[00:00:00] If you're looking to grow your business as a registered dietitian, you've come to the right place. If you're not sure what to do or what steps to take next so that you can create flexibility and freedom in your life, then you're going to learn a lot from tuning into our podcast here at Dietitian Boss.
[00:00:17] I'm Libby Rothschild, the founder of Dietitian Boss, a [00:00:20] fellow registered dietitian and business owner. And in our podcast, I share some The highs and the lows. And I talk all about how to grow your business, get it started. And I interview our clients to date. We've had over 200 interviews from clients who share their journey on our podcast, dietitian boss.
[00:00:38] So you still haven't [00:00:40] started your business as a dietitian. And quite honestly, you're not even sure where to start. You might be asking yourself, am I even a social media person? If you can relate, I want you to stay tuned and watch today's video. I'm Libby Rothschild, founder of Dietitian Boss. In today's video, I want to show you how to get started in your [00:01:00] private practice so that you can achieve the flexible lifestyle that you desire, making the amount of money that you want to create.
[00:01:07] You might already know that only 8 percent of registered dietitians own a business, according to the statistics from the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. And my business is created with an intention to transform that statistic and [00:01:20] increase more private practice operators. And we can do so by spending money.
[00:01:23] Spotlighting stories of your peers who are starting and growing their business. And by following the dietitian boss method, a framework that I created that shows you step by step how to start and grow your virtual private practice so that you can achieve your dreams and make the amount of money and achieve the amount of [00:01:40] flexibility that you want on your terms, living anywhere in the world.
[00:01:43] Now, if this sounds like just what you're looking for, I want you to hit that subscribe button because I release videos every Tuesday to inspire, motivate, and educate you to get started in your dietician private practice. Now, if you're wondering, is it worth it to become a dietitian? I want to remind you and have you [00:02:00] comforted to know that it's absolutely worth it to become a dietitian.
[00:02:04] Dietitians are not just career path intended for those who want to work in nine to five clinical trajectory, despite that being the statistic where the highest amount of dietitians work. Dietitians can work in many different career paths, such as [00:02:20] corporate management, business Private practice, you can consult, you can work as a sports dietitian, you can work in media.
[00:02:27] There are so many different options, even though in school, we're often only taught about the clinical trajectory. There's a variety of different jobs in dietetics and that's what keeps this field so interesting and fun. Not only are there [00:02:40] so many different topics in the field of nutrition, but there's so many options for different types of work.
[00:02:45] And well, that keeps things really interesting. I would say the biggest disadvantage of being a dietitian, in my opinion, is the cost it takes to go to school. So many of us who, you know, don't have an opportunity to self fund schooling [00:03:00] have to take out loan to pay for school, whether it's undergrad or now the master's degree is required, and then are non paid dietetic teachers.
[00:03:08] Internship. So the cost of schooling can vary and there are studies and websites and information cited that the cost of school can be up to 80, 000. Yet we're paid and we're offered a [00:03:20] baseline salary, typically less than 60, 000 annually. So that just doesn't make sense, right? And so the average clinical dietitian, the average dietitian salary is actually around 63, 000 from the labor of Bureau and statistics, but many dietitians who are getting that first Job without any experience [00:03:40] outside of their internship are offered a much lower salary.
[00:03:43] So again, there's a really big gap between the amount of money that we're required to pay in the years of investing in education and an unpaid internship, which is basically a mini residency. C within what we're offered. If we do take that typical nine to five clinical [00:04:00] job, that's quite often underpaid and most often those jobs are offered lower at baseline with an opportunity possibly to make more.
[00:04:07] After you've completed, let's say a thousand hours and you sit in as a sort of a diabetes educator or anything that maybe management, that's gonna require that you accrue more hours and experience. And that is a very typical trajectory in the [00:04:20] field of dietetics. So dietetics is competitive and it's really hard to get placed into an internship and it's also hard to even make your grades count enough to be eligible to get placed in internship.
[00:04:33] So dietetics is not an easy track. There's a tremendous amount of schooling. And that's a big reason why I'm a fan of not putting [00:04:40] down people who don't actually become a registered dietitian, because we have to remember that it's very competitive and expensive. Expensive to finish your schooling and get matched in an internship, not to mention have the time and energy dedicated to sit in for the exam.
[00:04:54] So I'm a big fan of saying as long as somebody stays within their scope of practice, if they're a nutritionist and not yet a [00:05:00] registered dietician, there's absolutely space for all of us as long as we stay within our scope of practice. And so I'm an advocate of being able to work together with other people in like-minded professions, even nutritionists and those who aren't registered.
