How a Rescue Dog Inspired a Children's Book and Veganism

Host, Julie Marty-Pearson, often says our pets find us, and that isn't truer than for guest Tenny Minassian. Tenny's adopted canine companion, Lucy, inspired not only a profound personal transformation but also a children's book, "Lucy Goes to the Gentle Barn." Her tale is one of convincing traditional parents to open their home to a family pet, leading to an adventure of love and life lessons that resonate with any heart that has felt the warmth of a furry friend. Lucy’s tripe to real-world sanctuary The Gentle Barn, illustrates many important lessons we can all learn from animals.
 
 What begins with the adoption of a pet often leads to unexpected personal revelations. For Tenny, it was the inspiration to embrace a vegan lifestyle. Walking through her transformation and the role of a vegan coach, she offers insights into the challenges and rewards of a plant-based life, from giving up cheese to navigating new ethical choices. Touching on mental health, societal pressures, and the readiness for change, the conversation underscores the profound impact of pet adoption on personal growth and the broader choice to rescue over breeding. Join us for an episode that promises laughter, inspiration, and an invitation to live more consciously with kindness at its heart.

Tenny Minassian is a vegan lifestyle coach and author based in Los Angeles. She's an Armenian-American and came to the U.S. as a refugee with her family from Iran. Her favorite role is being Lucy's dog-mom and going on adventures together! She's excited to share her debut children's book, Lucy Goes to The Gentle Barn. You can purchase Tenny’s book on Amazon or via her Website. Follow Tenny on Instagram and Facebook. Follow Lucy on Instagram.

Learn more about the Gentle Barn on their Website and follow on Instagram.

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:05

Hello, my friends and fellow animal lovers, welcome to the Story of my Pet podcast. I am Julie Marty Pearson, your host, proud fur mom, pet lover and all-around animal advocate. I'm so happy to have you here to listen to the incredible pet stories that I have collected from around the world. I hope you enjoy this episode and I can't wait to share this pet story with you. Hello, my friends and fellow animal lovers, I am happy to be here with a new episode and to introduce you all to my guest, tenny Manassian. Tenny, thank you so much for being here.

Speaker 2: 0:50

Hey Jolie, Really glad to be here. Thank you for having me.

Speaker 1: 0:55

Tenny and I connected because she wanted to share with me her new book called Lucy Goes to the Gentle Barn. So I have it and I love it. I was reading through it again last night and it's really a cute story and it's a great story for kids. And so before we get into that, Tenny, I wanted to talk to you a little bit about Lucy, your dog, and you are a proud dog mom, I have to say yes, very proud. So how did the adoption of Lucy and you guys coming together? How did that come about?

Speaker 2: 1:28

Yeah, so Lucy is actually my first dog. So first and only dog so far, I adopted her in 2015. I had just come back to LA from the Bay Area. I was going to grad school up there and I always wanted a dog and my family always said no. I told them before I moved back that I for sure was getting a dog, and so I think they felt bad for me at this point, going through my whole life without a dog. So they reluctantly agreed.

Speaker 2: 1:58

I was already trying to search for dogs and I knew I wanted to ideally get a puppy or just a younger dog, so that we can just have that experience that we've never had. And I found through a rescue, I found they had some puppies and so I took my parents and we went and we visited the puppies and my mom actually ended up picking Lucy out of all of them, which is ironic because she's she was so scared of dogs. So for her, this is like her first experience with a dog, so it was really interesting. She was so scared of dogs, so for her, this was like her first experience with a dog, so it was really interesting.

Speaker 1: 2:28

But that's great because for people that don't have animals growing up, that first one can be really scary. So I think that's a great thing that your parents were able to go on this journey with you.

Speaker 2: 2:39

Yeah, no, it's been really wonderful for my whole family. So my family's Armenian but we're from Iran and so in Iran growing up like my parents didn't really have pets, like it wasn't normalized there. It's a bit of a different culture than what we have here in the Western culture. So for them it's been a complete night and day like change. Now, like Lucy's their grandchild, like their granddaughter, they're obsessed with her, but, yeah, it's been really amazing.

Speaker 1: 3:08

That's so great, I love. I love hearing that so many of my guests are like animal lovers from the time they're born and all of that. But it's great when we hear stories of people who haven't and have ventured into rescue and adoption. And then you find that dog that you're meant to have, which I think is what happened with you and Lucy. That's exactly what happened.

