Caroline Yares shared their story and experiences with us recently and you can find our conversation below.
Caroline , so good to connect and we’re excited to share your story and insights with our audience. There’s a ton to learn from your story, but let’s start with a warm up before we get into the heart of the interview. What is something outside of work that is bringing you joy lately?
My connection to nature and my daughter are the joys of my life. I spend most of my “free time” with my daughter, or in nature (or both) There is a peace that I don’t experience or haven’t experienced even in my life when I offline, and tuned in.
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
My name is Caroline, and Im and the owner/creator behind PLNT BSD Smoothie Bowls & More in downtown White Bear Lake Minnesota.
We began as a unique apparel line that spreads a positive message about a plant-based lifestyle and diet, and we still continue to invoke that message to this day.
Our love for animals and healthy, plant-based food, inspired us to open PLNT BSD, Plant-Based Smoothie Bowls.
We offer healthy smoothie bowls, drinks, wellness shots, and more in downtown White Bear Lake, at the back window of Anchor Coffee House / Margaux.
Our smoothie bowls are blended on the spot (not a pre made scoopable mix) with NO added artificial ingredients. We strive to serve REAL, CLEAN, 100% PLANT BASED bowls and bites with the highest quality ingredients.
Our logo depicts the unalome symbol, that represents the path of life and also our path for PLNT BSD. We started originally as an apparel brand, and moved through multiple business models including two mobile trailers and a brick and mortar location. We currently operate out of the back portion of the Anchor Building in downtown White Bear Lake. We feel honored and grateful to share the space with two other passionate business. After trial and error, learning and growing, we now feel as though we found our place here in White Bear Lake and look forward to serving you.
Amazing, so let’s take a moment to go back in time. What part of you has served its purpose and must now be released?
There once was a version of me that was a people pleaser. I would bend over backwards to meet people where THEY were (physically and mentally) , over plan, over book. This people pleasing version of myself tried to create a full time shop, business, that was open 6 days a week. I was trying to fit into a box of what success looked like on the outside. But success comes from within. Now, I choose my own hours, and have time to dedicate to my family, and things that bring me joy, and this includes PLNT BSD.
I did the 9-5 in the dental world for 6 years, and although I met some incredible people there and build lasting friendships, I was hiding from my truth. One of my favorite quotes is from Joseph Campbell, who was an American author, lecturer, and mythologist. He says, “follow your bliss”. Or the full version
“Follow your bliss.
If you do follow your bliss,
you put yourself on a kind of track
that has been there all the while waiting for you,
and the life you ought to be living
is the one you are living.
When you can see that,
you begin to meet people
who are in the field of your bliss,
and they open the doors to you.
I say, follow your bliss and don’t be afraid,
and doors will open
where you didn’t know they were going to be.
If you follow your bliss,
doors will open for you that wouldn’t have opened for anyone else.”
― Joseph Campbell
What have been the defining wounds of your life—and how have you healed them?
Well for one, healing is never complete. And if you think you are, you are probally not.
When I look back at that version of myself, one truth stands out: I was in a toxic state.
And toxicity doesn’t always look the way we expect it to.
It’s not just about a bad relationship or an unhealthy environment, it’s what you consume. Your habits. The people you surround yourself with. The thoughts you think. The content you scroll through. And most importantly for me, what I was putting into my body.
My body, my mind, my routines, they were all soaked in things that weren’t serving me.
Toxic isn’t always obvious. Sometimes it’s subtle, familiar, even comforting.
But once you see it, you can’t unsee it. Just like when I decided to go vegan, once I saw and witnessed what happens every day, every second to animals in factory farms, there was no going back.
Everything we consume shapes us. And when I started choosing better(better food, better thoughts, better inputs)everything began to shift.
The birth of my daughter was the most defining, soul-altering experience of my life. It wasn’t just a physical event, it was psychedelic journey that cracked me open from the inside out. I emerged raw, rearranged, and reborn. In her eyes, I saw the future and the past all at once and was sick and tired of my own BS. With that being said, it took me a few years even after that to truly step into who I am. That experience didn’t just change how I live, it changed who I am. It awakened parts of me I didn’t know existed and forced me to confront everything I hadn’t yet healed. my worth, my boundaries, my lineage. She became both my mirror and my medicine. Through becoming her mother, I began the deepest healing work of my life.
Alright, so if you are open to it, let’s explore some philosophical questions that touch on your values and worldview. Is the public version of you the real you?
Yes, about 99.8% of what you see is what you get. Although the .1% that I don’t show is the time I need to recharge. Im extroverted in person, but I need a lot of time to be alone after work, play, etc. PLNT BSD brings me such a balance because I’m able to passionately create, and then retreate back to my family and recharge.
the other .1 is how deeply I feel about animals and what I hold back. There’s a version of me that wants to be the sign holding, street marching advocate for the animals, but being who I am, this gentle approach to sharing a plant based lifestyle and diet suites me better. Im not one to tell people how to be, and what to do. Live and let live.
Thank you so much for all of your openness so far. Maybe we can close with a future oriented question. When do you feel most at peace?
When i’m in nature, painting or doing my sound/mediation practice. Thats when i’m most at peace. I find peace in being near the water and in the sun. I always have since a child.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.plntbsdbowls.com
- Instagram: @PLNT_BSD
Image Credits
Caroline Yares