[00:05:12] And just keep in mind some empathy for how challenging it is. To complete the career trajectory, to be eligible, to sit in as a [00:05:20] dietitian. Now, when we're talking about scope, keep in mind that we are a regulated profession and here at dietitian boss, we have a free guide created by our team lawyer to help you understand about licensure.
[00:05:31] So make sure to grab that link that's listed below in the description box. If you want to get our free guide to help you navigate licensure laws and scope of [00:05:40] practice with regard to our very highly regulated profession. Now, I do want to say, despite the several years of education required and the expensive, you know, the cost required to be eligible to sit in as a registered dietitian, I do feel it's worth it.
[00:05:55] The career, the field is extremely rewarding. There's a ton of [00:06:00] opportunities in the field of dietetics, even though they're not so widely known. And that's a big reason why here at Dietitian Boss, we try Spotlight the unknown opportunities to inspire you to explore and navigate professions that within dietetics that you didn't even think were possible.
[00:06:14] One other disadvantage of being a dietitian is boredom. So if you are working in a clinical [00:06:20] job, then you might have. struggled with what I struggled with, and that's the boredom that you face as a clinical dietitian. Now I'm not talking about specialized positions like certified diabetes educator. I'm talking about general inpatient or even outpatient positions where the line of work is just not extremely stimulating.
[00:06:39] And for [00:06:40] me, I didn't particularly enjoy that as a clinical dietitian. So if you look at the job description, I pulled this just from a job spec on the internet, what's required of clinical dietitians is to me, not extremely rewarding or stimulated. Now, if you're really into that line of work and you think that this job description looks stimulating, perhaps that would be a [00:07:00] great route for you to investigate.
[00:07:02] And if you want to go down the clinical route, there's a. ton of resources. But if you want to go down the clinical route with the idea of starting your private practice, or you want to skip the clinical route, then I definitely stay tuned for the rest of the video. Cause I have some great tips for you.
[00:07:15] Now I will say another con of being a dietitian is there's a tremendous [00:07:20] amount of judgment, especially in a clinical position. So when you're working in clinical, oftentimes in my experience, experience, not saying this is true across the board, but in my experience, dieticians, and I've worked at about four or five different clinical inpatient outpatient types of jobs and dieticians are seen as the weight staff.
[00:07:38] We're also called the food police. [00:07:40] People don't really understand our role. And there's not, I would not say that we are respected across the board, not the same if you're working in ICU or if you're specialized, I don't think that's the case. If you're a certified diabetes educator. Or if you're in management for entry level registered dietitians in a clinical setting, we face a tremendous amount of judgment.[00:08:00]
[00:08:00] And we also are not really seen or respected as the, you know, frontline of defense. And that's how I felt as a clinical dietitian. And I was exhausted from constantly advocating for a profession that wasn't seen as important or wasn't seen as something that deserved the same amount of time and energy as me.
[00:08:16] Other topics in the healthcare space. And that was hard for me [00:08:20] because I didn't like to spend all this time and education and money invested in nutrition to then go to work and not feel like nutrition mattered. So that was really disheartening for me when I worked as a clinical dietitian. And it really, you know, took an impact on my confidence level.
[00:08:32] I would say that the biggest challenge that dietitians face when it comes to working a nine to five job. Especially in [00:08:40] clinical, because most dietitians go in that clinical route, would be low pay and low respect. So entry level jobs are underpaid, and the amount of respect, unless if you're working in a specialized position, is typically low because a lot of the other health care professionals don't typically see dietitians as being billable or the front line of defense.
[00:08:59] And this is my [00:09:00] experience, and I know some people are going to disagree, but This is how I felt working as a clinical dietitian. And I've talked to a lot of our clients and a lot of dietitians around the world. And there have been a lot of people that feel the same way. So of course we all have our unique experiences.
[00:09:13] I was very disheartened to go into several different jobs in different departments and see nutrition just time and time again, [00:09:20] being dismissed and not seen as something that was as important as other departments. Now, part of the reason that dietitians in a hospital setting might not be seen as important as other different, you know, positions in the hospital could be due to the culture, right?
[00:09:36] The culture of the hospital. Now there could be a couple of reasons as to why [00:09:40] dietitians I hypothesize are not seen as super important in a hospital setting. One of those reasons Is workplace culture. So does your workplace see nutrition or the department of nutrition as a vital component to the interdisciplinary team?
[00:09:54] Now, if they do, then you're probably going to be in a better position. And if they don't, then that's going to feel really frustrating and [00:10:00] demeaning. So that's a good question to ask yourself when looking at jobs, or even when you're in a current job to see how nutrition is treated, how the department is treated.
[00:10:08] And the second aspect I would say to look at would be the stages of change. Where the patients are currently, right? So are they in that, if you think of stages of change model and theory, are they in pre [00:10:20] contemplation or contemplation, or are they patients actually looking for action and maintenance when it comes to their nutrition goals?
