Making Lasting Changes to Help Your Body and the Planet with Rebel Mariposa

Rebel: [00:00:00] You know, the state of the world that we’re in now is really also waking people up, you know, and understanding, one, how connected we are, and two, like, you know, our violence against, you know, Mother Earth can only last so long before she retaliates, too, and goes, Hey, I’m a living thing, too, that wants to keep living.

Hope: Do you want to wake up feeling like you are stepping into who you are meant to be? Into the best possible version of you? What if I told you that the key to your best life, health, and happiness are all around you? You just have to find what works for you. I’m Hope Pedraza and I believe that there isn’t just one way to live a healthy and meaningful life and that all you need is a little inspiration to make changes that last from the inside out.

Each week I’ll be sharing tangible tips and inspirational interviews to help you on your journey. These are the steps to take to improve your life and live with purpose. This is Hopeful and Wholesome. Hey y’all, thanks for listening today, I’ve got an episode with Rebel Mariposa today. She is the owner of a local vegan restaurant here in San Antonio called La Botanica.

She’s [00:01:00] doing some awesome things in her restaurant besides running this super cool restaurant. She’s also an activist. She has her own skincare line. Today we talk about all things vegan, the many reasons people switch to vegan lifestyle, how she’s using her platform for education rather than judgment, and we talk about our responsibility to our planet and how what we eat can affect our planet and each other because we’re all connected.

I know you will find some inspiration in this episode, even if it’s not to become a vegan. Maybe some inspiration to make some lasting changes in your own diet, maybe how, changes in how you treat Mother Earth, or just being still in order to find your purpose. Y’all give Rebel a follow and enjoy this episode.

Alright y’all, so let’s get going. I’m excited to bring on Rebel today, and I’m excited because we’re going to be talking about all things plant based, including her amazing plant based restaurant that is here in San Antonio, San Antonio. That’s kind of changing the food scene here, and then her line of vegan beauty products.

So thanks so much for joining, Revel, and for chatting with me today. 

Rebel: Yeah, [00:02:00] absolutely. Thank you for inviting me to be here. 

Hope: Yeah, for sure. Yeah. So tell me, why plant based? Why a plant based restaurant in San Antonio, of all places? 

Rebel: Yeah, I mean, because it, really, there’s a need in the community, right? There was a need for people who were getting, like, family members and friends were sending me emails.

I was in California, actually, at the time, and I was getting emails from family saying, Hey, I see that you’re doing vegan stuff out there. My doctor’s saying I need to eat more vegetables, or my doctor’s saying I need to be vegetarian. What do I do? I felt like people, uh, in Texas and some of my family in Tennessee were, were kind of, Felt really like lost in the dark when they were instructed to eat less meat or no meat at all.

Hope: Mm hmm, 

Rebel: and the time was in San Diego and San Diego is a plethora of options and resources. So I thought, you know, I need to get back to my my own community. Or, you know, the community I started, I had a really beautiful community in San Diego as well and still do, but I was like, I need to get back to my hometown [00:03:00] and, you know, work there, do what I’m doing out in San Diego, but do it in San Antonio.

Hope: Yeah. So, did you also have a restaurant in San Diego? What were you doing there?

Rebel: I didn’t have a restaurant. I went out there, actually, my mother’s live out there, I went out there to pursue my art. Okay. But my, as far as like eating vegetarian and vegan or pescatarian, like, it’s been a long journey for me, but I had already been doing that myself.

And then I met a vegan chef and we started working together and we were doing pop ups. 

Hope: Nice. 

Rebel: Around town. 

Hope: So, did you have previous experience, like, in a restaurant, or like, cooking, or? 

Rebel: No, my only experience, my first experience was like, my first job ever was a sonic car hop. 

Hope: That’s awesome. 

Rebel: Yeah, so I did that, and then I was a nanny for like, ten years, for about a decade.

And, yeah. That was really, so food, like working in the food world, working as a server, working at a restaurant, no experience. Yeah. At all. 

Hope: Yeah. So I had to learn a lot. Yeah. So what connected you [00:04:00] with the vegan chef in California? How did that happen, that connection? 

Rebel: I was, my mothers own a dance studio there and his niece was taking classes.

Hope: Gotcha. 

Rebel: And he knew that I was vegetarian, I wasn’t completely vegan at the time. And so I think there was this, like, desire to be like, oh, I can, like, if I introduce you to vegan foods, like, you’ll probably make the switch. Okay. Yeah. 

Hope: Is that what kind of, is that what kind of started your vegan journey, was just through him and y’all just kind of started doing stuff together?

