The Transcript

Karthika: Welcome. Thank you so much for joining me on CulturallyOurs. I am so excited to be chatting with you today and I cannot wait to dig into your entrepreneurial journey.

Back: Thank you so much for having me on your podcast. I am very excited. Such a pleasure.

Karthika: Absolutely. So before we begin, can you just tell us a little bit about sort of who you are, where you’re from, just so that we can set the stage a little bit?

Back: Hi to everyone listening.  I’m a 16 year old Vegan food blogger from Sydney, Australia. Um, I have a really big passion for cooking and baking a big passion in photography as well. I really liked photography. I’m photographing food. I love to read. I like to go on jogs. Yeah, that’s, that’s basically me.

Karthika: That’s amazing. And you’re 16 years old. I think that’s really inspiring. I was so intrigued when I kind of stalked you a little bit on social media, your pictures that are amazing by the way. I mean amazing photography. So is this something that you’ve always sort of been passionate about cooking and taking pictures and just kind of doing your thing?

Back: Well, I didn’t really get into this whole cooking thing until I kind of transitioned into a vegan lifestyle because once I turned vegan I was so much more conscious about the food I was eating and then I kind of grew a passion into cooking and baking and I’m very fortunate to have a supportive mom. My mom is a very good chef and she is a very good cook. So I kind of learned from her and I had her full support and she kind of taught me how to cook. So my passion just grew from there. And then once I went vegan I also wanted to kind of share my whole lifestyle just for fun. I never intended it turnout as successful as it has become. And so I started an instagram page and it was just me sharing photos of my food or what I kind of did in the day and then all of a sudden it’s just blown up to this one big thing. So I guess no, I never really aimed for this sort of thing.

Karthika: That’s amazing. I mean, just one little thing that kind of ballooned into this huge, humongous thing, but let’s maybe take a step back a little bit. What made you decide to go vegan? And the reason I ask is you are, are you a mixed ethnicity or are you Korean?

Back: Well my, both my parents were born in Korea but I was born in Australia.

Karthika: And so what made you decide to go vegan?

Back: Well, I think the main reason was I was going in the car one day and I kind of passed this butcher and I saw this huge headless pig on the loader going into the butcher. And it was kind of the first time it really connected with me. Like I knew what I was eating. It was an animal, but I just never made that connection. Then I went home and I did a lot of research and it’s just a big shock because your whole life you’ve kind of grown up believing what society tells you, which is it’s fine to eat animals, but if you think about it, would you really like eat your dog or your cat. And so it kinda hit me and I started watching some documentaries and then I decided, you know what? I think I could try this whole vegan thing. I could maybe eliminate some animal products out of my life. And then it kinda grew from there.

Karthika: Now that you bring up a very good point, I mean, I think it’s just when you’re not fully aware of anything you almost take it for granted. You don’t put too much thought into it, but when you get enlightened, for lack of a better word, it’s like you can’t stop thinking about it and kudos to you for making such a huge shift. And that too, at such a young age. I’m really in awe with everything you do if you haven’t figured that out yet, by the way.

Back: Haha. But you it’s not like I hate all the non vegans because I’m the only kid in my family who is vegan. Everyone else in my family eats meat. So you kind of have to be very open minded about it. It’s all about everyone’s different positions. You have to consider everyone in that they have different perspectives and they are in different positions. You can’t expect everyone to suddenly go vegan. So you kind of have to be understanding too. It’s all about compassion.

Karthika: That is absolutely a great point. Now you said it’s just sort of happened. It just sort of kind of ballooned. But what was maybe the turning point. You said you always loved to cook, you like taking pictures. You started an instagram page. When did that sort of shift to be more of business. When was the turning point?

Back: In all honesty, it came very slowly to me and I think that’s because I was never aware of where I was going to go or what else was there. It was never a goal of mine, but I guess the turning point was about a year ago. It’s been a solid year since I started doing a lot more sponsored posts and kind of growing as EarthlingSasha into a business and something that I can kind of work with and create a brand with.

