I had a long and winding road to becoming a dietitian. In high school and college I thought that I wanted to be a therapist. I got my degree in psychology at Penn State, but I didn’t feel ready to go to grad school and decided that I would rather work first. I moved to San Diego and found a job where I managed energy efficiency programs. During that time I started getting interested in cooking and reading about food, and I was feeling uninspired by my job. I had a good life in a great place, but I wanted to do something that could help people.

I put together my love of food and cooking with my previous interest in counseling and I decided to go back to school to become a dietitian. I moved across the country and graduated from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro with a Master’s Degree in Nutrition and completed my dietetic internship. As I dietitian I have worked in outpatient nutrition counseling, corporate office, hospice, and in mental health settings.