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Natalie - Dietitian
36 Plays1 month ago
What we eat and how we should eat has become WAY more complicated than it needs to be. Being a dietitian is a pathway to help people learn how to eat to achieve their goals, wether thats sports performance, weight loss, general health, food allergies or medical conditions, etc. Natalie has had a successful career learning how to adapt nutrition to do just that and more. After a successful stint at one of the nations best Childrens hospitals, she also provided nutrition guidance to some of the nations top professional sports teams. Now she has taken her experience and knowledge to Missouri State University to help others in their athletic and career goals. If you think that the field of nutrition may be the career for you, this episode will provide an outstanding snapshot into what it takes to become successful.
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Transcript
00:00:01
The Jobs Podcast
Hey folks, you're listening to the jobs podcast. I'm your host, Tim Hendricks. Your time is valuable. I'm not going to waste it. So let's get right to the interview. Today we have Natalie Allen with us. She is a dietitian and all things nutrition. She's an expert on all that kind of stuff.
00:00:16
The Jobs Podcast
And she works for Missouri State University. So we're going to dive into her career and all the different rabbit holes that it presents. So Natalie, welcome to the show today.
00:00:26
Natalie Allen
Thanks for having me.
00:00:28
The Jobs Podcast
So let's start off like we always do. Give us a little bit of a history about Natalie, where you were born and your kind of early influences, and we'll just go from there.
00:00:37
Natalie Allen
Great. I was born here in Springfield, Missouri, so um have lived here lived here most of my life. I did live in St. Louis for ah some time when I did what's called a dietetic internship, which you have to do to become a registered dietitian.
00:00:51
Natalie Allen
I did that in St.
00:00:51
The Jobs Podcast
Hmm.
00:00:52
Natalie Allen
Louis. um at Wash U School of Medicine. And so i got my graduate degree while I was in St. Louis. And then we my i met my husband at Missouri State University where I did my undergrad and he yeah he was my organic chemistry lab partner.
00:01:09
Natalie Allen
So I always tell my students, you never know what class could change your life.
00:01:10
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah.
00:01:13
The Jobs Podcast
yeah
00:01:14
Natalie Allen
And then we um had kids, and we decided to move back to Springfield to live closer to our families. So I've been in Missouri, and it's great. I love it, and I love working for the university.
00:01:26
The Jobs Podcast
Good. So let's let's look back to when were your early influences where you thought this career might be for me, or was it a happy accident where you took a class that just kind of launched your interest and therefore a career?
00:01:42
The Jobs Podcast
Walk me through how it it all kind of played out.
00:01:45
Natalie Allen
Sure. It was kind of organic luck type thing. Bad luck that turned into good luck, I guess you would say. So my dad was a basketball coach.
00:01:51
The Jobs Podcast
Okay. Okay.
00:01:55
Natalie Allen
And so we grew up around sports. I did a lot of sports and um it was just part of my life to be an athlete. And he um helped really instill being an active. He was a health teacher.
00:02:09
Natalie Allen
And so he also promoted that in our home. And when I but went to school in high school, I got a stress fracture in my foot, which is something you get from overtraining or maybe not great nutrition, or it can be biomechanics. There's lots of reasons you get them.
00:02:26
The Jobs Podcast
Mm-hmm.
00:02:26
Natalie Allen
And at that time, I met with a dietitian to work on my diet to help me in my sports nutrition. And I guess you'd say the rest is history. So I decided I wanted to work in health care, but I wanted a job that was a little bit more prevention focused and flexible because I knew that um while I wanted to help patients and be with people,
00:02:49
Natalie Allen
I also probably wanted to have a good balance between my family and my marriage and my job. And dietetics helped me to be able to do that.
00:02:59
The Jobs Podcast
So what were the first steps that you took when you've decided that this is what I want to do? what What steps did you take to progress forward in that career?
00:03:09
Natalie Allen
So he met I met it with a couple people who were dietitians, and they gave me the lowdown on the career. And I think what really struck me when I was deciding to go into dietetics is it's a career with a lot of variety.
00:03:23
Natalie Allen
So what I tell my students is we can work with babies, which I've done in an a NICU setting, or you can work with the elderly. Right? Right. You can work with well people um like in the community, a community garden focused, an education focus, or you can work with people in a hospital and trying to help them feel better and use nutrition to heal.
