Today we’d like to introduce you to Jennifer Seay
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
Yes of course – today I work in private practice where I provide evidence-based diet and nutrition counseling to individuals. I really love it – it’s the connection piece for me – I strive to be someone my clients find support, comfort, and motivation through and look forward to seeing.
From a young age and due the premature loss of two family members to cardiac events, I recognized the link between diet patterns, health, and longevity. What we eat daily has a big impact on both how we feel as well as what’s going on beneath the surface we may not feel or recognize. In college I was exploring multiple career paths until I heard about what Registered Dietitians (RDs) do and that day I knew exactly what career I wanted to pursue: a career helping people make diet changes to feel better, do better, and live both more purposefully and longer.
Along the way in my career I have worked in 3 different hospitals, including Mount Sinai in New York and in the Piedmont system here in Atlanta. The hospital, of course, is a place for damage control. We’re helping people get through big struggles and short-term issues, generally speaking, and our main goal is not to address one’s overall wellness. Working in that environment shed light on what people are missing out on in our healthcare system – proactive, instead of reactive, preventive oriented care. I was supposed to spend 15 minutes tops with my patients in that setting but often my conversations with patients lasted much longer due to their curiosity and motivation to change their diet after the “wake up call” they were facing. After working in hospitals a number of years I knew I would be more effective talking with people outside the hospital, in a setting where we could take our time to discuss issues worth taking time to discuss – so I started my nutrition counseling practice in 2015.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
I would say the biggest struggles have been addressing gaps in my training – namely learning how to run a business (I didn’t take any classes on this while getting my degree in nutrition!) and really learning what motivates and inspires patients to make changes they know deep down, or not so deep down, would do them some good. I have really drilled down on training in these areas, as well as continuing my training and education in the science of nutrition over these last 10 years and it has been really challenging but also really rewarding!
I also closed my practice entirely due to some health concerns with a family member in 2019 – that was a hard choice and even though it was the right one for my family at the time it still stung to walk away from all my hard work. Then the pandemic hit and I suddenly had 2 kids under 5 who needed to learn at home. Despite the many daily challenges, and against all odds, we had fun! We learned about a concept called “unschooling” which is basically when you follow your kids interests and incorporate math and reading, and decided to follow that path. We spent a lot of time outside, read aloud, played games for hours and it turned out to be a real bonding moment for me and my daughters. I got back to work in 2023 and have been building back up to running a full-time practice again. I treasured that time with my kids and I’m also happy and extremely grateful to be back in a career I find truly rewarding!
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
I consider myself a “primary care” type dietitian – I see clients for a variety of nutrition related concerns. A lot of my clients are seeking help in the areas of:
· Digestive health – i.e. Crohn’s, colitis, IBS
· Heart health – high cholesterol, high blood pressure
· Sports nutrition – maximizing sports performance
· Navigating changes in metabolism or unintentional weight gain/loss
· Women’s health
· Family wellness (i.e. families wanting to improve the overall health of their meals together or navigating tough child feeding difficulties)
Another random thing I get a lot of in May and the summer months that I love is parents wanting their college bound teens to get some support around feeding themselves a well-rounded diet when they’re going off on their own for the first time. I hadn’t expected that but I love doing “nutrition 101” type sessions with people!
While I do some speaking in the community, I mostly provide one on one nutrition counseling. That’s what I feel most passionately about because I value that connection piece. It can be extremely helpful for people to get individualized diet advice, particularly since we all have different cultural backgrounds, dietary preferences, medical needs and not to mention health and wellness related goals and priorities. These days there’s so much noise around what we “should” do – and that can cause people to get overwhelmed and shut down, which of course isn’t a helpful or productive place to be in. When I find people in this state I find it pretty easy to connect, focus, and have them leave with concrete things they can do to eat healthier, feel better, and drop the rest of the noise.
I like to think I’m known for truly caring about my clients and making things feel more simple or even fun! And I do get that as feedback from my clients.
Before we go, is there anything else you can share with us?
Yes. Love yourself enough to be good to yourself. Doing the thing that feels harder in the moment you know is good for you, and making those things habit is worth the effort. You can’t do it all, but you likely intuitively know what few habits benefit you the most. This will be a struggle at times, and if you fail don’t judge yourself, reset, and do that thing that honors your body the next time. And for those times you don’t instinctively know what to do – don’t be afraid to reach out and seek help or guidance. I can’t think of once I felt “stuck” in my life and regretted reaching out to a therapist or business coach or medical professional.
I’m so grateful to get to do what I do, I always remember that and work hard to serve those that have put their trust in me. Thank you so much to VoyageATL for your interest in reaching out to me, and thanks so much to the readers for reading!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://outsideinnutrition.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/outsideinnutrition/
Image Credits
Monica Conlin
