We recently connected with Toriano Gordon and have shared our conversation below.
Toriano, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Can you talk to us about serving the underserved.
Before starting Vegan Mob I worked for Mindful Like Project. The Mindful Life Project would go to schools in underserved communities and work with the kids there. Their purpose was to teach kids how to handle the daily stresses of life by the way of mindfulness. Mindfulness is a practice to help people focus on being in the moment, particularly where their thoughts, feelings, and emotions are concerned. I was a teacher who taught the kids mindfulness through hip hop. With my background as a rapper and being underserved as a youth myself, I felt an immediate connection with these children. As a youth I suffered trauma and had a hard time in the classroom because of that so it was important for me to intervene and help kids out in similar situations and felt it was one of my purposes in life. Along with teaching, I would also act as an advocate for the children to their teachers, principals, and also being a support to their parents. Although I enjoyed working with all children, I was particularly drawn to those who were known as the “troublemakers”. I myself was known as a “troublemaker” when I was in school soI felt like I was put in this school to help out these kids especially the “trouble makers”. I pinpointed some of the reasons why they could be acting out and mislabeled. When I was growing up as a child, a lot of the times I acted out was because I didn’t feel heard or because I was falling behind and didn’t have the confidence. In the position as a teacher I wanted to both advocate for them and help them build their confidence. I found that the kids really related to me more than other teachers in the school and the teachers also noticed. I connected with these kids because I spoke their language, I had patience, I showed love, and I treated them as equals. I always felt that kids are just mini adults and adults are just grown kids. All kids want is to be respected just like adults. Although I felt guilty I had to show myself love and pursue other things I felt were my purpose in life. To this day I still keep in contact with some of the kids and it warms my heart knowing they can see me as an example. An example that you can still be cool and run a restaurant or business, to be an example of a youth who grew up without many resources, with problems in school, and who chose to make decisions that positioned me into the life I live today, a life I’m grateful for.
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
I grew up in the restaurant industry and my grandpa owned restaurants when I was a young child so I’ve always had a passion for food. I went to a culinary academy for one semester and I ended up dropping out because I was still living a life of crime. When I was in grad school I asked myself what would be the perfect thing for me? I knew it needed to be centered around things I loved ; music, food and social media. I hit up a good friend who was successful in the restaurant industry, Señor Sisig who helped mentor me in this industry. I’ve been in the industry for about 5 years before Vegan Mob was created through jobs like cashier, line cook, the whole nine. I provide good food that happens to be plant-based. I provide people the opportunity to enjoy foods that are important to them/their culture while also promoting a healthier lifestyle. What I’m most known for is being me. It’s important for me to share my real life with people, the things I do, the people I love, ups and downs. I am most proud of overcoming the obstacles I’ve been through in my life. Overcoming the statistics. Proud of beating the odds, achieving success, proud of my degree, proud of my family, and I’m proud of being an example and a scholar, doing things the right way and still being cool. A role model for other black and brown children to show how them that being themselves is more than enough. The main thing is I’m a strong believer in faith, in God, and that anyone can do what they want to do. The reason I want them to know these things about me is because I want them to know these things about themselves.
Have any books or other resources had a big impact on you?
You Were Born Rich by Bob Proctor The Secret by Rhonda Byrne
High Performance Habits by Brendon Burchard
I’m very conscious about my mindset and energy and I enjoy reading things aligned with positivity. I believe in the law of attraction so I try to ingest positive content that deepens my level of thinking.
Do you have any insights you can share related to maintaining high team morale?
I’ve come to realize a few staples with people (young, old, male, female). People want to be heard, feel respected, and shown love. When those three things are done 9 times out of 10 people are going to be happy. It’s important for me as a leader to set that example with my team. Managing let alone interacting with different personalities has its learning lessons but I’ve found when the foundation is right it’s easier for people to build a relationship with one another, whatever that looks like. I’ve had many people leave Vegan Mob to pursue other opportunities and later have come back or would come back if asked, which I believe is a strong indicator of the relationship between myself and my team.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://veganmob.biz
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/officialveganmob/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/officialveganmob