Diana Reid, MPH, RD

I have a pretty non-traditional career path, as I started out in another field altogether and changed careers in my 40s. I think being a second career dietitian has made me very savvy in terms of business and entrepreneurship and knowing how to present and market myself. I also have a strong sense of who I am and what I have to offer. After graduate school, I worked as a dietitian in a community health center and was quickly promoted to lead the entire staff of dietitians across the organization. I don’t think this would have happened without my previous experience in management and leadership from my prior career.

Stephanie Simms Hodges, MS, MPH, RDN

I work with school nutrition professionals to enhance their school nutrition programs and I offer a wide variety of services to them including: grant writing and implementation, staff training, menu certification, nutrient analysis, special diet consulting, wellness policy consulting, nutrition education programming consulting, strategic planning, and marketing and social media consulting.

Dan Fenyvesi M.S. R.D.

My first job after graduate school and getting my RD was with a public health clinic in Oakland. I found that after that job it wasn’t too hard to get employment, and jobs with other clinics, retreat centers, and colleges followed. In 2014 I received the Fulbright Scholar Grant to work in Nicaragua, that was also a big milestone for me and has allowed me to work on branching out to more international work.

Leah McGrath, RD, LDN; Leia Flure, MS, RD, LDN; Kim Melton, RD; Lucía de Rueda Aramburu, RD, MSc.; Matt Jacobs, MA, RD, LD, NSCA-CPT and Sophie Medlin, RD

I started BUD in 2014 at a time when it felt like there was a lot of negativity and criticism about dietitians. I regularly saw groups/social media accounts and pages, individuals and the media accusing dietitians of lacking integrity. Having been a dietitian for almost two decades at that point I knew that our profession deserved better treatment and a more positive space to encourage each other and celebrate our accomplishments.

Angela Berrill, NZRD

The last 5 years has been an incredibly challenging time for our profession with so much nutrition-nonsense in the media and online. In my ideal world, people would turn to the qualified nutrition professionals for dietary advice and become warier of what they read in the media, wellness bloggers, and anyone else who gives unsubstantiated nutrition advice.

Andy De Santis RD, MPH

I was the cliché unhealthy teenager who was able to use healthy eating to get my life back on track. By the age of around 18/19 I knew that I wanted a career where I was able to help others in the same way that I was able to help my self and dietetics was pretty much the only thing on my mind.

interviews