Rebel: Yeah, yeah, absolutely. 

Hope: Okay, that’s 

Rebel: I mean, 

my journey as far as like taking my, my food from, like, I had already become like pescatarian vegan before that, so that 

journey started in college. 

Hope: Okay, gotcha. And then what was kind of the catalyst for that? Like, how did that start, kind of your, your plant based journey?

Rebel: Well, I remember going to a seminar back in 1998 and they were kind of just talking. It was a cell seminar but it one of the examples that the guy who was running the seminar talked about was he was like, you know talking kind [00:05:00] of about like groupthink and how in which ways that even the government makes cells and so forth.

He used the example of milk, you know and he talked about how it’s really not nutritious for people, but there’s a surplus and there’s dairy farmers and And so now there’s this huge sales campaign, right, there’s been for decades around milk. And I was just, like, astonished. I think that was really, like, one of my first times of, like, realizing that, like, the U. S. government would, you know, sell something to its population, even knowing that it’s not good for us. 

Hope: Yeah, it’s crazy. 

Rebel: Um, and so that was, like, kind of my first, like, Turn on to it and then I was at UT Austin already very political and radicalized person. Thanks to my mother But and so it was like I was meeting more activists out there and they were like, well, yeah, you have to be vegetarian You know, it’s a way to promote non violence And they really opened my eyes to kind of understanding how violent the meat industry is and how that violence then turns into [00:06:00] like violence within other humans and you’re promoting it and so it was like this kind of Massive wake up call for me of understanding that if I really wanted to live in a world that didn’t have violence You know I had to stop consuming meat.

Hope: Yeah, I like that connections a lot of times like you hear people’s plant based stories And it’s like either one or the other it’s like for health reasons, or it’s for ethical reasons But I like that yours is like a combination of both. That’s super cool. 

Rebel: Yeah, absolutely You know and it was and then you know I had one friend too Who really helped me also take it to the next level because you know he talked about how animals suffer so much and so it’s from an energetic level.

Like, if you’re consuming, well, that animal is like releasing hormones and series of suffering and sadness and pain and then it’s now on your plate, you know, or in your jug of milk and then you drink it. Like, who’s to say energetically that you’re not ingesting pain and hurt and sorrow. Right. And I was like, that’s it.

Like, that’s it. Like, I, I don’t want [00:07:00] to put that right into my body. And so, after kind of those things, it was, you know, easy for me to, you know, and I was like hardcore vegan and thought everyone had to stay away from 

Hope: Mm hmm. 

Rebel: meat and dairy and, and since then I’ve relaxed a little bit, you know, just kind of understanding that I don’t want to isolate anyone.

Hope: Sure. 

Rebel: There’s cultures around the world, indigenous populations around the world. I don’t have any judgment on that, as far as like how people consume, our economic status, you know, anything like that. So, my judgment will always be on like mass, huge corporations, you know, that have a choice. Right. But are choosing not to.

Because it’s just profitable for them. So my judgment definitely goes there and never on like an individual small consumer I mean, I’m happy to have like a conversation with people and talk about it and I’m 

Hope: like from an education standpoint Yeah, 

Rebel: yeah, absolutely, but it was a long journey for me and I know everyone has their own journey.

Oh, right Yeah, but I feel like this Well, the state of the world that we’re in now is really also waking people up, you know, and [00:08:00] understanding, one, how connected we are, and two, like, our violence against Mother Earth can only last so long before she retaliates, too, and goes, hey, I’m a living thing, too, that wants to keep living.

Hope: So people are becoming more aware of kind of the implications on the climate and on the globe and stuff And so how does that kind of affect your viewpoint on plant based eating? 

Rebel: Yeah, I mean it’s been there study after study, you know that if you reduce cattle farming you reduce emissions I mean that’s been happening for years and now this virus literally is because we keep pushing up against wildlife and we keep pushing up against animals and we keep pushing up these forests and these borders and Enforcing, you know, ourselves onto the species that should be wild.

And, boom, now we’re in this situation, and, you know, everyone is freaking out by how fast it’s moving around. And the reality is, is, of course it’s moving quickly, like, we’re more globalized in 2020 than we’ve ever [00:09:00] been, you know, as a human race. And, so Again, that has been something that’s been pushed by world leaders.

Globalization, globalization, globalization. You know, it makes a lot of money. And there’s been a lot of benefits, of course. I love that I feel closer to countries around the world than I ever have before, whether I’ve traveled or not. Now we’re seeing the implications, though, of, you know, what happens when we’re so close, you know?

