Meet Mascha Davis MPH, RDN, CEO and founder of Mini Fish and author of Eat your Vitamins. Mascha is a nationally recognized registered dietitian nutritionist, humanitarian and founder of Nomadista Nutrition, a private nutrition practice based in Los Angeles. She started as a National Media Spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.

I've been long intrigued by the brilliant brand Mascha has created as a dietitian for herself but also for our dietetic profession. She lifts the possibilities available to dietitians as nutrition experts and expert communicators.

I sat down with Mascha to learn how she does it. What skills are required for building this business? What tools she uses to be successful? How does she appear so self confident on camera and in photos?

And I haven't even told you about her new line of snack foods, Mini Fish! How does she do it? Listen here:

First, here's where you can find and connect with her:

Websites:

- Nomadista Nutrition by Mascha Davis, MPH, RDN

- MiniFish.co

Instagram: @Nomadista_Nutrition

Twitter: MaschaDavis

Facebook: nomadistanutrition

LinkedIn: maschadavis

Here's a snippet of our live conversation:

Stacey: What attracted you to the nutrition profession?

Mascha Davis: I discovered nutrition in college. I was starting to get a little interested in nutrition before college, but I really fell in love with nutritional science while doing my undergrad at UW Madison. I saw that it was a field that had so many different opportunities that I could do so many different things. At that time, I was already getting really interested in potentially doing international development work and I saw this as a path to that. I did a combined MPH Master’s in Public Health at UCLA and my internship at the VA. So, that set me up to do a lot of different things including the international work that I was really passionate about.

Stacey Dunn-Emke: Tell us more about your international aid work, how you later pivoted into private practice and started working with brands.

Mascha Davis: I spent 5 years doing international aid work in Africa, which was focused on health and nutrition; mostly on the prevention of malnutrition in children and women.

When I came back I pivoted and started my private practice and my brand. I'm still involved with some aid work organizations in Africa. That's a huge passion of mine but I'm no longer doing that full-time.

I launched Nomadista Nutrition. Initially it was mostly seeing private clients. But I really wanted to do media work. I wanted to get out into the media to share my message more widely to help more people.

So I became a National Media Spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. I'm no longer a spokesperson but it was an incredible experience which really set me up to do a lot more media work and then that led me to working with brands.

For the last 2+ years, that's become more and more of my focus. And now that's a really big part of what I do and its super fun. It's one of my favorite things. I really, really love it. It's amazing.

It's amazing to see how the back-end of that works. And if my work is with an early-stage company, I'll occasionally be able to help guide their messaging and the formulation of their new products.

Stacey Dunn-Emke: I am struck by your level of confidence in your delivery and your speaking quality when talking about brands. Tell us what goes through your mind when you are about to go on television or Instagram Live to have that level of confidence? What's happening on the back end of your thoughts?

Mascha Davis: I'm not always super confident but I try to project a lot of confidence. I'm actually quite terrified of public speaking. It's something that I've really had to overcome and really push myself to sort of face that fear and take it head-on and figure out how to do it.

Public speaking is something that I really want to do and yet it's something that I'm still scared of and I still struggle with. It has gotten easier, for sure. The more that I've done it the easier it has become. But there are a few really specific conscious things that I've done that have helped me tremendously...

Stacey Dunn-Emke: Can you share what you've done to boost your public speaking confidence?!

Mascha Davis: Yes!

1. Getting media training with the Academy. Media training was a part of the spokesperson program with the Academy. That's where it started but I've since left the program.
2. Getting media training with a coach. I've continued to get media training on my own. I have a media coach. Sometimes if I'm doing a live interview or a live news story, I will do a session with my coach before hand to practice. We'll go through the talking points and that's been incredibly helpful.
3. Practice. Yes, I'm terrified but I'm going to figure this out and practice and do it anyway. So, I think it's a very conscious decision you have to make.
4. Put yourself out there. Just really trying to put yourself out there and do it even if it's super scary.

