We recently interviewed The Veggie Queen, Jill Nussinow, for our program.  

Jill Nussinow, aka The Veggie Queen™, is a cookbook author, culinary educator, Registered Dietitian, and freelance writer whose goal is to inspire people to eat more plant foods, especially vegetables. She is the author of The Veggie Queen:  Vegetables Get the Royal Treatment cookbook and stars in the DVD Pressure Cooking:  A Fresh Look, Delicious Dishes in Minutes.  You can read more about her at her website http://www.theveggiequeen.com or on her blog at http://www.theveggiequeen.blogspot.com.

When asked who she is, she replies “I wear many hats but they’re all related to great food that includes vegetables and other plant based cuisine. I’m a vegetable and plant-food cooking expert, in vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free eating. Don’t worry about me turning you into a vegetarian; you have to do that on your own time. I just want to help you get more vegetables and plant foods into your diet, no matter what other foods you choose to eat.” 

SO: What’s your definition of “passion”?  

 I am passionate about teaching people about vegetables, vegetarian, plant foods and pressure cooking, and why eating this way allows you to feel better, look better and gives you more energy.

SO: What are your biggest passions for serving others, and how are you expressing them (also include hobbies and volunteering)?  

I pride myself on being a role model for others. I shop at the farmer’s market, I share recipes on the spot (in person), I blog, I volunteer for the Vegetarian Nutrition Practice group of The American Dietetic Association and for SOMA Mushrooms (Sonoma County Mycological Association) and do yoga on a regular basis, which keeps me grounded. I also support local farmers in a variety of ways. I find teaching moments outside of the classroom whenever possible. My goal is to teach people individually or in groups who will pass that knowledge on, in the “teach a man to fish” model.

SO: Your biggest challenge(s) in leaping into your passions for serving others, and how you have addressed them?  

I want to do “it all” and often that is too much for me to do.  I have learned to say no more often, especially if someone else can do what I don’t feel that I can. It’s like pruning a rose bush – the more I get into it, the clearer it becomes what I need to cut away or say no to.

SO: Your experience of “prosperity,” as you define it, in making the leap? 

I believe that doing what you love attracts people to you but if you don’t have business skills you aren’t always able to attract the money to go with it. You have to also realize that what you do is valuable and that charging for your skills and experience is what business people do. There’s nothing wrong with that. So, I have built my abundance-ness counsciousness over time.

SO: What’s the biggest lesson you’ve learned in making the leap?

Clearly define your goals. One of mine is that what I do must be fun for me or feed me in some way. If it doesn’t, then the money isn’t usually worth doing the task. And the more that I’ve said no to the things that don’t work for me allows the more joyous and often lucrative events into my life. And also, you must persevere (and not burn bridges) because events don’t always happen on the timeline that you have in mind.

SO: What’s your support system look like; how did you create it?

I have an assistant who helps me at my classes and she is invaluable. I didn’t create it – she asked if she could help me and I gladly said yes. I could have more support but have not yet found the ideal virtual assistant.

SO:  What are your biggest keys to your success?

The ability to be resilient along with talent, experience, skills and probably most of all humor. I love having fun and the enthusiasm to share it with others. I am also grateful for everything that I have in my life and encourage others to find their passion and become inspiring people.

SO: What wisdom do you have for someone who’s scared/discouraged about their own leap?

Think about the worst that could happen if you don’t move ahead, and what’s the best thing that could happen if you do move ahead. What feels better? Hopefully it’s the best thing and if not, then you need to figure out why you don’t want to be more successful. Just do it, keep your eyes open for learning opportunities and get others who can encourage and support you.

SO: What’s your next big milestone?

I am having my website redesigned and working on my next book. I am also developing my speaking platform in a more serious way and hope to reach more people with my message about how eating affects your life.

 Thanks and Happy Passioneering!

SO: What’s your definition of “passion”?  

That which you believe in to your toes whose pursuit gives your life purpose, meaning and fulfillment; something, that once you find it, to live without it, would be to not live at all.

SO: What are your biggest passions for serving others, and how are you expressing them (also include hobbies and volunteering)?  

