 everyone to Lilian's Vegan World. I'm your host, Lilian Cumick, coming to you live from gorgeous downtown Honolulu. I am absolutely excited and stoked to introduce my awesome guest today all the way from the Big Island, Brian Rashid. Brian, welcome. There is so much excitement around me because I've been telling everyone that I'm going to have you on the show. So honestly, nice to meet you and thank you so much for taking out the time to join. Well, before we jump in, I just want to say your book's amazing. It's been a total game changer for me here on the Big Island. I have recommended it to so many people and I'm so happy to be talking to you and thank you for all you do because these beautiful, delicious vegan recipes are so enjoyable. So I'm happy to be talking to you as well, Lilian. Oh, thank you so much. You know, it's interesting, I was going to mention that the reason you and I met is because of the book. So definitely I am of the belief that when you are on the right path and doing what it is that you're meant to do, the universe does bring forth awesome people and opportunities your way. So definitely I think I'm doing something good and to have you here on the show is just an absolute pleasure. So Brian, there is so much to talk about when it comes to you. I recommend any of the viewers watching this to just Google you because in your very short life, you seem to have done so much. Brian, I will ask you to introduce yourself if you don't mind. You are CEO and founder of Brian Rashid Global and a fantastic international motivational speaker. Tell us all about you. Well, thank you for those kind words. You know, at my core, I'm a storyteller. I've built my business. I've built my career over the last 20 years really around telling stories. And those stories are a lot of different ways but I think that the core of Brian Rashid Global is to help individuals, entrepreneurs, small businesses figure out what is their story? Why do they do what they do and how do they communicate that with the world in an exciting way? So once you get your story clear then you can start to create some content. You can start to tell that story in the digital world and we take a lot of pride in the fact that we are out of the box thinkers. We think about how marketing is right now. We think about how storytelling is exciting to consume and to get excited about making some sort of action around that project, that service, that idea, that project. And so, and then I speak a lot about the future of branding how to turn your passion into a profit how to make a good living doing what you do. And then I also write. I write a lot about my own life experiences. I write a lot about people that I'm inspired by that are trying to make the world a better place. And so I have a writing platform and then I do a lot of writing also for their businesses. So, you know, at its core it's a consultancy and a creative agency that really focuses on how do we tell your story in the most true authentic way that's connected to your soul and your heart and your mission possible. And then how do you create creative content around that to push it out to the world to make sure that other people know about you? Fantastic. Brian, how can people reach you or see what you're doing? Tell us about your platforms? Any social media that you have? Cool. I'm on all social media platforms. I'm on literally everything. It's just Brian Rashed Global on Instagram on Facebook on YouTube on Twitter on LinkedIn. I have a medium page. BrianRashedGlobal.com is my website that we post, you know, blog posts there. You can learn more about our services there. And I'm a prolific writer and a prolific content creator. So I do put a lot out into the world for free. I'm also launching a writing platform right now. It's on Patreon. It's just patreon.com slash Brian Rashed. And it's really focusing on creating love letters to the world. And it's something that I think we'll probably talk about at some point, but I'm very passionate about the world and its citizens. How do we take care of our globe? How do we do work that means something that makes lives and communities better? And then I go around and I capture those moments through highly experiential learning experiences. And then I share that story in a way that I hope feels very tangible and very relatable to people all over the world to say, oh, wow, if that person did that, then I can do that as well. Or, hey, I never even thought about doing that, but maybe I can grow my own food and maybe that cancer of my community. Or I've never even thought about going vegan, but now because of Lilian's amazing book, I wanna try those scallopless sea scallops made of king oyster mushrooms on top of a bed of peas or avocado. And it's just like, wow, I never realized how fun life can be because of all these things that are happening around me that I never even knew were happening. And I think that's like at the core, I'm trying to create a movement around seeing the everyday and making everyday exciting, no matter where you live or what you're up to, just by seeing and waking up to what's around you right now. That is so true. And I think one of the things that people really need to remember is the win-win theory. Do something that's good for you and good for the rest of the planet because if you're just selfish about life and try and get ahead of everyone else, really you're not gonna get very far because somehow you have to find that connection with the rest of the world, with people around you and move forward in a way that we all gain because there's another phrase that I love and it's givers gain. So everything that you said