Pivot! A Vegan Business Interview Series

⏩ Fashion as the next vegan revolution. 00:43

🤩 For Annick the food side of transitioning was so simple, but the transition to vegan fashion was not. 02:15

👝 Getting people interested in veganism through cool fashion items. 04:10

🌵 Great innovation is happening in vegan fashion: Nepal cactus leather, apple leather, pineapple, banana leather, etc. 05:48

🍎 Big fashion brands and small ones are using new vegan leather commercially.  08:19

🧠 Don’t you want a really progressive approach? 09:45

🔗 Opening up many lanes of communication and different ideas. 11:10

👏 A multi-pronged messaging approach to create a support network. 12:04

💻 Building the business of immaculatevegan.com 13:53

💥 How Immaculate Vegan was born from a few events. 15:30

😇 “There are so many things you can do that you may not think you can do.” 18:45

😎 Risky and not-that-risky approaches to business: find a way to try. 19:03

👠 Premium vegan fashion focusing on the USA and UK marketplaces. 19:46

🎁 Gift guides for the festive season: surprise people with how great vegan stuff is. 21:35

👛 A positive change discussion about veganism can start with an apple leather wallet. 22:30

🙌 Be willing to try your ideas out and be focused about it. 23:45

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Thanks for listening to Pivot, our vegan business interview podcast. This is recorded as a live streaming session so I hope you’ll join us for future interviews as well! If you are feeling inspired, but wondering how to take some actionable steps to improve your business, I invite you to explore our two premium paid podcasts, Going Solo or Fix It.

Once you get to the point as a solopreneur or small business owner where you want to scale up, as soon as you want to hand something off, you need a system in place to do that. What we found was that we have lots of small clients come to us, and they want to hand things over to us, but they don't really know how to do it. Or they're quite scattered and their processes aren’t efficient. And so we spend a lot of time with clients talking about how we can help them streamline things. This is kind of a sideline to what we do in supporting vegan businesses...we actually find and create systems and process documents for our clients in order for us to be able to work efficiently for them and with them. So, the efficiency side of things is definitely something that small businesses don't think about enough. 

Notes:

🙋🏾‍♀️ Sam is a resource for all vegan entrepreneurs out there. 00:44

🛣️ Sam’s journey to entrepreneurship: from becoming vegan overnight to activism. 03:34

🦓 How Sam founded Zebra Admin for helping entrepreneurs and small business owners. 06:51

🤓 What the business model of virtual assistant services as a full business support and partnership looks like. 08:51

👉 How Sam shifted her role from solopreneur to team leader. 10:46

🎯 Entrepreneurs need a phased approach to grow their businesses. 12:39

🔝 Vegan businesses are held to a much higher standard and customer experience. 14:06

🔎 Small businesses don’t pay enough attention to efficiency. 16:30

📝 Marketing is important, but having documented processes is crucial. 17:58

☮️ Turning chaos into calm tagline. 19:24

🌺 If you own a vegan business, people need to know it is a vegan business. 21:35

🤩 Tips on how to organize your tasks: don't be afraid to delegate. 23:06

😎 Vegan business networking:: “If you want a vegan to do something for you, there'll be one somewhere.” 26:30

🌞 Seeing the vegan world coming alive is so inspiring. 29:48

👌 Sam and Stephanie have the same passion and vision. 31:33

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Thanks for listening to Pivot, our vegan business interview podcast. This is recorded as a live streaming session so I hope you’ll join us for future interviews as well! If you are feeling inspired, but wondering how to take some actionable steps to improve your business, I invite you to explore our two premium paid podcasts, Going Solo or Fix It.

