Health & Wellness
Marla Rose
Chicago, IL
Energy and commitment is what Marla Rose exudes. Energy in which she creates through the excitement of speakers, chefs, and hundreds of vendors at her annual Chicago VeganMania event. In October 2016, Chicago VeganMania celebrates their 8th year of healthy vegan fun! Commitment in how she weaves her values into every fiber of how she lives her vegan lifestyle of twenty-one years. She is a co-founder, along with her husband, John, of the vegan trifecta: Chicago VeganMania, Vegan Street, and Vegan Street Media. She is a relentless volunteer, a mother, and a vegan badass. I Admire U Marla for your unapologetic values, your community vision, and your relentless volunteer work to organize one of the coolest events in Chicagoland!
Nominated by: Swati Saxena
Nominated by: Swati Saxena
Marla in her own words...
1. You have a BIG weekend coming up! Your annual Chicago VeganMania is happening Saturday, October 1st, with nearly a hundred vendors, seven amazing speakers, and six talented chefs lined up. What are you the most proud of going into this year’s event?
Thank you! Well, I’d say I am most proud of the fact that it even exists, if that makes sense. It all started as just an idea, an idea my husband and I really believed in, and it wasn’t long before we got a core group of people who also believed in the vision and helped to shape it. Of course, we have had to roll up our sleeves and do a lot of hard work but Chicago VeganMania happens year after year. This is our eighth one. Looking around the room – alive with the energy of thousands of excited, positive, curious people who are trying to live more compassionate, healthful lives – I can’t help but feel really proud of what we’ve made manifest. And to think it was just an idea that lit the spark that created this beautiful event: I get goose bumps! We can dream anything into being.
2. Chicago VeganMania grows every year, and this year is no different. You are expecting at least 5,000 attendees. What about CVM do you believe attracts both repeat and new visitors? What’s in store for non-vegans who attend?
I think the fact that we lay it all out there means that people to come to CVM without defensiveness and that we promote it with an inclusive message, letting people know that they are all welcome, this brings people in the door. With our name, there is no bait-and-switch: people know what to expect (sort of) but it is presented in a way that is a bit cheeky and fun. That was intentional from the beginning. Vegans are known for being a bit, well, intense. We decided to have fun with that in the name while also not being deceptive about what our day is about. We made a conscious decision at the very beginning to own the word “vegan” proudly and not call it something like “veg” or “veggie” because I think when we own who we are, people, by and large, will respect that honesty. (And if they don’t, eh, you don’t need ‘em in your life or at your festival.) I think also the fact that it is free – though we do ask for a $5.00 donation, no one is turned away – brings people through the door who might normally have reservations and that there is just so much value-added, all for free. Speakers, cooking demos, panels, live music, our huge food court, dozens and dozens of vendors, free samples to try and on and on. What’s not to love? It’s just a fun, interesting and educational day, no strings attached.
Thank you! Well, I’d say I am most proud of the fact that it even exists, if that makes sense. It all started as just an idea, an idea my husband and I really believed in, and it wasn’t long before we got a core group of people who also believed in the vision and helped to shape it. Of course, we have had to roll up our sleeves and do a lot of hard work but Chicago VeganMania happens year after year. This is our eighth one. Looking around the room – alive with the energy of thousands of excited, positive, curious people who are trying to live more compassionate, healthful lives – I can’t help but feel really proud of what we’ve made manifest. And to think it was just an idea that lit the spark that created this beautiful event: I get goose bumps! We can dream anything into being.
2. Chicago VeganMania grows every year, and this year is no different. You are expecting at least 5,000 attendees. What about CVM do you believe attracts both repeat and new visitors? What’s in store for non-vegans who attend?
I think the fact that we lay it all out there means that people to come to CVM without defensiveness and that we promote it with an inclusive message, letting people know that they are all welcome, this brings people in the door. With our name, there is no bait-and-switch: people know what to expect (sort of) but it is presented in a way that is a bit cheeky and fun. That was intentional from the beginning. Vegans are known for being a bit, well, intense. We decided to have fun with that in the name while also not being deceptive about what our day is about. We made a conscious decision at the very beginning to own the word “vegan” proudly and not call it something like “veg” or “veggie” because I think when we own who we are, people, by and large, will respect that honesty. (And if they don’t, eh, you don’t need ‘em in your life or at your festival.) I think also the fact that it is free – though we do ask for a $5.00 donation, no one is turned away – brings people through the door who might normally have reservations and that there is just so much value-added, all for free. Speakers, cooking demos, panels, live music, our huge food court, dozens and dozens of vendors, free samples to try and on and on. What’s not to love? It’s just a fun, interesting and educational day, no strings attached.
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3. You do not take a salary for organizing CVM. You are a good-hearted, making a difference volunteer. What motivates you to organize such a grand event? How long does it take to organize CVM?
