Welcome to the rd2b podcast each week we sit down with a different registered dietitian nutritionists to showcase the diversity of opportunity in the dietetics profession our aim is to dismantle the notion that there is a traditional career path I’m Carl Barnes the registered dietician behind the
Scenes of Rd Tob and I am Jenna waro the Rd Tob host our Rd guests share their stories career paths and advice to help students like us succeed in the profession welcome back to another week of the r podcast I’m your host Jenna and we’re actually doing a super exciting
Kind of two-parter regarding um just eatwell exchange their nonprofit organization because we featured Jasmine Westbrooks before but this week we’re sitting down with the other co-founder Ashley Carter and so as I said before she’s the co-founder and director of eatwell exchange but she’s also an Adjunct professor at FAMU which is
Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University where she teaches the science of nutrition which is just super exciting with all the things that she does but Ashley thank you so much for joining us we’re super excited to have you hi everyone thank you for having me of course yeah and like we’re just super
Excited to like dive into your path but then also like your side of eatwell exchange and whenever we were like talking beforehand you had a quite a unique experience getting to the r credential and so kind of just with the first question where did your dietetics journey
Begin my dietetics journey began at well originally the passion for nutrition came because of family issues so my mom and dad both had diabetes when I was born always navigate their diet and kind of modify their Foods based off of their medical condition so as a young girl I
Didn’t know about dietetics or being a registered dietitian but I did always um I was very inquisitive about like what they were eating and why they could eat certain foods and not eat other foods and then I started my undergrad at Florida State and that’s when I was I
Think originally exercise science and one once I took a science of nutrition course I fell in love and I was like this is so interesting science of nutrition to me was just so interesting because it really broke down food to the most basic level and how our body can utilize it
And that really sparked that interest for me to get into the field of dietetics yeah awesome and I feel like a common thing just even with my peers they’re just like oh I wasn’t nutrition at the beginning but then I took that one class that like they had to take
That was nutrition reled and then they were just like I was immediately hooked and I think it’s great how you just kind of have that like double layer of you grew up knowing about it your entire life but then you kind of solidified it back whenever you you know took that
Class at University which was really great and one thing that uh we kind of do want to dive a little bit deeper into is specifically like how you went from graduating at University to the Rd credential and so you said kind of before the recording that you graduated
In 2011 but then you didn’t get your Rd in until 2019 so can you kind of just yeah kind of yes a little you heard the deep breath if anybody watching you saw I just oh well let me tell you so I graduated with my bachelor’s in
2011 and 2012 I was like okay I have this degree what do I do with it so I just started working and then eventually like 2013 I decided to get my Ms in public health so I moved from Tallahassee to Tampa to go to University of South
Florida and then I met one of well one of my friends who I went to Florida state with Dedra she was working for Wick at the time and she’s like hey why don’t you come work for Wick because all you need is your bachelor’s and dietetics you don’t have to be a
Dietitian yet so I was like okay cool so I started working for the wick program and then the same friend Dedra she’s like hey aren’t you going to become a registered dietitian and I was like uh I don’t know because I really didn’t understand the process just being honest
When I did my undergrad I really didn’t understand what I had to do after so I was a little confused on what to do um I applied for the internship the same time as her and we both did not get in and I was like what I’m so smart I’m am doing
All these great things like how come like why wouldn’t they want me that was my thought and then um I tried again the next year applied for the internship and we did not do matching we did the Department of Health internship program so I know not every state has that but
In Florida we have it and I applied again I did not get in so this time I’m devastated I was like oh my goodness I’m never going to be a dietitian and just remember two years before this I wasn’t even sure if I wanted to be an RD or not
But once you get denied it makes you want something really really bad so then um I was gonna apply for the third time but I met a lady named Dr Gordon who was working for the Department of Health and I talked to her and I was like hey they’re denying me
For for this internship I don’t know why they don’t like me you know that kind of thing and she was like well send me your application let’s go over it and when she reviewed my application she was like Ashley I really like you like you know you’re great but I wouldn’t accept you
Either and I was like what so she was like no not being mean she’s like but you just don’t have a strong application she’s like people only want to accept you into their program if there’s a high chance of you being successful to pass the Rd exam and
Also to go into the field of being a dietitian and she’s like and based off your application you know it’s not really that strong so to speed the story up after that I was like okay what do I do she’s like go back to school retake some classes get some more experience under
