In the latest episode of the Plant Based On Fire podcast, we had the privilege of hosting Alex Walch, also known as YaBonks. His story is not just about entrepreneurship but also about compassion, dedication, and the power of a plant-based lifestyle.
Alex's journey into veganism started a decade ago, initially driven by curiosity about its potential fitness benefits. However, it was the ethical aspect, particularly after watching "Earthlings," that solidified his commitment. As a vegan bodybuilder, Alex demonstrates the physical and health benefits of a plant-based diet, shattering the myth that strength and veganism don't mix.
But Alex's contributions extend far beyond personal fitness. As a successful software engineer and entrepreneur, he has uniquely combined his technical skills and business acumen to create positive change. His YouTube channel (@yabonks), initially focused on crypto and decentralized finance, evolved into a platform for educating and guiding others, showcasing his expertise in a complex and often treacherous field.
The heart of Alex's mission, however, lies in his work with Karma Farm Sanctuary (@karmafarmsanctuary). Here, he and his wife have created a haven for animals in need, channeling their resources and energy into providing care and shelter. His dedication is unwavering, even if it means "burning the candle at both ends." This sanctuary is more than just a home for animals; it's a symbol of the change one can make by aligning business success with ethical values.
For entrepreneurs in the plant-based industry, Alex's journey offers invaluable lessons. His approach to content creation - consistent, authentic, and fearless - is a blueprint for building a solid online presence. His emphasis on networking and genuine interaction underlines the importance of community building. But most crucially, Alex exemplifies the principle of providing value first, whether in business or philanthropy.
Alex's vision for the future is ambitious yet grounded in compassion. He seeks to scale his efforts, extending the sanctuary's reach and impact. He calls for a community that transcends dietary preferences, united by a love for animals and a commitment to their welfare.
As we reflect on Alex's story, it's clear that the fusion of entrepreneurship, technology, and ethical living can create a profound impact. His journey isn't just about succeeding in business; it's about redefining success itself. To support Alex and Karma Farm Sanctuary, engage with their social media, consider donations, or simply spread the word about their incredible work. Remember, every action, no matter how small, contributes to a larger movement towards a more compassionate and sustainable world.
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>Podcast Episode's Transcript:
Please understand that a transcription service provided the transcript below. It undoubtedly contains errors that invariably take place in voice transcriptions.
Bryan (00:02.366)
Hello everybody and welcome to Plant Based on Fire, where we talk about plant-based businesses and their thriving and inspiring stories in the industry. I'm your host Brian and joining us today is Alex Walsh, AKA YaBunks, a YouTuber, animal sanctuary owner, software engineer, entrepreneur. He's also a vegan bodybuilder and loves self-improvement. Welcome Alex to the show.
Alex (YaBonks) (00:18.498)
Hey!
Alex (YaBonks) (00:30.914)
Thank you so much, Brian. I love your podcast here. I've listened to a bunch of episodes now and I think it's really great what you're doing.
Bryan (00:39.946)
Thanks for being here. Yeah, I'm excited to talk with you. I've, I've talking with a few other vegan bodybuilders and stuff, but like, I feel like you're our first, like business that's in the animal sanctuary side of things. So I have so many questions on how you do things and all that stuff, but let's start with a little bit of personal background just to help fill in some gaps for some, some of our audience members that aren't familiar with you yet. I don't know why they shouldn't be. You're awesome on YouTube. So what, how did your
personal journey with veganism, get you started and influence your business.
Alex (YaBonks) (01:15.246)
Well I guess I went vegan about 10 years ago when I was 25 years old and it was purely for ethical reasons, although I told myself I'm doing it just because I want to see if there are, you know, gains to be had in the gym and out on my trail runs. And that was the case. I did seem to recover faster and everything, but as I did more research and I watched some movies like Earthlings, that sealed the deal for me and after I saw Earthlings, I went vegan overnight, never went back.