 “The idea of the VeganNation ecosystem is to have one app, one technological platform to connect consumers, businesses, organizations—anyone that has anything to do with plant based and sustainability—and bring them into one ecosystem. It starts with a directory to list all the businesses—not just the food-related ones, but also fashion, health, wellness, cosmetics, accessories—the entire lifestyle that it takes to sustain what we're doing. That will transition in the future into a full marketplace to buy and sell all those products. A digital wallet [is provided] to enable payments between businesses and consumers, empowered by our global loyalty program. That is the essence of Greencoin, the digital currency that we launched. That will be the economic engine of this global movement. 

People around the world, any conscious consumer...regardless of where they are [can be involved]. When they are part of this ecosystem, when they're participating, when they are actively helping to build this economy, and using all aspects of the ecosystem, from the directory to the marketplace to the wallet incentivized by the Greencoin, that is really the true building of a borderless vegan nation.”

🤓 As the vegan movement goes forward, we need systems, institutions and ways to collaborate with each other. 00:43

🍀 We are bringing vegan businesses and communities into one ecosystem, and helping to drive this ecosystem forward as a true global economy. 02:38

🚵‍♂️ The first pivoting moment in the journey of VeganNation and the rising of the vegan ecosystem. 03:58

🍀 Having a global community to help each other in all spheres of life. 08:27

⚡ Standing together in global vegan economic power. 10:10

💰 Every currency in the world is used to drive consumer behavior and VeganNation is using it to preserve Amazon forests, help animals and so much more. 12:25

📱 VeganNation 2.0 app and business directory. 14:25

🌳 Plant-based values, sustainability and thrivability: the tree example. 16:03

🍄 The underground network of trees of mushrooms and how that connects to blockchain technology. 18:03

🤩 The first uses of the app will really be the directory, finding businesses, payment and loyalty. 19:04

🏞️ Being like a river is the key for startups. 22:32

😷 The major pivot VeganNation had during COVID. 24:33

😇 Isaac has two methods to deal with huge challenges. 27:44

📣 A major part in driving veganism forward is on TikTok but also on other social media. 29:44

😃 Power of music, power of smile and positive spiral. 32:08

💚 VeganNation app 2.0 is going to be reissued on November 15th. 33:51

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Thanks for listening to Pivot, our vegan business interview podcast. This is recorded as a live streaming session so I hope you’ll join us for future interviews as well! If you are feeling inspired, but wondering how to take some actionable steps to improve your business, I invite you to explore our two premium paid podcasts, Going Solo or Fix It.

“I've been told that if you have your own business, you're working with top big brands that everyone knows, and you're making great money, then you're successful. It was really interesting to get [to that place] as fast as I could, and then realize that I didn’t feel successful because I didn’t feel fulfilled. 

At the same time, I was on my personal spiritual journey of becoming fully vegan, of starting to meditate, reading spiritual books and really feeling that, actually, my work is not aligned with what I truly care about on the inside, and [thinking about] how I could find a way to bring those two things together?”

🆙 Elevating the entrepreneurial profession. 00:46

👠 Nikki worked in the fashion industry for more than a decade but her values were not met. 03:00

🙃 Success and different visions of success: what does success mean to you? 06:40

👀 Things are not so obvious: Nikki found a holistic approach to the internal and external parts of consulting. 07:38

🕴️ It all starts within: “Our businesses are an expression of us.” 09:03

🎯 Entrepreneurs have to accept imperfections and listen openly. 12:19

😩 Fear of being judged: “I realized that no one has time to judge. No one cares.” 13:06

⚡ “Making a leap and taking the first few steps can really inspire a ton of people in so many different ways.” 14:47

✍️ A 5-minute journaling routine in the morning with three simple questions. 16:51

🗓️ Seasonal reviews: create space for things you want to do and let things evolve. 18:17

❌Nikki scrapped the long-term plans: having flexibility and vision instead is more important. 21:45

💡 Creating ideas and simplifying the execution of those ideas to really make a difference. 24:05

📄 One-page Business Canvas. 26:35

🤩 You are not alone: align yourself with people who are transforming themselves, who are making a change or have already done so. 29:51

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Thanks for listening to Pivot, our vegan business interview podcast. This is recorded as a live streaming session so I hope you’ll join us for future interviews as well! If you are feeling inspired, but wondering how to take some actionable steps to improve your business, I invite you to explore our two premium paid podcasts, Going Solo or Fix It.

