Pivot! A Vegan Business Interview Series Vegan Mainstream

Episode Summary:
In this episode of Pivot! we delve into Carolyn Scott's multifaceted career as The Healthy Voyager. From her pioneering vegan travel show to her latest cookbook, Carolyn has been at the forefront of the global vegan movement. Discover how she's transforming mainstream dining, consulting with major hotel chains, and inspiring millions to embrace a plant-based lifestyle.
https://www.healthyvoyager.com/

Full Description / Episode Show Notes:
Join us for an incredibly interesting conversation with Carolyn Scott, aka The Healthy Voyager, as we explore her remarkable journey in promoting veganism globally. As a chef, nutritionist, and media personality, Carolyn has led initiatives that have reshaped the culinary landscape.

From her groundbreaking vegan travel show to her bestselling cookbooks, Carolyn's influence transcends borders. Tune in to discover how she's partnering with major brands and institutions to revolutionize plant-based cuisine.

We also explore Carolyn's latest projects, including her consultancy work with theme parks, air force bases, and even entire towns.Plus, Carolyn shares how she's leveraging her expertise to create sustainable, delicious vegan options for diverse audiences.

Check out this episode to learn the secrets to Carolyn's success and walk away with valuable insights into entrepreneurship, flexibility, and the power of positivity.

Get to know Carolyn Scott and the Healthy Voyager better here: https://www.healthyvoyager.com/
Show Notes:🌎 [00:43] Being vegan not just in your backyard, but on a global scale.✈️ [03:29] Healthy Vegan Show: becoming vegan and traveling was challenging, so Carolyn produced a healthy eating show that became her full-time business. 🥑 [09:30] Carolyn wanted to learn all about veganism and cooking: a personal choice that turned into a whole new world.🥅 [12:19] Staying consistent. But don’t wait for the perfect time for anything.🌍 [15:02] Travelling in faraway countries as a vegan: pre-planning and trust are crucial, and people will always help if you are patient.🧳 [18:57] How to choose your destination: many resources are on Carolyn’s website.🌱 [20:55] Carolyn is keeping herself very busy: cookbooks, TV presentations, veganizing different restaurants, nutritional coaching, and many more.🎯 [23:37] Don’t turn away from your dream: becoming an early adopter of social media marketing. 🥚 [24:40] Flowing through issues: don’t throw all your eggs in one basket. ⚠️ [27:24] Learning all aspects of business is crucial: delegating and understanding roles people are doing.🙃 [30:54] Being an entrepreneur means being ready for changes, and being flexible – you don’t know what is around the corner. 
Links:
Website: https://healthyvoyager.com/ https://www.facebook.com/RdsmodaKovinhttps://facebook.com/healthyvoyager 
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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 unsure of how to take actionable steps to improve your business, I invite you to explore our two premium paid podcasts, Going Solo and Fix It.

Full Description:
Prepare to be inspired by the incredible journey of Nancy Leeds Gribble, the driving force behind NourishLiftGrow. Her story embodies the power of resilience and transformation. Nancy's life took an unexpected turn when she faced the profound loss of her husband to terminal cancer, leaving her a widowed single parent while navigating a turbulent real estate market. Later, she experienced the pain of losing a new love to cancer, prompting her to redefine her path and refuse to let adversity define her.

As someone who had been a vegetarian since her early twenties and a vegan for the past 17 years, Nancy's dietary choices were based on ethics rather than health. However, witnessing the devastating effects of disease and becoming the sole parent to her young son propelled her to seek the healthiest lifestyle possible. This awakening sparked a profound transformation journey encompassing health, fitness, self-development, and career.

Nancy Leeds Gribble is now the founder of NourishLiftGrow and a Plant-based Vegan Culinary Nutrition Expert specializing in empowering women in midlife. She helps them achieve weight loss, body confidence, optimal health, and vitality, making their second season of life their best season.
This episode offers a deeply moving and inspirational story of turning tragedy into triumph, embracing a vegan lifestyle, and empowering others to thrive. 