Bryan (01:46.186)
Wow. Yeah. I mean, Earthlings is a scary one for me. I can't make it through that one. I cannot make it. So yeah, very cool. How do you balance all these different things? Like you're a YouTuber, software engineer, entrepreneur, bodybuilder, sanctuary owner. Like how do you find time for it all?
Alex (YaBonks) (01:46.447)
Um, yeah.
Me too. Yeah.
Alex (YaBonks) (02:07.086)
Uh, it's very, very difficult. Lots of caffeine. So I, I probably have a terrible work life balance and I know it's not the healthiest for me, but I feel like I'm on a mission and I have so many lives depending on me at this point and so much more that I want to do that I can't seem to slow down. And I don't want to slow down either. So I'm basically going to burn the candle at both ends until I burn out or explode. And luckily my wife.
Bryan (02:13.002)
Hahaha.
Bryan (02:28.115)
Yeah.
Alex (YaBonks) (02:36.183)
is has that same you know dogged attitude where she will do anything to help the animals even if it means giving up a night or two of sleep here and there to make sure everybody's healthy and everybody's safe.
Bryan (02:49.294)
I think that's such an important thing to just unpack for one more second. Cause as an entrepreneur, like that's what you're signing up for. Like you're starting a business, you're growing it. You know, people need to understand it is that first three to five years of a business. It's not the first 12 months. It's the first three to five years to get a business off the ground is such a, uh, you know, time laborious thing on that front. So I commend you. I hope you get to work out a little bit.
while you're helping work on the animals, but I'm curious how you tie in the software engineering pieces.
Alex (YaBonks) (03:24.066)
So that's what I've done my whole career. I went to school for computer science engineering and I went right into the corporate world and I've always done consulting work on the side. So I've always been an entrepreneur. I actually minored in entrepreneurship in college so I've always wanted to run my own business. And I have just been doing consulting jobs a couple hours a week after my corporate programming job, after I'd get home. And I did that for about 10 years. Well, I mean.
All through college I was doing it. So about 10 years of my career, but the last five years specifically, things got really crazy because I started a YouTube channel and I was using my software engineering knowledge and skills because I can read code, I can understand it, and I can explain it in terms that a lay person would understand. And I used that in the crypto and decentralized finance space, reading.
like solidity contracts on the, on like Ethereum based, uh, EVM based blockchains and letting people know that yes, what I see in the code is what the team is saying in their documentation on their website or, Oh, Hey, I see this in the code. Watch out. It might be a rug pull because they have this ability that they're not telling us about. And my channel kind of took off that way where I became somebody that people came to, to ask for help. Like, Hey,
Is this smart contract safe and things like that? And I would make videos really breaking down the code and walking people through this stuff. And then projects and companies and people kept requesting videos from me. Entrepreneurs would be like, Hey, will you interview me about my business? And that's how my channel took off. It's really when I started interviewing people like you're doing, entrepreneurs in the crypto space, which is a very treacherous space, by the way. So.
Bryan (04:55.048)
Yeah.
Bryan (05:14.375)
Yeah.
Alex (YaBonks) (05:19.402)
Like if you watch my channel, always watch everything with a grain of salt. I'm trying my best out there to analyze these business plans, but at the end of the day, you have to do your own research and hold yourself accountable, especially when money is involved.
Bryan (05:32.966)
Yeah, absolutely. Well, I have to say we could geek out. I'm a CTO and a programmer as well, so we can totally geek out forever on that. But we are here to talk about the animals and saving the planet and eating healthy and stuff. So congrats on your business successes. Can you share the story behind your decision to use your business success to fund Karma Farm Sanctuary?
Alex (YaBonks) (05:40.904)
No way
Yes!
Alex (YaBonks) (05:49.514)
Oh man. Thank you.
