“It has been my mission to educate everyone to adopt a healthier, more sustainable, and compassionate lifestyle. I have been working to break the stigma, the negative stereotypes, and misconceptions about being vegan that persist among the minds of millions. A vegan lifestyle has helped change my life, and now I want to help change yours.”– Nafsika Antypas
A dynamic person makes a difference in the world; who does something that changes things or other people’s minds. The versatile life and achievements of Nafsika Antypas are commendable. Having an extraordinary and zestful personality, Nafsika aims to meet her creative vision to support people transitioning to a plant-based lifestyle. The article talks about her life journey, her diverse passions, and goals, as well as what motivated her to become vegan and her efforts to change the world through food.
Nafsika Antypas (25th February 1977) is a Canadian writer, producer, TV host, and entrepreneur. She is recognized as a passionate and compassionate vegan creator and host of the world’s first vegan lifestyle television series, ‘Plant-Based’, which focuses on a plant-based diet and vegan living. In addition, Nafsika is the President/CEO of the global food brand, Nafsika’s Garden.
Enriching Educational Experiences and Career Objectives
Well-educated people have a broader vision, innovation, and inspiration to lead their lives and help bring change in other people’s lives. Reading about Nafsika’s early education and other academic qualifications help us realize that she had outstanding academic abilities. Her enriching learning experiences paved the way towards attaining academic excellence and innovative career pathways. Nafsika completed her high school at Royal West Academy High School in 1994. After completing her schooling, this high-spirited woman joined Concordia University, Montreal, Canada, in the year 2000, from where she received her Bachelor of Arts degree. She also received several post-graduate certificates from Concordia University. Nafsika had an outstanding educational and career experience.
She began her career as a marketing director at Pilaros International Trading Inc., her father’s Mediterranean food importing company in Canada, the USA, and Australia. Working in a food organization inspired Nafsika to reach bigger goals, i.e., adopting a vegan and helping individuals, and the community to switch to a better and healthy lifestyle
The Purpose of Launching the Non-Profit Organization, People Against Violence
Being a passionate vegan, Nafsika was aspired to transform the mindset of the people by creating an awareness in the community to help mainly victims of violence, primarily women and children, have resources and someone to talk to when they needed help. She witnessed videos online that compelled her to do something, to provide help to those in need. Following her passion, she decided to take appropriate steps to start a movement to inspire millions across the globe. Nafsika founded a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, People Against Violence, in 2014. The organization created awareness of domestic violence, assisted people in preventing violence worldwide, and provided resources to help victims around the clock.
“My goal has always been to help make the world a more compassionate place,” Nafsika told LIVEKINDLY. “To do that, I believe that I need to help the world go vegan. And so, everything I do is toward making veganism mainstream.”
uAlert Personal Safety App: An Emergency Response System
Nafsika aims to promote peace and provide support and resources to help victims around the world. For this purpose, she created a wonderful personal safety app called uAlert. The app is monitored by certified counselors, who help victims of violence who wish to seek guidance on safeguarding their lives against violent acts. As the victim calls law enforcement agencies, a short video recording from the phone’s camera is initiated and sent to the uAlert monitoring center.
How Nafsika Developed a Vegan Mindset
Changing a lifestyle requires a lot of determination and persistence. The highest passion and diligence of Nafsika Antypas envisioned her to change her mindset overnight. It all happened eight years back while watching a documentary on Netflix – about veganism and animals. This documentary opened Nafsika’s eyes to the cruel animal industry. As a compassionate and tender-hearted person, she strongly condemned the cruel acts practiced on animals. From that day onward, she became a vegan, and since then, she never looked back. Consequently, Nafsika began her research to read about the benefits of adopting a vegan lifestyle. Her extensive research encouraged her to become a passionate vegan who truly desires to help people go vegan.
The Mission of The Struggling Vegan
Nafsika is the founder of The Struggling Vegan (2015). The organization has motivated millions of people to switch to vegan lifestyles while strengthening the community in a public forum called Veg Room. The Struggling Vegan provides a platform where vegans and non-vegans can engage with one another, share tips and strategies on how to become vegan. Through this forum, people can get daily menu plans, recipes and get health tips and advice from medical professionals about their lifestyle and diet. Nafsika helped people establish a special bond with animals by establishing this platform. Once people gain empathy and kindness for animals, they will find themselves in a new world. This will enhance their motivation to switch from a meat-eating diet to a plant-based/vegan lifestyle.