Karthika: So how long before that did you start? You said this is full blown, but how many years or months before was it that you started?

Back: I started the page when I was around 14 and so I got to admit I grew quite fast. It was about a year of just doing it for fun and just being like, oh this is cool. I can share my photos, meet new people. And then in the past year I was like, wow this is really speeding up and I can really do something with this.

Karthika: Thats excellent. Now how is it in Australia and in Sydney specifically? How is your industry in terms of bloggers and specifically as maybe food photography. Is it very competitive?

Back: I’d say it is very competitive in Sydney especially because social media has just blown up all of a sudden and especially even companies have started jumping on and realizing that by advertising via social media they can get enriched with so much more customers. So I’ve definitely seen a lot of bloggers and even food bloggers in the Sydney scene and I guess it’s quite competitive, but everyone has their own little niche in what they do.

Karthika: Okay I guess that leads me directly into my next question. What is unique about your business that you think has given you this opportunity to be so successful? And like you said so fast.

Back: I definitely think one factor is because I’m so young, a lot of people get drawn into that fact that I’m only 16, which that’s pretty amazing. I like being just recognized for that. And I also think another thing that makes it unique about my business is that for me it’s never been about making money or the profit. It’s just the joy of sharing and making connections with people all across the world, you know.

Karthika: Thats so well said. And for a 16 year old, you sound very mature in the fact that you know this. I think as businesses we do put that pressure on ourselves for making a profit right off the bat. I’m not saying money is not important. It absolutely is. For a lot of us, it pays bills and it helps us in the lifestyle that we want. But I think just having only that as an end goal can be detrimental to growth and just enjoying the process. You started this because you enjoy it. You love cooking, you love photography, and to just now suddenly put shackles around, I have to x or I have to do with this sometimes takes the joy out of it. I feel like sometimes as people, as a culture, we don’t really celebrate successes. We are so focused on either the monetary aspect or just getting to the next step that we don’t celebrate our successes. So maybe before we sort of go deep into the interview, can you share with us some of your proudest accomplishments, things that really have made you feel like this is good. I am happy doing this.

Back: Haha. Well! Definitely doing this podcast. This has been my first podcast. I also love meeting some of the people that I’ve talked to online and when they come up to me in real life, that’s a huge wow moment for me. I feel so proud that I’ve been able to kind of inspire or help other people. That’s definitely one of the proudest accomplishments, but also if you look on more the other side, I guess having seen one of my recipes in the magazine that’s also very proud for me.

Karthika: Oh for sure! Thats awesome. Now just like anything in life, we all have ups and downs. So what are some of the challenges you faced and more importantly, how do you overcome them?

Back: I’m pretty lucky in that I haven’t faced too many problems or challenges. However, I definitely do come across sometimes when I’m working with a company and it’s just been super difficult to kind of communicate with what they want and what they want from me kind of thing and usually it gets quite stressful because I’m still in school. I try to get everything planned out weeks ahead so I still have the time to do my studying and to get all this work done so when one thing kind of doesn’t fall in place, then the whole plan kind of topples and then I get very stressed. I’ve been very focused on trying to control my stress and just move on from it and take it as a learning thing because some things just out of my control. So I have to learn to deal with it. I just can’t avoid it. I have to face it.

Karthika: I repeat myself. I am really so inspired with you as a 16 year old. I hate throwing age as a number around but you are so inspiring and so mature in your thinking of what you like and don’t like. Now let’s talk support. You mentioned earlier that your mom is a chef and she’s really super supportive and sounds like you have a great family that supports you as well considering you’re the only vegan around. But who else is your go to in terms of support. Like when that stress does get too much, who helps you out? Because I think having a reliable support system is very critical for anything. Especially entrepreneurs.