Alex (YaBonks) (06:00.726)
Yeah, well, it was a no-brainer because it was a necessity. You know, my wife and I started Karma Farm Sanctuary unofficially five years ago, when we bought this little five acre farm in North Central Florida, in the small town of McAnopy, actually in the outskirts, we are in the middle of nowhere. And as soon as we had land,
some of these volunteer organizations and other animal sanctuaries that we would volunteer at would be like, hey, we know you just bought a farm and there's like one of the first ones was a pig, Scarlet. A lot of people might know who Scarlet is and Scarlet was about to be killed the next day if somebody couldn't take her in because she got too large for this family's kids. They got a little mini pig and were like, it was a pet that lived in the house for their little, for their two daughters. And then it got too big.
That's what pigs do. They are not mini pigs. They're gonna be 200 pounds or more and And they were just like well, you know, this pig's too big. It's dangerous now. We're just gonna kill it. Um, and We were like, oh, we don't know anything about this I mean we volunteer here and there but we don't know anything about this, but we're like, yeah Don't let that pig get killed for no reason if we can if we can do something We will write like if it's in our
Bryan (07:15.099)
Yeah.
Alex (YaBonks) (07:25.906)
sphere of influence that we can actually take action and prevent that from happening legally of course then yes we're gonna do that so we got we they brought scarlet over um and i stayed up all night building a pig pen in the dark no idea what i'm doing and like fencing off our carport with like welded wire fencing and building a little house for her to sleep in with blankets and bedding and just figured it out
Bryan (07:44.724)
Hehehe
Alex (YaBonks) (07:53.598)
like, ran a tractor supply, got pig food. And then, and then I spent the whole next week learning how to fence off a pasture that's strong enough to hold in a very strong pig. And she kept breaking out and I kept learning I have to reinforce things and this and that. And that was how that's how we started unofficially. Now it quickly escalated from there because we immediately fell in love with her and we're like, if we can save this life and give her this like wonderful new life where she gets belly rubs and treats and love.
Bryan (07:54.664)
Yeah.
Bryan (08:08.618)
Hehehehe
Alex (YaBonks) (08:23.81)
and think of what we could do for other animals in need, specifically animals in need. We are reluctant to take animals because of the resources and time and everything that goes into it. So we have to be very careful to make sure we're not breeding for fun or whatever, or we're not taking animals that already have a wonderful home. So only the animals that are suffering, animal cruelty cases, abuse, neglect, immediate death if they don't get rescued. That's when we step in if we can.
Bryan (08:28.126)
Mm-hmm.
Alex (YaBonks) (08:50.546)
and we deploy whatever resources we got, even if it's credit cards, to get them the help they need. It's very irresponsible of us financially, but YOLO, we will figure it out. And that's how we've always ran this thing and a lot of other sanctuaries will be like, that's not the right way to do it. And like, I know, but like we'll do what it takes. So anyway, two years later, we incorporated as Karma Farm Sanctuary officially as a nonprofit. And then last year, we finally officially got our 501C3.
tax exempt status as a yes, as a charity. So we are a tax exempt organization, all donations are tax deductible, all the good stuff. And we are doing everything by the book, by, you know, with accounting and everything. And every single dollar that gets donated to Karma Farm Sanctuary goes to the animals. So food, vet bills, infrastructure, betting, whatever it is, all of it goes to the animals. We don't take a salary. In fact, we've been putting...
all of our salaries, me and my wife, multiple jobs and businesses into supporting this thing and rescuing these animals. So, you know, Dave Ramsey and his total money makeover plan, he'll be very mad at us because of our retirement account status and everything. But, but you know, we called it Karma Farm Sanctuary because we're out here farming good karma. And I think, you know, after this life or whatever, that that's a lot more valuable than any amount of money I could store up here on earth.
Bryan (10:02.695)
Yeah.
