know.

I get pretty fired up when I get to my thoughts on fat vegans and the perceptions some have of us, just wanted you to be prepared for that.

Mentioned in this episode:

Today, I am joined by Kate Galli of Strong Body, Green Planet. Kate is relentlessly focused on creating a healthy, happy, compassionate vegan world. She specializes in creating the Mindset that makes your best eating and exercising choices simple and sustainable. Kate first got into fitness as a way to transform her body and confidence. She has spent 17 years helping 1,000's of individuals sculpt a body and life they love and over the past 7 years has focused on Vegan Health Coaching as one of the most powerful ways to advocate for the animals is to be fit, strong and healthy.

If you’ve been thinking about making a change in your life, whether as a New Years Resolution or simply because it’s now and you want to, this episode is a perfect way to kick that off. Kate shares tips that are actionable right now and motivates us to lead with love in all ways. She also has killer hummus recommendation. 

To connect with Kate: 

Website

Today, I am joined by David Pannell of Vegan Business Tribe. David is a vegan business expert and the presenter of the Vegan Business Tribe Podcast. David has advised a number of high-street food chains, brands and manufacturers to help them better understand the vegan marketplace and is a regular speaker on understanding the plant-based consumer. 

A former manufacturing-sector ambassador for the Chartered Institute of Marketing, David founded Vegan Business Tribe in 2020 which has grown into a support community for hundreds of vegan business around the world.

David has built a range of businesses over a career that has spanned over 20 years, including running his own successful marketing and business growth agency for over 12 years. He is also the UK agent for The Vegan Society’s Vegan Trademark scheme.

David and I cover a lot of ground in this episode. We get the more personal side of David’s vegan journey and how embarking on such a significant lifestyle change really makes us take a hard look at ourselves and face some things we don’t want to face. We talk business and the creation of the incredible Vegan Business Tribe (of which I am quite happily a member), one of David’s favorite stress relieving snacks, raising kids as a pre-vegan and having another go at it later as a vegan, and you, guessed it, hummus.

To connect with David:

Today, I am joined by Meredith Marin of Vegan Hospitality. Meredith is a vegan entrepreneur with a background in social work and community organizing. She is the Founder and CEO of Vegan Hospitality, the largest worldwide professional vegan consultant network and the only company offering Vegan Hospitality Consultant certification. Vegan Hospitality Consultants help restaurants, resorts, and hospitality groups streamline food service and customer service for their vegan guests, with the mission to usher the hospitality industry into the new era of plant based hospitality. Meredith is known in the vegan community for her work to transform Aruba into the most vegan friendly island in the Caribbean. Through her Vegan Hospitality network and her mindfulness coaching framework, Meredith's mission is to bring entrepreneurship opportunities, community organizing strategies and mindfulness tools to the vegan community to help vegans become more effective activists and entrepreneurs. She currently lives in Aruba with her vegan family of four and virtually coaches and teaches vegans all over the world to make an impact on the hospitality industry.

From Meredith’s vegan journey to the story of how organically her Vegan Hospitality business came together and everything that came between, Meredith and I have a fun and open conversation about veganism, activism, and the reason vegan guests at restaurants and hotels have more responsibility than your “regular” guest. Oh, she has a fun take on hummus too!

To connect with Meredith:

Today, I am joined by Gareth “Gaz” Scurr of BigSugaryDogue. Gaz is a plant powered creative for ethically driven brands, businesses and personalities. His years of experience include working for the fastest growing animal rights charity on social media, leading their content production and visual design. During his time there, he assisted in catapulting their following from 140,000 to over 2,000,000 in just four years. There is nothing Gaz likes better than helping people elevate their brand to reach the audience - and achieve the results - they deserve.

Today, I am joined by Kathleen Gage, founder of Vegan Visibility and co-founder of Vegan Visibility Productions. Kathleen is a highly seasoned business consultant, keynote speaker, author, marketing strategist, and visibility mentor.

