Empowering Dietitians

The end of the year can be stressful, and it's easy to get swept up in hustle culture. Take some time to pause before the end of the year and reflect back, reconnect to yourself and your work, and set more aligned, intentional goals for 2024.

CW: pregnancy & parenting

The decision to have kids can be a difficult one - particularly when we start to consider how it will change our lives. Will our career goals change? How will our identities be impacted? Fellow dietitian and mom of 3, Laura Jean, joins host Jess Romola as they both share their experiences and insights into this matter.

Trying to land a new job as a dietitian can be challenging - from ghosted applications to dead-end interviews, and everything in between. In this episode of The Empowering Dietitians Podcast, host Jess Romola shares her top 10 tips from her own dietitian job search earlier this year to help you feel more confident and less alone.

Standard business advice for dietitians is rooted in a neurotypical mindset, and neurodivergent dietitian entrepreneurs - including those with diagnosed or suspected ADHD - are being left behind. Fellow dietitian and ADHD business coach, Tayler Silfverduk, joins host Jess Romola to discuss how ADHD impacts dietitians in alli sectors of work, especially business, and what we can do to lean into how our brains function instead of trying to force ourselves into a neurotypical box.

In this episode of The Empowering Dietitians Podcast (Shorts), dietitian supervisor & host Jess Romola guides you through reflection questions and affirmations for grounding yourself in your values during times of strife and crisis - particularly when it comes to social media activism and boundaries. Listen in for all of the nuance, all of the compassion, and all of the perspective you need to root your decisions on how to use and consume social media ethically and sustainably - on your own terms - after a big event shakes the world.

The ability to practice across state lines is one of U.S. registered dietitians' biggest frustrations. The CDR is working on new legislation that would form an interstate licensure compact for the profession, but will it actually accomplish what it claims to? In this episode of The Empowering Dietitians Podcast, dietitian supervisor and host Jess Romola will walk you through everything you need to know about licensure compacts in general, plus the specifics of the one being drafted for dietitians.

Professional branding is about so much more than pretty colors and a fancy logo - and fellow dietitian and part time web designer Jenn Baswick joins host Jess Romola to chat all about it. Tune in to learn why branding is so important, what it actually entails, and how you can get started - whether you plan to hire out or go the DIY route.

Attending a conference is only half of the experience. What you do after a professional or networking based event can be just as important, if not moreso. In this episode of The Empowering Dietitians Podcast, dietitian supervisor and host Jess Romola guides you through questions and insights to have a stronger follow-up following a dietitian conference or networking event.

CW: pregnancy

Traveling while pregnant as a dietitian? While this is, admittedly, a niche topic, with over 93% of dietitians identifying as women, and not a lot of social or professional supports in place for navigating pregnancy while also trying to maintain "professionalism," it is not as uncommon of a challenge members of our profession must face. Listen in as host and dietitian supervisor Jess Romola shares her top strategies for traveling safely, confidently, and comfortably (well, as comfortably as possible...) no matter what trimester you're in. Oh, and as a spoiler alert...yeah, there's a reason Jess is choosing to share this episode this week ;)

Going to a large professional conference without a plan can, honestly, be a waste. It's not uncommon to get there, feel overwhelmed, try to do all of the things, and return home feeling like you didn't really get out of it what you had been hoping for. So whether you're attending FNCE or WIND this weekend, or want to file this away for a future conference, listen in to this episode as dietitian supervisor and host Jess Romola guides you through questions and perspectives to help you feel clear, focused, confidence, and aligned with your values and goals...ahead of time.

Have you ever struggled with a lack of motivation as a dietitian? In this episode of The Empowering Dietitians Podcast, host & dietitian supervisor Jess Serdikoff Romola helps you reflect on the difference between pushing yourself from a place of hustle and judgment, versus pushing yourself from a place of compassion, nurturing, and care. Rejecting hustle culture means rejecting black-and-white thinking, including how we think about rest and motivation.

Did you know CDR is making big changes to their CEU policies in 2024? In this episode of The Empowering Dietitians Podcast, host & dietitian supervisor Jess Serdikoff Romola offers an overview of what changes are taking effect, how they will impact us as CEU providers and consumers, and where you can go to learn more and feel prepared for this new policy implementation.

Anyone else feel totally overwhelmed by the idea of website design, strategy, and investment?? In this episode of The Empowering Dietitians Podcast, host & dietitian supervisor Jess Serdikoff Romola sits down with fellow dietitian and website strategist Whitney Bateson all about the dos and don'ts of creating functional and profitable websites for our services.

