EP. 33: Ana & Matt (your VedgeTalk hosts!)

This week is a little bit different! You will be hearing from the creators of The VedgeTalk Podcast, Ana Alarcon and Matthew Davey. 

In a very relaxed format, Ana and Matt cover the following:

- Why they decided to leave Boston and take the podcast on the road.

- How they afforded the travels.

- What it's like traveling as a couple

- How it's been as vegans through the USA, Canada, Mexico, Australia, Indonesia and The Philippines.

- Ways you can support the show

- What's next!

Hope you enjoy the show.

You can find us on Instagram @vedgetalk & @vedgetalkespanol, we are also on Facebook and YouTube.

EP. 32: Lauren & Corryn

This weeks game changing guests are founders of The Kynd Community in Bali, Lauren and Corryn. 

These two have both had amazing journeys from their home towns on the coast of New South Wales, Australia to Bali, Indonesia.

Lauren having lived and breathed hospitality through her life, this always made sense but for Corryn, it was holiday, gifted to her for graduation by her parents that guided her in this direction.

In this conversation we covered:

- Both Lauren and Corryn's upbringings.

- Why Lauren decided to go vegan.

- How Corryn decided not to pursue a career in the corporate world.

- The beginning and growth of Kynd Cafe in Seminyak.

- Pushing through self doubt and fear.

- Opening a completely not for profit cafe, called Give, in Canggu.

+ much more!

Hope you enjoy the show!

You can find Lauren and Corryn on Instagram @kyndcommunity & @givecafe, they also have a great site https://www.kyndcommunity.com with some great clothing available!

EP. 31: Pam Ahern

This weeks game changing guest is Pam Ahern, the founder of Edgars Mission Farm Sanctuary, located outside of Melbourne, Australia. 

Pam and her team are some of the greatest champions for animals in the world, and it was an absolute honor to share her own personal story as well as the story of the sanctuary. 

In this episode we cover:

- Pam's childhood

- Starting a cat and dog rescue at an early age with her Mum.

- Her successful equestrian career

- Bringing Edgar Alan Pig into her life in 2003

- Starting Edgars Mission and getting outside her comfort zone

- An amazing story about a couple of rescued pregnant dairy cows. Clara Bell & Daphne. 

- The Cooking with kindness cookbook

- Impact the sanctuary has had on the local community!

+ Much more!

I hope you enjoy the show.

You can find some extremely uplifting content on their Instagram page @edgarsmission and their website www.edgarsmisson.org.au where they have an awesome cook book available, ‘Cooking With Kindness’. 

EP. 30: Shannon Martinez

This weeks game changing guest is Shannon Martinez, Australian chef, author and TV personality from Melbourne, Australia.

She is someone who has dedicated over a decade of her life to making vegan food insanely delicious and more importantly, food that everyone is going to rave about. She is succeeding in a massive way. She has opened Smith and Daughters, Smith and Deli, released two cook books and Shannon recently featured on one of Australia’s most popular TV shows, My Kitchen rules as the celebrity chef.

The first location, Smith & Daughters which offers dinner throughout the week and brunch on weekends was nominated as the best purely vegan restaurant in the world and 3rd best on a list of vegan friendly restaurants. This was a recent vote from over 1.5 million ‘big 7 travel’ readers.

In this episode we cover:

- More on her upbringing in Australia.

- Her big decision between music and food as a career.

- How she became a chef dedicated to vegan food.

- Why a traditional eduction in cooking is her superpower.

- Not being a vegan herself.

- The Smith & Daughters story and more!

Hope you enjoy the show.

You can find Shannon online at @shannon_martinez on Instagram and at http://www.smithanddaughters.com/ where you can purchase their famous cookbooks, clothing, pins and stickers! 

EP. 29: Yoko Inoue

This weeks game changing guest is Yoko Inoue, Australian raw vegan chef, business owner and incredible human being!

Yoko grew up in Japan and at the age of just 15 years old moved to New Zealand on her own. She learned English, and also started to cook more in her new home country as she had more time outside of school compared to when living in Japan. 

