Where We Go From Here: The Future of Bite Size Vegan

[audible sound of wind, ongoing]

Wow, it's just not stopping, is it?

Now it's very bright out.

Now I'm going to look really upset.

It's very windy....

There's a tree attacking me...

This is going very well...

Hi it's Emily from Bite Size Vegan…

again…

Before I go into anything else, I want to
first thank each and every one of you for

your incredibly supportive messages and comments.

I am doing my best to respond to as many as
I possibly can, and want you all to know how

very much they mean to me.

I’ve also received questions about the logistical
details I crammed in towards the very end

of my last video and the financial and team-building
aspects I covered in the additional video

I posted publicly on Patreon.

Given my penchant for pathological over-informing—I’m
working on it—I thought it might be beneficial

to re-address these briefly and bring the
additional video directly to the channel.

It will follow this introduction.

While I am taking a step back from YouTube,
I’m not going on vacation—don’t let

this breathtaking backdrop fool you.

It’s a parking lot…behind my building.

There’s like a dumpter right over there.

I’ll be working full time, just not in as
visible a manner as I always have.

And actually working on keeping it to JUST
full-time to allow for some sleepage and much-neglected

self-care stuff.

One things I’ll be focusing on is in person
education, which I have really been enjoying—and

have upcoming public speeches at Michigan
and Cleveland VegFests. and.

A great way to stay informed is to sign up
for the free Nugget Newsletter at BiteSizeVegan.com,

and follow me on Instagram, Facebook, and
kinda Twitter.

One major project on my plate is to revamp
the website with a primary focus on making

the content more navigable, searchable, and
easily accessed.

The site has been on the backburner for some
time, and from the inquiries I receive regularly,

it seems many videos have gotten lost in the
volume of output.

My primary goal with the content has always
been to make free information as openly and

easily accessible as possible, which calls
for a far more dynamic indexing of topics

than currently exists on the site.

For those of you with more questions about
autism, I would really encourage you to check

out the resources on the blog post and in
the description of this and the previous video.

As much as I would love to create an entire video
series—and trust me, I considered it—

and possibly like a whole other channel—

there are so many great resources available
from incredible autistic activists and self-advocates.

Besides, doing so would kinda defeat the purpose
of shifting focus from YouTube to my list

of other neglected priorities.

For my autistic, Aspie, and neurodivergent
peeps, thank you for the incredible gift of

feeling heard and understood, and for sharing
your experiences with me so openly.

For anyone who’s written that watching me has inspired or helped you in any way

to believe more in yourself,

I wanted to share my response to "MEH NAME"

MEH— [tries different pronunciations]

MEH NAME?

MEH NAME?

Whom I actually got to meet at my Ireland talk

It was an awesome convergence of awkward, spectacular to behold, I’m sure...

I'll just say that if you watched me in the day-to-day,

you might just gain the confidence to rule the world.

I'm a fully-flawed, fumbling frequent-failer
(who fancies herself some alliteration).

But I for one find there's little to learn from "perfection."

Give me the messy imperfect path, every time.

And now, for your viewing pleasure, no longer
behind the insurmountable journey of a new

tab in your browser,

the additional video dealing with the down and dirty details and future of Bite Size Vegan.

Hi it's Emily from Bite Size Vegan and welcome
to a vegan nugget addendum, I suppose?

Get ready for some edge-of-your-seat logistics.

Yep…

I wanted to take this opportunity to discuss
some practical and financial aspects of Bite

Size Vegan that I’ve covered in my more
informal videos on the channel and far more

frequently here on Patreon with my Nugget
Army.

I decided to make this a public post open
to anyone, patron or not, wanting more information

about the long term goals of Bite Size Vegan
and the upcoming changes being made in order

to reach them.

As I said in the main video on my channel,
I have been and remain the limiting factor

in not only increasing the reach of Bite Size
Vegan’s free educational content, but even

maintaining the regular video output while
taking on additional commitments.

Even when reducing to one video week, the
process of building the necessary system for

a volunteer team, among other projects for
long-term sustainability, requires more time

and focused then I have been able to give
with my current workload.

I’m incredibly fortunate to have the support
I do from my Nugget Army on Patreon.

Having worked since I was 12 years old, through
high school, college and grad school,

and paid off my loans before graduating, I’ve
never expected nor been comfortable asking

for support.

So it was rather terrifying launching my Patreon
page, which at the time, was a rather unknown

platform in the vegan YouTube community.

