This post is dedicated to a look inside my dietitian career journey – it’s perfect for anyone looking to go into the field of nutrition!
Yesterday was National Registered Dietitian Day. Yes, they do have a day for that – although it’s mostly just recognized among dietitians! It also marked my last day of work doing nutrition counseling at our local hospital’s outpatient clinic. We are moving on to new things, friends {not necessarily better, just new}. In honor of the changing tide for me, I thought I’d do a little post on my career path – what I’ve loved, what’s been unexpected, and how all my experiences in my 7 1/2 year intertwine together in an uncanny way that I would never have predicted. My hope is that it inspires anyone starting out on their own career journey to be open to unexpected opportunity, flexible with change, and inspired to do what they love.
Year 1-3: Outpatient Cancer Center Dietitian + Culinary Student
My first full-time job as an RD was at the hospital in Dallas, TX, where I did my dietetic internship. Everyone told me that to “get the job you really wanted,” I needed to start in a clinical/hospital-type setting. As a trademark rule follower, I did just that.
Thankfully I got a position in the clinical area that appealed to me most – oncology – in a more casual, outpatient setting. The best part about this job by far was the patients. Oncology patients tug at your heartstrings and teach you so much about the resiliency of human life. It’s an area where you can truly make a difference in someone’s quality of life and be changed on a personal level for the better. The work environment was just as inspiring – the doctors, nurses, and all the support staff where I worked are truly some of the finest people I know and won’t soon forget.
It was during my time working at the cancer center that I discovered my passion for food and recipes. Although a big part of my work involved feeding patients through tubes and IVs; the most fulfilling part involved helping those who could eat find pleasure and excitement with food during a time when eating was the last thing they wanted to think about. I’d spend endless amounts of time researching recipes that would help someone gain weight, combat an ever-present chemo-induced metallic taste, or soothe an inflamed digestive tract. It brought me so much joy when I’d suggest a food or recipe to someone who made their face light up and exclaim “that actually sounds really good to me – I think I’ll try it!”
My all-consuming interest in food, cooking, and recipe development led to my decision to attend culinary school with the intent of “enhancing” my career. I enrolled in a year-long program at Le Cordon Bleu that would entail 20 hours of class time per week in addition to homework, my full-time hospital job, and a side-gig working 4 nights per week as a personal chef to pay for my tuition. To top it all off, I was required to take a 3-month leave of absence from work at the end of the year to fulfill my externship requirement of working full-time in a restaurant setting. It was the most challenging year of my life to date, but also the most exciting. I felt so alive in the learning experience that it didn’t seem like work. To sum it all up, I’d do it again in a heartbeat!
Year 3-4: Self-Employment as a Personal Chef
It was around the midpoint of my culinary school journey that I started to toy with the idea of being a personal chef as part of my career. I was already earning my room and board by cooking for a friend and her husband so I could use rent money for tuition, and I really liked the work. By the time I graduated culinary school, I had my first full-time client. Through my contacts in healthcare, one client turned into two, two clients into three, and before I knew it I had transitioned from my full-time hospital gig to a PRN hospital-gig so that I could pursue this new career avenue full-time.
It took me about 3 months to accomplish this, and before I knew it I was self-employed. My job involved working 3 days per week in client’s homes and 2 days per week in the comfort of my home. I ended up earning more that first year on my own than I did at my salaried hospital job. And most importantly, I LOVED what I was doing. It was fun. My best days were those when clients wanted to “hang around” and watch me cook so that they could learn themselves. It was during this time that I figured out I loved to teach – about anything and everything related to food! I wanted my clients to feel empowered in their own kitchen and excited about trying new foods.
Of course, there were downsides to self-employment and I had my fair share of “feast or famine” that first year. But I loved my job and felt my career path was more exciting and fulfilling than I ever could have imagined. I was doing something unique that I had not considered during my college/internship days. And then I found out my husband of less than a year and I would be moving to Nebraska and I would have to give it all up.
To be continued…..come back Tuesday next week for part 2!