Speaker 2: 3:21

I actually wanted a male dog and I was going to name him Milo and I had this whole plan. And so when I saw the four puppies, I wanted the little runt of the litter. He was like this little black, like poodle mix boy, and I was like I want this one. And my mom said, no, I want this one. And she pointed to Lucy and I was like, all right, well, since they're compromising, they're getting the dog. So I went with what my mom wanted and it was exactly what I needed.

Speaker 1: 3:46

That's so funny. When I was little and I got to get a puppy it was a litter and I picked out mine, champ, which was a boy my mom was like no, we've only ever had girl dogs. I'm like no, this is the one, and it was the one, yeah.

Speaker 2: 4:05

I always say our find us the way they're supposed to. That's absolutely what happened. Yeah, it was just so cute and as soon as she came to our house, like we just all fell in love with her and it's been a very nice journey. So she's eight years old now. Every time we meet people they'll ask me how old she is. I say eight and they're like eight months. I'm like no, she's eight years old. She looks like a puppy, so she just has so much energy and she just is very friendly. So we go on all these adventures together.

Speaker 2: 4:28

I have her Instagram page where we post about that, and that's what led me to wanting to share our story of going to the Gentle Barn. I think a lot of kids can relate to some of these same lessons that we're learning, just even with dogs. So, for example, even when I take Lucy to the vet and she's scared, I just think about kids going to a doctor and being scared. So I just have so many different ideas of books that I want to share through Lucy's perspective and through her voice and her experience.

Speaker 1: 4:57

But yeah, the Gentleman was the first one I was going to say. That's such an important parallel to make because obviously kids and pets are different, but young dogs, or even dogs you adopt that aren't puppies and they could be a few years old or older. You don't know what their experiences have been, so their experiences with you are brand new, just like with kids going, like you said, to the doctor. And it's the same thing in a way, because when young kids you can't, you know, explain the way that maybe when they're older thing with pets, you don't know how much they're understanding. And it definitely. As I was going through the book I could see how you were helping Lucy to understand the different animals she was meeting, just like for a child meeting a cow for the first time or something like what is this? Why is it so big? Is it going to be nice to me? So I love that idea that you're using the lessons you've learned with Lucy to make a parallel into the stories you're telling yeah, exactly yeah.

Speaker 2: 5:49

And when we took Lucy to the Gentle Barn, it was 2017. So she was still pretty young and we just had such a wonderful time. We met basically all the animals that I named in the book. So Lucy the cow the same name, which is cute, and Hiroka, but we call her Hiro the horse, and they had a really cute moment where they like almost kiss and I have the photo. Yeah, it's very cute. And then so the way she illustrated in the book was perfect.

Speaker 1: 6:17

Obviously, before the book came to existence, you actually went to the Gentle Barn. How did you learn about them and what they do?

Speaker 2: 6:24

Yeah, well, I've been on my vegan journey. It's been almost seven years, yeah. So I actually started the journey because I adopted Lissy and then after about a year I went vegetarian. I started really questioning like why I was eating some animals and then having her in my home, like opening my home up to other animals. So it just didn't make sense to me. So I went vegetarian. About almost a year later is when I went vegan and I learned about the dairy industry, the egg industry, just horrible things happening to animals. So at some point during this journey I was following the Gentle Barn on social media and they're just a wonderful organization very close by to me, about half an hour away, so we went to visit and I got my first cow hug and it was so healing Like I can't even put into words like how amazing a cow hug is. So if you haven't experienced it and you have the chance to go to a sanctuary, it's the best thing.

Speaker 1: 7:21

It's funny because when I met you virtually and learned about your book, I'm like I know the Gentle Barn. I follow them too and they're about, I think about an hour and a half from where I live in Bakersfield, so I've heard of them. I was like God, that would be so great to go there, because a lot of sanctuaries like Gentle Barn do have days where people can come and meet the animals and I've heard it's such a great experience, so it sounds like that was really transformative for you.

Speaker 2: 7:43

Yeah, and I think a lot of people have a similar experience going there, which is why they're just so popular and so well known. Yeah, just a really friendly place to go, good for kids and families. Yeah, so when I took Lucy, I went with her and my dad and so we were just holding her around and like showing her the animals and, yeah, she had just a wonderful time. She just loves going out and meeting people and other animals.

