Pioneering healthy plant-based food for dogs in Vancouver

Laura Simonson and I go way back to 2012 when we met at a now-defunct business meetup for impact-focused business owners. At the time, she had just developed the concept for what is now Virchew.

Laura previously ran a vegan meetup in Vancouver, which I attended a few times as I got more immersed in my plant-based journey, so she’s a big part of that, as well as being one of the OG members of VEG Networking Canada. I’m proud to call her not just a client, but a friend.

Justin Manning: Hello everyone. Welcome to another episode of VEG Networking Canada. We’re going to begin with our land acknowledgement. It is important that we acknowledge, honor, and respect that many of us are located on the traditional, ancestral, unseated territories of many indigenous peoples of Canada. Well, here we are again, VEG Networking Canada, where vegan, plant-based companies connect and collaborate. Today, we have a special guest with us who has a knack for predicting trends in the natural health and fitness industries. She is a passionate lover of canines and all animals, an avid outdoor nature enthusiast. And when it comes to business, she has a background in sales, marketing and management. VEG Networking Canada is pleased to introduce the founder and sales and marketing lead at Virchew, Laura Simonson. Welcome Laura.

Laura Simonson: Thank you. Thank you. Looking forward to this. This is great, and I’m really glad to be back here. It’s been a while since I’ve been able to participate, and I’m really glad Sandra, we had that quick chat.

JM: Well, we are so happy for you to be here and share more about your business and your own personal story as evergreen content so it can live forever in the ether that is the internet.

So why don’t you start and tell us, and those who will be listening a little bit later, more about your own personal vegan, plant-based origin story.

LS: Definitely, it actually goes way back to 1988, 1989. My sister decided to leave the oil and gas business in Calgary to pursue a life of her own. And she ended up becoming vegetarian, as she was traveling Asia and India back then. And she came home, and she always had a big influence on me. She’s been a phenomenal sister. And her one thing that she said to me, that she learned as she was traveling Indian Asia, was to learn about, you know, just how treating animals and people, etc. And she said, “You know, I realized that after she saw a bumper sticker that said, ‘if you eat me, you’re a living graveyard.”

And I remember it was a big one at the time. And being an animal lover, I was [working at] a seniors’ home. I was there throughout my many years in seniors, for 10 years, you know, different in different categories and areas. But I ended up—the dietetic was the most important to me. So I saw what people were eating was directly related to their health. I could see the amount of meat that we were feeding, the amount of dairy that we were giving seniors. And it just started to connect for me. And then the other was, I definitely John Robbins’ book, Diet for a New America. That was the big, the big, you know, eye-opener when I started to read about what veal actually was, and just had one of those when your soul gets cracked open. And that was one of the experiences, for sure. So that was the start of it.

JM: Wow. So that goes back quite a ways, and some pretty impactful pieces there that we’ll get we’ll touch on a little bit later, but switching gears, and of course, you’re going to take, you know, impact driven entrepreneurs tend to take their personal story and kind of lead as well into their business. So,

Why don’t you tell us a little bit more about where your entrepreneurial spirit and that spark really started?

LS: You know, I’ve been saying since I became an entrepreneur, and I’m unemployable. I really am. I’m unemployable. I’ve always seen whenever I’ve been working with other companies, and even at the seniors home, I was always implementing new ideas, and they loved that. They were very, very open to the growth of that. It was really, really great. They empowered me, which was great.

And then I was in a real estate company that I started in a condo conversion company in Calgary, and it was a really, really extraordinary experience where I was working with people that work on the personal growth industry. So they actually owned a personal growth company, and then they went into real estate. So everybody that worked there had all taken the courses they were all into, you know, personal growth and a career. And they were really empowering to me, too. And I realized as I was doing the real estate, I was really more of an entrepreneur. I had a lot of my own time. I got to implement ideas. I got to be really, really involved with understanding what sales and marketing really was.

And so for me, my origin started…My mom said it probably started when I was one or two. Apparently, I was really into puzzles that were for, you know, much older children. So I used to put puzzles together really easily. And so that’s what I do today, and I always have done is, I realized during the real estate days, during those days at the dietary home, seeing how things were connected, what we eat, what we do, how we act, what we feed, our brain, what we feed our soul connects. It affects all of us and connecting each other.

