Special thanks to Deanna Wolfe, MS, RDN (@dietitiandeanna) who recently did an Instagram Q&A for our Instagram community! Her insightful responses will help you navigate your RD2BE journey as you work towards landing your dream job.
Q: What is your advice to stay positive during the dietetic internship?
I did a Coordinated Master’s, which means I did the internship and Master’s combined in 2 years (instead of 3)! I would be in my training during the day and then have classes in the evenings. The first year was focused on community, corporate wellness, long-term care, WIC, retail, outpatient (diabetes, cancer, etc.), and a psych hospital (eating disorders). The second year was a FULL YEAR internship in a hospital plus rotations in a burn unit with a GI doctor, oncology, and a children’s hospital. It was a hard two years, but I stayed positive by enjoying downtime with friends on the weekends when I could (I also worked as a dietary food aide and a bartender) and enjoying where I was at in life. It was nice to have another year to focus on what I truly wanted to do with my life instead of jumping right into the real world. 🙂 Take it as a year to learn and grow!
Q: Do you have any dietitians that you look up to or have had as a mentor?
I have been a part of a mastermind with other celebrity/influential dietitians and love seeing how others have grown their business and made an impact.
Q: How much experience would you recommend before starting your own consulting business?
I would hire a mentor/coach and dive in. You don’t need ‘experience’ before starting your business- you have the knowledge you need. I had never worked a clinical job before I started. You don’t have to either.
There are also tons of business tools and systems you can put in place to help with back-end things you may be worried about. Dietitians are known to be Type-A perfectionists. I would have never gotten to where I am or started my business if I had waited for the perfect name, perfect website, etc.
Q: What are your tips for finding opportunities on the business side of health and wellness?
The best thing I did for my career/entrepreneurial spirit was dive into roles in corporate wellness. This expanded my ability to understand products, technology, sales, and marketing on a large scale with Fortune 500 companies.
If you love social media, other avenues would be social media PR agencies or even working with brands.
Q: As a student, how did you gain dietetics-related experience?
I worked as a dietary aide at UPMC Shadyside (a local hospital), getting the meal tickets ready for the tray line. This made me realize that clinical wasn’t my favorite. 🙂
I also was the food science laboratory assistant at PITT, which meant I grocery shopped for the food science labs each week! I loved that job, haha. I also was the president of the Student Dietetic Association. I networked with my professors, stayed in contact with people I admired. Get out and network!
Q: How did you build your Instagram?
1. Being authentic.
2. Understanding marketing and sales.
3. Consistent hard work. No one sees the years I spent hustling on the side to create the brand I have now. It wasn’t luck but hard work. If you procrastinate, find a business partner or mentor who will set goals and challenge you. The first business I opened with a partner.
Q: What are your tips for starting out as a nutrition influencer?
Focus on building a community FIRST, and the sales will come. Don’t just focus on ‘followers.’ Every single follower wants to learn something from you, so provide that knowledge. If you’re going to ‘influence,’ you will need a community of people who know, like, and trust you.
Q: How did you begin marketing yourself?
Understand who I was talking to. Understand what they need to hear. Being a person first, not a dietitian. I am sharing my mistakes, not just being an expert.
Q: How did you get to where you are?
Wow, maybe this would be best reserved for a book. 🙂
P.S. Did you find this collaboration helpful on your dietetics career journey? Could you share it with your fellow RD2BE friends? Also, don’t forget to follow Deanna on Instagram and let her know how this interview resonated with you.
