00:00Thank you so much, Lita. My name is Jasmine Grant, Associate Lifestyle Editor here with
00:06Essence Magazine. And today, I'm so excited because I'm being joined by a wonderful guest
00:12that I'm so honored to share this virtual stage with. Please help me welcome actress
00:17and vegan influencer, Tabitha Brown. Hey, Tabitha. How are you? I'm good. How are you,
00:24good? I'm doing so good. I see you. The hair is flourishing. You look great. Thanks so much for
00:32being here. Or you see Donna, honey. I had to pick her out and make sure she was bright.
00:38Look at her. Donna is winning today. I'm so happy to talk to you because this is actually our second
00:44conversation. The first time we spoke, it was for Essence.com. And you told me about your journey
00:51becoming a vegan and how veganism had helped you with some chronic headaches that you were
00:56experiencing. Can you walk us through for those who aren't familiar about your journey and talk
01:01about how being plant-based has helped you mind, body, and soul? Oh, absolutely. So it started for
01:09me January of 2016. I woke up one morning with this headache in the back of my head and that headache
01:16rested there and stayed there every single day for one year and seven months. It was accompanied by
01:24chronic fatigue, chronic pain. I would fall sometimes when I would walk. All my female lady
01:32parts of the system was just shutting down. It's like my body had started to attack itself and the
01:37doctors could not figure out why. When I went to the doctor week after week, month after month, MRIs,
01:43blood work, everything would come back normal. And so they were just clueless as was I. And then my
01:50daughter came home from school one day and told me to watch this documentary she had saw at school
01:55and it was what the health on Netflix. And I watched it and it was like a light bulb for me. It was
02:02interesting because they said, you know, not all diseases are hereditary is that we eat the same thing
02:08causing the same disease. Right. And now for me, my mom died at 51 of ALS, which is a rare disease,
02:15which is there's no cause or no cure. My dad is 68 and he's the oldest male to ever live in our family.
02:22And people get sick at young ages in my family and they die at young ages. And I thought, well,
02:29the only common denominator that I could think of in that moment was me. And so it's also the only
02:35thing I had not tried. I had tried every drug the doctor gave me and my body did not react to
02:40anything. And so I told my husband, I said, you know what, let's, let's try a 30 day vegan challenge
02:47just to see. I mean, I was hope, you know, I had lost all hope really. So I was, you know,
02:53at that point where I try anything. And so we decided to do a 30 day vegan challenge.
02:58And in the first 10 days, my headache went away and I knew I was on to something. And as the days
03:06went on, I started getting energy again. I started just feeling better. It just felt like the pain
03:12had started to leave my body. And so after the 30 day challenge, I just never went back. And now I
03:18have been, you know, symptom free for almost three years. My life completely changed.
03:23Yeah. And I can see that happiness and that energy. It just kind of radiates from the inside out.
03:31You're just a ray of sunshine. I know you hear this all the time, but it really does show. And,
03:37you know, one of the things that I love about following you is that I can tell that your family
03:43really loves participating in the vegan recipes and trying new things with you. And I know that it's
03:49not a lifestyle you forced on your kids or, you know, pushed as a rule, but, um, it just seems
03:57like everybody is naturally gravitating towards that. And you're obviously the inspiration. So
04:02talk about the pivot that your entire family has made towards a healthy living.
04:08Well, you know, in the very beginning, like I said, we did it all as a family for 30 days. Right.
04:13And, uh, on day 29, I was so, I told my husband, I was like, I know it was a 30 day challenge, but
04:19you know, come tomorrow. I'm not going to stop. I'm going to keep going. This is going to be my
04:23life. And my husband said to me, that's great, babe, but tomorrow I'm gonna need a piece of
04:26chicken. Right. And I thought, well, you know what, that's your business. That's your business.
