Content Creator freelances with vegan businesses for a meaningful career
Lye Chen Xi, Content Creator
31- year old Lye Chen Xi, left her job at a mobile games company when she found it meaningless in its contribution to socio-environmental impacts. Following a soul-searching career break, she found that influencing people to make better choices for the animals and the planet was the most meaningful and enjoyable aspect of life. She became a freelance social media manager and content creator for small businesses doing good for the animals, planet or people to do work that aligned with her ethics.
Raised a vegetarian by her family, Chen Xi educated herself on the brutal practices in the dairy and egg industry through online research and gradually transitioned to a vegan lifestyle that was in line with her personal values, by sourcing for vegan clothes and beauty products that are responsibly produced. During her career break, Chen Xi dabbled with content creation on social media to raise awareness of veganism and debunk myths about it in Singapore, to create more demand for its environmentally-conscious lifestyle.
“Social media has great power and influence over people’s lives, but there was a lack of vegan content in Singapore. There was very little representation and visibility regarding vegan food and lifestyle in Singapore, so I decided to give content creation a shot.”
One of perceptions she has called into question on her channel is that being vegan is an expensive lifestyle and is solely for the privileged. She has invalidated those claims from the public by showing how whole foods groceries can be wallet friendly, and even cheaper than meat. Her most successful video series - budget vegan in Singapore helped to introduce affordable vegan options. Premium vegan alternatives, such as branded mock meats, seem to dominate the conversations and take the focus away from whole foods plant-based items in the market, which is something she shed light on. She hopes that with enough demand, prices of premium vegan products can fall, as they are more palate-friendly for people craving the taste and texture of meat.
“While adoption of veganism is slow in Singapore, I think the fact that there is governmental support and funding for plant-based start-ups has boosted the visibility and awareness of plant based options in the F&B scene in Singapore. I am optimistic that sustainable eating will grow as we try to hit our climate goals.”
Lye Chen Xi