Kathleen is also the founder of the Vegan Visibility Virtual Summit. The Summit is a vegan and plant-based niched event featuring top marketers, PR experts and promotions consultants who joined together to bring top quality training to vegan entrepreneurs.

Establishing her business in 1994, Kathleen has not only survived the ups and downs of the economy through timely reinvention, she has thrived by consulting and speaking in various industries, including high-tech, digital marketing, art, music, publishing, government, healthcare, pet services, environmental, health and fitness, spiritual, and manufacturing, among others.

As the host of two popular podcast shows, Vegan Visibility and Plant Based Eating for Health, Kathleen uses the power of her voice to amplify the importance of taking a stand for a more sustainable, compassionate, and healthy world.

With a global reach, Kathleen has coached and consulted thousands of individuals, incorporating her passion for business, healthy living, and her love of animals into her product and service offerings. Her holistic approach and wealth of experience make her a trusted advisor and mentor to aspiring entrepreneurs seeking to make a positive impact in the world.

In addition to her podcasting ventures, Kathleen is a prolific author with over a dozen books to her name. She is a highly accomplished content creator and an expert in crafting compelling marketing strategies that drive results.

As an award-winning speaker, Kathleen is a past president of the Utah chapter of the National Speakers Association. She is also an award-winning entrepreneur and author. Kathleen knows what it takes to be recognized for excellence in various areas of business.

Kathleen resides in a small farming community in Central Oregon, has a passion for outdoor activities and continues to be a voice for the voiceless not only in her business, but through her dedication to her rescued animals, including horses, chickens, dogs and cats, who have found a safe haven on her property.

To connect with Kathleen:

Today, I am joined by Marie Dore, of Your Vegan VA. Marie, VLCE (Vegan Lifestyle Coach & Educator)) is a Vegan Virtual Assistant with a passion for travel. She believes that anything is possible if you have the right attitude and is always looking for ways to empower her clients to reach their highest potential.

Marie travelled the world solo in 2016-17, exploring New Zealand, Australia, Asia and Europe. After meeting her partner on this life-changing trip, she moved to Germany in 2019 and experienced many shifts that led her to start her own virtual assistance business. Vegan since 2020 and living between Canada and Germany, she’s creating a life of freedom for herself while helping the vegan movement the best she can. 

Today, I am joined by Angélica Williams a vegan luxury hospitality consultant and founder of Green Luxury Living™. Angélica is passionate about curating unique experiences that are kind to fellow humans, animals, and the planet.

What started out as a blog about green living in style, flourished into consulting services for the hospitality industry, offering tailored solutions to elevate the experience of the contemporary guest. 

As an avid traveler and vegan foodie, Angélica found herself struggling to find vegan offerings and experiences for herself and her family to enjoy; either the experience would fall short due to lack of awareness from staff, or was simply unavailable. It was disappointing and frustrating, especially when she knew there was a simple way to create such experiences, if only these establishments knew how and what exactly the modern guest is looking for. 

As a vegan luxury hospitality consultant, Angélica combines her experience in conference and event planning with her passion and expertise in creating curated gatherings, to help her clients achieve their goals of attracting, retaining and wowing their plant-based, vegan and allergy-conscious guests.

Whether it’s reviewing menus and wine lists, providing kitchen and service training to staff in hotels, resorts and dining establishments, or evaluating meetings, events and conference offerings, Angélica oversees all aspects of the contemporary guest’s experience to ensure it meets (and exceeds) their expectations.

Angélica holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration and Marketing, and she is trained in High Impact Hospitality Consulting™.

Today, I am joined by Natasha and Ed Tatton of BReD, a vegan bakery in Whistler, B.C. Canada.  Ed is a professional chef who attended culinary college and worked in high-end kitchens in the UK, Australia, New Zealand and Canada, but now specializes in making organic naturally leavened sourdough. As co-owner of BReD–Organic Sourdough with his wife Natasha, Ed leads a small bakery team, making and baking bread, pizza dough, and other small baked goods. These days, Ed’s food is compassionately 100% plant-based, a movement he is passionately excited to be part of and help grow for the benefit of people, the planet, and animals.  

