Our Story

Brief History: Our first cart was finished at the end of the summer 2019, and we opened on September 21st, 2019 at Bunk + Brew Hostel. It was exciting, nerve-racking, and so satisfying to have a dream kitchen of our own where we could show the world our love for vegan cooking.

We have graduated onto a bigger adventure and have moved locations to the Midtown Yacht Club food cart pod! We love the owners of the Yacht Club and we love our home there. We now have a great community surrounding us.

Next adventure: a second location and cart in Sisters, Oregon at Eurosports! We are thrilled that such a wonderful opportunity presented itself. We are feeling secure in our life and business now, and we feel very positive about growing our small business with an additional location.

The menu theme: Our menu theme was something that developed over time in the year or so before our grand opening. When Elliott and I were first creating vegan meals together, we were drawn to veganizing comforting recipes that had flavors we were familiar with. Both of us came from Midwestern families, where the term vegan was very unfamiliar. We loved telling our families about our meals we made and sending them pictures of vegan food that looked exactly like the things they had been eating for decades! This is where we truly found our passion for wowing people with what could be done with vegan food.

The name: The name of our cart is inspired by the Bob Marley song of the same title. We really searched for a name that we felt confident about and that really conveyed what we were trying to do with our cart. When you hear a reggae song, and particularly this one by Bob, you immediately relax and feel at ease and just feel good in your body. That is how we feel about vegan food! You just feel LIVELY when you know that you are helping the animals, the earth, and your own body by eating completely plant based. The Rastafarians have been known to be vegetarians, and we believe they know what’s good in the world. No other restaurant or food cart had ever been named this either, so we felt confident that we found a unique name in Lively Up Yourself. We encourage you to take a listen and feel good as our food should make you feel.

Mission statement: “To provide as many vegan meals to the world as we can through our diverse menu that will treat vegans to familiar and nostalgic meals, and to entice non-vegans to try veganism. Vegan food is the most positive way to treat our world, ourselves, and the animals with respect.”

The detailed history (that we mostly keep on here so we can remember every detail haha):

The owners, Sarah & Elliott: We met in Winter Park, Colorado in the beginning of 2018. When we found out we were both trying to transition to veganism at that time, we became inseparable. Having someone else to support you and keep you accountable is an immense relief when trying to branch out and do something different than what you were brought up doing, and what society pressures you into doing. During the time that we were getting to know one another, we began cooking vegan meals together, and became very creative in the kitchen. We would also take trips down to Denver to rock climb, and then go out to eat after at the vegan restaurants down there, and get inspired as to what a vegan lifestyle and diet could be like. As we explored our love for cooking and creating in the kitchen, and became closer with each other, we started dreaming of being business owners and sharing our love for vegan cooking with the world. In our small mountain town, an acquaintance of ours owned and operated a food truck, with no prior experience of owning a restaurant. Knowing them and their story, it became realistic to us to have our own small mobile kitchen one day.

The move to Oregon: Both of us being adventurous and spontaneous, we wanted to explore more of the West, and decided to move to Bend, Oregon together, to grow our love of climbing outdoors at Smith Rock State Park. We packed up our two cars, small Uhaul trailer, and pup Baloo, and started a new life in Bend, Oregon. We picked up jobs in the service industry, as that’s where we had experience and felt comfortable, one of us at a food cart, and the other at a local vegetarian friendly spot. After a few months of settling in, we knew we wanted to become business owners in this town, and we saw a niche that we could fill with our food cart dream.

The creation of the cart: We were regulars at the rock climbing gym here in Bend, and when we first moved here, there was always a food truck outside the gym. One day, it disappeared, so we inquired about the empty spot. The staff said the spot was open and they weren’t actively looking for a replacement. We met with a couple of the managers and they loved our idea, and said we could take the spot! This welcoming opportunity gave us the motivation and drive to make our dream a reality.

We quickly finished developing our business plan for the food truck we wanted to create. We then met with a local business investor (who happens to be vegan!), and he connected us with the Small Business Administration Loan department of the government. After a couple grueling months of waiting, we were approved for the loan! During our waiting period, we had connected with Mike Cox of Peace of Mind Contracting. Mike is Central Oregon’s food truck industry expert, and his company builds and maintains most of the food trucks around town. Once we had our funding, Mike got to work on our bare cargo trailer we bought locally, and he custom built a commercial kitchen on wheels for us. We are forever grateful we connected with him. He was and continues to be a wealth of knowledge for us as we navigate through owning our first food truck.

Also during the waiting period for our loan, we made another amazing connection in the partners of Bunk + Brew Hostel, J and Frankie. The two were in the middle of developing a small food cart pod in the backyard of their property at the Historic Lucas House, near Downtown Bend. We jumped on this opportunity because it was a chance to become a part of something big and new in Bend. We were sad to leave the gym spot, but excited for a bigger and better opportunity.