Speaking with Elena Theis; Creator of #Vegan Ventures

Today I am chatting with Elena Theis. Born and raised in Germany, Elena traveled the world extensively before she decided to settle in Berlin. She left a successful career in online marketing and went on a trip to Hawaii in 2013 that changed her life for good and marked the beginning of her vegan journey. Today she is dedicated to promoting plant-based and cruelty-free living around the globe as a vegan writer, artist and coach. Elena is the creator of #VeganVentures - Plant-based around the world, a vegan travel blog which also features occasional recipes.

 

This series features conversations I conducted with individuals who have dedicated their work and lives to Vegan research, businesses, art, and society. This podcast series is hosted by Patricia Kathleen and Wilde Agency Media.

 

TRANSCRIPTION

*Please note, this is an automated transcription please excuse any typos or errors

 

[00:00:00] In this episode, I speak with author and creator of the Vegan travel blog, hashtag Vegan Ventures, Elena Theis, Key Points addressed where Elena's world travel and expertize developed within that travel. Regarding Vegan life both in Berlin and the world over. We also discussed Elena's point of view on the Vegan scene as it is in Germany today, as opposed to five years ago. Stay tuned for my wonderful talk with Elena Theis.

 

[00:00:33] My name is Patricia Kathleen, and this series features interviews and conversations I conduct with experts from food and fashion to tech and agriculture, from medicine and science to health and humanitarian arenas. The dialog captured here is part of our ongoing effort to host transparent and honest rhetoric. For those of you who, like myself, find great value in hearing the expertise and opinions of individuals who have dedicated their work and lives to their ideals. If you're enjoying these podcasts, be sure to check out our subsequent series that dove deep into specific areas such as founders and entrepreneurs. Fasting and roundtable topics they can be found on our Web site. Patricia Kathleen .com, where you can also join our newsletter. You can also subscribe to all of our series on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, Pod Bean and YouTube. Thanks for listening. Now let's start the conversation.

 

[00:01:30] Hi, everyone, and welcome back. I'm your host, Patricia.

 

[00:01:33] And today I'm excited to be talking with Elena Theis. She is the creator of hashtag Vegan Ventures. It is a Vegan travel blog. You can discover more about it. And Elena herself on w w w dot Vegan hyphen ventures dot com.

 

[00:01:47] Welcome, Elena.

 

[00:01:48] Welcome. Hello.

 

[00:01:50] You started to unpack everything that you're doing. You've written a couple of books as well that I'll kind of try to pull into the threads in the conversation regarding the rhetoric of hashtag Vegan ventures for everyone listening, who's perhaps new to this podcast and broadcast, I will offer a quick roadmap of the trajectory in which we'll base our inquiry out of. And then I'll also give you a quick bio on Elena before I start asking her questions. So the roadmap for today's podcast will we'll look at unpacking Elena's academic and professional background and then we'll also look at her Vegan story as it's interwoven or not within that previous inquiry. And then we'll look at the logistics around Vegan ventures, unpacking that the who, what, when, where, why, how, when it was founded. All those good things. And then we'll look at the ethos of that site. Its intention, Elena's intention for the future with it, the goals, the audience that she's approaching and speaking to and the efforts that she hopes to make with it. And then we'll wrap everything up with advice or future work that Elena Theis's seeks to endeavor regarding all of her work. So, as promised, a quick, short bio on Elena before I start asking her my questions. Born and raised in Germany, Elena traveled the world extensively before she decided to settle in Berlin. She left a successful career in online marketing and went on a trip to Hawaii in 2013 that changed her life for good and marked the beginning of her Vegan journey. Today, she is dedicated to promoting plant based and cruelty free living around the globe as a Vegan writer, artist and coach, Elena is the creator of hashtag Vegan Ventures, a plant based around the world. Vegan travel blog, which also features occasional recipes as if you can ambassador. She shares her lifestyle and recommendations on social media, as well as on the Vegan platform. A billion veg, which donates one dollar for each roo, review to animal sanctuaries and cruelty free products. Molina holds an M.A. in Mass Communication and Media Arts from Southern Illinois University, a coaching for transformation certification from the leadership that works and is also and is a licensed realtor in Germany. She's the author of several books, including Shampoo Thoughts on Happiness and Tag a Nasha. This is going to test my German Derice Vineet. I probably butchered that, which is soon to be published in English as hash tag a Nasha. The journey begins. It's a n a. S h. The journey begins. So know I'm excited to crawl through. I have read your original. Well, one of your several books. Shampoo. Thoughts on Happiness. And I'm excited to kind of climb through that with you as well as what you're doing with hashtag Vegan ventures. But before we get to that, I'm hoping you can draw kind of at a platform or description of your academic background and early professional life that brought you to the point of launching Vegan Ventures.