Natasha is an English teacher turned bakery manager, animal rights advocate and co-founder of BReD–(along with Ed). In her life before BReD, Natasha taught English all over the world and now leads a small front-of-house team of cashiers and baristas. Taking on various food and beverage roles nurtured her desire to establish a vegan eatery to provide more compassionate food choices. If you love to eat, you are in for a treat, the way Natasha and Ed talk about food will leave you inspired to explore new (and possibly even more compassionate) ways to feed and nourish yourself. 

Media Links

Today, I am joined by coach, Alyssa Almond of Rooted Rise. Alyssa began her career with Teach For America as a 3rd grade bilingual teacher in Washington Heights, NYC. Her fascination with languages and language learning called her to specialize in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL). She helped immigrants acquire the language skills needed to succeed in the US. Alyssa worked both as a middle school ESOL teacher and as a program administrator in Adult Basic Education.  

But, her veganism reminded her that she’s not just about humans.  

So, in 2017, after some intensive coaching, Alyssa gathered her courage and left her full-time job in education.  

Today, I am joined by vegan restaurant owner, Nathaly Posso Londono. Growing up in Colombia, it wasn’t always easy being the vegan kid but that didn’t stop Nathaly. Vegan since she was 7, inspired and led by her mom after one of Nathaly’s siblings became sick from eating animal products, Nathaly grew up with a strong sense of what is right and wrong and an even stronger sense of who she is. She thanks god every day that her mom choose this lifestyle for her family and she thanks her mom for teaching her to love all animals and nature.  Nathaly is now the proud owner of Red’s Leaf Cafe, where she brings her knowledge and experience of her 33 years as a vegan to the dishes she prepares every day. 

To connect with Nathaly:

Today, I am joined by Crystal Bonnet of Crystal Dawn Culinary. Crystal is a raw food chef, instructor, and cookbook author. As a plant-based and raw food nutrition program graduate at Matthew Kenney Culinary Academy and Pure Joy Academy, she’s learned the importance of the culinary aspect and nutritional elements of living foods. She shares this information with her students at Crystal Dawn Culinary so that they will have as much knowledge as necessary to understand raw foods and their health benefits. Crystal’s work within the plant-based culinary industry led her on many adventures, including the development of plant-based menus for new restaurants.

She designed and catered multiple health retreats in Canada and Europe before launching her raw chocolate and dessert business. Through her easy-to-follow and comprehensive classes, she shares the knowledge and skills home cooks need to incorporate healthy food alternatives into their lifestyles.

Tips in this episode:

3 appliances that you want in a raw kitchen:

1. High speed blender
2. Food processor
3. Dehydrator

3 food categories you want in your raw food kitchen

1. Nuts and seeds
2. Spices
3. Fresh, living produce

How to make a great dressing every time:

1. Fat - oil, avocado, nuts, seeds
2. Acid - vinegar, citrus
3. Salt - liquid aminos, tamari, miso, dried olives
4. Sweet - coconut nectar, fruit

Mentioned in this episode:

Today, I am joined by author, Victoria Moran. Listed by VegNews among the “Top 10 Living Vegetarian Authors,” Victoria Moran has written thirteen books including Creating a Charmed Life, Younger by the Day, and Main Street Vegan. Featured twice on Oprah and host of the Victoria Moran Podcast: Meetings With Remarkable Women, Victoria has studied yoga since the late 1960s and did her yoga teacher training at age 70. She has a degree in comparative religions and has studied the spirituality of daily life in India and Tibet. She is the founder of Main Street Vegan Academy, training and certifying Vegan Lifestyle Coaches and Educators since 2012; lead producer of the 2019 documentary, A Prayer for Compassion, about food choices and spirituality; and a cofounder of the Compassion Consortium, an online Interfaith spiritual center for people who care about animals. She lives in New York City with her husband, Interfaith minister William Melton, adopted chihuahua Rupert, and rescue pigeon Thunder.