is so true, Brian. Gosh, we've got so much to cover. First of all, are you a vegan? I am a vegan. I'm a very proud vegan. And it's funny because anyone watching the show that maybe isn't vegan and thinks to themselves, oh, I could never go vegan. I want you to know, I said that to myself for so many years, I was a huge animal consumer. I mean, I eat meat three, four, five times a day. I'm talking like three, five, six eggs in the morning, chicken, beef, I eat all kinds of meat. And then thanks to an experience that I had in an animal sanctuary in Northern California, I really started to connect with some goats and it was sort of the first time the next day I arrived back to New York City and I went to an Indian restaurant with my best friend and from New York and we sat down and I looked at the menu and I saw a goat curry and it was the first time that I really connected of the two things. And literally in that second, in that moment, I decided, you know what, I really think that this is no longer a part of my life. And I left animal consumption from one day to the next and it was really a powerful transition. And you know, it's don't ever tell yourself you could never do something because that's so limiting. And I used to say it to myself all the time. So I'm not preaching or judging here. I'm just saying, open yourself up to the fact that there are so many varieties of, especially on Hawaii, like there are so many beautiful fruits and vegetables you can make the most creative things and you can really have a great time cooking it and enjoy, you know, most of the time we enjoy meat because of all the seasoning, the flavoring and you can put those same seasonings, those same flavorings on plants and on beans and legumes and it's just such an enjoyable experience. And like you were saying earlier, Lillian, there's a connectedness around all of it. I mean, I feel lighter, I feel more at peace, I feel more connected. I know that my decisions are helping the environment and most of all helping the lives of the animals that are no longer having to be slaughtered because of consumption. And so I think that not only are we, you know, be able to really enjoy delicious food and there's misconception that veganism is bland and you're gonna be eating rice and pasta and pizza your whole life. And no, there's so many flavors and colors that are awaiting you and there's so much to explore in the vegan world and make your own cheeses and it's just so fun. So yes, I am vegan and I'm a proud vegan and I did it for the animals, but I've seen so many more benefits over the last almost three years now that I've been vegan. You know, I actually read something or something came across maybe one of my social media pages and it was a picture of a child feeding a goat, actually feeding a goat a vegetable. I can't remember what it was. And the quote on that photo was, we are all born vegan until we are lied to. And, you know, there's quite a lot of truth to that because human nature, like human nature tells us that we are not really, we're not meant to go out there and hunt for animals. We just don't have the resources, you know, on our bodies. We don't have the fangs, the teeth, the claws, the strength to go and do that and, you know, feed ourselves a big raw cow, you know? So all of that, when you think about it, we are not really designed to eat animals, but somehow this is where we're at. And now we have the beauty of the internet where we are actually able to see and learn about, you know, about the truth of where we're at in regards to the human body. So I think that was, Paul, maybe John Lennon said something like if slaughterhouses had glass windows or glass walls, we would all be vegetarian. I think that's right. I think that's right. And, you know, and there's also all these health benefits, right? I mean, I don't know if people have seen the game changers, but it was a really interesting look at the scientific approach to veganism and these high, high, highest-performing athletes in the world that are all plant-based. And it's the only vegan film that I've seen that doesn't focus at all on animal rights. It's just literally like, this is actually just better for you. And so that's really interesting. And I think that you're hitting a really important point, which is information. You know, we live in an information age and it's no longer okay just to kind of close your eyes. And I don't want to know, I don't know, I don't want to know what happens to the cows. I don't really care how they get on my plate. I don't care about the bacon. I don't care about the, you know, the goat curry, like whatever. It's like they're, at this point, you can't really close your eyes to the clear abuse that's happening. And really the unequivocal suffering that's happening, these animals do not want to die. They do not want to suffer. And so I think that, again, you're not giving up anything at all to become vegan. That was my biggest concern. I'm going to miss the food, number one. And number two, I'm going to miss the culture around it because I've come from an Arab family. I spent a lot of time in Latin America. I traveled the world. There's a lot of culture around food. And I was so scared of losing that. But what I found through like communities like yours that you're creating and the big islands, the vegans of the big island and all of these other amazing vegan communities that I'm finding all over the world is there's actually a celebration of food in whole new ways without any sacrificing of life that doesn't want to be ended. And so I think that's a really special way to live and it's creative and fun and you're not missing anything, I