“My biggest ambition for this firm is to help people imagine themselves as part of something much bigger than they currently see.  I think the hypothetical vegan...who is buying stocks of Beyond Meat and praying, might think that there are one or two businesses out there that align with their values, when in reality, there are thousands.”

“I hope [I can help] people look at the companies in their portfolio and go, “It never really occurred to me to think about cell phone towers as a vegan business opportunity”—[but they are!] Here are these companies doing amazing work, bringing connectivity to people, creating economic opportunity in rural spaces, all sorts of great stuff—[and they also happen to be vegan!]”

💰 Sloane comes from a family of professional investors. 02:53

😞 Crisis in 2008 showed a deep bankruptcy of trust in the investment industry.  04:47

😎 Defining new values for the investing world and creating a new investment landscape. 06:41

🤩 Setting up a list of good companies and getting deep into projects they are supporting. 10:27

💸 If people don't trust in the investment solutions that they have access to they don’t invest. 13:25

🤔 Companies we support today might not be aligned with vegan ethics in years ahead. 14:47

🌟 What you have to give up to find the real deal. 16:10

🤓 Learning to look at businesses through a different lens and finding ones that delight us to invest in. 19:22

🤯 Example: seeing cell phone towers as a vegan investment opportunity. 20:51

⚠️ Vegan traps: food is not our only opportunity. 22:16

🎙️ Free money with Sloane and Ashby podcast. 23:44

👂 Helping people build savings capability and listening to clients better.  24:08

🍄 Toxic relationships with money: start getting comfortable with discussions about money. 27:07

💵 There is too much shame wrapped up in money. 28:45

🎯 “Believe in yourself and create your own place in an industry that you would like to be a part of.” 30:40

🙋🏾‍♀️ There's opportunity out there for us as vegans in every industry. 33:03

“Sometimes we forget and fall into our routines. And food is totally a habit. Food is a learned habit. Our diet is very much a learned skill that we build over time and we grow with. We change, and we may start cooking with new ingredients. Or maybe we have a food allergy that comes up from time to time, and then we have to start using different foods because we are consuming one thing for a long time and our body's resisting it.

There's a saying that if you find one recipe in a cookbook that you use and love, then it has been worth the purchase. Because that can be something you return to weekly. Or [maybe it’s because] you found one thing that inspired you to cook something in a new way.”

👋🏽 Welcome, Dreena! 02:00

😎 Being vegan before it was cool--it wasn't a welcoming place to be. 03:15

🍽️ Her first cookbook was released in 2001, and a second one in 2004. 04:29  

🧄 "Eat, Drink and Be Vegan" cookbook: all the different cuisines and flavor variations in veganism. 06:31

🥑 Dreena almost stopped writing but then she released "Let Them Eat Vegan" and "Plant-Powered Families"  07:12

🤔 The challenges of using a business approach when you are a creative person. 09:29

✌️ Finding the balance between a vegan life track and a vegan professional track, and what that means for building a vegan economy. 12:01

😇 Dreena has helped many families by introducing veganism and children's dishes. 13:27

👩‍🍳 Dreena’s Kind Kitchen cookbook is released in August: practical easily accessible recipes, FAQ section, nut-free recipes.16:31

💃 Eating healthfully can become part of our lives: batching, prepping, and Dreena's tips to help with everyday life are great.19:22

🍲 It’s important to shape solutions that are manageable for the everyday vegan lifestyle: not all people enjoy cooking. 21:03

🙃 The period of going from the old to new creates challenges for most people transitioning to veganism. 22:32

💎 "The only constant in life is change. We're always changing." 23:46

🤗 Cookbooks help us reconnect and look at food differently. 26:32

🥗 Food is a habit: Our family members remind us of the food traditions we have created. 27:27