Sometimes you do things because you were called to do them and there was no way around it. This is one of those things. One of my peeves is when people say, “You know what would be cool?” and then they don’t do anything to help make it happen. Daydreaming is lovely and part of the process but I would hate to look back on my life in my older years and think, “I could’a been a contender.” The idea of wanting to avoid regret propels me, no doubt about it! I know that if I verbalize something I want to see, I will hold my own feet to the fire to make it happen if it really matters to me. I also do it because CVM needed to be. It was, as Victor Hugo said, “an idea whose time [had] come.”
As soon as this year’s CVM is over, we’ll take a month or two to analyze the event we just had, decompress a bit and begin brainstorming for the next one. Also, it’s a big event that requires a lot of volunteer hours so we’ll also take some time off to catch up with other aspects of our lives that have been neglected and give one another a little breathing space. Because we all work full-time and are volunteers, I’d say that we squeeze everything into about seven or eight months of serious planning. It works for us.
4. You are a vegan badass. Not only are you a co-founder of Chicago VeganMania, you are also a journalist and co-founder of Vegan Street and Vegan Street Media. Why is it important that your business and career aspirations connect to your vegan lifestyle?
Thank you! I have found my life’s calling – promoting veganism and compassionate living – and have never tired of it after all these years. I am well aware of how smug it sounds but I am truly fueled by a drive to create a less violent world and so I am never depleted. That is the energy source I plug in to and it is limitless.
I am not special: I was raised like pretty much every other kid who grew up in suburbia in the 1970s. I was not raised by vegetarians or activists; I grew up in the typical home of the time with Wonder Bread, Snickers bars, sour cream and chive potato chips and bologna sandwiches. Over the years, I have found my life’s purpose in life through my passion, because it feels so damn empowering to call my own shots about the kind of person I want to be, the life I want to live, the kind of legacy I want to create. I don’t think I will ever burn out. I just want people to know how freeing it feels to live in alignment with their core values. My business and career align with veganism because I know that it is a limitless source of inspiration for me. It is my passion. It was what I was born to do and I was lucky enough to find it.
"We made a conscious decision at the very beginning to own the word “vegan” proudly and not call it something like “veg” or “veggie” because I think when we own who we are, people, by and large, will respect that honesty."
5. Vegan Street Blog highlights you are “the Vegan Feminist Agitator.” Sounds fascinating! What does it mean to be this trifecta?
Heh! The thing is, anyone who knows me knows that I am a pretty cheerful, positive person but I am also a vegan feminist and that cannot help but agitate some. To me, it means that I am putting it all out there like I talked about with Chicago VeganMania: no deception, no bait-and-switch. It’s about owning who we are. If we are honest about who we are, it frees the people around us to live their lives authentically, too. If we’re honest about who we are and plugging into the bigger sources that inspire and motivate us, I think we’ll be building a better world.
6. Marla, why do you choose a vegan lifestyle?
I went vegan for the same reason why I went vegetarian as a 15-year-old some years before: for reasons of compassion. Once I learned about the dairy industry and the egg industry, how leather is one of the most profitable aspects of animal agribusiness and how shearing wool harms the gentle sheep, there was no way I could continue as a consumer of those products. I didn’t like having this information – in fact, I resented it very much – but then my bluff was called: was I going to be honest about my convictions about compassionate living?
As I became more educated, I also learned that there are also cycles of forced impregnation, mutilation (like the brutal removal of ends of beaks and castration without painkillers) and mass slaughtering of males (like in the egg industry) that most people don’t know about. I certainly did not. For the most part, people don’t eat animals and animal products because they are indifferent or mean; most people don’t know what is happening – the industry is very opaque for a reason – and there is a personal interest in maintaining the status quo practices that are tied to familiarity, custom, fear of the unknown, fear of being different, personal biases, and so on. This all fosters our disconnection and our rationalizations about what we eat. I was compelled as an idealistic 15-year-old to stop eating animals because that seemed like the compassionate thing to do; the same is true of when I became more educated and went vegan at 27. It is a process for all of us and I am always learning and trying to live more in alignment but basically I am vegan because it is one powerful and meaningful way to weave my values into my life and to create change. Does it mean that I think I am perfect? No. I have a lot to learn and a lot of room for growth. I am a terribly impatient person and have to check that constantly. I am just trying to reduce my harm and live with consistency.
"I just want people to know how freeing it feels to live in alignment with their core values. My business and career align with veganism because I know that it is a limitless source of inspiration for me."
7. You shared, “On top of a stressful home environment, from about 5th grade - 8th grade, I was picked on daily at school. I went from being a pretty happy kid to really having no oasis or refuge from stressful environments. I felt very vulnerable, isolated and scared.” How did these childhood experiences influence your veganism?