Between cooking her first lamb roast in New Zealand and now, her life has taken many twists and turns. 

In this conversation we chat about:

- What it was like growing up in Japan.

- Moving to New Zealand on her own, at 15 years old.

- Major career change.

- The birth of her daughter, Layla.

- Experiencing a serious health scare and switching to a mainly raw diet.

- Opening a successful restaurant in an extremely competitive city.

+ Much more!

I have to send a huge thank you to Yoko, because you’re about to hear more of her story than she is usually willing to share. I hope you enjoy our conversation today!

You can find Yoko on Instagram @inoue.yoko and @shokuiku. The restaurant website is shokuikuaustralia.com and her podcast is called ‘Wellness Foodie’. Go and say hi to Yoko and let her know what you thought about our conversation!

EP. 28: Mike Case

This weeks game changing guest is Mike Case, English personal trainer and plant eater, AKA Vegainz Coach.

Mike is based in Sydney, Australia, after living in Melbourne for a number of years. We caught up with Mike at my family home in the south east suburbs of Melbourne for a chat. 

If you have been following Mike for a while, you may expect this to be all strength and fitness. However we go much deeper than that. 

In this episode we cover:

- Mikes background in the UK

- How he decided to live in Australia.

- Self development.

- Travel

- What’s best for our bodies in terms of nutrition and exercise.

- The world seed bank in the arctic circle!

+ Much more!

I hope you enjoy destroying some myths with Mike and I today!

You can find Mike on Instagram @vegainzcoach and also at https://vegainzcoach.com.au/.

He is a fantastic resource if you’re looking to nail your fitness and nutrition goals, you do not have to reside in Australia to work with him!

EP. 27: Andrew Taylor

This weeks game changing guest is Andrew ’Spudfit’ Taylor from Melbourne, Australia. 

After personally choosing to eat plant based back in 2016, I heard a story about a man from Australia who had decided to eat potatoes for the year in a bid to battle his food addiction.

The term food addiction is not something that we often use, and for many, this term may sound funny. Coupled with a diet of only potatoes and I’m sure there are many people out there who thought this was some kind of joke. However Andrew was tackling his problem with a solution that he thought would work and if it wasn’t to be the solution, the worst thing that could happen was that he’d be back at square one.

In this episode we cover:

- Andrew shares his story about his ongoing battle with weight.

- His time as a national long distance kayaker.

- The motivation behind his desired change.

- How Andrew sees and defines food addiction.

- Why he chose the potato as the only food he would consume in 2016.

- What his blood test results were like when eating only potatoes. 

+Much more!

I really enjoyed chatting with Andrew and also learned a lot. He was able to give me a new perspective on this topic and provided an amazing recount of his journey. 

You can find Andrew on Instagram @spudfit and also online at spudfit.com where you can his new cookbook with over 100 whole food potato based recipes!

EP. 26: The OM Twiins

This weeks game changing guests are Eileen and Gillian AKA The OM Twiins. 

Eileen and Gilian are full of energy and are doing amazing work in their local community and also with their online guides, reaching people around the world.

In this episode we cover:

- What it was like growing up in Mexico

- The comparisons they constantly received as twins.

- Not going vegan at the same time.

- Experiencing the body building scene as vegans.

+ More!

I hope you enjoy the episode.

I encourage you to find them on Instagram @om_twiins and their website https://www.om-twiins.com, they’re a wealth of knowledge for people looking to get strong and healthy on a plant based diet. 

Lastly I am dedicating this episode to Eileens rescue dog, Shila, who we met during this recording. She sadly passed away due to complications giving birth.

EP. 25: Nisha Balsara

This weeks game changing guest is Nisha Balsara. Actress, YouTuber and incredible human from Los Angeles, CA.

We recorded this one on the floor of her new apartment in LA, as we caught her on moving day!

