I feel insanely proud to be a Vegan. My only regret is that i did not do it sooner

Sophie is a forever friend to the animals. Her journey to becoming vegan started with her feather babies, for without them she would have never made the connection. Meatless Movement recently had a chat with her. Sophie told Meatless Movement that “It costs us nothing to be kind to an animal.”

Please tell us more about yourself

All things Vegan & Cruelty free
vegan with love sophie

My name is Sophie. I am from London, in the United Kingdom born and raised. I work and have worked in Education full-time for over 10 years. I also own a small (relatively new in terms of page/promoting work) beauty business @veganbeautybysophie.

Because beauty should NEVER mean cruelty!
vegan with love sophie

My business focus’ on lash lifts/extensions, brow laminations and facials. My aim is for it to soon be a one stop Vegan & crueltyfree beauty bar. Offering a range of treatments and expanding. The USP appeals to people who are just like me, people who believe that ‘beauty should NEVER mean cruelty’.

My clients would feel assured and happy knowing that everything from the beauty bed to the glue and tint are all 100% vegan and crueltyfree!

So that’s me! A woman who works full time and then some to make her dream of owning a successful business come true!

I would never have known what compassion was
vegan with love sophie

The story to my awakening to the world of Veganism is one I have told many times. It is close to my heart and it changed my whole life, without these little character’s i would never have known what compassion was.

One day my dad brought home a blue ringneck parrot. I named him Leonardo (blue TNT) He was a baby and so he was small with huge beautiful eyes and he stole my heart. He would sit on my shoulder and tuck himself off to sleep. He would sit on the sofa arm when I was watching telly. He ate with the family and he cooed and made cute baby sounds happily when you pet him. I had never paid much attention to birds before him.

One day as he sat on my leg getting scritches, I thought of how easy it would be to hurt him as he was so delicate and the fact that he gave me 100 trust. So much love he would just easily give no conditions like with humans. We were out in the garden and a motorbike reved which startled Leo, he got confused and flew on top of the conservatory.

A family member frazzled him more and caused him to fly off. He was around the area for a few days but I never saw I again. My heart was broken I could not eat, I would walk for hours and hours and put up posters. Knocked on every door for rows of streets and put his photo in the newspaper and on the radio.

He was never found. I had Leo for around 1 year and I pray he is somewhere happy and content, it has been over 7 years and my heart still aches the same as the day he left.

I’m at my happiest, when I am with Animals
vegan with love sophie

Tweety then came into my life. We rescued him, but I feel like he was the one who rescued me. The more I looked after him the more I hoped somebody was looking after my Leo. Tweetypie already being an adult lutino ringneck was a funny bunny. He was my best friend, he would wait for me to come home from work and follow me around the house.

We would do everything together. He was my alarm clock and the last feathery face i kissed before sleep. I have years and years of memories with my Pie, he was so funny. I taught him how to click, gunshot sounds and kisses sounds. He would always be wherever I was. My yellow bud, he would always want a part of a digestive biscuit before bed. It has to be wet with water, if you gave it to him dry he would throw it. I spoilt him rotten, my little diva. I laugh at those memories although i find it hard to talk about him. He was with me for 7 precious years and the day he passed away I lost apart of myself.

I have always been a bubbly, social woman but with animals it was different i began to realise that they are compassion, they are love and innocence. One day I sat down to eat a sunday roast and i could not eat it. I felt physically ill, my awakening had begun. The next day I became a Vegetarian. The following year I became a Vegan after seeing awful videos and images of what monster humans do in the dairy industry. So veggie for 1 year before going Vegan and I have been Vegan for 4 years. Their is nothing like the comfort of an animal, when you need hands you will always without judgement find a talon/paw.

Going vegan is easier than ever before
vegan with love sophie

I would tell someone who’s not vegan to start introducing vegan food into their diet and increasing at their own pace.

Now more then ever it is easy for people to become vegan. The are countless places offering vegan foods, at restaurants their are always vegan options now. Some of my fave london ones are, MAD burgers, Mildreds, Bananatree, Wagamama’s, Pizzaexpress, spicebox. I could go on and on. Please believe me when i tell you that I am a foodie and regularly eat at MANY places.

I think nowadays the challenge to find vegan foods when dining out is not so much. It is now more easier then ever to eat vegan food and failing finding a set meal. Make one up from the sides menu!

What advice would you give to someone considering veganism?

The misconceptions associated with Veganism is that you feel weak and that you lack protein. You will often hear ‘where do you get your protein?!’ As a running joke. The truth is you get your protein from vegetables! Elephants the mighty elle’s are herbivores, east what elephants eat.

I would advice someone who is just beginning to go meatless to take their time to see what foods they like or dislike. Their are a huge range of vegan foods available, i would also say you won’t ever regret being kind. Being Vegan is being kind, it is love, it is compassion.

I am always happy to help animals in any way that i can
vegan with love sophie

A recent interesting story is that at my school we had a teacher book an ethical chick hatching program. I looked after the chicks they came home with me over the weekend. It was hard to imagine my life when i would eat these innocent beings. I posted on my socials their innocent faces and another teacher at the school would see my posts. She said to me one day ‘Soph I am starting to feel bad’ in regards to eating chicken. I was so happy because it showed what love can do.

Every life has value
vegan with love sophie

Another story was when I happened to just be walking last a class corridor and happened to see a huge fish was bullying another fish. In the classroom. The very large fish kept pushing the littler fish into the filter area and you could see the little fish was stuck sideways just there obviously frightened. Their was nothing in the tank but the two fish no toys no pebbles nothing.I went into the class and asked the teacher what was going on. He explained it was ‘the way of the world’.

I disagreed. It was not, they were put in that tank with nothing to play with and the smaller fish had nothing to protect him from the bully fish. I found out the large one was eating the all the food too. I asked how i could help and told him he should be, seeing as he was the one to put those fish in that situation. He said all that was needed was a pot to provide shelter to the little fish but didn’t offer to get one.

This annoyed me further. Every life has value. The next day i walked into the classroom with a pot and put it in the tank. At break i went to check in on the fishes and saw that the smaller fish was hiding in the large pot away from the very large fish. He would now be able to at least have some peace and not be scared from his life from a bully fish.

The children were so happy, they told me it would upset them seeing the huge fish push the little one into the filter. They told the teacher but he did nothing. I told them to always believe in what is right. To never be afraid to do the right thing no matter how it may look to others. (Pretty sure i looked crazy to the teacher).

That year at Christmas I got a Christmas card, inside was a drawing of the fishes in the tank with the pot in there. The message read ‘To Miss Sophie, thank you for helping the fish. It was so kind of you. When I grow up, i want to be just like you.’ Yes i cried.