04:32There it is. But for me, uh, I have to continue on this path alone. If that's the case, I'm fine
04:40with that. And then my daughter, a year after she decided on her own, uh, to join me on the journey
04:47and seven months now, my husband has been vegan. He did it on his own. I never like to force anybody
04:55to do anything because I don't want to be forced to do nothing. Right. I will simply just share my
05:00life, share what I'm doing, share food with people. And if you want to try it, honey, so be it. If you
05:07want to eat one meal a day, so be it. But I think just being a living example is enough. And that's
05:14what happened. And listen, I always tell people, I showed that I didn't stop eating non-vegan food
05:19because it wasn't good. And I ain't like how it tasted. I did it to save my life. So in order for
05:23me to be vegan, that food still got to be good. Right. So I cook and I make the food still be good
05:31and they enjoy it. My son is the only person in the house who is not vegan. But since we've been
05:37on quarantine, you know, all mama got at the house is vegan, son. But when he goes to school,
05:42he knows if he wants regular cheese pizza, he can have it. If he wants chicken nuggets,
05:47he can have it. But at home and when I, you know, pack his lunches, it's all vegan. He's fine with
05:52that. But he just doesn't like to say he's vegan because I want him to make his own decision
05:56if that's what he wants to do. So, but everybody is open-minded and I make it fun. I don't make it
06:03like pressure. I make it fun and I make it good. I'm telling you some of the recipes that I'm seeing,
06:10and I'm like, boy, I might have to go plant-based and try some of these because they just look so
06:15amazing and they're easy to make. And that's what we love about it. It's just, it's so great to follow
06:21you, not only for your recipes, but also because of your positivity. You're always given words of
06:28encouragement, which we need in these times more than ever. And what is also interesting about your
06:34story is that you've been through a lot, right? But you've never let it cloud your energy. You
06:40remain positive and you spread positivity to others. So how did that come to be? Where does
06:46that sunshine come from? And I also want to know, how do you pivot to positivity in a not so positive
06:52world? We're living through COVID. We're seeing racial injustice play out. So how do you pivot to
06:58positivity in those dark times? You know, I've always been a pretty positive person, right? I've
07:05always tried to be. But during the time when I was sick, I fell into a really dark depression,
07:12major anxiety, feeling hopeless, right? And that dark space is uncomfortable. It is scary. And I don't
07:22wish it on nobody. And I'm so thankful that I was able to find the light again, right? And because
07:28of that, I always choose to focus on the light. And in these dark times, I want to be that light.
07:35If God has blessed me to come out of it, I feel like now if I can be somebody's light, I want to be
07:42there. And I know what that feels like. So I make a choice every day to be the light. Because listen,
07:50people, especially during quarantine, right? Some people are living alone. Some people may not have
07:55any interaction personally with people. And I may be the only minute or a couple minutes in my videos
08:03per day that somebody gets to see a little bit of joy and happiness or light. And honey, I want to be
08:09there. And so I think about myself when I was in the dark time. And I related to the times now. And I say,
08:16well, what can I do to help others? And helping others helps me. So, you know, the saying is
08:23encourage others while encouraging myself. And that's what I do. I just remember the time of being
08:30in the dark space. And I choose to be light. And I choose to focus on light. And I like to share that
08:36with other people to help them in the process of their dark times.
08:40That's really beautiful and inspiring to know that we have a choice and that we can make every day what
08:47we want it to be. I think that's incredible. Before we wrap up, can you give us some advice?
08:54I know a lot of us have thought about going plant-based, trying to eat healthier, trying to,
08:59you know, be more conscious of what we put into our bodies. My family is from the South too. So we like
09:05to eat. We love our meat. You know, we love cheese. But how do you kind of start to become more health
09:11conscious and kind of, you know, graduate into a more plant-based diet?
09:16Well, I always tell people if you're curious about it, if you decide you want to do it, always start with
09:23your why. And that's not even just eating plant-based or vegan. That's anything in your life. Before you
09:28start, why are you doing this? You know, everybody has different reasons. There's no right or wrong.
09:33I did it to save my life. It was for health, right? People do it for animals. People do it for the
09:38environment. It's got to be personal. And it has to really mean something to you. And then once you
09:45make that decision, you say, okay, this is what I want to do. You take it one day at a time. Don't be
09:50hard on yourself, right? And one of the most important things that I always tell people is, let's focus on
09:55what you can't have because the list is smaller. You can't have meat. You can't have dairy, right? No fish,
10:01no cheese, none of that stuff. Everything else you can have. Everything else you can have. And
10:06then think about some of your favorite non-vegan items and try to figure out the vegan alternative
10:11for it. But the most important thing is not to be hard on yourself. We got enough things in the world
10:17to cause us stress and frustration, honey. Don't let food be one of them. Take it one day at a time
10:22and have food. That is a word. Start with what you can't have. That's great advice.
10:30It's all about perspective. And you always add a positive one to our day. We are so thankful for
10:36you, Tabitha. We're proud of you. And I appreciate your time. If you don't already follow Tabitha Brown
10:42on Instagram and Facebook and TikTok, do yourself a favor and hit follow. You will not regret it.
10:48Thank you so much. And enjoy the rest of our Wellness House programming. Bye, Tabitha.
10:55Bye. Thank you.
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