“A dietitian by day…”
I chat a lot about my little business journey, especially as a new-ish mom, but I realize that I rarely share anything about being a dietitian, which is a huge part of my identity. I highlight how my creative works started way back in college - studying nutrition and dietetics in the morning while acting as the graphic designer for various student clubs in the evening. I thought, maybe I should flip my bio for a minute and share about the dietitian side – alluding to why it’s a job I’ll be sticking with in the long run. It’s a long read, so here goes.
I’ve been a Registered Dietitian (RD for short) for 13 years! I worked with our veterans at the VA during the early years, then transitioned to working in the renal/kidney/dialysis field where I still work now. It’s quite my specialty, and with that, I’d like to emphasize that I’m not a walking dictionary of vitamins and all the trendy things. It’s always striking the questions I get asked, mostly pertaining to certain diet trends, when I tell people I’m a dietitian - I don’t eat salads all day long. :)
As a dialysis dietitian, I work with mostly older patients whose kidneys barely function - and the kidney is an amazing organ we shouldn’t take for granted. The diet that is typically recommended is not what many might imagine. I emphasize eating more protein, but I also advise to limit portions of a lot of foods that are generally seen as healthy - bananas, avocados, even nuts, for example; to limit their fluid amount to 1L a day! The trend in the diet is to allow for more whole foods, including these I’ve listed, so I continue to tailor my advice to patients’ circumstances and overall comprehension. It’s a pretty complex diet, to say the least.
Working with a diverse and mostly low income population – this part keeps everything real for me. I’ve worked with many veterans in SF, often homeless, sadly (and PTSD is very real); patients in the South Central and South-eastern side of LA, and now patients in the Oakland/San Leandro area. I feel so grateful to work with such a diverse group of people, who I learn so much from. My job is to support a better quality of life for my patients with an end-stage condition - to support them being out of the hospital, to carry on with their daily activities as much as they could. It is such a unique space and opportunity to see humanity, to build relationships with people from all different walks of life. I cannot emphasize more how much this human connection means to me.
Being a mentor to others - It’s really an interesting juxtaposition as a small business owner - often I feel like I’m just winging things as they come and not sure if I have any business-skills to contribute among creatives and maker friends. I easily forget that I contribute widely as an RD. I’ve precepted new dietitians and interns and currently am a mentor for a type of counseling called motivational interviewing. This has given me a unique opportunity to have 1:1 sessions with dietitians across the country.
Recently when I took part in an interview by Kindred Curiosity, I also identified myself as a “sustainable food systems advocate.” Though not a big part of nutrition curriculum, my passion in this area did grow out of a graduate class in nutrition ecology where instead of focusing on what happens to food as it’s being digested in our body, it focuses on everything about food before it even gets to our plate - and how it relates to our politics, our community, environment, climate change and all the ways we’re connected in this area. I always tell people that if I weren’t working in the renal field, this is one I’d love to dive my head into - except at my age and limited experience, frankly, I don’t really know where to start.
It is wild to me how our thoughts and words are limited to short phrases and sentences, so thanks if you’re reading it all the way here to the end. I feel almost like - as the world trends more to the short and catchy, I just want to double down on being long-winded (i’m only sort of kidding!). I think that though is a big component of why I’m very much attracted to staying in my field in the long run (whether full time or part time) - to be able to speak to people in real time about their lives and how they’re doing, compared to living a life online where I’m chasing after algorithms and numbers. It’s safe to say that I will be hanging onto both my daytime RD job and evening design/letterpressing gig for as long as I can manage. :)