In this episode we talk about how amazing being vegan is (surprise!), Victoria’s experience at the Parliament of World Religions, aging well as a vegan, her vegan coach training program, The Main Street Vegan Academy, the Compassion Consortium, and so much more.

To get in touch with Victoria: 

Season 4!! I can't believe it!

For those who have been waiting for the return of this podcast, thank you for being here and hanging out with me. A big welcome to those new here, it's a fun, safe, space where we talk about all things vegan. We get deep, we get emotional, we face the hard stuff, we also have a lot of fun, laugh a bunch, and talk about hummus!

This season is shaping up to be another great one! Tune in today to get an idea of what I've been up to, what's been on my mind, and what's in store for Season 4.

Mentioned in this episode:

My vacation!

https://www.shellystearooms.com/

https://bit.bar/

https://allsoulssalem.com/

https://barrio-tacos.com/locations/salem/

Final episode of Season 3! Listen through the end so you don't miss my thank you message to my listeners and my guests. Thank you all so much!!I'll be back with Season 4 later this year!

Today, I am joined by Food Inclusivity Mentor and Expert, Heather Landex. Heather has worked in hospitality, restaurants & food businesses for 20 years, qualified in Environmental Health & specialized in food safety for 10 years. She has advised & trained 1000s of food professionals in several countries, auditing/inspecting restaurants & hotels. The highlights of her career include the 2012 Olympics, Michelin-starred restaurants & some of the world's biggest franchises.

Vegan since early 2019 & around 6 months later suffered a spontaneous, serious allergic reaction in a hotel on a work trip. Let's just say she has naturally specialized in food inclusivity.

Most businesses are already compliant in a food safety sense but they do not recognize how many people with dietary preferences are their potential customers and they are turning them away. There's 20-40% of the population left out of eating out. Heather mentors food & hospitality professionals to attract & serve more customers, reduce risk & liability & ultimately earn more money.

In addition to a great discussion on food allergens and how patrons can be safe when dining out as well as the efforts restaurants and hotels can make to be more inclusive, Heather and I also discuss our mutual love for public speaking and Toastmasters, which we both believe has the ability to help make the vegan movement louder and more effective. 

To connect with Heather:

Today, I am joined by Angel Walkine, also known as Angel The Happy Vegan. Angel is a vegan lifestyle wellness coach, raw vegan culinarian, author and speaker, who completed the Plant Based Academy Professional Certificate Course in Plant-Based Nutrition, Lifestyle Medicine & Raw Food Mastery in Ireland. 

Angel enjoys helping others to thrive on a plant-based diet and lifestyle, with a passion for raw veganism, at home and while traveling, through identifying their “why(s)”, exploring a colorful abundance of plant-based ingredients, and benefiting from the global energy and inspiration of the vegan community. 

By traveling to more than 30 countries, Angel has gained a deep appreciation for many cultures and healthy practices worldwide that have influenced her holistic wellness approach, including herbalism, Ayurveda, and plant-based nutrition with a focus on fresh, organic raw vegan food mastery. 

In addition to Angel's personalized 1:1 and group coaching offerings, she leads Raw Vegan Detox Challenges & Plant-Powered Vegan Beauty Workshops. Angel is also the author of six books, all which are listed in the show notes, featuring a healthy and vibrant plant-based, vegan and raw vegan diet and lifestyle. 

Angel holds a B.A. in French and Spanish and a M.B.A. in Marketing & International Business. Angel is a passionate animal lover, vegan foodie, art lover, world traveler, with a regular practice of meditation, deep breathing, journaling, yoga, exercise, ecstatic dance, and a deep desire to contribute to the mindful sustainability of our planet.