Get to know Nancy Leeds Gribble and NourishLiftGrow better here: https://www.nancyleedsgribble.com

Quote:
I think when you start your business if you don't take the time to really figure out why you're starting it. If it was ‘This sounds like it will be fun” and then you find out it's not so fun all the time, you won't sustain it. So you really want to sit down and figure out why are you starting this business? Like, what is your driving force, aside from, we need to make money, we have to make money. But what are the other deeper reasons that this is so important to you? And that's going to help you when you hit that wall, and you will hit a wall and think it's very few people that they just start a business and off they go, and they're coasting and everything is great. You're going to hit the wall, whether it's because something didn't work, whether it's life, like God the world like COVID when it hit everybody, and you're going to have to either say, at that moment, I'm out, or no, this was important. And I'm going to figure this out, and I'm going to pivot And I'm going to adjust and, and you keep doing that you keep doing that until you hit the spot. 

–Nancy Leeds Gribble 

Show notes timestamps:

🏆 [00:42] Turning tragedy into triumph and successful business.
🤸‍♀️ [02:40] Growing up with the premise she needs to be skinny: going vegan due to ethical reasons.
🖤 [04:10] Family tragedy and bankruptcy: one more tragedy and Nancy’s realization about getting more healthy is the key.
🍏 [10:32] Nancy started focusing her business on healthy weight loss: most women are undernourished. 
👉🏾 [14:49] Getting first clients: face-plant forward is failing in front of people. 
🦄 [18:55] How to differentiate yourself on the market: worrying about clients you don’t have.
🙇‍♂️ [23:05] Realizing that in a new, starting business, entrepreneurs need to be humble.
🌞 [28:34] Figuring out the deeper reasons for starting a business.
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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 unsure of how to take actionable steps to improve your business, I invite you to explore our two premium paid podcasts, Going Solo and Fix It.

Full Description:
Mind Blown founders, mother-and-daughter team Shelly Van Cleve and daughter Monica Talbert, originally found success making gourmet seafood delicacies along the Chesapeake Bay. They started with a crab shack, Capt. Jack’s, which was wildly popular, leading them to create The Van Cleve Seafood Co.

The two began to see deep-seated issues with the global fishing industry right outside their front door, particularly with illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing practices from non-domestic mega-ships. As the plant-based industry began to boom, they founded Mind Blown. Rather than alienating the seafood industry with unsustainable market solutions, Mind Blown works alongside the industry.

Together, they create solutions that help to take pressure off of edge-of-extinction fish stocks, and regenerate abundant oceans, such as their future partnership with Atlantic Sea Farms, using their kelp. Today, their lineup includes Mind Blown Coconut Shrimp, Dusted Scallops, Crab Cakes and more. The company is backed by notable investors including eight-time James Beard recipient and host of Bravo TV’s Top Chef Tom Colicchio, as well as D.C. restaurateur, founder of PLNT Burger and Top Chef contestant Spike Mendelsohn.

Get to know Monica and Mind Blown and The Plant Based Seafood Co. better here: https://plantbasedseafoodco.com/
Quote:

If you're going through the ups and downs of entrepreneurship, make sure that you let the downs go every day. Let that shit go at the end of every day and start every day new and fresh. Sounds simple, but it's very, very, very important.

–Monica Talbert

Show notes:🌊 [00:46] Vegan seafood: brands who innovate and disrupt landscapes of industries.🦀 [03:06] Creating a sustainable seafood brand: unacceptable practices in seafood industries and innovative new products.▶️ [06:34] Wanting to see change in the industry and food system: the journey of creating a brand.👉🏾 [08:42] Direct-to-consumer is a great step to test your product.🤯 [09:32] Naming your brand can be a struggle: “My mind is blown!”🦞 [11:49] Plant-based seafood industry has the potential to address ocean sustainability issues: making vegan seafood is not easy.🍥 [15:25] Benefits of vegan seafood: savings, consistency, and extended shelf life.🌞 [16:43] Most changes happen from consumer demand: balance in the market and consumer demand will take 3–5 years.🤔 [19:34] Challenges of mass adoption of new products: inflation, a problem with repeat purchases, and education of consumers.🔑 [24:38] The Importance of gratefulness and focusing on the positive can help in running your business.🧘‍♀️ [28:09] Handling stress differently is crucial for business owners: lean towards your mentors for help.🎙️ [30:07] Learning from podcasts: there are so many lessons to learn from other entrepreneurs. 
-----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 unsure of how to take actionable steps to improve your business, I invite you to explore our two premium paid podcasts, Going Solo and Fix It.