promise. Yeah, that is so true, Brian. Honestly, we've come so far as far as vegan food. You are not going to miss out on anything. I always get surprised when I do my book signings at the Kakako Farmers Market here. Some people will walk past and you can see them staring at the book. They're curious and interested. So I'll say, come and take a look if you like, have a flip through. And you know what most of them say, Brian, to me is, oh, no, I'm not vegan. Oh, right. And I'm like, but you do eat vegetables, vegan food is just food. Like it's not going to jump out and hurt you or anything. So there's still that stereotype of, if you don't call yourself a vegan, then you don't need to eat quote unquote, vegan food. But yeah, so many stereotypes surrounding this some lifestyle. Maybe one day as time goes on, people will start to learn that, you know, plant-based food is absolutely delicious, good for you, will make you feel better. And I noticed one of your photos, Brian, you started a swimming thing in Uruguay, is that correct? So I want to, yeah, you have a lot of... Yeah, so I've been, the whole entire 2020, I was in Uruguay down in South America. And you know, with COVID, the gym's all closed, the swimming pool's all closed. And one day I saw a group of people swimming in the ocean and it was the middle of winter. I mean, it was cold, the ocean was probably 50 degrees. And I approached them after I said, what are you just doing? And they said, oh, we have this swimming group down in here in Uruguay, it's called NAF. And I noticed that it was frías in Espanol and Spanish, which literally means swimmers in cold water. And so I joined the group and there was just a few of us at the beginning and then it started to really grow. And it turned into this really beautiful companionship, this great community of people that really wanted to move their bodies. And I think that, you know, for me, it was almost like this cool way of connecting with nature. You know, you're swimming in the ocean, the ocean's cold, you feel alive, also building community, and also kind of pushing a boundary and reinventing. And I think that, you know, this is something that I've talked a lot about and I know that your show is so positive around what's happening with COVID and moving forward and how are we gonna move forward? And I think that this idea of reinvention is really important. And NAF for me was a great example of a group of people that were reinventing themselves. You know, we wanted to move our bodies, we wanted to swim, we wanted to connect with nature. Everything was closed, but we found this new way. And I sort of saw it as this symbolic gesture of what 2020 represented, which was the things that we've done all of our lives are no longer happening in a lot of ways, in a lot of cases, from, you know, family time to travel, to business, to love, to all kinds of things. But what can you do today now where you can find that good, where you can find that hope, where you can reinvent and try something new, even if that, and especially if that means jumping out of your comfort zone a little bit. Brian, hold that thought. And for the viewers, we are going to take a quick one minute break and come back with 2021 and moving forward in the COVID times with Brian Rashid. Stay tuned, we'll be back in one minute. Welcome back, everyone, to Lillian's Vegan World. I'm your host, Lillian Cumig. I'm a vegan author and, sorry, vegan chef and author of my newly released vegan cookbook, Hawaii, A Vegan Paradise. I've veganized over 120 plant-based recipes inspired by the islands. The book is available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, stores all across Hawaii. And this little labor of love actually brought Brian and I together, my guest today, Brian Rashid from the Big Island. Welcome back again, Brian. I wanted to share with you all my first mention in one of the UK's best-selling vegan magazines, Vegan Food and Living. I don't know if I can show this, but okay. Anyway, there's an article, a two-page article about some of my Hawaiian recipes. It's the first time I'm in an international magazine, so very excited about it. You can find me on any of my social media pages, Lillian Vegan. I have a YouTube channel with over 200 plant-based recipe videos. I'm on Facebook, Instagram, and my word page is also under the name Lillian Vegan. So do find me and you'll see what I'm getting up to. Now back to Brian, because we have so much to talk about. Brian, you are bilingual. Yes. You speak Spanish fluently. Tell us where that's from, Lillian. Well, before I jump into that question, I do want to just say really quickly because I believe so much in what I'm about to say. I'm a content creator and I think that anyone that creates content, so Lillian, you've created so much content and you've given out so much information for free. I feel like karmically, like if anyone's ever enjoyed your videos, they should buy your book. And you've not told me to say this, this is not scripted. I just feel like I'm here actually right now, as you can see this beautiful setup behind me. I'm in the natural travelers headquarters in Waimea who is also a content creator that basically tries to encourage people to search out a different way of living life. And I watch, and I'm a content creator and Lillian's a content creator, and I watch how much work people put into their content to create beautiful content. And I think your book is so beautiful. And I think that people should support beautiful content creators. And so buy the book seriously, and it's amazing, but even if you aren't vegan, then buy the book and try some of the recipes and