As vegan and plant-based business owners and entrepreneurs, we're often adapting to a new reality. This new podcast series from Vegan Mainstream is an opportunity to help you when it's time to pivot. These interviews will come from inside and outside of our community, and I hope as your host, Stephanie Redcross West, I can inspire you and give you the tools that you need to move forward. Hi, everyone.
Welcome to today's interview. I have Jason Shram with us today. And today's a really interesting interview or session that we'll be kind of talking about how someone like Jason has taken his skills. He's really kind of known as a tech guy, and I don't want to put Jason in a box because there's many other great things about Jason as well.
But the idea that when you're thinking about starting a business, when we're thinking about how to contribute to the movement, a lot of times we gravitate towards specific items, things like food, things like cooking. And what I really love about what Jason has done is he's really looked at the skills that he brings to the table and has started to build businesses and not just businesses, but resources for us in the community that helped many of us not only go vegan, but stay vegan. So I love to kind of spend some time today not only talking about Jason's journey, talk about how we really discovered, you know, the idea that this was the right place for Jason to focus and how he could really contribute. And we'll also dive into how Jason has been pivoting, changing, and what he's been up to in these last few months.
But I also want to kind of talk about how he found his voice, how he found his place in the movement. I think one of those things that's really challenging for many of us out there is we're often asking, are we doing the right thing? Are we headed in the right direction? Should we do this type of business?
You know, we give ourselves a lot of question marks. And what I'm really hoping today is that understanding Jason's journey, many of us will get some more clarity around what you can do, how you can build different businesses, different tools, resources for the community, as well as pour in your passion and bring all of those things together. So without further ado, let me welcome Jason. Hi, great to be here.
Now, as we dive into the details, let's give everyone a little bit of background. Let's help people understand you. So first, let everyone know how long you've been vegan. I think that's always something our listeners love to hear.
And then maybe give us a little bit of insight into your journey, whether it's your journey of becoming vegan or your journey as far as, you know, how you started doing the great work that you're doing today. Great. Yeah. So I've been vegan for five years now and I was vegetarian a couple of years before that.
And really, I mean, it started out with high school, getting into computers, building websites, really enjoying coming up with different ideas for sites that might help people and do different things that were, you know, kind of going around and grew into that, was working in different companies, doing all that kind of stuff. And then seven years ago, wasn't really eating well, wasn't feeling so well and just happened to get recommended a movie and it wasn't, you know, even a person that recommended it. It was, you know, Amazon saying, Hey, watch this. And it was Vegucated.
And then I just, you know, it resonated with me. I just stopped eating meat right then and then kind of transitioned for a couple more years and then did a vegan pledge program in Baltimore five years ago, where it's a five-week program. You get a mentor. So you're going to be vegan.
They go to an animal sanctuary. I held a chicken in my hands and she fell asleep and I was just like petting her, you know, found out pigs love belly rubs and it just, it all kind of resonated with me and then I stuck with it. And as I really got into that, I realized I needed to find other people. I needed to meet other vegans, find the events that were going on to really support myself and to stick with it, to have some friends that were going to be supportive.
And I started finding the meetups that were out there, the potlucks, all the events going on. And then I realized that people didn't really know about them. And I would tell people, Oh, there's like a potluck going on right around your corner. And, and they didn't know about that.
And so I started getting all these different ideas then for websites, because here, you know, I built been building websites, but it was mostly things that had already been done, you know, coming up with ideas when someone already built this thing, then I get into this vegan movement that I have this new passion and I'm thinking of these ideas and they're either not done or someone maybe did them too early and they didn't really take off and get shut down or it's just, you know, it isn't still around. And so I started with an event website really to help people find the vegan events going on near them to find some community, find connection. And that was veg events, which actually started out as a free vegan dating site, but the dating piece wasn't really people who are really interested in that. And then I added this event part and people were signing up just so that it would show them events based on their location because you had to sign up, but they weren't like talking to anybody.
They weren't creating profiles. So I took that out and kind of pivoted there, changed the name to veg events and been growing that for the last three years and adding, adding more events to, you know, on there. There's, well, before all this stuff going on now, there were a lot more live events, but there's virtual events on there. And then over time I started getting other ideas and for websites, but I was having a nine to five job, you know, building stuff for other people that, yeah, I could get involved in and I could get really invested in anything.
Cause that's, you give me, give me a problem and I'm going to figure it out. If it takes me a while, you know, I'll kind of solve it. And that's how I kind of started getting all these ideas. And then about eight months ago, I left my day job to focus on building all these ideas that I'd kind of you know, had stuffed up and been waiting to get out that I was just kind of waiting.
