Mike recently retired after 40 years of service with Ambulance Victoria. Mike's father died of sudden cardiac arrest when he was 19 years old. It was a huge loss for his family, however Mike found his purpose in life when he decided to become a paramedic. Initially Mike trained as a paramedic before he started working on the road as a clinician and more recently a local supervisor, managing a team of 45 staff. Mike's vegan journey began when he attended a horse riding accident. While caring for ...
Dec 04, 2023•55 min
Louise reflects on pivotal moments in her life and there are a few common threads - reading Peter Singer's books and the birth of her first child, all of which had a profound impact and led her to where she is today. During Louise's university studies, she read Peter Singer's book "Practical Ethics" which covered a range of ethical issues, including animal rights. This book absolutely changed how Louise felt about animals, because it brought their suffering to the forefront and as a result, she ...
Nov 27, 2023•59 min
Phoebe co-founded Companion Cows after falling in love with cows and years of experience rescuing and fostering them. Companion Cows is on a mission to create a kinder world for dairy cows and their babies. Starting as a volunteer with Til the Cows Come Home who were working with The Owl and the Pussycat, Phoebe quickly learnt how to care for rescue calves. Although it was a steep learning curve, it was hugely rewarding. Phoebe put her hand up to be their first foster station in NSW and during t...
Nov 20, 2023•54 min
After ten years trialling beauty products, Marisa founded Wild & Cruelty Free - an online boutique featuring a carefully curated collection of tried and tested vegan beauty products. Marisa's always loved beauty, having started blogging over a decade ago and gaining a qualification in makeup artistry. Everything changed for Marisa during Christmas 2018, when she saw an Edgar's Mission billboard on the highway, featuring a picture of a pig and the statement "My name is Penelope Sue, not dinne...
Nov 13, 2023•39 min
This week we talk to Bronwyn Currie, Animal Justice Party's State Convenor in Victoria, as she shares everything you need to know about the upcoming AJP National Conference. The conference is being held on 11th & 12th November 2023 at the Fitzroy Town Hall, with the option to attend online as well. The theme of this year's conference is "It's Politics" and will host an impressive list of speakers (also previous podcast guests) such as Georgie Purcell, Emma Hurst, Matt Stellino, Paul Bevan an...
Nov 06, 2023•22 min
In 2012, after a 33 year career with Victoria Police, mostly in the mounted branch, Jan went vegan and faced what she describes as an “existential crisis”. What she did next changed the trajectory of her entire life! Jan's vegan journey started after she saw the Four Corners expose on Live Export, "A Bloody Business". She signed up to the Animals Australia newsletter and soon after learned the truth about bobby calves, which at the time, seemed almost unbelievable. Jan always loved horses and ha...
Oct 30, 2023•1 hr 12 min
Tully is an entertainer, entrepreneur and educator. Be prepared, this episode will have your mouth watering as Tully shares his passion for creating easy and authentic vegan curries. Growing up in Amritsar, the food capital of Punjab, Tully developed his passion for food while enjoying local cuisine and learning to cook with his mother. At age five, they moved to an army base where his mother was assigned a teaching role and Tully became more curious about different foods and cultures. Tully rea...
Oct 23, 2023•36 min
Alicia recently opened her own real estate agency Saint & Wood after being involved in real estate for over two decades. The agency is well on the way to being an entirely vegan agency, with 3 staff already vegan and one vegetarian. Alicia went vegan overnight after reconnecting with a friend over Facebook who happened to be vegan. She studied all of the animal rights content on her friend's page and was shocked at what she learnt. Alicia has 3 children, all of whom are vegan, including one ...
Oct 16, 2023•33 min
Jess was inspired to sign up as a volunteer at Liberation Sanctuary after going vegan. Less than a year later, Jess started working at the sanctuary, managing social media and coordinating volunteers. As a child, Jess wanted to help animals by becoming a vet. She always thought she would go vegetarian when she grew up and started her journey by refusing to eat pig products when she was young after watching Babe. Seeing a video of Milly the cow enjoying cuddles at Happily Heifer After helped Jess...
Oct 09, 2023•33 min
Chloe and Jacques are the organisers of Vegan Kids Gold Coast, while raising two vegan children and embarking on a year long trip around Australia in 2024. Chloe was seven when she made the connection between eating meat and the animals she loved so dearly. She had been vegetarian for years when she met Jacques. Not long after they began dating, Jacques decided to go meat free for a month and ended up also going vegetarian. In a chance encounter with activists in Brisbane, the couple were prompt...