00:03:42
The Jobs Podcast
you
00:03:45
Natalie Allen
You can also work um like I do with sports teams or you could do education. um I've done a lot of media for dietetics and a lot of um public education, trying to get the word out there about myths and nutrition and what's fact versus fiction.
00:04:01
Natalie Allen
So i that was what was most appealing to me in dietetics. And so I met with different people when I was trying to decide my career path. And it really drove home the point that if you ah want to do something different in dietetics, you don't have to go back to school.
00:04:18
Natalie Allen
There's a lot of jobs in different realms that all sounded really appealing to me.
00:04:24
The Jobs Podcast
That's one thing I think when folks are looking at a career that they want to know, is this a one trick pony as far as I'm a dietitian and I only do this or, but what you just described, there are endless possibilities as far as specialization goes.
00:04:38
The Jobs Podcast
You can just take off with athletes or with the elderly and those are going to be two different, two different lanes.
00:04:44
Natalie Allen
Yes, correct. 100% best thing about the career is the variety. And um you can also really forge your own way. Food connects all of us. It's one of the things, one of the only things really that, I mean, you make a decision about food 10 times a day, and so do I. And so we're we're looking at food really is impactful.
00:05:08
Natalie Allen
and um everybody eats. So I like to say everybody eats, so everybody needs a dietitian. And I think that um helps my students when they want to think about different career paths or helping different populations.
00:05:23
Natalie Allen
Some of them think about lactation, being a lactation specialist in breastfeeding. Other ones go into public policy on nutrition. um I have some that focus more on cultural um competence and things related to that.
00:05:38
Natalie Allen
Some of them really want to look at food insecurity. others Others want to work with a professional football team. And all of those things you do with one degree and being an RDN, which is a registered dietitian nutritionist.
00:05:51
The Jobs Podcast
The classes that you will typically start off taking, um are there any in high school that you can take? beside I mean, I think they require basic health courses, but are there any classes you can take in high school and then to parlay into college besides your general classes? What do you want to focus on if this is something of interest to you?
00:06:13
Natalie Allen
Sure. Great question. And it does dietetics does have a very heavy science base.
00:06:19
The Jobs Podcast
Okay.
00:06:19
Natalie Allen
So um in high school, I would recommend taking a dual credit chemistry class. um maybe dual credit biology class. You also, as a dietitian, have to be a great communicator because you're communicating the nutrition plan to other people or you're communicating appropriate nutrition education to the public. And so,
00:06:43
Natalie Allen
um A speech class, being a good public speaker, ah technical writing, so you can write and do um good, share appropriate information that way.
00:06:44
The Jobs Podcast
Thank you.
00:06:53
Natalie Allen
Those would all be good foundational classes. I also have a lot of students who transfer in maybe a statistics class, um so you can understand research and evidence-based practice better.
00:07:04
Natalie Allen
So those are are some good ideas. Once you get into college, um it is very similar to any healthcare track in that You're going to be taking classes like anatomy, physiology, organic chemistry.
00:07:15
The Jobs Podcast
Ah.
00:07:18
Natalie Allen
There's a genetics component, metabolism. So there is a science base, no doubt. And then, of course, there's lots of different nutrition classes.
00:07:28
The Jobs Podcast
I want to go down a bit of a rabbit hole and i don't want to put you on the spot. ah But when you look at the subject of diet, if you go to YouTube and type in diet, you are overwhelmed with low carb, high fat, fasting, vegan, carnivore.
00:07:48
The Jobs Podcast
it's It's sometimes kind of It's laughable, but in 2025, there's still so much confusion about what we should eat to be healthy.
00:07:58
The Jobs Podcast
And then you'll say, well, the Europeans eat carbs and they're thin. And in America, we have a weight problem. And so we, you know, we say to avoid carbs or some carbs and then athletes need carbs.
00:08:10
The Jobs Podcast
It's, it's kind of exhausting. you You can suffer from paralysis by analysis as far as what do I eat to be healthy? is there Are there any foundational, I guess, tenants that you use to move forward where it's like, look, I don't care what you're doing.
00:08:26
The Jobs Podcast
These are the things that I would recommend everybody do.