So to me it was a no brainer, literally, to go into the entrepreneur world, because I felt I needed to be a part of something that made a difference, something that, literally, we where you can have money and meaning, to me, that’s everything you can have money and meaning it’s a beautiful life. So that’s really, you know, for me, where those ideas started, and then after that, I just started to go for it. I opened up a studio in Calgary, a health and wellness studio after I finished real estate, and by that time, I had 27 staff. I was very fortunate again, that company really helped to empower me to be more than what I could see at the time.

And I ended up saying, if I can do that, if I can manage some people that were double my age in real estate, and, you know, being, of course, we were very like I never felt like a boss at that time, because that wasn’t my experience. It was more about working with people. It was so life-changing. And I realized, if I can do that with this and this group, I believe I can open my own, you know, health and wellness, because I was so into it. I was telling everybody the office what to eat. I was cooking vegetarian for them back then.

There was no vegan word, and it was just such a cool experience. And so I started a fitness and health company in Calgary, had my own studio, and from there, I was hooked. I get to share the vegetarian story. I get to share my fitness story, because I also have been back way back then, I went in bodybuilding—very cool experience. And I wanted to share all the fitness I wanted to share what that did for my mind, body, spirit, and it just went from there. I’ve never looked back, and I’ve been unemployable since then.

JM: Yeah, I was just going to say, that’s so funny. I saw some smiles there talking about being unemployable as an entrepreneur. That’s funny. And also give me the idea in terms of, like, giving back clearly, you have a passion for seniors. You probably still do. In my mind, I’m just thinking of a virtue puzzle that you could give to them so they could build their brain health and all these cool things. So no pressure here. Considering the off the top, we talked about you having a knack for spotting trends, and that is the next question for you in your industry, which you know is interesting, right? It’s the plant-based animal food business. So in that…

What are some trends that you’re noticing?

LS: Yeah, it’s, it’s been many years I, you know, I started to explore this. You know, Helen has been a part of helping me with communications and getting my story out. In 1989, when I read John Robbins’ book. around that same time, I was in Saskatoon at a really, really interesting little bookstore that was odd. It was a mix of natural products and books, and unique books. And I was on this bottom shelf books that vegetarian cats and dogs and that it stuck. And so, you know, go 2001 when I decided the studio in Calgary I wanted to get—I’ve always had wanted a Border Collie. So I ended up getting a Border Collie. I ended up making her a vegetarian dog. And so I started to see for myself and through the people that saw her through all of these years, and then the last 10 years, 12 years now, where we started the concept of a plant-based food brand for dogs. And the trends are very much so the humanization trends.

So we’re just like we would, you know, obviously for our children, we want them to be healthy. If we see how much plants can make a difference for their health, people are starting to do that. Of course, wanting their dogs, because dogs are becoming more than what they were back in our parents’ generation. Time would have been…some of them were outside, some of them were farm dogs. They weren’t family members. Now they’re family members. It’s just not a question. They’re family members. So there’s two sides to this.

I think the humanization is fantastic, because I think what it does like us is we start to think differently about what we eat and what we’re actually, you know, what we’re consuming and how it impacts not only our body, but everything and everyone around us. And I so I think that’s a good thing about people questioning why, you know, can I feed my dog plants rather than meat for health reasons, even if it’s for that, or what we’re finding and what we’re targeting is because up to 50% of dogs could have, or more could have an allergy to animal proteins. So knowing all that and understanding all that, and going into the humanization of it, I think it’s really good. Then there’s the other side. It’s not so good because dogs are not human, and so we do have where people are making guesses as to what to feed their dog, and they’re, they’re creating hybrid diets, and, you know, and I now being in it, and we work with a lot of veterinarians, and, of course, veterinary nutritionists, and I realized it’s a very different game.

I used to think, “Oh, she can have all that, because that’s what I researched.” And, you know, because nobody was really doing…all the way back 20 years ago, and now it’s now we know more. And so I’m, I’m very much that the trends should not be, that it’s all that a dog can have, everything that a human does. It’s just not true. And so we do need to be aware of that.

And so my passion is, how do we educate? You know, all of us on our companion animals, and especially dogs, of course, and what we can feed them, and to follow the advice just like I do of following the advice of our vegan medical leaders, right? So that would be the main trend that I’m seeing is definitely, of course, and most are seeing it. Seeing it is humanization of dogs diets, and it really isn’t necessarily a good thing.

JM: Very, very interesting, sort of a double edged sword trend on that one. And yeah, it, it kind of goes along the line of companion animals, sort of in the legal system being fought for in terms of having personhood right, and really transforming them from being someone instead of something very interesting, very interesting. So in terms of Virchew…

Where is your company going in the future?