Speaker 1: 8:07

She's very it sounds like she's very social.

Speaker 2: 8:10

Yes, I joke that she's the extrovert to my introvert. We just love to be home and reading books.

Speaker 1: 8:16

She's let's go out. Let's go, mom. We're not sitting here all day.

Speaker 2: 8:20

Yeah, exactly.

Speaker 1: 8:25

Our pets are often the thing that we need in so many different ways, and it sounds like she's taking you along on her adventures.

Speaker 2: 8:29

Yeah, absolutely Like she gets me out of that house for sure. She's also my emotional support animal. So I went through a lot of depression, anxiety, was in a really bad like emotionally abusive relationship for a long time. So she actually got me through a lot and she literally saved my life. I had like suicidal ideation for a period of time. So when I tell people like she saved my life, like she literally saved my life, and still like to this day, like every day, it's like I get up and I'm just like so happy that I can just be her mom.

Speaker 1: 8:59

So that's so great. We always talk about who rescued who. You and your family did adopt her and rescue her, but it was meant to be for you. It was that support you needed, and sometimes we don't even realize it and it could be years later that they're the support we needed and we would have had no idea, but they're the reason we get up and go through our day for them. And so it's just really special that you guys have that bond yeah absolutely.

Speaker 2: 9:24

It's been wonderful, yeah, and we actually took her to Armenia in 2019. Oh wow.

Speaker 1: 9:30

That's a big adventure.

Speaker 2: 9:32

Very big adventure. I have a few books in mind for that, so hopefully we get to do those. But yeah, she's, she's just always with me.

Speaker 1: 9:39

No, that's a great book too, to teach kids about Armenia through the eyes of a dog. Yeah, exactly, so you have all these great stories and adventures.

Speaker 2: 9:53

How did you actually decide what the first book would be, and what was that process for you? It was, I think last year I had gone to the Gentle Bar and I took a former co-worker. She was going for the first time and I love taking people for the first time. It's so much fun. No-transcript. Yeah, just reach out to us. And so I did.

Speaker 2: 10:32

And the new year I reached out to them and by the time we started a meeting I had to get a chance to talk. It was April of this year and so I spoke to Ellie and she was really excited about it and she loved that. It was a book about my dog and her perspective and her adventure. So they were really excited for me and after I got their approval I just wanted to make sure they were okay with me writing the book. I went ahead and did my final draft and the process started for me to try to find an illustrator, find an illustrator, and so I found Agavni.

Speaker 2: 11:07

Agavni is a young Armenian woman here also in the Los Angeles area, and I really wanted to hire specifically an Armenian woman because I wanted to support them, especially now with the rise of AI and all of these things like artists are not really being supported as much, and so I really wanted to make sure that I was doing that, and so I was really lucky with Agavni. She's amazing. She's done other children's books and I just love her art style. We went back and forth about just trying to get Lucy's character right, making sure she looked the way that I wanted, and so once we crafted that and got that perfect, then we went through the whole book and just page by page were collaborating on it. Yeah, I love I'm just looking through the book, book and just page by page.

Speaker 1: 11:45

We're collaborating on it. Yeah, I love. I'm just looking through the book as you're talking about it and her illustrations are just there. There's like a softness to it, yeah, and playfulness, but all of the animals just look so happy. They all look like they're smiling and I just love that. It's just like a very happy book to look through and lucy just looks so happy throughout the whole thing. I love that.

Speaker 2: 12:06

Yeah, which is true. It's based on true story, obviously but yeah, the animals are so happy there, like every time I go, I'm just like I just hearing like how they care for them and everything that they do is just so amazing. And also, the Gentle Barn is a great place for people to visit and it provides healing for humans too. So it's like they healed animals Right and, in turn, there's healing for people, which I feel like is similar to Lucy and I's story. It's like I rescued her, but she also rescued me.

Speaker 1: 12:35

Right, that's great. So did she actually meet Lucy or visit the Gentle Barn, or did she just go off of photos?

