Vegan Business Talk

In this episode I interview Lisa Gawthorne, owner of Bravura Foods, a marketing, sales and distribution company in the UK. Lisa has worked in a variety of FMCG marketing roles at major blue-chip companies, including Leaf UK working on the Chewits and Malaco brands, Nichols Foods working with the Vimto, Sunkist and Rani brands, Burton's Foods on their sugar confectionery and branded export biscuits portfolio that included Cadbury, Maryland, Wagon Wheels, Jammie Dodgers and Lyons Biscuits) and Cedar Health on its range of natural healthcare products. After five years at Cedar Health, Lisa moved to work directly for OY Panda AB in Finland, coordinating all marketing activities across the UK, US and Canada. Among the vegan food brands Bravura Foods represents are Panda Liquorice and Freedom Mallows, Captain Kombucha, Vegan Bakery and Little Miracles, and it also owns its in-house vegan confectionery brand Free From Fellows. Lisa, who’s from the north of England, is also the author of the vegan health and fitn

In this episode I interview Anna Tagliabue from luxury faux fur company Pelush in New York. Originally from Milan, Italy, Anna moved to New York two decades ago and took a job working in the fur department at Fendi where she worked for the next eight years. When the brand launched a faux fur, Anna was captivated by it, but since it sold for a lot less than the animal furs and was popular with many customers, Fendi decided to no longer do faux fur. Anna bought the coat with a staff discount and began her search for high-end animal-free furs. After leaving Fendi, she worked for 13 years at Prada on Madison Avenue as a personal shopper for high-wealth women on Manhattan’s upper east side – where her Pelush studio is currently based. Five years ago, with the help of her friend, Italian haute couture designer Antonio Grimaldi, she started to learn the other side of the fashion business, including how to order and who to meet, and two years ago she launched Pelush – which means ‘plush’ in Italian – to create wha

In this episode I interview two fabulous vegan powerhouses, both of whom have previously appeared on the show as individual guests: Victoria Moran from Main Street Vegan Academy in New York and vegan lifestyle coach JL Fields in Colorado. The reason I’ve got them back on the show and together is because they’ve co-authored a new book and being experienced authors, I knew they’d have a ton of advice on writing, co-authoring and publishing books. Victoria is a vegan of over three decades and made her reputation in the self-help genre with books including the international bestseller, Creating a Charmed Life. A twice-featured guest on Oprah, Victoria’s vegan titles include The Love-Powered Diet, The Good Karma Diet, and Main Street Vegan, which received endorsements from Ellen DeGeneres and Bill Clinton. A renowned and popular international speaker, she trains vegan lifestyle coaches, educators and entrepreneurs via her in-person Main Street Vegan Academy and hosts the Main Street Vegan podcast on Unity Radio.

In this episode I interview renowned US TV journalist and best-selling author Jane Velez-Mitchell, founder of JaneUnchained in Los Angeles, a multi-platform social media news outlet that produces original video content on animal rights and the vegan/compassionate lifestyle. Jane worked as a TV journalist for mainstream media for several decades. This included stints as a news anchor and reporter at KCAL-TV in Los Angeles and WCBS-TV in New York, as well as reporting for the nationally syndicated Warner Brothers/Telepictures show Celebrity Justice, where she did numerous stories on animal issues championed by celebrities. For six years she hosted her own show on CNN Headline News, where she ran a weekly segment on animal issues. She’s won numerous awards for her reporting, including a Los Angeles and a New York Emmy, four Genesis Awards from the Humane Society of the United States, a Compassionate Leadership Award from Mercy for Animals, and the Nanci Alexander Award from PETA. Jane has also penned four boo

In this episode I interview Debra Denniston, co-founder with her daughter Rachel, of HFS Collective (formerly Hipsters for Sisters), a fashion brand in Los Angeles aimed at ‘liberating women from their baggage’. The brand is renowned for its belt bags, a much more stylish and colorful alternative to fanny packs. An artist at heart, Debra loved color, texture and shape as a child and taught herself to sew by the age of five. But, due to pressure from her parents to pursue more sensible career options, her journey into the fashion industry only happened much later in life when HFS was launched five years ago. Up until then she worked in a variety of sectors including three years practicing law. HFS has recently expanded into crossbody bags as well as releasing a new collection made from Pinatex, the pineapple leather alternative. In this episode Debra talks about: • How her daughters’ embarrassment led to the concept of the brand • Why she and Rachel changed the name of the business, despite a successful

