We recently connected with Stefanie Stevens and have shared our conversation below.
Stefanie, so many exciting things to discuss, we can’t wait. Thanks for joining us and we appreciate you sharing your wisdom with our readers. So, maybe we can start by discussing optimism and where your optimism comes from?
I would say that my optimism really comes from all the “failures” I’ve encountered in life. I’ve taken a lot of risks, professionally and personally, and looking back, the hardest times were actually the greatest blessings and gave me the biggest payoffs. The good times are already awesome, we expect that, but if even the bad times can be good to us in the long run, then that’s a really great thing! Everything really is working out in our favor. Even the seemingly worst thing in the world ends up giving you a really good outcome eventually. The people who disappoint you the most help you learn to love and depend on yourself, they show you how amazing and strong you really are, and eventually get you to the people who are meant for you. The job that fires you is releasing you to be able to find the place where you will be fulfilled and valued. The idea that doesn’t work out forces you to move on to your next idea, until you find something that does work. Your failures guide you to the path you’re meant to be on, and every failure, every rejection keeps you on that right path. And you will never experience failure when something is truly meant for you, so you just have to keep the faith.
Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?
I’m a content creator for my brand Life, Veganized. I’ve been vegan since I was a teenager, and I have a background in social media networking and marketing, so blending the two together was a natural fit for me. I demonstrate the benefits of living a vegan life while also educating on the health, environmental and ethical aspects of veganism. Being an “influencer” is fun, but being a vegan influencer is truly rewarding; I get to not only live my truth and contribute to a cause I’m passionate about every single day, but I get to make a living sharing it with the world and helping others feel better inside and out on their own personal journeys.
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
Being brave is #1. If you want to be great and do big things but you aren’t experiencing fear in some way, you’re not doing enough. Your dreams aren’t big enough. The trick, I’m finding out, is to go after things that scare you, then push through the fear and do the thing anyway.
I think traveling is really important. I’ve lived in multiple states across the country, I’ve lived in big cities and small towns, and I’ve just traveled a lot. Learn as much as you can about people and how others live in places other than your own hometown. Going to unfamiliar places and having those different experiences can be really difficult and uncomfortable sometimes, but it’s crucial for perspective and personal growth, and it’s so rewarding.
Lastly, I think you need to be okay with being alone. Every person I look up to is able to be alone in some capacity, whether it’s just spending a length of time alone, or blazing their own trail in a bigger way. Of course, it’s important to surround yourself with the right people, but even if you have the right people around, you have to give yourself time occasionally to sit by yourself, listen to your own thoughts, your inner voice, and get to know yourself with no outside influence. That’s uncomfortable for some people but I believe those are the people who need it the most. Even if the outside influence is positive, that’s great, but everyone has weaknesses, insecurities, flaws, etc. that it’s not healthy to ignore completely. You have to know yourself to understand your capabilities, your wants and needs, and in order to be the truest version of yourself when you go into the world; that’s also how you find your people. You can’t know what’s right for you if you don’t know who you are.
What has been your biggest area of growth or improvement in the past 12 months?
This has kind of become a theme of this interview, but overcoming fear and being alone. I’ve never necessarily had a fear of being alone, I spent most of my time by myself throughout childhood and I learned to enjoy the peacefulness from a young age. But throughout my 20’s I’ve been surrounded by other people a lot, whether it was my amazing friends, relationships I was in, etc. and I got comfortable being around others all the time. But the past year I’ve spent a lot of time focusing on myself and my career and I have realized how much I was held back, mostly just by fears. Thinking I wasn’t capable of doing so many things, especially alone, because I just wasn’t alone for so long and didn’t have the opportunity to test what I was actually capable of. The past year I have accomplished things that I truly thought would have been impossible for me to do. And that goes back to the last question where I explained the importance of being alone sometimes. I honestly don’t recognize myself or my life right now, in the very best way possible and I am so happy to be able to say that.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lifeveganized/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lifeveganized
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stefanieannstevens/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/lifeveganized
