195.All Things Vegan Cheese and Lessons Learned as a Vegan Entrepreneur with Nay Jones of Rooted Delights

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On this episode of the Brown Vegan Podcast, I’m talking with Janay Jones in a great conversation about her vegan cheese business turned digital product business.

Nay Jones is a vegan entrepreneur, business owner, and mother. After spending years as a vegan in the culinary world, she currently spends her time as a blogger and digital creator. Nay is the owner of Rooted Delights, which started as the first oat milk vegan cheese company but has now pivoted into helping people transition into the world of plant-based & healthy lifestyle choices. She recently completed an ebook where she offers lifestyle tips, recipes, and advice. Her mission is to change the world one delicious vegan cheese at a time.

In this conversation, Nay shares what her own vegan journey looked like and how completing a 30-day no meat challenge transformed her idea of what health looked like. She shares her perspective of why challenges can be so helpful for people, how accountability partners make you more successful, and the physical changes she noticed during the challenge that convinced her to go vegan. We also float the idea of hosting a vegan challenge for you all to join in on, so please let me know your thoughts after you listen to this conversation!

While I always ask my guests what getting comfortable in the kitchen looked like when they went vegan, Nay shares how making her own vegan cheeses at home transformed into a full blown vegan cheese business. We talk about the dairy industry and why dairy is not essential in our diets as well as why it was so important to Nay to create a cheese that was allergen free and accessible to everyone. 

And if you’ve been thinking about creating your own business (vegan or not), this conversation is full of great insight into what it takes to be an entrepreneur including the behind the scenes of how Rooted Delights had to pivot and the lessons learned from running a full time product business during the pandemic. 

In this episode we cover:

  • Self care and finding balance as a business owner and new mom

  • The power of vegan/vegetarian challenges to kickstart a new lifestyle

  • How going vegan transformed Nay’s health, helped with acne, and resulted in weight loss

  • The exciting feeling of finding a vegan ingredient that becomes a game changer in the kitchen (hello, liquid smoke)

  • The dairy industry and how their marketing is pervasive and brainwashes us from a young age

  • All things vegan cheese and what having so many options means for new vegans

  • Behind the scenes of running a vegan perishable product business + tips for starting a new food business

  • Lessons learned as an entrepreneur, the importance of delegation, networking, and forming partnerships

  • How Rooted Delights went from a vegan cheese company to offering a wide variety of helpful digital products to their customer base

Follow Janay Jones & Rooted Delights:

Website

Instagram

E-book