 

[00:04:45] Sure, I'll be happy to. So, yeah, as you mentioned, I gather a master's degree in mass communication from southern Illinois back in. Oh, my God. 2005, I believe it was. And after I decided to move back to Germany to be closer to family and started working for a really small advertising agency, like one of those things, you know, you're out of college, you get the first job that you get. And that's how it went.

 

[00:05:14] And one day, however, a Google recruiter found me and offered me to work for Google. So back in the day, I didn't think about it too long. And I accepted the job and I moved to Dublin and started working in marketing for Google and. But realized quickly, I'm not the kind of person that's gonna be very happy in a big corporation. So I left that job, moved back to Germany and work for what was at the time, Germany's biggest social network. That was before Facebook took over the world, actually, where the biggest platform and I headed the sales department, sales and Partnerships Department there.

 

[00:05:58] Yeah, I spent pretty much most of my traditional professional life and online marketing and sales to some extent, and also at some point realize this can be it. It was a fun journey, an interesting journey. But I came to the point where everything I was doing seemed to be missing something. I realized I wanted to make a difference in this world with this lifetime that I have. So. A process started that took several years, actually, but it started with a thought. With this wisht of, you know, doing something meaningful for the world. So I started venturing out and got a couple of certifications about different things and finally decided to leave that corporate world and then traveled on my own.

 

[00:06:53] So what was what do you cite as some of the impetus? It sounds like, you know, it was a journey, the coaching for transformation, certification and things like that kind of coming into play.

 

[00:07:03] But and your book, Shampoo Thoughts on Happiness, kind of starts to climb through, you know, a lot of the the main axioms or montreaux, if you will, of kind of this idea that I think has shaped a lot of what you're doing with your future endeavors following that. But you talk about mindfulness and frustration. There is, you know, unemploy. You have a period underneath a description or neith that where you stayed, you were unemployed and you were telling people that it was your intention to stay that way. It sounds like you kind of crawled through this journey slowly. But do you have any specific key point in your life that pushed you towards it, or was it mere unhappiness that made you desire something more? Or was there ever any point that you were introduced to something or an incident that happened that started the journey? And was this when you started thinking about Vegan life?

 

[00:07:58] To the first part, yes and no, I mean, there was underlying unhappiness, but I wasn't aware of that. The real trigger, the major event that triggered this this quest for something more was actually I had a miscarriage in 2008. It wasn't a planned pregnancy, but I had just arranged myself my life, my ideas around the thought of having a baby. And then I had a miscarriage. So my entire life changed completely. Within a couple of weeks, twice, first in one direction than in the other. And that for me, was really like my whole foundation shattered. Everything that had mattered before just didn't matter anymore. I mean, I had a successful career. I was making a lot of money. I had all the glory. Fancy names on my resumé, but I just didn't care anymore. Nothing mattered. Yeah. So that was really the. The starting point, I would say, back in the day and but then it still took a couple of years, actually. So like I said, this happened in 2008, late 2008, and it wasn't until 2008. Well, I believe that I left my last corporate job. But in the meantime, I did a whole lot of other things. So, for example, I spent some time at a Buddhist Buddhist monastery, which I would describe definitely as another milestone. I over the years, I spent two, three retreats there. But the very first time being there and getting in touch with Buddhist philosophies, which back then were completely new to me. I mean, I knew nothing about all that mindfulness and that I was busy being busy. And so I would say those two were the major milestones in everything from there really happened. I never. Your second question, I never consciously decided to be Vegan. But one day I was. And it was just this process that started with a dietary consultation, actually, with an innovative dietitian. And she I was. I have to tell you, I looked a lot different back then. I was 60 pounds heavier. One of the things and I just actually went to see her because I was struggling with allergies. And so looking at my eye, you're Vedic type. She just recommended to leave out certain foods. And I did not completely, but I tried. I was experimenting and I could tell the most, mostly that is red meat and dairy at the time. And I realized very quickly how much better I was feeling. And so for me, it's all interwoven. I didn't think about being Vegan at the time, but once I started or I stopped consuming edible products or reduced them, at least at this point, I could see the connection not only to my body and mind, my health, but also my mental state. Yeah. So and this journey led me to a point where I just first of all, my body was craving any of these foods that I used to love before, but also how my mind something was started. I started to question things and how, you know, I can lead this lifestyle on one hand, but not look at the entire picture. And for me, food, body, mind and spirit, it's all one. So at one point I realized I can't do this anymore. And suddenly I was Vegan.

