We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Tonia Esposito. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Tonia below.

Tonia, appreciate you joining us today. So let’s jump to your mission – what’s the backstory behind how you developed the mission that drives your brand?

Food is meant to be enjoyed!

We started with the genuine desire of sharing high quality ingredients that are also delicious and nutritious.

We put lots of love and careful thought into what we do, we combine knowledge, talent and good taste to deliver the warm feeling of a nice home-cooked meal.

OUR VERSION OF HEALTHY
Moderation is the key to longevity and perhaps the most difficult thing to cultivate. But not with The Vegan Bella.
We don’t follow food fads or diet trends. We believe food is neither bad nor good; food is a neutral source upon which we prescribe meaning based on our own inclinations. We believe it is always the dose, not the dish, that makes the medicine (or, in some cases, poison). We believe consuming most foods moderately and modestly makes a healthy human.
Eating The Vegan Bella way leaves plenty of room to enjoy that occasional pizza, an amazing gelato, the delicious bite of tiramisu, which makes life fun and memories potent.

OUR “PRETTY HEALTHY” MEALS
A pretty healthy approach towards food means eating very well most of the time.
Perpetual dieting and deprivation yields to yo-yo weight losses and gains, unsteady emotions, a feeling of being trapped in the body, and overall confusion. We nourish our clients into food freedom with fresh, delicious meals that make eating healthy easy and enjoyable.

Tonia, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

The Vegan Bella started as the result of a personal recovery from a 20 year long history of complex eating disorders and hospitalizations. Being capable of deeply relate and recognize the hidden pain related to this emotional and convoluted illness, I started with the genuine desire of helping as many people as possible fighting the same battle.
As a former pro bodybuilding competitor, I learned the art of meal prepping while training for my first show over a decade ago, and it quickly became a solution for the whole family.
Simultaneously, I was graduating in nutrition and dietetics in college, but it wasn’t until my health started declining visibly that I was finally able to implement all the knowledge and tools to really work on my recovery.
Initially, competing became a way to hide my eating disorders, being praised and rewarded for my hard work and consistency was only fueling the illness, all that dedication was really just my sickness and obsession in disguise. When it became evident how much more damage it was adding to my existing condition, I finally found the strength and desire to transfer all that energy into actually getting better for my kids and family.
I was introduced to a plant-based nutrition by my medical team at the beginning of my recovery to reverse some of the damage on my digestive system and I instantly loved the variety of foods and combinations I was able to choose from compared to the very limited ingredients I was only allowed during dieting and training.
With The Vegan Bella, I get to combine my passion for nutrition, my Italian love for cooking, and my desire to serve and help my community overcome common difficulties when it comes to healthy eating.

Has your business ever had a near-death moment? Would you mind sharing the story?

There has been a time when I had to prioritize my mental health and my kids wellbeing over business, the little energy I had left after starting new medication cycles was barely enough to survive day by day. After a few weeks business started suffering from my inability to keep up with high demand orders and with maintaining a good marketing strategy. I was rarely present on social media and I had to keep communication with customers to a minimum which wasn’t ideal to keep the public engaged and interested. Looking back, I am glad I had the chance to focus on feeling stronger and that I had the support of my family to be able to do so, but I have learned the hard way that rest is a huge part of the process and having to cover too many roles at once is detrimental individually and to the business overall. Now I make sure to value self care just as much as motherhood and business.

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

I strongly believe that authenticity and transparency play a huge part when it comes to keeping satisfied the community we have built over the years. Genuinity is hard to fake and I am convinced that our family of clients can trust our pure intentions and passion for what we do thanks to the way we show up with our services. Hospitality is a fundamental value at The Vegan Bella, it’s part of the Italian culture of course, and it perfectly fits the standards we aim for.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://theveganbella.com
• Instagram: the_vegan_bella
• Facebook: The Vegan Bella
• Other: 619 480 8008