My Story
Clothes, sweets and sports – a few things I’ve loved since childhood that also got me to where I am today.
Clothes: I basically applied to business school so I could one day own my own fashion line. But during my first year of college, I was forced to take a gym class: Nutrition and Free Weights Training. This class changed everything. Simultaneously, I was on Crew watching many of my friends mentally and physically struggle with trying to ‘make weight’ just to row down a river, and it made me really, really sad. How could I help them see what eating healthy really meant? Couldn’t they feel that they needed better nutrition to be stronger and more competitive? Disappointedly, my gym teacher told me Emory only had graduate nutrition degrees. I explored my curiosity by experimenting with recipes, reading about food and nutrition, and looking into culinary schools. Let’s just say my father put a stop to that idea until after I graduated.
Sweets: After college, I moved down to Florida, applying to restaurant jobs to get my foot in the door and see what it was really all about. An anonymous job post changed my life forever. I was hired as a reservationist to help open Daniel Boulud’s Café Boulud Palm Beach, but actually spent more time chilling in the kitchen befriending the renowned Pastry Chef Rémy Fünfrock. When Rémy refused to write me a recommendation for culinary school, we came to an agreement that I would learn to make pastries the ‘old school’ way: apprenticing on my days off. Dream. Come. True. Trained by a famous French pastry chef and then being offered a full time job by him too! We still keep in touch, and I still crave his silky ice creams and decadent opera cake – nobody does it better than Rémy! Unfortunately, a gajillion hurricanes hit my town, and I needed to find safer grounds. So naturally I chose San Francisco where earthquakes weren't happening as frequently as those massive storms. ;)
Sports: After pastry cooking in San Francisco, I moved on to New York to experience even more restaurants, but started moving up in administration and sadly, further away from food. When this reality struck, I spent more and more time at the gym channeling my frustrations with getting separated from my passion. Then with some research, I discovered the New York University Clinical Nutrition and Dietetics program and something just clicked. It felt like I had stumbled upon the career that encompassed all my interests. I parted ways with the restaurant industry, took a job at my gym as a personal trainer and started the graduate program.
The more classes I took, the more I fell in love with nutrition and dietetics and couldn't wait to complete my dietetic internship and start practicing. So here I am, a couple of degrees later, working with clients to help them achieve their health and wellness goals.
It may seem odd that I went from making buttery sugar packed desserts for a living to working as a dietitian. But I've been part of both worlds and seen both extremes. My goal is to combine the two worlds to let people realize it's not all or nothing, but rather finding a balance and meeting somewhere in the middle to create nutritious and delicious sweet treats.
And that's what this blog is about.
Clothes: I basically applied to business school so I could one day own my own fashion line. But during my first year of college, I was forced to take a gym class: Nutrition and Free Weights Training. This class changed everything. Simultaneously, I was on Crew watching many of my friends mentally and physically struggle with trying to ‘make weight’ just to row down a river, and it made me really, really sad. How could I help them see what eating healthy really meant? Couldn’t they feel that they needed better nutrition to be stronger and more competitive? Disappointedly, my gym teacher told me Emory only had graduate nutrition degrees. I explored my curiosity by experimenting with recipes, reading about food and nutrition, and looking into culinary schools. Let’s just say my father put a stop to that idea until after I graduated.
Sweets: After college, I moved down to Florida, applying to restaurant jobs to get my foot in the door and see what it was really all about. An anonymous job post changed my life forever. I was hired as a reservationist to help open Daniel Boulud’s Café Boulud Palm Beach, but actually spent more time chilling in the kitchen befriending the renowned Pastry Chef Rémy Fünfrock. When Rémy refused to write me a recommendation for culinary school, we came to an agreement that I would learn to make pastries the ‘old school’ way: apprenticing on my days off. Dream. Come. True. Trained by a famous French pastry chef and then being offered a full time job by him too! We still keep in touch, and I still crave his silky ice creams and decadent opera cake – nobody does it better than Rémy! Unfortunately, a gajillion hurricanes hit my town, and I needed to find safer grounds. So naturally I chose San Francisco where earthquakes weren't happening as frequently as those massive storms. ;)
Sports: After pastry cooking in San Francisco, I moved on to New York to experience even more restaurants, but started moving up in administration and sadly, further away from food. When this reality struck, I spent more and more time at the gym channeling my frustrations with getting separated from my passion. Then with some research, I discovered the New York University Clinical Nutrition and Dietetics program and something just clicked. It felt like I had stumbled upon the career that encompassed all my interests. I parted ways with the restaurant industry, took a job at my gym as a personal trainer and started the graduate program.
The more classes I took, the more I fell in love with nutrition and dietetics and couldn't wait to complete my dietetic internship and start practicing. So here I am, a couple of degrees later, working with clients to help them achieve their health and wellness goals.
It may seem odd that I went from making buttery sugar packed desserts for a living to working as a dietitian. But I've been part of both worlds and seen both extremes. My goal is to combine the two worlds to let people realize it's not all or nothing, but rather finding a balance and meeting somewhere in the middle to create nutritious and delicious sweet treats.
And that's what this blog is about.