Alex (YaBonks) (10:17.45)
So that's just kind of how we roll and we're figuring it out as we go. And as I'm doing this and trying to scale this, I realized we hit limits with corporate jobs, with our income, so we can only scale so fast. So that's when we've been coming up with different entrepreneurial activities to generate different revenue streams that are infinitely scalable, like being a content creator, YouTuber, having memberships, ad revenue, sponsored deals.
all these things and then funneling that all into the animal sanctuary so as my businesses grow so does our animal rescue efforts and that's where we are now.
Bryan (10:56.498)
That is an awesome, awesome story. And I can just feel your energy and your passion coming through. I want to ask, I'm going to ask you a little bit later, how can we help? So we'll go into all the ways that I'm sure you've got a long list, but you, you hit on the secret right there. I mean, like as a business owner, you have to get creative. You have to break out of the box. There's limitations that the world puts on you and you have to figure out how to overcome them. So tell us, and some of the listeners that are trying to start their business and their version of what you're already doing.
Alex (YaBonks) (10:59.394)
Thank you.
Alex (YaBonks) (11:06.548)
Thanks, man.
Bryan (11:26.354)
share some of the insights of how you've successfully monetized your social media and some of the other things like what was the tipping point? What was some of the successes that you realized and how you did it?
Alex (YaBonks) (11:38.414)
Okay, man, I have so much I can go into on this, so I'll try to condense it to some of the most valuable pieces of advice. Maybe I'll give you three of my best pieces of advice for new entrepreneurs, especially content creators, which I think is, it's basically a necessity these days for new businesses. You have to be on social media if you wanna grow these days, at least beyond your local sphere.
Bryan (12:02.762)
Mm-hmm. Yeah.
Alex (YaBonks) (12:07.338)
in your geographical region. So first thing is on social media, just start posting stuff. I don't care what it is. I don't care if it sucks. I don't care if the quality is terrible. I don't care if you're nervous and stuttering and you look like a mess like me. Just get used to just doing it. Just act. Don't overthink it. Work that muscle. It does not have to be perfect. Perfection can be your greatest enemy.
Bryan (12:28.114)
Yep. Work that muscle. Yep.
Alex (YaBonks) (12:36.798)
A lot of times people wonder like, how is this person who's so much dumber than me making so much more money than me? And it's because they're not overthinking and they're just doing. They're just like, they're just doing stuff. And I think a lot of people get that fear paralysis of, uh, I'm not good enough or I haven't thought this out enough yet. Experiment, try stuff and just try to post something on like YouTube for instance, once a week, just at minimum once a week. I don't care what it is or go live once a week.
just so that way you have that constant presence, so that way eventually YouTube can't ignore you. The algorithm will be like, this guy's not going away. We might as well, you know, give him some attention. That's how I've always thought about it. And I was doing live streams with zero viewers for months. I was literally talking to myself with a big zero on the screen, nobody watching. And I'm just like, just pretend like there's people watching because they might watch this later. And it worked. And I just kept hammering away like that.
Bryan (13:19.529)
Yeah.
Bryan (13:25.938)
Hehehehe
Bryan (13:31.303)
Yes.
Alex (YaBonks) (13:35.254)
Now that's the first thing I could tell you as a content creator, just keep posting and don't stop.
Bryan (13:41.342)
Just keep posting and don't stop.
Alex (YaBonks) (13:43.562)
I'm getting an echo.
Bryan (13:46.418)
I'm getting an echo. One sec. Sorry, my I got a phone call came in. OK. I have to go back to the headphones. Sorry about that. No worries.
Alex (YaBonks) (13:50.042)
Oh, okay.
Alex (YaBonks) (13:58.007)
No worries.
Bryan (14:05.29)
too many devices in our life. All right, how's that better?
Alex (YaBonks) (14:09.87)
Testing testing perfect, man. Yeah No worries, okay, so I'll start at My second piece of advice Once you have your content flowing And you're getting better at it. You're learning You're experimenting and finding out what works for you and your style. The second piece of advice is networking Reach out to people
Bryan (14:12.486)
Yeah, cool. Sorry about that.