Angel's Tips on Dating While Vegan:

1. Be clear about what you're looking for, your boundaries, expectations...etc.
2. Join singles groups on Facebook and post your profile
3. Protect your privacy but be open to having text or video chats through things like Facebook Messenger
4. Revisit point number 1 and make sure your profile reflects exactly what you want, where you can be flexible/where you can't
5. Join vegan dating apps (but don't forget about the standard ones too)
6. Join or create a meet up in your area

Vegan dating sites:

Today, I am joined by cookbook author Nisha Melvani. Of Indian origin, born in Jamaica, and educated in England and Canada, Nisha has grown up with a myriad of cultures and ingredients around her. A graduate of the Natural Gourmet Institute as well as Columbia University's master's program in nutrition education and a registered dietitian nutritionist, Nisha feels strongly that we can all eat healthier while still maintaining a budget. She runs the @CookingforPeanuts Instagram feed, a recipe blog Cookingforpeanuts.com, and lives in New York City with her three children.

To connect with Nisha:

First, thank you. Thank you for listening, for subscribing, for sharing episodes you find meaningful. For taking a chance on a lady who loves to talk about veganism. I am excited to see where the next 50 episodes lead me and I am so honored to have you along for the ride. 

Today, I am joined by my husband, JP Winters. I wanted to do something a little different and special for episode 50 so I sat down with JP to talk about the podcast, veganism, TV shows, Reese’s Peanut butter cups and pop tarts, relationships, the journey of going vegan, what does it mean to be manly, Mother’s Day, and some other things. We have a good time with this one, I’m sure you will too.

Check out the podcasts I mentioned here on my website:

Today’s podcast is just me and it's a quick but powerful one. I wanted to talk about my dream last night which reminded me of the quote I partially included in the title of this episode. The full quote from Lily Tomlin is I always thought somebody should do something about that, then I realized, I am somebody.”

Today, I am joined by Toni Okamoto. Toni is the founder of Plant-Based on a Budget, the popular website and meal plan that shows you how to save dough by eating veggies. She’s also the author of the Plant-Based on a Budget Cookbook, and the co-host of The Plant-Powered People Podcast. Toni’s work has been profiled by NPR, NBC News, Parade Magazine, and she’s a regular presence on local and national morning shows across the country, where she teaches viewers how to break their meat habit without breaking their budget. She was also featured in the popular documentary What the Health. When she’s not cooking up a plant-based storm, she’s spending time with her husband and their rescued dog in Sacramento, CA.

To connect with Toni:

Today, I am joined by musician Martin Ahlquist of Vystopia. Martin lives in Sweden, loves getting out in nature, spending time with friends and family, and standing up for animals. Whether through outreach with other activists or through his music, Martin follows his heart and shares what matters to him most. It also motivated him to donate proceeds from his animal rights songs to different animal rights charities. He explains more in this episode. Martin is such a kind soul and we had a really lovely, honest conversation. I’m sure you’ll enjoy it as much as I did.

Today, I am joined by Shabari Monica Das who is a  is a long-term vegan of 25 years,  Founder and Manager of World Vegan Market, Leader of the London Vegan Business Network, Founder and Owner of Shabari’s Snack Shack, and Founder and Owner of EthiGreen which is launching soon! She has written a research paper called ‘Green Companies or Green Con-panies: Are Companies Really Green, or Are They Pretending to Be?’ - Published in Business and Society Review, which is a prestigious academic journal.

In the past, Shabari was General Secretary/Board Member of the European Vegetarian Union for 8 years and Council Member/European Liaison Officer for the International Vegetarian Union for 4 years. Most of the board members and council members were also vegan. Shabari’s roles involved international travel meeting with delegates from vegetarian/vegan/animal rights organisations in Europe and USA to discuss how to push forward the movement. All the food provided at the events was vegan.

