Vegans have more fun. And author Joanne Molinaro (she/her) proves it. Her journey as The Korean Vegan began rather unceremoniously, and with little expectation or pressure: “In 2016, I started posting photos of my food on Facebook, Instagram, and other social media platforms. At the time, I was a full-time partner at a large law firm and thus only posted when I could (aka very sporadically). Over the years, I developed my photography skills and grew a community around food and storytelling. In 2020, I started posting on TikTok and that community grew exponentially. A year later, I came out with my first cookbook. What started out as a teensy hobby has now turned into a 5M+ strong community who loves plant-based meals.”

Here, Joanne talks about her path to cooking, who influenced her along the way, and how she’s teaching others to turn their passion into a profit. (Plus, scroll to get the recipe for her fave dish! 😋)

Were you always interested in cooking?
I was always passionate about eating—especially if there were french fries involved [laughing]! I didn’t really get into cooking until I went plant-based in 2016. Because I had to work a lot, most of my meals were purchased, not homemade. But when I went vegan, it was much harder to find vegan food (at that time), so I had to learn how to cook. Sharing my recipes definitely inspired me to spend a lot more time in the kitchen, as well.

Did you have any chefs you looked up to?
I would not be the cook I am today without endless hours of Rachel Ray’s 30 Minute Meals or Maangchi’s YouTube videos.

Now, tell us about your Skillshare course. What can participants expect from it?
The Skillshare course I’m offering is basically everything you can learn from my mistakes along my journey from hobby to hustle to full-time career. There was so much anxiety and imposter syndrome saddling every step I took along that path, and the Skillshare course is designed to mitigate against that. (Not eliminate it altogether—no course can do that!) We’ll cover not just the motivation you’ll need in order to take a leap of faith, but all the practical things (ex: budgeting, financial planning, scaling, business planning, networking) that attend strategic dream-chasing.