On World Vegan Day, we spoke to plant-based professionals on Linktree who make meat-free living more doable and delicious.

Every year on November 1, plant-based eaters around the world celebrate World Vegan Day. What started in 1994 as an animal-rights holiday in England to honor the first Vegan Society is now a global event.

In 2021, it’s reported that anywhere between 1-3% of the world population is vegan—that’s around 78 million people, at the least. While the vegan trend isn’t necessarily converting lifestyles (the number of people identifying as entirely vegan remains relatively constant), veganism as an industry has seen tremendous growth: Plant-based food retail sales in the U.S. jumped 27% in 2020, and the global plant protein market is expected to surpass $162 billion by 2030, making up 7.7% of total protein sales.

For anyone curious about veganism, social media is a treasure trove of information. Search “vegan” on Instagram and you’ll see 117 million posts tagged with recipes, nutrition tips, business marketing, and more. In comparison, “meat” has 13 million posts.

Social media platforms like Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, and Twitter have become a place where vegan influencers can thrive. Foodie content creators have scaled huge businesses backed by the power of social media marketing, building a consumer base, and increasing their bottom line. To streamline their digital presence, many have joined Linktree—and we’ve got them right here.

To celebrate World Vegan Day, we’re spotlighting five of our favorite vegan influencers on Linktree to share how they’ve turned their plant-based lifestyle into successful brands.

Alexandra Andersson, Founder of Fivesec Health Community

South Spain-based Swede Alexandra Andersson went vegan six years ago after learning about the health benefits of eating plant-based. “My perspective on health changed overnight,” Andersson says. “I took a plant-based nutrition course at eCornell and now inspire people to eat more plants.”

Anderrson founded Fivesec Health, a healthy vegan and lifestyle blog that has become a major digital enterprise. The Fivesec Health brand is now a community, shop, book, and app with more than 350 recipes and meal plans. Anderrson has an active, engaged audience which she has cultivated through hard work and social media.

Andersson’s Instagram has 290,000 followers and is filled with beautiful food images, recipe videos and Reels, and nutritional advice. Over on YouTube, Andersson has 106,000 subscribers watching her daily vlogs and cooking tutorials, many of which rely on recipes found in her vegan e-book, “Easy Vegan.”

And finally, Anderrson uses Linktree to tie it all together, pointing followers to the various ventures of her business. “They find everything there,” she says. “I’ve been able to promote multiple things at the same time without losing traffic to our app.”

Stephanie Williams, Owner of Vegan, What?

Stephanie Williams grew up eating meat. But after witnessing some of her family members die of preventable diseases related to food, including her father, she knew her diet may be a problem.

Williams, who is based in California, decided to do some research. She came across a Google Talk of actress and activist Alicia Silverstone discussing her dietary changes, and felt inspired. “I knew that I needed to make a change and I was able to find what I was looking for in Alicia Silverstone’s book, “The Kind Diet,” Williams said in an interview with Coconut Bowls, a sustainability and plant-based health blog.

Soon after Williams founded “Vegan, What?,” a platform that sells meal plans, e-books, and cool apparel. There are even free recipes to give visitors a taste of the plant-based life.

With 181,000 followers on Instagram, Williams uses Linktree to connect people to her numerous brand extensions, including a vegan newsletter, affiliate products, and several health and fitness bundles. “Now that I have Linktree, I can provide links to all of my services in one central location,” she says.

Williams has a very nice-looking Linktree thanks to design flexibility and customization options. “I like that I am able to change the background to fit my aesthetic,” she says.

Want to try her dietary lifestyle? For first time vegans, Williams suggests starting with “Meatless Mondays” once a week and then going meatless one week each month.

Aaron Calder, Blogger, “Aaron Calder Vegan”

Aaron Calder from Brighton, U.K. has been vegetarian since he was 11-years-old. But it wasn’t until 2016, when Calder was 37, that he fully went vegan.

After suffering from alcoholism and liver disease, which severely impacted his health, Calder had “given up all hope,” he writes on his blog, “Aaron Calder Vegan.”

Calder then watched “Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead,” “Forks over Knives,” and other alarming documentary films, and was convinced. He ate nothing but plant-based for two weeks and has never turned back. “I thought my vegetarian diet was 100% cruelty-free and healthy but these documentaries showed otherwise,” he says. “Changing what I eat is helping stop animal cruelty, environmental damage, and is benefiting my health.”