Shabari has a wealth of knowledge about veganism, green issues, and natural/chemical-free living.

She is driven by justice and firmly believes in transparency, fairness, equity and the rights of individuals, groups, and animals.

To connect with Shabari:

Email: info@worldveganmarkets.com

Thinking about growing a garden this year? This is the episode for you!

Today, I am joined by Meg Kelly of Learn Veganic. Meg teaches the Learn Veganic online gardening course to empower people to grow their own fruits and veggies the vegan way, using entirely plant-based fertilizers.

Meg has been gardening veganically for 15 years in backyards, on balconies, and in the countryside, and she helps people grow their own thriving gardens that are animal-friendly and sustainable.

Meg has been actively promoting veganic gardening and farming since 2008, when she co-founded the Veganic Agriculture Network. She launched the Learn Veganic gardening course in 2021 to provide aspiring and experienced gardeners with veganic classes, mentorship, and an online community so they can reach their gardening goals.

To connect with Meg:

Today, I am joined by Sandra Nomoto, The Content Doctor and author of Vegan Marketing Success Stories. 

From her bio: While earning her degree in English Literature, Sandra  published poetry in literary journals and film reviews online. At twenty-five, she founded Conscious Public Relations Inc., an award-winning virtual agency that certified as a B Corporation. After a decade in business, she authored and self-published The Only Public Relations Guide You’ll Ever Need in 2019. Living vegan since 2018, Sandra is now a content writer and editor for vegan businesses who also helps vegan and spiritual non-fiction authors. She aspires to eat vegan food around the world and blog about it, and lives in East Vancouver, Canada with her husband.

Sandra's 4 basics:

1. Have a website

2. Start with 2 social media accounts: LinkedIn and a more visual platform like Instagram, Tik Tok, or YouTube

3. Have a blog on your website

4. Have an email newsletter

To connect with Sandra:

Today, I am joined by Richard H. Schwartz, Ph.D. Richard is the author of Vegan Revolution: Saving Our World; Revitalizing Judaism; Judaism and Vegetarianism; Judaism and Global Survival, Who Stole My Religion? Revitalizing Judaism and Applying Jewish Values to Help Heal Our Imperiled Planet; and Mathematics and Global Survival; as well as over 250 related articles at JewishVeg.org/schwartz. He is President Emeritus of Jewish Veg, associate producer of the video “A Sacred Duty: Applying Jewish Values to Help Heal the World,” and professor emeritus at the College of Staten Island, New York. A father, grandfather, and now great-grandfather, he has since 2016 lived with his wife in Israel.

To connect with Richard and to request a PDF of his latest book, send an email to veggierich@gmail.com

Today, I am joined by Laura Rodriguez, Plant-based Nutrition Advocate. Laura has been whole food plant based vegan for almost 6 years and has certifications in Plant Based Nutrition by the T. Colin Campbell Center for Nutrition Studies on eCornell and Plant Based Chef. She currently works as Knowledge Coordinator at OUM Wellness Center in Monterrey, Mexico, creating community events and learning experiences related to health and wellbeing.

To connect with Laura follow her on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/plantbased.mex/

Mentioned in this episode: 

What the Health: https://www.whatthehealthfilm.com

Forks Over Knives: https://www.forksoverknives.com

T. Colin Campbell/The China Study: https://nutritionstudies.org

How Not to Die: https://nutritionfacts.org/book/how-not-to-die/

Eat to Live: https://www.drfuhrman.com

Cowspiracy: https://www.cowspiracy.com

Earthlings: http://www.nationearth.com

The Best Speech You'll Ever Hear: https://youtu.be/uxhL2lsgokY

Nora Cooks Vegan: https://www.noracooks.com

Mylk Makeup: https://milkmakeup.com

Rare Beauty: https://www.rarebeauty.com

Tarte Makeup: https://tartecosmetics.com

To connect with me:

Today, I am joined by Certified Nutrition Specialist, Jason Pooler, CN, CNS, MSNIH, MSNR, who specializes in vegan integrative nutrition. Residing in the Seattle, WA area with his wife and dog Loki, Jason has worked with a variety of clients as a nutritionist and trainer. He has counseled children and adults in areas of nutritional adequacy, chronic disease treatment, preventive nutrition, mindful eating, and eating disorders. He takes an evidenced based yet balanced lifestyle medicine approach that includes diving into sleep, physical activity, stress, and food.