 

[00:11:54] Yeah, after that path. I've spoken to, you know, this series, this podcast endeavors to look at the Vegan world from all angles, not one in particular. And it's interesting how all roads lead back to Vegan. You know, it's a there a like maybe I've unearthed about I'd say well over 30 so far in my 50 podcasts that I've done.

 

[00:12:18] Reasons why, you know, there's health, there's optimal mental clarity. There's spirituality, there's animal welfare, there's economy and ecology. There's environmentalism, there's accountability and sustainability, all sorts of things. But it all kind of leads back to people questioning all of the other arms of it as well. You know, so if someone came at it from the environmental aspect, they eventually come back to describe having questioned the cruelty aspect and things like that. It doesn't really matter where you begin. Everyone ends up at the center with a lot of very similar ideas, which is unique because it's not true in a lot of ways of life, you know, and certainly not in a lot of dietary, which a lot of people consider vegans to just be a dietary thing. And I think what's interesting about it is I titled the podcast this after doing research of realizing that it's truly a way of life for people after they've encountered it enough and much like yourself, you know, allergies and things like that. I don't think that people who are adults who don't suffer from allergies. I was one of them. Understand how much mental fog accompanies them. Allergies from food even and from the environment. There's a description of just like a haziness constant like sleepiness. And when that's lifted, along with the allergies like you, you speak about this mental clarity that goes along with it, which I think sounds like a brilliant side effect. I'm curious, after you, it sounds like everything was interwoven within this time period. You know, you were experiencing this idea, Vedic help with the diet. Then you're going to, you know, Buddhist retreats. You're studying this philosophy and you wake up one day and your Vegan. Is that when you chose to write shampoo thoughts on happiness? Or was it during that transition? Was it during that journey?

 

[00:14:02] Actually, Champi thoughts the book as the book was, it was just published last year. Dories, I'm right about we're a part of this journey. And actually back then I started blogging. I started a blog which I called Mindful Vision, which still exists. But I don't really use it anymore. But that's how it all started. I woke up one night in the middle of the night, I remember, and I had to start this thing and I started writing. So the idea for this book came last year on a trip, actually, and I started not just using the block. A lot of the things I published on the blog first, but they've been edited and enhanced. But the foundation was really that blog. And then it's it's a continuation also of my first book, Nasha Deviser Begin. You were close with that, by the way. Thank you. But it was really the the idea of taking all these learnings, taking all my baby steps that I took at the time. You know, I took so many steps in different directions. Sometimes I was walking circles. Sometimes I took one step ahead and three back to to use that and share it. And like, I have all this and. I mean, you read it, so, you know, it spans quite, quite some time. Yeah. This little episodes. But that's that's how the champloo thoughts came about. But really, as a library of inspiration, sharing my own way, sharing my own doubts and thoughts and stumbling stones along the way.

 

[00:15:51] Yeah. It talks a lot about core tenants that I think speak to a lot of things that Vegan practitioners from all different rooms kind of come into concept with.

