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When I interviewed you for Chatelaine, at the heart of it, it was like, “Here’s a cool Instagram foodie who’s doing amazing things.” That’s what all four of you who I interviewed were all about. But it wasn’t just that, right? I mean, each of you had a really interesting story that you brought to the table in terms of how it was that you came to veganism, how you came to what it is that you’re doing right now. So can you just share with those who are going to end up listening to this exciting episode: how did you come to vegan eating and cooking in your own journey?

Lloyd
It’s actually interesting how it happened, because I had no plans on going vegan. I was a full blown meat-eater. My family grew up eating meat — parents are from Jamaica, so you could just imagine (but then again, there is a side in Jamaica where there’s the Rastafarians who eat Ital). However, my family wasn’t amongst, you know, the Rastafari, and so it was just meat. And one day, a friend came over, and while I was making food (snacks, actually), she said, “Oh, there’s this thing, What the Health, everyone’s talking about it.” I said, “What is it?” and she said, “Some documentary that everyone is talking about,” and I think at the time, she didn’t even know, necessarily. So we played it, and by the time that we were done playing it, our minds had flipped. You know, sometimes what you don’t know, you know, you just pass through life not knowing certain things, and then you come to realize certain stuff — certain stuff are now exposed, so you no longer look at the things that you love the same way. So I started no longer looking at meat the same way. And fast forward, what we did was, we were just like, “Let’s just challenge each other. 14 days, no meat.” And we did 14 days, we felt good. Let’s try 30 days. 30 days, we felt good. Now it’s been four years.

Natalie
That’s hilarious.

Lloyd
And that’s how it started, honestly. Yeah, that’s how it started, and we wanted to explore different vegan restaurants and see what was possible. We saw, you know, online menus saying lasagna, and we were like, “What would a vegan lasagna taste like?” Or an online menu saying a burger like, “Well, what would a vegan burger taste like?” So we were intrigued, and moreso it was an adventure, and another friend joined in who watched the same documentary. So it kind of was just fun — and yeah, all of that stuff turned into, years later, just being plant-based. And while I was making the food, they would tell me, “Share it. It’s incredible, it tastes so similar to the real thing. So share it.” And that’s how the Instagram page came about — just a hobby, just sharing it and, you know, got attention from different outlets, and started to get shared a little bit all over. And yeah, here we are — plantcrazii.

Natalie
It’s amazing, because I like to think of myself as relatively with it, and my students will laugh at me because I teach high schoolers, most of my students are in grade 12. So I’m the one that introduced you to them, and so then they’re always like, “Miss Davey, how do you find things? Like how do you know about stuff?” and I mean, it really is just scrolling. And I remember coming across your page, and you weren’t what you are now. It would have been a couple of years ago. I think maybe you had 20,000 followers, which is, you know, a ton, but it’s not what you have now. And I think it’s so interesting that I was struck by something — because I love to cook, I often cook vegan, that’s just the bent that I have in our family. Three or four meals a week will not have any meat. So that just is how it sort of rolls around here. But I was struck by how natural you were making the kitchen experience seem on camera, which was very interesting because it was this combination of not just what you’re doing in the kitchen, but it’s your attaching it to the camera and making the people who are engaging with you and your recipes then feel like they’re a part of your kitchen. So how did you find that in yourself? Because you said it’s a hobby. How did this become something that you were like, “I have this in me.”

Lloyd
That’s actually awesome that you’re able to, you know, take all of that in through my videos, and that is exactly what I wanted to create. I wanted to create a similar experience to what I had, which was: it was fun. You know, like I was telling you it was fun to go on these adventures and see things get created the vegan way, the plant-based way. So I wanted to create that same experience through social media for other people, so that they could be as intrigued as I was, and just want to have fun with it. You know, maybe try a meatless Monday or something trying one of my recipes. I didn’t want to take it too far away from home. I really wanted to stay in the world of things that people are used to, but just showing them the plant-based versions of that. So that’s what I was doing, and I think that’s what captivated people’s attention, and the bigger platforms resharing my stuff, and the collaborations that then came along with it, to then the book deal that came along with it later on. But yeah, it was all just, you know, energy. You know, I feel like people could feel energy through, you know, a camera, and a lot of people spend a lot of time on social media. If everybody landed on my page, I wanted it to be like a fun experience, you know. Nothing too complicated, nothing too over the top, just, you know, here’s a KFC-style crusted tofu or something like that, you know? And it worked well, it worked well.

Natalie
So the cookbook itself, what makes it different from other vegan or vegetarian cookbooks that are out there?