Speaker 2: 12:45

meet Lucy or visit the Gentle Barn, or did she just go off of photos? No, I just gave her some photos. She hasn't met Lucy yet, but I do need to give her a copy of the book so hopefully when we do that, when we drop it off, we can have her meet Lucy. But she did a great job, just like capturing Lucy's essence, I think. I think that can be hard to do, like you said, like she hasn't met her, but just going off of photos, and I sent her a lot of photos from the Gentle Bar, from our visits, from the website, just to make sure the characters look exactly like what you're doing. She did a great job.

Speaker 1: 13:13

So I love that you were purposeful about wanting to support female artists and Armenian artists. I think that's so important for all of us that are in whatever type of creative world it may be writing, podcasting, things like that because there are so many and, like you said, AI is taking over and we want the true humans to be the ones creating these things, so I think that just adds such another great layer to how great your book is. I really love that.

Speaker 2: 13:42

Thank you so much. Yeah, and I also want to mention we are donating a part of the proceeds of the book to the Gentle Barn, which I think is also important for me to support them because they've been so influential, not just in my life, but, I think, in so many people's lives. Every time I mention the book, people are like, yeah, I follow them on social media. I'm like, oh, this is amazing. You already know about the Gentle Barn, so it's great, yeah. And amazing.

Speaker 1: 14:02

You already know about the Chetford, so it's great, yeah, and that's one of the ways I try to do it with the podcast to get more people to know about different rescues and organizations. But thank God for social media that we can all follow these amazing things, but it's even better when we can get a real story behind it and the impact that they're actually making with their animals and with people. Yeah, absolutely, and so everyone listening, there'll be a link in the show notes and I'm also going to post on social media where you can purchase the book. It's a great gift. I would say it's a great gift for kids, but anybody's going to enjoy reading through it. I did myself so in terms of the book, and you have all these other ideas. What's the one thing that your experience with Lucy is your motivating factor to share her story?

Speaker 2: 16:41

I think really she just taught me to enjoy life. She just enjoys everything. Every time we go on a walk, every time we tell her we're leaving the house and we're going out, she's so excited and she's just so enthusiastic. And she's also so friendly to everybody. She says hi to everyone. She wants to say hi to all the dogs. Sometimes they don't want to say hi to her, but it's okay. And she wants to say hi to all the dogs. Sometimes they don't want to say hi to her, but it's okay. So I think just her like zest for life in a way, and just getting me again through those dark days, just having her and like the responsibility of being her mom and taking care of her, was really important for me to get me through those days.

Speaker 1: 17:19

That's great. Yeah, I think that is so true about animals. Even when we have animals that have been through hard things or they've been in shelters or whatever they've gone through, they just leave it behind them and they move for it and they're so happy. And when animals are so friendly, it's like they have no preconceived notions about who people are, about how they look. They just want attention from anyone they meet. Animals can teach us a lot, that's for sure. Absolutely yeah. So you mentioned that after adopting Lucy, you started this journey yourself of vegetarian to vegan, and now you're actually a vegan coach. So can you talk a little bit about that journey and how that happened for you?

Speaker 2: 17:59

Yeah, so obviously she had a big impact on my life in that way too, and so I've been vegan for about seven years I think six or seven years. And yeah, I, just a year and a half ago, I quit my job and I said I'm going to be a vegan lifestyle. Wow.

Speaker 2: 18:15

I know, and obviously I'm also writing and so I'm doing things like that, but I just wasn't feeling like I was living my life's purpose, and I think during the pandemic, a lot of people had those questions of re-evaluating their life. What am I doing? How am I spending my time? Basically Right. And so I did get to a point. Even though I enjoyed my job I loved the people that I met I just felt it was time to take a leap, and helping other people make this change is like really fulfilling for me. And also I help businesses too, so I do consulting. So if you have a business you want to add some options and you're not sure where to start, I can help you with that too.

Speaker 1: 18:58

That's great. I was born and raised in California, so we've always had all those options. It's more normal here, I guess you could say, than even other parts of the country, let alone the world, but it's so true. I've worked at different organizations. I worked at a Jewish university and they had a kosher kitchen and I'd never had an experience with that. So I can imagine there's companies that don't even know what they should do to have vegetarian and vegan options for their employees.

