Mike recently retired after 40 years of service with Ambulance Victoria.

Mike's father died of sudden cardiac arrest when he was 19 years old. It was a huge loss for his family, however Mike found his purpose in life when he decided to become a paramedic. Initially Mike trained as a paramedic before he started working on the road as a clinician and more recently a local supervisor, managing a team of 45 staff.

Mike's vegan journey began when he attended a horse riding accident. While caring for the patient, he noticed her horse was bleeding, suffering and in severe distress. The patient's mother advised she had a called a vet, however the events that unravelled still haunt Mike to this day. Mike then started asking questions about how animals were treated. He initially went vegan in 2014 for health reasons, but quickly felt deceived by animal agriculture.

After making enquiries about local animal rights groups, Mike learnt about the Animal Justice Party and felt at home with like minded people. Mike ran as a lower house candidate in the last state election and enjoyed being on the campaign trail. Seeing kangaroos in his local area and hearing about the Victorian kangaroo harvest program, Mike puts his efforts into advocating for kangaroos through letter writing, blogging and advertising campaigns.

In this episode, Mike shares the highs and lows of his emergency services career, life after retirement as well as his fourth successful attempt at the 100km Great Ocean Walk.

https://www.facebook.com/mike.fuery
https://www.instagram.com/furious_mike01/

Louise reflects on pivotal moments in her life and there are a few common threads - reading Peter Singer's books and the birth of her first child, all of which had a profound impact and led her to where she is today.

During Louise's university studies, she read Peter Singer's book "Practical Ethics" which covered a range of ethical issues, including animal rights. This book absolutely changed how Louise felt about animals, because it brought their suffering to the forefront and as a result, she went vegetarian.

Soon after the birth of Sebastian, Louise saw a television story on bobby calves in the dairy industry. She had experienced the strong bond between mother and child and knew she couldn't contribute to such a cruel industry, so she went vegan.

Across her financial services career, Louise has worked in a variety of roles including retail banking, institutional funds management, stockbroking and financial advisory. In 2011, Louise read Peter Singer's "The Life You Can Save" and knew she needed to do more to help end human suffering. Louise and her family pledged to give a percentage of their household income to help those experiencing extreme poverty across the world. In a beautiful twist of fate, Louise joined The Live You Can Save team as Director of Philanthropy eighteen months ago.

Louise recognises the importance of politics in bringing about change for animals, so she joined the Animal Justice Party over five years ago. Not long after joining, Louise was asked to stand as a candidate and has since been a candidate four times. In addition, Louise has held several leadership positions including SA State Convenor and was recently elected as President of the AJP Board of Directors.

In this episode, Louise shares how she helped secure political reform for animals during the 2022 SA state and federal election, as well as donating with confidence and how she enjoys spending her free time.

https://www.instagram.com/veganmamaboss/
https://au.linkedin.com/in/louise-pfeiffer
https://twitter.com/LVPC

Phoebe co-founded Companion Cows after falling in love with cows and years of experience rescuing and fostering them.  Companion Cows is on a mission to create a kinder world for dairy cows and their babies.

Starting as a volunteer with Til the Cows Come Home who were working with The Owl and the Pussycat, Phoebe quickly learnt how to care for rescue calves. Although it was a steep learning curve, it was hugely rewarding.

Phoebe put her hand up to be their first foster station in NSW and during that time, she was involved in the rescue of over 100 calves and thousands of battery hens. Phoebe soon took on the full time role of Animal Rescue and Foster Care Coordinator for Til the Cows Come Home.

Phoebe crossed paths with a Tasmanian foster carer Krystal who decided to start her own organisation Companion Cows. Phoebe fell in love with the idea of a charity dedicated to rescuing, rehabilitating and rehoming dairy cows, so she joined Krystal in setting up the charity.

Companion Cows has a strong focus on sharing the stories of cows who come into their care, as they believe it is critical to help the public connect with dairy cows and raise awareness about their plight. Advocacy is another important pillar of their work, with the organisation supporting people to ditch dairy.

Last Christmas, Phoebe received a call from a farmer who had twin calves needing a home. Phoebe rushed to pick up Missy and Bart and they instantly found a place in her heart. Phoebe could not part with Missy and Bart and they are one month off celebrating their first birthday in her care. 

