Exploits of a Vegan Wannabe

I have some pretty fun news to share on the veg lifestyle front.   This week I got a job with Trader Joe’s!  Yup, that’ll be me in the hip Hawaiian shirt, asking what your plans are for the weekend while briskly and politely moving you through the check out lane.  For those who are not familiar with the love that is “TJ'”s, it’s a foodie’s delight, offering hard to find and organic groceries at the most affordable prices in town.  See more here:  Trader Joe’s.

In case I have not shared this, I totally and completely love Trader Joe’s. As soon as I walk through the doors my blood pressure drops and I begin whistling a tune of joy.  They have such swanky food options for every edible lifestyle and their almost ludicrously low prices always make me smile.

I can spend two hours in Trader Joe’s just picking out crackers a bottle of red wine and Tabbouleh. I might as well get paid for it.  I’m starting in 10 days and can’t wait.

They totally loved that I was vegan and asked me some very thoughtful questions throughout my interview process. I think they needed to be quite sure that I was not of the militant vegan variety spreading my manifesto all over their customers. I was relieved when it came up in the interviews because I knew putting the blog on my resume would either make me a viable candidate or  land my resume in the circular file. I’m personally vegan, but would not verbally or emotionally attack a complete stranger buying a raw bird. They just needed to make sure.

I believe in what we are doing enough to not have to try and scare people into believing what I believe to be true. I think working at Trader Joe’s will be a fun complement to writing the blog and an interesting window into peoples pantries and refrigerators.

Sandy also just landed a vegantastic new job!

She is starting to work  for the Examiner.com as a Vegan writer for their “Food and Drink” channel.   The Examiner is a giant website portal of news of all kinds and they have topics and experts writing for them everywhere.  Sandy applied and got the position within a day!  She submitted her credentials and a writing sample and they liked what she had to offer.  

This was one of those freelance writing gigs that you wonder if they really exist online, and we found out that they do.  They even have an Examiner University as a resource for their writers to learn more and access tools to improve their craft, how cool is that?

I find it so exciting that we continue to find new and interesting people and opportunities to grow in this world of being Vegan. I feel like it has taken over in the most phenomenal way. All the ways that I felt intimidated or afraid because I didn’t know how or doubted that I could be vegan all fell  away and were replaced with opportunity after opportunity to flourish into this lifestyle.  Love it!

Watch for some cross-over of recipes and stories between the Exploits blog and the Vegan Examiner articles in the future.

Remember to send in your comments to be entered in the contest (yesterday’s post), so you can win the Vegan prize pack!

Have a delicious weekend.

Tags: compassionate eating, dairy free, Examiner, Examiner.com, going veg, plant based diet, trader joes, trying vegan, trying vegetarian, vegan, vegan challenge, Vegan Examiner, vegan experience, vegan wannabe