Community Highlights: Meet Tonia Esposito of THE VEGAN BELLA

Today we’d like to introduce you to Tonia Esposito.

Hi Tonia, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself. 
I was born and raised in Italy moved to the Bay Area right after high school to attend college and pursue a degree in dietetics. Along the way, I became a mom, a military wife, and an athlete. I started competing as a professional bodybuilder when my first son was about 3; we moved a few times around the world before making it to San Diego in 2018. When we first moved here, I worked as a personal trainer and nutrition coach, then started my own meal prep business in June 2020 in the midst of the pandemic when food deliveries were in such high demand. It’s been over 3 years now, and besides meal prep, I have started working as a private chef, food stylist, and caterer. 

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
The foundation of the meal prep business, per se, has been a graduate evolution over time. Originally the meals were part of a package I was offering as a nutrition coach for clients seeking guidance while transitioning to a plant-based diet. One of my personal trainer fellows showed interest in the meals alone; that was also the time plant-based nutrition was becoming more and more popular for its evident health benefits. It took one social media post for The Vegan Bella to start overnight, but I was able to progress, maintain, and succeed thanks to my real-life experience in competing and my studying in nutrition. The Italian DNA greatly helped with the cooking skills! 🙂 It has been a struggle to stay motivated and inspired when I first got started solely due to personal reasons; it was one of the most challenging and transitioning times of my life. I was going through a divorce, surviving a global pandemic, starting a business from scratch, raising two kids alone on the opposite side of the world from family and friends, experiencing financial difficulties and even homelessness for a short period of time. I was blessed enough to find support in a few people who opened their hearts and their home to my family during such hard times; it is also thanks to them that I was still able to get in the kitchen and make it happen regardless if it was my kitchen, a friend’s house or an hotel room stove. 

We’ve been impressed with THE VEGAN BELLA, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Our mission is to share the true taste of southern Italy with SoCal in a fresh yet traditional way. The Vegan Bella provides all the support you need when introducing plant-based eating. 

Creating new healthy, tasty menus every week is my way of sharing sustainable food solutions that also honor my roots and keep traditions alive. 

What makes us better than the rest? 

Superior service, personalized attention & pure passion for food and proper nutrition. Our dishes taste good, feel good, and even look good! We started with the genuine desire of sharing an affordable solution that is also delicious and nutritious. We put lots of love and careful thought into what we do with the hope you enjoy all we have to offer. We combine knowledge, talent, and good taste to deliver the warm feeling of a nice home-cooked meal whether you are busy on the go, in the office, at school, or after the gym, in opposition to the typical cold and boring factory-made meal prep services. 

Our ingredients are homegrown, imported from Italy, or supplied by local farmers and other small businesses. The Vegan Bella is most known for our high-protein vegan meal prep, our Antipasto boards, grazing tables, and private dining for work meetings and special events. 

The crisis has affected us all in different ways. How has it affected you, and any important lessons or epiphanies you can share with us?
I consider myself a living testimony of how times of crisis often are blessings in disguise. I have learned how much purpose every single one of us holds and how interconnected and interdependent we truly are upon each other. In a time when the world felt scary and ill, I found a loving welcoming community, new friends, business partners, all thanks to the power of unity and cooperation for the greater good of everyone involved. It’s often under pressure that we create our best work, especially if motivated by the urge of being at service of others. 

Contact Info:

• Website: THEVEGANBELLA.com
• Instagram: @THE_VEGAN_BELLA

Image Credits
Taylor Koch Photography