In this episode, Phoebe shares her years of experience rescuing animals, as well as Missy and Bart's heart warming rescue story and some of the challenges involved in caring for cows.

https://www.instagram.com/wanderingphebes/
https://www.instagram.com/companion_cows
https://www.companioncows.org/

After ten years trialling beauty products, Marisa founded Wild & Cruelty Free - an online boutique featuring a carefully curated collection of tried and tested vegan beauty products. Marisa's always loved beauty, having started blogging over a decade ago and gaining a qualification in makeup artistry. 

Everything changed for Marisa during Christmas 2018, when she saw an Edgar's Mission billboard on the highway, featuring a picture of a pig and the statement "My name is Penelope Sue, not dinner". This image hit Marisa's heart, feeling a lot of sadness and guilt, so she told her husband Jason she didn't want to eat animals anymore.

It didn't take long for Marisa to make the connection between beauty products and animal testing, vowing to no longer use products tested on animals. Thanks to some thoughtful conversations with a vegan on social media, seeds were planted about products not truly being cruelty free unless they are vegan. This extended Marisa's circle of compassion and she decided to go vegan at the start of this year.

Wild & Cruelty Free was born out of Marisa's love for beauty and cruelty free content creation. Marisa values giving back to animal charities, providing a monthly donation to an animal organisation based on the sales from her business.

In this episode, Marisa shares how she researched beauty products for their vegan and cruelty free merits, as well as customer advocacy for brands to go vegan and future plans for Wild & Cruelty Free

For the month of November, Wild & Cruelty Free will kindly be donating money from every sale to Victorian Lamb Rescue.

https://www.instagram.com/wildandcrueltyfree_
http://www.wildandcrueltyfree.com.au
https://www.instagram.com/marisarobinsonbeauty
http://www.marisarobinsonbeauty.com

This week we talk to Bronwyn Currie,  Animal Justice Party's State Convenor in Victoria,  as she shares everything you need to know about the upcoming AJP National Conference.

The conference is being held on 11th & 12th November 2023 at the Fitzroy Town Hall, with the option to attend online as well. The theme of this year's conference is "It's Politics" and will host an impressive list of speakers (also previous podcast guests) such as Georgie Purcell, Emma Hurst, Matt Stellino, Paul Bevan and Emma Hakansson.

Be sure to tune in to the episode for all of the essential details such as what's included in the ticket fee, the conference dinner social event, volunteering opportunities and raffle prizes up for grabs. 

GET YOUR TICKET-
https://vic.animaljusticeparty.org/2023_ajp_national_conference

Bronywn Currie for Mulgrave - https://vic.animaljusticeparty.org/bronwyn_currie_for_mulgrave

In 2012, after a 33 year career with Victoria Police, mostly in the mounted branch, Jan went vegan and faced what she describes as an “existential crisis”.  What she did next changed the trajectory of her entire life!

Jan's vegan journey started after she saw the Four Corners expose on Live Export, "A Bloody Business". She signed up to the Animals Australia newsletter and soon after learned the truth about bobby calves, which at the time, seemed almost unbelievable.

Jan always loved horses and had begun her working career in the industry after leaving school.  Once she went vegan and saw the use of animals by humans differently, she was at a loss as to how to provide for herself going forward.

As she struggled to find her purpose, her natural affinity for travellers and travelling resulted in her “accidentally” creating a fully fledged vegan business - The Beet Retreat. 

The Beet Retreat, now Australia’s longest running all-vegan B&B, started on Jan's original 20 acre property in the Yarra Valley, VIC. In 2019 she moved it to 3 tranquil acres in Noosa, QLD.

Specialising in private, personalised 3 and 7 day retreats, Jan also offers cooking classes, simple bed and breakfast stays, meals, guided hikes, healing and active time in nature.

At age 45, Jan started adventure racing and then at 51, ultra-running. She was drawn to the mental and physical challenges associated with endurance sports and the types of people attracted to these adventures in wild, beautiful and remote locations. 

Jan, now 61, is making a return to ultra-marathon running next month with a gruelling 160km race on the Grampians Peak Trail in Victoria.  She is hoping to raise $1160 for Happily Heifer After.

In this episode, Jan shares her sustainability plans for The Beet Retreat and the secrets behind her unique blend of vegan vitality and gentle advocacy.

https://www.instagram.com/thebeetretreat_veganbnb/
https://www.facebook.com/thebeetretreat
https://thebeetretreat.com.au/

Tully is an entertainer, entrepreneur and educator. Be prepared, this episode will have your mouth watering as Tully shares his passion for creating easy and authentic vegan curries.

Growing up in Amritsar, the food capital of Punjab, Tully developed his passion for food while enjoying local cuisine and learning to cook with his mother. At age five, they moved to an army base where his mother was assigned a teaching role and Tully became more curious about different foods and cultures.