September ushers in Fall in the Northern hemisphere and with it, if we aren't careful, a heaping pile of hustle culture. In this episode of The Empowering Dietitians Podcast, host & dietitian supervisor Jess Serdikoff Romola helps you transition from Summer to Fall more easefully with a series of reflection questions and affirmations meant to align your work and life with seasonal shifts. For more on the Fall Equinox, check out Jess' upcoming workshop (below).

As a dietitian you may have heard of social justice...but what about economic justice? In this episode of the podcast, host & dietitian supervisor Jess Serdikoff Romola is joined by guest Alissa Rumsey, a fellow dietitian passionate about breaking capitalist exploitation in dietetics and working towards economic justice in her own nutrition business. Alissa shares tips and insights, along with others you can learn from if you're interested in continuing in this space.

Have you ever felt like groups, communities, or gatherings within dietetics can sometimes feel a bit...off? In this episode of The Empowering Dietitians Podcast, host & dietitian supervisor Jess Serdikoff Romola helps you reflect on the communities you've experienced within the field, identifying concerning warning signs of cult-like behaviors that can seep into "community" spaces without us realizing it. By building awareness around unhealthy group dynamics, we can start to change the culture of the profession for the better.

Have you ever felt "left out" of non-diet nutrition spaces? Weighed down by the guilt and shame of your privilege? In this episode of The Empowering Dietitians Podcast, host & dietitian supervisor Jess Serdikoff Romola makes the nuanced distinction between growth-promoting discomfort (decentering ourselves, acknowledging the need for equity, etc.) and shame-based matrydom, along with some of the important ways a predominantly white, thin profession has influenced the culture and vibe of "inclusive" spaces in dietetics.

We've been taught to conflate success with financial security, but what if that's just sneaky internalized capitalism and hustle culture at play? In this episode of The Empowering Dietitians Podcast, host & dietitian supervisor Jess Serdikoff Romola offers reflection questions and affirmations to help you differentiate between professional success and having your needs met - without the hustle messaging.

In this episode of The Empowering Dietitians Podcast: Shorts, host and dietitian supervisor Jess Serdikoff Romola offers a series of questions to help you reflect on your relationship to concepts like growth, scarcity, and "enough." Is it possible to value growth and personal development without getting tied down by a scarcity based mindset? Listen in not only for thought-provoking questions, but also a series of affirmations to inspire you throughout the week.

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In this episode of The Empowering Dietitians Podcast, host and dietitian supervisor Jess Serdikoff Romola sits down with Adrien Paczosa, the Chief Clinical Officer of Nourish, to chat about community as a dietitian – what barriers get in the way of us finding community for ourselves and our patients, how we can navigate those barriers to cultivate stronger communities (yes, even if we’re introverts), and how community is often that thing that we don’t realize how much we need until we find it.

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In this episode of The Empowering Dietitians Podcast, host and dietitian supervisor Jess Serdikoff Romola discusses the nuance of individuality "versus" community - does embracing a systems-based, community focused approach mean erasure of you as an individual? Does valuing your unique identity as a dietitian mean you have to also value rugged individualism? Jess discusses the major pitfalls of society's often binary take on this topic, how it impacts us as dietitians, and what perspective she prefers to take, instead.

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In this episode of The Empowering Dietitians Podcast, host and dietitian supervisor Jess Serdikoff Romola offers a series of questions to help you reflect on the labels you use to form your identity, the contradictory and messy nature of our humanity, and how comfortable you feel letting yourself be a whole human. Listen in not only for thought-provoking questions, but also a series of affirmations to inspire you throughout the week.

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In this episode of The Empowering Dietitians Podcast, host and dietitian supervisor Jess Serdikoff Romola offers a series of questions to help you reflect on your goals for the year and how the recent summer solstice impacts our energy, motivation, work, and lives. Listen in not only for thought-provoking questions, but also a series of affirmations to inspire you throughout the week. Note: There will not be a new episode released next week. Tune back in on July 9th, when weekly episodes will resume!

Liked this episode? Check out the upcoming Empowering Dietitians Summer Solstice Workshop! In the episode, Jess refers to it as being "next week" but the actual date is June 12th. See below for the sign up link!

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In this episode of The Empowering Dietitians Podcast, host and dietitian supervisor Jess Serdikoff Romola offers a series of questions to help you reflect on your relationship with "play" as an adult - unproductive, unstructured play. Listen in not only for thought-provoking questions, but also a series of affirmations to inspire you throughout the week. Note: There will not be a new episode released next week. Tune back in on June 25th!

