Today we’d like to introduce you to Chandni Sacheti
Hi Chandni, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
My journey started with a deep-rooted passion for social entrepreneurship—not just as a business model, but as a way of thinking. I have always been driven by the intersection of impact, strategy, and execution—how an idea moves from concept to reality, how innovation can be scaled for meaningful change, and how industries can be transformed when we think differently. I don’t just want to work within existing systems—I want to redesign them, disrupt them, and create new ones that better serve people and the planet.
That drive has led me across industries, from conscious consumerism to AI-driven sustainability to neurotechnology and holistic wellness. It’s what pushed me to start a business at 14, to navigate new industries with zero connections, to advocate for plant-based living, and to immerse myself in emerging technologies that optimize human well-being. I thrive at the intersection of vision and action—seeing what’s possible and then making it happen.
At my core, I am fueled by relentless curiosity and an unwavering commitment to building what doesn’t yet exist. I believe in the power of bridging industries, forging new pathways, and rethinking conventional wisdom. I don’t just want to participate in industries—I want to reshape them, push their boundaries, and pioneer new ways of thinking that challenge how we approach business, health, and human potential.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
The journey with Lives Without Knives has been anything but smooth. One of the biggest challenges I faced was uprooting everything I had built in Hong Kong for three years and moving to LA—starting completely from scratch. I had no network, no connections, and no clear path forward. It was overwhelming. I wondered if I should let go of the vision I had fought so hard to create.
But I chose to persevere.
I showed up everywhere—every vegan festival, conscious living event, networking opportunity. I was always the youngest person in the room, by far. But I refused to let that hold me back. I mustered up the courage to introduce myself to founders I had admired for years, to put myself in spaces where I didn’t yet belong, to network and carve out opportunities where none seemed to exist.
Slowly, I built my network from the ground up. I let my passion and vision speak for me. One by one, I found vendors, partners, and collaborators who believed in what I was creating. I took risks, even when I didn’t know if they would work. And then—I started landing deals and partnerships I never imagined possible.
It was never about overnight success. It was about consistently showing up, putting myself out there, and taking the leap—again and again. Brick by brick, event by event, I built Lives Without Knives into what it is today. This journey taught me that resilience is everything. When no one opens the door for you—build your own.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about Lives Without Knives?
I started Lives Without Knives (LWK) when I was just 14 years old in Hong Kong. It all began with a pitch competition I entered just for fun—I had always been passionate about plant-based living, but I wanted to present it as something desirable, accessible, and exciting rather than restrictive or niche. Somehow, I won. Suddenly, I had mentorship, funding, and a real opportunity to turn this vision into something tangible.
At first, it was just me. A one-person media platform, running social media campaigns, live sessions, webinars, and a blog. I had no roadmap, just an unshakable belief that I could shift perspectives and make conscious choices mainstream. Slowly, I built a team—12 people all over the world equally passionate about the movement. Together, we launched the LWK Challenge Packages, partnering with 15 local businesses to make plant-based eating easier and more accessible. I simultaneously expanded into corporate and school programs, hosting webinars for companies like Verizon and working directly with organizations to integrate plant-based solutions into their culture.
When I moved to UCLA, I saw an opportunity to scale massively—not just a platform, but an ecosystem that redefines conscious consumerism. Los Angeles gave me the network, the resources, and the open-minded environment to bring my vision to life. What started as a solo passion project became a movement, a revolution, a brand that is reshaping how we engage with plant-based living.
Key Milestones & Impact
1) First Annual Lives Without Knives VegFest at UCLA, 2024. We welcomed 1000+ attendees who experienced an interactive festival with 20+ plant-based vendors, businesses, food trucks, and non-profit booths. Seeing the energy, excitement, and community that came together that day was proof that plant-based living can be mainstream, thrilling, and aspirational.
2) LWK Vegan Starter Kits—Featured at Lives Without Knives VegFest, these kits are designed to make plant-based living fun and easy, connecting first-time consumers to 10+ local vegan business partners and resources that introduce them to the lifestyle in an engaging way.
3) Bringing Veganuary to UCLA—We spearheaded a campaign to make UCLA a hub for plant-powered choices, educating students on how small, conscious shifts in their diet can make a long-term impact on their health and the planet.
4) Scaling LWK’s Impact in LA—What started in Hong Kong has now taken over UCLA, and beyond. The opportunities, network, and innovation-driven mindset in LA allowed me to take LWK to the next level, turning it into a scalable social enterprise connecting plant-based brands to untapped markets through strategic partnerships, immersive brand activations, and curated consumer experiences.
5) Upcoming Lives Without Knives Conscious Fest, happening on April 24th at UCLA, striving to reimagine conscious diets, minds, and lives. A festival driven by purpose, enjoyment, and inclusivity, Conscious Fest strives to ignite a revolution in conscious diets and lifestyles by connecting the UCLA and LA communities with compassionate brands, impactful practices, and transformative tools for health and wellness.
What started as an idea—something I entered into a pitch competition on a whim—has turned into a thriving movement. The biggest lesson I’ve learned? With the right strategy, persistence, and belief, you can take any vision and make it a reality.
If you had to, what characteristic of yours would you give the most credit to?
Passion.
Passion has been the driving force behind everything I do. It has fueled my perseverance, my grit, and my resilience—especially in the moments when things got hard, when I felt like giving up, when the path ahead wasn’t clear. My unwavering belief in the cause has pushed me beyond what I thought was possible, allowing me to achieve dreams I once considered out of reach.
At the heart of this journey are my Jain values of non-violence and compassion toward all living beings. I wanted to create change in a way that felt deeply authentic to me, in alignment with what I stand for. That’s why I’ve poured everything into revolutionizing plant-based living—not just as a diet, but as a joyful, conscious way of life. I am deeply passionate about plant-based diets, about bringing smiles to local, mission-driven business owners, and about curating new, exciting ways of living that make sustainability feel effortless.
When I first started Lives Without Knives, it wasn’t just a project—it was a mission. The more I researched our food systems, the more I realized how shielded we are as consumers from the reality of meat production and the urgency of shifting towards plant-forward diets. This isn’t just about animal cruelty; it’s about a broken system—one that is unsustainable at every level. The deeper I understood, the harder I fought to create a solution.
Passion isn’t just what gets me started—it’s what keeps me going. It’s what turns obstacles into opportunities, challenges into stepping stones, and ideas into movements. It’s why I’ve never stopped pushing the boundaries of what’s possible, and it’s why I know there is still so much more to come.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.liveswithoutknives.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/liveswithoutknives/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chandnisacheti/
