We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Ubaid & Safura Osmani a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Ubaid & Safura, appreciate you joining us today. Was there a moment in your career that meaningfully altered your trajectory? If so, we’d love to hear the backstory.

We have been vegan for about 10 years and are passionate about healthy plant-based eating and love to share our knowledge with others. Many of our family members had passed away from stroke and heart disease at a young age. This led us to do tons of research and follow all the plant-based experts in the food and health field to find out how to live healthier without disease.
So we began slowly by cleaning out pantry and fridge, removing meat from our diets and eating more fruits and vegetables. This led us to a plant-based lifestyle, when we began feeling more energetic, stronger, creative and happier than ever before, we wanted to learn more from the top experts in the food and health field. We read The China Study, watched Forks Over Knives and learned more about the teachings of doctors Joel Furhman, Michael Greger, Joel Kahn, Michael Klaper, John McDougall, Caldwell Esselstyn, and Neal Barnard.
To further our passion for cooking and to hone our skills we became certified in Forks over Knives nutrition cooking classes and got the eCornell Plant Based Certification. We follow some of the top blogs and participate in webinars and forums such as: GMOs Revealed, Vaccinations, and Stem Cell Research to name a few. We wanted to combine our desire to cook plant-based food with the knowledge of what is a healthy diet ¬– and to create a cuisine that is healthy, hearty, and flavorful.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

Through our online social channels on Facebook and Instagram @jaxvegancouple we educate, engage and inspire people to a healthy nutritious eating lifestyle. Through education we take time to sit down with our clients and let them know the food they have been eating was actually hurting and not helping them. Try and explain it in a way they can understand. Take them to the grocery store and teach them how to read labels, explaining where the ingredients in their old favorites come from. We love to teach people through cooking demos, meal preps, grocery tours, cleaning out the pantry and fridge. We prepared a 21-Day whole foods plant-based meal plan e-book which has over 70 recipes, getting started guide, grocery list and healthful tips. We are passionate about spreading the message about this healthy lifestyle. It has been a rewarding experience to feel connected to the foods we eat. Our goal is to provide motivation, practical guidance and a support system to profoundly improve people’s lives. We share the science, the inspirational stories and the delicious recipes. We are a community where healthy conversations lead to powerful transformations.
We also love to help and spread good cheer in the community. We have volunteered at Tour de Farms, Concious Mingle, JAX Veg Fest, C&S Citrus Farm, countless community vegan events and meet-ups. We love supporting the local farmers and farmers market, purchasing produce from them instead of from the grocery store. Slowly the trend is changing as more neighborhoods have the farmers’ market. I would love to see more restaurants adopting the whole-foods, plant-based, no-oil (wfpbno) concept. We have some great vegan restaurants and pop-up events but none that are taking it to that next level. We have coordinated with Sawgrass Mariott Vernon’s in Ponte Vedra in their vegan pop-up events and also at TPC Sawgrass Nineteen also introduced several vegan options on their menu and Chef Azher always does a great job of inviting us to try the vegan cuisine.
On the JAX Vegan Couple website you will find daily vegan recipes. There are many dishes for people to try from Indian/Fusion to sandwiches, smoothies & salads to lentils & grains. We also provide a getting started and resources section which elaborates on healthy tips, articles & video clips from famous doctors, nutritionists and holistic health providers. No matter what diet or lifestyle you follow, our hope is that there is something that you can take away from our social channels and website!
JAX Vegan Couple Social Channels
Website – www.jaxvegancouple.com
Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/jaxvegancouple
Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/jaxvegancouple/
YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/jaxvegancouple
Pinterest – https://it.pinterest.com/jaxvegancouple/
Twitter – https://twitter.com/jaxvegancouple

Other than training/knowledge, what do you think is most helpful for succeeding in your field?

We wanted to learn more from the top experts in the food and health field. So we attended a vegan cruise and met with all the plantbased experts talked to them, learned tips and got advice from them.

We read The China Study, watched Forks Over Knives and learned more about the teachings of doctors Joel Furhman, Michael Greger, Joel Kahn, Michael Klaper, John McDougall, Caldwell Esselstyn, and Neal Barnard.

To further our passion for cooking and to hone our skills we became certified in Forks over Knives nutrition cooking classes and got the eCornell Plant Based Certification.

We follow some of the top blogs and participate in webinars and forums such as: GMOs Revealed, Vaccinations, and Stem Cell Research to name a few. We wanted to combine our desire to cook plant-based food with the knowledge of what is a healthy diet ¬– and to create a cuisine that is healthy, hearty, and flavorful.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

I have always been passionate about food and learned a lot about ethnic cuisine and cooking skills from my mom. Growing up in a large family, I loved working in the garden and picking fresh fruits and vegetables with my siblings. We cooked at home and all the ingredients were fresh picked from our garden. I loved to watch cooking shows and experimented blending Indian-fusion foods and flavors with Western dishes and spicing them up with different herbs and spices. Never give up continue to try new and different things. Don’t wait for the right moment, right recipe, the perfect ingredients, use what you have and make the best dishes with it.

To further my passion for cooking and to hone my skills I became certified in Forks over Knives nutrition cooking classes. Since we became vegan I learned new ways to add flavor and creativity to all the dishes I make. What I love MOST now is to be able combine my desire to cook plant-based food with the knowledge of what is a healthy diet and to create a cuisine that is oil-free, hearty and flavorful. Taking all the childhood comfort dishes I have perfected them to a healthier version. I love to teach others how to cook this way and in fact have taught Indian cooking classes at JAX Cooking Studio.

Friends and family always came to us for healthful advice, recipes and always wanting to know more about whole foods plant-based eating. With all the knowledge and passion to help others we launched our social platform JAX Vegan Couple. The name evolved from the fact that we live in Jacksonville (JAX) the fact that we are vegan and on a healthy quest as a couple.

Contact Info:

• Website: jaxvegancouple.wixsite.com/website/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jaxvegancouple/
• Facebook: Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/jaxvegancouple
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/jaxvegancouple
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/jaxvegancouple
• Other: Pinterest – https://it.pinterest.com/jaxvegancouple/