SDH 058: Vote Vegan...From Political Strategist to Eco & Vegan Lifestyle Personality with Ashlee Piper

For 11 years Ashlee Piper worked as a political strategist for high level politicians and government consulting firms in Chicago. She enjoyed creating strategies for campaigns, but wanted to contribute to a broader purpose, than simply consulting politicians. After carefully creating a game plan to leave her job, she decided to go off on her own and take her interest in animal rights, environmental stewardship, and vegans to try and fulfill that broader purpose she had been dreaming of. She created The Little Foxes, where she writes about vegan food,fashion, beauty and other lifestyle topics. Ashlee has also worked as a creative director for Real Home Chef, as a brand strategist, and a badass eco & vegan lifestyle personality on TV and magazines.

Not Your Stereotypical Crazy Hair, Punk Rock Vegan Topics

-Her seven month game plan for leaving her career

-How it felt, for the first time in her life, not being “traditionally employed”

-What made freelancing feel more legitimate to her

-The schedule she keeps that works

-Goals she wants to accomplish from writing a book, to cleaning her basement

-The companies she likes to work with and how she chooses

-What it is like to actually be an ethical vegan

Vegan Quotes For The Soul:

“It was a little bit more premeditated. I had definitely been thinking about it for months. I had planned, saved money and I knew that I was going to potentially be looking for a job or doing my own thing for a little while. So, I had made all of the proper arrangements for that before I ended up leaving my traditional career.”

“The biggest hurdle to getting out of a traditional career, and embracing this wild unknown, all of those hurdles are emotional. Like ‘who am I if I don’t have that really distinct elevator pitch when people ask me what I do for a living?’.”

“I was financially prepared, and logistically prepared, but I wasn’t emotionally prepared for the feelings and fears of leaving a traditional job and doing your own thing.”

“I also recognize that just because you work for yourself, you do have to have a decent amount of down time, or self care, in order to keep going.”

“Women are tough on ourselves for variety of things, but it’s about developing strategies to shut that little voice off and to make the voice that says ‘I really appreciate myself, I am working damn hard, I look great,I am a good friend, I am smart’ making that voice louder.”

“There is this stigma of Vegans. You think of us as having crazily dyed hair, we are all punk rock, and maybe we are wearing fanny packs, we are all hippies, and super crunchy.. I wasn’t any of that and I have never really been any of that.”

“Showing people that you can still very much have a lifestyle that is aligned with your values, and you can still be a professional, trendy, stylish, fun person, that was really of interest of me. I wanted to debunk that stereotype that was out there in the mainstream.”

[Connect with Ashlee: Twitter (@TheLilFoxes), Instagram (@ashleepiper) Pinterest (thelilfoxes), Website:thelilfoxes.com]