Oct 02, 2023•32 min
Amanda and her husband Matt created Herbidoor to supply ready made vegan meals to their local community. Five years on and the company has a wide range of meals delivered across Australia. The inspiration behind Herbidoor was Matt's passion for re-creating childhood classics such as lasagne. The alternative meat products created for the meals were so popular, the couple created Plant Providore, a branch of Herbidoor which sells vegan steak, lamb, chicken, pepperoni, roast and brisket. After bein...
Sep 25, 2023•46 min
It's been a year since I first interviewed John Thomas and what better time to have him back on the show, than while he is in the middle of a bodybuilding competition prep! John is aiming to compete in an amateur division bodybuilding class later this year. He is working with a coach who has no prior experience with a vegan competitor, which John sees as an opportunity to change the sport from the inside out. Alot of changes have occurred in John's life since we last spoke; he recently moved to ...
Sep 18, 2023•46 min
Being a qualified Clinical Nutritionist and vegan for twelve years, Lisa helps clients optimise their plant based lifestyle. Going vegan sparked Lisa's curiosity to learn more about nutrition, so she studied a Bachelor of Nutritional & Dietetic Medicine, as well as a Bachelor of Complementary Medicine. Having worked in the health and wellness space for over a decade, Lisa recently opened her own private practice which has been warmly welcomed by the community. Lisa is passionate about making...
Sep 11, 2023•36 min
Lynne started Galahad's Animal Sanctuary to provide care and a forever home to as many rescued animals as possible. Galahad's Sanctuary rescues and rehabilitates farm animals from various circumstances within the food system, as well as camels, horses, donkeys and dogs. These animal ambassadors spread the message that they deserve our compassion and respect. The sanctuary residents have inspired Lynne's quest to seek a harmonious and sustainable way to tread lightly on our planet and ecosystem u...
Aug 28, 2023•34 min
Amber has been a musician all her life and wants to use her musicianship as a platform to spread the animal rights message. As a child, Amber's parents enrolled her in piano, violin and guitar classes, as well as choir. Playing the piano has always been a big part of Amber's identity. In college, she graduated with a Bachelor's degree in Piano Performance and is now a piano teacher for children. During COVID, Amber and her partner began curating music where he would DJ and she would play the pia...
Aug 21, 2023•34 min
Alyssa founded Victorian Kangaroo Alliance after recognising the need for a state-wide coordinated approach to targeting the persecution and exploitation of kangaroos, the victims of the world’s largest land-based wildlife trade. Alyssa has been involved in wildlife advocacy for eight years, beginning with the Coalition Against Duck Shooting, followed by co-founding the Australian Native Parrot Protection Association and more recently as the Founder and President of Victorian Kangaroo Alliance. ...
Aug 14, 2023•1 hr 2 min
Holly is an Ecologist working with a national conservation NGO to save threatened species. She is extremely passionate about identifying the early warning signs of decline in common species, so we can act before it's too late. Growing up in England, Holly was influenced by her father's love of bird life, enjoying family field trips admiring the wildlife. After studying Ecology in Scotland, Holly moved to Australia and started her career at the Broome Bird Observatory. She became interested in ju...
Aug 07, 2023•43 min
Krystal's purpose in life changed after rescuing two bobby calves, Frankie and Fletcher. She founded Companion Cows, a registered charity on a mission to create a kinder world for dairy cows and their babies. Krystal, her husband and two children moved to Tasmania four years ago. They very quickly saw the realities of the dairy industry when they came across a bobby calf on a dairy farm. It didn't take long for Krystal to step into action, she became a foster carer for a charity rescuing and reh...
Jul 31, 2023•29 min
Working as an educator in an animal sanctuary, Emma saw the impact sharing animal's stories had on people. She had the opportunity to curate their stories through film and found it so fulfilling, that Emma and her partner John decided to become full time filmmakers, co-founding Veganography. Emma has been a classical musician from a very young age and went on to study Cello Pedagogy at University. She went vegan during her university studies and realised that being a Cello teacher wasn't impacti...
Jul 24, 2023•42 min
Jess quit her eight year career as a Midwife and founded Project Bali Dog to protect and restore the welfare of dogs in Bali, Indonesia. Jess has sponsored Robbie, a rescued street dog in Bali for eight years. On her last visit, Jess walked out of the shelter where Robbie lives a safe and comfortable life and saw street dogs needing help on the other side of the gate. Having always loved animals and being vegan since 2014, Jess knew she needed a change. She made the decision to quit her job and ...
