Anything less is supporting animal abuse.
Jamie’s journey into the world of veganism began in 2020, but it wasn’t until the following year, in 2021, that she fully grasped the extensive realm of animal abuse that extended beyond just the consumption of animals. Jamie realized that animal exploitation had seeped into our everyday household items, such as cleaning products, paper materials, beauty products, and more.
Driven by this newfound awareness, Jamie embarked on a mission to eliminate all household products containing animal-derived ingredients or associated with companies that conduct animal testing. While delving into the world of beauty products, it became apparent that there was a need for high-quality vegan alternatives to replace nearly every item.
This realization sparked a brilliant idea: why not create these vegan, cruelty-free beauty products themselves? Today, Jamie is the proud owner of “Overly Kind,” a brand dedicated to producing vegan and cruelty-free beauty products. Beyond their entrepreneurial endeavors, Jamie is equally passionate about using their platform to educate and inspire others about the vegan lifestyle.
Jamie’s journey from California to Colorado and her commitment to promoting cruelty-free living through “Overly Kind” is nothing short of inspiring. So, if you’re open to embracing a more conscious and compassionate lifestyle, Jamie is here to guide and empower you!
Please tell us more about yourself
Follow a vegan lifestyle immediately 🐰💕
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Hi, I’m Jamie! I am originally from California but have spent the last 5 years living in beautiful vegan- friendly, Denver, Colorado.
I became vegan in 2020 but it wasn’t until 2021 that I came to realize the extensive scope of animal abuse, stretching beyond the consumption of animals and into our everyday household items like cleaning products, paper materials, beauty products, and more.
I started removing all household products that had animal-derived ingredients or were purchased from companies that test on animals and as I was diving into my beauty products, I realized that I needed to find vegan alternatives to replace nearly all of them.
Overly Kind seeks to empower and educate consumers, steering them towards a more conscious and compassionate lifestyle by promoting the use of vegan and cruelty free products
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As I was looking for replacements, I was underwhelmed at the vegan, cruelty-free options available and had the lightbulb moment to start creating my own beauty products. I am now the proud owner of my very own vegan, cruelty-free beauty brand called Overly Kind and use my platform to passionately share the vegan lifestyle with anyone who’s open to listening!
I began my vegan journey 3 years ago after I was diagnosed with an autoimmune disorder and after seeking help, I was told to complete a food sensitivity test by my doctor. Surprise surprise, I was sensitive to mainly all animal products so I began my suggested 30-day elimination diet and removed all of these items from my daily life.
Every day, millions of animals are locked in cages for “food” production, animal testing, research, entertainment and labor 🛑
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During my 30-day elimination diet, I started watching vegan documentaries including Cowspiracy and Dominion. After seeing the horrors that take place in Dominion, I never looked back and went fully vegan. I am 100% vegan for the animals and will spend my life advocating for them and spreading the truth about what is happening behind closed doors.
When I was diagnosed with my autoimmune disorder, I was told that I would need to be on medication for the rest of my life. I was not willing to accept that and this is how my doctor and I came to the decision that we would go down the food route to see if this would help my diagnosis. I started reading everything I could about my autoimmune disorder while simultaneously completing my food sensitivity test and learned that animal products were a huge factor into how my disorder came about. After 6 months of removing all animal products from my diet and going vegan, I had my blood work rechecked and my numbers were NORMAL.
I didn’t need to take medication after going vegan and I could feel my body healing from the inside out. While my number one reason for being vegan is 100% for the animals, there are SO many benefits including personal health and minimizing our environmental impact that makes veganism a win win for ALL.
Out of all my life achievements, going vegan stands as my greatest life accomplishment, even surpassing starting my own business. Although there are moments of difficulty in being vegan, the positive impact on my body, mind, and soul outweighs any challenges I face. Knowing that I am not harming innocent creatures with my existence gets me through these challenges. Like most vegans, I only wish I went vegan earlier in life!
They are enduring unimaginable suffering ending in the loss of their life for a mascara, cleaning product or burger ✋
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There will always be challenges and difficulties in anything meaningful that you do in life. Luckily for us, there have been countless vegans who have started their journey before us and paved the way for us to have an easier time than they did.
When it comes to finding vegan food, my go to app is called Happy Cow. Happy Cow is a vegan app that highlights vegan restaurants across the WORLD! Not only can you find vegan restaurants, you can find non-vegan restaurants that offer vegan friendly options. When I go out to dinner with non-vegan friends, I make sure that whatever restaurant is chosen will have a decent vegan option for me and if it doesn’t, I will ask my friends if they are willing to compromise on a restaurant that suites all of our needs.