Bryan (14:27.53)
Mm-hmm.
Alex (YaBonks) (14:38.43)
on social media. What I did with my YouTube channel, since I'm in the crypto and DeFi space, a lot of the action happens in Discord servers and Telegram servers. I would be in the servers of the projects that I had money invested into, and I would be learning all the stuff, keeping up with all the announcements, and answering people's questions just as a service to others. Just to be like, hey,
This is what's going on. How are you guys today? I would meet people in these chat rooms and I'd be like a constant presence in all these communities and people started to get to know me and I would be DMing with them. I all of a sudden I had a couple hundred friends on Discord alone just in the crypto space. Most of them were anonymous too. I didn't even know who they were in real life, but they were nice. Like we were friends and still are so many of them. And that formed my core follower, my core followers that
Bryan (15:27.219)
Yeah.
Alex (YaBonks) (15:35.594)
got me like my first 300 subscribers, probably, three to 700 on YouTube. And those people would watch like almost everything I did and they would like and comment here and there or share the videos or tell people in other servers, hey, you should see if Yabongs will make a video explaining how your project works because it's kind of hard to understand. And that's kind of how it started mushrooming or growing.
Bryan (15:40.639)
Mm-hmm.
Bryan (15:49.022)
Yep.
Bryan (15:57.809)
Mm-hmm.
Alex (YaBonks) (16:04.53)
organically and uh so i my second piece of advice networking and same goes for instagram uh or facebook or linkedin wherever you are network and youtube go to other content creators you like and leave comments like their videos subscribe to them and just say if you watch a video it takes two seconds to say great video thanks man boom that person will be like thank you they will i every comment i get like that
Bryan (16:21.569)
Mm-hmm.
Alex (YaBonks) (16:33.702)
even at this point, I have 30,000 subscribers, man. Every single comment like that, it means something to me. And I like that person. And if they have content of their own, I'll subscribe back to them just to show support. It doesn't cost me anything to click that subscribe button and they'll see that and they will be like, wow, you know, that guy went out of his way to follow me and subscribe to my channel. I'm gonna subscribe to his and maybe I'll watch more of his videos and support him more. So reach out, network.
Bryan (16:39.078)
Yep. Absolutely.
Bryan (17:00.072)
Yep.
Alex (YaBonks) (17:03.838)
Make personal connections, make it very personal. Like, be like, this is actually me. It's very nice to meet you. Love what you did there, just wanted to say that. Blah, blah, blah. And then go out and support their content on Instagram, YouTube, wherever, and they'll reciprocate a lot of the times. If they don't, who cares? Don't get upset about it, just keep going. But like 40% might come back and follow you and support all your content. And then it's like the effect.
can't be understated, especially for a small content creator that doesn't have the snowball effect yet, that can really get things rolling and then other people start noticing. And they'll be like, why is this getting so much attention? I'm gonna follow them, cause it must be good, right?
Bryan (17:44.838)
Yeah.
Bryan (17:49.846)
It's the social part of social media. We do way too much of the media side of it, not enough of the social. So you're absolutely right. Yeah. I tell people all the time, you've got to put yourself out there and be vulnerable and you got to do the social piece 80% and the media piece 20%. So yeah.
Alex (YaBonks) (17:57.25)
Oh my god, that's so well said dude, I'm stealing that one. Hahahaha
Alex (YaBonks) (18:12.758)
I 100% agree. And because of that, like you can be the best content creator, you can make all this content, but you could have like 100,000 followers and maybe nobody comments on your stuff or like nobody buys your product or whatever. And what I found is like those couple hundred people that I like go out of my way and put energy and time into maintaining those relationships and supporting them, those people are the people...
that watch my videos, leave comments, go out of their way to say something nice, they donate to the animal sanctuary or they reach out to businesses and say, you should work with this guy because he's a good guy or something. And that's really that word of mouth reference is invaluable in business.