Nafsika – A Vegan Food Advocate and The Creator of Plant-Based by Nafsika
Nafsika conveys in her motto, “If You Plant It, It Will Grow.” It was her mission to bring veganism to the mainstream so she planned to launch the program known as, Plant-Based by Nafsika (2016). The TV show was aired to 70 million households in just six months since its conception.
Plant-Based by Nafsika was the first vegan lifestyle series ever to hit mainstream television (A&E) America and was ranked on the 63rd position Plant-Based News’ Top 100 Most Influential Vegans list. The viewers enthusiastically watched this captivating TV show as it helped them learn more about Nafsika’s mission to help people go vegan. It proved to be a game-changer and influenced a large number of viewers to become vegan. She hoped that the show would help revolutionize people’s thinking, allowing them to have a healthier, more compassionate lifestyle.
“When I first came up with the idea for this show in late 2015, I decided I wanted to ‘change the world through food,’” Nafsika noted, adding that she had recently gone vegan at the time and noticed that there weren’t any television shows focusing on a plant-based and vegan lifestyle—at least, not in the form of a TV series.”
A certified health and lifestyle coach
Nafsika, an ardent proponent of the vegan lifestyle has the vision to transform the world’s landscape, creating awareness in people of how to make the transition to a vegan lifestyle. In 2017, Nafsika became a certified Health coach. Her plant-based coaching comprises a comprehensive learning and coaching program for individuals and the community. The program known as Plant-Based Switch provides people easy access to six weeks’ worth of video, audio, and information to help them go vegan. Through her counseling and coaching, Nafsika aimed to increase veganism worldwide.
Nafsika’s Garden- There’s a New “Cheese” in Town
While motivating people towards adopting a Plant-Based lifestyle, Nafsika Antypas observed an important obstacle that created a hurdle for people to choose a vegan diet. People find it hard to give up eating cheese. Being the President/CEO of global food brand, Nafsika’s Garden, she was committed to promoting a dairy-free lifestyle with a plant-based alternative. She launched her product, the hottest new vegan “cheese” in town, known as Nafsika’s Garden. The product served as a life-changing brand for the public, encouraging them to adopt a plant-based diet and vegan lifestyle.
Nafsika’s Garden became a well-in-demand plant-based cheese brand in different countries. In 2019, the product reached across Canada to major retailers such as Walmart and Sobeys and across the US by 2020. Consequently, it expanded internationally by 2021, reaching several European countries.
Nafsika’s latest adventure
During the covid pandemic, Nafsika spent quality time with her family. The other activities of Nafsika include fiction writing and acting. She has written four books to date that will be published later this year. Her first book is “The Plant-Based Switch,” a guide to a plant-based lifestyle. The book is helpful for those who want to make a smooth transition to an entirely plant-based vegan lifestyle. The book includes a weekly program for health-conscious people. Moreover, readers get access to Nafsika’s Plant-Based Switch online course, and a free app that provides menu plans, plant-based diet recipes, health tips, and much more to lead a healthier lifestyle. While the other three are mystery, action, and romance novels by the name of Ghosted, Extraordinary, and Astral Plane. Nafsika is also producing a TV series based on one of her novels.
Apart from books, Nafsika has been the star and light of many TV shows and radio programs and has contributed to several publications, magazines, and articles. She is also planning to launch herself as a fiction writer. To get a larger population to switch over to a plant diet with ease, Nafsika is still developing new products of Nafsika’s Garden brand for those who are looking to go dairy free. Her inciting television and radio shows and writings will inspire a broader audience to change their food habits and bring revolutionary changes in their lifestyle. Furthermore, the upcoming projects will create awareness among the masses regarding protecting and saving billions of animals that are abused and slaughtered every year.
“You’ve got to visualize your future and believe it. Then, nothing can stop you, because, in your mind, it’s already happening,” Nafsika asserted with confidence and enthusiasm.