In my experience, my friends have been very open to compromising and are even interested in trying
out vegan restaurants from time to time. If there is no vegan option and your friends don’t want to compromise, eat at home first and then join your friends for some French fries and salad which most restaurants should have on hand! Or sit this activity out and stay strong in your convictions. All of these are acceptable options!
Any tips for newcomers going meatless? How do you convince non-vegans/vegetarians to try meatless options?
It’s time to confront the uncomfortable truth and stop looking away from the harsh reality of animal cruelty 🛑
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My first piece of advice to anyone who is interested in going vegan is to find your “why” for going and staying vegan. Watch all of the vegan documentaries that you can and remember who you are fighting for. You are fighting for animals right to live free from harm.
Choosing a vegan lifestyle is not about you and while the documentaries will break your heart, you must remember that our sadness is nothing compared the reality that these animals are facing. You have to be selfless for them. My second piece of advice is to build your vegan community.
Start following as many vegans, animal advocacy groups, animal sanctuaries, vegan chefs, etc., on social media and in your daily life and watch your community grow. Reach out to them, tell them your story, ask advice, don’t be afraid! Vegans want nothing more than to keep building our army and we are more than willing to offer any help or advice that we can. You are not alone in your journey! My third piece of advice is DON’T GIVE UP!
While changing the way you eat can be very difficult, YOU CAN DO IT. There are countless brands that offer vegan staples like tofu, tempeh or seitan that come pre-marinated and seasoned and all you have to do is warm/cook them up. Once you get comfortable with these items, you can start creating, marinating and seasoning them yourself and make meals beyond your wildest dreams!
You must also keep in mind that you may not like everything you try and that is perfectly fine. Keep
testing brands and find ones that work for you. DON’T GIVE UP! Watch vegan chefs on YouTube and Instagram, order their cook books, subscribe to their channels and try their techniques. Like anything new in life, you need to practice, practice, practice so DON’T GIVE UP! Keep going and master the art of vegan cooking!
Every step we take towards awareness, education and empathy pushes us forward and enables us to demand change 💪
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A lot of people assume that when you go vegan, you have to stop eating the items that you love such as cheese, milk, yogurt, ice cream, etc, but this is simply not true! There are vegan alternatives for EVERYTHING! Explore brands and find what works for you.
Another misconception is that veganism is expensive and this is certainly not true. The majority of vegan
staples including nuts, veggies, fruits, legumes, beans, tofu, grains and seeds are not expensive. It CAN be expensive if you are consistently buying frozen pizzas, chips, crackers, ice cream or microwavable meals but if you stick to a whole food lifestyle instead of processed snacks, you will find that veganism is actually better on your wallet than purchasing animal products.
There are SO many misconceptions to tackle but the last one I will highlight is that vegans are weak
and don’t get enough protein.
THIS IS NOT TRUE! Vegans get plenty of protein from tofu, tempeh, seitan, soy curls, textured vegetable protein (TVP), plain vegetables and many other sources. You will start to recognize these items by continuing to live in your vegan research and following vegan influencers who focus on muscle building and vegan proteins. The vegan community will debunk ALL of these misconceptions and you will eventually get to a place where you are comfortable and able to debunk these theories to non-vegans yourself. Again, DON’T GIVE UP!
There are vegan alternatives for every item you can think of 🌱
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Now for the FUN part…FOOD! I am so blessed to be able to live in a city that caters to vegans. Denver is SO vegan-friendly that it can actually be overwhelming seeing all the amazing restaurants and chefs and having to settle on one at time!
During the Summer, Denver has AT LEAST one vegan food truck night per week where we all come together to eat, socialize and be merry while supporting our local vegan chefs and creators who offer amazing vegan products including skincare, candles, reusable cleaning products, clothing and so much more. The Denver vegan community is something truly special!
Some of my favorite vegan restaurants in Colorado include (but not limited too, there are just so many!!):
Wellness Sushi
VRevolution
Fern’s Diner
Burrowing Owl
The Easy Vegan
BestOneYet
Backyard Bowls
The Savage Beet
Grateful Planet Foods
Saucy Cluckers
Vegan Van
Mora Pizza
Watercourse Foods
Some great websites to start looking for vegan recipes include:
https://www.noracooks.com/
https://itdoesnttastelikechicken.com/
https://plantyou.com/
It is crucial that we raise our voice and take action against these cruel practices 🙏
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Please watch Dominion on YouTube immediately and always remember that the challenges you
encounter during your transition to veganism might seem tough, but they pale in comparison to
the hardships that animals endure every day.
We are all in this together, for the animals. If you are considering going vegan and have any questions, comments, concerns, please feel free to reach out to me. Now get out there and start your vegan journey!
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