By: Haley Bosselman By: Haley Bosselman | February 24, 2022 | Culture,
What do veganism and kindness have in common? Turns out a whole lot. It’s the basis of Evanna Lynch and Daniella Monet’s podcast, A Little Kinder, in which they discuss kindness— whether that’s showing up for ourselves, supporting loved ones or even making intentional beauty purchases. It all ties to the company they co-founded called Kinder Beauty, which delivers clean, vegan, cruelty free beauty products each month to fellow vegan enthusiasts.
LA Confidential was lucky enough to have a chat with Lynch and Monet to learn about vegan and kindess, becoming entrepreneurs and establishing a caring community.
How would you define kindness?
DM: Doing something for the betterment of pretty much anything, yourself, others, your environment?
EL: That’s a thinker. I would say it's just an inner warmth, the feeling you get when you’re supported. It's sort of the feeling of a hug, isn't it, that you get when something nice happens or someone does something nice. You feel supported and you feel more positive about life.
How is kindness a key element in veganism?
EL: I think it starts with, of course, that animals are sentient beings and they have feelings and families and needs. And it's about recognizing that and recognizing that we don't want to treat them in a cruel way. But then I think it extends all the way to all the people who are trapped in the system as well. It's obviously very complicated to undo these systems that have been there for decades and that so many people's livelihood depends on, so veganism is really about being as compassionate as possible, in as many ways as practically possible. For me, it's a huge part of veganism. I think sometimes we can let our emotions or our anger get in the way of being kind as vegans. We can want change to happen right now, everyone to go vegan right away and I think we have to bring kindness back to just try and help people feel inspired and supported to make vegan choices.
Why is it important to incorporate vegan practices into our lives beyond eating, particularly with beauty?
DM: Everything that's affected by animal-derived products has an impact. So outside of food— of course, that is the first thing that comes to mind— but animals have been used for so many things for so long. Just looking around my space now, there’s unnecessary practices like downing pillows and wool and rugs. These are things that we have plenty of alternatives for, yet it’s not something that someone thinks about when they think of veganism. But it still has the same implications, the same impact if you were to choose a more naturally-occurring, less harmful choice. So I think that everyone can have an impact if they just make different choices, even outside of just the food they eat.
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How did Kinder Beauty grow to include A Little Kinder podcast?
EL: We're all very passionate animal rights activists. That's sort of the core of our mission. But we really realized that kindness is more broad than veganism. It can reach more people. There are people who might feel excluded by the vegan label or they maybe they just have their own personal issues that they're working through in order to change their lifestyle, whereas we felt like kindness is something that everyone can do with in their day. It makes everyone's lives better. Everyone can relate to the feeling of having a moment of kindness in their day uplift them and make them feel better or how they feel better from performing acts of kindness.
We just really believe in it as a human trait. It's such a positive force. It's one that can sound kind of sweet and and maybe insubstantial, but it's actually so substantial and it changes people's lives. We've really enjoyed talking to people about what it means to them, how it transformed their lives and how they make space for it in their lives.
What is something you're proud of that you’ve done through Kinder Beauty?
EL: I'm really proud of the community we have. Speaking of which, Danielle just mentioned— I've learned so much from them and I continue to. We have a really great Kinder Facebook group and they're the most conscientious, compassionate, thoughtful people. That goes from being thorough about what's in the products, and they expect high quality products, to also they're just kind to each other just sharing what's going on in their lives. I'm proud of that— that that's the kind of customer we've attracted because it's a nice energy to be around, but it's also we learn from it. It's made Kinder so much better to be catering to those kinds of people. It such a joy and and I really do believe that like attracts like. The energy you put out there, that's what you get in return and so to see that reflected in the community, to me, it's like, wow, we're doing something really right here.
You both started working in the entertainment industry from a young age. Has there been anything you learned from working in that space that you now translate to your work as entrepreneurs?
DM: Perseverance. Just having a greater understanding of yourself and how to handle the ride that is life and how that translates to work. I grew up acting and, at a young age, had to understand how to handle the ups and downs and rejection and how to get through it and how to stay motivated and how to really love myself through times when I was confused as to why things weren't going my way, and a lot of that really does reflect in the business space now. And I think that's one of the ways that it's given me at least personally an upside in handling this a little bit more gently, a little bit more kindly, having more acceptance around some of our areas where we can do better and have a better understanding of our company and our amazing team.
What's so nice also about Kinder Beauty is we talk a lot about self love and that's really weaved into our business and our and our mission, and it's helped me be more conscientious of that in my own life.
Kinder Beauty just inherently promotes self care and self love. What is your go-to tip for anyone still learning to incorporate that in their life?
EL: I would just say the main thing is that it's not selfish. The more you take care of yourself, the more you have to give and you'll be giving from a pure place. It's not resentfully given. I think that's the biggest block I see people have around it that it's last on the priority list because they're serving others and work and there's all these other demands.
Making appointments with yourself, why does that hold less weight, less importance in your day than a stranger you may be working with? I think you have to be your biggest supporter and respect yourself and just know that showing up for yourself makes you in a better position to show up for others.
This interview has been edited and condensed.
Photography by: Courtesy Kinder Beauty