Full Description:
Get ready to dive into the inspiring story of Kate Galli, the unstoppable force behind a mission to create a healthier, happier, and more compassionate vegan world. Kate's journey began in the fitness world, where she sought to transform not only her body but also her confidence. Over the years, she has helped thousands of individuals sculpt their bodies and lives in a way they love. For the past seven years, she has been dedicated to Vegan Health Coaching, using it as a powerful tool to advocate for animal welfare while promoting fitness, strength, and overall well-being.

During the episode, Kate opens up about the tensions and challenges faced by ethical vegans in their relationships. She candidly discusses the feelings of anger, frustration, and sadness that can arise when trying to navigate a compassionate lifestyle in a non-vegan world. However, Kate shares her personal story of how the toughest year of her life helped her transcend the negative emotions, while maintaining her passion for creating a compassionate vegan world.

As a Vegan Health Coach, author of "The Plant Positive Journal," and host of The Healthification Podcast, Kate is full of practical advice. She shares valuable tools, such as her 8 Step S.E.L.F. C.A.R.E. Acronym, the "Stop, Start, Continue" time magic'ing technique, and strategies to regain your exercising mojo. Additionally, she provides 10 Tips to Make Adopting a Plant-Based Lifestyle Easy, drawing from her own experiences and mistakes when she first transitioned to vegetarianism 30 years ago.

Don't miss this episode if you're looking for empowering insights, actionable tips, and a powerful story of love prevailing over hate on the journey to a compassionate vegan lifestyle.

Get to know Kate Galli and her mission better here: http://www.strongbodygreenplanet.com

Quote:

I bought into the ‘business from hell’, as I like to call it, and I learned so many lessons during that journey. The number one of which has really been so valuable is to back yourself 100%. You can't rely on circumstances or what's turning up today, tomorrow, or next year, but you can rely on yourself. And you can rely on yourself to turn up and to continually get better and to back yourself to come up with the goods. 

– Kate Galli
Show Notes: 🤔 [00:45] Dynamic changes on your business journey can be a big struggle.  😇 [03:05] Mindset about eating and exercise choices: Kate has a lot of clients who have been with her for two decades.✌️ [06:03] Laying foundations to success: do the do.▶️ [09:19] Referrals are the best way to grow and maintain your business: creating a strategy that provides results.🌞 [14:19] Journey from being a personal trainer, purchasing a franchise, and recreating all online: long-term entrepreneurs get bored and reinvent their business.📗 [16:18] Plant Journal: vegan Trojan horse that helps to adopt a healthy plant-based lifestyle one step at a time.⚡ [19:59] Getting professionals to help you in projects provides amazing products: creating content for Plant Journal.😍 [22:54] Helping her mom to become vegan on Christmas: why she stopped being an angry vegan.💚 [27:37] Focusing on love: it is hard being in a non-vegan world, but leading with love can help.🎙️ [28:15] Healthification podcast: education in health, fitness and food.🤓 [31:35] Importance of self-care and supporting yourself, and your body: implementing self-care steps daily for getting joy. 
-----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 unsure of how to take actionable steps to improve your business, I invite you to explore our two premium paid podcasts, Going Solo and Fix It.

In this episode, we sit down with Rey Ortega, a true pioneer in the vegan food industry. Rey's health struggles led him on a path of discovery, from battling chronic illness to becoming a successful vegan entrepreneur.

Rey's journey began with health issues that left him feeling unwell and desperate for answers. After identifying an egg allergy, he transitioned to a vegetarian diet, which significantly improved his health and led to a remarkable 95-pound weight loss. Inspired by dairy-free, eggless cookies at the Sacramento Natural Foods Coop, Rey decided to start his own vegan baking venture, the Alternative Baking Company.
Despite initial challenges and setbacks, Rey's business flourished, reaching nearly $1 million in sales. 

However, a difficult partnership forced him to start over. With a loan from a trusted friend, he founded Sun Flour Baking Company and continued to expand his presence in the vegan food market.

Rey's expertise spans all aspects of the business, offering invaluable insights for aspiring vegan entrepreneurs. Join us to learn from Rey's experiences, avoid common pitfalls, and embark on your own journey to a profitable and successful venture in the world of plant-based living.

