Entrepreneur and Team GB athlete who runs a £5M snack business claims being VEGAN is the secret to her success as it makes her ‘mentally sharper’ (and she’s never touched a drop of alcohol in her life)
- Lisa Gawthorne, 37,from Liverpool, has been a been a vegan since 2002
- She also competes for team GB in duathlons and trains regularly at the gym
- Says her plant-based diet, rich in nutrients, gives her energy and keeps her sharp
An athlete who started her own multi-million pound snack business has seen her turnover double in the past year as the lifestyle choice grows in popularity.
Lisa Gawthorne, 37, from Liverpool, runs snack company Bravura Foods, and also competes for team GB, running and cycling all over the world in duathlons.
It’s certainly a hectic lifestyle, but Lisa puts her success down to her vegan diet as it gives her boundless energy, and never touching a drop of alcohol in her life.
‘My diet helps me to feel very sharp and focused, when you run your own business you need that – it has paved the way for me to remain quite driven and committed,’ she told Femail.
Lisa, who also gave up coffee in 2007, has seen her business go from strength to strength since she adopted a plant-based diet in 2012 – a year after she set up her company.
She said: ‘Last year we grew 50 per cent in the market – going from a £2.5m business to a £4.8m one.’
Lisa Gawthorne, 37, from Liverpool, runs vegan snack company Bravura Foods, but also competes for team GB, running and cycling all over the world in duathalons
The businesswoman, who has also written a nutrition book, says her plant based diet, rich in nutrients, gives her boundless amounts of energy.
Lisa, who had been a vegetarian from the age of six, says that her choice to go vegan was about animal welfare.
She said: ‘I went vegetarian when I saw a leaflet about battery hen farming.
It made me not want you to eat meat and even when my parents put animal meat on my plate and I declined to eat it.’
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But going vegan, back in 2012 was much harder: ‘Back then there wasn’t much food to choose from – there was only things like only tofu and soy on the market. So it was real challenge to begin with, but today we’ve never had so much choice.’
The one big change was her energy levels: ‘I saw them shoot through the roof when I became a vegan.
‘Everyone who meets me says that I’m full of beans and they think I take energy tablets, but its all down to my diet.’
Lisa became a vegan 17 years ago and has seen her energy levels ‘shoot through the roof’
She says that her diet helps her to stay focused which she needs for running a business
Lisa launched her company, Bravura Foods, an ethical food and drink distribution company business, in 2011 with business partner Karl Morris.
Starting with vegetarian and vegan brand Panda Liquorice she says their the aim was to go after brands that they believed in.
They now work with other vegan and vegetarian snacks and food brands like Peanut Hottie and Free from Fellows.
Lisa, who eats a high protein diet, and mixes it was meat substitutes like tempeh and tofu, leafy greens, vegetables, good carbs and essential fatty acids in avocados and nuts, says that it’s this diet that keeps her mentally alert.
Lisa launched her company, Bravura Foods, an ethical food and drink distribution company business, in 2011 with business partner Karl Morris
Lisa said that she fell into the duathlons by accident initially using running as a stress reliever
Lisa’s favourite vegan snacks
Free From Fellows Gummy Bears
Hippeas Cheese n Love – chickpea based crisps
Vega chocolate and hazelnut bar
Pudology – banoffee pudding pot
Rita Sport – marzipan and dark chocolate variety
As well as running a successful company Lisa also competes for Great Britain in duathlons.
The athlete, who says he has never drunk alcohol said: ‘I fell into the duathlon world by accident, I was always a runner and used it as stress reliever.
‘But when I had a running injury my physio told me to get on the bike to help it – and fell in love with cycling.’
In 2016 she did her first duathalon and did so well that she qualified for the European championships.
Then at her second race she qualified for the world championships in Canada.
Lisa says that those who are contemplating taking on veganism shouldn’t be worried when it comes to their diet.
She said: ‘Don’t be scared to try it out, there is a minority people out there who say you won’t get your nutrients, but I have never been deficient in any vitamins.’
Lisa adds: ‘There has never been a better time to go vegan, in the last couple of years I’ve been tasting things that I never thought I would, like vegan shepherds pie, cupcakes, cheesecake.’
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