And I’m hoping that more people will wake up and see that and go, Hey, maybe I do need to have Eat more plants. Eat more vegetables. But, I mean, that was my first observation from the beginning of this is when people started to kind of panic buy. I was like, I don’t understand why people aren’t panic buying oranges and orange juice.

Hope: Right! Yes, you go to the grocery store and it’s like all the healthy food is still there. 

Rebel: Yeah, it’s like someone had posted something like, I don’t understand, you know, do humans even know how the immune system works? 

Hope: Right! It’s so true! 

Rebel: And like digesting processed food, digesting, um, Meat, it’s proven to lower your immune system.

Right. You know, and so I hope [00:10:00] that people will wake up I hope that you know, there will be a shake in in the meat industry and There will be more of this like, oh, I want to eat more rice and vegetables I mean it has gone to the point now where there is no more right, you know Like there’s not as much rice and vegetables out there and beans, you know so people are being forced to kind of go from like Eggs, they’re like, oh my god, now there’s no eggs.

Oh shit. Okay, I’ll get beans now. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And I’ll get rice. It’s like, yeah, well you should have started in the other order, right? You should have gotten beans and rice first and then Right. Because you can stock beans and rice for a long time as well. Like as a dry good or even in cans. And as long as we have as long as you have some water.

And gas, our ability to light a stove or to put some wood under, I think all these people are now finally kind of stopping and going backwards of, okay, if I run out of food or if I run out of this, what, how do I sustain? What do I do? How do we help each other? What do we do? Those are thoughts that I’ve had for long times, like even my girlfriend is like, Oh my gosh, everything you’ve, [00:11:00] like, kind of talked about and I’ll make fun of you, you know.

It’s happening. Yeah, she’s like, oh, I’m so glad, you know. 

Hope: You’re like, I told you. 

Rebel: Yeah, and like, I mean, I pray every day, even before this virus, that like, for the, the state of the world to be peaceful and healthy, and that prayer and that attention hasn’t stopped. So it’s not that I’m like, oh, I’m glad this is happening.

I don’t say that I’m glad that it’s happening. I just know that it was inevitable. 

Hope: Right. Well, and I think, hopefully, and just a preface for everybody listening, because this will be, I’m hoping that by the time this goes out, all of this will be over. We’re in the middle of the coronavirus outbreak, and like, we’re all stuck inside, and yeah.

But, I mean, my hope, and I’m sure it’s for you, that, you know, of course nobody’s happy that it’s happened, but hoping that people can use it as a learning opportunity, right? Opportunity to make changes and to learn, right? I mean, that’s the good that comes out of these terrible situations. 

Rebel: Yeah, and just like, it’s [00:12:00] really just also showing us, like, if we just stop some things for even a week or two weeks, how quickly pollution clears in the sky in China, or how, you know, like, just this pause, like, just letting the Mother Earth take a breath.

Just like how powerful that is. If we just let her take breaths, you know? 

Hope: It’s crazy. Did you see the pictures of the canals in Venice in Italy? They’re like totally, you can go look it up after this. They’re like totally see, like you can see the bottom of the canal. You can see the fish. They’ve never been that clear.

Like we were there just a couple years ago. It’s insane. Like literally, like you were saying, Mother Earth is like, Oh, this is what, like, it’s crazy. 

Rebel: Yeah, and I think that stuff, like, really, like, hearing you speak, like, I’m getting emotional because it’s, like, I identify as, like, a Tejana, as an indigenous, like, woman, and so these are prayers that, like, my grandmothers and great grandmothers have had, and, like, you know, we’ve done ceremony after ceremony, and so to hear that, like, there’s a [00:13:00] real visceral emotional response because that is what we have been praying for, and just to let her have a breath because it affects.

It’s us, and all the living beings, and so quickly, and that’s all we’ve been asking, you know? Like, please let us just breathe for a moment, let us have clean water, it is a right not just for every human, it shouldn’t, it’s also for every living being, for the fishes to have clean water, for the turtles, for the birds to have clean air, it’s beyond, you know, just, you know.

The humans having that access to you know, and it’s something that we’ve talked about I was raised thinking you have to think of the seven generations before you would after you and so I hope that That message will also resonate more with world leaders of going. What are we doing to not just make profit today, right?

But they alive and healthy Generations. 

