Today we’d like to introduce you to Angelica Galarza.
Angelica, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
In 2012, I discovered “Fully Raw Kristina” on youtube, she was 100% Raw vegan and this was a completely new concept to me and I was intrigued. I was still in high school at the time and I definitely never thought about being vegan let alone raw vegan, but it sparked something in me to become more aware of the foods I was consuming, so my mom bought me my first Vitamix blender and it was up from there. I started getting creative in the kitchen with smoothies, making raw ice-cream from bananas and coconut milk to raw soup in a blender and even a raw carrot cake. Fast forward to 2017 finding Dr. Sebi’s teachings on youtube and everything he was explaining about the body and the foods we consume made sense. I binged documentaries on him for hours learning about herbs and how mucus is the root of majority of all issues in the body. I challenged myself to go vegan for 30 days and I loved it, those 30 days turned into me never looking back. I felt amazing being vegan and trying to make vegan food taste like the food I grew up on. I knew right then and there this was it for me, this was and is my passion and I wanted to perfect my craft so I looked into a plant-based culinary school.
I came across a school named “Plant Lab” it was a vegan culinary school in Venice, California founded by Chef Mathew Kenney and in 2018, they were having a pop up in Brooklyn, so I left Atlanta to go back to New York to go to culinary school. After culinary school I still wanted more, so I found out about a woman who was teaching holistic nutrition courses online to become a certified health coach and her focus was also on raw foods and juices to heal the body of illness. She held a retreat space in Bali, Indonesia to properly show us how to detox our body through fasting and juicing while we were living in Bali for two months. This changed my life yet again spiritually, mentally and physically. After taking about three years to myself to just immerse myself in knowledge and traveling the world to gain experience and taste different flavors, I decided to come back to Atlanta because this city sparked the real change in me. Peachy Apple Vegan was created in Atlanta, Georgia forever a New Yorker at heart, the big apple but the peach state changed me for good.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
I didn’t even know smooth roads existed, I fell into a few different pot holes along the way. Majority of my struggles came from my own thoughts of self-doubt. Feeling and thinking is this enough? Can I really survive off of just cooking for people and talking about fasting and herbs? Why would someone put their trust in me? Will people even like the food I cook for them? I had to become stronger than my mind, I had to control my thoughts and know that this is my path and I have to walk in it with 110% faith that everything will fall into place. You just have to push through those days when self-doubt creeps in and give yourself time to reflect, I feel as though majority of us try to distract ourself from feeling those feels completely and that’s when it starts to build up. For me, the only way to get past a struggle period is to figure out the root of why am I going through this and give myself time to work through it and come back stronger.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I am a plant-based chef that specializes in putting love in every dish that I create. Majority of my influence for food comes from the Caribbean islands and their ability to live off the land and use what’s growing to create a recipe that becomes a family staple. I’m in a Caribbean island a minimum of twice a year experiencing it live and allowing myself to be immersed in the culture of these different islands. You can feel my vibes through my photos of food and travel and feel as though you are with me too. Being able to create a community with my platform has been an amazing experience thus far and connecting with people all over the world. When I first launched my website to open up my shop of herbal teas and sea moss gel, I was shocked to see that my first order was placed from a woman in Saudi Arabia at 2am. I knew in that moment that all the work I put in so far has not gone unnoticed and that was another reminder that I am walking in my path.
Any advice for finding a mentor or networking in general?
Mentors are an amazing key to have in your life, there are many people who inspire me in my world of plant-based healing. One of them is an Atlanta native known as Chef Ahki, I met her back in 2017 when I first began my journey into this world at one of her events. I had so many questions for her and meeting her in person just gave me this feeling of comfort watching another woman go so far with her passions. I was able to assist her for a period of time by being a part-time intern for her and helping were her when she needed a hand at events like the one I met her at. It’s all about finding your community with like-minded individuals and events that relate to your line of work. Once you are truly in alignment with yourself and your passions everything naturally flows in your favor, just have faith that it’s already yours.
Contact Info:
- Email: peachyapplevegan@gmail.com
- Website: peachyapplevegan.com
- Instagram: peachyapplevegan
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC1875A5nqVlcRtR5BgyaSdg