 

[00:16:00] And I hadn't really thought about it until it was leaked as part of your bio. But you talk about addiction to stress and things of that nature that, you know, these these moments of of having to do to use as a, you know, radical honesty in an effort to really analyze things we'd rather not look at. We've spent a lot of barriers. I think a lot of people would tell you the majority of people I know would say that they don't like stress. And you unpack it as this like. Indeed you do. And you enable it. And, you know, you're quite addicted to it in one's life unless you're looking at it, because it's part of, you know, I was too busy working to consider work. You know, think all of these f they kind of turned in on themselves, which I think is a lot of the Vegan things as well. You know, people talk about, you know, I was too busy eating to consider my diet, you know, things of that nature. I was too busy being addicted to food to realize why I was addicted or to realize that it was killing me. So I want to climb into the I want to know. So let's get the logistics for everyone listening out of the way. So when was hashtag Vegan Ventures, the blog launched? And did you take any funding? Did you have any co-founders? And what was the impetus for it? Like what was the beginning phase of it?

 

[00:17:13] It was born out of necessity, actually. The blog, as it is now, I would say, was launched sometime in 2016, maybe seven, early 17. I can't even give you the exact date because also everything in my life, you know, I start something. I don't know where it's heading. And one day I see the result. So Vegan Ventures was really started out of necessity. And I went Vegan in 2013. So it's been seven years and a lot has changed in the meantime. And I've always loved traveling. So when I first went Vegan and I was traveling, I was on my own. I mean, you couldn't just go to the grocery store and pick up five different kinds of plant based milk and Vegan cheeses and whatnot that you can do now everywhere, at least in Germany. I mean, all the major grocery stores everywhere carry a good amount of Vegan products back in the day.

 

[00:18:13] Not the case, let alone eating out when you're traveling. So a part of my travels for me was not just the travel, but I enjoy it. But I also wanted to.

 

[00:18:27] Help other Vegan travelers at the time sharing. You know what I found out, caring about local places or sharing the best tips about how to go about something. So, for example, I learned very quickly that you can't rely on really getting a Vegan meal on an airplane even if you ordered it. Just little things. But it was really things I discovered along the way that I just wanted to share to make it easier for others. And also in the second set, that was the first step, how it came about in the second step.

 

[00:19:09] I just wanted to share my Vegan life as an inspiration to show people you can do this. And this is not just munching on carrots and celery. And you don't stop living a decent, fun life because you go Vegan just the opposite is the case. How much more very colorful, healthy fun this can be. And that was really the second step that I still wonder. That's still my aim until today.

 

[00:19:39] Absolutely. So you and you kind of mix in everything you said. You know, you've got some recipes. You do this. You do that.

 

[00:19:46] How do you what does your curation process like? How do you decide what makes it onto the blog? What's important enough to feed you? Take audience readership feedback. How do you do that?

 

[00:19:56] A little bit of everything. So as I told you before, I'm kind of I just do it and then I see where it goes. But I had to be a little more considerate at some point. The recipes, for example, that was I wasn't planning on putting recipes on there. And there are not a whole lot up there yet. I still have a lot more to go on there. But this was. Yeah. Reader feedback. Yeah.

 

[00:20:25] Actually on Instagram because I'm posting a lot of my food on Instagram that I make and I'm making a lot of Vegan German food as well. So this was actually this came from a German speaking following mostly like, oh, can you send me that recipe? And then I send the first recipe in a sense a second recipe like, oh, that's a lot of work, something out each recipe by itself, like, okay, I'll put it on the board.

 

[00:20:51] So this is reader feedback. I started doing little videos, promotional videos as well. And this also just happened because I happened to be in Greece and I met a wonderful Vegan chef with German roots.

 

[00:21:10] And finally his his place is also called Roots, Foods and Cultures.

 

[00:21:15] And I loved his story. I loved his food. I love his place. And his vibe was like, I need to share this with others. So I started making a little video to catch up, catch the vibe of the entire situation.