From my earliest recollection, I had always been keenly interested in other animals and had a particular fondness for dogs. I think being treated in an unfair way growing up, feeling like I had no voice and being powerless to people who didn’t have my best interests in mind worked to crack open my heart more to what other animals go through. It seems like early vulnerability is a common experience of many people who grow up to become vegans and social justice activists. I could empathize and identify with the vulnerability of other animals and the unjustness of the cruel power structure imposed upon them struck a familiar chord within me, a chord that made me deeply uncomfortable with the status quo, which compelled me to go vegetarian when I was fifteen. Feeling “other-ed” from an early age is deeply imprinted on my life’s trajectory and informs my purpose. I know how it felt to be told that my choice in how I was treated didn’t matter and I will never forget it. I know how arbitrary, unfair, scary and unjust it is. I cannot knowingly impose this paradigm of abuse on other vulnerable and innocent beings for that reason alone. Knowing what animal agribusiness is doing to the planet and the threat to future generations because of it just seals it all.
8. Your son who is fourteen years old has been vegan since birth. What nuggets of wisdom would you share with a parent who is interested or on the fence about introducing their child to a vegan lifestyle?
I am not a dietitian, so I am not an authority to speak on that angle - please check out Ginny Kisch Messina, RD, for her thoughts on raising vegan children from a nutritional perspective (http://www.theveganrd.com/2016/04/vegan-diets-are-safe-for-children.html) - but mainly I would say that most children love other animals and many also identify with the vulnerability of not being high on the totem pole, feeling silenced and lacking personal agency. We speak a lot about the importance of raising children who are kind, thoughtful, considerate and independent thinkers yet many discourage the natural compassion of children when they are told not to ask about what they are eating or discouraged from going vegetarian. Let your children be the guide to their own evolving curiosity and embracing of compassionate values.
"I could empathize and identify with the vulnerability of other animals and the unjustness of the cruel power structure imposed upon them struck a familiar chord within me, a chord that made me deeply uncomfortable with the status quo, which compelled me to go vegetarian when I was fifteen."
9. After the 2016 Chicago VeganMania, I’m curious, what’s next for you?
Well, before anything, I’d like to take a decent night’s sleep. After that, ultimately, my dream is to create a full-service vegan communications firm with my husband with multiple departments: film, multimedia, web, content, branding, logos, packaging, and so on. We have the beginning of this with Vegan Street Media, launched in April, but there is a huge demand as the vegan market is expanding exponentially and there are so many talented people out there that I’d love to help find gainful employment! Oh, also I would like to get back in touch with my first love and something I have neglected for years: drawing, painting and printmaking.
10. I Admire U, whom do you admire?
I was very lucky in that I had a very close relationship with a wonderful set of grandparents who deeply influenced my life with their loving marriage and just their joyful outlook on life. My grandmother in particular was such a dynamic, loving and beloved individual. My grandmother was the kind of person who would make friends with everyone and strangers would just look at her and smile. At the same time, she was a badass: she chased two guys down the alley when they tried to steal her purse. (This is not family lore: I was with her.) It was the first and last time I heard her curse and it was a pretty mild curse at that. What I remember most, though, was just that she made everyone feel uniquely special. When my life was at its lowest, sitting and talking with at her kitchen table her made my worries melt away. Even when she had Alzheimer’s and was in a senior facility, the nurses couldn’t help but soak in her loving, warm presence. She was just that kind of person.
My grandmother was just so powerfully, peacefully and unapologetically herself and encouraged that in everyone around her. Certainly, I am very fortunate to have had her not only as a role model but also as someone who loved me so unconditionally. I don’t know who I would be today without my Grandma Dora.
Well, before anything, I’d like to take a decent night’s sleep. After that, ultimately, my dream is to create a full-service vegan communications firm with my husband with multiple departments: film, multimedia, web, content, branding, logos, packaging, and so on. We have the beginning of this with Vegan Street Media, launched in April, but there is a huge demand as the vegan market is expanding exponentially and there are so many talented people out there that I’d love to help find gainful employment! Oh, also I would like to get back in touch with my first love and something I have neglected for years: drawing, painting and printmaking.
10. I Admire U, whom do you admire?
I was very lucky in that I had a very close relationship with a wonderful set of grandparents who deeply influenced my life with their loving marriage and just their joyful outlook on life. My grandmother in particular was such a dynamic, loving and beloved individual. My grandmother was the kind of person who would make friends with everyone and strangers would just look at her and smile. At the same time, she was a badass: she chased two guys down the alley when they tried to steal her purse. (This is not family lore: I was with her.) It was the first and last time I heard her curse and it was a pretty mild curse at that. What I remember most, though, was just that she made everyone feel uniquely special. When my life was at its lowest, sitting and talking with at her kitchen table her made my worries melt away. Even when she had Alzheimer’s and was in a senior facility, the nurses couldn’t help but soak in her loving, warm presence. She was just that kind of person.
My grandmother was just so powerfully, peacefully and unapologetically herself and encouraged that in everyone around her. Certainly, I am very fortunate to have had her not only as a role model but also as someone who loved me so unconditionally. I don’t know who I would be today without my Grandma Dora.
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