Sitara Hultman went vegan in January 2019. By the following January, she found herself frustrated—she had yet to find her form of activism. “I’m just not finding my right fit,” she thought. “Where’s my fit here?” Then, like a light bulb flickering on, the answer came to her: real estate. 

She hadn’t considered a career in real estate since her 20s. Feeling like she was too young to relate to “big finances, and families, and kids, and schools, and what was important to people,” she left the industry after a single year. Now, having lived in London and multiple U.S. cities, bought and sold homes, and invested in the housing market, she only asked herself: “How are you gonna tie real estate to your veganism?”

From that point on, Hultman has been committed to finding a vegan community and participating in its events, serving vegans in her area as their realtor, and using her commissions to financially support the vegan movement.

Her introduction to the local vegan community came through potlucks hosted by Greenville Vegan Society members. “I started joining the potlucks once a month, and I just met people,” Hultam explains. She is still friends with many of the people she met at those meals and often sees them at group dinners organized by the group. Recently, members of the Greenville Vegan Society gathered at Aryana Afghan Cuisine, a South Greenville Afghan restaurant. At Aryana, there were 15 people there. Some were extremely familiar faces. “A couple of them I’ve known from the very beginning, back from 2019,” remarks Hultman. 

   Hultman during a group dinner at the 07

She is also a member of a book club recently started by members of the Greenville Vegan Society. Reflecting on the club’s format and atmosphere, she says, “Not all of us attend every month. But then we connect, and it’s nice to connect over shared interests and values, and we pick a different book every month.” The book club, which has 10-15 members, is “tight-knit.”

Hultman’s engagement with the Greenville Vegan Society gives her strong visibility among potential clients. Everyone knows that she’s a real estate agent, and they make sure their family members know as well. “Everybody wants to support the vegan, if they can,” she says, “and when it comes to business, people call me.”

  Hultman’s Bluefield Realty Group profile picture

She offers the vegan movement financial support through matching fundraisers, sponsorships, and direct donations. Last summer, she held a $500.00 matching fundraiser for Wild Pines Sanctuary, and sponsored that year’s Speak for Animals Sips for Snips event. Concerning Greenville’s Vegan Chef Challenge, managed by Vegan Outreach, Hultman loves being a sponsor. Her financial support purchases printed materials and contributes to the salaries of those on event staff.

  Hultman poses with a Greenville Vegan Chef Challenge flyer

With her passion for real estate and extroverted personality, Hultman can confidently say that this is her “form of activism now,” and she completely resonates with it. But before developing this confidence, she explored other ways of contributing to the vegan movement. She is still haunted, and motivated, by one of these today.

Hultman vividly remembers one of her first attempts at vegan activism: visiting a cow slaughterhouse in Georgia and “bearing witness” outside “to expose the realities of animal agriculture.” It was an emotionally intense experience. Screams from cows being skinned alive filled the air, and their skins could be seen moving along a conveyer belt. She shares that “hearing the screams from the animals was… is burned in my brain.” But she also states that “Everything I do is for them, though. Their screams are not falling on deaf ears, I can say that.”

To vegans still searching for their own form of activism, she emphasizes that it doesn’t have to be separate from your career. “Normalization happens when people regularly interact with vegans in everyday professional settings,” Hultman says. Hearing her talk about donating her commissions, seeing her eating vegan food, and reading her social media posts, introduces colleagues at her current brokerage, Bluefield Realty Group, to a new perspective in a nonconfrontational way. She wishes vegans understood that integrating their values and professional lives gains them “more impact.”

Sitara Hultman is a realtor and managing broker at Bluefield Realty Group in Greenville, SC. She transitioned to veganism in 2019, and left her 17-year corporate career for a career in real estate. Previously, she co-owned Red Door Realty—a boutique company that encouraged each agent to connect with, and aid, a community in need. Hultman volunteers with Speak for Animals and Vegan Outreach and is active in Greenville’s vegan community.