In this episode I interview Kathy Divine, author, publisher and book mentor in Sydney, Australia. Kathy is the author of five vegan books: Forever 21, Vegans are Cool, Plant-Powered Women, Plant-Powered Men, and Everyday Vegans, and founder of the magazine Australian Vegans Journal. The concept of ethical vegan leadership as the solution to world peace inspires and drives her work, and she uses publishing as a way to broadcast this vision into the world. Kathy offers one-on-one coaching to first-time authors and is currently developing an online course that will show aspiring authors how they can successfully publish their books. Kathy’s publishing focus is on promoting vegans who exhibit great leadership, and her coaching focuses on those who have leadership aspirations and potential. One of her #1 Amazon best-selling books Plant-Powered Women forms the basis for the upcoming global conference series she is presenting. Launching in March 2018 in Sydney, the Plant-Powered Women Leadership Conference Seri

In this episode I interview Robert Petrarca, co-founder and chief operations officer at Maxine’s Heavenly, a vegan cookie company in Los Angeles. The company is named after co-founder Tim Miller’s mother Maxine, who took great pleasure in creating delicious sweet treats for the family. As Tim got older and started making cookies for his children, he wanted to preserve the joy of his mother’s baking, but adapt it for a healthier lifestyle. So he took out the processed flours and sugars, gluten and animal products and replaced them with healthy, plant-based alternatives, while retaining the sumptuous flavours. Robert’s background is in entertainment. He owned his own production company and has worked in theater as a director, but when he tasted Maxine’s cookies, which are also soy-free and only sweetened with coconut sugar, he was keen to come on board with the company. In this interview Robert talks about: • How he and his team grew the company, despite knowing nothing about the food industry • How promi

In this episode, I interview Billy Simmonds, founder of ECO Superfoods, a natural, vegan and organic health and fitness products company in Queensland, Australia. Billy is a martial artist, bodybuilder, powerlifter, and winner of the 2009 Mr Universe title in Hollywood. An authority in health and nutrition, he has served as a strength and conditioning coach to athletes around the world. Twenty years ago he worked in in the supplements industry in a health food store that is part of the largest chain in Australia. After working in corporate banking later in life, he left to start Prana ON, a supplement range which is now carried in stores across Asia, including Australia, New Zealand, Brunei, Indonesia, Singapore, Hong Kong and New Zealand, either directly or through a distributor. After gaining a sterling reputation among vegans and non-vegans for Prana ON, ECO Superfoods launched a second brand, Kaaya Health, a nutritional supplement formulated for weight loss. Billy is an advocate for healthy eating, th

In this episode I interview Heidi Lovig, founder of Heidi Ho! an organic vegan cheese company in Oregon. Heidi is fanatic about farm-to-table dining, sustainability, seasonal menus, and local. She honed her vegan chef skills during her time living in Hawaii in a sustainable community where she managed an eco-hostel and farm. She’s trained with vegans and raw foodies from all over the world and was introduced to the spiritual side of veganism including elements of Jainism and the ethics of kindness. This resulted in her developing a deeper connection to the ingredients she uses to create her products, which are made in a dedicated a dedicated vegan, soy-free and gluten-free facility. In November 2014, Heidi appeared on episode 610 of Shark Tank to pitch her products and was successful in getting a deal from entrepreneur Lori Greiner. This resulted in a ton of national and international media coverage, as well as a high-profile new fan: Ellen Degeneres. Since being on Shark Tank, Heidi Ho! has increased its

In this episode I interview Day Radley, a vegan chef in London in the UK. Day has worked across three continents launching and running restaurants. She became a chef in 2010 after many years as a passionate foodie. After starting out in high-stress, minimum-wage kitchens, she quickly rose to Head and Executive Chef and went on to work as a private chef. She now works as a consultant, advising brands on food concept, and as a cooking teacher. She offers bespoke cooking classes in people’s homes, as well as group classes, and is available for private catering. Day will also be teaching the first vegan natural chef course at the Centre for Naturopathic Medicine in November this year. Her first book Love.Food is released later this month, and she recently ran a successful crowdfunding campaign to raise funds to put together a pilot plantbased cooking show to pitch to mainstream TV executives. In this interview Day discusses: • Why trying to find your passion is not a good strategy for long-term success, and

