The Daily
Pulse.

What We Wish We Knew When We First Went Vegan

Rowdy Girl Sanctuary founder Renee King-Sonnen, Animal Hero Kids founder Susan Hargrave, and Main Street Vegan's Victoria Moran, vegans of very different vintages, compare notes on what going vegan cost them and what has actually changed since.

The Biggest Obstacle Is Usually Yourself

Renee, married to a cattle rancher when she went vegan in 2014, says her own fear of family judgment held her back for years more than any external obstacle. Susan, vegan since 1985, says family often remains the hardest audience to convince, decades in. Victoria, vegan since 1983, recalls a world with no vegan convenience foods and so few vegans that the American Vegan Society treated newcomers as vegan even when they slipped, until belief caught up with practice.

What's Actually Gotten Easier

All three agree public perception has shifted dramatically. Susan describes running into people who once thought she was odd for being vegan and are now vegan themselves, some running their own vegan food businesses. The panel credits social media and video calling with leveling the playing field against the dairy and meat industries' marketing budgets.

• Renee runs Rowdy Girl Sanctuary and the Rancher Advocacy Program alongside her cattle-rancher husband
• Susan's Animal Hero Kids runs World Animal Hero Kids Month every October
• Victoria's Main Street Vegan Academy has trained nearly 500 people from 29 countries

Their shared advice for anyone facing family pushback: stay committed, be patient with people who aren't there yet, and remember that judgment usually softens over time.