support. And so I just wanted to say that really quickly to thank you for that beautiful piece of work that you've created. And to also like, thank so many generous content creators who've set up gorgeous spaces like this that I'm in right now. And it's a way to make life better, you know? And so I think I'm a big believer in just finding little things to make your life better. I think your cookbook is one of them. How did I learn Spanish? So I lived in the Dominican Republic when I was 23 years old. I lived there for one summer. I did a project in an orphanage where I lived and worked in the orphanage in the Dominican Republic. And it was my first exposure to Spanish. There were 125 kids living there. It was a really powerful transformative summer. It was hard. There was very limited running water, electricity. We lived in a very poor neighborhood. It was a very dangerous neighborhood. The kids had really intense, sad stories, but I realized how loving they were and how much they wanted to give. And I sort of promised myself that I would commit myself as much as I could to the Spanish-speaking community around the world. And so slowly I started to learn Spanish. And then over the last 15 years I spent a lot of time in Latin America between Dominican Republic, Mexico, Medellin, Colombia. And then I travel a lot giving talks around Latin America. But last year I was in Uruguay in South America and I was there. I was planning on being there for one month and then I ended up staying almost the entire year. But for me, learning a language is just something that opens up worlds. Just like I would encourage everyone to try the vegan lifestyle. I would also encourage people to go live in different countries and learn different languages because the connection that you can have with the culture and the people there is just amplified to a way that you can't even imagine just by practicing and trying, even if you're not even close to perfect, it's endearing and people will be very receptive and opening to your efforts. Absolutely, I believe very much so that we are born not to be attached to anything, any place, any culture, I mean, any one land. That's the beauty of our planet. All you need is some motivation and creativity and you can find yourself enjoying places, countries all over the world. And again, Brian, looking at your social media pages and where you've been and what you've done, the Uruguay experience, tell us about it. You wrote a letter to Uruguay, it's incredible. Thank you for that. And Uruguay was a great, I mean, it's got a very special place in my heart. I was planning on being there for one month, I was there for 10 and a half. And while I was there, I really had fallen in love with the country. The first couple of months, I was kind of distraught a bit because my business was suffering like every other small business in America because of COVID and I was trying to figure out what I was gonna do. I had to let some people go for my team. I had to reinvent myself to keep the business going and I was able to do that luckily and I'm very grateful for that. But Uruguay was the safe place to land for me. People took great care of each other. I met a lot of really important people when I was there and I joined these groups like NAF and I just explored the vegan scene and I explored the Uruguayan culture. And I ended up writing this love letter to Uruguay which is what you're referencing. And I wrote it in a cafe in one afternoon and I was probably ready for three or four hours. And as soon as I left the cafe, I started to cry because I just knew that writing for me is the purest form of expression of my soul that I've been able to find so far. That's the closest way that I know how to actually communicate what I feel in my heart. And I left the cafe and I started to cry because I knew it was gonna be an important letter. And so then I just published it and it started to get some traction and some local newspaper started to pick it up. And then I was out one day at a gallery and I opened my phone and I had like, I don't know, like a thousand new messages in my DMs and in my Facebook messages. And I was like, what happened? And what happened was the biggest publication in Uruguay picked it up and they started to republish it and it went viral. And then I got contacted by CNN and they came literally to my house and they did like a really nice four minute feature about me and about the letter. And it just went totally crazy viral. And I mean, I still to this day received messages about how much it meant for people. And I think it's kind of going back to what we talked about earlier, Lillian, which is a lot of Uruguayans and Venezuelans and Colombians and Argentinians would write me and say, I've been living in Uruguay for a long time. And I never took the time to appreciate the things that you talked about in the letter. Or I've left Uruguay and I miss it so much and you brought me back there. Or I'm Uruguayan and I live here and I am for the first time so proud of my country. And so I think that it was a combination of writing something from the heart for a country that I'm very grateful for. And then it was great distribution and I'm really grateful for CNN and I'm really grateful for all of these other publications that picked me up and talked about the story because with their help and with the article we were able to reach a lot of people around the world that had this renewed sense of hope for their future and this renewed sense of pride for their country. And that was really special. I'm not surprised at all, Brian, that piece that you wrote, it is very powerful indeed. Thinking about it now, I read