Meet Catherine Collodo | Co Founder

We had the good fortune of connecting with Catherine Collodo and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Catherine, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
The idea for the business did not start as a business, it started as a way to get my life back. The pain of being sick for four years brought us to realize we needed a change and when we did everything shifted. I would wake up every morning throwing up mucus and acid and the doctors could not figure out what was going on with me. They did every test, asked every question, gave me all sorts of prescription pills but nothing worked. My husband could not take the pain of seeing me like this, not being able to even have a real relationship. Reggie got on the hunt for information and he found alkaline veganism. That is right we are not just any vegans, we are Alkaline vegans. This way of eating cleanses balances and revitalizes the cells in the body along with using alkaline minerals and herbs. Since we started on this journey I have never gotten sick again and was able to give my husband a baby, 3 months after they told me I would never be able to conceive. By us reaping all of these benefits by learning to feed the body on a cellular level, we decided we had to share this. Vegan Hood was then born, a family company that will change lives for the better.

What should our readers know about your business?
Vegan Hood is a place like no other, what we offer is literally life changing. We love saying health is wealth because if you feel your best you will always do your best. We not only provide natural herbs, we provide information that is key for our health. At Vegan Hood you may walk in for a jar of Seamoss and leave with a life changing meal plan. The great thing about it is that we offer things for the whole family. We take pride in having one of the few places where people can receive all natural herbs for many different things or pick up a Seamoss beverage to quench their thirst. Throughout our journey we always stayed wild crafted, in other words we were always real with all of our customers. We never made promises we couldn’t keep and never acted like we knew something we didn’t. Instead we would look at not knowing as a chance to learn more and our clients loved it. We learned together and helped each other like any other family would.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Honestly, first we go over to our store in Hallandale Beach, we would stock up on Sea Moss juices and sweet teas. Then we will go down to Wynwood to see the beautiful artwork. After that we will head back home to prepare an alkaline feast that would contain our Alkaline spelt Roti with Butternut Squash, Callaloo, Mango, and Chick Peas. The next day we will start with sea moss smoothies to keep our energy up. On this day we will head to the beach loaded with Vegan Junkie Burgers. We would probably eat there most of the time if we aren’t cooking up some alkaline goodness. After the beach we will head to sweet dreams creamery for some alkaline desert. Walnut based ice-cream, the best. The rest of the week we continue with our seamoss drinks and minerals to make sure we are flushing all mucus out and keep feeling great. we go visit our friends at Carribe Vegan, On Saturday go to coconut Grove Farmers Market and visit Bangara Vegan, JD’s VegMex, Bangara

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
The person who deserves the most credit is Reggie. My husband has been there through all the ups and downs with me and all his research helped me. If it was not for his dedication and his passion I would not be here and I will forever be grateful. We would also like to thank the late Dr. Sebi. He is an iconic herbalist and has changed the lives of so many including us. His teachings saved our lives and we have been able to change lives with what we have learned.

Website: www.veganhoodproducts.com
Instagram: @vegan_hood_
Facebook: Vegan Hood