We covered a lot in this episode, here are the tips Jason shared for finding balance. 

1. Prioritize what you care about. 

2. Use that insight to let go of what is preventing you from prioritizing those things. 

3. Realize the impact you have on the lives of those around you and the world as a whole. 

4. Think long-term. 

5. Approach your body with compassion and love.

To connect with Jason:

Tune into this quick 15 minute podcast with 4 tips to get started on your vegan journey. 

Check out these blogs for more inspiration and guidance:

https://www.didyoubringthehummus.com/post/apps-to-help-you-be-the-best-vegan

https://www.didyoubringthehummus.com/post/creating-easy-vegan-meals-bowls

https://www.didyoubringthehummus.com/post/celebrating-the-small-wins

https://www.didyoubringthehummus.com/post/easy-roasted-brussels-sprouts

https://www.didyoubringthehummus.com/post/simple-chickpea-salad

https://www.didyoubringthehummus.com/post/tiny-steps

Today, I am joined by M.C. Ronen author of The Liberation Trilogy. 

From Maya's bio: Recently named as “one of the most globally acclaimed and loved vegan authors in the movement” by the NZ Vegan magazine, Maya Cohen-Ronen (writing under the pen name M. C Ronen) is a multi-award-winning author, based in New Zealand. She has been vegan since 2012 and an animal rights activist nearly as long.

An avid fiction reader, with a penchant for dystopian thrillers, she soon discovered that since becoming vegan she could no longer enjoy reading. Each book presented a challenge of speciesism and animal cruelty. She realised that vegan-friendly fiction books were difficult to find, and moreover, fiction books that deliberately promoted animal rights and veganism were all too rare.

It was this realisation that led her to write ‘THE LIBERATION TRILOGY’, a series of fast-paced, page-turning, exciting dystopian thrillers with a strong ethical message, suitable for vegans AND pre-vegans.

In the rationale for the most recent award won by The Liberation Trilogy, the Vegan Choice Award, it was said that the books are “as relevant to our generation as George Orwell's 1984 was to his. It should be required reading for everyone.”

Sign up for World Book Day: https://www.mcronenauthor.com/fiction-authors-round-table

Buy The Liberation Trilogy: https://www.mcronenauthor.com/the-books

Connect with Maya:

Today, I'm taking a break from interviews and sharing some quick thoughts on the recent story of the King Pigeon nicknamed Flamingo. He was given this moniker by the wildlife rehabilitation center who tried to save him after he was found in a park in NYC, his entire body (head included) having been dyed pink with real hair dye, for, it is believed, a gender-reveal party. 

Today's episode is only 10 minutes, please honor Flamingo by listening and taking my words to heart. 

Mentioned in this episode:

If you're looking for tips and guidance on traveling while vegan, you've come to the right place. Whether you're living that vegan life or open to trying vegan options while on vacation, Rebecca has all of the guidance you need. 

Today, I am joined by Rebecca Gade Sawicki of Veggies Abroad, a vegan travel blog and consulting company. Rebecca lives in Metro Detroit and loves to travel. The blog showcases mouthwatering lineups of vegan food, action-packed travel guides, tips, and everything else a vegan or veg-curious traveler needs!

On the consulting side, Rebecca uses her 15 years of experience working at the intersection of communications, fundraising, and event management to help non-profits and ethical businesses leverage their missions, reach their goals, and expand their audience.