 

[00:21:30] So really, it evolves as I go along. Yeah. And I would respond.

 

[00:21:36] Speaking to that, I still think one of my my great narratives that I like to draw vegans and non vegans alike through is the story and chronicles of Vegan cheese. And I don't know how, but the Greek the Greeks got it right, like Fast and Furious, like 10 years ago when Vegan cheese over here was terrifying. Like, you just couldn't get near it. It didn't melt. It was horrible. It was filled with more preservatives than plastic. And the Greeks just came along and used olive oil. You know, it was a genius thought. So I and to that end, I kind of want to unpack because you have this great finger on the pulse for a German begins. And I have to say, I have a lot of stereotypes to unpack when I start traveling as a Vegan because I think of Germany and I think of schnitzel, you know, and like very, very few things I can think of eating are like Kraut or something like that, you know, like very few items. But I want to kind of unpack with you how your perception of the Vegan scene in Germany is and how it's changed if it has changed over the past five years.

 

[00:22:39] Oh, definitely. Absolutely. I mean, I live in Berman, so this is not really a good example for the rest of Germany because this is, I think, the Vegan capital of at least Europe, if not more. I think we have now I'm not quite sure, but I think we have in Berlin alone about 80 all Vegan restaurants and cafes or stores. So here, whatever you crave, it's a Vegan schnitzel. You'll have at least two or three places to get their Vegan schnitzel. So Berlin, different story. But even the rest of Germany, major, major changes. So when I first I remember 2014, I was traveling throughout Germany, the southern area of Germany, mostly rural.

 

[00:23:28] So I was Vegan already. It came to a point. I didn't even bother asking for Vegan options anymore. Right. It just didn't exist. Maybe they had something vegetarian, but it was surely stuffed with cheese and. Other things I wouldn't. So I went on a raw vegan diet for a while because I didn't have I didn't I couldn't cook or prepare my own food. That's fine. So that's OK.

 

[00:23:58] But nowadays I want to say, of course, you you still see different agencies. If you go to a bigger city, even if it's not Berlin, it's a bigger city.

 

[00:24:09] All of them have Meekin restaurants by now. And unless it's it's a very nice old fashioned place, I would say most places either have a vegan option on the menu or will be able to free something for you.

 

[00:24:34] And an issue without getting angry, like back in the day, I would say five years ago when you told someone you were vegan, it was like a call to arms. You know, they were immediately, like, offended if there was an immediate education and perhaps it a de-escalation of being offensive to them. And I think now a very least, people are willing to hear the word without like that reaction, at least in the states. Is it the same over there? Can you kind of use the word Vegan? And what is it in German?

 

[00:25:03] Is it is there a word for it? It's almost the same. It's Vegan.

 

[00:25:10] Do you think that if you were traveling through, let's say, South Germany and you bumped into a little town or even over towards like the Polish border would if you said that word would in a delicatessen or a restaurant, would you think that people would know what it was?

 

[00:25:29] Hard to say. Most I would. I mean, if you're in a very, very small town, let's say older people, your chances are getting slimmer. But overall, I would say overall, people know what it means. I mean, not necessarily everything that it means. So I always I learned that very quickly that if you say I'm Vegan, I don't eat animal products. Sometimes it needs more explanation than that.

 

[00:26:01] So I usually just run through the list, you know. So that means that I don't eat and then I just blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And then when they suggest something I think about and everything they could possibly put in there.

 

[00:26:14] And I double check and ask again. But overall, this people I don't see this. What you see this. I think it's an anger. Something like that. It's more.

 

[00:26:28] Amazement or so, how can you live like that? Oh, my God. Or why would you do that? But it really has changed over the years. It's much more accepted and no. Like I said in the May, all the major supermarkets here in Germany, they have increased their Vegan a product by I don't even know a lot.

 

[00:26:56] And I think that well, I believe that were some of the anger that a lot of people may have experienced five, 10 years ago is based out of veganism, was introduced as this restrictive, almost cultish way of life that a group of people lived who were kind of obsessed with the welfare of animals and militant and not caring values and beliefs like the rest of us.