Speaker 2: 19:23

Yeah, absolutely, and even, for example, a restaurant or cafe or really any business, because veganism it's about what you're consuming, right Head to toe, not just what we're eating. So I think about people are really into cruelty-free cosmetics. Now that's becoming a thing which I'm really happy about, because animal testing is horrific, and so just thinking about everything that you're purchasing, everything that you're contributing to, and just really doing your best, I think that's really important to keep in mind.

Speaker 1: 19:52

Yeah, I know myself I'm from health issues and I've never really been a big meat eater. I've just once I was a kid and realized where that came from. I had a hard time eating it and I have health issues that I actually my body doesn't really process meat, so I've never been big on it. But when I thought about like true vegetarianism or veganism, it can be overwhelming. So that's a really important service you're providing, because someone could say you want that, but then the whole world is OK. Well, where do I start? Yeah, if someone's listening and they're like OK, this is the time I'm going to do it, I'm going to try to be vegan or vegetarian. What are some of the first steps you would give them as good ways to start?

Speaker 2: 20:33

I also have a vegan one-on-one course that I sell and it basically gives you a breakdown of. I call it a five-week kickstart, but you have the course for life so you can take your time with it. And I think that's important because my number one tip is really just to take your time and slowly make those changes, because you want it to be a sustainable lifestyle change, and that can take a while. You look in your cabinet right now you might already have a bunch of vegan things that you don't even realize that we're vegan. You're already eating them. You don't have to just swap everything out, right, but you do have to take those recipes that you're familiar with, make a few changes, get comfortable with it and also your body needs to process. Like if you're eating a lot more lentils and beans and things like that, your body needs to take some time to process and get used to that. So I just recommend doing things a little bit slower.

Speaker 1: 21:29

That's such a good point I haven't even thought about that when you've been eating a certain way for a long time and you're like, oh, I'm going to change. If you go drastic and completely change, that's a big shift for your body and your internal systems.

Speaker 2: 21:37

Yeah absolutely and, of course, like for most people, it's a very positive shift. You will feel good. But again, if you're not really sure about how to prepare meals or like, how do you even read labels, things like that it might take a while for you to get used to. So that's the whole point of the course and the coaching to help people.

Speaker 1: 21:56

No, that's important. I've noticed more things now say vegan or cruelty free, things like that, but you also have to know what those mean, because something could say dairy free or whatever, but I'm sure there's levels of all of it and what it really means in terms of the actual ingredients.

Speaker 2: 22:14

Absolutely yeah. So I go over definitions first thing in the course, because that's very important. You might go see something in the grocery store. It says plant protein or something and then you see, oh, it has some eggs in there or it has like dairy cheese or something. And so a lot of companies I think they want to. Obviously they want to make money. So it's if something is popular they're going to get on the bandwagon. But just because it says something like plant protein doesn't mean it's all vegan. So you have to like, really be careful with those things.

Speaker 1: 22:47

That's so true I'm thinking about. I'm going through my head even for me, like I don't drink, I haven't ever drank milk, I've never liked it and it doesn't agree with me. But even like creamer, there's so many different kinds and now you can get there's all these kinds that say they're gluten free, but now you can get plant based and all of that. So I sounds like your courses would be a really great starting point for a lot of people.

Speaker 2: 23:06

Yeah, absolutely, it's a great starting point. Or, if you've tried this and it hasn't worked out for you, I think it could be a good resource and tool. And, yeah, I think, just have fun with it too, because there's so many options now and just so many resources to help you. I don't want people to think like, oh, I'm taking things away from my life and my diet and things like that, so really you're just adding better things for your health, obviously great for the environment, for the animals as well.

Speaker 1: 23:35

Absolutely, and one of the things you mentioned earlier in your journey with it was learning more about the dairy industry. That's something I've learned more about over the years, even since doing the podcast. I think people just have no idea what the animals go through in that industry, yeah, and so that's a big thing for me to want to try to get the dairy more out, because I love cheese, unfortunately, but so that's a hard one for people. I think that's probably a big obstacle for a lot of people.

Speaker 2: 24:11

Yeah, I think for most people that I hear from it, it's really cheese and the reason is it's actually addictive. It's like as addictive as heroin, like what's happening in your brain. It's the same process.

Speaker 1: 24:17

So it's okay, we don't have to feel bad.

