I have always had a natural affinity and love for animals. Since a very young age, every movie I saw or book I read, it was always the animals that resonated with me, who I felt the most compassion for. As a 5 year old girl, I remember driving by a dairy farm where I saw grazing cows and asking my mother whether the cows were treated well, if they were hurt during the process of making milk. I was also the kid at the dinner table who pretended to eat my meat but was secretly feeding it to the dog under the table.
I naturally gravitated towards fresh vegetables when I was young…the first time I had a salad, I was hooked and ate a salad for dinner and dessert every night. I really was a “born vegan”. Unfortunately, as I grew up in a meat and dairy-centric world, I did not become a full-on vegetarian or vegan overnight. I was ‘mostly vegetarian’ for a good part of my life, but it wasn’t until a couple of years ago that I made the transition to going vegan. It was primarily social media – seeing images and videos and reading accounts of the horrifying ways that animals are treated – that really changed my thinking and pushed me to adopt a vegan diet and lifestyle. And since going vegan, I learn something new everyday and feel better than ever – physically and spiritually.
I am now on a mission to seek truth and spread awareness about the horrific realities of the sad plight of animals on this earth. And what we’re doing to our environment in the process. I am in the process of figuring out my next steps, but I know I want to dedicate my life going forward to working in the animal rights sphere…. to help others transition to a healthier, plantbased diet and lifestyle. #thefutureisvegan 🌱
On another note, I’ve worked in the fashion industry most of my life, and in the past, had never thought deeply about where leather, wool and other materials come from. It should seem obvious but I was not on the production side of fashion and did not think about the ways in which innocent, sentient animals were tortured to create leather bags and wool sweaters and so forth (don’t get me started on the fur industry!) And I did not realize just how polluting the fashion industry is, especially fast fashion. My eyes are wide open and everything connects now. I want to be part of the solution in creating a better (vegan) world!
