Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Kamyra Cheatham. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Kamyra, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Can you open up about a risk you’ve taken – what it was like taking that risk, why you took the risk and how it turned out?

Anytime you put yourself in a position to do anything outside of what is considered the “norm” you put yourself under a lens, and you don’t know just how people are going to perceive you once they’ve realized you are doing something “different”. This was me, 6 years ago doing something “different”. When I went vegan I had so much success with my lifestyle, from almost completely getting rid of my anxiety, to losing weight and being an all around happier person. I was so happy with myself and this new way of cooking I learned that I decided I wanted to help people, so I did. Selling vegan dinners and meal preps was such a risky thing for me to do because nobody knew me as a cook. I was selling vegan food and I didn’t know any other vegans other than myself and 2 other friends at the time. I didn’t know if or how much money I would make or if people were even interested in buying food from me or learning about this lifestyle and how it changed my life. Although these are thoughts I was having I still kept pushing forward. I had a lot of debates with family & friends, I was questioned, I was made fun of and a bunch of other things but still I shared my meals I was learning to make, I shared my experiences and testimonies, and I’ve always been transparent about my journey. I eventually started speaking to small groups about how changing my eating has changed my life, I give consults, I’ve done a few features and a few sponsored campaigns and even though I have a way to go I am still proud of how far I have come just by changing how I eat.

Kamyra, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

For those who do not know I am a vegan chef & micro influencer. I have been vegan for 6 years after transitioning to a plant based lifestyle in hopes to cure my anxiety after almost hitting rock bottom. In 2015 I developed a severe case of anxiety that got so bad I could no longer drive or stay home alone with my then 1 year old daughter. I went to the doctor for help and was not successful. My doctor at the time made me feel like my anxiety was in my head and gave me prescription medication to take which in my opinion made me feel 10 times worse. After realizing that was not going to work for me I turned to changing my eating habits. I stopped eating meat and after 2 weeks of no meat I was able to drive again. I was really enjoying learning a new lifestyle and a new way of eating that I instantly wanted to help educate others on how we eat affects us not only physically but mentally as well.
Unfortunately, where I live there aren’t a lot of vegan restaurants or places where I can find cooked vegan options so to further help myself and the people in my community I started meal prepping and offering vegan catering services once I felt comfortable enough to offer my food to others. I enrolled back in school into the culinary program which unfortunately I was unable to complete because they no longer offer the program at my college but I still continue to educate myself with new ways of cooking good vegan food.

On top of educating those around me and using my platform to share my knowledge and my journey I started speaking publicly about my anxiety and how a simple diet change changed my life. I was able to encourage so many people and I am grateful I had the opportunity to inspire at least one person. I provide consults to help people get on the right path with their diet and answer and questions they may have about eating or living healthier. These are a couple of things that I believe set me apart from other chefs. With me its not just about the money, I have a true passion for helping people become the best version of themselves both mentally and physically. When you eat better you are able to have a clearer mind, you begin to think and feel better daily. You also have to take into consideration the state of the animals. Are they sick? how are they feeling? These are things we don’t think about, however you have to remember that these things transfer. Sickness transfers and so does energy. If you are eating sick animals or eating animals that are sad and angry daily that is exactly what you are putting into your body, and that is exactly how you will feel everyday.

I am most proud of how far I have become, how many people I have helped and even the people who have not completely changed their diet at least they are more aware of how they are eating. Along with the people I have helped my biggest accomplishment is raising my 2 daughters vegan. My oldest daughter was 3 years old when we transitioned, My youngest daughter has been vegan since she was born. I went through my second pregnancy with her while I was vegan which I am very proud of. My daughters understand why we eat the way we eat and they are always encouraging their friends and cousins to do the same and for that I am beyond proud. It does get harder some days because when they are at school the other kids don’t eat the way we do so some days are a bit discouraging because they may be taunted or questioned about how they eat but I always reassure them that this way is best and they completely understand. I am excited to make generational changes and start a new path for my children and grandchildren. What people are unaware of is that so many problems that we have both mentally and physically are linked back to what we put in our bodies from the food to the products as well. I hope that people spend more time educating themselves on what we eat and how it affects us so we can collectively move to a healthier way of living.

How did you build your audience on social media?

Although I do not have a very wide following I have a very supportive group of people that I appreciate dearly. What I believe helped me to grown such a supportive audience is my willingness to be open and transparent, along with continuing to be myself. I provide useful and factual information to people and while everyone may not agree with how I eat or the things I say I can always fall back on the fact that I am true to myself and my beliefs and that is the best way to connect with people. I am not judgmental, I try to encourage those around me and I have a genuine passion for helping people and providing the best quality food I possibly can. I get a lot of messages from my followers that are filled with so much love and gratitude. So many “Thank Yous” fill my inbox from people who have taken my advice and have noticed the changes within themselves and there is literally no better feeling than the high you get from knowing they are people who love you for just being you and helping them to be better. My advice to people trying to build a social media presence is to always stay true to you! Share what you are comfortable with sharing and provide people with factual information as well as results. When people are shown that you know exactly what you are talking about and they can see how it has helped you they are more likely to try it and get your information out there for others to see. Always be kind and thankful for the support others have given you.

Are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?

Now I am not big on apps and things but a couple of things I wish I had known about when I started sharing my food pictures and more importantly when I started selling food are Canva, PicsArt ( or lightroom or any other photo editing app) and Splice. Most People are usually visual learners so how your work is presented is EVERYTHING. The best part about Canva is they provide thousands of templates and they are so easy to edit. This app is my go to when I have a menu, a flyer or any graphics I need to design and I can do it myself. There is a free version as well as a pro version that allows you to access more tools. I suggest CanvaPro but you can still get the job done without the upgrade. I also like PicsArt because I can edit my pictures and its so simple to use. One simple filter or alteration can make your picture look 100 times better which is very important for me because I sell food and people eat with their eyes as well. I also like to use Splice with is more so for my reels and tiktoks for creating video content which is very important these days because reels are taking over each social platform so learning to make and edit short videos is a must to stay in the loop. These are my 3 more used apps but I also recommend finding a good app that plan your posts for you so you can stay consistent with posting.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.myrasaid.com
• Instagram: @_Chefmyra or @_KamyraC
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/ChefMyraC
• Linkedin: Kamyra Cheatham

Image Credits
Good Vision Studios