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Jason Kartalian on Vegan Hacks, Authenticity, and Making Plant-Based Content That Sticks

Jason Kartalian, the creator behind Vegan Hacks Pod, has been vegan for 14 years and flirting with the idea since he was a teenager in the 1980s, but says his real "origin story" is the accidental platform he built during the pandemic.

From Boredom to a Platform

Kartalian started posting recipe videos during the pandemic mostly out of boredom, and Vegan Hacks Pod grew into something bigger than a podcast, a way to communicate his excitement about food to an audience that now recognizes him in public. He grew primarily on TikTok before noticing the vegan community shift toward Instagram as competition on TikTok increased.

Making Content That Doesn't Preach

Kartalian deliberately keeps his videos a little messy rather than polished, calling himself the "crazy uncle" of vegan content rather than a guru, and made a point of eventually showing his face on camera to be a relatable figure for older, TikTok-skeptical viewers. His simple two-camera setup is an iPhone 14 and a Sony ZV-1, recorded with a Shure SM7B for voiceover. He also pushes back on creators claiming credit for "inventing" recipes that come from Buddhist, Hindu, Indian, and Korean food traditions.

• Vegan for 14 years; posting content regularly since the pandemic
• Grew primarily on TikTok before shifting audience toward Instagram
• Posts one to three videos most days, shot on an iPhone 14 and a Sony ZV-1
• Encourages crediting the Buddhist, Hindu, and Asian food traditions behind many plant-based staples like seitan and mock meats

His closing message: be true to yourself and do the best you can every day, nothing more complicated than that.