 

[00:27:16] And since that time period, at least in the United States, there's been so much media and propaganda and films and scientific studies that have come out and proven the benefits and the longevity, you know, on the disease reversing and health aspects of veganism. But I think a lot of people now don't necessarily attribute it to this militant way of life, but rather people who may be seeking health or may have allergies. It's just been attached to something else. And so I think that the anger portion of it has definitely dropped off. No, I will stay say that. As a mother of four children, there's no faster way to get, you know, people kind of throwing up their arms with me than to suggest that my Vegan child's coming to their child's birthday party even when I'm like none of them know that they're good.

 

[00:28:03] They don't eat anything that you wouldn't worry about it.

 

[00:28:06] You know, there's there's this sense of difficulty, whereas children who have any type of allergies, you know, I don't think that there's that same sense, at least not to their face, perhaps behind their backs. But this inclusiveness, I think, is starting to reach out. I like it there. So Europe is tiny, but so different, you know, especially with the Vegan culture. I visit Ireland a great deal. Dublin and my husband's family is, you know, it from there. And then we travel all over. And Dublin did a good job. Over the past 10 years, they've had some really staunch old historical Vegan restaurants that have been around for 20 years. And and since that time period, the vibrancy has kind of come up. But I really see it as a product of you had a few of the old guard, but it's the youth. It's generation, you know, it's the millennials, definitely. But GenZE who are actually coming at veganism, not necessarily from a health standpoint, because the youth tend to be healthy, but rather from an environmental and a responsibility standpoint that they all have. And it's very different from there when I go to Australia or somewhere else. The youth and the vegans there have a very. They come at it from exercise and fitness. You know, there tends to be that influence over there. I'm wondering, where do you think the larger population of the Vegan members of the community are in right now in Germany? Is it in the younger? Is it also spreading into the older? How does that work?

 

[00:29:37] They're everywhere, of course, but I do think the younger gender a generation is.

 

[00:29:44] Is making a difference and bringing more awareness to veganism. And also, you know, tying in like environmental aspects. The odor. I mean, this is by no means. A general assessment. But from what I see or from the people that I know, I would say the older generation, most of them, not all of them, but a lot of them did come to veganism because of health or for for health reasons. And like with myself, you know, that's the start. And then along the way, a lot of them open up like, oh, they're a million more reasons to be Vegan. But this was the starting point. I see that with with the older generation in general, but especially the young ones. Environment. Animal rights activism. All of that. I would say is probably the driving factor. Like the young folks are willing to go out in the streets and do all the protesting and all that. Definitely. And I also think that from my experience. It's a lot more normal. And the younger generation to be Vegan.

 

[00:31:02] Yeah, and they're gonna grow up. So it's going to get you know, it's going to be normalized one way or another. I'm wondering, with the Kovik 19 pandemic and the set in for you personally, obviously not on a political scale, but has there been conversation in Berlin that you've seen about Acom returning to looking at food or sources of health? Not even I don't get into the cause of Cobbett or anything like that, but it's returned a lot of people to a conversation about diet and what we are eating and and what will keep immune systems healthy in a way like hasn't happened over the past 50 years. And I'm wondering in Germany, if there has been a return to considering, you know, even just like increasing the amount of vegetables or things that do kind of speak to the Vegan lifestyle. Have you seen an increase in that with anyone personally or on the news or anything like that?

 

[00:31:55] Personally, I'm trying to have these conversations because that's exactly my arguments. Like, we do have an immune system. It's it's made for things like that. I mean, I'm not saying that this is not real and people aren't suffering and dying. I do see that yet. We do have an immune system. And for me, this I have to say, I don't follow the news daily. I just don't. But from what has come to my attention, what I've seen, I'm not seeing that at all. It's more about, you know, trying to what can we do to go back to our weird way of normal life that we had before? No, we're wearing masks. We're doing this, doing everything possible so we can go back to our routine behavior, which was the most convenient. And we don't have to look at it. Nobody's publicly, at least, and that's a nobody. But this is not the news that the majority of Germans hear about, like a discussion about, well, what can you do with your immune system? How can you boost it? All these things? And it's really I find it very annoying because I'm trying to have this conversation or at least have the conversation. Why don't we hear about this? I do trust in my system. I do. And so right now and this is really a very sensitive topic, because just this or last week, they found a huge outbreak in a slaughterhouse in Germany. I don't know if you've heard about that day.

