I had some incredibly exciting news this week. Vegan Business Tribe has been awarded a place on ProVeg’s new Kickstarting For Good Incubator. The funded incubator runs for the next ten weeks, partially online and partially in-person in Berlin, at ProVeg’s German headquarters.
They had over 430 applications and just 25 of us made it through the selection process. Those that make it to the end of the full programme get to take part in a pitch-day to potential funders and backers.
I applied for a place on the incubator because we’ve faced a lot of changes in both life and business this last year. The main one has been the arrival of our daughter Awen. Getting the opportunity to have another round of parenthood (my eldest daughter is 21 this year!) and having the chance to raise a child as vegan from birth is an unimaginable blessing. Awen is already becoming a known face around vegan fairs and events.
But that has brought big life decisions too. We know that if we send Awen to nursery, she will immediately be put into an environment where animal exploitation and cruelty is normalised. The nursery rhymes they teach (Old MacDonald, Baa Baa Black Sheep) and the books they read (On the Farm, Dear Zoo) are all what begin to normalise animal cruelty and start the lies about animal agriculture. The same lies that we were fed ourselves from childhood that it took us so long to overcome. She would be put on a ‘list’ to be singled-out for separate food and made to feel different from the other children before she understands why. And that pressure to conform to values she doesn’t believe in will only intensify as she starts school, before she has the tools to defend herself against the propaganda.
That’s why Lisa and I have taken the decision to raise Awen ourselves, homeschooling her and looking to build our own network with other vegan parents. This decision has a lot of advantages – we’ll be free to travel as a family when we want and Awen can learn the kind of business, financial and technical knowledge that they don’t teach at school. She can even start earning money herself as soon as she’s able to upload her first YouTube video!
But that also means my wife Lisa stepping back from Vegan Business Tribe as she takes on her new role of Awen’s full-time carer, mentor, teacher and life-guide. And although I have proven this year that I can run Vegan Business Tribe on my own, I have also proven that I can’t grow it on my own at the same time. That’s why I have been exploring opportunities for backing, partnerships and investment to scale up Vegan Business Tribe with the help of others, so that we can create a far bigger community and make a bigger impact. And that road lead to ProVeg’s new incubator.
However, like everything I do at Vegan Business Tribe, this isn’t an opportunity just for me! I want to bring you with me as I go through this incubator process. I’ve always tried to be transparent with how we’ve built Vegan Business Tribe so that you can learn from what we’ve done. Which is why I’ve started a video diary here to share my journey with you and let you learn what I’m learning. I’ve already uploaded three entries as I’ve gone through the initial set-up tasks of the programme.
Of course, VBT will continue as normal over the next ten weeks. Expect the same amount of content, events and support and Katrina Fox and I will be online answering your questions in the Slack channel as normal. Just you might get to see a little bit more behind the scenes from me than usual too!
David 💚🌱🐷
David’s thoughts from the week, published every weekend for members only.
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