I went vegan after coming across the documentary "Earthlings". I remember crying and being so distraught. My cat, Lady Luck came up to me and tried to comfort me. I realized in that moment that animals were more complex than we gave them credit for. And if my cat could show me empathy than I could to all the animals out there.

I became vegan in 2011 after watching "Best Speech Ever" by Gary Yourofsky! Right before I went vegan I had my blood work done and my total cholesterol was high, 168. I was also getting sick like allergies twice a year. It was causing drainage accompanied with weazing and infections which was why I got my blood work done.

6 years after going vegan I had to know my bloodwork. It was down to 125! I wasn't sick that entire time. And I had only removed animals and their secretions. I did nothing else.

For that first 6 years I only knew what not to eat but really didn't know how to eat until 2017. I started studying nutrition a little and learned about a whole-food, plant based diet and how it's the healthiest.

When I realized no one needed to eat animals at all (unless they're in extreme desperate circumstances of course) I also realized it was likely hurting everyone; the slaughterhouse worker, the consumer, the health care system, zoonotic disease, on and on....
I became very intrigued by nutrition most notably. If the healthiest way to be is vegan then why kill animals at all?
So, now I have devoted my entire life to learning what I can about nutrition, advocating, and capturing other people's vegan stories for vegan linked. ❤

I went vegan after watching Gary Yourofsky's best speech in 2011. I literally did nothing more than stop eating what little animal I was eating already and just ate more of everything else I ate, including french fries. In 2017 I had my bloodwork done to save money on my insurance. My total cholesterol was 121!

I remembered having my bloodwork done about 6 years earlier; in late 2010, right before I happened to go vegan. My total cholesterol was 168 then. Six years of not eating animals, no other changes, brought my LDL and Triglycerides down that much and HDL up too. The visceral fat fast that had been progressively accumulating around my waist just like my father, and both of my grandfathers, vanished. And still now at 51 in 2024 I'm basically the same as I was when I was in my late 20's. And, I no longer get sick. Before going vegan I would usually get sick twice a year at the change of the seasons; hence the reason I had my bloodwork done in 2010.

All of this intrigued me. So, I started listening to doctors on YouTube. I also just started walking in my neighborhood for the first time. I would take these long walks and absorb so much of it that I was inspired to prepare more whole plant foods, dig deeper into nutrition, and that led into a little into science, biochemistry, anatomy, evolution, and logic, looking at how others are doing around me, how I've improved but my extended family didn't when they were in their 30's. I'm now 50 with the same body I had in my 20's and very sedentary with all this editing and not being very happy with walking in this neighborhood anymore.

I went vegan for ethical reasons in 2011. In 2017 I realized everyone can be vegan and may even be significantly healthier as a result eating a well-planned vegan diet. Understanding the potential a vegan way of eating has for human health I became obligated to do all I can to share this information, learn more, explore far, and help others along the way as much as I can. To make sure, again I had to ask, "is there any reason to eat animals?" and no one could justify it for anything other than social conformity, an infantile habituation really.

In an effort to organize my contributions and efforts, free content creation for vegan businesses and events, I started VeganLinked.com as a website directory. I didn't have the budget or help to accomplish much beyond that in the first stretch of working on the site. I took a break from developing the site after a few months into it and just left it on autopilot while I was building up the YouTube.com/VeganLinked channel.

Now the channel is approaching 100K subscribers. I’ve shot hundreds of interviews around the country on location, solo. I produced a documentary for Jane Velez-Mitchell in 2019. I bought a house an hour and an half from me in 2020 to produce videos with Dr. Garth Davis; after fixing the house up, renting it b/c I can’t afford it, putting an accessory building on the property and turning that into a studio.

Garth and I did about 5 videos before he and his family suddenly had to move back to Texas. At the same time Dr Kong approached me about the book she was working on called Vegan Voices; composed of stories from 50 different authors.

I offered to interview some of the authors from her book if she helped me with travel and coordination. And it was that first run that set motion for hundreds more interviews to come.

Right away, about 3 interviews in, I realized I needed to do a documentary. I had helped Jane with hers but that was her vision and entirely her style. I just did all the editing and helped think things through and shot some of it.

The documentary I would love to do hasn’t been done really. And it’s unfolding now through the interviews as they progress.

As time has permitted over the years I have tried to come back to the website. Each time I have spent a couple or few months dealing with the developers and ultimately brought it a step further. I worked hard on the site from 12/22 to 3/23 and really overcame some milestones (with listings & events) that were holding me back for years. This enabled me to focus on and try and take the site to a new level (with user profiles) which brought on new issues. Now in 2024 I’m getting past those user issues and implementing a forum and hopefully getting to a point of stylizing the site and actually start promoting it.