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In this episode of The Empowering Dietitians Podcast, host and dietitian supervisor Jess Serdikoff Romola sits down with Bonnie Green (she/they), a former Empowering Dietitians supervisee. Bonnie is a yoga teacher, caregiver, artist, and non-practicing RDN. She became an RDN in 2018 after completing a clinical internship in Detroit, MI. She has worked in many areas of the field, from clinical to mental health, community, and private practice. In this episode, Jess and Bonnie chat about Bonnie's decision to take a break from dietetics, how much being a dietitian can consume our identities (and how challenging it can be when it no longer feels like a good fit), and how she's exploring passions outside of the field.

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In this episode of The Empowering Dietitians Podcast, host and dietitian supervisor Jess Serdikoff Romola offers a series of questions to help you reflect on your relationship with technology, the activities you gravitate toward to fill your downtime, and what fills you up outside of your work. Listen in not only for thought-provoking questions, but also a series of affirmations to inspire you throughout the week.

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In this episode of The Empowering Dietitians Podcast, host and dietitian supervisor Jess Serdikoff Romola discusses AI and ChatGPT and how it relates to our work as dietitians. Listen in for the conversation that's missing from a lot of Facebook debates on the subject - not whether or not AI will take dietitians' jobs, or some pervasive judgement that if you don't start using AI now, you'll be left behind. Rather, Jess covers what many aren't - what are the ethical implications of AI? What is our responsibility as conscious consumers of breaking technology? And how can we make an informed decision that feels aligned to our unique values?

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In this episode of The Empowering Dietitians Podcast, host and dietitian supervisor Jess Serdikoff Romola premieres a new episode format: a short, reflection-heavy episode on a specific topic. Today, she's talking about our physical environment, the space we take up, and how our surroundings impact us as dietitians...and humans. Listen in for her thoughts, jot down reflection questions for yourself, and walk away with a set of affirmations to hold close to heart over the course of the week.

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In this episode of The Empowering Dietitians Podcast, host and dietitian supervisor Jess Serdikoff Romola sits down with fellow dietitian and supervisor, Charlie Golightly. Charlie (they/them) is a queer & gender expansive dietitian who takes an intersectional, therapeutic approach to their work to support and uplift folks struggling with eating disorders. In addition to seeing courageous clients in their private practice, Moxie Mind, they offer supervision to support other brave, thoughtful dietitians who give a damn about their clients and provide affirming care. In this episode, Charlie and Jess chat about how to bring our own humanity into our work (without the burnout or blurring of boundaries), the underrated potential of supervision for dietitians in all areas of work, and what they hope to see for the future of the field.

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In this episode of The Empowering Dietitians Podcast, host and dietitian supervisor Jess Serdikoff Romola shares some of the biggest pieces of business advice that she's rejected recently, and why she is confidently lowering her prices for the foreseeable future. She challenges popular business sound bites around money, including "Charge what you're worth," and "If they're not buying it's because they don't value it enough." Listen in for an opportunity to reflect on your own relationship with money, whether you're an entrepreneur or not, and feel more confident and aligned in your decisions moving forward.

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In this episode of The Empowering Dietitians Podcast, host and dietitian supervisor Jess Serdikoff Romola outlines the process for becoming a CEU provider for dietitians. After having gone through the process to get her course, Abundance, approved through CDR over the past year, Jess learned a lot along the way - and there's a lot she wished she had known from the start! Listen in if you're considering this either as a service or an alternative revenue stream or, if you simply want to understand the current process for what it takes to become a provider and get your continuing education credits approved.

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In this episode of The Empowering Dietitians Podcast, host and dietitian supervisor Jess Serdikoff Romola sit down with Amanda Mittman, a Registered Dietitian and Certified Intuitive Eating Counselor, specializing in eating disorders, disordered eating, and body image.  Amanda is the owner of Happy Valley Nutrition in Amherst, MA, the only weight-inclusive and fat- positive group practice of Registered Dietitians in Western Massachusetts. She is also known as the Bitchin Body Image RD and supports other dietitians in feeling more confident in their body image counseling skills - which is exactly what she chats with Jess about in this episode!

In this episode of The Empowering Dietitians Podcast, host and dietitian supervisor Jess Serdikoff Romola talks about stepping out of your comfort zone, especially when it comes to attending dietitian networking events and conferences. As an introverted RD with social anxiety herself, Jess knows first hand how uncomfortable professional social situations can be, and she's developed a lot of strategies along the way for navigating them more confidently. Listen in for her top tips on how to approach the lead up to an uncomfortable situation, navigating the situation itself, and how to decompress after an uncomfortable situation ends.