Your belt so that’s what I did so from that time from 2013 to 2018 I spent that time retaking classes I started volunteering I started working with different organizations and just really getting experiences taking Mak more leadership roles too that’s another thing I didn’t have and even in my
Running group that I was a part of I became a site leader so know dietician running group you’re like wait what does that to do with each other but it’s just showing that you’re able to take a leadership role and also um create something new as well so I applied 2018
Got into my internship and then passed the Rd exam on the first try so everything is wor that’s the that’s the long story short I had tons of hiccups but who I was in 2013 probably wouldn’t have been as successful as I am right now so I I hope that’s not anybody
Else’s Journey that’s listening but if you do have some hiccups if you do get denied getting into an internship if you do get denied for your Masters whatever you get denied for just use that as an opportunity for growth and really work on yourself before trying again yeah and that’s just
Such a great story that I feel like there’s just like a couple of like nitpicks and things that I do want to like just kind of dive deeper into about because that is such a great and like motivational story about if you want something you can get it like that’s for
Sure and so whenever and it was Dr Gordon you said that reviewed your yes Dr Gordon and so whenever she looked at your application and she said that it wasn’t strong do you remember what she said that made it not particularly a strong application my grades number one she
Said my grades were not that high and then also I didn’t really um have a wide range in my application it was pretty much just I graduated I worked for Wick and then that’s when she really brought out to me I was like well what
Do I do quit my job she’s like no no no know when it comes to the dietetic internship it’s not about the jobs that you worked at it’s the experiences you had she’s like go volunteer at the food bank she’s like go to the dialysis center and volunteer she’s like all you
Have to do was volunteer and learn things in my head I was just when I did my application I only put work experiences but no any experience you have will be a part of your application so yeah that was another thing and then also leadership roles I really didn’t
Have any leadership at that time so it was just again I used my running group I created a new site for that running club I was in and I took a leadership role and I was guiding 15 women twice a week or their run so just kind of adding that
Too that leadership um improving my grades and then also improving my experiences that I’ve had yeah that’s awesome and like as far as because the timeline between graduating in 2011 and then getting the Rd in 2019 like you have to have a lot of drive and a lot of
Like ambition towards that goal to kind of still keep going at it and still getting all those things and so for you what was the biggest MO motivator for you to not give up especially after being denied you know twice and just kind of like having to retake all these
Classes get involved with all these things what kind of kept you going through all that that’s such a good question one thing that really kept me going is just um seeing the state of my community and what I mean by that I said both of my parents had diabetes when I
Was growing up and I saw that was very common where I lived in Miami so I was just like I can be the person to Chang this and for me it was just seeing that bigger picture and just knowing that it doesn’t have have to happen today so
That was my takeaway it does not have to happen today it can happen in three years and five years but it’s going to happen that’s what I reminded myself like your community needs you you have to be that one to go back and to teach people and to prevent these negative he
Outcomes from happening so for me it was just removing that timeline that I originally placed on myself of being a Rd after two years and also just remembering the bigger picture so outside of me reaching my goals what am I doing what’s my purpose and I think
That purpose is what really kept me pushing through yeah and I think it’s really great that like again you know life purpose is just a big thing to think about but it could just be the purpose of you know for example your purpose was just helping these people
Having that bigger idea of just like I’m gonna become an RD and that’s going to be what happens and something that I’m kind of curious about is like given your path to becoming an RD do you feel like how eat well exchange turned out and how your involvement do you feel like that
Had a great impact and how you became a part of it and just kind of diving a little bit deeper into where eat well exchange kind of integrated in part of your journey definitely so I feel like I am the person I am today because of those
Setbacks honestly so I feel like around that time I had to learn a lot about myself and also how to work with people and how to communicate better and also how to lead so remember before my internship I really didn’t have well before my first couple of times applying
I didn’t have leadership experience and now you know I’m a co-founder of a nonprofit so pretty much what I mean by that is those life experiences helped guide me to where I am today and for Jasmine and I it was actually three of us so the other friend who kept pushing
Me to like apply for Wick she’s actually the third co-founder of eatwell so it’s her myself and Jaz so we’re friends so us just having conversations about the field of dietetics and also at that time I think we were like three black dietitians all trying to apply for the internship as
Well and not getting in and then at that time I don’t think we knew the statistics because there’s only 2.7% of dietitians are black so we didn’t even know that like numbers then but we did see a contrast we did see that you know we did not know any other dietitians