Lloyd
So this cookbook is one where someone can grab this book and create simple meals that are not expensive, and the majority of the things that are in my cookbook are things that can be created with pantry items that most people have already, you know? So I wanted to really keep that simplified, but more focused on combining what ingredient with what ingredient, or using this cooking method like grilling, or to crust it first with cornstarch to then give it an exterior texture — so moreso focusing on technique than focusing on grabbing ingredients that are hard to find. So I really wanted to just, you know, create something like that, like a little kitchen bible that you know that if you pick it up, you don’t have to go outside and start finding a whole bunch of different rare ingredients, and reading through it and not knowing what this ingredient means or that one means. It’s really simplified — so simplified vegan cuisine that is just all about technique, and all about combining different ingredients that when meshed together, they create something that is outstanding.

Natalie
Did you end up going to school for any of this, or is this all completely self-taught? Because so many people online are self-taught. This is how we’re observing the realm of online cooking and food-share.

Lloyd
Funny enough, it was self-taught while learning through my mother, and then only later on in life did I work in a restaurant, and train staff, and all that stuff, you know? It was only later on where I was like, “Wait a minute, let me get my knife skills together,” and all that stuff. And I have learned from other people who had a whole bunch of experience in the kitchen. So I think it’s moreso later on in life that I got the kitchen experience.

Natalie
That’s great. And the knife skill thing is still something — and again, I like to think of myself as pretty good at what I do in the kitchen, but my brother-in-law went to school, he’s from England, so he did whatever culinary college out in Manchester, and every time we go to England, he will always show me how to keep my knuckles by the…

Lloyd
Right — by the blade.

Natalie
And I can’t get it. Like it doesn’t matter how much I try, I am going to kill myself if I actually try and really kind of keep it. So is there sort of a set of skills that you would say, because of the vegan work, the specific ingredients that you’re using are different. Meat requires a different kind of sharp knife, right? You’re just using different items in this type of cooking. So are there specific kitchen tools that you would be saying somebody really needs to get to elevate their own experience of what it is that you’re doing?

Lloyd
To not overcomplicate things for people, I feel like in the vegan world, given that most of the stuff that we’re dealing with is vegetables that can be cut with almost any knife, I think the key thing to have is one good sharp knife that is well-balanced — that is not too heavy for you, where you feel like the knife is in control. Something that, when you pick it up in your hands, you know that you are in control, and you know that you have a sharp knife. I think that is all that matters. The minute that we start to think, “Do we have, you know, the paring knife, or this knife or that knife,” then it starts to get too complicated and I think that’s what scares people. So just one good sharp knife.

Natalie
Ok. That’s validating to hear, because then I’m starting off in a good place.

Lloyd
Yeah, one good sharp knife.

Natalie
Right? One good sharp knife. I think I have two, so I can do that. My sister and I do this work together. Who are your supports? Who’s your reframeable cohort, in terms of how you navigate this world? Who are the people you turn to when things get stressful?

Lloyd
I’ve made a few friends in the social media world, and some people I’ve never met yet in person, but we’ve become very close by talking very, very often. So I would say, for example, Kim-Julie Hansen from Best of Vegan — she’s the founder of Best of Vegan. She was actually the first person to, you know, give me a chance to kind of showcase my work on a bigger platform. At the time, Best of Vegan had over a million followers, and maybe I had just, like, 5K. I had reached out to different big platforms, you know, to see, “Can you share my work? Can you share my work?” and she responded. I was like, “What are the odds? You know, they have such a big following, what are the odds?” and she responded. She responded, and she, you know, gave me some advice on what to tweak, and all that stuff, and boom. From there, we started to talk more, and then there’s other people from different platforms that I’ve spoken to — the people behind the Veg News, the people behind The Feedfeed. And then there’s other content creators that I’ve become friends with over social media, like Max La Manna, Gaz Oakley — you know, those are all great people that I turn to for advice. I remember when I wanted to start creating reels, I was just like, “Man, you know, Max La Manna does it so well,” and I would ask him, like, “Hey, bro, you know, can you give me some tips and tricks?” and he was so open. He was so open. So yeah, those are the people that I go to.

Natalie
So there’s like a generosity then, the sharing back and forth.

Lloyd
Yeah.

Natalie
That’s amazing.

Lloyd
And then again, this is a mutual space, right? Because he also knows Kim-Julie Hansen from Best of Vegan, and then… you know, so it’s all in a mutual space. So yeah, I think that helps with everything, with making friendships and creating bonds.

Natalie
Oh, that’s beautiful.

Again, it’s inspiring to hear it happen in the online space, the way that people can care for each other, because I think what could come across in life online, the experience of it be so much about self promotion — when actually the beauty of what can happen online is when it is that kind of mutual back and forth thing that you’re talking about, right? Like when it’s people doing it for each other, that feels like then there’s something kind of lovely coming out, as opposed to everybody just being all about, “How do I elevate my own product?” all the time.

