A Kynd Life

At the beginning of 2022, Mon set herself a challenge of living as though she only had "A Year to Live". 

By chance, Mon crossed paths with a woman Kerri who shared the tragic loss of her teenage daughter Lauren.  Kerri shared that Lauren left a bucketlist for her family and friends and at the top of the list was a trip to Africa to see elephants in the wild. Mon knew she was going to make this dream a reality, so she worked her magic and in August this year, Mon and Kerri set out on a trip to Kenya.

During the trip, Mon visited the Masai Mara and met a local woman and trailblazer Hellen. Hellen founded an eco camp, nursery school and widow's village in her community.

Hellen started a movement "Don't trade girls for cows, give them an education" where she aims to bring about generational change by rescuing girls, giving them an education and brighter future.  Now at capacity for the number of children Hellen can help, she has a dream to build 4 more classrooms and a cafeteria.

Hearing Hellen's story and the story of girls in Hellen's community, shook Mon to her core, she knew had to do something to help. Mon has launched "$30k in 30 days" a crowdfunding project to raise enough money for the first classroom to be built. This is phase one of the project, eventually Mon aims to raise the total project cost of $120,000 to complete the school.

Learn more about Hellen and the Tepesua Nursery School - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X0VsHYIjwL8

DONATE to help build a classroom and educate children in Kenya https://gofund.me/e4b47c6c

Follow the project https://www.instagram.com/alwaysawayproject/

Follow Mon https://www.instagram.com/moniquemedved/

Nicole has been a freelance vegan, cruelty free hair and makeup artist for over 30 years, showcasing that no animal needs to suffer for human vanity.

At eight years old, Nicole decided she would be a hairdresser when she grew up. She worked part time in salons from age 14 and began her apprenticeship in year 11. Her passion for cruelty free beauty products was sparked when working in one of the first salons to use Aveda products which are cruelty free.

Nicole wanted to raise awareness about cruelty free product choices, so she started volunteering with Choose Cruelty Free (CCF) in a PR and marketing role.  In 2019, Nicole became the President and then in 2021 when CCF and Cruelty Free International merged, Nicole was employed as the Australian Programmes Manager. She has witnessed a great shift towards cruelty free beauty products in the last ten years.

Having an interest in organic and natural living, Nicole also founded LivingSafe.com.au - a vegan health and safety blog. To keep busy during the pandemic, Nicole began sewing face masks and donating $5 from each sale to Animals Australia. She also co-created vegan gift packs for 800 COVID nurses at the Alfred Hospital.  In the little spare time Nicole has, she enjoys fostering and caring for small animals.

In this episode, Nicole highlights the difference between vegan and cruelty free, animal testing protocols and some of the celebrities she has worked with.

https://www.instagram.com/nicolegroch_hairmakeup/
http://www.nicolegroch.com.au
http://www.crueltyfreeinternational.org

Mo has worked with organisations to enter many slaughterhouses and "lock on" causing disruption to their operation.

She began advocating for animals soon after going vegan twelve years ago. Mo knew she needed to drive change, so started by holding a sign on the side of the Bridge to Brisbane event.

In 2016, Mo's friend invited her to be part of Eggs Exposed, a "lock on" inside an egg hatchery and slaughterhouse for male chicks. Mo and the other activists chained themselves to the conveyor belt and managed to rescue 150 chicks.

Mo has since been involved in Ditch Dairy, Luvaduck and Dominion Anniversary (Carey brothers abattoir) actions. As a result of her involvement, Mo has received death threats and been raided by police.

In this episode, Mo shares her experience inside slaughterhouses and the importance of drawing public attention to the abhorrent cruelty inside these facilities.

https://www.facebook.com/MooMoo.orr

Eggs Exposed 
Footage https://www.farmtransparency.org/campaigns.php?article=eggs-exposed
Lockon  https://vimeo.com/176329555?embedded=true&source=vimeo_logo&owner=14443181

Ditch Dairy
https://vimeo.com/animallibqld/ditchdairy

Carey Bros Slaughterhouse - Dominion National Day of Action
https://www.farmtransparency.org/campaigns/carey-bros-abattoir

Dean Maher is the first vegan in the world to summit the south face of Mt Everest with all vegan gear, clothing and food. After travelling South East Asia and never finding a favourite place, he wanted to experience the infamous Nepal for himself.

Dean first tackled Annapurna circuit and basecamp, the tenth highest mountain in the world and became hooked.  After completing a gruelling eight month training plan, he set off on the challenge of a lifetime. Dean shares the mental and physical barriers he needed to overcome to stand on top of Mt Everest holding the vegan flag!

During a trip to Vietnam eight years ago, Dean saw dogs in a cage on the back of a motorbike and was horrified about their fate. Within five minutes, he saw another bike, with chickens in a cage. He recognised their suffering and knew they'd have the same fate. This experience got him thinking about his food choices.

In this episode, Dean shares upcoming challenges including a 100 mile race and ultra running from north to south Wales over six days. He also explains his passion for using fitness to fundraise as well as cleaning up the environment.

https://www.instagram.com/dean_maher/
https://icouldnevergovegan.co.uk/

Did I plan to stand as a candidate for the Animal Justice Party? No
Would I do it again? Hell yes!

In this episode, I share my experience running in the 2022 Victorian State Election - how it happened, what was involved, what I learnt and why I would recommend you do it too!

https://www.animaljusticeparty.org/
https://www.instagram.com/akyndlife/

Are you disillusioned with politics? Not sure what difference voting makes?

