Before I started eating vegan, I never really cared whether someone was vegan. I was definitely intrigued whenever I ever came across someone who was vegan. I thought it was cool and admirable, but always had that voice in the back of my head saying: “Good for them, but I could never do that”. Silly, past-Kariannimal. Just look at you now! Since I’ve entered into a committed relationship with veganism, my ears tend to perk up whenever I hear that someone else is vegan. I start researching their thoughts, opinions, and vegan origin stories (PSA: Once Marvel finishes all of the X-Men Origins movies, they will be moving onto V-Gan Origins). That being said, here are a few of My Vegan Idols:

YouTubers: Jenna Mourey & Julien Solomita

I’ve been watching Jenna Mourey (aka JennaMarbles) on YouTube for over 7 years now. She is an amazingly beautiful young woman who is hilarious, but is also very real, very weird, and therefore very relatable. Her boyfriend, Julien Solomita, frequently vlogs and has an inspiring channel called Last Minute Trips where he and his buddy, Collin Duddy, go on (you guessed it) last minute trips to wherever a dart lands on a map. Jenna has been fully vegan for several years now after an on-and-off vegan diet. I’ve watched as Julien slowly decreased the amount of meat in his already-restrictive (celiac) diet and took the final step of eliminating sushi to go full-on vegan. Jenna and Julien are my idols in so many ways other than veganism, but this just adds on to the reasons I look up to them. They do not mention their diet often which contradicts the common perception of vegans (guilty – it’s new and exciting so I tend to talk, post, and think about it a lot), yet they do manage to throw in a vlog here and there about vegan dishes they cook in J&J’s Kitchen and sometimes discuss veganism on the weekly Jenna + Julien Podcast.

Movie Star: Steve-O

I was never a fan of Jackass. I actually thought it was pretty dumb. It wasn’t until just recently that I saw Steve-O on one of our favorite YouTube series, Hot Ones, that I ever thought twice about him. The whole concept of Hot Ones is interviewing celebrities as they eat progressively hotter and hotter wings. Steve-O was eating vegan “wings” (shoutout to host, Sean Evans, for having vegan wings available and eating them with his vegan guests). He describes his decision to become vegan as simple: “if you don’t want to suffer and/or die as a result of any of [a majority of cases of cancer, heart disease, diabetes, obesity, and multiple sclerosis], then the most important move you can possibly make is to cut animal-based foods out of your diet and exercise regularly”. Amen, Steve-O! Although I wouldn’t consider Steve-O one of my lifelong idols, he has definitely showed me that even the people you would least expect it from (the guy stapled his balls to his leg for God’s sake!) can have a compassionate, health-driven lifestyle void of animal products (and alcohol – you go, Steve-O).

Athlete (Strongman): Patrik Baboumian

Confession: I do not know much about Patrik. But just LOOK at him! In what world is this gentle giant not inspirational?! Patrik Baboumian is a German bodybuilder who has been vegan since 2011. He encourages others to at least try a vegan diet to benefit their own health and the environment stating that nowadays there are no excuses not to. Now let’s get to the good part: He weighs in at 225lbs, bench presses 210kg (463lb), deadlifts 360kg (794lb), and has set a world record by lifting a 150kg (330lb) beer keg over his head. If that’s not idol material, I don’t know what is!

Honorable Mentions

Woody Harrelson, Samuel L. Jackson, Travis Barker, Miley Cyrus, James Cameron, Betty White, Waka Flocka Flame, Rob Zombie, Olivia Wilde, Jenny McCarthy, Kat Von D, Demi Lovato, Ellen Page, Flo Rida, Andre 3000 Benjamin, Carrie Underwood, Ariana Grande, Venus Williams

That’s all for now, folks! Please share your vegan idols in the comments below.