Culture & Media
Dominic Thompson on Incarceration, Purpose, and Building Crazies and Weirdos Into a Vegan Lifestyle Brand | Ep 008 | SoFlo Vegans Podcast
Sean sits down with activist, entrepreneur, and Crazies and Weirdos founder Dominic Thompson for an unflinching conversation about the incarceration that triggered a total lifestyle transformation, becoming one of Instagram's earliest visible Black vegan bodybuilders, and why he believes the vegan movement needs more leaders of color with real platforms.
Topics Covered
- 17 years total plant-based (10 vegetarian, 7 vegan), tracing back to a childhood memory of looking at chicken wings and his own arms at age eight
- Going fully plant-based during incarceration, trading meat rations for carbs from fellow inmates, and dropping from 260 to a lean 180-195 pounds without any nutrition science to guide him
- Founding the clothing brand Crazies and Weirdos in New York after his "Eat Well" shirt (worn with a gun-show flex) went viral and became, by his account, the top-selling vegan shirt in the world
- Becoming one of the first visibly muscular, Black vegan advocates on early Instagram, in contrast to the stereotype of the "middle-aged white hippie" vegan
- Food deserts, growing up without access to fresh produce, and why framing veganism as a "budget hack" reaches low-income communities better than moralizing
- Why he calls out celebrities like Joe Rogan and The Rock directly over animal exploitation content, and his critique of Joe Rogan's guest lineup lacking vegan voices of color
- Launching his own podcast, Dominic Thompson: An Elephant in the Room, covering food deserts, prison reform, and plant-based nutrition
In the News This Episode
- Tennis champion Serena Williams announced an animal-free athleisure clothing line
About the Guest
Dominic Thompson is an Atlanta-based animal rights activist, entrepreneur, and founder of the vegan lifestyle clothing brand Crazies and Weirdos.