In this episode of The Empowering Dietitians Podcast, host and dietitian supervisor Jess Serdikoff Romola shares a recent experience she had where a case of writer's block erupted into an all-out emotional roller coaster of catastrophizing in her business as a dietitian supervisor. She walks listeners through what precipitated the experience, and most importantly, how she responded to it so that she could, 8 hours later, show up confidently and compassionately for a workshop she was leading that same day.

In this episode of The Empowering Dietitians Podcast, host and dietitian supervisor Jess Serdikoff Romola is talking all about ANGER in the field -- what, as a dietitian, might you feel angry about? Whether it's the lack of pay and respect, how ill-prepared you felt coming out of school, social justice issues, and everything in between - there is a lot to be angry about. Jess goes through the purpose that anger serves, as well as its limitations, to help us have a better relationship with our anger, and learn how to funnel it in a more sustainable, values-aligned way.

In this episode of The Empowering Dietitians Podcast, host and dietitian supervisor Jess Serdikoff Romola shares everything she knows about running a podcast as a dietitian. Decide if it's the right fit for you, learn what equipment you do (and don't!) need to get started, and get an inside look into her podcasting process & strategy.

Equipment & Platforms mentioned in this episode:

In this episode of The Empowering Dietitians Podcast, host and dietitian supervisor Jess Serdikoff Romola is joined by fellow dietitian, Acacia Puddester. Acacia is the creator and owner of Discovering Dietetics, a company devoted to teaching Canadian Nutrition Students how to overcome the challenges of entering this competitive profession, launch a successful career and leave their self doubt at the door. In this episode, they discuss Acacia’s experience as a nutrition student and dietetic intern, how competitiveness and perfectionism get exacerbated and perpetuated in academics, and what established, practicing dietitians can do to change the culture of the field moving forward.

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In this episode of The Empowering Dietitians Podcast, host and dietitian supervisor Jess Serdikoff Romola introduces the concept of "infradian" rhythms - that is, biological "clocks" and mechanisms that impact our mood, energy, and overall health...that extend beyond the 24 hour time frame of the circadian rhythm. Listen in to learn more about how you can lean into the ways that seasons and, for menstruating dietitians, the menstrual cycle both impact your work, your productivity, your bandwidth, and your life overall.

In this episode of The Empowering Dietitians Podcast, host and dietitian supervisor Jess Serdikoff Romola is discussing success and failure, both as concepts as well as through a concrete example of her own recent launch of ABUNDANCE. Listen in for, as always, her honest take on how she's processing her own "failed" launch, along with a fresh perspective on how we can destigmatize "failures" no matter how we experience them in our work as dietitians.

In this episode of The Empowering Dietitians Podcast, host and dietitian supervisor Jess Serdikoff Romola sits down with Hannah Saffold, an eating disorder dietitian, nutrition professor, and founder of The Nutrition Insight Project - a space for students and new clinicians to work on their own relationship with food and their bodies. In this episode, Jess and Hannah discuss the gaps in our field and current support systems for dietitians and students struggling with food and body image, and how we can start to unlearn the perfectionism and disordered habits often instilled in us through our education and the diet culture we are surrounded by.

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In this episode of The Empowering Dietitians Podcast, host and dietitian supervisor Jess Serdikoff Romola explores the concept of "abundance" - beyond a flashy feel-good hashtag and sentiment. Where does it come from, how is it manipulated by hustle culture to actually keep us stuck in the rat race, and what can we do to reclaim it in an aligned, authentic way? 

PLUS, if you're looking to explore the topics of "enough-ness" and getting out of scarcity on a deeper level, this is your last week to enroll in the upcoming Empowering Dietitians course, ABUNDANCE: a course designed for the burnt out & unhappy dietitian who is ready to say F.U. to hustle culture and reclaim their time, energy, and humanity. Check out the links below for more details :)

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In this episode of The Empowering Dietitians Podcast, host and dietitian supervisor Jess Serdikoff Romola exposes the striking similarities between diet culture and hustle culture to show how our work at dismantling diet culture is only the beginning. If you've done the work to flag the diet mentality within yourself and/or your patients, learned about the patriarchal, capitalist, and supremacist roots of diet culture, and are passionate about healing your or others' relationships with food and body...maybe it's time to start applying that same work to your ability to reject hustle culture.

