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This week’s topic: Zero-Waste Scrappy Cooking techniques with New York Times Best Selling Author Carleigh Bodrug
Carly Bodrug, author of the #1 New York Times Best Selling book ‘Plant You Scrappy Cooking: 140+ Plant-Based Zero-Waste Recipes That Are Good for You, Your Wallet, and the Planet joins Kimberly Snyder in a conversation about her journey into plant-based cooking and the concept of zero waste. They discuss the accessibility of plant-based recipes, the importance of fiber in the diet, and the impact of food waste on the environment. Carly shares her creative process in developing new recipes and the inspiration she finds in animal product dishes. They also touch on the challenges of balancing personal and professional life, dealing with self-doubt, and the power of love and community in difficult times.
Carleigh’s #1 New York Times Best Selling Book
Topics Covered
Chapters
03:00 Making Plant-Based Cooking Accessible and Enjoyable
07:00 The Importance of Fiber in a Plant-Based Diet
09:44 Reducing Food Waste through Zero Waste Cooking
11:57 Finding Inspiration in Animal Product Dishes
26:24 The Transformative Power of Love and Community
About Carleigh Bodrug
With 10 million followers between her social channels, New York Times bestselling author Carleigh Bodrug of PlantYou is a self taught plant-based cook and content creator, famous for her simple take on low waste and vegan recipes. She has been featured in the Rachael Ray Show, Good Morning America, Business Insider and KTLA news for her Scrappy Cooking and viral vegan creations. Along with producing weekly cooking videos and recipes, Carleigh also runs a digital meal planner all with the goal of helping people eat more plants in an easy and approachable way. She lives in Barrie, Ontario.
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[RESOURCES / INFORMATION]
Carleigh Bodrug Website
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Chilla Gorilla & Lanky Lemur Journey to the Heart
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Transcript:
Note: The following is the output of transcribing from an audio recording. Although the transcription is largely accurate, in some cases it is incomplete or inaccurate. This is due to inaudible passages or transcription errors. It is posted as an aid, but should not be treated as an authoritative record.
I am so thrilled to be here with my dear friend Carly Bodrug and her new book, Plant You Scrappy Cooking. Carly, thank you so much. Oh, I’m so excited to be here. We have been like friends online for so many years. I’ve been such a fan of your content and you’re really like a trailblazer in the…
plant -based world. So it’s really full circle for me to be here today. I’m so excited. I’m so excited. And the one thing that I’ve always been, I think many of us are so attracted about you is your brightness, your energy. Yes, the food, yes, the amazing recipes, but you make us feel like I can do this. I can make this. This is accessible. This is fun. Your smile. Oh, thank you. I was just talking to someone yesterday and they were asking me about.
Solluna By Kimberly Snyder (02:02.286)
this moment when I was putting out my first cookbook and I remember it was the week before and I was near a mental breakdown because I felt that oh my goodness I’m putting out a cookbook nobody knows I don’t really know how to cook I had signed a cookbook deal as a dream I had no like formal cooking experience and was so concerned about my cookbook coming out but people just embraced it with open arms and I think it speaks to what you’re talking about that.
The recipes are for regular people, just like me. If I can cook it, you can cook it, and the girl next door can cook it, and that’s what makes me really excited and happy about cooking with plants. Well, I think that a lot of us go through the self -doubt, right, or the fraud complex, and we think, you know, I’ve been through, oh, maybe I need to be a doctor, have more degrees, or maybe I need to get more training, or whatever it is, or maybe, you know, I didn’t go to culinary school. But at the end of the day, what matters is connection.
I think so too. It’s not like we’re going into a surgeon’s office and performing brain surgery. I think it’s cooking our skills and holistic healing our skills that I think you need to be in to learn. Yes. A lot of the time not to. I think culinary school has its place and it’s so important when you’re working in a restaurant setting. But when you’re just teaching people how to cook at home, I’m hopeful that I can pull it off and then other people too.
