Daily Inspiration: Meet Dan Winchester

Today we’d like to introduce you to Dan Winchester.  

Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
From a professional standpoint, I started on the sales floor stringing tennis racquets of a Midwest regional sporting goods chain called MC Sports, and over a 30-year career ended as the EVP, Chief Operating Officer. I held numerous leadership positions from store manager, district manager, buyer, Merchandise Manager, and Senior Head Merchant and I had direct responsibility for store operations, buying, allocation and planning, distribution, marketing, and advertising, and store design. My story is a bit unique in this day and age, as I was with the same company for 30 years. 

MC Sports filed for bankruptcy in 2017. It was after this and during my search for my next role that I started a passion project called The Average Vegan Dad. I had been vegetarian for over 25 years, but my wife and I decided to go vegan around 2016. The Average Vegan Dad really started as a way for me to communicate my story and journey, create a recipe site for me and my family to use, and with hopes that someone might read it and consider making a change in their lifestyle. The goal has always been to education and not judge and to try to get people to at least add one vegan meal to the weekly diet. 

There have been many steps and stages to my vegan process. You continually learn, incorporate what you learned into your lifestyle, and learn some more. With each stage comes decisions on food sources, whole food vs. processed, proper nutrition, and then comes issues with the types of shoes, clothes, etc. I suspect I will continue to learn and evolve for the rest of my life. The stage that started the Average Vegan Dad was my desire to do what I can to share my passion for animals and a healthy lifestyle in a positive, motivating, and non-judgmental manner. We as a society seem so divisive – I want to provide my perspective on things in a way that as least will make you think. Should we treat animals better? Can we improve our environment by reducing factory farming for meat and eggs, if there an alternative to your current lifestyle and eating habits. And can we do all of that and still enjoy eating great-tasting food? YES! And I am proof of all of that. Now how can I show that to others = The Average Vegan Dad. 

At this point, my passion and skills are greater than my reach. My hope is that averagevegandad.com continues to grow its reach and that I can continue to have a positive impact on those that read it. The one thing I do know is that I will continue to strive to best the best person I can be and hopefully encourage others to do the same. 

I believe the Grand Rapids Vegan food scene has grown, but there is still a lot of opportunity. I hope my story inspires others to keep pushing their vision and vegan lifestyle forward so that more and more people can experience all the wonderful benefits that come with plant-based eating. 

We all face challenges, but looking back, would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
For MC Sports, I was very fortunate to have all the opportunities that I did throughout my career. Every journey has its challenges, but that is what makes you stronger and a better leader. You learn along the way and hopefully get to a position where you can use your experience and knowledge to help others. I also worked alongside some very talented people. From an overall business perspective, we lived the challenge of being a regional sporting goods chain facing competition for national chains, general retail that entered sporting goods, and e-commerce. 

Being vegan can present challenges as well, but if you are committed to your beliefs, these challenges become opportunities for growth and knowledge. For me, there are 3 Pillars of Commitment – Animal Welfare, Health, and Environment. It is my experience if you not 100% committed to Animal Welfare, the challenges will at some point outweigh the commitment. For me, there is never a question about this – it starts with a cruelty-free focus and that makes all the challenges much easier to solve. There is no other option. 

Is there anything else you’d like to share with our readers?
I am a proud husband of 31 years to Kelly, a proud father of 4 (3 girls and a boy), and a grandfather to 1 so far. We have 3 dogs. I am an avid cyclist, both mountain biking and road cycling. I have a passion for making great vegan meals – my goal is to have people say, “I could be vegan if Dan cooked for me every day!” I love to cook and share my food with friends and family. 

Contact Info:

• Website: www.averagevegandad.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/averagevegandad/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/averagevegandad1/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dan-winchester-1service/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/DanWinchester1
• SoundCloud: https://www.etsy.com/shop/TheAverageVeganDad
• Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@averagevegandad 

Image Credits
Kassie Hyde Photography