Nice. And I think that's a great piece. I think a lot of times we have ideas, you know, as entrepreneurs, you know, as individuals in our community that want to do more, but the challenge is when do you act on them? When do you work on them?
And then also I love the story that you have there where you talk about, you started down one direction and then you pivoted. I think a lot of times we assume that our number one idea or our first idea is the best idea ever. And it is the idea that's going to carry us through. And the ideas that we learn over time, sometimes the market's not ready for some of our ideas.
So I love the idea that you started one direction, but moved based on the demand, people's interests, and their interactions. So it's really great to hear those stories. So the last eight months, that means you've been busy, I'm sure. So walk us through kind of what it's been like for you, especially with everything going on, most of us at home.
So I don't know if that maybe you had a little bit more time on your hands. I don't know if you had more time for UA testing, you know, walk me through how you've been spending these last eight months and what's kind of been some of the things that you wanted to complete, especially in 2020. Well, it kind of all started with just a lifestyle choice, right? I was working this nine to five schedule.
There was a time where I had to work on my birthday because we were doing a big release. They had some software that had to go out and had to be done on a certain day. So I'm going into the office on my birthday and I just really was starting to think about how do I want to live my life? Like, do I want to work, you know, 80 hour weeks, which I mean, thankfully I've only had to work 40 hour weeks when I was working, but other places you're working 60, 70, you know, you're having to work in so many hours to, to kill myself for a couple of decades and then retire when it's kind of too late to do, you know, something else maybe, or I don't know what I want to do.
And you know, then I have all this time and I have to find a passion or do I want to start doing some of that now? And so I really decided that I wanted to, you know, build these things that I'd been thinking of, but I wanted to work a couple hours in the morning, you know, take a break for a couple hours, meditate more, work a couple hours later, like, and kind of just set my own schedule and set the, you know, what I was deciding to do. So yeah. So the first thing that I picked up was Veggie Meal Delivery, which veggiemealdelivery.com.
It's a free directory of meal delivery services. So the places that will send you a box of ingredients or they'll send you, you know, eight meals frozen or not frozen that you can keep. And it makes it easier to eat vegan. And I had this idea because there's a lot of different meal delivery services out there.
But if you search, you'll see some article that's like top five or top 10. And it's only the ones that people are Vegan films. Now, not all of them are going to be vegan, but there's going to be tags on them so people can know what's in there. And so I started working on that for the last few months.
And I had the benefit of having built VegMeal delivery because I just copied a lot of that code and then I kind of changed things and made things better. So I had already built in the ability to have testimonials and searches and popping up the information in a little window. And so I was able to then do in two months what had taken me six months before. I love that.
I love that we can leverage the work. I think a lot of times when we think of new ideas or creating new ideas, we always think we have to start from scratch. It's got to be like white sheet of paper. What should I do now?
And the idea that you leverage the work that you had so therefore you get this up sooner, I think it's great. And also, I love that you started working on projects, prioritized based on the current day and age. I think a lot of people struggled in 2020 because they were like, I have all these big plans. And then this happened.
What am I supposed to do? And then they push forward with their idea just because it was happened motion or it was, you know, kind of so close to their hearts as opposed to saying, okay, what do people need now? And especially for movies, you know, many of us are home. Many of us are sharing, you know, it's a great way where even with us being socially distanced, you know, my niece can watch a movie.
I can watch a movie and then we can talk about it afterwards. So I think the idea that, you know, coming through realization that this would be a priority project, I think is, you know, spot on with the idea that we all in our businesses, all in our projects that we work on should be prioritized based on the current need. Yeah. And I think it's also, and also then for new movies that are trying to get made, trying to give them a platform that people can find them.
So there's a coming soon section that lists a bunch of movies. And there's also a need support section that for films that are like crowdfunding. So right now they're trying to kill us is a movie from Keegan Coonan and the Badass Vegan that they're working in from the veganism and what's going on from the realm of a lot of people in the hip hop movement and community. And so they're doing an Indiegogo campaign right now, which I mean, they don't need my help.
They've got, they're raising money. You know, people are interested in it, thankfully, but I can then highlight those films that might need support or are raising funds to help more get made that are, you know, having a voice that isn't in the other films, let's say something that's not already being told. Yeah. And not maybe in the traditional rotations, not in the traditional blog posts that are coming out.
