Vegan Food & Living - October 2017

INTERVIEW

G

rowing up, I was an animal crazed,

Disney obsessed, nature child. My

favourite Disney fi lms were full of

animals; Robin Hood, 101 Dalmatians and

The Aristocats to name a few. From a young

age I would sit and watch the colourful Disney

animations while eating a chicken Kiev or fi sh

fi ngers, without the knowledge that I was eating

my favourite characters! I always loved animals

and had pets since I was born. To me they

were family and friends I could trust. My love

of animals didn’t stop at domesticated species,

my favourite animals being cats and pigs. As I

became older I realised where meat came from

and I couldn’t understand why we chose to look

after one species but hurt and kill others. This is

when my journey to becoming vegan began. At

the age of 11 I made the decision to remove meat

from my life entirely.

10 years on and I’d kept my promise to keep

meat out of my diet. By this time I had started

my career in the blogging industry and gained

a following on Instagram. However, with the

enormous increase in social media I started

seeing images of the horrendous treatment

of animals within the meat, dairy and fashion

industries. I tried to convince myself I was

already doing enough by being vegetarian, but

videos showing the true nature of the dairy

industry suggested otherwise. It became

clear to me that being vegetarian

wasn’t enough to protect animals. At

21 I made the fi nal step to becoming

vegan and, a year later, I can guarantee

that it’s the best choice I’ve ever made.

Internet support

After becoming vegan I felt I was fi nally doing

all I could do to help animals. I also felt a lot

healthier, I had more energy and didn’t feel

sluggish anymore. This was fantastic for me as a

blogger, because it gave me the energy to keep up

with the fast blogging lifestyle of going to events

and constantly creating new content. I felt that

I connected with a lot more of my followers too.

I announced I was going vegan in an Instagram

post and received so much support. I share lots

with my followers about my life and, as it’s such

a drastic lifestyle change, I felt I should share

this with them. I hadn’t realised how many of my

followers were vegetarian or vegan before this

and I was receiving tips from people all over the

world. I think this is one of the best parts about

being vegan, it brings people together.

A big part of my blogging is makeup and I

love creating new looks and experimenting, but

along my journey I found that pretty much all

the makeup I owned wasn’t vegan! This is when

I learned that building a vegan lifestyle doesn’t

happen overnight. I’ll admit that it took a whole

year for my makeup box to change to entirely

vegan makeup. My trusted, go-to vegan makeup

brands are Sugarpill, Concrete Minerals and

Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics. They have

such a wide variety of products and colours. I

thought I’d be limited with what I could wear,

but these brands show that you can be as bold

and bright as ever, even as a vegan.

Meeting the challenge

There are challenges when becoming vegan,

especially as a blogger. There have been instances

where I’ve been contacted by a brand for an

amazing opportunity, only to fi nd that their

products aren’t vegan. In this way it can take a

while to progress, but I always remind myself

that I’m saving animals and it’s worth it. Besides,

so many companies are releasing cruelty-free

and vegan lines these days that eventually I’ll be

spoilt for choice. Another challenge I’ve faced

is fi nding food when travelling. I recently went

on holiday and had to be vegetarian for a week

because the chef didn’t know what vegan even

meant! It disappointed me, but you have to try

your best in those circumstances – or take an

extra suitcase of vegan food!

All the diffi culties I’ve faced are overridden

with the unbelievable support I receive, not

only from my followers, but also from my mom.

She’s made the transition from vegetarian to

vegan much easier by checking every food label

and cooking a separate vegan meal whenever

we have dinner. I’m pleased to say that, after

helping me live my vegan lifestyle, my mom has

decided to start cutting most meat from her diet

and only use non-dairy milk and butter. This is

such an accomplishment, because I was told by

other people that I’d never make a diff erence by

being vegan and now the biggest meat-eater I

know is becoming one! Now I can sit watching

my Disney fi lms and eating my vegan snacks

knowing that I’ m making a diff erence.

Find out more about JoJo at

jojopearson.blogspot.co.uk

INTERVIEW

114 VEGAN FOOD & LIVING OCTOBER

videos showing the true nature of the dairy

industry suggested otherwise. It became

I learned that building a vegan lifestyle doesn’t meant! It disappointed me

your best in those circumstances

vegan much easier by checking every food label

and cooking a separate vegan meal whenever

we have dinner. I’m pleased to say that, after

helping me live my vegan lifestyle, my mom has

decided to start cutting most meat from her diet

and only use non-dairy milk and butter. This is

such an accomplishment

other people that I’d never make a diff erence by

being vegan and now the biggest meat-eater I

know is becoming one! Now I can sit watching

my Disney fi lms and eating my vegan snacks

knowing that I’ m making a diff erence.

jojopearson.blogspot.co.ukjojopearson.blogspot.co.uk

JoJo Pearson

We meet

Fashion and beauty blogger JoJo

tells us about vegan makeup, Disney

movies and converting her mum

vegan and, a year later, I can guarantee

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