It’s a question I have asked myself frequently over the last several years. I closed my nutrition private practice and consulting business due to a series of family and personal health events, and I lost my professional identity.
In my prior career as a consulting and private practice dietitian for more than 25 years, I must admit I was quite accomplished. My hard work ethic and high expectations of myself paid off, and I was able to become active at the national level amongst my peers. People knew me.
Now, switching to a brand-new industry and writing content for my website, Stephanie, my web designer, asked “Who are you?”. I had to stop and consider how to verbalize my experience and accomplishments. A lot of it is not relevant enough to my new chosen career as a cannabis consultant. Sure, I have co-authored two books and have tons of writing experience, but they are all related to food and nutrition. The awards I have received over the years are also related to my role as a Registered Dietitian/Nutritionist, so they are buried in my full bio.
Enough tooting my own horn, though.
Switching from the nutrition business to the cannabis industry, I see a lot of parallels between the two. When I first started my nutrition private practice, doctors admittedly knew little about nutrition and were happy to send their patients to me as a part of the treatment plan. Today, many physicians I speak with admit they don’t know enough about cannabis and they want to be able to send their patients to a qualified professional. Other parallels between my nutrition consulting business and cannabis consulting include counseling patients to help them feel well, working as a part of a multidisciplinary team, and using my health communications background to provide science-based information and education. My plan is to draw upon my experience, skills and professional ethics from my nutrition consulting practice and apply them to my new career as a cannabis consultant. That’s Who I Am.
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