Hope: No, and I agree. I mean, I’m hoping the conversation changes. I’ve got another interview coming with I don’t know if you’ve ever heard of the organization kiss the ground You No, but they’re all about [00:14:00] regenerative farming And they’re doing a lot with that too like helping farmers with more sustainable methods to help protect the environment So i’m like I think more groups like that are gonna have to come out to like really make I mean because the government clearly You know, they don’t have our best interests at heart.

It’s all Corporations and lobbyists and all that so I think it is gonna take like these organizations and and and sadly enough I mean, I think it’s like things like this where like I’m anxious to see exactly like what the Effects are gonna be on the climate from like basically the world shutting down for it Like I want to see how big is it has to be huge I mean just seeing like you said the pollution in China and then I saw the canals in Venice Like I want to see kind of a global impact to see like like what’s possible like if we really Focused on making changes like this is really what could happen.

Oh, we can have clean water and air 

Rebel: Yeah and also like my heart really goes out to the people who are dying in massive numbers in Italy and in China and Iran and now the US in [00:15:00] different countries like I Want us to see this without having to also like You know, humans have to die, like, we don’t have to have humans die in order for us to take a pause, right?

Like, it is the state of the world right now, but I, hopefully we also realize that we don’t have to have that, like, we just need to, like, take breaks, or we need to stop certain mass productions of things. And we don’t have to lose humans in these vast amounts of numbers in order for it to happen. So I just want to say that because I don’t want people to like listen and be like, Oh God!

You’re just saying like, like, no, no, no, no, no, no, it’s okay! Of course! Yes! 

We can do it and all be alive. 

Hope: Yeah, we can all do our part to make the changes, rather than having a total catastrophe. Yeah. 

Rebel: Yes, I mean, because we’re all, I mean, all these numbers were already on the earth, you know? All these things are already here.

It’s like, if we just all pause, we can figure this out. 

Hope: So let’s switch gears and talk a little bit more specifically about your restaurant. So you kind of started your, your journey in California, and then you moved back here. So did you open the [00:16:00] restaurant right when you moved back? 

Rebel: Pretty much. 

It was about a year after I’d moved back that, that I opened La Botanica, and it was really because my friend owns a few bars on the same street.

Hope: Okay. 

Rebel: And this, Venue came available, but it was also zoned as a restaurant. So he was like, hey, I know you’re doing vegan food Do you want to like come together and do a vegan restaurant and bar? And I was like, okay Like I guess like I mean, I I’ve always been an entrepreneur and I’m not afraid to take risk But I like I said, I didn’t have a restaurant running experience So it was, it was a scary decision for me to make, but yeah, you know, that’s how it came about.

Hope: Which is a super cool area of town, I have to say. I really like that little, that little strip is really cool, where it is. Like, how would you describe that for people who haven’t been there? Like, kind of the vibe, like, you know? 

Rebel: Yeah, I mean, it’s basically like if you, you know, it’s a, Not as wild version of like an Austin 6th Street, or I’m forgetting the name of, you know, in [00:17:00] Louisiana, in New Orleans.

Hope: Yeah, Bourbon Street. 

Rebel: Yeah, you know where it’s like you have like the street line with bars and restaurants and people are walking and we don’t close the street off, but that’s, you know, kind of the vibe of just like, you know, you can go start in one start, one corner of the street and walk down and get to experience a lot of different locally owned restaurants and bars.

Hope: So, what, kind of talk a little bit about what your restaurant kind of focuses on. 

Rebel: Yeah, I mean it’s, it’s interesting because I really, I wanted it to be, go beyond being a restaurant, right? I mean, I knew just being a vegan place in Texas would make it different, but I also wanted it to be like a venue for not just music, but also community, non profits, and So, it was.

In the state of Texas, La Botanica is the first vegan restaurant with a full bar. Like, it was the first time it’s been done in the whole state. And so there was no, like, I couldn’t find someone who had done it before, right? Like, a blueprint and go, hey, [00:18:00] how did you do it? 

Hope: you kere starting from scratch. 

Rebel: Learning as you go. 

So, yeah, I mean, it was like, I wanted it to be cultural, I wanted it to be about healing, about plants, and not just plants as far as, like, eating, but also how we use plants for, you know, to heal ourselves. Like, an actual Botanica is, you know, A place where people go to find healing herbs, maybe even see a curandera to get a limpia.

And so I wanted that energy of healing to be vibrating out of the space. We work with a lot of like queer artists, a lot of LGBTQIA folks, trans folks, a lot that’s most of most of my staff is women of color. And we focus on healing. Even working with non profits so that they can do events there, raise money there.