In this episode I interview Tammy Fry, marketing director at her family business The Fry Family Food Company. A born vegetarian since 1981 in Durban, South Africa, Tammy inspired her father Wally Fry – a meat-eating animal farmer – to go vegan. Together with his wife and Tammy’s mother Debbie Fry, also a lifelong vegetarian, they created The Fry Family Food Company. Sold in retailers throughout Australia, the UK, South Africa, and soon to be in the US, Fry’s provides tasty, plantbased alternatives to meat. An avid crossfitter, 5th Dan karate practitioner and many times South African national champion, self-defence coach, surfer and current Australian Open and Queensland Karate champion, Tammy is passionate about health and wellness. She joined the family business (which currently employs six family members) in 2001 after gaining her degree in marketing and economics to raise the profile of the Fry’s brand of all-vegan products internationally. A popular public speaker and director of Meat Free Mondays Aus

In this episode I interview Preston M. Smith, a vegan artist from Los Angeles. Known by the provocative moniker ‘PMS’, in 2009 Preston was commissioned to paint 12 portraits of President Barack Obama, for the Inaugural Purple Ball in Washington DC, where his paintings were distributed to celebrities and collectors including Ed Harris, Ashley Judd, Amy Madigan, Josh Lucas, Patricia Arquette, Il Divo, and more. Having been through art school and working part-time in restaurants and other jobs while building his body of artwork on the side, Preston eventually came to a point where he was able to work full time as an artist, showing his work in galleries as well as selling it online to the general public and collectors across the globe. Part of this transition involved in a shift in mindset from the ‘tortured starving artist’ to an entrepreneur running a creative, art-based business. This change is captured in a short documentary about Preston, called ‘Negativity to Creativity’, directed by Antonio Lugo-Ponce.

In this episode I interview Lee Coates, founder of financial planning firm Ethical Investors in the UK and superannuation (pension) fund Cruelty Free Super in Australia. Lee has run Ethical Investors since 1989 and established the first vegan investment funds in the UK three years later in 1992, pioneering the concept that animal welfare issues were as important as human rights and the environment. Following on from the success of the funds in the UK, he launched vegan pension fund Cruelty Free Super in Australia in 2010. The fund has high ethical standards in regards to people, animals and planet when it comes to what it will and won’t invest in. Popular particularly with young women, the fund was initially dismissed by financial professionals in Australia, who didn’t believe that a superannuation fund focusing on animal welfare issues, and only using social media to market itself, would raise $1000, let alone the $28 million it’s brought in so far and so quickly. An ethical financial planner of 28 years

In this episode I interview Kat Mendenhall, vegan lifestyle coach and educator who also sells custom-made vegan cowboy boots and other accessories in Dallas, Texas. After many years working in corporate sales, Kat found her calling: to mend the world through whole, plant-based nutrition and cruelty-free products. She is a Master Vegan Lifestyle Coach and Educator certified by the Main Street Vegan Academy, a Culinary Nutrition Expert certified by The Academy of Culinary Nutrition, holds a certification in plant-based nutrition by the T. Colin Campbell Foundation at Cornell University, and is certified as a Food for Life Instructor by the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine. In 2013 Kat, who’s a native Texan, launched her handmade goods business under her eponymous brand, with her signature line of custom vegan cowboy boots. Made from a patent microfiber material which is designed to have a leather grain look and a natural appearance, the boots come in a range of styles, and customers can tailor t

In this episode I interview Karine Brighten, event planner and founder of Veg Speed Date in Ontario, Canada. After working with Canada’s largest event planning company JPDL, Karine started her own company Karine Brighten Events in 2009, based out of San Francisco, California. Karine has more than a decade of experience in producing and planning events, including the renowned San Francisco Vegan Iron Chef, Berkeley Vegan Earth Day, weddings and more. Her latest project is Veg Speed Date, a speed-dating service exclusively for vegan and vegetarian singles. She started planning speed dating events in San Francisco five years ago, before launching Veg Speed Date in January 2017. Veg Speed Date events have been running successfully in cities across North America since February 2017, providing an intimate atmosphere for 30 people to connect and get to know each other in the hope of finding that someone special. In this interview Karine discusses: • Some of the challenges involved in running an event and how t