LS: You know, I started this because I have a passion again, for making a very big difference. And I was an A type personality. I’ve really calmed that. I’ve done a lot of personal growth work to realize that’s not necessarily a good thing. However, it has always stuck that I want to make a very big impact and‌ thankfully, my partner in life and business, we both felt that way. And so when we started this concept, it was to do as well as we possibly could internationally. And obviously, if that makes a difference globally, great.

Our goal was also to impact other companies. It could be impacting universities. Academia are doing the research for plant-based foods for animals. And so for us, it was a big concept of, “Okay, look, we can make a difference” in…I don’t know if you’ve—one of my favorites I didn’t write this one down, but one of my favorite books is Blue Ocean Strategy. You know, where you’re in that red sea versus you’ve got that beautiful blue ocean? And we’ve been in the blue ocean for a while, and I continue to look at that. Where we are in the blue ocean side of it, and to see that actually in the blue ocean, we got to share too. You got to take care of each other. We need to share the information that we’re learning so that there are other companies that come about.

So for us, it really is to be a first international, very successful business, so that we can have the choice. Do we want to stay private, or do we want to have a merger with a vegan fund or a vegan company that would share the same values that we do? So international first is my goal, and [ ] is our next large launch coming up. Then from there, we’ll be seeking to, of course, United States.

JM: Awesome.

LS: So Justin too, yeah, I was going to say is to be very clear, because this is where I get a platform to share this is, that this is not a dog food company where there’s much more in the canine nutrition company. It’s not about comparing to, again, in that red sSea. It’s about, how are we adapting, our adapting to having a plant based food for dogs that the veterinarians are all in support of. So that’s why we went out and we interviewed veterinarians all over the Vancouver area. We have, actually, you know, some United States that are, we have 12 shareholder veterinarians.

So our goal was that that industry is also part of our, very much a part of our business model. So yes, there are representatives, yes, there are corporations, and there are prescription diets, etc. However, what we’re seeing and what we’re hearing and getting feedback from our veterinarian partners is that we’re not the same. We are doing things very differently, and that they hear, they see the data, because we are direct, we don’t have to wait a week, right? So we literally talk to customers who have been referred by the vets, and we’re actually getting their information that the vets didn’t wouldn’t have got, because they go away, they go by and it’s a different store, and they don’t come back to talk about what’s occurred for them in the diet. So we’re really building strong nutrition programs and things that haven’t ever existed in canine nutrition. They’re always behind the scenes in your universities, where it is corporately sponsored, where most of those foods, of course, are kibble, and they’re bought. They’re bought off, and they don’t know it. That’s not what’s meant—you know, the doctors are there. The students are wanting to become doctors, yet that’s how those universities are funded, and that’s how they get their go to their next level of being a vet.

So it’s just, you know, it’s a double edged sword there, too. However, our goal is, how does that [ ] so that everybody’s seeing it, so that veterinarians actually can see what’s happened with that dog, and we actually can have nutrition programs that include blood work.

JM: Absolutely. Yeah, it sounds like part of the unique sibling proposition in the business model is built on academia and transparency, which is very interesting, you know, much different than your traditional, you know, pet food company, so to speak. So there’s no right or wrong answers to this question. Maybe it’s something that you have done or planning to do or currently doing, and that is…

Does virtue support any charitable organizations?

LS: You know, it’s an interesting one, isn’t it? Because at the beginning of this, and the whole part is, it’s just bootstrapped, and the bootstrapping to become, you know, to do what we’ve done as entrepreneurs, there’s two very committed entrepreneurs. I always felt, number one, we’re doing a lot of plant based. So the beginning of this was, like, we’re doing vegan, we’re doing all those things, it’s already embedded in what we do. So that felt, of course, extraordinary to do and share along the way. Absolutely, and we do. Some of the organizations Helen’s been, you know, assisting with this as well, where you know the Humane Society, you know, the local Happy Herd right through to Home for Hooves, you know, things like that. And my other is because we do learn from the nutrition, human nutrition part is NutritionFacts.org, I’m a very big donor. They say, you know, I’m consistent donor. And then also with Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, with Neal Barnard, and I’ve met him, and I really adore the work they do, and that, of course, they’re protecting an animal, you know, a dog thing right now.

So there’s a lot in that level that I do you know more personally, and some with business where we’ll go and support. And the other one is Liberation BC. So we had chose not to go into the Planted Expo in June, long story, however, we did, we donated the booth to Liberation BC. And I really liked what they’re doing because they had a hiatus during covid, and it was good to see them coming back.

