Details: On today’s A Balanced Pursuit podcast, I sit down and have a sweet, fun, lively [and sexy!] conversation with my dear friend, Personal Chef Stacey Ellis of HerbNVegan in San Francsico. This conversation dives deep into…wait for it…vegan eating and cooking and transitioning to a vegan lifestyle. So, you may be like, wait? I thought you said you had a fun, lively, sexy convo? Well, yes I did. Because we both think plants are pretty damn sexy. But, this episode is awesome on several levels because we talk about how Stacey took a big leap, stepping onto her current path, and leaving a successful, but stressful, corporate job to follow her dream of being a personal chef and cooking for people to make their lives better. We discuss the steps she took to really identify what she wanted to do, considering not only passion but values. Also, how she researched working with food, created a network and found a great mentor. Really juicy stuff.

Now, let’s consider the “vegan” part.  I know that stirs up a lot of controversy for some people but I really encourage you to listen to this episode regardless of whether you are a meat-eater [I am], a mostly veggie, vegetarian or vegan because there are a lot of great take aways about why whole foods matter and how to get more plants on your plate and how it contributes to your personal well-being and to the well-being of our planet. It’s pretty cool. Now, let’s go meet Stacey.

Topics covered:

• Stacey’s background growing up and the beginning of her career in PR, and how working for the world renowned San Diego Zoo started subtly influencing her transition to a vegan lifestyle
• How, literally, one restaurant changed her life ~ Real Food Daily
• The push-back and backlash to becoming “vegan” in our society and how it affected Stacey personally
• Making the transition easier by mastering one meal of the day and slowly incorporating small change to lead to overall lifestyle change
• The tricky, slippery slope of still enjoying going out with [non] vegan friends for dinner and socializing and how to master it [hint: be easy on yourself. It’s like learning to ride a bike..be prepared to fall off and get back on]
• Incorporating more plants is always a good thing. There is no downside.
• Plants are sexy!
• The decision to leave corporate life and venture out on her own ~ scary, exciting, [SCARY] but starting again is freeing
• How Stacey took time to research, reflect and decide what lit her up and provided service for others [that magic intersection]
• All the good things we can expect from Chef Stacey and HerbNVegan

SHOWNOTES:

HerbNVegan
San Diego Zoo
Real Food Daily
The Vegetarian Flavor Bible
Biggest Food Trends of 2015

Buy the cookbook – The Real Food Daily Cookbook

<br />

FOLLOW STACEY:

Instagram

SHARE: If you liked this episode and know of someone interested in the vegan lifestyle, getting more plants in their diet, making a life change, starting a personal chef biz…share it with them!

Please share with your friends, loved ones, co-workers for inspiration, exploration and actionable tips and lessons for your best life pursuits.

READY FOR MORE ABP?

POSITIVE ACTION CREATES A POSITIVE REACTION. START TODAY.

Visit My Getting Started Page

FOLLOW ABP:

Instagram

Twitter

IF YOU LIKED THIS EPISODE, YOU MIGHT ENJOY: ABP 002: Award-Winning Chef Jenn Louis