it twice, but the first time I read it, it was beautiful. Honestly, go and find Brian Rashid and find that letter that he wrote because I think you're gonna find it's a changing moment and it makes you think about what's going on around you. There is good in everything. You just need to be aware of it. And you've pointed out all these things that maybe we're working against you. I remember you mentioned that there wasn't that much vegan friendly food there but you made it work and you found it. And again, we can sit here and complain and whinge and whine about life, but I don't do that. I move on and I move forward and find a way. And I think when you are able to change your perspective on life so that you are leading a positive life with positive energy, this is gonna make life better for you in general. So please find that piece. Brian, you have met some incredible people, including Michael Bloomberg. Yeah, so very fancy. It was fun. So a couple of things. The first thing is if you're looking for the letter, it's just called one American's unexpected love letter to Uruguay during a global pandemic. And it's a fun read. It's a little long but I think it'll be worth your time. And then with Mike Bloomberg, I graduated from law school from the City University of New York and I really had some political ambition. I thought maybe I would wanna become the mayor of New York City one day. And so I got connected thanks to my brother actually with his campaign. He was running for a third term for mayor of New York City. I got connected to him and I got placed as a field manager and I was basically in charge of recruiting volunteers up in Northern Manhattan, which was a primarily Spanish speaking part of New York City. So I got to use my Spanish and we worked really, really hard to get the mayor reelected. And when he won, he called me in and said, hey, you did a great job. You had incredible numbers. Like nobody recruited more volunteers than you. And we wanna keep you in the administration. What do you wanna do? And I said, I really wanna stay as a speech writer. So he paired me up with one of his commissioners, Jonathan Mince, who was the commissioner of the Department of Consumer Affairs and absolutely incredible leader and incredible boss. I had a beautiful experience working in the Bloomberg administration for almost three years. And I really, I love the mayor and I think he's a great leader and I think he's a great person. He's a great boss. And I loved working in city politics and I loved using this idea of my brain to, I'd get handed 50, 100, 150 pieces of paper and say like turn this into a two or three minute talk. And that was really fun for me to quickly synthesize which is similar to the skill set that I bring to my business now, which is like, how do I talk about what I do in a way that's exciting and succinct and that was great practice. And ultimately I just kind of got tired of working for somebody else. And I had an entrepreneurial DNA and spirit in me. My father's very entrepreneurial. Arabs in general are very entrepreneurial. The Lebanese are I think the best entrepreneurs in the world. And so I kind of watched that growing up and I knew I wanted to do that but it just felt like the right time to take a leap. And so eight and a half years ago at this point I took a leap and started my own business and used a lot of what I learned with Bloomberg to doing what I do now. And it was a great positive experience. I'm glad I had it. And I'm also glad that I now have my own business. Awesome. Brian, we're coming to the end of the show unfortunately but in just one minute can you please tell us what you think 2021 and moving forward in COVID times means to you? Yeah, I think taking a little bit more time to be still. And I know it's a little bit of a counterintuitive. I talk fast. I like to do a lot of things. I have a lot of projects going on. What I'm trying to do is take a little bit more time to be still and appreciate what's going on around me. Tap in more to your meditation. Tap in more to your internal power. Listen to your own quiet whispers of your heart because let me tell you something. Right now is the best time in the history of the history of the world to actually tap into what you wanna do. You might have been putting this off for a long time and you're able to do it because you could distract yourself with social events and travel and all the things that we can't do as much now. I'm telling you, invest in yourself, get clear on what your heart actually wants and then step by step slowly with patience and love and grace move towards that because this is the greatest gift that we can find in this time to actually tapping into what you wanna do. Not what mom wants you to do, not what dad, not what partner, what sister want. No, what you wanna do. Spend more time in nature. Tap in more with that meditation because you know the answer. It's sitting inside of you. It's screaming at you, but you have to listen to it. Take the silence to actually hear the screams. That's what I'd say. Yeah, that is perfectly, perfectly said, Brian. And honestly, it has been a pleasure having you on the show. Thank you so much for sharing your journey and insight and I wish you all the best on The Big Island. We'll be looking out for you to see you go places, I'm sure. Not that you already have it, but. It's an opportunity on the show and really respect what you're up to and it's been awesome. So thank you so much. The pleasure is all mine. Thank you, Brian. And from all of us at Think Tech Hawaii, we wish you all an awesome day. Take care, stay safe and see you next time on Lillian's Vegan World. Aloha. Aloha.