Nisha sets a fantastic example for women of color and people in general. She’s goes about veganism in a light, approachable way, but don’t confuse this with lack of dedication. She is an incredible voice for the plant based diet and what it can do for health, the animals and the planet.

In this episode we cover:

- Growing up in Texas, with parents from Canada and India.

- Experiencing acting set backs at a young age.

- What it’s like to have a serious health problem.

- Relationships with non-vegans.

- The important of diversity in the entertainment industry.

+ More!

Nisha has an amazing personal story and I am so happy to be sharing it with you today, hope you enjoy the show!

You can find Nisha on Instagram at @nishabalsara and also YouTube. She has her own channel, ‘Nisha Balsara’ and is also a part of ‘The Vegan View’.

EP. 24: Hannah & Derek Howlett

This weeks game changing guests are Hannah and Derek Howlett, they are well known for their work ‘High Carb Hannah’ and ‘Handeeman’. 

If you follow Hannah and Derek on YouTube, you already know they have built an awesome off grid Tiny Home in Arizona with rain water catchment and solar set up. Since recording the show, Derek has added thousands of gallons more water storage and also finished a massive garage project that was half done when I visited.

In today’s conversation we cover:

- Their reasons for choosing a vegan lifestyle.

- Why they decided to live in a tiny home.

- Minimal living.

- The challenges of living together in a tiny home.

- How they can financially support themselves from online work.

- Making sound financial decisions.

- Their experience with Psychedelics!

+ More!

I hope you enjoy this episode.

You can find Hannah at @highcarbhannah on Instagram and YouTube, she also has a website https://highcarbhannah.co.

Derek can be found at @handeeman_ on Instagram and YouTube.

EP. 23: Dr. Angie Sadeghi

This weeks game changing guest is Dr. Angie Sadeghi.

Dr. Angie is a gastroenterologist based in the OC area of California, originally from Iran, her and her family immigrated here when she was young. After firstly going vegetarian, Angies eyes were opened up to the power of a plant based diet, and she quickly incorporated this into her practice, also diving deep into the literature to learn as much as she could, so she could treat and heal her patients.

In this episode we cover:

- Angie’s background.

- How she became a gastroenterologist.

- SIBO.

- IBS.

- C.Diff.

- Why humans shouldn’t consume dairy products.

- The importance of fiber.

- Protein powders.

+Much more!

Thank you to Angie for giving up the time to come on the show, I really enjoyed learning from her, I hope you are able to come away from this episode with a better understanding of what our gut needs to function healthily!

You can find Dr. Angie on Instagram @angie.sadeghi and also at https://drangiehealth.com/  

EP. 22: Jacky Wasserman

This weeks game changing guest is Jacky Wasserman, founder of vegan clothing company BeetxBeet, based out of Los Angeles, CA.

This was our first day in Los Angeles, and I don’t think we could have spent the time any better. Jacky was an amazing guest and I think you will really enjoy her story from growing up in Atlanta to owning an apparel company in Los Angeles. 

In this episode we cover:

- Jacky’s life growing up in Atlanta, GA.

- Experiencing the world of design though multiple jobs.

- Entering and winning a competition that was run by Obey’s Shepherd Fairy.

- Going vegan in America’s Deep South.

- Packing up everything into her Honda Civic and moving to LA.

- Deciding to leave her well paid job with benefits behind.

- The BeetxBeet journey.

+ More!

I hope you enjoy the show!

You can find Jacky online @beetxbeet on Instagram and at www.beetxbeet.com, they’ve got awesome vegan clothing, go check it out!

EP. 21: Collin Blaney

This weeks game changing guest is Collin Blaney, photographer, videographer and traveler from San Francisco, CA.

I met up with Collin in 2017 whilst on a work layover in Iceland, he was on a trip that you will hear about in this episode and we started chatting about veganism, before hearing more about their trip through Iceland and the Faroe Islands. We stayed in touch and he has helped me to develop my skills with photography whilst absolutely crushing it himself. 

Collin is currently growing his Instagram following, producing incredible images, traveling the USA and the world and collaborating with more companies who demand his skills for their brand.

