Summary: Ami, a 16-year-old Canadian, started a Vegan-Vegetarian Food Blog called "The Art of Eggless" during the pandemic. Despite setbacks and feelings of isolation, Ami embraced her vegetarianism, shifted her focus to supporting small businesses, and discovered the power of social media. Through her journey, she learned the importance of embracing change and turning heartbreak into community support.

Takeaways:

🌱 Embrace your personal beliefs and be proud of who you are as a healthcare professional.

🧁 Find creative ways to showcase your skills and passions, even in challenging times.

💪 Overcome setbacks and learn to adapt to new opportunities.

📱 Utilize the power of social media to reach and connect with a wider audience.

🌍 Explore different cultures and communities to expand your knowledge and experiences.

💛 Turn difficult experiences into opportunities to support and help others.

Hey, I’m Ami.

I’m a 16-year-old Canadian that started a Vegan-Vegetarian Food Blog during a global pandemic.

My food blog is called The Art of Eggless. My journey hasn’t been all that smooth, but I have to say all the chaos turned into something I would have never even dreamed of!

During the pandemic, I discovered that I failed to win an award for an extracurricular that I had been working on for 3+ years. During the pandemic I felt alone, isolated and upset.

My family and friends encouraged me to keep going and start something related to baking, and I did! I am a vegetarian and don’t eat eggs because of my religion and personal beliefs, so I restricted this to showcase only treats that were vegan, vegetarian or eggless. My blog started as a place for me to share my recipes and show the treats I was making. However, at the peak of the pandemic, I learned about small businesses struggling and so, I shifted my focus to helping small businesses.

Growing up, I was always ashamed of being a vegetarian due to all the questions I received. But, after starting my food blog, I became more proud of being a vegetarian. I finally felt that I was part of a larger and more conscious community. Since my project became popular, it has proved to my past self – who used to be ashamed that I couldn’t eat a cupcake from school – that there are others like me. That I should not be embarrassed by my dedication to vegetarianism. When I had the opportunity to take this project to the U.S. 18 months later, I took the chance and learned to adapt. I even shocked myself.

One thing I used to always say was “I’m never getting Instagram,” and here I am three years later with a successful blog. Only now have I truly realised the power of social media marketing. This initial failure is a real-life example of “when one door closes, another one opens.”

Even though an achievement or plan may be significant to us, it is important to know when to let it go for a new one. Just like when crabs move into a new shell to fit them better, we must learn to adapt but know when to find a new start for ourselves. Letting go and overcoming a failure will need a lot of hard work, but the reward is so much more than just succeeding at something: it is learning, growing and having new experiences.

Without this specific experience, I would have not been able to meet such amazing people, connect with such an amazing community, eat amazing food, learn about different cultures and see the most unique parts of Toronto. I am so happy that I was able to turn my heartbreak and isolation from the pandemic, instead turning it into a community to help others struggling during the hardships that COVID has brought.