00:08:31
Natalie Allen
Yes, 100%. There are things we know that are proven that you should do. So I completely agree with you. There's a lot of confusion. And when you look online, my advice to people is look at who is making the video or sharing the information.
00:08:48
Natalie Allen
Is it somebody like a registered dietitian, ah somebody in the healthcare, like a physician? ah That Those people are going to have the background and the knowledge to share evidence-based practice.
00:09:01
The Jobs Podcast
Right.
00:09:01
Natalie Allen
It's really easy for us sometimes to um get hop on a trend or a bandwagon in nutrition that isn't backed by science. And What I have seen in my practice is then it's just making it really complicated and hard to eat and food should not be that complicated.
00:09:18
The Jobs Podcast
right
00:09:19
Natalie Allen
So I don't, it shouldn't be taking up a ton of time or money or brain space. And so if we can go back to kind of your three, foundations of good nutrition. It's variety.
00:09:32
Natalie Allen
Are you eating a variety of foods? um Are you following a moderation of things that maybe we don't need a ton of? So the 80-20 rule, right? 80% of the time, eat healthy things.
00:09:44
Natalie Allen
20% of the time, you know, have a treat if you'd like.
00:09:47
The Jobs Podcast
Sure. Oh, yeah.
00:09:47
Natalie Allen
And then balance. Are you balancing what you're eating with activity and exercise? So you bring up a great point with with the European population and um a sts our son studied abroad in Spain. And so we went to visit him and you notice certainly um differences in their food, but also probably one of the biggest differences is that their cities are set up to walk everywhere.
00:10:13
The Jobs Podcast
oh yeah
00:10:13
Natalie Allen
And so they're just naturally burning more calories that way. um Their portion sizes are also smaller ah and there's there's a variety of different things. they don't but But because they walk, a lot of people there get food and groceries to make for dinner that night.
00:10:31
The Jobs Podcast
Sure.
00:10:31
Natalie Allen
And so then they have to go to the grocery store then again the next night because they're walking. You don't want to carry, you know, 20 bags of groceries.
00:10:38
The Jobs Podcast
sure
00:10:38
Natalie Allen
And so ah they tend to eat more fresh things also because of that reason. But for my for my clients, I always go back to variety, balance, moderation.
00:10:51
Natalie Allen
And in doing things that work for you, but certainly eliminating entire food groups, there are There are definitely things you need to pause if that's your choice you're making.
00:11:04
Natalie Allen
And there are times we need to. Food allergies, you have an illness, something like that.
00:11:07
The Jobs Podcast
Sure. Mm-hmm.
00:11:08
Natalie Allen
but But generally, when you cut out a whole food group, then you're going to have to think, how am I going to get the nutrients that are typically in that food group? So for example, you're going to cut out meat. You want to become vegetarian or vegan.
00:11:23
Natalie Allen
Okay, no problem. But then we need to look at, how are you going to get protein and zinc? and iron, right? How are you going to get some of those nutrients that are more prevalent in meat? It's not impossible by any means.
00:11:37
The Jobs Podcast
Thank you.
00:11:37
Natalie Allen
You can do that eating vegetarian protein sources, but then you need to ask yourself, do I like tofu and edamame and lentils and beans? Am I willing to eat those things?
00:11:49
Natalie Allen
And do I know how to cook them, right? And is is my family willing to help me on that journey? And do they want to eat those things? So I think when we look at ah dieting, I always tell people, try to let's be realistic, right? And let's think about things that you love and that you don't ever want to give up, whether for some people that's chocolate, other people that's potato chips.
00:12:15
Natalie Allen
So I'm like, it's okay. We can figure out how you can have some of those even a little bit every day. Right. So um we're not then feeling unsatisfied and wanting to just eat a whole bunch of chocolate by the end of the day.
00:12:29
Natalie Allen
and And I think that's the trick on anything you see online. So if you're seeing someone online that's recommending a lot of supplements, right? or very expensive ah pathways, lots of testing that you need to have done, or eliminating a lot of things from the diet. I would pause.
00:12:49
Natalie Allen
And I think the next thing is try to find a registered dietitian to help you. And the third thing is look at the science. We're smart people. You can go on and look in a peer-reviewed journal and say, hey, should i eliminate fiber completely from my diet?
