How My Journey Through People-Pleasing and Plants Led Me to My Purpose: The story behind The Confident Vegan

Yesterday I shared about my journey of being a recovering people-pleaser and how my life changed for the better once I stopped hiding. Today I wanted to share more about why I created The Confident Vegan and the mission I am on. This story has two parts that all come together. 

Part 1: In the summer of 2016,I started a ten month program to receive a coaching certification. After all the growth and personal transformation I experienced in my life both personally and professionally, I wanted to help others do the same. Not long after, I formed an LLC and the rocky journey of business ownership began. Choosing a niche to focus on turned out to be a very difficult endeavor.  I have experienced all kinds of transformations in my life, what one should I serve others in? While I was figuring it out, I put myself out there and tried different ways of connecting with others and helping them. While doing this a theme began to emerge. I noticed that I connected the most to women who struggled with people-pleasing and confidently being themselves. This was a core part of myself and what I have overcome. This was still a vague niche. Who specifically should I be helping with confidence and people-pleasing? 

Part 2: Around 2015 I noticed how dairy products were having a negative impact on my body. Having rosacea and eczema flare-ups was very frustrating!  I read how different foods could contribute to this. I decided to try an experiment and gave up dairy for 30 days to see if it would have an effect. What I discovered was I felt better in ways I didn't realize I would feel better! There was a positive impact on my skin, sinuses, and an overall feeling of well-being. I discovered that dairy was making me feel crappy in ways I didn't realize it was, because that was my normal way of feeling. All of this led to me looking up dairy free recipes. A lot of the recipes I came across were also vegan ones. This was the gateway to my next big transformation. I started looking up more vegan recipes and discovered a world of exciting food utilizing spices and whole food ingredients in ways I never thought of! I started looking at vegan cookbooks and followed blogs. I also discovered Forks Over Knives, which promotes whole-food plant-based cooking. Whole-food plant-based eating has been proven to help reduce risks of heart disease, diabetes, and certain cancers.  There was diabetes and heart disease in my family. My mother died from a heart attack in 2007. I have been trying to find ways to eat healthy, while also not feeling deprived. This looked like a great foundation for me to do that. After journeying more into vegan recipes, I started to learn more about animal agriculture. I knew some of what happened to animals, but didn't think too much about it. There was a longing in my heart to want to become a committed vegan, but how could I do that? I knew my family wouldn't want to be vegan. What about all the questions and judgements I would get? How would I handle family functions? I wouldn't want to inconvenience anyone. While grappling with all of these concerns, I pursued my interest in vegan recipes and continued to incorporate eating mostly vegan for myself during the week and saved non-vegan eating for family meals. Eventually the longing in my heart became really strong to commit to a vegan lifestyle. I realized that this was an area of people-pleasing I needed to address and no longer hide from. If my family and friends really cared about me, they would respect my decision to go vegan. I finally committed to veganism on 4/29/2017. It took me about two years to become vegan, because I was afraid of how other people who judge me. My husband and immediate family have been supportive and for the most part, other non-vegans I interact with have been respectful. I have also experienced many social challenges and have felt lonely as a vegan at times. The other benefits I have experienced from my decision have far outweighed that!

Bringing it all together: Since around 2021 I wanted to find a way to incorporate my veganism into my coaching business, but how would I be able to do that? Those are two different worlds! In 2023 I finally realized it. My journey as the only vegan in my family taught me so many valuable lessons and insights about people-pleasing, boundary setting, and speaking up for myself. My YouTube channel at the time was called Confidently Be You. In October 2023 I rebranded it to The Confident Vegan and a whole new amazing journey has since unfolded! Through The Confident Vegan I have created the resources and support I wish I had as an aspiring vegan. I also rebranded my business to the same name and provide confidence coaching for women who want to stop people-pleasing, set boundaries that stick, and step into their most confident selves. I am also working on adding more support for women who want to improve their health by eating more plants. I am planning to share more about those offerings soon. In addition to all of this, I co-host That Vegan Morning Show with Kimberly Winters of the Did You Bring The Hummus podcast. The way we were connected is an interesting story in itself. One to share another time. The universe works in interesting ways! 

My journey to my niche took some time. I knew I wanted to help others but wasn't exactly sure how. I had to put myself out there and try a lot of things to get to where I am today. It was messy and not at all what I expected it to be. I wouldn't have it any other way!

"As you start to walk on the way, the way appears." - Rumi