So how did it start Carly? Because you know, a lot of us have our own journey into cooking, plant -based. For me it was, I went in the nutrition path and then I had to learn to cook and make recipes for my clients out of that necessity. But it didn’t start with the food so much actually. So how was it for you? So it was 2015, the World Health Organization came up with breaking news.
red and processed meat for now classes group two and group one carcinogens. And my dad was actually a colon cancer survivor. So he had, he had stage two colon cancer when I was a kid. He’s now 22 years out from that diagnosis. Amazing. Had had surgery, chemotherapy, the whole bit, very kind of traumatic when I was a child and no one, not one doctor, nobody said at that time, you maybe should look at switching your diet a bit.
Solluna By Kimberly Snyder (04:20.685)
Really? Yeah, and at the time, the Canada Food Guide had these like big sections meat and dairy. Yeah. And so my parents were just doing what they thought was the healthiest diet for us. We would have like Thursday wing night, Friday ribs, very meat centric diet. So when this news came out in 2015, I was in my early 20s and it was just shocking.
So my immediate family and I started slowly shifting to a plant predominant diet. Your parents as well? Yeah, my parents as well. So my dad is mostly plant based and my mom was vegetarian. Oh, yeah. Yeah. So I was actually working up in northern Ontario living by myself in a 500 square foot bachelor apartment. I had never I didn’t know how to even cook meat, but I would like get takeout every night because I was living on my own. And I thought, OK, I really want to.
try going vegan or plant -based. And I had to teach myself how to cook from scratch. But the really beautiful thing about cooking with plants, and this is what I tell people, is the stakes are low. You’re not worried about like salmonella on your countertop. You’re not worried about, like you’re cooking with vegetables. It’s such a beautiful, natural thing. And I fell in love with it. I fell in love with cooking and started sharing my journey. Wow.
For me, cheese was really hard to give up. Was there something? I was like me, I don’t care. But I loved cheese so much. Yeah, cheese was the hardest. And it took me, I always tell people, it took me a year to fully. And a big part of it was the social that I had trouble with. Because still none of my friends back home are vegan. Still going to restaurants now, obviously I have the confidence and I found my voice to be able to be like…
Hey, do you have a vegan option when I’m out to eat or whichever else or can you change this? Yes, but at the time like I would be going to family dinner I’ve eaten vegan for six months and they’re serving turkey and I’m like, okay Yeah, I’ll eat it which I think is fine I think I think that what matters and I mean I am so not telling anybody to go vegan I’m more so I want my whole advocacy is about pushing pushing
Solluna By Kimberly Snyder (06:31.726)
the plants. So yes, making your plate more full, full of plants and less animal products. But for me, I really wanted to go that whole way and it took a while. Yes, that’s great to hear. And also maybe some people will never go the whole way, but they’ll have more plant based meals. We like to say it’s not all or nothing, but having more plant based dinners anytime we can get more fiber and more plants. It’s great for the gut. It’s great for the planet. Yeah, because as you know, it’s something like 95 % of America.
don’t meet their daily recommended intake of fiber. Oh no. So it’s astonishing. Like that’s a lot of people who are either constipated or having digestive issues and it’s quite frankly a little bit scary when you think about it because where does fiber come from? It’s plants. Yes, yes and fiber is essential for detoxification, reducing inflammation in the body, so many things. So I know we hear this a lot in the plant -based community that people are focusing on the wrong thing.
Where’s the protein? I need more protein versus the fiber. The protein is usually there in spades. I even think, you know, we have a three -year -old and the general recommended amount for a three -year -old is 13 grams of protein. And I think just between his little like almond wraps and his almond butter and the things he’s eating, it’s so easy to get that for a child. And also for adults, the amount we’re eating as well. So it’s in proteins and everything.
Yes. In some small amounts. So I think I’ve heard Dr. Michael Greger say a lot that if you’re eating enough calories in a day, you should be getting at least the daily recommended intake. And I mean, there’s such easy ways to increase protein amount. Soy, tempeh, edamame, beans, lentils, and that can jack that right up if you’re worried about it. Everything. Everything has protein, right? Yeah, everything has protein. So this book, which is your second book. Yeah.
features a lot about zero waste, which I found very interesting. And I loved how you talk about, you know, vegetables. Sometimes people, you know, if they’re not perfect, they throw them away or scraps. What are a few easy ways that you incorporated zero waste into these particular recipes? So I really wanted to write a cookbook about…
Solluna By Kimberly Snyder (08:45.038)
really zero waste plant -based healthy recipes because in the US and in Canada as well, we waste 30 to 40 % of food. It’s shocking. Which is astonishing. And what happens is a lot of people don’t realize this, but when it builds up in landfills, which happens, it emits a really powerful greenhouse gas called methane. So it’s not good for our planet at all. And then additionally, as you know, living in California and me in Canada, grocery prices are just astonishing. So I don’t think any of us can afford to be wasting.
up to 30 % of our food or $100 of food per month. So once I heard this, I was just like, why isn’t anybody talking about this? Especially considering that food waste actually emits more emissions than the airline industry. When I feel like all we hear about is like planes and offsetting your emissions and Taylor Swift flying. Not to discount that, it’s important part of this conversation too. But food’s daily. Yeah, I mean, it’s a daily thing. Wow. Yeah. So I felt,
I felt like it was this missing piece.
to eating a more planetary friendly diet, which we know eating plant -based is is one of the greatest things you can do to reduce your environmental impact. And so that was really the motivation behind the cookbook. Started the series Scrappy Cooking, where I was talking about how to make food scraps into delicious recipes. And that was the inspo for the book. But the book is really including recipes that are flexible, because this is how I cook in my home. Yes. I’ll make like a curry dish at least once per week and then I’ll raid.
my fridge and look at, okay, I have half a bell pepper, some wilting spinach, maybe some kale, and that all goes in. Yes. I think a lot of people cook in this way that they’re being more flexible. So my whole goal with this book was yes, we have recipes for spent coffee grounds and radish tops, but we also have really flexible staple recipes that I hope will empower people to become better plant -based cooks in their own home.
Solluna By Kimberly Snyder (10:45.39)
Let’s talk about creativity for a minute, because I saw a video of yours where you were using orange peels. And I thought to myself, how did she come up with this stuff? There’s 150 recipes in here. And your last book, Plant You, had another 140 something. So how do you stay inspired and
you know, how do you keep coming up with all these new recipes? I have to tell you, like my favorite part of my job is like being a mad scientist in the kitchen. Like I just love getting in there and having fun and creating new things. You love it. I just, I, there is no part of me that is like begrudgingly like.
I don’t want to do this. You know, you have parts of your job. Like you’ve always loved food or just changed. I’ve always loved food. Wow. I’ve always been a foodie who like is passionate about food, but I didn’t cook until I went plant -based. And like, I think it just opened up this part of me. I think it was always like a creative mind, but it’s like a it’s like art to me. So much fun. It’s visual. It tastes delicious. It’s I find cooking to be very meditative. It’s probably the only time in my day where I’m sitting there and actually focused on an individual.
task and my mind’s not going everywhere. So how have I come up with so many recipes? I mean, I think it’s just like because it’s my favorite thing to do. Do you get inspired by certain cuisines? Do you check out Indian food and kind of see other people’s recipes and it sparks interest or what? No, what’s my process? Yes. So many different inspirations, but 100 percent. One of my biggest ones is like animal product recipes. And people will call me out for this. I’ll be like liking my friends like shrimp.
Alfredo recipe and they’re like, plant you, you liked this recipe. I’m like, well, yes, I’m going to support my friend. But additionally, this is great inspiration. Yes. Like a vegan version that I’m going to create. So that’s a challenge for me always that I get excited about is when I see something made with animal products that I can now think to myself, I think we can do this. I love that. So that’s probably number one. I love looking at restaurant menus. Absolutely love when I’m in a new place trying different food and cuisines.
Solluna By Kimberly Snyder (12:57.136)
and inspiration comes from so many places but in terms of Scrappy, how it really started was I was bringing the food into my home and because I had started this series, it was like very, people loved it. It was initiating this conversation about food waste which made me really excited and I would start looking at parts of the plant that I normally threw out and thinking, okay, is this edible number one?
So it’s on Google thinking, okay, can you eat orange peels? Can you eat beet greens? Like I just really didn’t know. I had just been discarding them, not thinking much. And the answer is almost always yes, but double check, although my book, you’re covered in there. And I promise. The food’s safe, yeah. And then what can I do with this now?
So it becomes like a challenge, a fun challenge. Where else has this creativity come out in your life? Do you see it in how you decorate your home? Or I know you have a beloved cat in your marriage. So I would say that I was always the type of person growing up, it reminds me kind of like not to compare myself to.
to him talk about how he was always like having little business ideas, that was me. Like I always just was scheming and dealing to start some sort of like little business on the side. So I’ve been always very interested in being an entrepreneur I think and I don’t think it’s for everyone but that I felt very aligned and I had started like a social media business and all sorts of different stuff. So when I found…
this, playing you, I just…
Solluna By Kimberly Snyder (14:37.806)
almost spiritually felt very aligned. Like it was like I absolutely have to pursue this. And it felt like there was no alternative. So it comes out, it comes out in my cooking. It comes out in every kind of like crazy idea. Yes. Which some of them are are bad. Some of them are brilliant. And just in my daily and I’m sure like when I have kids, I’m excited to think about like things I can do with them. Oh, I feel like that’s so
So much creativity comes in the way we play with the kids and the little games and just the songs. It’s like we have our own language.
Solluna By Kimberly Snyder (15:17.902)
I think that is like trailblazing and…
something like that you were born with almost? You know, I had some experiences early on. Yeah, I think we have that creative power inside of all of us. But I think when I went backpacking for three years, I kind of had this blank slate in front of me. And it really taught me to cut away old ideas, old identities. I was on the road in Africa and Asia for months. So I let go of ideas around, you know.
Western calorie counting and beauty and all these things. And I opened myself up to a different type of mindset and spirituality. I didn’t think about having kids, to be honest, until I did have them. And then it kind of opened up this whole new door. And then, you know, I started with food and nutrition, as you know, Carly, and I’m still very much into that. But then it started going more into the four cornerstones and body and spirituality and emotional well -being. And now I’m writing children’s books. So I think when we stay connected,
that energy inside it goes in all different directions we don’t have to pigeonhole ourselves i think so too and i always say that i feel like the next thing naturally when you’re in alignment the next thing will naturally present itself that’s right
That’s right. And point you in the right direction if you follow kind of the signs around you. I think one of the most important things that we can do is not try to control and plan too much and create expectations and timelines. Like I’m going to be married by a certain age. I’m going to make a certain amount of money by a certain age because life, this energy has its own way of rolling down the river and shifting. So I think we just show up every moment, every day, do our best. We stay open. We can make some plans, but we don’t want to be so rigid.
Solluna By Kimberly Snyder (17:02.094)
I love that. Who knows what Carly’s going to be doing in five years. I know people keep asking me because I’m on this media and they’re like, well, what’s next? I’m like, I’m just, I’m just getting through this right now. I don’t know what’s next. I think it will present itself. I hope if I’m, if I’m following my path, I think, I think it will come naturally and organically for lack of a better word. So tell me about some of the, um,
Speaking about emotional well -being, tell me about some of the emotions that have been coming through you, right? Because we see so much beautiful brightness. We see a lot of sunshine from Carly, but you’re human, right? I’m sure you wake up certain days and you may feel like frustrated or tired or the self -doubt kicks in. What are… Yeah, I’ve gotten better over the years of squishing down that self -doubt because I think it can be a huge…
Yes. Beautiful.
Solluna By Kimberly Snyder (18:12.59)
What can someone say about that? Well, if they do, you know, it’s just something that going on in them has nothing to do with you. Exactly. But the last two years in particular have been very bizarre would be the best way.
and unfortunately passed about a month ago. And that was a very odd experience online because like you said, I would compartmentalize and come on and be like, stop throwing out your broccoli steps. And nobody knew behind the scenes that my life was tumultuous would be the best way. I was so heavily involved in my mom’s care.
appointments and living 20 minutes from her and wanting to spend as much time as possible. So I think it taught me a lot. Number one being that we literally just have no idea what is going on in someone’s life period, because I would get messages from people sometimes and be like, is your life really this perfect? And I’m like, I hope I’m not portraying that. But at the same time, I am too raw right now to open myself up to, I don’t know, unsolicited health advice.
and share my mom’s personal health journey. And also you’re sharing a very targeted, like teaching people it’s not a page that’s like everything about yourself. Exactly. So it was this kind of, it felt like I was living a double life. Yeah. But I learned very well and I don’t know if it’s for better or for good how to compartmentalize. Okay, this is my work.
and this is my life and yes my life is like spiraling but my work
Solluna By Kimberly Snyder (19:53.998)
I still feel so passionate and I was worried actually upon my mom’s passing that my passion for my work would leave but it hasn’t which is interesting to me. I was very worried about that so I’m happy and grateful and all the things as we tear up. Well yeah well I think you know in yoga they talk about this idea of Dharma which is we can roughly say it’s our purpose right so you have such a strong connection to that which is helping people be healthy.
and eat more plants and so that mission was there and then there were times I’m sure you know you have the support of your husband and your friend and taking that time for yourself and then just sort of being there for your audience which couldn’t have been easy certain days I’m sure you didn’t always feel like shooting. No, no and my sister actually she left her job when my mom was diagnosed with cancer and worked with me.
this this whole book was birthed during this journey. Wow. And my sister and I became so close, obviously, but like we got each other through it because it would be like, okay, mom’s got chemo Thursday, I’m going to come over today and you’re going to wake up and we’re going to shoot. And it’s like, and also I was talking to my agents yesterday, but when you have people around you who are supportive in lifting you up, that means doing your job so much easier. So like my husband,
bless him, incredible. He would get home from work and be washing the dishes, motivate me, making me coffee in the morning, like Carly, it’s okay, you can just shoot this one brand video and then you’re off. And I think once when you have that community and that structure around you during a really difficult time, it’s everything. It is everything. And I learned that through this process, that community is just essential to the human experience.
I lost my mom as well, as you know, a few years ago. And I talked a little bit about control because I think as a perfectionist, a recovering perfectionist, I call myself and just, you know, just wanting things to be a certain way. You realize when you lose a loved one, there is no control. You take everything off. And we have no choice but to feel those big feelings or not. Or some people can push it down and experience grief for years.
Solluna By Kimberly Snyder (22:17.966)
And it’s an intense ride. When my mom got diagnosed, I wanted to control everything. It’s like going to every doctor’s appointment and being like, there’s this new treatment coming. I can do all this stuff. I can fix this. But sometimes you can’t fix it. Sometimes you can’t fix it. I remember there was a moment when my prayers changed.
Because first it was like, I know how to do this. I worked with cancer patients. I was like, please, God, like help her heal, help her heal. And then I looked at my mom and I just had this realization that, you know, the path may not be what I wanted it to be. And my prayers changed to, you know, please spirit, help her soul be in peace. And it was a huge like ripping. And that was when I really learned about love, which is selfless and doesn’t expect anything returned because my
I would be like, well, no, for me, I want you to stay, heal, get better. But then it was like, this isn’t the way. No, you’re so right. And I think you get to that point. And then additionally, I’m so curious about your journey coming back to work after that. What was that like? Because you also, I know you shared with me that your mom was six weeks. And I mean, that’s quick.
How was it returning to? So Carly, like I didn’t share this part with you, but that was a bomb in my life that changed everything. But I was a new mom and my son wasn’t a year old yet. And then she was my mom. And then my dad could not handle it. So then my dad moved in with us and he was completely distraught. And then…
I kind of looked at my whole life, Carly, and I was like, anything can happen at any time. Life is now. And so I kind of woke up to the relationship I was in and said, this isn’t it. So then a few months after that… And then your father’s living with you. Right. So then I had to move my child, my father and myself into… In a few months? And I became a single mom. And it was so intense. And that was something I never thought would happen. Right. I grew up, my parents were married for like 40 years. Like…
Solluna By Kimberly Snyder (24:33.518)
Catholic like there’s no divorce like all this stuff and then I just kind of sat in my closet and said what is going on in my life and there were many nights I would just cry in my closet so my son went in here and I thought my life was like rock my life was like rock bottom. Well look at you now though. I’m just saying like it really was like this is not the life I want.
Yeah, and so then I sat and I really went into my spirituality. This is when Saluna, my brand, was birthed. This was like in the kind of the Phoenix rising was like, I love food, but I really want to teach people about, you know, the true self and spirituality and this whole lifestyle. And then I kind of locked myself up for five months and I worked with this monk and he said, just treat your home like a national home. But I’ll tell you, Carly, on that other side of getting to know how strong I was.
I started walking around the world and then at a random dinner party, I met my husband and the love and the connection. But if I stayed in the, you know, he’s a great guy, my ex, but if I stayed in that so -so. Yeah, that doesn’t light your soul. No. Nourish you. So there’s many times we don’t want this change, but however it comes, changing your diet or losing a loved one, it can radically change your life. Yep.
And I’m sure the gifts that have come to I I am a different human. Yeah before there’s me before and there’s me after and I’m better for it. Yes It’s hard, but I’m better for it. So and let’s not lose it here. But yeah, but the strength, right? I’m so much stronger than I thought it was and this was my biggest fear so close with my mom. Mmm, and the ability to love.
Right? Because I thought I knew about love before, but that moment, Carly, when I said, you know, I could tell she was holding on because she didn’t want to leave my dad. And I said, it’s OK, I’ll take care of daddy. Like, you can go. And then just my ability to, first of all, love myself enough to leave a relationship that wasn’t working. And then my ability to love my child and to love life again. And we just don’t know the way lessons come in.
Solluna By Kimberly Snyder (26:53.134)
It’s powerful for anybody listening that you can come out the other side and be almost better for it. Like obviously I wish my mom was here. Yeah, we wouldn’t choose it. I wouldn’t choose it, but… Here we are. Here we are and it teaches you to be a more compassionate, stronger, spiritually -intuned human being.
to help others. I just feel so much more, I feel almost more driven in my mission now. And I see you dedicated this book to your mom. Yes, she saw it and yeah, I think that she was everything to me. Well, one of the hard teachings of yoga, but it’s the truth, is erasing attachments. So we love our family so much, but that love is inside of us and we can actually direct that love to everyone and the whole, it’s like the universal love.
So it doesn’t have to be so specific, right? Like we love our moms and that life goes on and we’re still connected to our moms. But that love inside of you Carly, going out to all the people you touch and all the people that are getting healthier and everyone we come in contact with. So the yogis say as we journey, love actually becomes more non -specific. And that’s a really powerful way to look at love. It’s not just me and my mom or me and this friend, but actually love is here for everyone. Yeah, I feel like.
Like I can look at anybody and just feel it inside of myself that like we’re humans, we’re all human beings, we’re all sharing this common experience that is painful, beautiful and inspiring. Yes. Well, and I feel like, you know, I said your energy is very magnetic and I think that’s probably why you’ve grown such a big audience is not from trying so much. I’m sure they’re hard work, but also just being accessible.
I think so. I think I hear a lot.
Solluna By Kimberly Snyder (28:53.934)
ever because I feel like my community is like a friend like in a in a weird kind of parasocial way so it’s the best compliment somebody can give so I appreciate that. Yeah and keeping it real yeah because you know sometimes people started create an altered personality on social and like here’s me but then here’s like this like a like like or like a TV personality and so I feel like that’s
It’s always come naturally to you just to be yourself.
Solluna By Kimberly Snyder (29:34.35)
It’s hard, right? Like how much do you share? And I’m sure you deal with this having children. I think a lot about that, that like how much of your family, of your children, of your husband do you share? I don’t know. But for me, my personality is always me. It’s who I am. I am scrappy. I am glam -based. I am super passionate about this and that’s what people get. You know, my philosophy, and I think it changes. It’s always like, what do I want to share? And so right now, I’m really passionate about sharing heart -based living and how we create
a really loving family life and with this children’s book coming out. So I don’t feel like I use like I post my kids because I want attention for me or to getting the life. It’s more. Yeah, it’s more like, hey, this is how we, you know, this is how we connect as a family. And this is what makes us feel really close. So I think it’s just following the heart step by step because I don’t think there’s one right way for everyone. I think it’s just personal. Right. Yeah, I think that’s the way.
So, you know, from you, it’s just sharing your heart and what’s coming, like from your creative center, what you want to share. I think so. And I get so excited.
Solluna By Kimberly Snyder (30:46.542)
where I’m in my genius is when I’m cooking and filming and getting to edit videos and I think that probably comes through. I still edit all of my own content. I still edit all of my own content. Do you? Yeah, it’s a long, long time. You set up your own cameras? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Do you enjoy that, Carly? I love that. I love it. I love the production. You love lighting and all that? Yeah, yeah. Because those are two different skill sets. Finances, emails, administration, no. But I love setting up.
cameras and filming and editing and voiceovers and music. Are you a one stop shop or does your husband work with you? So my sister works with me now, although she’s on maternity leave, so she got pregnant when she was working with me and then…
I have like contractors. So I have an amazing assistant Pamela who’s been working with me forever who takes them takes the load of all the men tasks. And then I have like a blog writer and a couple of others who help out with customer service. Wow. So your sister was pregnant during this journey with your mom. So yes. So she got pregnant. So my sister’s three years older than me. And I think when my mom got diagnosed, it was like, oh, like this is like, exactly like we are living right now.
And this is something I’ve been like, later, later, later, but life has a way. Yeah, like here. Yeah. It all happens. So she started working with me and she had left her job.
She was a veterinary technician and she’s type 1 diabetic very grueling on the body to be a vet technician and I said, why don’t you come and help me with my book? And then she said to me in private, she said we’re trying to get pregnant so you’re gonna need to hire me full time so I can qualify for maternity leave and I’m like, oh nice to know. So we did and then she got pregnant and had the baby. My mom met Mackenzie. A little girl. Precious, precious this can be, yeah. Oh my gosh. I’m so glad she got to. Yes.
Solluna By Kimberly Snyder (32:40.464)
So cute. Well, my mom met my first son. She didn’t get to meet my second son in this plane, but I feel like she is watching over. Yeah. I love that. Our little one who’s three, his middle name is Salvacion, which is her name. So pretty. Yeah. So I feel like, you know, the energy. You’ve got three? I have two boys. Two boys? So cool. Yeah. So cute. Yeah. Did you ever expect to have boys?
I didn’t think about it until… You never thought about the gender at all? I didn’t think about the gender and I didn’t know what kind of mom I was gonna be and then right away I was like, you know, attachment parenting was really natural, like co -sleeping, always having them on my body was really natural. We’re very close. We still mostly co -sleep before us and just that type of parenting. But I have to say that I, it’s all I know, but I love…
I think they’re very simple, they’re very fun. That’s simple, but just like, you know, my husband loves doing the things with them. I mean, we love whatever we have, but it’s all I know. Yeah, of course. No, I think that’s always so interesting. Well, now you’re an auntie. I’m an auntie to a little girl.
Would you join a little girl first? I wonder what the difference would be, but it’s always so interesting, right? And she’s perfect, but she’s crazy. Yeah, babies are babies are a ton of work. Like I have witnessed it firsthand and I’m like, whoa, whoa. But incredible, too. Well, it’s just I think getting clear to as you transition to that stage, because I am like full mom, pick up, drop off. I’m with them after school.
But there’s, you know, writing this last book, Carly, I was up at 3 .30 every morning because it was the only time I could write. Yeah, so, you know, my life has changed. I go to bed with them. I go to bed at like seven or eight sometimes. I work in the night. I think about my last time when I lived in New York City and there’d be like, you know, restaurant reservations at 9 .30. Yeah, and you’re like, what is, I’m in bed. Yeah, so it’s interesting how life…
Solluna By Kimberly Snyder (34:46.222)
I could never have planned for this. I didn’t know because I thought back then, oh my gosh, like I didn’t want to be a, I knew I wasn’t ready to be a mom because it felt like I was giving up everything. I worry about that. Yeah. So you felt like, I mean, how did you tackle that as a… So my life radically changed. I was working with clients. I was on film sets. I lived with clients sometimes for four months. I mean, that had to just completely go. But it was that surrender, like when we lose, when we lost our moms, it was like…
This is happening. This belly, I’m on this train and you can’t get off. That’s what I said about my mom’s death so many times. I said, this is happening. People are like, are you okay? Or how are you okay? And I’m like, well, I don’t have, there’s no choice. I can’t, I can’t bring, there’s not, there’s no treatment that can bring her back. I’m in this. Yeah.
It’s do or die, right? It’s like that situation. You know, you asked me about working after my mom passed and I felt like it was therapeutic in a way. I didn’t want to take off a lot of time because I mean, I took off some time, but then I was it gave me something to focus on bigger than me. Again, serving, you know, helping. My purpose was the community. So that was how I naturally felt. And then when you had the babies, did you feel like…
And then I had my dad who was kind of a baby. Yes, of course. Did it feel like challenging or natural to work in tandem with all of that? Oh, I mean, it was just like the babies come first no matter what. And I just kind of I was writing a book with Deepak Chopra at the time as well. And so that was happening and that wasn’t getting delayed. And so I just, you know, I was like baby sleep.
And then I was actually, I didn’t take my 40 days for my first time. I was like editing that book. Oh my gosh. What?
Solluna By Kimberly Snyder (36:48.718)
year or year and a half, I feel like I feel insane when people tell me like things like 40 days because I see my sister and I’m like, how? Well, so as an entrepreneur, you know, you could always choose. No choice. I could say, but I did like as a creative being, I have to be honest with you. I wouldn’t want to. No, I feel that way. And I felt so creative in my pregnancy.
Yeah. And because you’re just, life is right here. So the full 40 days of not working, not answering any emails, not doing anything I did with Moses with our second. But I mean, I was excited to be a mom and I was resting, but I had so many ideas. Yeah. So I was like texting things. Yeah, it doesn’t turn off when you’re creative. You do need rest. You do need support. I had no help cooking and cleaning and all that. But I was still feeling those creative energies flowing through. Of course. You know.
Solluna By Kimberly Snyder (37:44.526)
Oh, thanks, Michael. And what time are we? We’ll edit this out, Carly.
Solluna By Kimberly Snyder (37:51.214)
Okay. So we’ll wrap up here, Carly, because I know you have to go at 10 .45. Yeah. Thank you. Okay. I guess I need to help. Yeah, I could talk to you forever. I had this. I had such an interesting conversation. Not something I’ve done.
I know, because everybody probably asks you the same questions. Oh, they ask the same questions, yeah. I have like my points. You know how it goes. This is going to be so great because I think people love to hear like Carly. Yeah, I think it’ll be good. That’s what I feel like my podcast always brings out. I interviewed Matthew Hussey the other day. Oh, so cool. And he was like, I’ve never done an interview like that. Yeah, was it? Amazing. Good for you. Yeah. Because we’re humans, you know, you’re more than a cookbook author.
It’s beautiful energy. And since my mom’s passing, I have had so many people reach out and say, thank you for talking about this, which I’m sure that was our connection. Yeah. I read your article about your mom. Like it got me through those dark days at the beginning. But it.
It connects with people because I don’t think a lot of people talk about grief in a real way. Because it’s not what you expect. Grief was not what I expected. No. And it’s also this life. Life is messy and unpredictable and uncontrollable. And we do our best. We just show up every day. We do our part. So thank you so much, Carly.
We talked about many things here, but I have to say, bringing it back to this amazing book, I went through and flagged many recipes that I’ll be making for my children. I love the almond butter curry. I love the whole roasted cauliflower. What I love about it as well is it’s laid out with the ingredients. So visually easy to see and they’re also accessible ingredients. There’s not a lot of like things that I have to go out and buy. These are in the kitchen. Yeah, they’re all whole food plant based, nothing.
Solluna By Kimberly Snyder (39:55.79)
makes it more presentable. You say, okay, this recipe contains these ingredients. Okay, easy. So. Well, and I also love, we did a live together, and one thing you said to me, which always stayed with me about your philosophy, you said not, like people have all these books, but it’s not solving the issue. What am I gonna make for lunch? Yeah, what am I gonna make for lunch? So these recipes are like 20 different steps, and like, I’m like, oh yeah, maybe I’ll remember to buy that at the store, but this is for the busy person, the busy mom.
anyone who wants to be healthy. It is amazing Carly. So congratulations. Thank you so much for having me.
Solluna By Kimberly Snyder (40:30.222)
Thank you so much. I love you so much. Thank you. Awesome.
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