So, that’s just some of how things evolved in my vegan life; from ethics to health, to everything and everyone, to doing all I can and now this is all I do. I would love to pull off a huge documentary. But, thus far it’s just been me with really zero budget. Consequently, it may just end up being more of a compilation instead of reshooting specifically for the documentary and with a team.

I've gotten into powerliftng after college and noticed that eating too much animal protein made me sluggish. Found out why when tested blood at work. Cholesterol and triglycerides were borderline risk at 23 y.o.! I've decided to give a plant based diet a shot and never looked back.

Unlike most athletes - most of my muscle was built AFTER I've transitioned to vegan. As a natural plant based athlete, I won an Overall Novice bikini title in 2019 NPC Atlantic Coast Championships, one of the largest bodybuilding shows in North Carolina going against meat-eaters and athletes on performance enhancing drugs. Also won Open and Overall bikini champion titles in the natural OCB Colonial Open bodybuilding show in Virginia in the spring of 2019. Totaling 7 awards from both shows.

My most recent win was the 1st place in 69kg powerlifting category at USAPL Power Mountain Showdown in Asheville September 25th, 2021. in March I took 2nd in Battle on the Border NC/SC USAPL meet which was a huge event. Pretty sure I was the only vegan there.

On top of running a small coaching team - I am also writing a book on body dysmorphia and tour with VegFest Expos to speak at vegan events in NC, SC, VA, TN! Invite me to your event to engage and motivate the crowd - vegan or not!

@gorbachevae shoot me a message on IG! Especially if you have a vegan friendly business.
I am always hiring knowledgeable nutritionists and athletes too - if you know someone, please introduce.
Use code VEGAN to get 10% off your first month of coaching 🙂 All coaching is done online so it doesn't matter where in the world you live, train and eat.

I am the Executive Director of the oldest faith-based vegan org in the U.S., All-Creatures.org, founded in 1998 by the Mary T and Frank L Hoffman Family Foundation. My ethical vegan journey began in 2008 after watching Earthlings. It has been a remarkable journey where I've met so many other like-minded souls and veganism just keeps growing every year! So glad to be vegan.

I slowly transitioned to being WFPB/Vegan after attending many NHA health conferences and reading books on Natural Hygiene. I witnessed remarkable health recovery with my young daughter and myself. After being in this lifestyle for over 25 years, I retired from my corporate career and became the Executive Director of the National Health Association which was founded in 1948 as a non profit to promote a Vegan/WFPB lifestyle. www.healthscience.org

In 2020 I was graciously given the title of “PETA Prime’s Most Beautiful Vegan Over 50.” for that year. I had almost not applied. I don’t seek attention in life, but I felt it was my duty to show up and share my experiences with the world, aiming to shatter myths and advocate for animals. I sent my application to PETA at the last minute and was honored to be selected as the winner—although I believe all vegans are winners!

When I started this journey in 2011, I never would have imagined that I’d be looking back on these major milestones:

In 1996, my mother gave me a book about vegetarianism, which immediately led me to stop eating meat and move away from my unconsciously speciesist lifestyle.

I moved from Türkiye (Turkey) to the U.S. in 1998, after singing as a soloist in Beethoven’s 9th Symphony in Istanbul, under the direction of American conductor William Thomas.

In 2004, I discovered my true baritone voice after training as a tenor for years at three different conservatories, which began my transformational journey.

I confidently and joyfully went vegan in 2011 after reading vegan triathlete Brendan Brazier’s Thrive. This decision dramatically fueled every aspect of my life.

It 2012, I began functional bodyweight training at home, which initiated my surprising physical transformation.

I formulated my vocal method, The Vocathletic System, in 2019 and added “athlete” to my credentials.

In 2020, shortly after the PETA Prime contest, I removed all oil from my diet and soon after started a whole food vegan diet.

In 2021, I became fully raw vegan.

And then I was the guest in three great interviews:
1- “Opera Singer Goes Vegan, Gets Massive Muscles” with Chuck Carroll on The Exam Room Podcast by the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM), founded by Dr. Neal Barnard.

2- “Bülent Güneralp’s Transformation Debunks Vocal, Athletic, Nutritional Myths” with Chef AJ.

3- “An Update on Food Is Climate” with Glen Merzer, hosted by Climate Healers, founded by Dr. Sailesh Rao.

Today I am an activist and an opera singer who ended up looking like a bodybuilder—solely as the result of eating plants, maintaining daily full-body functional training (no lifting weights or going to a gym), and as the byproduct of my extraordinary vocal journey.

born and raised vegan! have enjoyed 46 years of vibrant health and feel better than ever - have been an advocate of going vegan for health, the animals and the planet since childhood and have guided many to this lifestyle... so thrilled to see how far it has come via sites like these

I went vegan for the animals and have been advocating for veganism ever since.