So really kind of like making sure that there was space for like communities and organizations and movements that are on the fringe that might look down on. Like once a month there’s an abortion postcard writing like group that gets together and they just make postcards that are like [00:19:00] Say, like, positive messages, like abortion is normal, or just, like, and they have cute drawings and everything.

So it was things like that that I feel is really important to hold space for, on top of offering, like, delicious nachos and margarita. 

Hope: Yeah, it’s got a deeper purpose. Yeah, that’s awesome. Yeah. Yeah, I love that. I think the last time we were there, There was a little, like, shelter group for pit bulls, like, I don’t remember the name of it, but 

Rebel: Yeah, Alamo City Pit Bull, yes.

Hope: Yes, that’s what it was. Oh my gosh, it was like, it was a terrible time to come, because I wanted all of them, but Yes, yes. It was really cool. 

Rebel: Yeah, and that’s, yeah, they, they do an event every, a couple times a year, dog adoptions, and just and awareness and to even the species of pit bulls so they don’t get so stigmatized.

Hope: Yeah, exactly. I talked to one of the guys about it and he was, it was, yeah, it was really cool. I love that, that there’s a space for that. So you were the first vegan restaurant in Texas with a full bar [00:20:00] and restaurant. So are other vegan places just the restaurant? Is that the difference? 

Rebel: Yeah, I mean, what, like, in Austin, you would, you would assume that, like, maybe Austin would have had this one, right?

Like, in Austin, they would have, like, a food truck, and then there’d, like, be a bar next to it that you could walk into, right? It was the first time it was, like, all under one roof. Yeah, it’s so cool. And also a venue, right? Because we can do concerts, we do DJs, we do Private parties all those things. So it was the first time it was like done in the state under one roof.

Hope: That’s super cool So then with the menu that you have, I mean, I know we’ve tried basically everything there But when you were kind of coming up with the menu, how did you what was your approach to kind of come up with the menu I mean, obviously it’s you know, your culture plays a part into it But was that kind of the deciding factor on like what kind of food you wanted it to be?

Rebel: Yeah, absolutely. I wanted it to be taste and textures that, you know, a lot of us grew up with, just veganized it. And so that way, it would be easier for someone [00:21:00] who maybe had never tried a vegan meal to come in and taste something, smell something familiar, and then go, Oh, I can eat vegetarian. Oh, I can eat vegan.

Because, you know, for a lot of Latinos, or Tejanos, even from my end, like my, my first kind of like opening to a vegan meal, it was, it wasn’t my own food, it wasn’t Mexican rice and beans, right, it was like other things, like hummus, or granola, or like, right, so it was very like, foreign flavors and tastes, it’s like super delicious, but, It wasn’t familiar.

And so I thought, I think that’s what keeps a lot of people away from buying this. It’s like, they’ll be like, oh, that’s like white hippie food. 

Hope: Right, that’s exactly it. 

Rebel: It’s like, well, yeah, I mean, it can be in this country, right? Like, that’s the commercial, like, it’s played, but then it’s like, oh, Our people have been eating rice and beans and amaranth and a lot of these nopales, you know, for hundreds of years.

We’ve kind of gotten away from it. And so it’s also, it was also this thing about wanting to be, like, [00:22:00] educational, but in a fun way, right? And open, so. I often say, like, I just want it to be really good food that happened to be vegan, you know? And so you don’t see, like, if when you go into La Botanica, it’s not covered in, like, vegan all over the wall.

Because I knew five years ago, maybe now, that it’s more open. People understand the word. But five years ago when I moved back, I would say more than half of the people I ran into did not know what vegan meant at all. They maybe knew vegetarian, so they were just like, the vegan idea was very foreign to them.

Now it’s different. So I didn’t want to turn people off. I knew that vegans would come to La Botanica. Yes, they would. But what I really wanted was the non vegans to come to La Botanica. And that’s what’s happened. 

Hope: That’s awesome. So would you say the people that come in, is it a pretty good mix of people?

Like, obviously, like you said, the vegans find them. Is it a pretty good mix of people that come in? 

Rebel: Yeah, absolutely. But I would say the majority of people who come into our restaurant are not vegan. 

Hope: Not vegan, yeah. 

Rebel: Yeah, and it’s all different, like, generations. It’s all different, [00:23:00] kind of, culturals and nationalities and identities that will come in and, and try the food and, and like it.

Hope: So, for those who haven’t been, that are going to want to try after they hear this. So just tell like a few of the best, I guess a few of your best dishes that you have. Like, they’re all good. I’ve literally tried like half of them. 

Rebel: Yeah, I mean, our, our like most popular, like people love nachos. I think people just love nachos in this town.