That look like us so that also fueled us too to start a business so that way we can help communities that we’re from because you know they’re not seeing dietitians that can relate to them so everything is connected just the journey to get there and then also knowing that we’re needed
Out here and just taking those skills and those setbacks and turning them like really transferring them into the skills that I needed to be successful for E exchange yeah and I think that’s really great to highlight how like yeah you wouldn’t be where you are today if it
Wasn’t for that long experience to becoming a registered dietitian it’s just really great how it has honestly probably like if we think about it like if you did do the dietetic internship with the experience that you had from the beginning would you be the dietitian
That you are today and just kind of like or doing the things that you’re doing and being as impactful as you are today and I think it’s great to just kind of go a little bit deeper into eat well exchange and the mission that you guys had for again like representing those
Populations that didn’t have access to nutrition or just representing not only the populations that don’t have access but also dietitians as well just kind of increasing that representation which is so important and so one thing that I really did want to cover and that eat well exchange does a great job on is
Again cultural competency and just having a huge emphasis on culture and so I feel like especially in like the dietics curriculum we are taught conventional nutrition education where it’s just kind of like you have your objective you have your outcomes and you just follow it you have activities and
Then you just call it a day whereas I feel like there’s a deeper level of that in culturally competent nutrition uh education and so as far as making nutrition education more culturally competent how does eat well exchange do that so how do you guys emphasize cultural competency with your nutrition
Education yes so when it comes to culture we intertwine culture into everything so I remember in my undergrad having a class that focused on like culture and religion and something like that but that was one class so pretty much in that one class we talked about food culture we talked about different
Diets whether it was you know Hala or kosher we talked about all those different dietary um patterns and then that was it we Clos the book and you go to your other classes but the way we see it is if you’re talking about Sports Nutrition you have to talk about sport Sports
Nutrition for every culture if you’re talking about somebody that has um celiacs disease we need to talk about celiac disease for every culture so pretty much cultural competency is not a book it’s not a class it’s not a course it is a lifestyle so whenever you’re creating material for your business you
Want to make sure that there’s different color hands that are represen it if you’re doing cooking videos what type of seasonings and spices are you using what culture foods are you highlighting we always want to make sure that it is a part of your normal pattern and we’re
Not just saying oh it’s Black History Month let’s pull out some soul food like no it’s Hispanic Heritage Month let’s go ahead and make no we don’t want to do that what we wanted to do is every single month every single day every program plate everything that you do is
Going to highlight other cultures because to us as true um inclusion when we’re built into programming and not creating programs around people yeah and I think it’s so great how you highlight yeah we don’t just have Hispanic Heritage Month boom honor them for a month and then call it a day we don’t
Just have yeah no just yeah it’s not checking a box it’s definitely a lifestyle and it’s 365 and just how like we don’t change our eating habits just for a month and then call it a day which is it’s so great how eat well exchange highlights that and so whenever um you
Jasmine and uh was her name deand Dedra Dedra yes okay so you Jasmine and Dedra whenever you guys formed eatwell exchange did you guys come in being like we are going to be culturally competent and we are going to be cultural based or like kind of whenever it came to you
Guys brainstorming eat well exchange and kind of forming the nonprofit you mentioned a little bit how like you wanted to represent those underserved populations and you wanted to serve those underserved populations and so whenever it came to the idea to focus on culture where did that kind of come from
In that mix and focus yeah so for us it was just not really being able to find a lot of resources or ever finding our Foods as foods that were highlighted as healthy and another difference is that we notice that my family is from Trinidad and Bahamas somewhere like Caribbean also being in
South Florida Jasmine’s from Memphis Tennessee so her food is different than my food so even though looking at us we would identify as two black women the foods that we eat are completely different so we notice that culture really dictates a lot of what we eat and
What we do and also it’s a huge barrier for a lot of communities because if you’re not teaching people about foods that they are familiar with they’re not going to change if I have to wipe out everything that I like eating and start brand new I’m not going to change so
When we started eat well we knew that if we took somebody’s cultural foods and we modified those foods to help them be healthier they’re going to change so that was always like the foundation providing nutrition education with the focus on culture and I think it’s great
How you use yeah oh sorry but continue sorry I was going to say but what we didn’t plan for is the other elements so we did not plan on doing gardening or sustainability programming that was not a part of the original eat well plan it was all nutrition education but then as