Lloyd
Right, and you know what’s happening, what’s the reality of things, is that this is a space that’s fairly new to so many people, right? It’s like, “Yes, I create good content, but I need to make money from this, you know? How do I scale it? How do I go about that stuff?” It’s not easy. It’s not like you could go and pick up a book on, I don’t know… how to cut food, or what’s the best knives, or the knife name, or whatever, you know? It’s not like you can go and grab a book for that stuff. So it’s like, you need to find someone who has gone through it already that is open to showing you the way. And then once they’ve shown you the way and then maybe you’re interested in something else in regards to your platform, you need to find someone else again that has gone through that, and then you learn off of them, you know?

Natalie
Yeah. It’s like so many different kinds of teachers.

Lloyd
The information is so hard to get. It’s like sometimes you get stuck by something, you can’t go to the library and figure it out, or you can’t go online because social media is always changing. It’s always changing. So it’s like, who do you go to, you know? You have to find people that are in the field that have gone through it already.

Natalie
I think that there’s a real vulnerability to what it is that influencers are doing. They are so constantly available to their followers, and yet there have to be these boundaries, right? But then at the same time, I’m imagining that the boundaries then create divisions between who can access and who can’t. It’s a complicated space, as you say.

Lloyd
Yes, yes, and that is all because… it’s like, the day goes by so fast, so you can only respond to so many messages. You’re already responding to a bunch of comments to keep up with your engagement, you know — also keep people happy and not have people feel like, “Oh, this person just never responds.” You know, so you’re already doing so much of that. You’re filtering through DMs. You know, some DMs are silly, some make sense. Some are just random questions that the answer’s already in the video that you put out. You know, so it’s like, how do you find the people who… let’s say you, for example. Out of all of that clutter, how do I find you sending a message saying, “Hey,” you know, reaching out actually for something that is like a podcast, or an interview, and stuff like that. You know, you have to maybe sometimes magically land on it, you know, because we get flooded every day, and the thing is that when that accumulates, it’s like, to filter through all of that, how much time is it going to take?

Natalie
Yep. I actually can’t imagine, so I count myself pretty lucky that I was able to get through.

Lloyd
The behind-the-scenes, the behind-the-scenes.

Natalie
But it’s also because I think it’s pretty neat that people can get to hear this type of conversation, right? I mean, as much as we all are excited about the food, there’s also the person behind it all. To end, I mean, you are an influencer and you’ve named now some of who of your influencers are, but what is next for plantcrazii? What is it that you want to do in this thing that you’ve created — this persona?

Lloyd
Next for me, number one is starting to promote my book moreso, because it does come out at the end of August. And then next up, I want to do some collaborations with restaurants to have my menus featured in certain restaurants, because people have been wanting to try my food, and I would love for people to experience it — because I know sometimes food can look good online or in a picture, but then you get to it and you’re like, “Oh, it was alright,” you know? But I know. People have tried my stuff, and I know. So I would love to be able to have access points where people could come and taste my food. So that would be something, as well as traveling to different countries, and showing the people from those countries with their culture ingredients how they could create plant-based meals inside their homes. That would be something that I would love to do, because I feel like it would create an impact, and also if I can film it, it could be fun for people to tune into. So that space is something that I want to get into, and then probably do that over a YouTube channel.

Natalie
That sounds fun.

Lloyd
Yeah. That is what is next for me.

Natalie
And you want to keep this fun for yourself. So what’s the way you’re going to do that? That’s my final question. How does Lloyd Rose keep making himself enjoy it? Like the fun that you started with when you first watched that documentary with your friend.

Lloyd
So you know how some people gain their happiness through seeing the impact they’ve had on someone else? You know, like helping someone else, or showing them something new. I think that is what keeps it fun for me, you know — so people reposting that they made my recipes. There’s people who for their anniversaries, they’ve made my recipes and blown their partners away with what they’ve created, and they’ve gained confidence in the kitchen, and stuff like that. I think that is the best return for me, and that is what keeps the engine going and keeps me motivated and keeps me happy. You know, some days I wake up and I read comments, and I do go through my DM sometimes, and I land on a DM that is super positive, where, you know, it’s been kind of life-changing for people. There’s some young kids that come to me and say, “You know what, I never thought that was possible to, you know, have a burger or have a pita like that,” — you know, in the plant based world. “I have asked my parents to make it for me.” And that makes me so happy, you know?

Natalie
Oh, that’s wonderful.

Lloyd
Yeah. So those things, that’s the best return.

Natalie
That’s super. Hey, thank you for this.

Lloyd
It was a pleasure!

Natalie
Thanks for just taking the time, and it being so chill and possible.

Lloyd
It was a pleasure.

Natalie
I know that it wasn’t necessarily easy for us to make it all happen, but the fact that it did just means I think we’re paying it forward, right? We’re just putting wonderful good vibes out there into the world, and maybe now people eat a few more blocks of tofu.

Lloyd
Yeah, exactly.

Natalie
Thanks a lot, Lloyd.

Lloyd
No problem.

Natalie
Have a great rest of your night.

Lloyd
You as well. Take care.

Natalie
Ok, take care.

Lloyd
Bye bye.

Natalie
Bye.

Rebecca
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