Meet Kiya Huffman | Vegan Influencer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Kiya Huffman and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Kiya, what role has risk played in your life or career?
To me risks are boundary breakers or even something that will take you out your comfort zone, which I feel leads to growth. I personally am a risk-taker and starting my own business has encouraged me to take more risk as I get closer to my dreams. Before starting my own business I wasn’t a risk taker had an entire plan on how my life was going to go. When I started Vegans And Ventures I realized I wasn’t able to commit all the time I knew I needed to commit to it for it to flourish the way I wanted. Eventually the risk-taking started to kick in and I decided I would pull back from what society felt I should do to become something in life and start committing to my visions that I have for myself. I commit a lot more Time to my dreams because in my heart I really feel what I’m doing is good not just for me but the world and that’s a risk I willing to take.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
The main thing that sets me apart from other vegan influencers is the way I go about getting my message across. Using comedy or taking a lot of meals we grew up on that wasn’t healthy and making it vegan but so much flavor you wouldn’t be able to tell its vegan. When I started my vegan influencer journey with my brand EMPA[NAH]DAS & Vegans And Ventures I knew off the back I was going to have to get very creative to grab peoples attention because, vegan food never really had a good rep. The second vegan food was brought up it was thought off as bland and a “white” thing, and I knew to get people to see its not like that I had to connect with my people on our level. I get excited about the reactions people have when they taste one of my EMPA[NAH]DAS weather it’s the jerk, chopped cheese, bbq pulled pork or Philly cheesesteak that cant never seem to believe its vegan, and how good and similar it taste to the real deal. I also get excited going to & promoting black owned vegan establishments because it shows how vegan food has evolved especially in the black community. Believing in myself 100%, Giving my dreams my all and taking risk got me too where I’m at and I have a long way to go. Its never easy to chase a dream specially when your doing it alone but it does eventually get easy. Doing this all by myself has taught me how to push myself to the limit. I’ve taught myself a lot of things like editing videos & writing skits and turns out actually love it anything towards my dreams isn’t even a job to me anymore, its my life. I. just kept pushing myself because I know deep down in my heart what I’m doings right and can help a lot of people. Along the way I’ve learned you cant make people see you vision and give what you give specially when its YOUR dream. If they cant see the dream make it a reality. I’ve also learned so much about hard work and dedication can really give you results, it’s not just about manifestation its about the work you put in behind it. I want the world to know I’m not just doing this for myself I’m doing this for the world to be a bit more healthier.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
On Vegans And Ventures I go to vegan restaurants and showcase where the location is taste the food and give a honest review. sometimes I interview the owner and watch the chef cook so I actually had a few places. We’d have to hit a few places like Urban Vegan Kitchen, Seasoned Vegan, The Purple Elephant, No5, A LIVE KITCHEN, Bar Got Juice and plenty more. We would eat so much vegan food she’s probably end up being vegan, I’m talking shrimp, chicken, rasta pasta, chicken fajita, chrunchwraps and of course EMPA[NAH]DAS. I love checking out black owned vegan restaurants because the vibe in this places is a vibe I’ve known my entire life, the food is find love known my entire life and the aura is always perfect.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
A lot of my support came from my family, specially my mom she’s been rooting for me since the beginning when I first told her about my idea. My best friend Sabine kept my on my toes when chasing my dreams she’s big on results so every time I told her about my dream she was like “okay, show me”, and that made me want to go harder. I really have to always thank my Hugh school teacher Mr.Nelson who introduced me to the vegan life in 2011. He showed us a documentary on slaughterhouses and it changed my view on the way I get my food. I get a lot of encouragement from social media followers too who help me push towards my dreams.

Website: https://linktr.ee/VegansAndVentures

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/empanahdas/ https://www.instagram.com/vegansandventures_/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/vegansandventures