Hear Andy Meddick share his insights into being the first Animal Justice Party (AJP) Member of Parliament in Victoria.

Over the four year term, Andy and his team have bought about big change for animals, people and the planet but it's not over yet! This is our chance to help Andy get re-elected as well as more AJP representatives in Parliament. 

Andy unapologetically shares how he feels about his time as an MP, unfinished business and what he wishes he knew before being elected. 

He also chats about hot topics such as duck shooting, Veticare - a universal healthcare system for animals and the difference between AJP and the Greens.

Want to help AJP this election?
https://vic.animaljusticeparty.org/elections

Show Andy support
https://vic.animaljusticeparty.org/andy_meddick_for_western_victoria_region

Cass is a personal trainer whose priority is to promote strong vegans. Cass is also a qualified vegan nutritionist and volunteer for Death Row Unchained (DRU) sanctuary.

Cass started training in the gym and within a few weeks, her trainer suggested she compete. Cass was initially hesitant but said yes to the challenge. She trained for 5 months and went on to win the Australian Title of IFBB Novice Figure Champion. This led Cass to gain her PT and nutrition certification.

Cass went vegetarian in her 20s after clicking on animal activism links on Pink's website. She went vegan not long after, however during her competition prep, Cass re-introduced eggs and then meat products. She openly discusses the loss of her ethical mind, until four years ago when she removed all animal products and went vegan for the animals.

Cass found DRU online and knew that she wanted to visit once they moved to Brisbane. Cass and her partner joined a sanctuary tour and fell in love with the animals. She then applied for a volunteer position and was asked to join the team who cares for the resident pigs. Cass recently launched vegan fitness merchandise with $5 from each item donated to DRU.

In this episode, Cass shares the importance of being transparent and finding a vegan community online.

https://www.instagram.com/veganlovebycass/
https://cassandrahaddadfitness.com/

Bailey is a young animal rights activist, known for disrupting a dolphin show at Dolphin Marine Conservation Park when he was 14 years old.

Bailey went vegan after watching YouTube videos which connected him to how meat, dairy and eggs are created. He was shocked and appalled that these companies were meant to be RSPCA approved and he instantly knew he no longer wanted to support them.

Bailey's love for marine life, and dolphins in particular was forged after watching the documentary "Black Fish".  Bailey regularly protests dolphins being kept in captivity and is calling on the government to support retirement plans for dolphins currently kept in captivity.

Bailey works with a number of organisations that align with his values including PETA, World Animal Protection and Animal Justice Party. Recent PETA demonstrations include human meat trays in Pitt Street Mall, forced mouse swim tests in Bondi Pool and a greyhound protest at Wentworth Park.

Bailey is also involved in wildlife advocacy campaigns such a koala extinction, Drop Croc and the Nike Kangaroo Massacre. He is a Youth Ambassador for The Plant Based Treaty calling on politicians and councils to recognise the link between animal agriculture and climate change.

In this episode, Bailey shares the importance of political parties in bringing about change for animals, transitioning captive dolphins to sea sanctuaries and connecting with nature.

https://www.instagram.com/warriorforanimals/

Lisa started Love Eat Cake by Lisa eight years ago and it fast became the home of the decorated biscuit. Lisa transitioned the business to a vegan one after going vegan herself.

Lisa always loved cooking, she has fond memories of baking cakes from a Women's Weekly cookbook at seven years old. She later decided to quit her corporate job and dive into creating her own handmade speciality biscuit business.

Lisa went vegetarian 15 years ago. Lisa and her partner decided to go vegan after learning more about the animal agricultural industry. Her business was non vegan at the time, so Lisa set about transitioning the customers to vegan biscuits over a few years. Lisa experimented with many variations of her recipes and even created her own vegan butter to get the best vegan biscuit. 

The business experienced great growth over the last three years, allowing Lisa to rent a commercial space. It is not uncommon for Lisa to be baking 8 trays of cookies at a time, pushing out orders of 500 cookies for her corporate clients. Lisa finds alot of joy in what she creates, with each biscuit a canvas for her creativity.

In this episode, Lisa shares her insights into scaling and supporting small business, as well as cooking for friends.

https://www.instagram.com/love.eat.cake.by_lisa/
https://www.facebook.com/LoveEatCakebylisa/
http://www.loveeatcakebylisa.com

Craig and his wife Sam started Five Vegans after recognising a great opportunity to source and sell vegan products online and at local vegan events.

The business name is inspired by them being a vegan family of five. One of Five Vegans core values is giving back, so they designed a mystery box where $10 per box is donated to a different animal charity each month. So far, they have donated over $2000 to charities.

Craig went vegetarian at age 30 after seeing an article in the newspaper and footage of sheep in the Middle East. Almost 10 years later, Craig watched a number of videos including What The Health and James Aspey's speech and he went vegan. Although Craig was motivated by the ethical side of veganism, he was also interested in the health benefits, as he suffered from an auto immune arthritis called Ankylosing Spondylitis.   

Not long after going vegan, Craig met the Perth Anonymous for the Voiceless organiser and began participating in Cube of Truth events. He is regularly involved in animal rights activism events such as outreach and marches.

In this episode, Craig also shares their hopes to expand the business, as well as advice for vegan parents and businesses.

http://www.fivevegans.com.au
https://instagram.com/fivevegans
https://fb.com/fivevegans
https://www.tiktok.com/@fivevegans
https://pinterest.com.au/Fivevegans/
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXtCQfFVpc1RgThDgj5kpWg