Hope: Tell what, what do your nachos, like what are your nachos like? Cause they’re not just nachos.

Rebel: Yeah, well, they’re made, like I get all our tortilla products. From a local store here called Adelita’s and I used to go to Adelita’s as a child. I could walk to it from my home It has since moved but they make like fresh masa and corn tortillas and flour tortillas that are naturally like without dairy You don’t have to put any dairy in flour tortillas, again, probably the milk industry inserted themselves into that as well.

But, traditionally, like, flour [00:24:00] tortillas don’t have milk. So, basically, we get, they make our chips for us, and then we fry them, so it comes with, like, freshly fried chips. We make our own vegan cheese that gets put on there, as well as we get our tempeh. We season it, but we get it from a local grower out in Austin, so it’s organic tempeh.

And then we make our own avocado crema, and slaw, and our own escabeche, which is like pickled jalapeños, onion, and carrots. And that’s what goes on top. 

Hope: So delicious. So, when you were making the menu, did you come up with the menu yourself? 

Rebel: In the beginning, I had a friend. Her name is Arabella Daniels. She’s from Mississippi, grew up also in Louisiana.

She’s one of the best cooks, chefs, I’ve ever met in my life. She’s a friend of mine. And She would, like, joke about vegans because she used to have to cook for, like, different, like, work with, um, this organization called the Immokalee Farm Workers, and they would have this, like, conference once a year in Immokalee, Florida, and try to get higher wages for tomato pickers, and out in the Florida [00:25:00] area, and do demonstrations around, like, Wendy’s and McDonald’s to raise their prices and pay their workers.

Farm workers more so she would joke about how she would like be one of the cooks at this conference And she’s like I hate the vegans like why can’t they just eat like what we’re making? I mean, she’s Louisiana and like Mississippi, right? It’s a lot of meat as well and a lot of butter a lot of butter It’s a lot of French cooking so but at the time I was just like I knew I was scared to do it alone So I was like, hey Arabella Will you like help me like cook and put a menu together and It was just great timing.

She needed a job and, and she was like, okay, and so she helped me. So there’s like menu items on there that are like our rice balls. She created that. It’s red beans and rice with like a Cajun seasoning. She created our sugar bombs, which is one of our desserts. We sometimes have a dish called corn mock chew on there as well.

So she really helped me and she also has a lot of cooking from her mother in law, who’s from Veracruz. [00:26:00] So, as far as, like, salsas and different things, like, she really, like, helped as well. She’s a teacher, that was her dream job, so she didn’t stay at Botanica long, but I definitely did not start the menu alone and wouldn’t have, you know, been where I am now without her help and friendship.

So yeah, she did help me. 

Hope: So not only do you have this restaurant, but then you have this other business too, where you make beauty products, right? And that’s still along the vegan line. Like they’re kind of all connected. 

Rebel: Absolutely. 

Hope: When did that start? Alluring Alchemist, right? 

Rebel: Yeah. Yeah. The Alluring Alchemist.

So that is also its own journey, right? I was, I have a friend. Her name is Liz Caldwell. She, she actually was running the Allured Alchemist and I found her at a vegan market. I tried her products. I loved her products. I loved her and I messaged her one day and I was like, hey, I’d love to, you know, sell your products out at La Botanica or work with you in a way where we can kind of like move these serums.

She’s making [00:27:00] serums and masks. And she messaged me back. She’s like, actually, you know, I can’t do both of my companies. Cause she had another one called the granola goat. And she had started the allured alchemist with a friend, but then her friend had found her dream job and like left. And so Liz was there kind of juggling both brands and trying to figure it out.

She was like, but if you want to like buy it for me or acquire it, you know, let’s talk. And, you know, I kind of thought about it and I was like, well, you know, from a business standpoint, I love the product. It would help to diversify, but I wasn’t really, like, in a position to, you know, buy another company out or something, so.

But we worked something out. We worked out a deal, and so I now own the Lone Alchemist. I’ve added products to it, like smudge kits, candles. I learned from Liz, like, how to make, you know, the serums and the masks. I still work with her to make some of the products, because I feel like I don’t want to mess up a good thing.

Hope: Right, right. 

Rebel: And, like, she Reiki’s. She Reiki’s all of our serums. So, you know, they have really good vibes. And [00:28:00] I’m not a Reiki master, so I let her continue to do that work. But yeah, I mean, that’s kind of how it happened. It was just like, it made sense. I love the product. And I thought, sure, you know, I didn’t want the brand to die. And so, now I’m running it. 