 

[00:33:30] And I had wondered kind of what the local conversation was about around that.

 

[00:33:36] So.

 

[00:33:38] I just heard on the radio today as I was driving in my car, I just heard that apparently one major politician won. One of the conservative parties said we need to reconsider.

 

[00:33:53] Our animal agriculture was like, ha!

 

[00:33:59] I didn't hear what he said in detail just so I can only give you what I heard on the radio. But apparently for him, we need to go back to small slaughterhouses.

 

[00:34:08] That's not the discussion we need to wrap up.

 

[00:34:11] But at least, you know. But not the discussion. I want to have, but it's at least a step and still I mean, a lot of major outbreaks.

 

[00:34:22] I mean, from what I know, this has been the biggest in Germany and the slaughterhouse. But there have been major ones at the slaughterhouses before.

 

[00:34:30] And I can't believe that we're not having other discussions then. How long do we need to have. Wear a mask? How can we keep our kids out of school? That's not the solution to the problem. That's just masking it with a mask.

 

[00:34:46] Yeah. And as endurance wanes, I think the desire to stop questioning, you know, the endurance, to continue staying at home, the endurance to continue questioning, like, exhaust the mind. But I agree. And the cool thing about science and pandemics, if there ever were a cool thing, which there isn't, is that it doesn't let up just due to human exhaustion. So it will spike again if things aren't considered and changed, you know, it won't let go until it's had its way, until we figured out a way through its way.

 

[00:35:16] So I agree with what you're saying. I'm wondering. It sounds like you've had a lot of interpersonal dialog. You've wanted to have conversations with your public, with everyone around. And I'm wondering if that has changed your goals and what some of your goals are for hashtag Vegan ventures, for the blog, for your investigative efforts. Will you continue traveling once travel restrictions are lifted, once there is an immunization to covered? And if so, will it change your dialog with the world? What are your future goals?

 

[00:35:50] It kind of has, actually, I mean, I can give you like an exact direction where see the setting. But what I what I found is, I mean, I started this, as I said, more as an inspiration for others or sharing my knowledge. And I've come to the point where I really want to speak up for those who don't have a voice. I want to help this planet move in a plant based direction. I don't know if I'm going to see this in my lifetime, but at least I want to say be able to say at the end of it, I try. And so for me, this entire thing has been to be a lot more outspoken about that and to also have the uncomfortable discussions, which it's not that I didn't have them before, but it wasn't really my my focus. But to to wake people up, to show them what's going on. And also, I mean, I was one of them. I mean, I eat meat for thirty four years of my life. I not once questioned that really before. Not seriously at least. So to have these discussions knowing I know where you're coming from. I know this is very uncomfortable and I know this will maybe be a little. Challenge here and there, but. We live in the year 2020. There is so much information out there. You literally it's harder to close your eyes and not see or hear any of them. Then it is true, as it was, let's say, 20 years ago, you had to go out and find these pieces of information. Absolutely. I agree. I think it out there and there is not one ethical reason to keep doing what we're doing, not for humanity, not for the animals, not for the planet. And there is no planet B and we need all of us on this planet.

 