Jul 17, 2023•1 hr 6 min
Liz went vegan in the 80s and dived straight into activism. She got involved in chicken rescues from the broiler farm and egg industries and in 2013, Melbourne Chicken Rescue was born. Liz grew up in England and moved to Adelaide when she was three. She went vegetarian in 1984, signed up to Animal Liberation SA a year later and went vegan in 1986. Liz became heavily involved in the South Australian Anti-Vivisection Union, protesting at universities, as well as raising money to replace animals wi...
Jun 12, 2023•56 min
Alix identified there was a gap in the advocacy of Australian wildlife and created a coalition initiative called Defend The Wild. Defend The Wild focuses campaigning efforts where agriculture and wildlife intersects such as lethal dingo control, crocodile farming, emu farming and kangaroo culling. Last year the initiative launched a campaign highlighting the decimation of dingoes through the Victorian Government's lethal dingo control program. Alix's animal advocacy work started in the investiga...
May 29, 2023•49 min
Ingrid, her husband and two children went vegan during lockdown. A friend suggested she watched Seaspiracy and Ingrid was blown away, it was the catalyst that changed everything. Ingrid first went vegetarian and then went vegan after seeing male chicks being ground alive in Dominion. Last year Ingrid became involved in activism, starting with Animal Rights Activism Sydney cubes, protests and outreach events. She has found a love of visiting and volunteering at animal sanctuaries, as it is not on...
May 22, 2023•40 min
Kate's maritime journey began when she moved to Australia almost ten years ago and started volunteering for Sea Shepherd and Coast Guard. By chance, Kate and her friends attended a Sea Shepherd screening of Cowspiracy. It turned out to be a life changing experience, as Kate changed her diet immediately and signed up to be a Sea Shepherd volunteer. Her time as an onshore volunteer has seen Kate be involved in ship tours, events, merchandise sales, beach cleans and outreach events. It wasn't long ...
May 15, 2023•45 min
Astrella created Cause & Events to support small vegan businesses, encourage people to implement a vegan lifestyle and showcase organisations fighting animal cruelty. Born and raised in Bombay, Astrella's childhood was influenced by western culture. At ten years old, she had an epiphany and went vegetarian after realising meat came from an animal who didn't want to die. Seven years ago, Astrella went vegan overnight when she learnt about the dairy industry in Cowspiracy. Astrella's vast care...
May 08, 2023•45 min
Em has been meat free for 18 years and counting! Em has always been passionate about animals and their wellbeing. She recalls witnessing animals being poorly treated while growing up, which led her to no longer consume them at age 12. As a teenager, Em would go between vegetarian and vegan, until six years ago when she researched the dairy and egg industry and went vegan. Like many of us, Em enjoys good vegan food and has started creating vegan versions of traditional Maltese dishes to share wit...
May 01, 2023•27 min
Located 20 minutes north of Byron Bay, The Owl & The PussyCat Farm Animal Sanctuary is home to 70 rescued animals. The sanctuary's mission is to rescue, rehabilitate and rehome animals from the farming industry, as well as provide opportunities for people to spend time with, and learn about, farmed animals. Starting over five years ago, the sanctuary grew quickly as animals in need found their way to a safe haven. Even though the sanctuary is family-run and supported by a very small voluntee...
Apr 24, 2023•35 min
I want to be like Ruth when I grow up.. here's why! Ever since going vegan at age 62, Ruth has given the animals her all. An absolute all-star at Edgar's Mission, Ruth retired and began mucking out barns twice a week. It wasn't long before she moved closer to Edgar's and was trusted to transport surrendered animals to the sanctuary and veterinary appointments. Ruth extends her support to other sanctuaries and rescue organisations in Victoria. If that's not enough, Ruth is equally as passionate a...
Apr 17, 2023•55 min
Tammy is a Melbourne based tattoo artist with over 20 years experience. Her creativity extends into illustrating and painting, using her talents to raise much needed funds for animal charities. After years of being vegetarian, Tammy's world changed when she went on a Sea Shepherd ship tour. Tammy connected with the volunteers, friendships were formed and while spending time with the group, she became immersed in veganism. Tammy then decided to do her own research on the dairy industry and went v...
Apr 10, 2023•41 min
Zac Bird is a global dance icon, vegan chef and cookbook author, even Jacinta Ardern loves our dear Zac, calling his first published cookbook a "real winner". Describing himself as a little vegetarian activist growing up, Zac turned to cooking out of necessity after going vegan in his early 20s. He initially started an Instagram account to create a vegan network, but it didn't take long for people to start following his food journey. In his early days, Zac took lots of vegan cooking jobs to buil...
Apr 03, 2023•31 min