Hope: So was it already, like, vegan and all of that when she was doing it? 

Rebel: Yeah, Liz is vegan. It was already vegan. It was already cruelty free. She had all of, you know, like, the certification. She had the website. She had, everything was already kind of running. It was just not, it was just being neglected, right?

Like, she wasn’t, like, really pushing it. 

Hope: Yeah. So then do you do this like out of your house? Like where are you like concocting all of this? 

Rebel: Yeah, I mean I concoct like the candles and the smudge kits and stuff. I run it out of my house. That’s crazy Yeah, and then I do local markets right now I mean we have you can order online but i’ll set up at different markets push the product. 

Hope: Yeah, so where would where would people find this?

Rebel: Just go to theallureanalchemist. com. Okay, that’s super cool. So, I guess for people who are kind of, like, maybe [00:29:00] interested in, like, dabbling in the vegan world, or, like, I guess what would be your, because you’ve kind of brought both perspectives, right? The health perspective and the ethical perspective.

Hope: What tips, I guess, would you give people who are kind of dabbling and kind of don’t know where to start? Like, what tips would you give people? 

Rebel: For going vegan, or, Yeah, I think like you, I mean, like anything, you have to find out what motivates you, right? If you’re motivated by, like, animals and them being happy, then just keep researching and understanding how harmful, you know, like, drinking milk and eating and buying animal products is.

But I always tell people start small, you know, because I think, like, once you realize how much animal products is around you, you can feel overwhelmed, like, oh my god, I can’t buy anything, I can’t drink anything, I can’t eat anything, you know. So I always tell people, because it was my first step, is to cut dairy out.

Cut out any kind of animal dairy out of your life, start, start there. Because it also creates a huge health, you know, impact. [00:30:00] Oftentimes when people cut milk out of their lives, they breathe better, they feel better, you know? So, I think if you can get someone feeling something right away and kind of understanding how it does help them.

They’re more likely to kind of be like, okay, so I saw just so I recommend people take baby steps I mean there are some hardcore vegans out out there that are like went cold turkey and have been vegan for like 15 years and Like my hat is off to them, but it probably took me 15 years to go vegan when I think about it, you know 

Hope: It’s a journey.

Rebel: It is a journey. Yeah, and so I think that’s important to understand too that it’s gonna look different like your friend might be You know started for a different reason that one motivates you. So don’t worry About that, you know, your journey doesn’t look like someone else’s and also like when people are hard on themselves like oh I messed up or like I was doing it for six months and then, like, I had a burger, or I went to my, like, you know, for culturally, like, I have a friend who makes a term called Rancho Vegan, and for her, she’s like, culturally, sometimes, like, if an abuela puts a plate in front of you, you really [00:31:00] can’t say no.

Hope: Right? You can’t turn it down. 

Rebel: It’s like, yeah, we’re like, you know, you’re a Rancho Vegan, like, we get it. I like that. So I always tell people, like, oh, I messed up, or like, I got, and I’m like, you didn’t mess up, like, it’s okay, like, just keep moving forward, because people can really, I think people can beat themselves up a little too much, or be too harsh on themselves, and it’s like, if you do anything to cut animal products out of your life, like, thumbs up to you.

Hope: Yeah, exactly, you’re helping everybody, yeah! Yeah, like, 

Rebel: thumbs up to you, man, like, if you’re recycling, if, also, like, thumbs up to you, like, you could call yourself a vegan, I really feel like, People who are just considering the planet and considering the health of themselves and the planet and animals, then technically you can call yourself a vegan, you know?

Like, I’m not a vegan, police. I think there, it should be a broader term, you know, our definition, so. 

Hope: No, for sure. So then what would be, what is kind of your purpose moving forward with your businesses, since you have more than one? Like, so you’re, I’m sure, you know, the initial purpose is there. It was, you know, kind of the vegan [00:32:00] factor, but I guess how has it evolved and how is it changing?

Where do you see it going? 

Rebel: Well, I mean it’s interesting, right, for that question to happen in the midst of like what we’re going through, right? Because right now it’s, it’s just like, will my restaurant survive this? Right. Depending on how long this, you know, like COVID 19, you know, epidemic, hama demic, pan demic?

Uh huh. Pandemic, you know, last, you know? We are small business. We have only been around for five years. It really depends. One on how this happens, you know, I have to be honest So you have a contingency plan that if La Botanica. it doesn’t make it like what does that look like or how does it survive it? If it doesn’t survive it as a brick and mortar, right?