I was certain I’d post the announcement
video and no one would come.

The fact that anyone voluntarily chose to
support Bite Size Vegan was astounding to

me—I still find it surreal and terrifically
uncomfortable.

The Nugget Army has not only made the continuance
of Bite Size Vegan videos possible, but also

allowed me to accept more of the speaking
invitations I receive from around the world—along

with the help of some pretty awesome corner
markets and AirBnB finds.

Of course, with travel and speaking come the
demands of months of intensive research, writing,

and visual presentation creation for each
speech, all in addition to team-building and

overall restructuring efforts, ever-mounting
emails and messages, and of course maintaining

the regular content, which itself progressively
intensified in depth of research and citations,

and level of editing, cutting into more and
more sleep time to try and keep up.

It would be unsustainable for anyone, I’d
imagine, regardless of ability and neurotype.

I think being Autistic has simultaneously
been a great strength and vulnerability—allowing

me to work on Bite Size Vegan close to every
waking hour for a significant period of time,

but also requiring considerations and supports
that I’ve failed to understand and secure.

For example, travelling is incredibly stressful,
as is even the slightest change in routine

and surroundings.

The back-to-back nature of my trips, and high
volume of interactions, logistical alterations

and sensory input hasn’t allowed for the
decompression and sensory soothing so vital

for the neurological needs of an autistic
brain.

So while the workload and stressors have continued
to mount, my ability to handle them has continually

decreased to a point of diminishing returns.

This is why it’s so important that I take
the time to learn about and find the needed

supports for myself, as well as focus on building
a solid foundation for bringing on a team

rather than trying to do so on the side of
everything else.

I’ve had many offers from individuals wanting
to volunteer over the years, and appreciate

every single one.

But for each task or project, I created tutorials,
trainings and some method of communicating

and tracking progress.

Multiply this over all of the aspect of sustaining
and growing Bite Size Vegan and it quickly

becomes bottlenecked through me.

This is the Catch 22 I mentioned in the main
video: that in order to take on the help needed

for me to continue, I must put in more time
and energy than ever before right when my

mind and body have nothing left to give.

And even the tightest system achieves nothing
if I’m the one managing the team.

In reality I’d be in the same position if
not worse.

Hence the need for one or more volunteer coordinator/project
manager/all-around-awesome individuals to

handle the bulk of the behind-the-scenes aspects
that have grown so much as to eclipse any

ability of mine to continue with regular content.

I’m hoping to have kick–ass vegan fill
this position relatively soon so we can spend

this time really building a strong foundation
for a team.

Regarding the existing Patreon income, I’ve
done my best to create transparency as to

the allocation of pledges based on average
expenses and last year’s taxes.

This is not anything Patreon builds into the
platform, and I plan to update and improve

it over time.

I’ve told my patrons from the start to feel
free to ask any questions or voice any concerns.

And to always put their needs and financial
security first.

I also receive comments and messages on other
platforms of people apologizing for not being

able to pledge money on Patreon, and always
let them know that there is absolutely no

pressure to pledge and to never discount the
incredible support of watching, liking, commenting,

and especially sharing the videos.

Given my total lack of promotion know-how,
every single bit of help furthering the reach

of Bite Size Vegan’s educational content
is a greater support than I can possibly explain.

Never apologize for nor discount the impact
of that action.

I want to thank each and every one of you
for your support and encouragement over the

years.

I am profoundly grateful and very fortunate
to have the privilege of doing the work that

I do.

As scary as this change will be, I know it
is so incredibly important to finally take

the time to evaluate the most effective way
forward for Bite Size Vegan to further the

reach of vegan message through open access
educational content.

Moving forward with forethought will accomplish
far more than maintaining a regular output

while treading water.

To my Nugget Army, again I can never thank
you enough.

Of course, I’m going to be taking you along
this journey with me—as long as you’ll

have me.

And in fact you might actually be seeing more
of me.

So get excited.

If you are not part of the Nugget Army and
want to join us, I for one would be honored

to have you in the family.

I will continue to do the very best that I
can to make the truth as accessible as possible.

Thank you for standing with me.

We’re only just getting started.

One good thing about meeting me in person—especially if you want to take a picture—

is if you ever want a photo where you look... the least awkward you've ever looked in your life..

and really tall... just take it with me.

By comparison, it would be like a
glamour shot of a basketball player.

There's a squirrel right there.

A little black squirrel.

Hi, little black squirrel

Can you see him?

Oh, he left.