Sitara Hultman once thought that veganism was a fringe philosophy, but it now guides her personal and professional decisions. She became vegan in 2019 and has since co-owned Red Door Realty, a boutique real estate company that encouraged its agents to help communities in need. She now works at Bluefield Realty Group as a real estate agent and managing broker, using her commissions to sponsor vegan events and donate to vegan charities. Hultman recently spoke with me about her initial impressions of veganism, the challenges she faced during her transition, and her career-based advocacy. Our complete interview can be read here. Below are some highlights from our conversation. 

Dynestee Fields: When did you first learn about veganism, and what was your impression at that time? 

Sitara Hultman: I had always been vaguely aware of veganism, but early on, I viewed it as something that the hippies did. 

Just kind of like a niche thing that was on the fringe. I didn’t understand it as the ethical framework that I understand it as now. That impression [that veganism was on the fringe] began to shift about 13 years ago, when I read two books [that] had a very monumental effect on me, and that was Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran and Veganist by Kathy Freston.

Those two books really challenged my current assumptions and introduced me to veganism as a more values-based, ethical thing. 

Fields: Wow. How did you come into contact with these vegan thinkers and vegan authors? Did somebody give you the books, or were you just curious and picked them up? 

Hultman: At the time, I was not a realtor. I had a corporate job, so I was in the corporate world for 17 years before I made this big transition, which coincided with my going vegan in 2019.

But back in 2013, which was 13 years ago, when I first read these books, I had a job that had me commuting from Greenville to Spartanburg. If you know that commute, it’s not a fun one, and it’s a long commute down [Interstate] 85, and there’s always some sort of accident or incident, so it takes forever, and it’s very dangerous. 

So I was miserable about the commute, talking to my friends, and they’re like, “Well. Why don’t you get some audiobooks?” I was like, “Oh. Okay.” 

I was just kind of, “That’s a good idea.” 

So I’m just scanning through the library audiobooks, and I’ve always been an animal lover. So I was like, “Oh. I wonder if there’s any books on animals or something,” and these two books just kind of sparked my interest because I’d always had a curiosity toward veganism, so I was like, “Well. Why don’t I learn some more about this stuff?” 

Fields: So when did you decide to go vegan, and was there a particular moment or experience that prompted this? 

Hultman: So, dietarily, I transitioned to [being] vegan in January of 2019. 

I had gone to a plant-based retreat in Florida—whole foods, plant-based—so it was super healthy. It was no sugar, oil, or salt even. So it was really whole food, plant-based for the week. 

I was an aspiring vegan at that point, but I was having trouble letting go of certain foods, like cheese and eggs. 

But the retreat provided me with a chance to physically reset and cleanse my body of those ingredients, and it provided me the structure that I needed and the skills, cooking-wise, to commit fully. Then after that dietary shift, my understanding of veganism continued to deepen.

Then as I learned more about the industries, like leather and fur, and then the animal testing, and cosmetics, and other consumer goods, my perspective just began to expand beyond food, and then it evolved into a full vegan lifestyle. 

Fields: Were there any particular challenges that you encountered? You spoke about challenges earlier. Could you go a little more in depth about what these were and how you overcame them? 

Hultman: The most significant challenge that I encountered during my transition was the emotional weight of becoming fully aware of the immense suffering inflicted on innocent, helpless animals. So, that awareness was overwhelming, and it came along with a strong sense of responsibility to do something meaningful about it. 

I learned fairly quickly that I could not carry that weight alone. It was really scary. I felt myself getting very depressed. I felt isolated. 

So I understood fairly quickly that I needed to find my tribe, so to speak, and so I began connecting with other vegans in my community and getting involved with vegan organizations. 

That provided both support and a sense of purpose now. 

Fields: How did you locate that community? 

Hultman: I was all over Facebook and the Greenville Vegan Society on Facebook. 

There were potlucks that were happening once a month that I found out about. So I started joining the potlucks once a month, and I just met people. 

I’m extroverted anyway, thankfully, so I meet people easily. I became fast friends with a lot of the folks that I’m still friends with today, and we still do these group dinners and such, like the Tahini thing [a Greenville Vegan Society event that we both attended in September].

    Hultman during a group dinner at the 07

Fields: In what ways have you engaged with the vegan community, and more broadly, the animal rights movement? 

