The Divine Vegan — Stylish Storyteller

MEET GABRIELLE CAMPBELL, FOUNDER OF THE DIVINE VEGAN, A HOME BAKERY IN ARIZONA THAT CREATES DELICIOUS VEGAN TREATS. WHAT STARTED WITH BAKING A PUMPKIN LOAF IN FALL 2020 BECAME A PASSION AND A FULL-TIME BUSINESS THAT’S GROWING FAST AND MAKING AN IMPACT IN THE COMMUNITY.

There’s nothing quite like a tasty treat. A cookie, cupcake or brownie can make an ordinary day memorable and exciting. While Campbell never imagined she would would start her own business baking her homemade treats from her home in Scottsdale, she’s happy things turned out the way they did—and she’s just getting started.

Stylish Storyteller: Why did you decide to establish The Divine Vegan?

GC: “It’s so funny because I really didn’t bake that much growing up, my grandmother did a lot, she made the best chocolate chip cookies. I was never really into baking that much until I went vegan because I was like, ‘I have a sweet tooth, I love chocolate, I need to be able to still get my fix, how am I going to do this?’ that’s when I started doing research on my own recipes and I was baking a lot during quarantine, that’s kind of when it all started.

“It was really fun, I enjoyed it-- I was making stuff and dropping it off at my friends’ houses and I made this pumpkin bread that everyone was like, ‘this is bomb, you need to sell this,’ and I was like ‘What? That’s never even crossed my mind.’

**Gabrielle Campbell, founder and baker, The Divine Vegan**

“I didn’t know what I was going to do after college, but I definitely didn’t think it was something like this. I originally wanted to move to Spain; I was a Spanish minor and studied abroad and I was going to find a marketing job in Spain and live there, but then quarantine happened so I wasn’t able to do that, and in the fall I was like ‘I’m going to sell my pumpkin breads and see how it goes.’

“I sold the pumpkin bread on Instagram and it took off, I was selling so much of it and then I didn’t think of it as a business, I was thinking of it as something fun I was doing. It kept growing and in November 2020 I was doing more stuff and then my boyfriend encouraged me to get an LLC and open a business account. And then in December it became The Divine Vegan. I did not expect this at all, I think if the pandemic didn’t happen, I don’t know if I would be doing this. It’s given me so much perspective, with all the negatives, there are a few good things that came out of the pandemic, like starting my business.”

Stylish Storyteller: Can you talk to me about your menu and what are some signature items you enjoy baking?

GC: “It’s a mix of both, I have a menu that is year-round, which includes my bestselling coffee cake; chocolate chip, sugar and snickerdoodle cookies are also always available at my pop-up events or online ordering through Instagram messaging or email.

“I do seasonal items as well, I was doing pumpkin bread in the fall and a gingerbread loaf in December. For the spring, I did cupcakes and recently I’ve started to do birthday cakes, as some people ask for custom cakes. It’s a combination of a year round menu and a seasonal menu of things that rotate in and out.”

Stylish Storyteller: What is your process for baking your goods and what ingredients do you use to create flavor without using dairy, eggs, butter, etc.?

GC: “Most people know it’s vegan, but people are shocked, they can’t believe it’s vegan. A lot of the time recipes are pretty easily adaptable, you just have to switch out a few things and maybe change the measurements a little so it works better. That’s a common misconception with baking, is people think you need eggs to bake anything, which is not true; some of my recipes don’t even have an egg substitute because there’s no need for it.

“I’ll use applesauce, sometimes it’s the combination of apple cider vinegar and baking soda or using flax egg, pumpkin puree or banana instead of dairy, eggs, butter or another ingredient. Because it’s already vegan, I want to make it so as many people as possible can eat it-- because I’ve found a lot of restaurants have vegetarian stuff, but why not just make it vegan so vegetarians and vegans can both eat it instead of singling us out?

“I use oat milk instead of soy milk, so I try to be conscious of common allergens and what ingredients I’m using because I want the majority of people to be able to enjoy it. Say someone is allergic to canola oil, I can sub that out and use something else instead. Because I have allergies and I’m vegan, it’s very easy for me to recognize those things.”

Stylish Storyteller: Inspiration for menu items? Inspired by chefs, baking tv shows, social media?

GC: “Instagram is huge for inspiration, back in February I was doing this thing called the Love Box which was a variety baked good box that came with a chocolate cake, red velvet cupcake, sugar cookies and chocolate dipped strawberries, it was really cute. Inspiration for that came from Instagram and seeing different variety boxes. I follow a few other vegan plant-based bakers across the country. People in my life like family and friends give me ideas, and also childhood things I used to love eating growing up that I want to recreate.

“I’m doing this because I love it and it tastes good. I didn’t have that formal training to start a bakery but I did it. It’s so natural because I’m doing what I love, listening to my instincts and putting out what I feel I should and it’s working.”

Stylish Storyteller: What has been the most rewarding part of starting The Divine Vegan?

GC: “There’s nothing more rewarding than looking at something you’ve created from the ground up and seeing the progress. It’s surreal when I go places, sometimes I’ll go to vegan food trucks and people will recognize me and I’m like ‘oh my god, that’s insane.’ When I have pop ups people will come up and say they found me on Instagram and came out specifically for me, that’s crazy. It’s so beautiful seeing the support from the community, especially the vegan community in Phoenix is so amazing and supportive and uplifting and everyone just helps each other out and the different small businesses that I do pop-ups with.

“This is just the beginning, I don’t think I would feel this fulfilled if I was working for someone else in a traditional way. I didn’t take any entrepreneurship classes in college, it was all marketing. I’m doing this because I love it and it tastes good. I didn’t have that formal training to start a bakery but I did it. It’s so natural because I’m doing what I love and putting it out there and it’s working. It’s me doing what feels right and listening to my instincts and putting out what I feel I should put out.

Stylish Storyteller: How do you hope The Divine Vegan will grow in the next year?

GC: “I would love to get a website up and running, that’s a summer project I'll have to work on. I do everything myself so it’s hard to balance all that while trying to put energy into doing a website, so sometimes it feels like the minute I open my eyes till I shut my eyes I’m constantly doing something.

“I want to do more pop-ups next year, I’m trying to do as many as I can currently. I’d love to do more weddings and birthdays, deliveries, custom orders and expand my menu a little bit, I want to get better at doing cakes because cakes are really fun, so I’d love to do catering events and things like that. There’s a lot that will be keeping me busy for the next year or so. I’m really excited about all of it—it’s going to be challenging but in a good way.”