Meet Allison Koch, MS, RD, CSSD, LDN, who started her dietetic career in a more traditional role working in a hospital. Over time, she had jobs working in PR/Communications, Education, Coaching, and Sports Nutrition. She now has a private practice specializing in sports nutrition. Learn how she incorporated all of her experiences to include transferable skills which she uses in her current company. The future is wide open. - Sarah

What attracted you to the field of nutrition and dietetics?
I played field hockey in high school and really started getting into nutrition during my senior year when I became more serious about the sport and got a scholarship to play in college. I realized then that what I ate impacted how I performed on the field. At the time, I was planning to major in special education, but after spending a summer as a teaching assistant prior to college, I realized quickly that was not the right path for me. My mom encouraged me to check out nutrition, so I decided to go for it. I had no idea what a dietitian did, but after my first nutrition 101 class, I knew I was hooked.

Your Job Title?
Sports Dietitian

Company you are with now?
Private Practice/Fitness Formula Clubs (FFC)

Website:

https://runningrdn.com/

https://ffc.com/

Social Media:

- Instagram: @RunningRDN

- Facebook: RunningRDN

- Twitter: @RunningRDN

- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/allisonkochrdn/

Describe a typical (or not so typical) day-in-the-work-life for you?
Every day varies! Most mornings I wake up relatively early for some quiet time while I have breakfast. I’ll journal or reflect on my to do list for the day as well as do a couple things around the house.

Then I’ll get my work out for the day. Afterwards, I usually have a second breakfast, then get to emails and my to do list. Mornings typically consist of private practice client check-ins, writing blog posts for my website, and/or a couple newsletters that I contribute to, or working on my group program.

Around lunch time, I take our 100-lb dog, Layla, for a walk before getting ready to head to the gym. In the afternoons, I typically work at the gym where I see clients one-on-one for everything from weight loss/management to improving performance to optimizing overall health.

How did you get your current job in dietetics?
I’ve been a dietitian for 16 years – which is hard to believe! And my career has truly come full circle. When I started, I wasn’t quite sure what I wanted to do long term – but I knew I wanted to help people lead healthier, better lives.

I started my career in a more traditional way – working in a large teaching hospital in Rochester, NY, for 2 years. I also took a couple side jobs teaching cooking classes and leading a group weight loss class with the YMCA.

Eventually I decided to get a masters and went to Tufts for an MS in nutrition communications. Their program really prepared us for a more non-traditional role in dietetics, and I was fortunate enough to land a job as a retail dietitian for the supermarket Wegmans in upstate NY following graduate school.

After about a year, for personal reasons, I decided to move to the DC metro area and take a position that really changed my career trajectory for a while. I was the Director of Consumer Health & Education for the US Apple Association (like apples that you eat!) and got to do a ton of cool stuff all centered around promoting apple consumption and health benefits.

I grew a lot in that role and after a few years there – decided to try my hand at PR and marketing/communications with a couple different firms both large and small. I worked with a variety of food and beverage companies helping them with their nutrition communications campaigns, influencer programs, and health professional education programs. It was fun, exciting, and a busy time! Eventually though, I started to ask myself if what I was doing was why I got into nutrition.

I found my way into this career due to a passion for helping others. It was about this time I also found myself getting more and more into running and the running community here in Chicago.

I launched my private practice about 6 years ago and slowly started to gain more and more experience seeing clients in both small group and one-on-one settings. That’s when everything started to click and in 2019, I left my full-time position to go all in on my practice.

2020 brought some challenges, but I’m happy to say that I’m finally at a place where I feel most satisfied with my career, and I’m doing what I was meant to.

What skills were you born with and what skills have you learned along the way?
I think I was born with the natural inclination to be a planner. I loved planning get togethers as a kid and that translated well into my future career endeavors for event planning. I also think I’m very empathetic and relatable with my clients. As far as the skills that I’ve had to learn along the way – definitely to have a thicker skin and not take everything so personally as well as anything business oriented – especially finances.

What advice do you have for others wanting to be just as successful and fulfilled as you?
Don’t be afraid to change your path/direction. You are not stuck in something forever and as dietitians, there are so many opportunities now available to us. Keep searching for what feels right. Find other RDs that do what you think you might want to do. Reach out to them and see if they’d be open to mentoring you. You are unique – and so is the career path you are on. Not everyone’s path is the same. And that’s ok.

If you could be paid for your job with something other than a paycheck, what
would it be?
Race entries and travel vouchers/expenses (hotels/flights/meals)