[00:10:27] And if you're dealing with a population that is still in contemplation stage, and you're also working in a position where nutrition is not seen as a vital component to the interdisciplinary team, those two combined can be a recipe for you not [00:10:40] feeling. Like a valued member of the team. And that's how I felt in every single clinical position that I worked.
[00:10:45] And that inspired me to become a private practice consultant. And ultimately through multiple revenue streams, start dietitian boss, right from my clinical office. So you might be wondering like, are dietitians even happy, especially as I'm discussing this topic. Predominantly my [00:11:00] experience as an unhappy clinical dietician.
[00:11:03] And I would say the answer is very mixed. We don't have robust data on the happiness of dieticians, although we do have robust data on where dieticians work and how much they're paid. So we know for a fact that dieticians are underpaid. And only 8 percent go into business. And we know for a fact, those that go into private practice make top [00:11:20] tier salary compared to those that don't.
[00:11:22] So the highest paid dietitians are in fact in private practice and in higher level academia and education. Now at career Explorer, I have this on this chart here that you can see registered dietitians rated their career happy. 2. 9 out of 5 stars, which puts them at the bottom 26 percent of careers. Now, I want to [00:11:40] note this was only one study.
[00:11:41] And again, the data is not robust here, but it's something to consider something to talk amongst your peers and colleagues and ask yourself, what does happiness mean to you and how can you build that life? Whether it's creating a revenue stream on the side or whether it's creating a private practice full time.
[00:11:57] And if you are happy as a clinician and you found a home [00:12:00] in a clinical setting and that makes you happy, then go for it. Good for you. That wasn't my case. I was a very unhappy clinical dietitian and I felt extremely broke. I mean, I was broke and I also felt like I wasn't really being treated as a vital component to the healthcare team.
[00:12:15] So I left, right? So I turned my unhappiness into a business to help [00:12:20] dietitians find their level of happiness and flexibility and a business that they can create for themselves and become financially independent. So the last thing I want to bring up is being a dietitian hard. So I just want to remind you, we talked earlier about student loans.
[00:12:34] And for those of us that aren't self funded, education is expensive. Internships are not paid. I think there might [00:12:40] be one or two that I know of in the U S that pay you. So let's just say 98 percent or more of internships. They don't pay you, right? Unless if that's changed, but still most of them, you have to pay.
[00:12:50] So we know that it's expensive to become a dietician, but is it challenging? And I will say that being a registered dietitian is not as simple as knowing about a [00:13:00] healthy diet. Becoming a registered dietitian and understanding what nutrition means is extremely complex. It's a highly regulated profession, and most states don't do it.
[00:13:09] do require a licensed practice. So what that means is that in order to become licensed, you have to have a secondary degree. So there's a lot of work and dedication that goes into becoming a registered [00:13:20] dietitian. So there's a high barrier to enter to become a dietitian. The pay rates are extremely low as indicated by the statistics of labor and Bureau.
[00:13:27] And then once you get a job, the culture in my experience, Doesn't always prioritize dietitians as being the first line of defense. If you are not in a specialized role, like ICU certified diabetes educator, or [00:13:40] even management. Now, the hardest part that I did not talk about in today's video so much is one of the biggest challenge that our clients face is that they are required.
[00:13:49] Or told or instructed to practice or support lifestyle changes that they might not agree with. For example, if a dietitian is working in a clinic and they're required to [00:14:00] teach weight loss, but they don't align with that philosophy, perhaps they're weight neutral, body positive, and they don't want to support or talk about low calorie diets.
[00:14:07] That's a disconnect that a lot of dietitians really don't like. And that does inspire them to start their own business. So the dietitians that believe in a philosophy that isn't necessarily fostered in their current environment. They can practice that [00:14:20] on the internet and they can create a business in a stream of revenue that supports their nutrition philosophy.
[00:14:25] And that feels very aligning and rewarding and satisfying to practice the way that you believe.
[00:14:33] Looking for support to grow your dietician business or even get started. I invite you to join the library, our [00:14:40] monthly affordable membership that shows you exactly what to do every step of the way so that you can create the business of your dreams. Not sure if it's the right time. The membership gives you an option to go at your own pace.
[00:14:53] We have modules, a road map to show you exactly what to do and monthly live calls as well as new content that we release [00:15:00] every single month based on requests inside of the library. We have 4 stages of business. So, whether you come in getting started, or you want to enter the membership. And grow or scale your business.
[00:15:10] We have the appropriate resources for you and our team, including myself available to answer your questions. Head on over to dietitianboss. com and check out the library [00:15:20] today. We'd love to see you there.