Like there’s so that is something that I wasn’t thinking about two weeks ago But I mean, I think I like any business owner. You just you want to see your business grow You want to see it evolve in a way that is healthy for the community? If that means opening another location somewhere so people have more access, you know, i’m always down for that or teaching others how to like start their own version of la botanica in their own city because I feel like The [00:33:00] model i’ve set for la botanica is it’s I couldn’t it’s not cookie cutter Like I couldn’t take it out of san antonio and just put Houston right I could take in a shell of it And then I’d have to work with like local Houston activists and like community members so that they could evolve into like what Houston needed As well, so I feel like if I were to franchise or do something like that That’s what it would have to be.

You know, it’d have to be this kind of different version It couldn’t be better and the brand like the Alorn Alchemist Yeah, I would love to just like expand it more have more time to like put into it get more products I have very loyal customers, the people who use the serums, the masks, like they swear by them, you know, people have skin issues.

They use a serum. They love it. As soon as they’re running low. They’re like I have to order now Like I can’t you know, they try to go without it and they’re like, you know, their skin breaks out again So I just need it. So just be more awareness around the brand. 

Hope: So I like to ask everyone this question to kind of tie everything together because I You’ve talked a lot about your purpose with the vegan world and kind of your inner activists and you’ve kind of put those together.[00:34:00] 

So, what would you say would be the most important thing people can do or the most important change they can make to live with purpose? 

Rebel: I mean, again, it’s, I don’t know what people think in their heads, but I feel like, I think a lot of people do search for purpose, you know, and like a bigger meaning and I think that if you just close your eyes, And kind of quiet the noise a little bit, you know, and you can start, like, doing it two minutes a day, you know, just trying to sit in silence.

I think that your purpose will present itself. Even just asking every day, like, hey, universe, what’s my purpose? And it will slap you in the face, you know, eventually. 

Hope: Totally. I agree. 

Rebel: You like, I think just even asking it. And asking it knowing that it’s out there and it’s inside you just maybe have pushed it down a little bit but it’s there everyone does have a purpose and and also I think to get away from the ego because I feel like What is also happening right now?

Is that like we’re understanding how superficial we’ve been [00:35:00] for so long And I think a lot of us we don’t know our purpose because we’re looking for it on a superficial level We think it has to be us being, like, hyper rich or hyper famous. And if we’re not those things, then we don’t really have a purpose.

And, like I said, I was a nanny for ten years. Keeping someone’s child alive is a big purpose. in the youth alive, serving someone their meal is a beautiful purpose, keeping a school clean is a beautiful purpose, even if society in the mass, or like the bigger picture doesn’t really value it, it’s like, there’s extremely big purposes to have.

I hope that this also kind of helps us adjust and realize, like, I think we are really realizing grocery workers, how important and purposeful their life is. Like, two weeks ago, someone checking someone out at the groceries might have thought, Man, I just, I, this is just what I am. This is just my job. And it’s like, you’re a hero, you know?

Hope: Exactly. 

Rebel: And they’ve been heroes, that’s the thing. It’s like, we’re just now seeing it. But those [00:36:00] are beautiful purposes. So I think that also, yeah, just like quieting the ego so that you can understand. 

Hope: Everybody has, everybody has a role. I think that’s another cool thing that I was talking about this the other day with my husband, like, I find it really cool that we’re all seeing how interconnected we are.

And like, everybody has a role, like, in the world, right? Like, we all have our own purpose and our own role. And I think it’s becoming more evident now that we’re feeling that connectedness. And I think that’s really cool. 

Rebel: Yeah, absolutely. 

Hope: Well, thank you so much, Rebel, for talking to me today. And then just tell, I know you talked about your restaurant and your line of beauty, but where can people find you specifically?

Rebel: Yeah, if you just Google Rebel Mariposa or at Rebel Mariposa, you can find me on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook. I have my own website. 

Hope: Cool! Perfect. Thank you so much. 

Rebel: You’re welcome. Thank you. I appreciate your time. And thank you for the great questions. 

Hope: Thanks for listening to Hopeful and Wholesome, y’all. If you found value in this week’s episode, please subscribe on iTunes [00:37:00] wherever you get your podcasts and leave a review to let me know what you thought.

I love to know what you find useful in these episodes so I know how I can provide the most value I can to my listeners. And if you have topics that you want to know more about, I’d love to hear those as well. So shoot me a message on Instagram, Facebook, or LinkedIn. It’s at thehopepadraza or visit my website, hopefulandwholesome.com. Thanks y’all.