We noticed that more people needed access to food and that you know that was a barrier people not having food but knowing those healthy foods we were like okay we got to get people more food and then as we help people get more food they’re like oh we don’t know how to
Cook them then we started the culinary component so that’s what changed it was always cultural foods but it was how we were going to go about delivering the education that modified over the years yeah and like what’s great is you you kept on adding components that are still
Not as accessible or like weren’t as emphasized in traditional nutrition education and in these traditional formats you made it very much patient or client or population to education and like a very like it was more so like a connection like a physical connection rather than here I’m going to tell you
All these things you do everything now which is really really great and so for you personally just with your time at eatwell exchange and you kind of talked about how it’s progressed and kind of grown in this very unexpected but great way are there any specific highlights or experiences that stick out throughout
Your time developing eat well exchange and kind of growing it and building it one of the thing that sticks out to me the most is Partnerships so throughout the years we’ve been able to partner with a lot of amazing organizations a lot of them are different from us whether it’s personal
Trainers whether it’s the YMCA Parks and Recreation sororities and fraternities and other organizations that we’ve worked with and to us that’s what really stand well to me that’s what really stands out it’s just being able to find another organization that has a different Mission than you but we still
Have that same um connection of improving the lives of the people that we serve so as an example working with the Police Athletic League their mission is to you know make sure that young kids have Outlets that way they’re not you know getting into trouble and
That’s you may say huh what does that to do with eat well if they’re not properly nourished we know what happens to us when we don’t eat properly we become hangry the same happens for young kids when kids are not being properly nourished at home home they go to school
And they get in trouble so even though we’re not using the same approach that they’re using because they focus more on athletic activities we’re like hey well if we are able to provide these kids with a lunch they’re going to go home and study and do their homework and
Sleep better so just having those Partnerships really makes a huge impact yeah and it’s a great just focus on collaboration and how and we talked about this in Jasmine’s episode where it was like a nonprofit or running an organization focus on helping people it is never a oneperson job and it is never
Just like you you can never do it with just one person like doing all these amazing things and then whenever it comes to like those Partnerships how like for yeah because like with what you said at face value collaborating with that group and with helping those kids with physical activity how did those
Partnerships kind of come to play did you guys reach out was it just like oh it just so happened like how do those types of Partnerships form well it was actually through a mutual friend um I was doing a culinary class for young guys at that Park and
The police athletically director at that time he found out what we were doing and he’s like oh you’re doing that for that group can you do that for us and he’s like we do have 150 kids though and I was like done so we had to divide the
Kids up into classrooms where some would cook and some would stay in the classroom and do activities but overall it got accomplished so mainly for us Word of Mouth just us doing events for other people and then also social media we know that our Instagram following really helps connect us to people all
Around the world and um just putting ourselves out there too so sometimes there has been organizations that have not reached out to us and we call them or we go to their programming and we volunteer a lot too so we’ll volunteer with an organization get to know them and then say
Hey would you like for us to provide a nutrition education session for you or would you like a culinary program would you like a gardening class and then it has allowed us to start new relationships too and I think it’s great how you form those relationships by like kind of not
Integrating but like being a part of their organization or just kind of seeing how they run and kind of servicing them before you guys form a partnership which is really really great and it sounds like because like you mentioned how eat well you started with like you know the focus on culture and
Then it’s branched out to just like culinary classes to nutrition education to gardening sustainability so many different Avenues but has the vision of eat well exchange ever pivoted with these types of changes and if not like how have you been able to keep it consistent so just kind of
Talking about the vision of eatwell if it’s changed at all and what it’s looked like well the vision has stayed pretty consistent um for us it’s always just providing nutrition education with cultural foods and also that exchange component so eat well exchange The Exchange is us not assuming that we know
Everything that’s RI and teaching everybody everything we know but it’s also learning from people as well so we did take a mission trip to Haiti and while we were there we learned from them we learned their cooking methods we got into the kitchen we saw the way they
Prepared foods as well so for us it’s always been a part of our vision to just improve um lower so economic communities Health outcomes and doing that by using cultural foods and learning from them along the way too I find it so great how you focused on why eat well exchange has