❄️ Tips: freezing hummus, pasta sauce, or soups and remaking them with new flavors. 29:27

🥣 The best, most delicious meals in a bowl. 30:58

🖥️ Contact Dreena through her site. 32:25

💚 A lot of women struggle with worthiness: you really do have worthwhile gifts to share! 33:43

🤩 Seeing ourselves outside of ourselves is a great perspective for growth. 34:53

🥒Cucumbers for a snack will go great with hummus! 36:16

Thanks for listening to Pivot, our vegan business interview podcast. This is recorded as a live streaming session so I hope you’ll join us for future interviews as well! If you are feeling inspired, but wondering how to take some actionable steps to improve your business, I invite you to explore our two premium paid podcasts, Going Solo or Fix It.

When people donate they want—and deserve—to know where their money is going. They need full transparency and they need to know the impact their money is making. As many of the young people we work with put it, “What's in this for me?” Aren't we all in this together, and shouldn’t we all be able to win? I realized that the current charity model made it impossible to answer those questions. Charity has been around for 200 years and the way it is done hasn't been touched. So it's time for a change.

😇 Stephen has pivoted many times, always disrupting the giving space in a positive way--he is currently working to help solve child hunger in North America. 03:00

😎 Learn about the sustainable model Steven has created around giving: the donor gets full transparency and wins more than they put in. 04:36

💚 The Vegan Experience offers donors a discount app and buys children’s meals that go directly into charities’ hands. 07:07

🤗 Building a homeless shelter and a feeding-people-model transformed into The Vegan Experience thanks to the vegan community. 08:18

🤯 One out of five children go to school hungry in Canada and the USA. 11:35

🌞 This is a collaborative model plus charity: the idea is to feed hungry kids in North America and then use the profits to help others. 13:58

💲 How The Vegan Experience shares its profits and reinvests in the vegan community. 15:40

✨ Use The Vegan Experience app to buy a meal for kids in North America and save 15% on purchases with more than 300,000 vendors. 19:11

🥗 An eye-opening experience: vegan food is providing so much energy! 21:18

🆚 Key idea: everybody must win more than they put in.  25:21

www.theveganexperience.ca

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Thanks for listening to Pivot, our vegan business interview podcast. This is recorded as a live streaming session so I hope you’ll join us for future interviews as well! If you are feeling inspired, but wondering how to take some actionable steps to improve your business, I invite you to explore our two premium paid podcasts, Going Solo or Fix It.

"I feel like every single decision I make is empowering me because I get to decide how I spend my money. I get to decide what businesses I'm going to support, I get to decide what kind of world I want to create. I get to do that not only with my food choices but with every single choice I make in my business. And if I don't like a company’s practices, or how they're sourcing product, I can make a decision about [how—or whether—to work with them]. And through that decision, I can influence how companies are going to move forward. Because it's all about the bottom line for them—it's about keeping a viable business. And that means gearing the business toward consumer choices." ~ Risha Walden

🤩 Vegan interior design is Risha’s passion. 02:17

🤯 The interior design industry commonly uses animal products, but as a vegan interior designer Risha has managed to align her personal ethics with her business. 03:03

💪 “Every single decision I make is empowering me because I get to decide how I spend my money.” 07:03

🤔 Being a vegan designer means asking questions about furniture not many people have asked before. 09:52

❓ The power of questions: change will not come by wagging a finger at people. 12:13

🌱 Why is it important to ask so many questions? “I’m planting a seed.” 13:38

🤷‍♀️ People warn, “You're going to alienate your clients.” But believing in my own work is more important than that risk. 16:34

😇 Risha talks about raising awareness about food to byproducts of all other animal industries. 19:52

🙌 Vegan Interior Design Week is a free panel event in November. 21:16

👍 Meeting so many people and communities online has been instrumental for Risha and her work. 25:28

👑 Risha’s advice: Don't be afraid to use the word “vegan” in your business and messaging. 27:36

💎 We can change the world and we can create the world we want through our choices. 28:57

Thanks for listening to Pivot, our vegan business interview podcast. This is recorded as a live streaming session so I hope you’ll join us for future interviews as well! If you are feeling inspired, but wondering how to take some actionable steps to improve your business, I invite you to explore our two premium paid podcasts, Going Solo or Fix It.