Tully realised Indian recipes were the easiest to remove the meat and dairy and still retain amazing flavours. He took to social media five years ago, showcasing fun, easy and delicious vegan food, gaining over half a million followers in a short time. Wanting to help others, Tully has created curry sauces inspired by his mother's recipes, that make meal time super convenient.

In this episode, Tully shares his childhood experiences, favourite recipes and upcoming launch of new products.

Tully has kindly offered a discount to A Kynd Life listeners - Save 15% off your order when using code "KYND15" https://www.tullyzkitchen.com/

https://www.instagram.com/tullyzkitchen/
https://www.tiktok.com/@tullyzkitchen
https://www.instagram.com/tullyzcurries/
https://www.facebook.com/tullyzcurries/
https://www.youtube.com/c/TullyzKitchen
https://www.tullyzkitchen.com/

Alicia recently opened her own real estate agency Saint & Wood after being involved in real estate for over two decades. The agency is well on the way to being an entirely vegan agency, with 3 staff already vegan and one vegetarian.

Alicia went vegan overnight after reconnecting with a friend over Facebook who happened to be vegan. She studied all of the animal rights content on her friend's page and was shocked at what she learnt. Alicia has 3 children, all of whom are vegan, including one from birth.

Over the years Alicia has been heavily involved in activism including attending rallies, marches and protests as well as joining the Animal Justice Party (AJP) soon after going vegan. Alicia stood as a lower house candidate for AJP three times and worked for the political party during the last state election, as a coordinator of three electorates.

Alicia's passion for real estate is what has kept her in the industry since she was 18. Starting in reception and administration, Alicia then moved into property management, sales and onto co-owning a successful agency with her dad. Alicia's prime motivation behind Saint & Wood is to give back to the community, with a portion of the funds going to charities that align with the company values.

In this episode, Alicia also shares her vegan love story, returning to her real estate career and being the best example of a vegan she can.

https://www.instagram.com/saint_and_wood/
https://www.instagram.com/alii_kate/
https://www.facebook.com/saintandwood
https://saintandwood.com.au/

Jess was inspired to sign up as a volunteer at Liberation Sanctuary after going vegan. Less than a year later, Jess started working at the sanctuary, managing social media and coordinating volunteers.

As a child, Jess wanted to help animals by becoming a vet. She always thought she would go vegetarian when she grew up and started her journey by refusing to eat pig products when she was young after watching Babe. Seeing a video of Milly the cow enjoying cuddles at Happily Heifer After helped Jess to make the decision to go vegan. It wasn't long before she started researching the dairy industry and was horrified by what she learnt.

Jess went vegan in February 2021 and applied a few months later to become a volunteer at Liberation Sanctuary. Jess enjoys the variety in her role and values spending time with the animals, capturing and sharing their stories for social media.

In this episode, Jess shares insights into her role at Liberation Sanctuary, volunteer opportunities and speaking at Vegan Easy's World Vegan Day event in 2022.

https://www.instagram.com/liberationsanctuary/
https://www.facebook.com/liberationsanctuaryvic
https://www.instagram.com/animallib/
https://www.instagram.com/veganeasy/
https://www.instagram.com/jess_m_wright/
https://www.liberation.org.au

Chloe and Jacques are the organisers of Vegan Kids Gold Coast, while raising two vegan children and embarking on a year long trip around Australia in 2024.

Chloe was seven when she made the connection between eating meat and the animals she loved so dearly. She had been vegetarian for years when she met Jacques. Not long after they began dating, Jacques decided to go meat free for a month and ended up also going vegetarian.

In a chance encounter with activists in Brisbane, the couple were prompted to question if being vegetarian was enough. After going away and doing research, Chloe went vegan, followed by Jacques declaring he would also go vegan on their wedding night. 

Noah, their six year old son, started feeling isolated and asked if they were the only vegans in the world. This led Chloe to ask in a Gold Coast vegans facebook group if there were other vegan families. They were inundated with responses and decided to create a facebook group for vegan children on the Gold Coast. They hosted the first event at their family home and the group has grown to become a strong community that holds monthly events.

Noah and Chloe are also creating a children's book together about Noah's experience being a child who feels like he found his place in the vegan community.

In this episode, Chloe and Jacques share their alternative way of living, travel plans for next year and how raising their vegan children has inspired their family.

https://www.instagram.com/the.alternative.root/
https://www.facebook.com/groups/vegankidsgoldcoast