I don’t usually get personal on my channel. But when I do - it’s incredibly awkward - for all of us.
Hi it's Emily from Bite Size Vegan and welcome to a special vegan nugget. Bite Size Vegan
has never been about me. It’s about providing fact-based, rigorously-researched yet easily-accessible
information on veganism delivered in digestible digital doses.
Of course condensing complex topics and hundreds of hours of research into—what I at least
hope are—entertaining and engaging videos is quite the undertaking. And as Bite Size Vegan
has grown, it’s outgrown my own limitations.
So I had to learn (and am still learning) to ask for help. This video is a reward for
some of the incredibly generous help I received in a recent 1:1 match fundraiser.
We did meet the goal (which is mind-blowing) and the requested reward—by popular demand—was
a 10 Things You Don’t Know About Me video.
It’s time to deliver the goods. Though I may still sneak
in a wee nugget of education here and there during this video…just can’t help myself.
Thing One: I’m vegan
Just kidding. Not about being vegan but… moving on.
Thing One: I grew up around dead people and body parts.
My father was a pathologist and I spent many hours as a kid opening buckets and holding
organs and checking out the bodies in the freezer. So while the smell of formaldehyde
may make you nauseated, it makes me nostalgic. Some people think this is weird, but I always
thought—and still think—it’s weird that they keep corpses in their home freezer.
And eat them. So who’s weird now? [It’s still me.]
Thing Two: I totally lack social-media savvy.
I didn’t understand what a hashtag was until maybe 7 months or more into Bite Size Vegan.
I initially made a Twitter account for Bite Size Vegan and was so confused and overwhelmed
by it that I closed it after 2 hours and didn’t make another for I think about a year.
I'd never even watched much YouTube when I started my own channel.
Thing Three: No one in my family is vegan.
That one kinda sucks. Though my father did start looking into a form of raw veganism
towards the end of his year-long fight with multiple myeloma, an incurable cancer. But!
I do get to have the honor of receiving messages from so many families around the world who
HAVE gone vegan because of my videos. Which is incredible! Just…not….my family.
Thing Four: I was a wrestler in high school.
My best friend and I were the first and only girls on the boys’ wrestling team, as there
was no girls’ wrestling team. I won my very first match and pinned my opponent at his school’s
homecoming event. And I did so as a “weak, protein-deficient vegan.”
Thing Five: I dropped out of med school for full-time activism.
As I had no—and still have no—business/marketing savvy to make fulltime activism work, I figured
I’d become a doctor and thus be able to fund my activism and art. Of course I realized
that I’d be in school for ten plus years and not have the time to speak out effectively
during that decade, which seemed like a waste. So in a very uncharacteristic move, I threw
myself full force into building Bite Size Vegan without any idea how I’d make it work
and was incredibly terrified the entire time. Including now. It’s still happening.
Thing Six: I grew up with over 30 siblings.
I have one biological sister. But over the time of my childhood and adolescence I had
over 30 foster brothers and sisters. They were either waiting for adoptive homes or
for their parents to complete court-ordered treatment or parenting lessons. But they were family.
Thing Seven: I am a total tech-phobe
Technology terrifies me. And if there’s any way for it to malfunction, it will do
so in my presence. It wasn’t until over a year of doing Bite Size Vegan that I finally
gave in and got a smart phone. And I’m still using iMovie to edit my videos.
Thing Eight: My heritage.
My father’s side is…hillbilly. Most likely originating from Ireland and England. But
he grew up on a farm in central Florida where you talk about goin’ swimmin’ in the crick
down yonder over the heel.
My mother is Cajun from outside New Orleans, Louisiana. A fiery mix of French and Cherokee
Indian, she grew up on the bayou, poor as dirt but incredibly hard-working just like her father.
Thing Nine: My accent.
If I get around my family my Southern starts to show. And even though I don’t speak with
an accent in day to day life, I do say “y’all” and “fixin” quite often.
As in “hey y’all, I’m fixin to film a video about my personal life. It’s gonna be pretty boring."
Thing Ten: I have no idea what I’m doing & am amazed anyone watches my videos.
I get message all the time from people saying they hope to one day have my level of composure
or be as well spoken. Well here’s the truth. I’m still uncertain most of the time.
I'm still afraid of not being effective or saying the wrong thing. I still freeze up and I still
explode sometimes.
And most of the time I just fake it till I make it (which has yet to happen).
But as I’ve said many times before, activism does not require perfection. In fact, being
imperfect is a powerful part of being relatable. I don’t have to tell you how the stereotype
of the “high and mighty vegan who’s always right” hasn’t done any favors to the movement.
If you’re not vegan, I’d encourage you to dig into the resources, the citations,
the backing of my videos and the wealth of documentaries and information online. You
can’t make a grounded, informed decision if you don’t have all the facts. Look beyond
personalities to the actual realities. ( I didn’t mean for that to rhyme.)
To my vegans, just get out there, flaws and all and join me in the imperfect army of vegan
activism. Let’s raise our voices, whether they be tenuous and trembling, or over-compensatingly
overbearing, and do the very best we can. You can’t learn from your mistakes if you never try.
If you take anything from this overly-personal fluff of a video, let it be that if I can
somehow reach people around the world with the vegan message, even with my total lack
of tech skills and social media savvy, and utter interpersonal interaction incompetence,
anyone can!
Thank you so much to each and every one of you who donated, to my Nugget Army family
on Patreon who make every video possible and provide such valuable input when I most need
it, and to all of you who watch, like, subscribe, and share the videos. I can only do so much
as one person to get them out there. And to the entire team of incredible volunteer translators
diligently adding captions, titles and descriptions to my videos to reach a global audience
with free education.
I can never thank all of you enough. But I’ll keep trying by doing my best to provide the most
effective educational content I can.
If you made it this far into the video and especially if this is the first video of mine
you’ve seen, or even if it’s not, please do see the videos linked here and in the description below,
for some actual education that has nothing to do with my personal life.
It’s far more edifying. I do hope you enjoyed this bite size look into my world. If you
do like seeing the more informal and personal side of the bite size vegan behind Bite Size Vegan
(that’s me), do join us on Patreon in the Nugget Army where I have no filter
whatsoever. And usually some of the most atrocious lighting and hairstyles you can imagine.
It's delightful.
Now go live vegan, thank you for everything, and I’ll see you soon.
For something of actual substance.
That was lovely.