Louisa Nicholson is the brain behind Every Vegan Recipe, and in this episode of PIVOT she shares tips and experiences that will be invaluable to other vegans looking to start up a new online business.
 
https://www.everyveganrecipe.com

🥑 Every Vegan Recipe is a user-friendly platform and network for publishing and sharing plant-based-only recipes. 02:42

👌 The importance of making sure that the customer experience in your business is exceptional. 4:42

🗓️ How the launching of “weekly recipes” helps to bring the Every Vegan Recipe community together, and tips from Louisa on planning ahead. 6:15

🎀 The details on how a longer launch timeline gives Louisa enough time for fine-tuning. 07:24

🎯 How this feature-rich platform allows people to find out everything they need to know about the transition to vegan eating, plus how it helps recipe creators to gain needed visibility.11:01

😇 The advantage for recipe creators: no need to build and market a standalone site -- they can now submit recipes to Every Vegan Recipe! 14:17

🆚 Info on building a subscription-based business: the Bandcamp vs Spotify model. 17:06

🔎 ‘Testing the waters’: “There's nothing like actually launching and seeing what happens.” 21:33

✨ Buying the experience: why it’s important to realize that people are looking for more than just content or an item. Discussion on the fact that expectations for quality customer experience are growing. 22:22

🛣️ Why It’s important to spend your time with customers and create a two-way street in your business right from the beginning. 24:52

🤔 Figuring out the difference between what you think your customers would like and what they actually want. 26:08

🧱 Discussion on an iterative approach to building a business. 27:40

🧘‍♀️ What a day looks like for Louisa. 29:11

🤩 A caution: Resist reacting to anything instantly, especially assumptions about the news and success stories. 31:57

👉 Reframing how you think about creating your business: “Don’t wait. It will not be perfect but do it.”

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Thanks for listening to Pivot, our vegan business interview podcast. This is recorded as a live streaming session so I hope you’ll join us for future interviews as well! If you are feeling inspired, but wondering how to take some actionable steps to improve your business, I invite you to explore our two premium paid podcasts, Going Solo or Fix It.

MEET OUR GUEST:

Originally from Catalonia, but resident in the UK for several decades, Jordi is a vegan Zoologist specialising in animal behaviour, who has been involved in different aspects of animal protection for many years. In addition to scientific research he has worked mostly as an undercover investigator, animal welfare consultant, and animal protection campaigner. 

His most notable work achievements have been his involvement with the first successful prosecutions under the Hunting Act 2004, the exposé of trail hunting as a false alibi for illegal hunters and his participation in the campaign that led to the ban of bullfighting in Catalonia. 

Under the pen name J.C. Costa, he has published a novel titled “The Demon’s Trial”, in which he explores many of the dilemmas animal protectionists face. 

He has been an ethical vegan for over 18 years and in 2020 he achieved notoriety for securing the legal protection of all ethical vegans in Great Britain from discrimination, in a landmark employment tribunal case that was discussed all over the world. 

He is also the author of the book "Ethical Vegan: a personal and political journey to change the world" to be published at the end of 2020. 

Learn more about Jordi's book (or Buy The Book): https://septemberpublishing.org/product/ethical-vegan/ 

LI: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jordi-casamitjana-36586a15 

FB: https://www.facebook.com/veganjordi 

TW: https://twitter.com/Jayseecosta 

IG: https://www.instagram.com/jayseecosta/?hl=en 

YB: https://www.youtube.com/user/Jordiwasp 

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