Meet the Founders of the Six-Figure Digital Detox Program, I Am Surviving Vegan

Orisha Oshun and Grizzy Tha God say they made their first million in 2020 amid the pandemic by transforming the health of over 100,000 Black families globally through their family-run company I Am Surviving Vegan.

During the outbreak of the COVID crisis, the co-founders saw an immediate need to build immunity to COVID-19 within the Black community.

BLACK ENTERPRISE spoke with Orisha and Grizzy Tha God about the importance of I Am Surviving Vegan in the Black community.

Why is I Am Surviving Vegan important for the community?

Orisha: I Am Surviving Vegan is important for the community because we challenge individuals to see the connection between the way they eat and their unhealed emotional traumas. Our vision is to make people who are transitioning to healthier living feel elite, luxurious, and triumphant as they discover new depths to their true selves. Surviving veganism is not about Black people eating vegan burgers every day – although that’s a common transition—it’s about surviving the highs and lows of your holistic healing journey. It’s a mind, body, and soul transformation! That’s what the community needs to know…surviving and breaking generational health disparities takes time. We want our community to know that we are a resource for their journeys. Whether through our “edutainment” content, detoxes, Surviving Vegan Academy, or our vegan cookbooks.

What insight would you give to people wanting to go vegan but are skeptical of going all-in?

Orisha: I became a carb-o-holic. I dropped all the meat and left everything else on my plate. From our personal vegan transition, we built the “T.N.T. formula,” which stands for taste and texture. People can be skeptical about transitioning to veganism because most are worried that what they cook won’t taste better or have the right texture for their enjoyment. That’s why all of our recipes include both! More importantly, people need to understand that the transition to veganism is not just about the food we eat; it’s about our spiritual and mental wellbeing.

Be ready to conduct your own research, read the ingredients on the back of everything, hold yourself accountable, manifest more clearly, and don’t allow others to be stewards over your health. Be open to the entire wellness journey because we have learned it is not a destination. You may get discouraged and want to give up, but don’t. Trust us, the journey is beautiful, transformative, and so worth it! There are endless benefits to transitioning to veganism for the mind, body, and spirit alignment. You will experience body harmony, healing, peace, transformation, and weight loss. It will decrease the chances of health problems and increase manifestation and focus. Just know, even if something along the way doesn’t happen the way you intend for it to, there is always room for improvement, so don’t be so hard on yourself.

How do you balance business with family?

Orisha: We actually have five kids now. Our children are growing up with the company. The same principles we teach our community, we teach them. We’ve turned our daily vegan parenting routines into educational content—like family meal preps, homeschooling, raising Black vegan kids, having a vegan pregnancy, teaching kids to take herbal remedies, getting kids to drink more water, better communication styles, etc.

That’s how we balance it. So when we say we are a family-run business, we truly are! You’ll see our kids, family, and friends in our content, on Zoom meetings, in skits, etc. This is how we show the community that what they see is actually genuine.

What advice would you give to entrepreneurs facing challenges due to COVID-19?

Grizzy Tha God: Our advice…serve in the digital space! Entrepreneurs need to understand how to serve with heavier value and lower overhead. Social media has saved the cost of most business or product expenses. That’s why all of our products are completely digital. I’d advise that business owners take advantage of the shift.

Another piece of advice: learn to solve the biggest problem at the time. During the pandemic, most of the Black community wanted more holistic remedies to build better immunity. That was the need that we solved. We focused all of our content and products on providing tips and tricks for a healthier body.

“Once people recognized that our information was valuable and consistent, they became our tribe,” added Orisha.

How would you like to see the business expand in the future?

Orisha: We’ve helped over 100,000 people detox or transition their lives holistically. We’d like to help millions more! We’d also like to see how we can create virtual holistic worlds inside the metaverse.

We are also in the transition of making I Am Surviving Vegan a people’s brand. This is our fifth year of business, and we’ve already trained over 2,00 people to be I Am Surviving Vegan wellness coaches. Our coaches will help us reach a million more lives!

The Black, family-owned business in Miami helped over 20,000 women and men lose up to 20 pounds of waste with their first plant-based detox, #SurvivingVeganDetoxChallenge. Ancient skincare and colon detoxes are also offered. With 1,100 community members, the four-week Surviving Vegan Academy teaches holistic counselors to the next generation. I Am Surviving Vegan provides 100% digital products to over 90,000 members through its online platform. The Surviving Vegan Soulfood Cooking guide shares recipes for the holidays and transitioning vegans.

I Am Surviving Vegan provides resources for building wealth and health in the Black community.