Exchange in the name because you’re exchanging you know the education The Culinary classes the knowledge the skills while you also gain more understanding about different cultures that allows e exchange to be an even better and an even bigger organization helping all those great people and you mentioned a little bit like how
Definitely through like 2011 to 2019 how you were able to grow more skills like with leadership organization things like that that allowed you to be the dietitian that you are today but regarding like specific skill sets or things that you learned what things transferred or what things really helped
You with starting and running a nonprofit well number one would be organizational skills so at that time I was working for the Department of Health and I was in a supervisory role and I really learned how to delegate and also how to organize my assignments so I started just writing out checklist and
Then prioritizing what needed to be done and that’s what I did at work and then fast forward now to eat well there’s always a lot of things to do there’s some Visionary things that jazz and I think about like writing books and creating curriculums and programs and
Then there’s meetings that need to be done right away there’s podcasts as well you know there’s all these things to do and we always have to prioritize what’s the most important and then if we want to cut in between during my internship that’s the exact same thing I had to do
As well I had internship assignments I had personal things going on in life I had you know the schooling that you get to do is wear our didactics and I always had to prioritize what was the most important so I would say those organizational skills and also leadership skills which also ties in
With communication you have to learn how to communicate you have to learn how to talk to people in a way where they understand you and also for me a area I had to work on is being more clear of what I need it because I wanted to be
Nice and I always felt like if I asked people for exactly what I wanted I was wasn’t being nice I was being you know like kind of not rude but just sometimes not seeming as like as Meek you know so for me I had to teach myself like Ashley you can ask for
Exactly what you want and still be a nice person and I’m sure somebody else listening can relate to that too where we say oh well just give it to me when you get a moment or when you have time can you send that over to me and it’s
Like no I need it by Friday so now I learned learned to be very clear and tell people that I’m working with like hey I’m excited to work with you please send everything over to me by Thursday evening and that way Friday morning we can review it and it’s still it’s
Business let’s just say that yeah it’s not yeah precisely and then I noticed that the more direct that I became the better results happened for me so once I started telling people exactly what I needed they were able to help me better and this of course helped throughout the
Internship talking to my preceptors saying like hey you know I don’t really understand this can you take time this week to help me with it you know just putting this week and kind of holding them accountable so that way it’s not like oh well one day I’ll teach her but
No no no I need to know that now so that’s my advice too just learning how to properly communicate saying what you need being very direct and also um learning how other people communicate as well whether it’s you know nonverbals verbals all those other type of communication methods so
That way you can be more effective and the last skill that I throw out is networking during my internship my um coordinator used to call me the networking Queen because every time we would go to an event I would always leave with like three contacts and she would always say
Ashley you’re an intern what are you doing and I’m like hey I want to work with them when I become a dietician so I would always talk to people and say like oh I like what you’re doing you’re doing a garden at the school well once I
Become a dietitian I would love to work with you actually before I’m a dietician I can volunteer with you and I would always do that and what’s funny is fast forwarding to now I worked with most of my preceptors um after completing my internship so as an RD I’ve actually
Went back and had Partnerships with a lot of my preceptors and their jobs because I always put myself out there and I always maintain good relationships that’s so great and like for current students and like and I think it’s great advice about like being more direct ask you know being
Straightforward with what you want you can still be nice you can still be respectful and you can still get what you want in the process but for like nutrition dietetic students that may be like scared to do that especially in a student role or in like a I’m a
Subordinate they’re the like higher level that I need to respect what advice would you give those people that might be a little nervous to reach out or to networker to kind of like poke their head out of the ground to kind of get out there more practice practice practice practice
Makes perfect and I know that’s like an old cliche saying but it’s true when you’re around your friends try out different verbiage and that’s what I did like I would talk to my friends and I say how does this sound if I ask you to meet with me Friday and have this done
Before we meet does that sound rude and then you know your friends can usually tell you or even other peers you have other interns you’re with practice or them say when I say this how does it sound to you and that way you can learn how you’re coming
Off aware so I would say practice with other people and when it comes to networking really learn your elevator pitch so be able to concisely tell somebody who you are what you do and what you need from them or how you can help them and that way when you’re
