Katie Proctor, MBA, RDN

HEALTHY LIFESTYLE & BUSINESS COACH

 ELEVATE WITH KATIE

for something nutrishus

I 'know' Katie from a few facebook groups and you'll see below that makes sense! It's always great to learn about the journeys and unique backgrounds that lead dietitians to do what they do. Our jobs evolve and it's exciting to see all the different skills we have. Katie has done and is doing many things. I've been learning about running a business, marketing, etc. along the way the last 6 years, so I can appreciate where she's coming from, plus I know we'd enjoy sitting down to a meal together!

Why did you become an RD? 

I was one of those people who had 7 majors while I was an undergrad because truthfully I didn’t know what I wanted to do nor did I understand all of the opportunities out there. I don’t really have a glamorous “why” except for that I had been interested in food since high school and decided nutrition would be a great alternate career path when I decided med school wasn’t for me.

What area of dietetics do you work in? 

I have my own health coaching business and with my marketing and brand management background I also am a business coach for health, food and fitness entrepreneurs.

How would you explain what you do? 

On the nutrition side, I run monthly health and fitness-related online accountability groups to help busy women put themselves back on their to-do list.

On the business side, I work 1:1 with entrepreneurs who are looking to take their businesses to the next level. Each session is dictated by the individual’s needs, but some topics I address are finding a niche, content strategy/visibility, productivity/systems, creating an offer (what it is, how to price, how to deliver to target audience) and marketing strategy.

What are your ‘typical’ daily/weekly tasks? 

For my health coaching clients, I post daily motivation in our app and encourage them to “check in” daily with their workouts and healthy meals. I also spend a lot of time on social media whether it’s managing my own Facebook groups, connecting with current and potential clients and engaging in other relevant Facebook groups. I write blog posts for my own site and guest posts on others and prepare for my 1:1 business coaching client sessions by hosting free discovery calls, reviewing client welcome packets, hosting our sessions and following up with action steps. I should also add that I have a part-time freelance role helping two well-known food bloggers launch a new membership site. I love what I do because no day is ever the same!

What has been your career path? 

From day one as an RD, I’ve been obsessed with business and marketing. I spent a lot of time as a student getting to know entrepreneurial RD’s I admired and believe those connections paid off heavily when I entered the profession. I was one of the co-founders of All Access Internships, a dietetic internship resource and coaching platform for students looking to stand out during the application process, when I was a junior in college and still actively coach students today.

After I graduated from my DI at Vanderbilt, I became an Account Executive at a well-known PR agency working on consumer and B2B (business-to-business) integrated marketing campaigns for food clients across the country. From there, I moved into digital marketing for the organic and natural division of General Mills where I managed all of the consumer touchpoints including social media, email, website and even copywriting for packaging. Most recently, I was the brand manager for a smaller organic food company and really got to hone my product development and traditional marketing skills that were more operations, sales and price promotion focused. I am so grateful for all of my experiences that lead me to where I am today. I worked my coaching business “on the side” for about a year when I decided I was finally ready to leave my full-time job and pursue my entrepreneurial endeavors full-time!

What advanced education or special training do you have? 

I have an MBA and have also taken many online business training courses from Marie Forleo, Amy Porterfield and other high profile online entrepreneurs outside of our industry to learn the ins and outs of list building, sales funnels, offer creation and more.

In an ideal world, what does the industry look like 5 years from now? 

I would love for business curriculum to be more commonplace in our undergraduate and graduate training and not just the information that serves more traditional roles such as foodservice or dietary management.

What do people think that you do for a living? 

I’m pretty sure my husband thinks I am a professional Facebooker ;).

What are you passionate about in dietetics? 

I am passionate about helping other RD’s promote their services to more people online and not be afraid of selling. 

What is your favourite meal? 

Curry of any kind.

What tip(s) would you give to our readers? 

Make connections with people both inside and outside our industry whose career paths you admire. I had so many mentors help me along the way and I am always willing to give back to others because of this. Sure, some people may so no or not respond but you never know unless you ask.

More about Katie:

Website: www.elevatewithkatie.com

Email: elevatewithkatie@gmail.com

Instagram: @elevatewithkatie

*If you are an entrepreneurial RD, join my private Elevate Your Business Facebook group where we talk about all things biz and branding.

Thanks Katie!