My Journey to Private Practice

This article was originally published on March 6, 2019.

I never thought I would own my own private nutrition practice. In fact, until recently, I had never even considered it.

I have always equated private practice nutrition with weight loss counseling.

I’m not entirely sure why; I just did. I’ve actually owned a nutrition business before, but it was community based. Serving individuals, groups, and communities of Philadelphia, Progressive Nutrition created and implemented community-level nutrition programs for non-profit, community-based organizations and worked with community leaders and local politicians to bring nutrition education to their constituents. The private practice thing was a solid nah for what I thought would be forever. Here’s why:

When someone hears that I am a nutritionist, one of the first things they say is, “I need a meal plan” or “I need to lose weight. I usually respond to this by providing general advice, then kindly telling them that I would need a lot more time and information to provide specifics. 

Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate that people recognize the role and expertise of RDNs in the weight loss/meal planning arena, but dietetics has so much more to offer. Those surface-level conversations just never did it for me. I desired more complex conversations surrounding food behavior and culture, but I wasn’t confident directing the conversation that way. I was convinced that it wasn’t what people wanted to hear, so I never considered it as an option. And unfortunately, back then, I didn’t know how to create my own lane.

A Blessing in Disguise

After a successful five-year career in healthcare/home infusion sales (tube and IV nutrition), I lost my job in October 2017. This was an extremely difficult time for me because the way that it was lost involved nepotism, possible racism, and sales vs operations politics that created a toxic work culture that I didn’t realize was as bad as it was until it sucker punched me right in the face.

After wallowing in pity for several weeks, I decided to take action. Using LinkedIn’s Profinder Service, I found Bianca Jackson, Storytelling + Personal Branding Consultant and Speaker. I was focused on finding another 9-5 at this time, so my work with Bianca involved curating my career story, networking, and a lot of self-reflection. Some days she was my personal cheerleader and other times she was there to tell me what I didn’t want to, but needed to, hear. Whenever she had an opportunity, she encouraged me to invest in myself by pursuing entrepreneurship. At that time, just the thought of entrepreneurship intimidated me, but I credit her for planting that seed.

By the time summer of 2018 rolled around, I was still unsure of the professional direction I wanted to go in. I was doing consultant work which wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t fulfilling either. I was also the Nutrition Education Director for a senior wellness center in Washington DC which was more fulfilling, but it still wasn’t the right fit for me.

One summer evening after Bikram yoga, I mentioned to a fellow yogi (Hey Kee!) that I was an RDN. This led to a conversation about her experience with food and nutrition. At some point, she asked if I followed The Food Heaven Show on IG. The answer was no, but I started following that evening.

 Fast forward to the end of August 2018. While scrolling through my IG timeline, I came across a post by @foodheavenshow that read,

Healthy eating is presented through a Eurocentric lens, and that’s problematic.

That post got my attention. I felt it, understood it, and personally knew it to be true. It was a quote from a podcast interview they had done with Tamara Melton, co-founder of Diversify Dietetics. According to the Diversity Dietetics website, their mission is:

To increase diversity in the field of nutrition by empowering students and young professionals from underrepresented minority groups to join the next generation of nutrition experts.

So of course, I immediately listened. It was excellent. Tamara mentioned key experiences that I could relate to. She drove home the message that representation mattered. I was inspired.

The seed that was planted during my time working with Bianca was beginning to bud.

Over the next few weeks, I made the decision to start my own business that would fill a gap I had always known existed but didn’t know how to personally address. I actually wanted to start a private nutrition practice, and it felt right. For the first time, it felt natural.

I realized that I could create my own lane by using my experience, perspectives, and education in both social work and nutrition to form the philosophy that my practice is grounded in today.

Over the next few months, I shared my ideas and vision with close friends and family but didn’t take any action steps. In early October my sister called me and basically told me to get things moving. Around the same time, my yoga studio, Bikram Yoga Works was advertising their first annual C.E.O. You program, an 8-hour professional development training program for established and aspiring entrepreneurs ready to take their careers to the next level. I attended, of course.

And now. Here We Are.