Bryan (18:53.576)
Yeah.
Bryan (18:58.866)
Yep. Absolutely. And it's, and it's so true. I mean, I'm, we're trying to build the plant based on fire podcast the same way by hiring people that have the same values and we're, we're giving back to the climate change initiatives and stuff like, like that. And you know, like we're trying to figure out that philanthropic thing, but you have like, you have like nailed it on the head. So what advice would you give the entrepreneurs out there?
that are really trying to go deep on the philanthropic angle like you have in their business model.
Alex (YaBonks) (19:31.726)
Okay, well, this kind of ties into my third, like best piece of advice I think I could give. The third piece of advice is provide value to others first. And even if you're a for-profit or a nonprofit business, provide value first. And some, like I found this with some entrepreneurs that like fizzle out very quickly, they might be like, oh, my stuff's so good, they're gonna.
want to like they're gonna come to me no matter what like if you build it they will not come you should build something and be making a lot of friends at the same time okay and you should be going out of your way to do things for those people whether it's like you see they have a problem and you just give them like if you like you you're a CTO I'm a software engineer if somebody's having a technical issue with their project or their website I'll just be like hey real quick this is how you do this how you fix it
You just need to change your htaccess file or whatever. You're good. All right, and they're like, oh man, you just saved me probably hundreds of dollars. Thanks, um they will come back later and be like You like months later, you might get five different clients because you did that one little thing And this might be crazy sounding this might be old testament biblical But I feel like whatever you give you get back seven fold seven to ten fold even
Bryan (20:32.392)
Yeah, yeah.
Alex (YaBonks) (20:57.914)
And so I always lead with that principle. And that way, even if you're like, I'm out here in business for myself, right? You can still have that mindset if you like that and say, okay, well, if that's the case, with that principle, if you give and help others, you're helping yourself so much more. So you can even come at it from a selfish attitude if you want, regardless if it feels good to you as a person for doing service for others, which, you know, it...
It really does. And you find that out really quickly. That's probably the most rewarding thing is providing that service for others and helping them out. And then it's like a big surprise when they go out of their way to help you out, to buy your product, to donate to your charity or whatever. And it's just a really great way to do business. So go out of your way to do service for others first. And then it comes back many times over. And that goes with starting philanthropic efforts because a lot of the time,
You're asking people to give their hard-earned money or time or whatever for nothing in return other than the good feelings of doing something good, right? For a good purpose. And some people will do that just because, but a lot of times people will want, I mean, there are a million options. Why should they donate to your charity? Why not to the million other charities? Well, they know you. They know your character. They know your integrity.
Bryan (22:01.61)
That's right.
Bryan (22:05.119)
That's right.
Alex (YaBonks) (22:23.674)
and you're nice to them. They like you. They're gonna want to support your cause.
Bryan (22:28.686)
Hence why it's called Karma Farm Sanctuary, right? So tie this all back together with the karma angle here. How do you educate the audience about animal welfare and the impact of a vegan lifestyle? We bring it all together on that front for us.
Alex (YaBonks) (22:32.994)
Yes.
Alex (YaBonks) (22:47.694)
So that, oh man, another, you got some great questions, Brian. So, you know, we're out here farming good karma and this is bigger than me and Kelly, my wife. This is bigger than us now. We're a 501c3 charity. This is a community thing now. And we want to get to the point where this is funded entirely from society, just.
Bryan (22:51.338)
Hehehehe
Alex (YaBonks) (23:16.154)
generosity and donors that support this mission. Because right now, like so much of it, like significant majority of it's funded directly from us still, which most nonprofits know. Like that's usually how it goes, right? Long time as you figure out fundraising and marketing. So how do we work in the educational pieces of animal welfare?
into our animal sanctuary and animal rescue efforts? Well, it's tricky because with my YouTube channel, I am not in the vegan niche. I am in finance and tech niche. Right? So like 98% of my audience is not vegan. Maybe 99%. There are a couple vegans that have reached out like, oh hey, I'm vegan too. That's so cool. You run an animal sanctuary.
