Dietetic Career Spotlight: Jill Jayne, MS, RD – The Rockstar Nutritionist
By SARAH KOSZYK, MA RD on NOVEMBER 30, 2011
Jill Jayne, MS, RD, is the country’s Rockstar Nutritionist. Read on to find out how she combined her love of music with her love of teaching nutrition.
NutritionJobs: What attracted you to the field of nutrition and dietetics?
Jill Jayne: I’ve combined my experience as a musician with my nutrition credentials to make healthy rock. I believe in the power of media to engage, educate, and entertain.
What is your Job Title?
President & Creative Director
Company you are with now?
Note to Health, LLC
My Mantra:
Nutrition Education through Entertainment
Primary Buyer:
Schools, Health Departments, Cities, Music Catalogs, TV networks, Food Companies
Primary Consumer:
Kids age 3-18
Services and Goods:
original music, live performances, tools for educators, media spokesperson work, television pilots all related to nutrition
Overall Responsibilities:
-manage overall strategy of company productions
-serve as the face of the company productions, speaking and performing around the country
-ignite social change and brand recognition through media placements
-synthesize nutrition information into kid-appropriate entertainment
-manage client relationships
My Typical Day in the Office:
Wake up around 8 AM, eat breakfast while humming the melody of whatever song I invented in the wee hours of last night, strategize my to do list based on what I was able to accomplish yesterday, feed the office cat and open the mail, email, take calls and meetings, and work on small projects until about noon, break for lunch, work on a major creative project with my team (developing a script, strategizing a PR campaign, setting up all the logistics of the recording schedule) until about 6, spend about an hour going over my to do list for any loose ends and clean up my desk from explosions of the day, hit the gym, cook dinner, work on music (work related or other!) until The Daily Show comes on.
My Typical Day on the Road:
Wake up at some unreasonably early hour, wrangle in a suitable breakfast with contributions from the hotel’s offerings and my stash in the van, load my suitcase into the tour van, navigate to the performance location, unload the sound system and set, rock the faces off of kids or health professionals, piece together an edible lunch with contributions from school lunch and the teacher’s lounge, load and unload equipment, rock more faces off, head to the next hotel, return email and check in with project progress with office-based team members, search for dinner that is acceptable to a dietitian, work on music or creative projects until The Daily show comes on.
How did you get your current job in dietetics?
BS Nutritional Sciences, Theater Minor, Honors in Journalism, Penn State University
RD/MS Nutrition Education, Teachers College Columbia University
1 year as a New York City Public School Teacher
5 years fronting and writing for rock band Sunset West
2 years as writer/producer/host of What’s in the News on PBS
1 year as DJ at Radio Disney New York AM 1560
1 off-Broadway musical
What skills were you born with and what skills have you learned along the way?
I’m from a very creative family that always let me think of many answers, not the one right answer. I also come from a family business and learned the inside scoop on what the demands are. I’ve had to learn how to manage money for when we are in high season and low season to plan for new projects.
Do you have a website you would like to promote?
www.jumpwithjill.com
What advice do you have for others wanting to be just as successful and fulfilled as you?
You must love children, revel in the spotlight, feed on energy, believe that change is possible, make work your play, have no fear, follow your compass, accept criticism, be nice, be willing to do whatever it takes.
If you could be paid for your job with something other than a paycheck, what would it be?
Food.
