Chef Ed Harris grew up in the Caribbean and South America, raised in a family where food was everything. His grandmother made breads, wines, and cheeses from scratch, and his mother's kitchen was the heart of the home. That upbringing sparked a passion that took him to New York City, where he trained in some of the city's finest kitchens, including Jean-Georges, Buddakan, and River Cafe, and eventually won Food Network's Chopped competition.

But it was a family movie night watching "What The Health" that changed everything. What started as a one-week experiment became a full commitment to plant-based living, and a new mission: showing people how to make vegetables shine rather than treating them as an afterthought.

Today, Chef Ed consults for major hotel brands including Hyatt and Marriott, runs The Plant-Based Kitchen Lab community, develops specialty spice lines and cookbooks, and helps chefs and food entrepreneurs build sustainable businesses beyond the traditional kitchen.

In this episode of Pivot Podcast, Chef Ed shares what it really takes to make plant-based cooking bold, accessible, and full of flavor — and what the restaurant industry still gets wrong about it.

You’ll learn about:

• How a family documentary night changed the way Chef Ed cooks and eats permanently
• Why homemade meat substitutes beat processed supermarket options every time
• What higher-end restaurants are doing right with plant-based menus
• How to make vegetables the star of the plate, not a side thought
• The business side of plant-based cooking: consulting, community building, and creating multiple income streams as a chef

Guest Links

https://knifenspoon.com/

Social Media
@ChefEdHarris

https://www.instagram.com/chefedharris/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/chefedharris/

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100063766615743

https://www.youtube.com/@ChefEdHarris

Memorable Quote

"Nothing that happens right now determines your end goal. Keep moving forward, understand your why, and everything will fall into place."

Show Notes

👨‍🍳 [02:31] Growing up in a family where food was everything

✈️ [04:20] Traveling the world to learn: Cooking as a way of understanding culture

🥬 [08:45] His mission: making vegetables the star of the plate

🎤 [12:14] Why mushrooms are underrated

👥 [15:22] Building a community: The Plant-Based Kitchen Lab

📦 [19:01] Consulting for Hyatt, Marriott, and beyond

🌱 [23:44] Creating curricula and workshops to help hospitality employees understand and promote plant-based options

🏪 [24:40] The vision: a grab-and-go vegan bodega concept in the Caribbean

💫 [26:22] For anyone new to plant-based living: Be kind to yourself

🔥 [30:20] The mushroom that converts even the biggest skeptics

Karina Inkster is a fitness and nutrition coach, TEDx speaker, and author of five books. She’s been vegan for 23 years. As the founder of K.I. Health & Fitness, she leads a small team of coaches who work entirely online with vegan clients across the globe–helping them build strength and health habits they’ll still hold at the age of 103.

Karina is known for her practical, no-nonsense approach to plant-based fitness: no before-and-after photos, no 30-day challenges, no “clean eating” language, and no diet culture. Instead, her focus is on sustainable, individualized strength training and nutrition coaching built specifically for plant-based athletes, whether they're chasing long-term bone density or simply trying to get comfortable in a gym.

In this episode of Pivot Podcast, Karina shares how she went from an hourly in-person trainer in 2013 to running a fully online coaching business in 2017, a shift she describes as the moment she felt like she was truly running a business. She talks about why vegan nutrition can't simply mirror omnivorous plans, how she thinks about long-term vs short-term fitness goals, and why niching down to vegan clients was one of the smartest business decisions she ever made.

You’ll learn about

• The real difference between vegan nutrition and standard fitness coaching approaches
• How she transitioned from hourly in-person training to a scalable online model
• Why Karina doesn't use before-and-after photos, and what she does instead
• The 80/20 framework she uses to help clients eat sustainably without constant food tracking
• Why specificity in your niche is one of the most powerful marketing tools available
• How she balances running a coaching business with a parallel career in music

Guest Links

https://www.karinainkster.com

Social Media

@karinainkster

https://www.instagram.com/karinainkster

https://www.facebook.com/karinainkster

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDM78CSF2AjCww1h05opDaw

Memorable Quote

“There's nothing wrong with having aesthetic goals. We're all human. We all want to look great. But if that's the only reason we're doing fitness, it generally doesn't lead to consistency or long-term results.”

Show Notes

🏋🏻‍♀️ [02:08] Building a fully online vegan fitness coaching business with a global client base

⚕️ [04:42] Why the focus is on long-term health, not just aesthetics.

📌 [08:07] Why vegan nutrition can't simply mirror standard fitness coaching approaches.

🧿 [11:28] What does eating in a way that supports your goals actually look like?

⚙️ [16:09] How to adjust your environment to make healthy habits easier.

🌍 [19:28] Going fully online in 2017: The shift that made the business truly scalable.

🚩 [23:39] Why she is very critical of the fitness industry.

🥗 [27:24] Why she went vegan for ethics, not health, and why that distinction matters.

🎙️ [32:26] The No BS Vegan podcast: The best way to learn about her approach

Alicia Lai spent over 20 years in sustainable fashion–including founding Bourgeois Bohème, a vegan shoe brand built on innovative materials. She was deeply committed to ethical production, personally vetting factories in Portugal and sourcing materials that minimized environmental impact. But after 15+ years of running the brand, the constant pressure to compromise on sustainability standards pushed her to make a difficult decision: close the business she had built and start over.

What came next wasn’t a retreat–it was a return to her values. Now, she runs hands-on sewing, mending, and Sashiko-inspired stitching workshops. Her work now focuses on behaviour change, inclusion, and showing that sustainable living happens one small, practical action at a time.

In this episode, Alicia shared what it really means to pivot–not as starting over, but as going deeper into what matters most.

You’ll learn about

• How to know when a business that looks successful on the outside no longer aligns with your values
• Why making compromises in production can erode the mission you started with
• What a real pivot looks like, and why it's often about returning to your values, not abandoning them
• Why behaviour change matters as much as product innovation in the sustainability movement

Guest Links

https://www.bboheme.com

Social Media

https://www.instagram.com/boboheme/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/aliciatclai/

https://www.facebook.com/bboheme/

https://x.com/home

Memorable Quote

"Fashion is a statement. When you choose to stitch and mend what you already own, you're making a stand against what's happening in the fashion industry today."

Show Notes

👡 [02:23] From vegan shoe brand to slow fashion advocate: Alicia's 20-year journey.

🧵 [07:10] What is Sashiko? The Japanese art of stitching and mending explained.

⏸️ [10:12] Why giving yourself permission to pause is the first step toward sustainable living.

⟲ [15:33] The reset we all need — and why we reach for our phones instead.

🧶 [17:18] Visible mending as a form of self-expression and resistance.

🙇 [20:23] How slow craft creates space for creativity and mindfulness.

💫 [25:29] Behaviour change over product change: why loving what you do matters.

🤝 [29:18] Building community through craft — and what comes next.