I love inspiring others into believing in themselves and in their own abilities to affect change in their lives. For me, it was about informing others and inspiring them to make changes in their health and the health of their families. Allowing them to accept that “good” is great! And to not make “the perfect” the enemy of “the good”. To embrace an 80/20 rule, where you do an awesome job 80% of the time, and allow yourself the grace of the everyday world the other 20% of the time. In a world that very much feels like it has been thrown into a cuisinart, there are so many opportunities to be part of the solution. And it is so important to believe in our ability to inspire change.

SO: Your biggest challenge(s) in leaping into your passions for serving others, and how you have addressed them?  

The biggest challenge was believing in my own ability to overcome challenges and to affect remarkable change – in a world that constantly messages otherwise. It is a challenge to silence the noise and the headlines that are constantly pushing the status quo and to hear the internal dialogue in your heart. It therefore requires tremendous discipline, strength, courage and tenacity to silence the cultural “noise” in order that you may hear the message that is inspiring you from within. As a result, I try to take time to exercise everyday as it gives me clarity and focus – and the ability to process the everyday “noise” so that I may better hear the internal dialogue. I also had to “de-friend” those around me with negative messages, the “naysayers” and choose to surround myself with positive people and positive energy, as it helped provide positive “fuel” for & to nourish my passion!

SO: Your experience of “prosperity,” as you define it, in making the leap? 

The complete fulfillment that comes in knowing that you are doing what you are here to do. Realizing that your life and every stage in it has prepared you for this work – every accomplishment and every setback, a lesson to be learned, making you a better “passioneer” as you evolve in your role of advocating your passion and message.

SO: What’s the biggest lesson you’ve learned in making the leap?

That it will scare people that are close to you which can pose perhaps the biggest risk of all. Those around you may feel threatened by the energy and emotion that you feel towards your life’s work, having not found that same energy themselves. They may feel threatened or displaced by your newfound “love affair”, as jealous as if you’d betrayed them with a newfound love. The risk then becomes that rather than risk alienating those that are close, you choose to forgo your passion and risk alienating your heart’s work. As a result, I have found that it is very important to share with others that your passion makes you more complete, more of a person, more “whole” – which in turn gives you more to share with those you care about. There is nothing special about me, I simply found something that I was so passionate about, that I cared for so deeply that to live without it would have been to cease living, and then I had to shelter myself from a world that told me that I couldn’t make a difference, that my work wouldn’t matter, and take active steps to shield my passion and my heart’s work from those with condescending and destructive words and messages.

SO: What’s your support system look like; how did you create it?

I had to distance myself from the ‘naysayers’ (which was incredibly difficult at times, as it sometimes included close family members) and surround myself with positive energy in order to have the strength, endurance and courage to pursue work that can be so consuming. As a result, I spend less time with those that are negative (including family) and have also learned to avoid the topic with these people, and I spend more time with those who share passionate work. I find absolutely joy in being with other ‘passioneers’ as there is an energy and life to the work that provides constant nourishment. I also take time to nourish myself, not only through good relationships, but also with nourishing, healthy food and nourishing exercise, which gives me the fuel for my passionate journey!

SO: What wisdom do you have for someone who’s scared/discouraged about their own leap?

Hope is the knowledge that change is possible, even when it seems hard to imagine. And while the world favors the status quo and conformity, there is so much fun to be had in the experience of living what you are here to do. It won’t be without challenges and growing pains, but it is those very challenges and your ability to overcome them that will give you such a tremendous sense of LIFE. As you weigh the pros and cons of whether or not to take this leap, ask yourself “What do I have to lose?” Perhaps you’d lose “face”. Then ask yourself “What do I have to gain?” A sense of purpose, of being, of fulfillment, of energy….that will inspire your life and the lives of those around you in such a way that you have made the mark on the world that you are truly here to make! And it’s so important when taking the ‘leap’ to not make “the perfect” the enemy of “the good”. To embrace an 80/20 rule, where you do an awesome job 80% of the time, and allow yourself the grace of the everyday world the other 20% of the time.

SO: What’s your next big milestone?

I continue to learn from my readers and invite them to be part of the journey to change our country’s health!  While we can’t change the beginning, we have an incredible ability to change the end.  So I am engaging many with whom I work in new projects going forward: we are working on films, online forums and other tools that “we the people” can use to help create a healthier home, and I am so humbled and constantly inspired by the remarkable stories that readers have shared and look forward to highlighting them in my future work!

 Thanks Robyn and Happy Passioneering!