How Jenné Claiborne Leveraged Her Blog Into a Full-Fledged Career

"I was around sort of figuring out what should I do next. And at the time [in New York City] I was working at a vegan restaurant—and I wasn't vegan myself, but I was vegetarian and I decided to become vegan for ethical reasons. And when I became vegan, it all sort of clicked. I felt like, oh this is what I should do. I should become a chef and I should pursue food.

"I started with a blog and it was just so much fun to me. So I realized, Actually, I should do this. I can make it work. I can be an entrepreneur and be creative about how I'm going to make money and make it a career. So from that point on, I've just been trying to make it into a career. I succeeded, and now I’m continuing to grow it."

"I think it's because it's so approachable. The food that I prepare—it’s recognizable. People feel, I think they feel like I am an approachable personality as well. And they trust me because of my background: I didn't go to culinary school. I did not grow up vegan. I grew up in the South and I learned how to cook from my family members. So I think people appreciate and resonate with the sort of normal person who I am, and with what my food is. It's colorful and approachable. I feel that people really feel like, 'This girl is speaking to me.'"

"A lot of people still believe that you have to really go out of your way to make it taste good. Where in reality, the spices and flavors that we use for all sorts of cooking are plant based, right? So it's not like you're seasoning your food with animal products, you're usually seasoning your food with plant based products to begin with. So I think it's important to recognize that plants have so much flavor and deliciousness on their own. And you can season them just like you would animal products. You can turn your recognizable traditional recipes into vegan recipes."

"In my cookbook I veganize all my favorite foods from childhood and the foods I grew up on because I wanted to keep eating them. And so that's something that anybody could do—you just start veganizing things that you know and love already so that you don't have to reconstruct your palate to begin with. And then I also think it's important just to start implementing more plants into your diet day by day, or week by week. So maybe having one extra serving of vegetables or beans or whole grain once a week and then adding on."

"I have a new baby. She's ten months now—it still feels new. So my biggest thing is I just want to be more structured in my day to day; be better about healthy habits for myself. So much of what I've been used to doing, my self-habits and exercise, wellness stuff, has fallen to the wayside with her, but I haven't had the time or energy. So I really want to get back to that and find ways to maintain those while still obviously being busy and raising her.

"Take yoga, for example. I've been doing yoga for 12 years now. It's really about getting back to my practice—so, starting to go once a week to the yoga studio where I used to go almost every single day. Once a week is a start for me.

"I also make meal plans every single week that I share with my audience, my newsletter audience primarily. And I often don't make them myself—I will actually sit down and create the meal plan, write it out and make a shopping list, but I'm not actually in the kitchen cooking it myself. So that's another thing. Even if it's just thinking two recipes a week that we can have for more than one day, that would be so helpful. That's one of my little baby steps I need to start taking."

"My mom was an example of that. Like I said, she didn't cook, but she has always eaten really well and what we would now consider plant-based. So I actually had an example of somebody living that way and being healthy and that's why I think I was able to discover that early on without anybody having to tell me. So I want to do the same for her. I just want to be a good example."

"I'm most excited about not being in the first year having a new baby. I don't want to rush her growing up or anything. But, for me personally, I’m ready for things to be easier. I have so many great ideas for Sweet Potato Soul that I just have not had the time, bandwidth or energy to do. I'm excited to be able to follow those dreams a little bit more."