In this conversation we cover:

- Collin’s background, growing up in CA.

- Why he left college before graduating.

- Making money by flipping houses.

- When he got into photography.

- Nikon, Canon or Sony?

- Making this his business.

+ More!

I hope you enjoy this episode.

You can find Collin on Instagram @collincreates and also at https://www.collincreates.com/

EP. 20: Miyoko Schinner

This weeks game changing guest is Miyoko Schinner, yes THE Miyoko, founder of Miyoko’s, the plant based cheese company revolutionizing dairy. 

Growing up as a vegetarian, Miyoko’s passion for fine food ignited during the 1980’s when rich and flavorful French cuisine and gourmet cheeses were a huge trend in her home city of Tokyo.

As a self confessed cheese-a-holic, she found herself conflicted by her culinary tastes and her compassion for animals. Like many vegetarians, she struggled to give up these dairy rich foods.

In true Miyoko style, she went vegan and boldly set out to create plant-based cheese and cuisine as artistic and decadent as the finest French foods she fell in love with.

In this conversation we cover:

- Miyoko’s life in Japan as a child.

- The sweet potato cart story.

- Moving to America with her family.

- The way America changed the way they ate.

- Going back to Japan, after becoming a cheese addict.

- The challenges of entrepreneurship.

- Rancho Relaxo, Miyoko’s farm sanctuary.

- Starting Miyoko’s Creamery.

- What’s in store for the future of the company.

+ More!

I hope you really enjoy this episode.

You can find Miyoko on Instagram at @miyokoscreamery and @miyokoschinner. The company website is https://miyokos.com/ 

EP. 19: Caitlin Shoemaker

This weeks game changing guest is Caitlin Shoemaker, the creator of From My Bowl, an amazing online resource for delicious vegan recipes.

We recorded with Caitlin whilst traveling through Portland, Oregon, where she has recently moved after spending time in Miami for her graduate degree, which she left to pursue online work full time!

Caitlin is an extremely hard working and dedicated young woman, who focuses on giving people easy recipes to follow, that are delicious and vegan. 

In this episode we cover:

- Her life growing up on the East Coast of the United States.

- Deciding to choose a vegan lifestyle.

- Moving to Miami for graduate school.

- Starting From My Bowl.

- The journey, from posting her morning oatmeal to starting a business.

- Making the big decision to quit school and focus on her blog and YouTube.

- Her 5 favorite spices (AKA the spice girls)

+ More!

I hope you enjoy the show today, I think this is a great one for any body looking to turn their passion into a business.

You can find Caitlin on Instagram @frommybowl and her blog at www.frommybowl.com. On Caitlin’s website you will find links to Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest and YouTube!

EP. 18: Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn

This weeks game changing guest is Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn Jr AKA ‘Essy’. He is the trail blazing pioneer (or one of) of the whole food plant based movement.

Ana and I were driving through Cleveland on Thanksgiving 2018, which is a time of year all of the Esselstyn’s get together for family time and eat delicious plant food!

We were lucky enough to get some time with Ann and Essy the day after to record this podcast and also have an amazing lunch which Ann created. Their daughter Jane also stopped by!

Honestly this was a pretty cool moment for me personally. Back in 2016 when I decided to make the switch to a plant based diet, it was he and Dr. T Colin Campbell, exercising at over 80 years of age and still working that showed me this was the way to go.

In this episode we cover:

- Dr. Esselstyn’s background.

- Winning a gold medal at the 1956 Olympic Games in Melbourne.

- His years in the field of medicine.

- What made him interested in cardiovascular disease.

- Why humans get heart disease.

- How we can end heart disease, through diet and lifestyle intervention.

- Healthcare or sick care?

+ More!

I hope you enjoy this episode. It was an honor to sit down with a man who has changed so many lives and continues to spread this incredible message at 85 years old.