JM: Wow. That’s a very, very admirable position to take. Is at an expo or a trade show, is to donate a booth. That’s very interesting. I honestly haven’t heard that before, and yes, you know that question, yeah, and that’s interesting as well. So next question for you is based around information that you have taken in that has helped you on your journey, that you might be able to pass on to others. You have already mentioned Diet for a new America by John Robbins, you had mentioned the vegetarian cats and dogs book that you saw back in the days at the bottom shelf. And you also had mentioned another great book, which is Blue Ocean Strategy. So aside from those ones,

Do you have any other recommendations centered around books, podcasts, or even maybe mobile apps that you use on your phone that help you as an entrepreneur?

LS: Okay, thanks, Justin, yeah, a lot. I have a lot. I’m definitely…growth in business, marketing and following companies that I feel that are doing things that are really cool. So for me, not so much on the app level, but certainly in companies, I am a really, really strong advocate for Vancity and their concepts here in Vancouver area, for those of you that don’t know, it’s, it’s a bank credit union, but they are doing some really extraordinary work. And the other is Lululemon. I love following what Lululemon did here in Calgary rather than Vancouver. And you know, Chip Wilson, I knew of him from Calgary days, and so did my sister. I saw what he went through to build what he did. So I really, really admire people like them.

And then in the vegan world, I’ve always followed Yves [Potvin] who started Gardein, and on that road, I absolutely thought Charles Chang did some phenomenal things with Brendan Brazier for Vega. So a lot of Vancouver-based, you know, happen to be West Coast companies that were doing so well. And so I’m encouraged by them.

And then people like, definitely the NutritionFacts.org, John Robbins’ organization with Ocean Robbins (Food Revolution Network), I follow that a lot, and those are great when it comes to things that are around entrepreneur, definitely, it’s a tough one, but it’s Steven Pressfield’s books that are called The War of Art. That was his first nonfiction and that the next one was doing the and then training in conjunction with Seth Godin, who’s one of my other favorite marketing…Steven Pressfield, if you’re an entrepreneur, looking to be an entrepreneur or staying on the path of what you’re doing as a business owner, consultant, etc, creative writer, and it’ll it’ll move you potentially into a place if you if it resonates, to change your life.

So for me, when I started reading Stephen Pressfield’s work, it really made a difference for me. And there’s Brene Brown, Elizabeth Gilbert, Glennon Doyle. They all are—these are phenomenal women and people that are doing great work and marketing to favor all of those.

JM: Wonderful recommendations. Thank you so much, and that takes care of the next question or conversation starter for you, which leads us right into the last one, which is centered around your experience. And you can frame this as giving folks advice or lessons that you’ve learned, or just things that you’ve come across that to your to your earlier comments there that will help somebody who might be looking towards entrepreneurship for the first time, or maybe they’re waffling on do we do they continue on the path? So with that being said…

Do you have any lessons or advice that you’d like to share with those listening?

LS: I have many, Justin. However, the ones that are taught for art, obviously, life in your own income, is really hard. It’s easy, and anything is hard. Becoming a good consultant, you know, becoming good at what you do and your business, Justin as you’re doing, your financial planning, or Jim, your creative work, I know, I’m sure you’ve been through a lot to get to where you are, right? I think if there’s one thing, I know that a lot of people, we use the term entrepreneur so loosely now.

I think it’s really important to really know what kind of entrepreneur do you want to be? I think the an entrepreneur that says I’m going to go fast or as an…in my…you know, no matter what pain I gotta go through, I gotta muster that courage every day to wake up and ask for the work. Ask in our mind that my journey is having to learn enterprise has been one hell of a journey for a woman, not a complaint. It’s a tough game.

And so for me, you really got to ask every day. And I think this is where Steven Pressfield coming back, there’s two questions that you know, he lists if you want to become an entrepreneur, writer or…and the one is because it’s beautiful, or because I would die for it.

And it’s interesting those, instead of us, those, if you check those off, that’s where those will keep you in your…that will empower you everyday. If you can really feel that what you’re creating is absolutely beautiful, and beauty, which beauty is love, which causes a difference, right? And willing to do pretty much. So business owner versus consulting. There’s—and it’s not, it’s just there are different types, like they really ask, what does that mean for me? Who am I? What really do I—does it matter if I’m called an entrepreneur? No.