Stacey Dunn-Emke: I love that. That's super great advice. It applies to anything really, whether you are job interviewing or doing a media event. It's the idea that, yes, I'm anxious and I'm nervous, but this is what I want to do. This is how I want to get ahead and I'm just going to make this happen, move forward, get help, and practice.

Mascha Davis: Once you start getting those few wins, where it goes well, it just gives you that much more confidence.

Stacey Dunn-Emke: What advice would you give a new or even a seasoned dietician who wants to get into the brand spokesperson market? Either working with brands or becoming a spokesperson or just becoming more savvy. Anything you would recommend that they do?

Mascha Davis: Yes. Numerous things!

1. Create your own brand. The first is to establish their own brand and their social media presence so that they can figure out what is their message and how do they want to present it?
2. Create your own audience. With social media now, you can create and grow your own audience. You don't even have to go out and get different media placements. You can create that for yourself.
3. Find mentors. The other thing is to find mentors or someone who has that experience who can guide you to join some sort of mastermind. Get help. Get training. Don't be afraid to seek that out and ask for it.

Stacey Dunn-Emke: I've noticed that some dietitians have some unique skills. Whether they're good public speakers, or they're super compassionate, or they really good at cooking and recipe development. What skill would you say you have that's made you super successful?

Mascha Davis: I think I have numerous skills. I have this really strong intention to make an impact and really help people.

My moto is, "Make a lot of money. Help a lot of people".

I was very frustrated early on in my career by the lack of recognition that dietitians have, just in general, and the fact that we're just generally very underpaid.

I've been on a mission to change that. To break some of those ceilings that I really feel are prevalent in our profession.

I have that desire to do something big; to make an impact and help other people. That's what motivated me to start my practice. And now to be launching Mini Fish, which is this new food company that I've been working on for 3 years.

I have that genuine desire to help. And I have the ability to come up with original ideas.

Stacey Dunn-Emke: Speaking of original ideas, tell us about Mini Fish!

Mascha Davis: I saw that there was this really big gap in the marketplace for a shelf-stable, sustainable, premium, delicious seafood snack. There's almost nothing like that. Something that is modern and sexy and that tastes and looks amazing, Mini Fish. Coming up with original ideas is a skill or talent that I have.

Stacey Dunn-Emke: And, then you also have a book, Eat Your Vitamins.

Mascha Davis: My book, Eat Your Vitamins, came out earlier this year with Simon & Schuster. It was this awesome opportunity and I'm really excited about it. It's been doing great. It's gotten great reviews. That was one of those things that was on the bucket list.

Stacey Dunn-Emke: I really love all the words you have for us and the work that you've done to elevate our profession. I think that it's really important to have dietitians like you showing us all the new opportunities out there; with skill sets that people might already organically have, or can develop. Skills to increase their potential and earn what you are worth. Like you said, to help more people and make more money. It doesn't have to be a selfless effort to be a dietitian.

Optimize your value by doing good work is a great message that you have for a lot of dietitians, both new dietitians and seasoned dietitians.

Thank you, Mascha! I'm off to pre-order some Mini Fish!

Stacey Dunn-Emke, MS, RDN, is the Founder and Owner of NutritionJobs and ExerciseJobs. She specializes in dietetic career development, resume building, LinkedIn, and job seeking success via traditional and unique platforms for nutrition and dietetic professionals. Stacey has previously worked in various settings around the Bay Area as a Dietitian, Clinical Nutrition Manager, and Research Dietitian with Dr. Dean Ornish. She has been invited to speak at Harvard Medical School, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and MD Anderson Cancer Center, and has appeared on the Oprah Winfrey Show and MSNBC TV. She was awarded Outstanding Dietitian by the Bay Area Dietetic Association, Outstanding Dietitian of the Year by ARAMARK, Healthcare Support Services, and Recognized Young Dietitian of the Year by the California Dietetic Association. Stacey lives in San Francisco with her family.