You can find Dr. Esselstyn on Instagram @dresselstyn and at www.dresselstyn.com

EP. 17: Peter & Jenny McQueen

This weeks game changing guests are Peter and Jenny McQueen, an amazing couple from Toronto, Canada who have dedicated their lives to speaking up for animals who are exploited by humans for their flesh, by products and skin.

Ana and I stayed with them whilst we were in Toronto and were so grateful for their amazing hospitality during a very cold few days in Toronto! They are two of the nicest humans we have met, and it’s been a highlight of our time on the road. 

During our stay, Jenny suggested that we attend a cow save vigil in Toronto. This will forever be something burned into mine and Ana’s memory. An experience I think all people can learn from just by watching. Experiencing the sounds, smells and exchanging eye contact with these animals is powerful and something a video cannot provide. We later attended a pig save event in Burlington ON two days later. It’s not a warm and fuzzy experience, however it is only a couple of hours out of our day, to bare witness and see these animals in their last moments.

In this conversation we cover:

- Peter’s background, growing up in Ontario, Canada.

- Jenny’s background, growing up in Liverpool, England.

- How they both met.

- Peter’s decision to go vegetarian.

- Jenny’s work growing the animal activist scene in the UK.

- What it was like for Jenny to move from Liverpool to Toronto.

- The ongoing court case for saving a pig.

+ More!

 A big thank you to Jenny and Peter for having us and for coming on the show! I hope you enjoy the conversation.

You can find them on Instagram at @peaceful.peter and @jennyveganmcqueen

EP. 16: Amie Hamlin

This weeks game changing guest is Amie Hamlin from The Coalition For Healthy School Food.

Amie has helped to educate children, parents and teachers about healthy plant based food and the benefits it has on our health and environment. 

In addition school admin are able to learn about the benefits healthy nutrition has on the students' focus, attendance and grades! 

In this episode we cover:

- Amie’s Background.

- The Coalition For Healthy School Food Program.

- How we can educate children, parents and staff of the benefits a plant based diet can have.

- Dairy in schools.

- The effect of nutrition on focus, attendance and grades.

- Raising her daughter vegan.

+ More!

I hope you all enjoy the show.

You can find The Coalition For Healthy School Food online at https://healthyschoolfood.org/

EP. 15: Susie Coston

This weeks game changing guest is Susie Coston, National Shelter Director at Farm Sanctuary in Watkins Glen, NY.

Susie runs the show at Farm Sanctuary in upstate New York and my word, the dedication to animals and hard work we saw from the team was a great sight to see. 

With the number of farmed animals being so astronomically huge, visiting a place that’s a safe haven for animals, where they are called by name and treated like family was a very cool experience for us. Susie has been at farm sanctuary for 18 years and has seen the place grow and also to other locations around the country. 

In this episode we cover:

- Susie’s background.

- Her decision to go vegan.

- How Farm Sanctuary has changed over the past (nearly) two decades.

- Amazing stories about the lives of saved animals that will bring a tear to your eye.

+ Much more!

I hope you enjoy this episode. Susie is an incredible human being, Ana and I are so thankful to her for taking the time out of her busy schedule to record this podcast and also show us around the farm, to meet a heap of amazing animals.

You can find Susie on Instagram @susiecoston. If you’d like to check out Farm Sanctuary online, go to @farmsanctuary on Instagram and also https://www.farmsanctuary.org/

EP. 14: Chris Green

This weeks game changing guest is Harvard Law professor, Chris Green. 

Chris has a really cool story on how he has ended up at Harvard University, he initially wanted to be a veterinarian and was also heavily involved in music before deciding to dedicate the majority of his time to Animal Law. 

In this episode we cover:

- Chris’ time growing up in America’s Midwest.

- His journey to Harvard Law School.

- His work on the front lines, defending animals through the law.

- Personal health struggles.

- An incredible story about encouraging an airline to stop allowing animal ‘trophies’ to be brought back from places like Africa.

+ More!

I hope you enjoy the show.

You can find more info about Chris here: https://animal.law.harvard.edu/about/people/chris-green/