[00:37:58] Well, that just shows you the incredible attachment to the only thing I can equate it to is practicing breath work during meditation and things like that when people tell me to control my breath. There is an innate like almost automatic anxiety that creeps in to the body without even realizing in the mind when you go to control that because you're controlling your life source. Right. You're controlling your air. You need it. And I feel like the same is true for food when we go to question certain things about food. You are not just thinking about one aspect of your life that you might change. You're thinking about the love that your grandmother gave you. You're thinking about all of these things subconsciously. You know, the way that you reward yourself, the way that you hide from things, the way that you get through a tough situation. All of these different things are very much so attached to food in every single person's life, all over the world from, you know, South Africa to Antarctica. And so I think that analyzing it needs to come from, as you're saying, this place of compassion, you know, that we get that the people who have gone through it and thought through it and gone through these these testing things that we're very much so attached to for existence and coming out saying it's fine to be a little bit nervous, you know. But I think it's also proof that it is so clearly ingrained in just more than nutrition. It's more than just we're eating what we're eating to live because there is no evidence on Earth that says eating meat anymore is a good idea. There's just no thought given for the sustaining of our civilization. And so the idea that people are still doing it, it's because it's so attached to other things that we fight wars over, you know? And so I think that it's really great to come at it, as you say, with this very patient. Like, I understand this is a little scary. And I was where you were at those types of things. I have yet to actually speak with someone who was born Vegan. I will find them. Hopefully it's a her or a female identified or non binary individual because that's the company I like to keep. But I would love to find someone who was born and is a Goldstar Vegan never, never varied away because I just haven't met one yet.

 

[00:40:06] I have some good fortune. I wish I could say I can put you in touch with her, but I can't because one of the things that I do are used to do.

 

[00:40:17] I do Vegan tours in Berlin and one of my guests. Which wasn't even looking for it was a different tour that I did. But we started talking about veganism and she told me she was born vegan. Remarkable. Her dad was vegan and. Yeah.

 

[00:40:36] I'm jealous, seeing as you have never even questioned it.

 

[00:40:44] You know, and so I think it'll be. Yeah, it'll be fascinating. My children will be able to say they were born vegetarian. My youngest won't be able to remember not being vegan. But to be able to say you've never is an interesting idea, you know, and to kind of crawl into that. And the majority of the rest of the vegans are walking around, you know, needing to exhibit the compassion that we once should have for having realized, you know, the truth and things of that nature. We're slowly car crawling into being out of time.

 

[00:41:12] But I wanted to ask you before I let you go. Elena, if you have, like, a taut piece of advice for anybody who is listening, who is not Vegan, but kind of analyzing it, listening to this podcast, we've had a lot of people right in saying I really like the idea that you're coming at it. We've interviewed a whole bunch of doctors and, you know, just as I've said, different characters and experts from different parts of life. And you're coming at it from this traveling standpoint, from a very personal testimony. And I'm wondering if you have any piece of advice that you can offer anyone who's kind of listening just to educate and understand a little bit more about the Vegan world.

 

[00:41:49] Two things, actually, one. I get that, too. A lot of messages from people who are not Vegan yet, but they see the benefits for whatever, like all the reasons mostly, but they struggle. And for me, this this has led me to think about offering some Vegan coaching. As you mentioned, I am a coach. I'm a certified coach. I never really before I thought about going in the direction of seeking coaching, but doing exactly this, helping people along the way with their struggles. But that's a general approach. But overall, have compassion with yourself and take one step at a time. I mean, you don't have to be the perfect Vegan overnight. Some people can do it. Most people can't. And you don't have to. It's OK. Take the step that you can look at your life as it is right now and look at, OK, what's the first area I'm going to take on? What can I do? What can I change? How can I create new rituals, new things to reward myself? Join Vegan groups like acquaint yourself with the lifestyle with little bit and then go step by step by step by step. And you'll always be you know, you'll do it at your own pace and eventually. Don't beat yourself up if you can't keep your goal that maybe you had in mind. Turned out you couldn't reach it. Yes. It takes time for most people and have compassion with yourself as much as you do with the others and the animals, and I love that.

 

[00:43:31] That's perfect. Thank you so much for coming on and giving us all of your advice and your expertize today. Elena, I really appreciate it.

 

[00:43:39] Thanks for having me.

 

[00:43:41] Absolutely. For everyone listening, we've been speaking with Elena Theis. She's the creator of hashtag Vegan Ventures. You can find out more. It's w w w dot Vegan hyphen ventures, dot com. And thank you for giving us your time today and having your thoughts with me.

 

[00:43:57] And until we speak again next time. Remember to stay safe, eat well and always bet on yourself. Slainte.