Bryan (23:57.007)
Very much so, yeah, yeah.
Bryan (24:09.575)
Yeah.
Alex (YaBonks) (24:12.978)
not vegan at all. And a lot of them take offense to it, just the position, because it makes them uncomfortable or whatever. Or maybe they've dealt with some of those vegans that might be a little more aggressive or like maybe demeaning to them. And they might have a bad taste from that. So I don't push that to my direct audience unless they ask. If anybody asks me anything, I'll answer honestly. Like, yeah, I'm vegan. Of course. Um, I run an animal sanctuary. I rescue chickens. You don't want the guy rescuing the chickens.
Bryan (24:19.048)
Yeah.
Alex (YaBonks) (24:42.29)
eat to eat them. Like, by the way, check out our new shirts, Carbopharm Sanctuary. We've partnered with One To Save Many, who donates all profits to animal sanctuaries. So all profits and proceeds from these shirts do go back to Carbopharm Sanctuary. So we just got these in today. It's super huge. And you're the first person I've ever, I've told that to yet. I'll be doing a big announcement about that in a little bit. But, so, yeah.
Bryan (24:47.466)
They look awesome.
Bryan (25:04.403)
Woohoo!
Bryan (25:08.382)
That's awesome. I mean, like tie that all together for us. Like what are the future aspirations for Yabonks and Karma Farm Sanctuary? Like I know, I know I don't, I'm in the CTO space. I don't put it out there either that I'm vegan on that front, but I do put the little, you know, little vegan leaf on my LinkedIn profile so that people know if they, if they look and stuff, but like, what are the, what are the aspirations for Yabonks and Karma Farm Sanctuary?
Alex (YaBonks) (25:12.758)
Yes.
Alex (YaBonks) (25:30.815)
If they know yeah
Bryan (25:36.806)
And then what can we do as a community to help hit us with hit us with those.
Alex (YaBonks) (25:42.798)
Okay, so with the Yabonks brand of social media and businesses and Karma Farm Sanctuary, my goal is to scale these things and that pushes us closer towards completing our mission here on Earth, which we believe is to help
as many animals in need as possible. That's our mission, help animals in need. And I wanna do that as big as possible before I leave this earth. Now, in order to do that on a big scale, I want to have incredible business success that supports this mission and can allow me to scale this to become the biggest animal sanctuary and rescue organization in the state of Florida.
Bryan (26:22.435)
awesome.
Alex (YaBonks) (26:41.002)
And then from there, I'll set an even bigger goal, you know, in the country, who knows? Yeah, and I'll just keep, you know, one step at a time, keep going in that direction and building this community. So my goal right now is to build community of supporters, vegan and non-vegan. So what I've learned doing this as a vegan is that 99% of my supporters are not vegan, right? And...
Bryan (26:43.882)
That's right.
Bryan (27:01.735)
Mm-hmm.
Bryan (27:06.79)
Yeah, they care about the animals. Right. Yeah.
Alex (YaBonks) (27:08.778)
and they love animals. That's the thing, they love animals. And we're just, you know, we're raised in a system that is all sorts of messed up. So like, I won't even get into all that, but they're good people. They love animals and they don't wanna see animals, you know, going through suffering or animal cruelty or any of that stuff. And they know we actively have a part in taking animals out of those situations and giving them a new lease on life in a trusted, loving space. And everybody can really get behind that. So...
Bryan (27:26.887)
Yeah.
Alex (YaBonks) (27:37.93)
My goal is to keep building this community and uniting people on all fronts. I don't care if they're vegan. I don't care if they're not vegan. I'm not here to judge. I don't care. I have a mission and my mission is bigger than me. So I will do whatever it takes within my moral boundaries to complete that mission as successfully as possible, as abundantly as possible. And I want to get $100 million before I die into a trust fund that is
that is completely owned and controlled by the 501c3 non-profit charity, Karma Farm Sanctuary, so that way it can run off of the interest that trust fund generates year after year in perpetuity long after I'm dead. Hundreds of years, saving thousands or millions of animals long after I'm dead. Thank you, and... Thanks, man.