His blog features recipes, interviews, guidance, and further information for brands that may be interested in working with him. To monetize, Calder creates videos, business strategies, and “exclusive recipe videos which reach thousands.”

With 13,000 Instagram followers, 12,000 YouTube subscribers, brand partnerships, and plenty of vegan content, Calder joined Linktree.

From his latest recipe (salted caramel hot cross buns) to affiliate links for trusted vegan products, Calder’s Linktree is very well-curated, and he’s happy about it. “Using [Linktree] has increased my following and visits to my website,” he says. “It’s helped establish links with brands which has led to paid posts and collaborations. Also, brands can have a link to their website in my Linktree which they love.”

Calder wants everyone to know that veganism doesn’t have to be restrictive. “The best thing to do is try vegan foods and you’ll be surprised at how delicious they are,” Calder says.

Clare Every, Influencer and Blogger, “The Little London Vegan”

Clare Every wavered between being a meat-eater, pescatarian, vegetarian, and vegan for years. Now, living in London where there are plenty of plant-based dining options, Every is fully committed to veganism.

As a Social Media Manager and former communications executive, Every already knew a thing or two about digital media before she became an influencer—she was even the Chief Vegan Officer at Papa John’s, consulting the company on vegan menu items, according to her LinkedIn.

But “The Little London Vegan” blog was different from her corporate ventures. As a food blogger, Every writes restaurant and product reviews, shares recipes, and creates directories for the London restaurant scene. She has amassed 130,000 Instagram followers, 28.3k TikTok followers, and has been featured on BBC and ITV London.

Every says she uses Linktree to “direct my followers to more detailed reviews and more comprehensive resources.” Her Linktree currently includes a write-up of the best vegan date night restaurants.

From her own experience, Every understands that going vegan can be transitional and lenient. “Some people think, ‘I’d go vegan apart from cheese,’ so do that! Every step you take makes a difference,” she says. Plus, she still gets a cheese fix from her vegan macaroni cheese dish.

Lyana Blount, Chef and Owner of Black Rican Vegan

Lyana Blount says going vegan in 2016 was the greatest decision she’s ever made. Blount is the famous Afro-Puerto Rican chef behind Black Rican Vegan, a business preparing plant-based Black- and Latinx-inspired dishes in New York City.

Vernil is her vegan Pernil (slow-cooked pork) served with arroz con gandules (yellow rice with pigeon peas) and maduros (sweet ripe plantains). “You can continue to keep tradition alive when going vegan and keep your cultural roots,” Blount says.

While Black Rican Vegan has pop-ups, people mainly order from the website, which Blount features at the top of her Linktree. Blount’s Linktree has a customized background of the Black Rican Vegan logo. This PRO-only feature helps Blount match the aesthetic of her brand, so visitors from other social platforms don’t miss a beat. “I love using different fonts and uploading my logo to my Linktree,” she says.

With 43,000 followers on Instagram, Blount wants to ensure a smooth customer journey. “I have many links [on Linktree]. Customers can click on whether they’re looking for on my website to make an order, look for a cooking class, or for my next pop-up,” she says.

With fast-food chains offering vegan options and over a dozen different dairy-free milks on the market, the growth of veganism appears pretty inevitable.

Besides the personal health benefits, like heart health, going vegan significantly benefits for the planet, too. That’s because vegan diets reduce an individual’s carbon footprint from food up to 73%, according to researchers at the University of Oxford. This happens by reducing greenhouse gas emissions, the actual leading cause of climate change. Deforestation, world hunger, animal species extinction—all these problems can decline when more people become plant-based.

As more and more vegan creators turn to social media to promote their plant-based brands, we should all be consciously tuning in. And whether it’s diving into analytics to understand visitor traffic to embed recipe videos from YouTube, Linktree plays a role in supporting vegan influencers to grow their audience and monetize their business.

About the author: Lola Méndez is a Uruguayan-American freelance journalist. Her work has been featured in CNN, Refinery29, Reader’s Digest, Smithsonian Mag, Arch Digest, SELF, ELLE, Oprah Mag, Parade, and more.