We were lucky to catch up with Brandy Heyde Montague recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Brandy thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.

What makes a project meaningful? I’ve been contemplating this question since I entered the full-time workforce when I was 19. I had landed what most people considered a dream job at Disney, and to be honest I pinched myself every day to be there. I would enter my office right behind the Tower of Terror and wonder how I got to be the luckiest girl in the world. Yet, I had a gnawing feeling that I wasn’t in the right place.

It seemed that so many people and animals in the world were suffering. And my time should be spent on them. But did that mean that my current job was not meaningful? I had conversations about this ad nauseam with my best friends. What were we meant to do with our lives? What sort of job makes a meaningful impact in the world?

I eventually left Disney and began chasing a future working for animals, project after project. Somehow I think my questioning actually became stronger! “Is this making an impact? Is this meaningful?” I’ve experienced a lot of sad moments over the last 15 years looking at the work I’ve done and feeling like nothing has changed, nothing has mattered.

It wasn’t until recently that I realized that every project, done by everyone, every day, is probably a meaningful project. Those friends who go into Disney each day literally make people’s dreams come true. And those people go home and treat the people, animals, and earth around them with more kindness. This kindness permeates their world and can very well be a catalyst to a new meaningful project. We literally impact the people around us every day with every single one of our interactions. Not one thing we do lacks meaning or value.

My goal now is to wake up each day trusting that the work I do that day is what I was meant to do. I take on every interview that I know in my gut makes sense to do, even if I don’t know exactly how it fits into my brand. I trust God that every moment, every conversation is meaningful. And the ones that I’m not meant to have simply don’t happen.

I’m thankful for this new perspective and hope it holds! Surrounding myself with people who see the world through this same lens has certainly helped, and I’m grateful for the people in my life.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

Hey there! I’m Brandy, and I run For Animals. For Earth., a calm, non-judgemental place for people to learn about helping animals and the environment.

I have been passionate about helping animals since I declared myself a vegetarian at three years old on my grandparent’s farm. I worked for Accenture and Disney for the first ten years of my career as an industrial engineer. After leaving the corporate world, I went back to school for web and graphic design and have spent my time on design projects, community advocacy, and as an animal reiki teacher. In 2016, I started an eco-conscious clothing line to help animal interest groups, and by diving deep into fashion, I discovered a second passion: saving the Earth.

I now run For Animals. For Earth., a resource hub of simple ideas that anyone can try in their daily life to make a difference. I hand-paint the clothing sold in our Etsy shop (which is only occasionally open now but may make a comeback ;-), and I host a show called “For Animals. For Earth.”, where I interview creators and activists all over the world who are making a difference. You can find the show streaming on all major podcast platforms and YouTube.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

A lesson I had to unlearn is that taking courses is not going to make my business successful. Don’t get me wrong. There is a time and place for online education and carefully chosen courses can move a business owner to the next level. But, I made the mistake of signing up constantly for free webinars, many courses being sold in said webinars, and many “once in a lifetime” opportunities over the years.

I have learned that for me, signing up for those courses was actually synonymous with giving away my power. I was looking to other people to tell me how to make things work, when what I really needed was to look inside myself and to God. If I focus on what’s right in front of me, and balance it with how much time I actually have to dedicate to it (without sacrificing my health and family in the process), I am ultimately happier and making a bigger impact. I will go back to courses again but from a different perspective. They will be “tools” to help me in the process of doing a specific task, but not “answers” for how to make everything successful.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

The most rewarding moment is when a project finally comes to completion. As much as I love being a creative, I spend a lot of time freaking out at the beginning of each new project, thinking I may never actually be able to do it! It’s always funny to me to think back to those original thoughts. Inevitably if I just trust the process, everything ends up coming together. And alas I had no need to be worried!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://ForAnimalsForEarth.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/foranimalsforearth/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/foranimalsforearth
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brandyheydemontague/
• Youtube: www.youtube.com/@foranimalsforearth
• Pinterest: www.pinterest.com/foranimalsforearth/