In this episode I interview Lois Eastlund, vegan fashion designer of her eponymous brand in New York. Lois has loved fashion since she was a child and knew at the age of 11 that she wanted to attend NYC’s Fashion Institute of Technology. After gaining her degree from there several years later, she entered the industry, working in Manhattan’s Garment District for more than 30 years as a designer in menswear, womenswear, junior sportswear and tween clothing. During this time she also ran her own shop in the East Village and leveraged her line of streetwear, wholesaling to vendors throughout Europe, Asia and the US, including New York City’s Patricia Fields. In 2008, after years of freelancing, vending at weekend markets and participating in an independent designer co-op in NoHo, Lois opened her eponymous boutique on the Lower East Side. For five years, the store stocked her line of men’s shirts and women’s dresses that embodied her signature aesthetic – bold patterns and flattering tailoring – which continue

In this episode I interview Robbie Lockie from Plant Based News, a content platform and creative agency in London, UK. Robbie was born in Zimbabwe, Africa, where he started his career in digital design in 1999. He then came to London a year later to further his career in design, media and communications. He’s worked with several large brands including BMW UK, Mercedes Benz, Microsoft, The Royal Navy, Jamie Oliver and Getty Images. In 2016 he co-produced a short documentary, SWINE for UK Animal charity Viva! and has been involved in a number of online campaigns, including Move your Money, a charity helping to raise awareness about ethical banking. Robbie co-founded Plant Based News (PBN) with Klaus Mitchell in 2017 to act as a global platform for change. Operating for two years previously as a YouTube channel, the brand has experienced fast growth, currently reaching three to five million people a week via the website and its social media channels. PBN Creative is the agency arm that helps ethical brands

In this episode I interview Cynthia King, founder and executive director of Cynthia King Dance Studio (CKDS) located in Brooklyn, New York. The vegan studio has been a vital part of Brooklyn’s rich dance culture for more than 15 years. In 2014, after nearly two decades of presenting dance works in Flatbush, Cynthia opened her new studio and performance space in the heart of the neighborhood. Having danced professionally since 1978 and taught since 1986 in both public and private schools, Cynthia and the studio have become staples in the local community, supporting a wide variety of civic and educational organizations. In May 2015, she received the prestigious Boston Conservatory Distinguished Alumni Award (one of many acknowledgements for her work). Later that year, she established the Cynthia King Humane Artists Scholarship, which is awarded to an incoming Boston Conservatory student who embodies compassionate living. In addition to running her dance studio – which offers a range of classes for both chil

In this episode I interview Adrian Ling, managing director of Plamil Foods, which has been manufacturing vegan food products in the UK since the 1960s. Plamil was the first company in Europe to produce dairy-free milk and later the first to make dairy-free chocolate. Committed to making products that are good for animals, people and planet, the company has a comprehensive environmental and ethics policy. A lifelong vegan, Adrian has spent over 30 years in the food industry. His father, Arthur Ling, went vegan in 1927, before the term was even coined almost 20 years later. Having joined Plamil when it had just four employees, Adrian has grown the company and product range from the original food canning line, to a 24-hour operation with almost 50 staff and an extensive range of confectionary and condiment products which sell to retailers and manufacturers worldwide. The most recent launch is the So Free range of chocolate and snack bars. Nicknamed the ‘British Willy Wonka’ because he literally has his own c

In this episode I interview Jody Rasch, managing director of VegInvest Trust, a vegan investment fund in New York that provides early-stage capital and guidance to companies striving to replace the use of animals. Prior to launching VegInvest Trust in 2015, Jody headed the Social Performance Group at financial services company Moody’s Corporation, working on projects including microfinance and social investing. He also served on various advisory boards including Women’s World Banking’s Gender Performance Initiative and the Global Impact Investing Rating Service (GIIRS). His 39-year professional background also includes founding a company that conducted financial training programs for international commercial and investment banks, heading up the New York derivatives sales desk of Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, and working in the corporate treasury departments of two Fortune 500 companies. VegInvest Trust’s current portfolio includes plant-based meal planning and delivery services Lighter and Purple Car