Speaker 2: 24:19

Don't feel bad. I think most people are just they have that addiction. They don't even realize bad. I think most people are just they have that addiction, they don't even realize. But when I talk to them about what do you hesitant about? What's your hesitancy about going vegan? It's usually the cheese.

Speaker 2: 24:32

And so when you do also like slowly replace things, it helps. For some people it helps. If you do like just just cut it out for three to four weeks, they say it takes. Some people say it takes 21 days to make a change, right. So if you cut it out for three to four weeks, they say it takes. Some people say it takes 21 days to make a change, right. So if you cut it out for three to four weeks, what happens is your taste buds are going to change as well. So once you start let's say you like accidentally had something or you want to taste it just to see you're going to have a different reaction. So it's really different for everyone too, and so that's why I say just go at your own pace, figure out what you need to do, and if you can do everything but that, start there, right, and then you can go on and try to chip away at the cheese problem.

Speaker 1: 25:15

The cheese problem. It's like it's the same thing when I've tried to go off soda or caffeine. We don't realize, sometimes we blame ourselves, but it's all the chemicals in our body and the way our brain is wired and we can't get mad at ourselves. And weight issues are on top of that. A lot of us are predisposed to certain things that are genetically what we're born with. We can only do so much, but it sounds like your model is really slow and steady. Try it a little at a time and don't overwhelm yourself.

Speaker 2: 25:45

Yeah, especially because it can be overwhelming, like you said, like with all the options and you don't really know what to do, what's vegan, what's not vegan. So just like on your body, but also like mentally, like you want to make sure you take it slow. And yeah, now, thankfully, there's actually a lot of good vegan cheeses that are coming up on the market, so that's good, that helps.

Speaker 1: 26:06

And then so we talked a lot about the food part of it. But, like you said, there's a in terms of being a vegan. There's a lot of layers, and one of that is all of the especially for us women all of our cosmetics and skin care and all of that. That can be another overwhelming thing. So is there maybe some brands you suggest for people or certain items that you say? Try to change this first.

Speaker 2: 26:31

Yeah, I think, again, like a lot of the beauty brands are going in that direction, which is good. So I would say, start with looking at what you're already comfortable using. Make sure, just double check it vegan. Is it cruelty free? If it's not, you put that to the side and then you'll start slowly shifting things out. Right you're, you got your mascara. Let's say, use that up until you can, until it's done, and then start researching slowly what's a better mascara for me to use, because, again, people can be really particular with things, especially like hair too people, different types of hair. You want a good product for your hair. So, in terms of like brands, I think it's going to be very personal. So I would say, just one by one, just go through. Again, it's going to be slow and steady, but you might find that a lot of the things you're using are already vegan and cruelty free, so that's great.

Speaker 1: 27:21

Yeah, I think there is more than not, but so that's right. Yeah, I think there is more than not. But there's also some big brands that aren't, that people don't realize. Or they may say they're free of something, but that doesn't mean they are vegan, and or it doesn't mean they don't test on animals, and that's something that's really important to me. I follow several organizations like Beagle Freedom Project, who are saving the animals from the labs, and I think people just don't think that happens anymore. We're so progressive in some ways they think, oh, that doesn't happen. Actually, it does all over.

Speaker 2: 27:50

Oh, yeah, it does happen. There's a lot of documentaries on that too. There was one, I think it features the Beagle Free Project, but yeah, that's. It's just brutal to see the animal testing videos. It's just yeah. Every time I buy something it has to be cruelty free. And I think, again, like you said, most people don't realize. So it's that education part, because once you do see what's happening and then you realize, oh OK, so now I understand that avoiding these products and supporting these products is actually going to help and make a difference, right.

Speaker 1: 28:22

No, I think that is education is a big piece, I think. For one, people think that doesn't happen in the US and it does. Animals are set free from US labs all the time, but also a lot of times, companies are exporting or importing and the other countries where the products being made don't have a lot of the laws we have, so it's even worse. So, yeah, it's a lot of education. I think you're a good resource for people they want to try to start down this journey, but I also think the message you're saying is don't overwhelm yourself. You don't have to go completely 1000% the first day. It's a process, and we also don't want to waste. Like you said. We don't want to waste the food or the things, because that's also a part of the environment. We don't want to throw a bunch of stuff away then and not use it.