I think we, all of us, have born talent for certain things. I think it’s that passion that our soul is saying we’ve got to do. So for me, those are the things that I really if I feel that every day about what I’m doing, then I shouldn’t be doing that. And if I’m not willing to get up like I said, and muster that courage to make those calls and to make what we’ve done here with Virchew happen. This shop wouldn’t be here. This wouldn’t have happened had I not done that. And it was hard. I cannot tell you how many times I’ve had to reach in to get some therapy and to do some work on myself in order to get through so that’s just just what it takes for me. Everyone has a different thing, but I’m telling you, it’s a hard journey, but it’s so worth it, like it is so worth it.

JM: Very powerful. Focus on making something beautiful, focus on something that you, yourself are willing to die for. And there was a golden nugget at the very end that you said, which is what we need to hear more about, which is therapy is actually cool. All the stigma behind it should be completely gone. The emotional wellness that we all carry with ourselves as entrepreneurs is going to affect those around us. And so that was a—

LS: That’s exactly it. You’re willing to walk into that. And I just want to say before we’re done, I want to really make a big acknowledgement that Helen and Justin you started this. I’m so grateful because I got to meet Helen. And what has started here, I feel is one of the most important things we can do is to support each other in business, support each other’s dreams, support each other’s weaknesses in a way that we say, What can I do? Who do you need? What do you need? And Helen, I’m just so grateful for you. I’m grateful that you did, what you’ve done it and to be beside us here for the last year. And Sandra, thank you for taking over and just getting the same and keeping it going, etcetera. I’m really grateful for it. So thank you.

JM: Well, we are grateful for you. So thank you so much for sharing that. And with that being said before we let people know where they can learn more about virtue and all of the amazing updates happening online and on Instagram, the floor is yours. If there’s anything that you want to mention, any announcements, any final words before we give you a good outro, the floor is yours.

LS: Well, thank you. Well, for those of you on there, what is it that I can maybe assist you with? I love connecting. So is there somebody in the vegan world, you know, someone that you want to meet? I don’t know the realm, but let’s you know, I’d like to keep connecting. Is it Mathilde? Yeah. Nice, lovely. And then Jim, I haven’t met you before any you know, wherever we can connect. I’ve been very fortunate to meet a lot of great people in the vegan community for the last 10 years. Brenda Davis is a big—she’s one of our shareholders, a very big fan.

And I went down to the LA Vegan Women Summit. Helen came with me, and we had a tremendous experience of meeting a lot of really cool companies there. So that was really great. So and things like for Virchew were because COVID was—we’ve launched during COVID. And so it would be great to have more people to know about what we’re doing.

And, you know, we’re starting to do more events, more we got Wednesday walkies started, so here in Kits, and so we can, you know, take dog walks and get to know each other. I’m going to be starting to do, which I’ve done a lot of in my past, is a lot of women’s circles, I and especially with the vegan community, and that’s where Craig Addy was even a part of that and Sandra where, you know, having circles of people where we are, we’re doing those those conversations that are really important, and so that I’m looking forward to, as well as business events.

And with that—and so as you see, anything we’re doing, really appreciate any shout outs, and I certainly want to, we want to return that, and Helen is the master at that. With regards to making sure everybody’s getting we’re promoting and cross promoting and really assisting each other as much as possible. And yeah, so just to watch for what we’re doing, if you have any ideas, you have any connections, I welcome them and come and visit us at the shop. Do you need a place for a meeting? Do you want to have an event? This is the place to do it. We’ll definitely, you know, share this space with you. And so things like that for Vancouver that are local, that’s big. I want to support as much as I can now that COVID is kind of getting out of the way.

JM: Absolutely, very cool. And what a great story. Lots of little nuggets and lessons in there. And yeah, it is all about community and support. That’s the whole purpose behind VEG Networking Canada. So thank you for sharing those sentiments. And for those who are interested, maybe you are a, you know, dog lover yourself, who’s been thinking about the nutrition for your family member. Or maybe you are a veterinarian or know someone who’s in this sort of sphere. You can find out more online, www.virchew.com, V, I, R, C, H, E, U, Virchew.com, and on Instagram.

LS: W. Virchew: V, I R, C H, E, W.

JM: Oh, yes, of course. I see, W. I said U. V, I, R, C, H, E, W, just as you would expect, Virchew.com, and the same as on Instagram, but it’s @VirchewDogs. So thank you, Laura, for sharing more about your story and more about what’s going on with Virchew with a W at the end, and everybody else we’ll catch you for another episode of VEG Networking Canada next time. Take care.

 

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