Talking to people you’re not rambling on and on and on and they’re just looking at you like okay what did she say what was her name like no find a quick way to say my name is Ashley I’m a co-founder of eat will exchange we teach communities how to eat
Healthier of a program with um shelter we can work together one day maybe we can come out and do a cooking class and that would be like a sample elevator pitch yeah and I think it’s great how you focus on like f like don’t try to
Focus on like the new or like the big kind of fluffy big picture just kind of narrow it down to using your friends to help kind of bounce ideas off of or like you know where it’s more comfortable and it’s the same concept with like eat well exchange and with cultural competencies
Like someone’s more likely to make a change in their diet if they’re familiar with it just as it’s more likely that you’re going to make a change in your communication if you do it with someone that you’re familiar with and so it’s the same kind of like yeah it’s the same
Type of idea of just like kind of going into those harder things it’s easier to do whenever you kind of like take baby steps into it with people that you’re comfortable with because you’re more likely to like get familiar with it and kind of comfortable stepping outside of
Your comfort zone and then also like talking about the elevator pitch whenever we’re nervous we always like to fill in words and we always like to say more than we probably need to say but again the practicing of like just narrowing it down to what’s most important into like that call to action
As well because um we just learned about this in my class as well where it’s like okay you talked about all these things that you’re doing what are they going to do with that like what’s the networking like what are you going to get out of that networking experience because like
For you it’s like you can get it but through like volunteering through their gardening and then hey maybe like you know as you’re the Rd with eat well exchange start that gardening class and collaborate with them like it’s definitely an action based what are we
Going to do with this instead of like oh it’s great to know you and then crickets and so I think it’s great right yeah I think it’s great how you emphasize like there is an action component for keeping it alive and for making a network relationship like worthwhile which is
Really great and um yeah so you spoke about just like you the pathway to your dietetics career the things you learned along the way how it’s transformed into eat well exchange how eat well exchange has expanded into what it is but like for you personally what do you like what
Would you say has been the most rewarding part of your dietetics career oh that’s so hard I would say there’s a lot of elements of course having my own business with eat well exchange is highly rewarding but I do want to encourage people to know that
Before I we started eat well exchange I worked for the Department of Health for 10 years so I don’t want anyone to feel like you’re not going to get your reward until you have your own business because I was highly fulfilled working for the Department of Health I loved the people
That were coming in as far as the clients and being able to make a difference every single day and then also I love the staff that worked with me too so being a supervisor there and just being able to move up was highly fulfilling for me and of course eat well
Exchange it’s the same fulfillment honestly just being able to make that impact in someone’s day to be able to teach somebody and know that because I worked with them it’s a chance that they can live longer the grandmothers that I talked to it’s a chance that now they’re
Cooking healthier so their grandkids are going to grow up and not have the same health conditions that they do so for me it’s that impact and the reason why I mentioned both scenarios is because I want people to feel that impact now I don’t want you to wait until you start
Your own business I don’t want to wait until you leave your job whever you end up wherever you land you create an impact there you do not wait until 20 years until oh well you know this isn’t what I want to do that doesn’t matter if after your internship if you end up
Working at a bank and you’re not in the field at all you make an impact at that bank by doing Wellness programs no matter where you land you find a way to impact people and allow your passion allow your purpose to shine through no matter where you are that is such a
Great thing to highlight just with like you don’t have to wait it’s it’s the same concept of like happiness where it’s like oh once I get this then I’m happy or like once I do this then I make an impact or then I’m fulfilled whereas like like for example your La your
Process to becoming an RD yes it’s it you were able to make impact as an RD but you were still making impact with that running club in those leadership positions you were still leaving an impact in the experiences that you were building along the way and
That’s just a great angle to view it as well because I do feel like a lot of aspiring dietitians they’re like I got to do this to check the box to get into this program or I got to do this because my preceptor said so where it’s like you
Yes it’s good to do those things so like you know boost up your resume boost up your experience but whenever you boil it down you’re doing it for the experience so that you can learn those skills and so that you can leave an impact and I think it’s a great mindset to have
Especially in like just feeling burnt out and feeling like oh what I’m doing doesn’t it doesn’t mean anything it doesn’t do anything but when it’s like with volunteering that leaves an impact leadership roles that leaves an impact and it’s like everywhere you go whether you’re a student or an RD you are
Leaving a trace somewhere which is just a really really great reminder and I’m so glad that you highlighted that and another thing that I wanted to highlight as well just because I mean you brought a great light to like experiences impact things like that but something that I’m