In 2022, she worked with multiple tourism organizations to promote vegan options in their cities, but she's not stopping there. She plans to expand her efforts throughout the tourism industry, making businesses realize that having vegan options is not only an ethical and environmental decision but a sound business decision too.

Rebecca’s knowledge is extensive and her passion for travel and having an incredible vegan experience while doing so comes through as she shares her stories, tips, and suggestions. Whether you’re planning a trip abroad, a deep dive into your local haunts, or a quick weekend trip, Rebecca can guide you to eat well while having an amazing time.

Connect with Rebecca:

Do you sometimes feel resentful about having to make dinner....again? Do you wish there was an easier and less stressful way to meal plan? Are you looking for a healthier way to feed yourself and those you live with? You've just found the perfect podcast episode. 

Today, I am joined by Brigitte Gemme os Vegan Family Kitchen. Brigitte is passionate about helping more people eat more plants, even if they will never go vegan. Though she used to love rare steak and blue cheese, she started cooking plant-based food in 2013 to reduce her environmental footprint, and went vegan in 2015 for ethical reasons. Today, she is energized by the possibility of improving people's health and vitality by empowering them to cook really good food.

Brigitte offers meal planning services, online cooking workshops, and a cooking club on her web site Vegan Family Kitchen. She is the author of the book Flow in the Kitchen: Practices for Healthy Stress-Free Vegan Cooking. Brigitte has a PhD in Educational Studies from the University of British Columbia and a certificate in Plant-Based Nutrition from the University of Winchester. She lives in Vancouver (Canada) with her husband and two children.

Get in Touch with Brigitte:

Today, I am joined by Sam Tucker,  Co-Founder & CEO of VegCatalyst, a social enterprise dedicated to helping accelerate the spread of veganism through digital marketing. VegCatalyst is the parent company to Vegan Creative Compass (a vegan digital marketing agency), Vegan Media Market (a vegan freelancer marketplace), VEG3 (a vegan artificial intelligence marketing tool) and Vegcademy (an online learning platform for vegan businesses and animal charities). Sam has been vegan and heavily involved in animal rights activism for more than 14 years, spending 5 of those working full-time for the nonprofit group Vegan Outreach.

Sam really knows his stuff and his commitment to the vegan movement shines in all of his projects. If you're a vegan who needs marketing help or any of the other services Sam offers, he not only knows what you need, he understands your motivation behind your business. Is there anything more valuable than that when looking to hire someone to help you with your business? I don't think so. 

Get in touch with Sam:

Can eating well translate to success in other areas of your life? Ania Lees sure thinks so, and she has the information to back it up. 

Today, I am joined by Ania Lees of Healthy with Ania. Ania is a certified Plant Based Nutritionist and founder of HealthyWithAnia – a one stop solution for those wanting to adopt a plant based diet.

For the past 3 years with nutritional workshops, weight loss programs and Kitchen Transformation programs Ania aims to spread the message that vegan food is not only healthy but also tasty and easy to prepare. She has presented at a number of festivals including; London Plant Power Expo, Singapore Vegan festival, The Conscious festival, Green and Healthy festival. She has recently co-authored a book: “My Voice - A collective Memoir by Women of Substance”.

Ania is a passionate foodie, loves to cook and create new recipes, she believes that vegan food does not need to compromise on flavour. Being fascinated with nutritional science she uses her knowledge about science behind the food and wants to show you the links between our food, health and wellbeing Through her events, she not only teaches what to put on your plate, but more importantly, what not to.

On a daily basis she educates people to be more aware of what they eat, as the right diet is the single biggest change which can truly change our health.

By the end of this episode, there's a good chance you'll feel ready to tackle to a new way of living! Have you noted the tips Ania mentioned? Keep it simple, Cook at home, Be willing to unlearn what you think you like, invest time and accept you might be uncomfortable, when you find a brand you like, stick to it, to reduce time in the grocery store and decision fatigue.

Connect with Ania: