A few days ago I had the opportunity to meet a fellow vegan lady who has built an amazing and purposeful community here in my city. This is what they’re up to:
- They meet once every two weeks to support a vegan restaurant (planning to make it more frequent)
- Before she publishes her event on her Facebook group she calls the restaurant to ask what’s their most quiet day. This helps book the highest amount of people possible and support the restaurant’s business without taking from their best days
- They only support 100% vegan restaurants
- If someone has been in the group for a year without attending one of the meetups, she takes them out of the group. They’re there to support vegan restaurants, period
- Occasionally, they organise larger events at parks so more people can attend and meet. In these cases, they still get the food from a vegan restaurant. Nobody is allowed to bring any food. Again, the purpose is clear and the reason for the group to exist
- This group has grown from 5 people to over 1,200 in just over three years
She still needs to deal with people who don’t understand the group’s purpose, which creates some challenges, but her constraints, message, and purpose are very clear.
Everyone wins. People can meet and talk about veganism and vegan food while supporting places they love going to, restaurants have more support and business, and she has created a movement of people who align with her beliefs and principles.
I’ll be attending the next meetup.