Back: Yes, it is very important. I have a really good group of friends and they totally understanding when I tell them, sorry I’m busy. My family too. They support me so much and I’m just so grateful for both my friends and my family because I used to be scared of telling strangers like my friends that this is what I kind of do because I was scared of being judged. But then over time I realized, you know, you got to be proud of the issue. You have to accept compliments, you know. So now I understand that its not like they will judge me, they all support me which is great.

Karthika: Yeah. That’s amazing. Now what about in terms of community and do you guys have government programs for entrepreneurs or do you have access to mentors? How is the entrepreneurial landscape like I guess is my question where you are.

Back: Um, I guess the community is quite big in Sydney and the whole entrepreneurial community. It’s quite big, but I don’t know if we have a lot of government programs or mentors or kind of things. But sometimes you will find that being in groups like Vegan in Sydney is good. There’s a wonderful page Sydney vegan guide. Renee, the lady who runs this page and in 2018 she kinda started bringing together all these vegans in Sydney and we would have dinner at a restaurant and you kind of get to chat with people who have so much in common with you. It is great to be surrounded with all these other bloggers and other food photographers and other vegans.

Karthika: Yes thats amazing. What about school? Does your school have any mentors or business sort of classes that give you an opportunity to take this up a notch maybe?

Back: Well right now I don’t think my school knows.

Karthika: I’m a very introverted person and I kind of prefer it if they don’t know. Sometimes I feel very awkward if I tell people about it, but that’s just me and sometimes I’ve just learnt to break out of my shell. Be proud of what I’ve done. And that’s why I kind of asked the question earlier. You have accomplished so much. But most of us are extroverted – introvert. It’s kind of universal. I don’t know why, but it is.

Karthika: Let’s talk motivation. That’s the mindset. You talked a little bit about learning to tone down the stress, but let’s kind of expand it a little bit more. How do you keep yourself motivated and how do you keep yourself excited? You are still in school, you’re juggling so many balls, what keeps you going when it gets tough.

Back: I get a lot of questions about this because I have a lot of young kids in my following and they’re always like Sasha, how do you manage to stay motivated and kind of keep on doing what you’re doing and you know, for me it’s also still a learning curve. When I lack motivation I just take a break. I love nature. I always go out for a walk and because I’m so keen on photography, I usually find if I take my camera and go out for a walk, snap some photos and my creativity’s just all of a sudden just sprouting again. But sometimes that’s not always the case because especially during school times and we’re not having exams and I’m just so stressed and so tired and I just don’t have the time. And I’m like, how am I going to do all this. If you asked my mom, I get stressed very easily. It’s probably not fun for her when I get that way. So once again, that’s something I’m still trying to kind of learn to deal with, but I definitely love just going out in nature, just taking a break, you know, a social media detox is always a good idea.

Karthika: Oh, social media detox is always good. How do you balance like school, business, work? You said you organize weeks in advance. Do you have like a planner? Do you do everything online? I guess I’m trying to understand details because you are juggling so many things and school sounds like is a priority and it should be definitely. So how do you do it all?

Back: I’m a huge planner geek. I need to have a physical plan out diary with me. Most of the time I can’t do online but always have my planner with me and I’m always writing down everything. And if I have an exam in like four weeks, you know, I’ll have it logged in like 5 to 10 times before it comes up. Go to study. You go to finalize that and I kind of rely on it a lot and I guess you could say that’s basically how I balance school mostly with my work in my business and I just mentally try to make sure I space everything out so I have my own me time in so I don’t burn out because that’s the worst thing. So yes, I could say my planner is like my best friend.

Karthika: Oh! I’m right there with you. I think I have posted notes all over my house. I like my planner and I get so excited in the new year starts and I’m looking at a new planners that can document all the exciting possibilities of a new year.

Back: And the satisfaction of just taking it off is just the best.

Back: Thank you so much for having me. I had the best time and I can’t wait to share this with my family and friends.