Today I finished organizing my massive to-do list for our bakery grand opening. In 11 weeks, my life will change dramatically. I’ve been giving a lot of thought as to what it takes to be an entrepreneur lately.

All the decisions I’ve made, and the steps I’ve taken over the last 2 years, haven’t been easy. I’ve come to have a whole new respect and appreciation for people who pave their own paths and do their own thing. For those who decided to pursue their dreams and take risks. I’m very proud, and so lucky to have ALL the friends that I do, but this particular post  is to recognize those friends and acquaintances who have raised the bar, ventured out on their own, who are trying (and who have) made a name for themselves over the last few years. After recently realizing how hard it really is to get from A to B, I believe they deserve to be recognized for who they are and what they’re doing.

The majority of these people have also chosen a vegetarian or vegan diet which makes them extra cool in my book. Not only are they making an effort to improve their personal lives, they are making an effort to save animals and help better our world. YOUR world.

First and foremost, I am inspired by my mother. I have yet to convert her to vegetarianism, but I’m relentlessly working on it. Regardless, she’s the biggest bad-ass on earth for raising me as a single mom for most of my life. I’m glad she has someone to take care of her now. She deserves the break. Go veg mom!

My husband Flori. The “serial entrepreneur”. Between obtaining his BA while on tour with his band ZSK, running his own marketing and advertising company in Germany, managing his co-owned clothing company, doing contract work for PETA, managing Cinnaholic, and putting up with my moody ass, he is my hero.

Ben and Laurel Powers. The most incredible wedding photographers on the face of the earth. I met Ben at Disneyland when I was 16 years old and he was running his own vending machine company. Since then, he and his wife have created Powers Studios which received ‘Portland’s Best Wedding Photography Studio’ award in Oregon Bride Magazine 2009. We’re lucky enough to have them shooting our wedding!

Hendrik Thiele. Author and Editor of HRVST. HRVST features various people who have roots in the underground / punk / hardcore environment. Be it painters, graphic artists, writers, musicians, photographers, label-guys, or whatnot. Hendrik is one of my husbands good friends and also works for PETA.

Jack Norris and his wife Alex Bury. Jack is the President and co-founder of Vegan Outreach. Vegan Outreach produces informative vegan booklets, and has distributed over 11 million copies. In 2005, he was elected to the Animal Rights Hall of Fame. Alex, his wife, does an amazing job helping raise funds and organize things at the Oakland PETA office.

Jesse Miner. Vegan personal chef. Jesse received the Personal Chefs Network’s November 2008 Pacesetter award, was awarded “Best Vegan Magician” in The San Francisco Bay Guardian’s Best Of The Bay 2008, and is currently San Francisco’s #1 personal chef on yelp.com. This guy is a wealth of knowledge when it comes to food, ingredients and where to get the best coffee.

Karine Brighten. Karine Brighten Events is a full service event-planning firm based in the San Francisco Bay Area, specializing in affordable eco-friendly events that are kind to animals and the planet. A ‘green’ event planner so to speak. We met Karine at the Farm Sanctuary ‘Walk for Farm Animals‘ event. We were so impressed with the way she organized everything that we hired her for our wedding!

Check out her upcoming ‘Women Entrepreneurs Showcase Event’ this Sunday HERE!

Laura Beck. Laura is the vice president of Rocket Dog Rescue, a community manager for the world’s largest vegetarian recipe website, VegWeb, founding editor of Vegansaurus.com, a columnist for VegNews Magazine, and can be found contributing “colorful” commentary and real talk to many online newspapers, journals, and blogs. Laura is one of the funniest people I know, not to mention a huge supporter of Cinnaholic.

Melliser Elliott. Vegan baker, blogger and author. Melisser runs a vegan bakery called Sugar Beat Sweets and manages a blog called The Urban Housewife. She’s in the process of releasing her new book titled ‘The Vegan Girl’s Guide to Life‘. When I went vegan and started Googling ‘SF vegan bakers’, I came across her blog. After reading up on who she was and what she was all about, I felt like I finally found someone I could relate to in the vegan scene. She has been a source of inspiration from the very beginning of my vegan baking career.

Mike Park. Although I am personally not connected to Mike Park just yet, my husband and many of his old band friends are. Mike Park is a well known musician, the founder of Asian Man Records, progressive activist, role model and… our wedding officiant! Through some mutual ties, we were connected with Mike a few months ago and he plans to marry us in our backyard this June. Read more about his awesomeness HERE.

Shani Campbell. President of East Bay Animal Advocates. Also, the most hardcore vegan I know. East Bay Animal Advocates is a non-profit organization based in the San Francisco Bay Area. Their mission is to examine and analyze the impact of the California agricultural industry on animals, humans and the environment. This lady never misses an opportunity to fight for an animals right whether it’s leafleting, playing the part for a protest, or simply attending vegan functions in the Bay Area. She is the most dedicated & compassionate person I’ve met in a long time.

Sarah Smart. Personal chef, ice cream maker & pastry artist at Millennium in SF. This girl can cook! For REAL. We met Sarah while we were interviewing caterers for our wedding. We’ve been swapping ideas and tips back and forth over the last few months and we’re stoked that she’s decided to open up her own vegan gourmet ice cream business! You can try some this Sunday at Karine Brighten’s ‘Women Entrepreneur Event‘!

These entrepreneurs inspire the hell out me. You should check out their stories and listen to what they have to say. Their knowledge is invaluable. I’m so thankful to be surrounded by such talented, driven, and compassionate people.

There is a saying that goes, “you’re only as good as the company you keep”.

I sure hope so.