Speaker 2: 29:07

Yeah, exactly yeah, and there are options for that. I've seen people like either if it's new and obviously sealed, you can donate it to a food bank or someone who's in need, you can give to family and friends, or you can use it up and then slowly make your change.

Speaker 1: 29:20

So whatever works for you, your change, so whatever works for you, so for your journey, since it's something you've been going through in the last seven years, what has what have you seen yourself personally, physically or mentally have been the biggest gain? So someone's thinking about it. Is this really going to make a difference?

Speaker 2: 29:37

Yeah, no, you just feel better. It's hard to describe that because it's like for me. I fortunately my health was, was okay. I didn't have like major health issues. But depending on how I'm eating too, I can see like in my lab results every year I can see my cholesterol go down. I can see things like that. My back has not been hurting. I used to have like really bad back pain. I think it was also like mental health related for me. When my mental health is really bad, it manifests physically, I think, just like taking all that out, really not having the inflammatory things in your body like meat and dairy, specifically cheese, those things. That's really helpful because now the inflammatory stuff is out and you're getting more anti-inflammatory things like fruits and veggies and good stuff, and so it just helps you feel good overall and I just I think for me because I'm doing it for the animals is my heart feels good. That just helps you overall as well.

Speaker 1: 30:31

Right, it's so true. And the inflammatory. I don't think people realize how much of what we eat causes that, and I know I have autoimmune disease issues, so I already have the inflammation problem and then I'm just eating stuff that's making it worse, right, yeah, that's a huge. I know it's a huge piece of it, but, like you said, sometimes when we're struggling with our mental health, food is our crutch, yep, and we either don't eat as much as we should or we eat too much, and so that's like another layer to it. So that sounds like for you. It's been a good process overall, physically and mentally, and I'm sure it could help a lot of people yeah, I actually.

Speaker 2: 31:08

I was definitely emotionally eating for many years without really realizing. You don't really realize what you're doing. It's so interesting how that works. I was just going through my life and people around me were commenting things which is not very nice, but what happens and you just don't? And then one day I woke up and I realized, wow, okay, I couldn't breathe well when I was walking and, mind you, I was already at this point, I had already switched to being vegan, so it wasn't about that. It was for me, unfortunately, like it was just that excess weight for me and I felt like I had to lose some weight. So I ended up losing 40 pounds and, of course, again, I was already vegan.

Speaker 2: 31:48

So it's not because of veganism, but it's just that coming to that relationship with your body and your health and just like getting more in tune with what I'm consuming. I think that process has been helpful for me because again, you could go eat Oreos. Those are vegan, right, right. It's about like really thinking about your health. If you're doing this for your health, it's going to look very different from people who are just like no, I just want to do this for animals and I'm not thinking about my health maybe as much Right? So for me, I got to a point where it was like full circle, like I needed to get to a place where I felt good, and so that's what happened for me, and so I definitely feel a lot better. Again, it's not the answer for everyone, right?

Speaker 1: 32:35

No, I think I've heard it my whole life and it's always more irritating when it's a man oh, you need to lose some weight, that's right. Oh really, oh my gosh, you're the first person to ever you know it's. Yeah, the health care system is what it is and no matter what, how healthy or not we are, we all know what our normal body weight is and if we feel like we need and for us females over 40, for me, after a hysterectomy things change that I didn't know were going to change and it's much harder to lose weight and I know I do feel better when I have less weight on. That's just just. That's how I've always been.

Speaker 1: 33:10

But, like you said, veganism isn't necessarily the thing that's going to do that for you. Obviously, it's going to help, it is going to make your body healthier, but there's still lifestyle aspects of it in terms of how active you are and how much you're eating and when you're eating and all of that that play into it too. You can never tell someone else to do it. They have to find that for themselves.

Speaker 2: 33:32

Absolutely yeah, same with like making any change in your life. And that's why when I talk to people about vegan, vegan lifestyle change or plant-based diet or whatever it is that they want, it has to come from them, and so all I can do is provide some information, some stats, some anecdotes, things like that and kind of plant seeds in people's minds. But I'm not out here like specifically just trying to change someone like that. Right, they have to be ready, they have to be in the right mindset and at the point in their life to make a change. And especially for people who have families like I know, it's okay. Well, I want to go vegan, but what about husband? Or what about my kids? There's just all these other people to think about. It starts slow in those situations.

