I am often asked about how I got to where I am today and it really is such a loaded question. I didn’t specifically seek out becoming a women’s health RD when I first started school. I was originally interested in sports nutrition, but then I decided to come off the pill and that truly changed everything for me. I didn’t get a period for about a year, my hair started falling out, I gained a lot of weight very quickly, and my acne worsened (something I didn’t think was possible). I was put on thyroid medication, which made my symptoms way worse, and told to go back on the pill. I then set out to learn as much as I could about birth control, thyroid health, and acne. This led me to functional medicine and completely changed how I view health. I was still in dietetics school at the time, which made finishing my degree challenging. I didn’t agree with so much I was taught, but I knew I needed to get my RD license in order to help women, so I kept that in the back of my mind whenever it got hard. There were only 18 people in my program (it was a coordinated dietetics program with very limited spots) and luckily one of them was very into Paleo and CrossFit (I was too at the time), so we kept each other sane. The great thing about my program was that it was heavily research-focused. I have many professors with active labs and was able to participate in some really cool studies. Some were related to high protein diets and how they increase calcium absorption as well as low carb studies and more. I am so grateful for that experience!
Once I graduated, I then started looking for functional training. This was over a decade ago so there wasn’t a ton out there that I knew of. I started with a program offered specifically for dietitians through the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. I don’t even remember the name or know if it’s still offered, but it helped lay the groundwork and made me hungry for more knowledge. I knew I wanted to learn about functional lab testing, which then led me to more courses.
I cover all of the courses I have taken in the full podcast episode, so listen to that tomorrow for more detail, but I think the most important takeaway is that you have to take what you learn and apply what works for you and leave the rest. I’ve taken dozens and dozens of courses and I always approach them the same. I learn as much as I can, apply what I think will help my clients most, and leave anything that is not helpful or isn’t realistic or necessary for my population. We can always learn and grow from every program we go through, we just have to have the right mindset. This is what I did with the first functional lab testing program I went through. They recommend using five functional labs with every client and right away that rubbed me the wrong way. I was a new practitioner but I followed my gut and what I felt would be best for my clients and did not practice that way. I still loved the program and got a lot out of it though. I’ve taken 5+ courses on mineral testing and the same goes for that–I don’t agree with everything but I can use what is helpful and leave the rest.
The more knowledge I gained from continuing education and most importantly, working with clients, the more my approach changed. I got further and further away from running functional labs and focused way more on setting a strong foundation. This can be hard in the beginning when your clients want results and you are new to coaching and want to make them happy, but ultimately, I felt like I was doing a disservice by doing whatever tests they wanted. Then I discovered hair mineral testing and quickly learned I could help clients make progress quickly with just one test and it shifted my whole practice.
The further I get along in my career as a women’s health dietitian, the more books I read, programs I take, and specialties I dig into, the less I realize I know. This is how it should be. I know I have a ton of knowledge and clinical experience to help women but I don’t know everything. I am confident I can find answers for someone though. I always have a hunger to learn more and am pretty much always taking a course, even with a two-year-old and a newborn. I don’t necessarily recommend it but that’s my personality. I love to learn and will always have a passion for expanding my knowledge. I think to be successful in this field, you have to be that way. You can take all of the courses you want, and read all the books, but there will always be things that pop up with clients that you don’t know. And that’s okay. That’s how we learn and grow as practitioners and really build our unique skills. Never be afraid to be wrong, say you don’t know something, and then go figure it out. That’s where the magic happens.
I’m often asked about my path and if I could do things all over again would I do it differently? For me, no I wouldn’t. The path I chose got me to where I am today and I wouldn’t change that for anything. I think it’s important to recognize that there are many ways to get here and you have to figure out what is best for you. There is no one perfect program. I will say it again: there is no one perfect program! If you want to do something similar to what I do, then you will likely start with either an RD or CNS program and then have to go on for further functioning training and then get training specific to women. Then from there, get even more specific training and continue to learn and grow as a practitioner as you work with clients. Not everyone likes this answer but I hope it helps some realize that you can’t make the wrong decision or mess it up. The school you attend and the programs you go through don’t make your career happen–you do! I went to a community college before I went to the University of Connecticut because I needed to save money and I don’t regret it one bit. I got to where I am today because of my passion for helping women, not because of where I went to college. You can do the same!
I hope this encourages anyone considering taking this career path!
I dig more into all of this in my podcast episode here! You can also find a list of all of my training and certifications at the bottom of this page.
reminder: i’m currently taking on 1:1 clients. if you’d like to explore what it would be like to work together and if we are a good fit, fill out this form to get more details!