Cur that I’m curious about that I also asked Jasmine is eat well exchange was built off of the fact that there wasn’t a lot of topic or conversation regarding cultural competency and nutrition and how cultural knowledge just wasn’t really focused whenever it came to nutrition interventions but and that’s
Kind of what made you guys able to grow into your organization but are there any other topics in dietetics that you wish more people focused on or regarding cult or just kind of like diving deeper into cultur culture or just anything in general I think it’ll be more of the
Fusion of culture with the different areas so most of my dietetic career was with kids F you know Pediatrics and also women so it’s like we never fuse the two when it comes to the way children eat and also um cultural foods for young kids the same when it comes to Athletics like
We’re not dietitians that are working with athletes are they highlighting foods from different cultures are they showing them portion sizes when they’re not using a plate like you know how are we integrating that so for me I think that’s um I guess an area that I feel is
Not really touched on to that integration of the Specialties in dietetics with culture as well yeah and I think it’s great because like for example I’m in my cultural Foods class right now but again that’s the only class that I’m taking that is focused on culture in my curriculum and that’s not
To say that we’re not talking about culture in our other classes but and it’s really great to see that I have found like in my counseling class and in my MNT class we are talking about culture more which is very very nice like for example we’re looking at like
Um the Mediterranean diet and we talked about it a lot where we’re like okay what are some barriers to the Mediterranean diet one big one is culture and how lots of different cultures don’t align with it and okay but how can they but that doesn’t mean
That they can’t have a healthy life just following the Mediterranean diet and so it’s really great to see that shift but again I very much agree how I feel like especially in our um like line of practice with dietetics we talk about how MNT I feel like is just everywhere I
Feel like that’s more emphasized where it’s like oh you use MNT in counseling you use it in sports you use it in education where it’s like culture culture should have the same amount of weight where it’s like cultural competency and Foods that’s in education that’s in sports that’s in everything as
Well and so I think it’s great how kind of the Nuance of it’s not just emphasis on culture but it’s where culture is placed and where it’s kind of integrated which is a really it’s a good Nuance to kind of focus on where it’s not just cultural Foods it’s culture and where
It’s where it’s at and how it impacts people’s food choices which is really great and um kind of going more into because we’ve T again like we’ve just covered a lot of great categories about cultural competency just kind of your skills what you’ve learned advice it kind of like shifting more towards just
Like overall um advice words of wisdoms and things for our listeners that are pursuing the Rd credential is if there’s any like just general advice that you would give to students aspiring to become a registered dietitian okay so when it comes to students aspiring to be a registered dietitian
The main advice I would give you is to not be so hard on yourself I can tell you not trying to date myself but when I was pursuing my undergrad degree Instagram social media all of that was not really a thing yet so of that being said I didn’t have that constant
Comparison that a rd2b does right now so I always give them Grace because because of that because I know how hard that is to I struggled in my undergrad to get good grades you know so now as an undergrad student you’re struggling to get good grades and trying to start a
Business and try to run a social media page and become a nutrition influencer and that’s a lot so I say give yourself Grace and just remind yourself you don’t have to do everything right now and also you don’t have to do everything at all some there’s some areas we don’t need to
Do everyone does not have to be an influenc everyone does not have to have their own private practice everyone doesn’t have to start their own business so just remind yourself that what is for you will be for you but also to trust your journey so whatever path you’re in
Whatever door shut on you find out why and then do all you can to get through that door whether it’s through the door through the window climbing on the roof whatever it takes but just remind yourself that sometimes that door is shut on you for a reason so just like I
Had to do go back Retreat find out what you need to do to make yourself better and then try to knock again and see if it opens for you um and just remind yourself that again you don’t have to do everything you don’t have to start a business right
Now just focus on completing your schooling completing your internship becoming a registered dietitian and then after that you’re going to find your path you may not know it right now but you’ll find your path and then just make sure you continue to follow your purpose and your passion along the way
Yeah and those are such great words to end on just kind of tying everything together and how it related back to your own personal story and just how it’s gotten you to being where you are today with eatwell exchange impacting so many people and again the impact doesn’t
Start once you have a business or once you’re an RD the impact does start now and so thank you so much Ashley for sitting down to talk about your unique path eat well exchange and just overall great advice for people wanting to become an RD so again thank you so much
Thank you so
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