Get to know Rey Ortega and Sun Flour Baking Company better here: https://www.sunflourbaking.com
Quote: 

When I first started an alternative baking company, I got so much slack for people not wanting me to put the word ‘vegan’ on my package. I had so many people say, “That's going to kill your sales”. I didn't care! I was an angry vegan at the time. In fact, when I became vegan, I became vegan for health reasons.

– Rey Ortega
Show notes with timestamps: 🍪 [00:43] Cookies and entrepreneurship: health challenges and tasty pivots: dominating market with vegan cookies.😎 [02:30] In cookie business for almost 30 years: How he became an angry vegan.😇 [06:53] Learning how to make cookies without eggs: starting first company with just $5000 and huge passion.😋 [08:54] Taking slack for creating a vegan baking business in 1994: giving away cookies for convincing people of its great taste.👉 [12:30] Vegan cookies these days don't have issues with taste but with competition: saturated market.👀 [15:20] Plant-based but not vegan: vegan products are getting to the mainstream, but we still need to look at labels.🤕 [17:48] From illness to entrepreneurship: struggles with chronic illness made him learn about food digestion, and his sicknesses catapulted Rey into veganism.💚 [23:25] Rey’s passion comes from veganism. 👨‍🍳 [26:16] Vegan cannabis producer of edibles: becoming a serial entrepreneur is a natural way of entrepreneurship life.  -----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 unsure of how to take actionable steps to improve your business, I invite you to explore our two premium paid podcasts, Going Solo and Fix It.

Karen Ranzi is a pioneer in the vegan and raw food movement, vegan since 1989 and raw vegan since 1994, guiding thousands of individuals and families to excellent health and wellbeing through a vegan and raw food lifestyle.

In 2020, when the COVID pandemic rocked the world, Karen Ramzi had a thriving live raw vegan coaching and classes business called Feel Fabulous With Food that she had built over decades. Karen was no longer able to host live classes for students and couldn't offer her in-person coaching appointments. Instead of panicking, Karen quickly started exploring ways she could continue to share her passion for teaching the vegan and raw lifestyle. 

By leveraging her newsletter and social media platforms in a whole new way, Karen was able to bring in more new students and clients for online classes and sessions than ever before. In this episode, Karen shares how she did it. From creating interesting content and leveraging various tools for communication to restructuring her offers to appeal to new students and clients with varied interests, Karen shows us what a truly successful pivot can look like. 

Karen Ranzi, M.A. is an Award-Winning Author, Vegan Health Coach, Autism Expert, Internationally Acclaimed Speaker, Director of the Vegan Coach Certification Course, Raw Food Health Retreat Leader of retreats in Costa Rica and the Women’s Health Retreat, and Speech/Language/Feeding Therapist. Karen has been a featured speaker worldwide for over twenty years, presenting at events such as the London VegFest and the annual Woodstock Fruit Festival. 

Get to know Karen and Feel Fabulous With Food better here: https://feelfabulouswithfood.com/
Quote

Go with your passion, get strong, realize that your mindset is going to establish your business going forward. If you're fearful of getting on camera, just look at your underlying cause. Why are you passionate about spreading the information of a vegan business? Why do you want to get your message out there? I hope today’s show will give you that solid grounding that you need to spread your own message. 

–Karen Ranzi
Show notes:
👩‍💼 [00:43] Longevity in establishing a business: Karen’s expertise and experience.📣 [03:31] Helping people understand the vegan message through coaching and courses from  1988.👵 [10:57] Karen’s inspirational story from her grandmother: issues with skin pushed her into the vegan way of life. 🎯 [15:29] When medications are not working: be in control of your health and the health of the world.😷 [18:56] Entrepreneurship during the pandemic was in panic mode: in-person events and meetings moved to Zoom.🌞 [22:43] Transitions in business: doing things Karen never did before - using the power of social media.💎 [27:06] Courage to do new things in business: learning new things and being willing to be visible.📚 [30:17] Karen’s books and websites: focus on children, coaching and coaching certificates.🔥 [35:27] Your beliefs and passion are the pillars of your business.
-----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 unsure of how to take actionable steps to improve your business, I invite you to explore our two premium paid podcasts, Going Solo and Fix It.