YYC Feature: Grinning Goat
Crystal Brown’s vegan boutique offers consumers the chance to ‘change their clothes, and change the world’
Crystal Brown’s dream of volunteering for an animal rescue organization was fulfilled when she took a year off of her job to work with The Alice Sanctuary, non-profit sanctuary for farm animals. She soon realized that her passion for this work would guide her to the next chapter of her life. Instead of returning to her old job, Crystal decided she wanted to give YYC consumers the opportunity to shop fashion and lifestyle items that are aligned with vegan ethics. She created ‘The Grinning Goat’ boutique— named after the first goat to be rescued at The Alice Sanctuary that she had named Arwyn. The Grinning Goat carries footwear, tees, tanks and sweaters, outerwear, belts, bags, jewelry and more, and you can be rest assured that it’s 100% cruelty free fashion! Crystal’s devotion to advocating for animal wellbeing is an uplifting story of how one person’s dedication to make change in the world can make all the difference
Find her at: https://www.grinninggoat.ca/
Read more about The Alice Sanctuary here: https://thealicesanctuary.com/
What were you doing before starting your business and why did you decide to start The Grinning Goat?
Before I started my business, I had worked for an engineering firm here in Calgary for 10 years. My last role was as a project accountant and I dealt with all things finance. After 10 years, I felt the need to take a break in order to fulfill some personal aspirations. I took a 1 year leave from my career and promptly began looking for volunteer positions dealing with animal rescue and care as that had always been a dream of mine. I quickly came across a farm animal sanctuary called The Alice Sanctuary. After reaching out to The Alice Sanctuary and visiting them as part of a group called the Calgary Vegan Club at the time, I knew that I found exactly what I was looking for. The Alice Sanctuary was in the beginning stages of moving to a new larger property and I was able to get involved with preparing the new space by helping to survey the land for potential safety issues, clean out existing structures, and build new structures that would soon house abused and abandoned farm animals. It was a dream come true. I spent 3-4 days a week there that summer helping get everything ready for the residents and I couldn't have been happier.
At that time, I had been vegan for about 4 years, but had yet to meet other vegans "in real life". It was at the sanctuary that I met and became part of the vegan community here in Calgary. I met so many wonderful people and after many conversations, I discovered that we all had the same challenges when it came to shopping for ethical vegan fashion, in particular shoes. When my one year work leave was coming to a close, I decided not to return to my previous career. I knew that I had to do something more related to my passion and I decided to create a solution to the challenges my friends and I shared. That solution was to open up a store here in Calgary to give people the opportunity to purchase fashion and lifestyle items that aligned with their vegan ethics. The store is named after the first goat to become a resident at The Alice Sanctuary. I was given the honour of naming him (his name is Arwyn which means friend of the people) and I named the store after him.
“There was no reason that I couldn't enjoy a healthy and happy life without contributing my dollars to the industries that perpetuate such absolute and unimaginable atrocities to animals.”
What events or circumstances led you to personally start living a vegan lifestyle?
I became vegan after learning about the horrors of factory farming. I heard about a video online that showed the way chickens were raised and slaughtered for the KFC restaurant chain. After watching this and subsequent videos and doing a lot of reading, I decided there was no way I could in good conscience continue to contribute to the pain and suffering that animals go through to become our food, fashion, and entertainment. There was no reason that I couldn't enjoy a healthy and happy life without contributing my dollars to the industries that perpetuate such absolute and unimaginable atrocities to animals.
Why do you think we have a lack of vegan boutiques in Calgary and Canada in general?
There is a saying from Paul McCartney... If slaughterhouses had glass walls, everyone would be vegetarian. When the truth about where our food comes from is kept from the public or is presented in such a way as to make people think the animals on these farms are happy and have great lives, people generally don't bat an eye or think to question the industry. What's happening now is that people have access to so many more resources than ever before and are now seeking out their own answers. It is hard to hide the realities of factory farming now. All you have to do is a simple Google search to see it for yourself.
I don't necessarily see that we have a "lack" of vegan boutiques so much as I see that the number of vegan businesses and resources have been growing exponentially. People don't want to be part of something so cruel and once they know the truth, they are seeking out alternatives. It is only going to grow from here as more and more people become aware. When I became vegan, I didn't know any other vegans for the first 4 years, now it seems everyone knows someone who is vegan. I think the future is very bright and we will see a lot more changes in particular related to animal law and government funding of the animal agriculture industry in Canada using taxpayers dollars. It will take time of course, but that is the direction we are headed in.
In the last five years, what new belief or habit that has most improved your life or business?
Retail was a brand new industry to me when I first started thinking about the idea 3-4 years ago. I didn't know the first thing about running a store or purchasing inventory or any of the many other tasks involved. Despite my lack of knowledge and experience, my passion for the reason behind it gave me a new kind of confidence and belief in myself. Starting a business you know nothing about can be incredibly daunting, but I started with a passion and I knew that I could learn the rest. I also had incredible support from a few key people in my life who have thankfully always lifted me up and encouraged me to follow my dreams. If you believe 100% in what you are creating as a business, it is almost impossible to let outside influences get you down. For me, the business is not about myself. It is about giving people who want to choose cruelty free products the option to do so. It's about showing people that you can have quality products without causing harm to animals and minimizing harm to the environment. That doesn't mean that every day is perfect. There are plenty of stressful days just like any other job, but it does mean that every day I wake up knowing that what I am doing contributes positively to the world and that is what makes every up and every down worth it. It creates a sense of ease that I know I am putting out there the vision I see for a better world.
What book do you recommend most?
Not a book, but Janneane Madill who is the founder of The Alice Sanctuary is a wealth of information when it comes to teaching the truth about animal agriculture. Veganism is not only related to animals; it is also directly related to environmental and social issues as well. I always recommend people take a tour at The Alice Sanctuary when they are offered during the summer. It is an interactive and eye-opening experience suited to people of all backgrounds who are interested in learning more. You will truly walk away with so much more knowledge than you had at the start. There really is no substitute for the experience of being with the animals and learning about not only what they go through, but what people and workers in the industry go through as well.