PLUS, if you're looking for support in opting out of hustle culture as a dietitian, there's still time to enroll in ABUNDANCE: a course designed for the burnt out & unhappy dietitian who is ready to say F.U. to hustle culture and reclaim their time, energy, and humanity. Check out the links below for more details :)

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In this episode of The Empowering Dietitians Podcast, host and dietitian supervisor Jess Serdikoff Romola sits down to unpack the hold that money has over us as dietitians. It's certainly a hot button topic, with feeling underpaid being a top pain point for many in the field, and an economic climate that is leaving a lot of us feeling, well...scarce and uncertain. Yet despite all of that scarcity, very few dietitians hold wealth or money as a core value. So why, then, does it seem to dominate all of our decisions? And how can we learn to have a more abundant, or secure relationship with money that allows us to make decisions in alignment with our true values and priorities -- without ignoring the fact that money is a necessity in our society? Listen in to hear Jess' take.

PLUS, if you're looking to explore the topics of "enough-ness" and getting out of scarcity on a deeper level, there's still one week left to pre-enroll in the upcoming Empowering Dietitians course, ABUNDANCE: a course designed for the burnt out & unhappy dietitian who is ready to say F.U. to hustle culture and reclaim their time, energy, and humanity. Check out the links below for more details :)

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In this episode of The Empowering Dietitians Podcast, host and dietitian supervisor Jess Serdikoff Romola sits down with Stephanie Clairmont, retired registered dietitian and owner of The Leveraged Practice, to discuss the issues with the healthcare industry directly contributing to dietitian burnout, and what we can do about it. You can hear in this episode how the two of us approach the issues we see in the field differently, and how there is plenty of space for both of us to support dietitians - in fact, our field is stronger because dietitians have multiple support options! 

In this episode of The Empowering Dietitians Podcast, host and dietitian supervisor Jess Serdikoff Romola hits the record button without any script or notes to share about her recent "brush" with hustle culture -- how she found herself, despite being known amongst dietitians as the one who's "so good at opting out of hustle culture" falling back into that hustle mindset without meaning to. She goes through exactly how she responded to the situation, and emphasizes the importance of vulnerability and detaching from perfection in this work.

In this episode of The Empowering Dietitians Podcast, host and dietitian supervisor Jess Serdikoff Romola introduces season 4 of the show with a continuation from Episode 115, all about the hustle and overwhelm she got caught up in 2022. Jess catches listeners up on her process for goal setting, including revisiting her values and shifting her approach to further reject the hustle culture from the year before. Listen in to gain inspiration for yourself to shift your perspective in 2023 to embrace that anti-hustle lifestyle!

In this episode of The Empowering Dietitians Podcast, host and dietitian supervisor Jess Serdikoff Romola wraps up season 3 of the show with a reflection of the year in preparation to look ahead to set goals for 2023. Whether you call them new year's resolutions, intentions, or goals (or maybe even nothing at all because you usually don't set them!!) the very first step is often an overlooked one - and that's reflection. So while November may seem a little early to be chatting through goals, it's actually a fantastic time to take a step back and reflect on how 2022 has been for you. Listen in to hear how Jess does it (live, during the show!) and to find out what she's focusing on moving into the new year.

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In this episode of The Empowering Dietitians Podcast, host and dietitian supervisor Jess Serdikoff Romola chats through one of the things that she was definitely not taught in school: how to network, pitch, and make requests compassionately and effectively. Because this isn't something we are taught as dietitians, at least not typically in our formal undergrad or internship training, it can feel intimidating, and it can be easy to have our best intentions land...well, not as we intended...with the person we're contacting. So how do we, as dietitians, better build connections and ask for support from other professionals? And, in turn, how can we learn to receive requests from our colleagues and peers with more compassion and empathy? Listen in for Jess' thoughts!

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Jess Serdikoff Romola, dietitian supervisor and host of The Empowering Dietitians Podcast, is joined in this episode by Sara Griffin, owner and founder of the company Edge Nutrition, dedicated to supporting other dietitians looking to boost their confidence in nutrition support. Sara was previously on the show back in 2021 (see below!), and is back now to not only update us on how she has grown and evolved as a practitioner -- but also to chat through her passion for client and professional advocacy. For all of the dietitians who feel undervalued and underpaid, and are frustrated with the field -- listen in for our top tips on how to find an advocacy style that fits your unique personality and strengths!

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In this episode of The Empowering Dietitians Podcast, host and dietitian supervisor Jess Serdikoff Romola builds on the conversation from last week's episode (see below if you missed it!) by addressing how we respond to other dietitians who are practicing in a way that we disagree with. While there are many issues in our field that can spike in-fighting, arguing, and out-right bullying, none lately seem quite as divisive as the debate between weight centric (/weight-normative or "pro" weight loss) care vs. weight inclusive care -- and while Jess has discussed these issues periodically on the podcast in the past, it's time for a fully updated episode. Listen in to hear Jess' take as she refuses to accept the issue as black-or-white, and to get her takeaways on how she believes we need to move forward as a profession.

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