Today we’d like to introduce you to Cassandra Olsen.
Hi Cassandra, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
Where to begin? My path to becoming a dietitian was far from traditional. After studying pre-law and realizing I am way too much of an open book to be a good lawyer, a course titled coaching for health and wellness ignited a desire to help others through wellness change. I switched majors the end of that semester and transferred schools to complete the dietitian program at Iowa State University. Despite being told that sports nutrition wasn’t a viable career path by every professor and academic advisor, I interned with the Denver Broncos after undergrad and then went on to work with various professional and collegiate teams for the first 5 years out of school. After a nearly perfect season, the entire training staff was let go from one of my professional teams showing me the hard truth of working in sports, and forced a transition in my career to the medical field of nutrition, discovering a new passion for working with medically compromised patients. I worked my way from a clinical dietitian to a clinical nutrition manager and director of nutrition in various healthcare settings. 1 year ago, I set out to start a business that would help my community preventatively rather than reactively in the hospital. Now, as the founder of NAD Nutrition, I help my patients with healthy weight loss, diabetes management, bariatric surgery, gastrointestinal disease, and cardiovascular disease. My experiences in both sports and clinical nutrition allow me to help patients with eating right, being physically active, and fostering behavior change.
Some other fun professional activities I am involved in: nutrition expert witness in medical court cases, provide continuing education credit presentations for dietitians, and assist with the development and revision of the dietitian’s national board exam.
As I look forward, my next goal is to take my life’s work in nutrition to help the world hunger issue. Americans are so fortunate to have access to clean water and food on every corner, but this is not true for much of the world. A virtual company allows me to sustain the assistance in my local community while simultaneously being able to help underprivileged communities and villages worldwide.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not, what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
My journey was anything other than smooth. Dietitians go through a rigorous internship process following completion of our degree but before being able to sit for our national board exam to earn the title of registered dietitian. The application process alone is tedious, time-consuming, and expensive with matches only occurring twice a year. Since I was heavily focused on becoming a sports Dietitian, I was devastated when I didn’t match in four different rounds of this internship process. During this time, I didn’t give up or wallow but instead obtained my master’s degree in nutrition, got credentialed as a registered dietetic technician, and worked my butt off to prove I was worthy of a spot. Once I got my spot, I completed the program in half the expected time and passed my board exam the following week.
Another challenge that I have faced but often don’t talk about is the business I started a few years after my undergrad where I learned the hard way of what it takes to be an entrepreneur. Ultimately, that business failed, and I had to move on, but I learned so much along the way, and it helped me create the successful business I have now.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next, you can tell us a bit more about your business.
The NAD in NAD Nutrition stands for not a diet. My focus with all my patients steps away from diet culture and instead focuses on the full picture of health and wellness, creating an individualized plan that can be sustained life long. My mission is to help people find the beauty in the journey, as well as learning to love their body at every point in the journey. This isn’t an uncommon approach for dietitians though. I think what sets me apart is truly my personality… I am bubbly, outgoing and wake up every day excited to cheer on my patients as they take steps toward their health goals. I think behavior change should be non-judgmental and a full wellness approach. The sessions aren’t about hearing that vegetables are important (they very much are), but let’s find ways to make you feel more confident in your skin, eating the foods that feel and taste good to you, moving your body in a healthy way, and finding time for mental health and relaxation.
I offer nutrition counseling services in one-on-one virtual sessions that set the framework for behavior change. These are great for individuals who benefit from the counseling aspect to maintain a motivation, work through emotional eating habits, or those who thrive on accountability. I am very excited to announce that I am about to launch a new series of self-paced courses that will cover a variety of topics, including weight loss, diabetes, heart health, fueling workouts/sports nutrition, and a bariatric surgery refresh. They will be available on my website in 2024 and are great for those who aren’t sure if they are ready to commit to regular nutrition counseling sessions or those who just want trustworthy information backed by science that actually works from a professional rather than the opinions from social media
Are there any important lessons you’ve learned that you can share with us?
I think the most important lesson that I’ve learned that applies to really any area of life is that no matter how much you try to plan or control an outcome, you just never know what journey or road life is going take you down. Some of my best experiences came from the rubble of heartbreaking or fear. Some of my greatest disappointments have come from times that I did everything by the book. Sometimes you just have to laugh at your mistakes and learn as you go.
Pricing:
- Most of my patients use their insurance for nutrition counseling.
- I am about to launch a new series of self-paced courses that will cover a variety of topics including weight loss, diabetes, heart health, fueling workouts/sports nutrition, and bariatric surgery refresh. They will be available on my website this fall for $99 per course: includes meal plan, shopping list, recipes, and other useful handouts.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.NADnutrition.com
- Instagram: Instagram.com/not.a.diet_nutrition/
Image Credits
Keli Nelson