Speaker 1: 34:16

Yeah, Give yourself a break. It doesn't have to all happen at once.

Speaker 2: 34:19

Yeah exactly, I just have to show this to you. So it's called TheraPets, so it's like different pets every day, like different animals, and like different pets every day, like different animals. And so today's was. Sometimes it feels like the horrible feeling will never end. It's important to hold on and wait it out, because it never lasts, which is like great card for me, but yeah, I love that yeah, and one other way you can change your life is by adopting a pet.

Speaker 2: 34:45

Yes, oh my God, I talk about that all the time with people because I see so many people still continuing to buy from breeders or to like really just not understand rescue animals and how amazing they are, and so that that upsets me, so I just want to promote that. We promote that a lot on Lucy's Instagram too.

Speaker 1: 35:06

Well, and I think some people don't realize the domino effect of purchasing a pet. And well, well, they're not a bad breeder, it doesn't matter. But it's the effect of you're supporting the breeders and the breeders are going to keep breeding because they know they can keep making money. And then when they get I see it all the time at the shelters I've volunteered in and stuff If they get a litter of animals that have health issues, they just dump them and people don't realize how much that plays into the overcrowded shelter system we have right now.

Speaker 2: 35:35

That's true. Yeah, it's a systemic issue, like most things are, and I think for me too. Just the perspective I have on animals has changed so much, obviously since adopting Lucy, but also just by going vegan too. Like I don't view them as something that you own or purchase. I don't view them as property, even though in the eyes of the law they're viewing them as property. So I think that's also a big shift that has to happen in people's minds.

Speaker 1: 36:02

Yeah, I think that's definitely something. And also I think it's the same thing when people have a pet and they think of it as like an object they own, and that's the time when things get hard or oh, I'm moving, I can't take it with me, and that's when they get put in the shelter. It's a part of that thinking too no, my pets are my family. Yeah, they come before I'm worrying about other things. So there's a lot of education and also just the way people view animals, and so it sounds like Lucy has been definitely a huge impact for you in all of those areas, and so it was always just in my mind, like this fantasy of oh, it'd be great to have a dog.

Speaker 2: 36:50

But once you actually adopt a dog and have them in your life and in your heart, like you just can't describe how amazing that is that connection.

Speaker 1: 36:56

Yeah, yeah. Well, Lucy sounds like an amazing little dog and she has really inspired a lot of things in your life and hopefully she'll inspire more for other people with everyone reading her book. So everyone listening, make sure to go. Look at. Lucy Goes to the Gentle Barn. You can learn about Lucy and you can learn about the Gentle Barn and all the amazing animals they have. And it's great because in the back of the book you hear a little more about Tenny and her story and getting Lucy. So I think it's a great educational piece, but it's also fun for people just to read and see all the adorable animals.

Speaker 2: 37:34

Yeah, thank you so much. We're really excited about the book. With the book, I just want to teach kids that even if you're different or if you're in a new environment, you're nervous, scared, you can still make friends. And that's the whole point of the book is that she's a little different from the other animals, but she ends up making friends with them.

Speaker 1: 37:52

Yeah, it's really sweet and it's also, I think, great, because then you also show how you support her. They're good, I'm here for you and it's there's a lot of layers to it. I think that kids will respond to, but adults too, and so I really appreciate you tending to being here and sharing your story, sharing Lucy with us, and I look forward to seeing more books from you in the future, and I hope everyone follows you on Instagram. I'll put all of your links in the show notes and checks out your book to learn more about Lucy in the Gentle Barn.

Speaker 2: 38:25

Thank you so much, Julie. It's been so great talking with you today.

Speaker 1: 38:28

You, too. Thank you so much, julie. It's been so great talking with you today. You, too, thank you. Thank you, my friend, for being here and listening to this episode of the Story of my Pet podcast. I hope you were inspired and touched by this amazing pet story and I hope you come back to listen to more episodes soon. Make sure you don't miss any new episodes by clicking subscribe wherever you are listening to this podcast right now. Want to help the podcast grow? Then hit rating and review wherever you are listening to this podcast. Every review helps get the podcast in front of more people and heard by more listeners, so that the podcast can inspire more people to rescue, foster and adopt animals in need today. Thank you so much for being here and much love to you and your pets.