Bryan (28:23.317)
I love it.
You sound like you are well, well on your way, Alex. Congratulations on all of this stuff. Hit us one more time. How can this community help you get to that audacious goal? You're gonna do it, I can tell you are. And what are the best ways to get in touch?
Alex (YaBonks) (28:40.246)
Thanks, man. Well, first off, follow Karma Farm Sanctuary on all social media platforms. We are biggest on Instagram and Facebook at Karma Farm Sanctuary. We're on YouTube now at Karma Farm Sanctuary. We have hundreds of videos of cute, adorable rescued animals here that you will love, hours of entertainment. Subscribe to the channel, like the videos, leave comments, help us boost the algorithm so we can grow that channel, reach more people.
Same with Instagram and Facebook. And then also, please support the Yabonks channel on YouTube. It's at Yabonks, Y-A-B-O-N-K-S. I'm also, my biggest accounts on Instagram and YouTube. I also have a Discord community, join that. We have people in there, entrepreneurs helping each other grow. And if you help my YouTube channel and those other things, it directly correlates into more success that we can then.
Used to fuel our efforts here at Karma Farm Sanctuary. So that'd be the best way to support us man and also Donations to Karma Farm Sanctuary help us so much So if you want to give and donate directly to the cause it is seriously a huge blessing And we'll make you a part of this with us and you can do that at Karma Farm Sanctuary We have a link tree with all the links and we take PayPal donations. We also have patreon monthly supporters that's one of our biggest and
best ways to support us monthly through Patreon. We also take crypto donations. So if you're in the crypto world and you watch my channel, we also have a donation wallet. Just reach out to me and I'll get that to you. And it's all tax deductible. Yeah.
Bryan (30:13.682)
Nice.
Bryan (30:20.74)
Can you help me get my nada block fi to get them over to you? That is... And I assume we can get these really cool new t-shirts on your website as well, right?
Alex (YaBonks) (30:23.582)
sorry dude, I still have money in Blackfy too, it's a lost cause.
Alex (YaBonks) (30:37.154)
These are on one to save many.com. And it's a very, One to Save Many is a huge movement right now. And I support them just because I love what they do. They support like over a dozen different animal rescues and sanctuaries with their profits. And it's run by a wonderful guy named Brent Haygood out of Michigan. He's a wonderful human being. And me, John the bodybuilding vegan, Brooke, Miss Meatless Muscle.
Bryan (30:40.527)
Okay.
Alex (YaBonks) (31:04.458)
We all support One to Save Mini. You can find their gear on there. Like, you know, Bodybuilding Vegan has this amazing water bottle on there and like his shirts and hats. And this is all One to Save Mini stuff. 100% profits to animals. And they went out of their way to be like, look, we love what you're doing and we wanna make your shirts for you and cover all the costs for the materials, the website, everything like that. And I'm like, huge blessing. So like I have to shout them out like a million times. They're amazing what they do.
Bryan (31:16.67)
That's awesome.
Alex (YaBonks) (31:33.802)
And that's where you can find Karma Farm Sanctuary shirts at 12savemini.com. And they've got so much cool gear, like vegan shirts that are like super trendy. And yeah, so that's where you can find it.
Bryan (31:45.17)
We will have to have one to save many on the podcast soon to help give you another shout out. But that is all the time we have for this episode of Plant Based on Fire. Thank you so much, Alex, for joining us and sharing your insights and experiences with our community. Until next time, everybody, keep the fire burning.
Alex (YaBonks) (31:48.479)
Yes!
Alex (YaBonks) (32:05.154)
Thanks, Brian.