I am from South India, from a city called Chennai. I moved to Shanghai about 5 years ago when I was working as a chemical engineer.
Like many other families in our hometown, having a boy was considered a blessing and if you have a girl child first, you keep trying till you have a boy.
When I was 24 years old, I got accepted into Imperial College London for a Master’s program in chemical engineering (one of the top tech institutes of the world). I asked my father for a loan for the fees and he said to me, “Why do you want to suffer? Study abroad, work for a living? Woman don’t have to work.”
I explained to my father that I am really good at science and tech, and having a master’s in chemical Engineer from Imperial means better job prospects in the industry.
“You can marry a chemical engineer instead, you know?” was his response. My mother helped me get a loan (in secret, I should add) and helped me go to London, without my father’s knowledge.
Now, I lead my own start up. I have learnt that my happiness and peace translate as suffering in patriarchy.
The vegan community that my friends and I started in 2016, grew beyond our expectations, and there was a need to ensure that this community can get all the support they needed from a solutions standpoint – mainly. I set up a “Plant Based Consulting (PBC)”, and we connected various restaurants with plant-based products and did active community building.
During the consulting years, we realised there are already tons of plant- based meat companies in China’s mainland but they were not getting enough attention. Meatfest 2019 was born out of these discussions and it is one of the most important milestones for grassroot vegan advocacy in China.
Vegan Challenge, was also another advocacy project that we ran. Hundreds of participants who told us, ‘Eve, this is great, but tell me what to eat and send it to me!”
I pivoted towards the F&B business in 2020, post Covid-19, and founded 7030, and pivoted towards whole foods plant-based meal plan solutions.
Covid-19 had a huge, HUGE impact on how I view the world especially human-caused ecological pressures and disruptions
This coupled with the fact that I care immensely about animal welfare, helps me get out of bed on those days when I don’t want to continue chasing those deadlines. I don’t believe passion alone motivates me. For me it is a sense of the ‘why’ I do something. If I am spending 8-10 hours a day during my active time on a project, it needs to have a purpose and align with my values.
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