Hultman: It certainly evolved over time. Early on—so this was back in 2019—I was deeply involved in the frontline activism. I call it the frontlines. So I participated in protests, bearing witness outside slaughterhouses to expose the realities of animal agriculture. Those experiences were profoundly impactful, but they were emotionally super intense and traumatic. I don’t know that I have the emotional makeup to do that regularly. 

I shifted gears a little bit. 

I still support—like, Trey Morrow and other activists. I don’t know if you’re familiar with Trey. I support his organization [Animal Activism Collective]. He basically trains people how to be activists, if they want to be. I donate to his organization and support him a lot. But I was working alongside quite a few activist, protest things. I kind of moved away from that. 

I also attended the Animal Rights Conference in Washington, D.C., which they don’t have anymore, unfortunately, because that was an amazing experience. 

Then I continued to support the movement through fundraising. Fundraising, sponsorships, financial contributions to animal rights and rescue organizations. So, I’ve participated in hands-on events at local sanctuaries. Supporting both the animals and the people. 

Professionally, I’ve integrated the advocacy into my work by dedicating a portion of my commissions. So this is how I tie real estate with my advocacy. I allocate a portion of my commissions to animal rights and rescue efforts. 

What that looks like is I’ll periodically run matching fundraisers. Like, on Facebook, you’ll see, if you scroll back through the years, I’ve done these matching fundraisers where if everybody can donate up to $500, I’ll match the $500, and it becomes $1,000 for one of the local sanctuaries. I did it for Speak for Animals once. 

Like I mentioned, I sponsored Speak for Animals’ annual event and the Vegan Chef Challenge, I was a sponsor for, so I’m always looking for opportunities to sponsor vegan events. So this allows me to, right, contribute in an impactful way that’s aligned with my skills and resources. 

        Hultman poses with a Greenville Vegan Chef Challenge flyer

So I’m still contributing, but I’m not in that emotional dungeon where I felt like I was with the frontline activism. That was just torture, for me, and it’s already torture for the animals. 

This is my form of activism now, and I completely resonate with it. 

Fields: If it’s not too painful for you, is there a particular moment in your frontline activism where you said, “Okay. Based on this moment, I know that this is not for me”?

Hultman: Oh. Yeah. I was at a cow slaughterhouse in Georgia, and…Yeah. 

That’s not something I can really talk about very well, but hearing the screams from the animals was… is burned in my brain. 

I’ll never forget that. It was just awful. I ran, and screamed, and ran because I could not hear those cows anymore, just screaming as they were skinned alive. 

Fields: How did you come to see real estate as a meaningful vehicle for advancing animal rights values, or vegan values? Do you have a specific story where you came to this realization? 

Hultman: There’s a short, short story, I guess. Like I said, 2019, it was kind of like an evolution of me experiencing all different types of advocacy. From activism to volunteer work, whatever. 

The end of the year was coming around: December, Christmas, the holidays, and stuff, and I’m coming into January. I’m like, “I don’t know. I’m just not finding my right fit. Where’s my fit here?”

Just kind of pondering it. And, a light bulb went off, and I said, “Real estate.” Then I said, “Real estate? Like, how are you gonna tie real estate to your veganism?” 

Well. I was a realtor back in my 20s before I had my corporate career. I’m from Connecticut originally, so I was a realtor in my 20s back in Connecticut, but I was too young for it. I couldn’t relate to these major transactions and all these big finances, and families, and kids, and schools, and what was important to people. I was in it for, like, a year. 

Then I personally, over the years, have invested in real estate, and I love real estate. I’ve moved a bunch. I’ve lived all over. I’ve even lived in London, England for 6 years. I’ve lived in Connecticut, South Carolina, New York, Texas, Chicago. So I’ve bought and sold houses plenty of times, and I’ve invested, personally. 

So, in January of the next year, 2020, [the] light bulb went off, and I was like, “Real estate.” I said, “What I’ll do is I’ll tie my commissions to financially support the vegan movement. I’ll participate in the [vegan] events and stuff and get a community, and I’ll help vegans in my area as my clients, so that I can help the people that are helping the movement.” 

That’s exactly what has transpired. Now it’s 6 years later. 

Fields: Thank you so much for agreeing to this meeting, and I can’t wait to put your ideas in front of everybody else. 

Hultman: Thank you so much for doing this! I’m so excited that you’re spreading the word about everybody and exposing everybody. I love it.