So it gives that amplified message that, you know, many of us need and want. And also I think a movie like that is so important right now that people know it's coming out, that people can get excited about it, rally behind it, especially in our community. Our community is such a great community that will support, you know, will support each other, you know, through the long term. So being able to help people find and know that these movies are, you know, being not only raising money in production, they're coming soon.
All of that, I think can help make sure that we do get those blog posts that are actually talking about some of these many movies or maybe some of these projects that are in progress so that the conversation is starting now. So today is official launch day. Yesterday was official launch day. What should we tell everyone?
Well, so yesterday I launched it because I wanted to have it done before today, which was, it's also a good lesson. Like put an arbitrary deadline on yourself and you'll get things done a lot quicker. You may, you know, have a lot of stress and, you know, not eat so well, but it'll get done. So that's a, you know, always skip that.
Yeah. And deadlines can help us all. I have a deadline this week that is definitely motivating me, me along that. So I'm really glad.
So I think we have in the notes we have or in the description of these posts, there is a link to VegMovies. So I definitely wanna make sure anyone who's listening today, watching today, definitely go take a look at it, share the link, put it on social media. I think one thing that we can all do as a community is make sure not only do we support each other, but support projects like this. I think often, you know, we check them out, but we forget to share them.
So this is just my nudge, nudge to anyone who is watching or listening. If you're listening to us on a podcast to please make sure you share and let others know about this amazing resource. So I guess you have a couple of other questions for you if I can keep you a little bit longer, if you don't mind. Let's talk about the balance between the projects that you have now, and especially since you transitioned out of your full-time job, how are you balancing that?
How are you balancing your passion projects with, you know, managing, you know, the stuff we all have to do, like pay our light bill, pay our mortgage and all that good stuff? Well, I became a minimalist a couple of years ago. So keeping costs down as much as possible for me, you know, is key. And then because I'm doing the development, I don't have to pay someone to do the development, which would be thousands of dollars a month if I was doing that.
And so, you know, and I did work for a bit. So I, you know, I know how long I can go with, you know, how much leeway I have. So really, you know, if someone was trying to do this, it's we'll have some money saved up and know how long that can get you and, you know, what's your, you know, what your goals are. If you're saying, I want to get, you know, I want to measure my success this way.
And at this certain point, if I haven't reached this, then I'm going to do this. Or I'm going to take on some side work. And I have done some little, some development on the side for different organizations, vegan organizations and groups. And then for my daily schedule, I've realized that I'm more productive in the morning.
So I try to get up really early, 6, 7am and I'll work for three, four hours before lunch. And I, for each of my projects, I have a kind of task management system set up for the things that I'm working on currently, the things that I'm going to work on. And then the things on the backlog that I'm not going to work on, but maybe I'll bring that forward. And so like with the development of VegMovies, I know what features I'm working on.
If there's, if I notice a bug, well, I'll put that in the list, but maybe I won't work on it right then. So kind of prioritizing my time of what's the most thing, you know, the things that are most important. Like even for. Yeah.
It's so important to make sure you have the priorities. I think a lot of people struggle with, I have this huge project, especially something like building a website. You can feel like this huge, big project with so many tasks. So being able to sit down and say, like you said, what am I working on?
What am I going to work on? And then what's in kind of either the back burner or for some people, maybe it's in their backlog depending on how they manage tasks, helping people kind of organize. I think that that is key. Now, do you feel like you have, especially as you made that transition?
I know some people who may be watching today went through that transition themselves. They went from a full-time position to maybe starting their own passion projects, starting their own business. Do you have any recommendations for them on how to make that transition? Just like you talked about kind of having your ritual or your process in the morning of when you work in your hours.
Are there any recommendations? So they think that transition is a really difficult thing for many of us because, you know, when you have this like open schedule, all of a sudden that you're in charge of, it just puts a whole nother level of, I think, responsibility on our shoulders. So if you have any recommendations or ideas, I think everyone, I would love to hear them and I think others would as well. Yeah I think, you know, following your passion, things that you enjoy doing also starting, you know, if you're, let's say you're going to leave your day job, you know, start beforehand.
I built VegEvents and some other websites, you know, long before I did this. And then I had all these other ideas. So it wasn't like I was just, okay, I'm going to quit my job and then I'm going to start doing this thing that I haven't really been doing, you know, finding some time, you know, part-time do it, start doing that. Even if it's not necessarily making a profit or, you know, you hear business people, they're talking about, you know, they started this business, then when it got to a point where it could, you know, pay their salary, then they quit their, their job.
You know, maybe you don't need to do that. Maybe you do, but really starting a little bit before and then follow, you know,