What attracted you to the field of nutrition and dietetics? I have a passion for helping people feel good inside and out. I have taught fitness classes for years and started to realize that I spent all of my leisure time outside of work reading about food and nutrition. I am a strong believer that food is medicine and am a proponent of the “food first” approach to achieving health and mitigating disease. I also have an MBA and a prior career in Finance. I plan to utilize my strong business background and entrepreneurial spirit to build a company that helps people achieve balanced wellness through healthful eating, moving, and mindful living.

School you are studying at now: Dietetic Intern, Iowa State University Distance Dietetic Internship Program

What area of dietetics do you want to go into once you graduate? Immediately following the internship, I will spend some time in a clinical setting to gain additional experience and exposure to nutrition intervention for various disease states. I have a strong interest in diabetes and would like to then make my way into an outpatient diabetes clinic.

Describe your dream job My dream job is to have my own counseling business. In addition to counseling for general weight management, I aspire to become a Certified Diabetes Educator and specialize in diabetes. My goal would be to incorporate meditation for mindful eating into the services offered, as well as various forms of yoga to encourage movement and a deeper mind-body connection. I envision a boutique wellness center facilitating fitness and health for both body and mind.

Describe a typical (or not so typical) day-in-the-life for you? I just started my dietetic internship, so every day is jam packed! It is gratifying to apply what I learned in school to real life situations. The exposure I have gained in just a few short weeks has been incredibly valuable.

What skills were you born with and what skills have you learned along the way? I have always been a good communicator. I feel energized when engaging in dynamic inter-professional conversations, and I love working in a team to solve a problem.

I have not always been a creative decision-maker, one who naturally thinks out of the box so to speak, so I have been consciously refining my capacity to think innovatively as I advance in my professional career.

What advice do you have for others wanting to be just as successful and fulfilled as you? Given that I am a career changer, the best advice I have is to identify what your strengths are, what sets you on fire, and put your energy toward that end. I may not have figured this out as early as would have been ideal, but as they say, better late than never. With the support of my husband, family and friends, I was able to change gears and pursue what most excites me. Changing careers is no simple feat and requires patience, focus, hard work, and a lot of delayed gratification, but nothing worth it is easy. In order to stay challenged when working toward any goal in life, a good rule of thumb is to do one thing a day that scares you. The ordinary lies in your comfort zone!

If you could be paid for your job with something other than a paycheck, what would it be? happy experiences

Sarah Koszyk is founder of Family. Food. Fiesta. A family-based wellness program and blog focusing on recipes, family health tips, and videos with kids cooking in the kitchen. She is a Registered Dietitian and Nutrition Coach specializing in sports nutrition and adult and pediatric weight management. Connect with her on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, or LinkedIn.