I originally met Chrissy Carroll, MPH, RD, USAT Level I Triathlon Coach, through social media and was able to meet her in real life at a sponsored event. You can find her developing incredible recipes, taking stunning photos, and making super cool videos. She’s truly learned how to master the media, optimize her SEO, and make a full-time living through consulting and media work. Her journey has been a hustle and she shares her career path with us. Read on to learn more. - Sarah

What attracted you to the field of nutrition and dietetics?
I decided to pursue nutrition for the same reason I think many dietetics students do – personal interest or experience with the topic. Towards the end of high school, I set some goals work out regularly and eat more nutritious meals, and saw the massive improvements it made in my health and how I felt. It prompted me to want to look into the nutrition and fitness world as a career. I completed my undergraduate degree back in 2007 and haven’t looked back!

Your Job Title?
Blogger Extraordinaire (self-imposed title 😉 )

Website:
I have a few! My main site is snackinginsneakers.com, which focuses on food and fitness for active women (especially runners and triathletes).

I have a few secondary sites too, like dairyfreeforbaby.com (about dairy free recipes and info for food allergy families),

buildawellnessblog.com (about blogging and social media for wellness entrepreneurs),

And I even have a new site called yourdogeats.com (where I work in conjunction with a vet to share info about which human foods dogs can/can’t eat).

Social Media:
- Instagram: @Chrissytherd

- TikTok: @Chrissytherd

Describe a typical (or not so typical) day-in-the-work-life for you?
As a full-time blogger, it varies a lot depending on what partnerships or projects I might be working on. Generally, I try to batch my work – so one day might be cooking and photographing four recipes, and the next day might be writing all the blog text that goes along with each of those. There’s usually one day a week that’s spent getting caught up on business tasks like email, bookkeeping, pitching brands, reviewing contracts, doing keyword research for SEO, and other tasks along those lines. And then another day of the week, I might be working on sponsored content, like writing a sponsored blog post on behalf of a brand or creating a sponsored TikTok video. During non-pandemic times, I might have a speaking engagement or influencer event to go to a few times a month as well.

How did you get your current job in dietetics?
I started my career in community nutrition, teaching classes through an Extension partnership in Boston Public Schools. While I loved that job, after a while I felt like I wanted more of a challenge. I was on the fence about starting my own business; hemming and hawing about whether I was really ready….and then my entire apartment building burned down in a massive fire.

There’s something about a life-changing event like that which puts things in perspective – life is short, and we should be chasing our goals. I started my business quickly afterwards, initially putting pieces into place while I was working full time, then dropping to half time at work, then eventually phasing into full-time entrepreneurship.

What skills were you born with and what skills have you learned along the way?
I was definitely born with innate skills for planning and math, which have proved helpful as far as business when it comes to mapping out projects and staying financially on track. Marketing, SEO, and social media were all skills I knew nothing about when I started my business. I assumed I’d just post a website and people would flock to it (for those of you unfamiliar with blogging – that is most definitely not how it works, haha)! I’ve learned so much about how to actually drive traffic to my blogs in the last ten years.

What advice do you have for others wanting to be just as successful and fulfilled as you? Embrace the journey, and don’t give up too quickly. I see a lot of people start nutrition blogs and then give up six to twelve months down the road, simply because the process to grow traffic and monetize the site is slower than anticipated. The difference between successful nutrition bloggers and unsuccessful ones are simply that the successful ones keep working at it until it succeeds.

I always tell people – if you do anything for 5 years, you’re bound to figure out a way to make it work. Granted, there are ways to propel that success a bit quicker (learning best practices early, taking advantage of the many free resources available, working with mentors, joining mastermind groups, hiring a coach, etc) – but there’s a lot to be said for simply not quitting too soon.

If you could be paid for your job with something other than a paycheck, what
would it be?
Unlimited supplies of fancy cheese, rich dark chocolate, and potatoes. My three favorite foods, haha.