00:13:05
Natalie Allen
Probably not. And here's what research shows us.
00:13:09
The Jobs Podcast
You got to have a game plan going into it is what I'm hearing you, whatever path you're going to go down, you need to have a game plan and then be honest with yourself in that. Am I going to stick with this or not?
00:13:21
Natalie Allen
Sure. Absolutely. yeah You know, short term diets, you might lose a little bit of weight, but generally it's going to be that yo-yo effect and you might even gain more back than you've lost once you stop following the diet.
00:13:33
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah.
00:13:34
Natalie Allen
So, i would I would focus on being more active. ah Most Americans could spend more time being active, and I know it's hard, but how can you do that? If you're i studying, could you walk?
00:13:49
Natalie Allen
There's study treadmills now that you can walk on while you study. um If you're a parent and you're bringing your child to soccer practice, could you walk around the soccer field while they practice?
00:14:01
Natalie Allen
Right. Just how can we move a little bit more? Can you can you play basketball outside with your kid after dinner? Right. Little things like that make a big difference. And then look, look at little things as far as your diet.
00:14:14
Natalie Allen
Can you make general health suggestions like, OK, um I'm going to try to avoid fried foods?
00:14:15
The Jobs Podcast
Okay.
00:14:21
The Jobs Podcast
and okay
00:14:21
Natalie Allen
I'm not going to drink drinks with calories. um I'm going to eat a fruit or vegetable at every meal because those have less calories and more nutrition. So little things can add up, but it does need to be a conscious effort and it requires planning.
00:14:37
Natalie Allen
So set aside a time to plan your meals for the week, especially dinner.
00:14:42
The Jobs Podcast
One more question in this rabbit hole, and then I promise we'll get back to the education side of things.
00:14:47
Natalie Allen
Sure.
00:14:47
The Jobs Podcast
Um, it, this is a gross oversimplification, but when I look at vegan, vegetarian, carnivore, low carb, et cetera, all these different ways of eating, even fasting, they have two commonalities.
00:15:02
The Jobs Podcast
One of them is you're probably going to be eating less and you're going to be eating zero or very little fast food, soda, Skittles, Oreos, junk food.
00:15:14
The Jobs Podcast
And i think that that's a big difference, at least what I see between the Europeans and us, is that, yes, they'll have a nice pastry every now and again, but it'll only have seven or eight ingredients versus 39 and half of them are chemicals.
00:15:27
The Jobs Podcast
And then they're walking to get that dessert and then they're walking home. Is there, i know that's gross oversimplification, but is that pretty accurate?
00:15:35
Natalie Allen
No, no. there There is. And it's you bring up a great point that we actually have a lot of new research right now ah that's coming out on what we're calling processed foods.
00:15:46
Natalie Allen
And so ah what's tricky is we don't have a super clear definition of what constitutes a processed food, but and probably fair to say the things you mentioned would all fall in that category.
00:15:46
The Jobs Podcast
Okay.
00:15:52
The Jobs Podcast
Sure.
00:15:57
Natalie Allen
And so um I think... there's data to show that the more processed food you eat, the less healthy you are.
00:16:06
The Jobs Podcast
Okay.
00:16:07
Natalie Allen
And so again, maybe we go back to, um certainly you can have a scoop of ice cream that you make or that you buy because ice cream could have less additives than some other things.
00:16:19
Natalie Allen
But, um,
00:16:19
The Jobs Podcast
Mm-hmm.
00:16:21
Natalie Allen
Trying to focus on fewer ingredients and things you can pronounce as far as the ingredients and foods is a great idea.
00:16:27
The Jobs Podcast
okay
00:16:28
Natalie Allen
or Or make it yourself, right? if you know how If you're willing to learn how to cook or you know how to cook. yeah And that's not realistic for everything. But certainly, for there's a lot of great recipes on the internet, right? So um try to figure out planning and and making things at home generally are healthier and less processed than things that we buy out.
00:16:50
The Jobs Podcast
and Okay. Yeah, there's a million YouTube channels about how to cook things if you're not, you know, a foodie or somebody knows how to cook. that You can certainly, yeah.
00:16:57
Natalie Allen
100%. Yes. And my my athletes here, i tell them, ask your but parents to give you their old crock pot or an Instapot.
00:17:05
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah.
00:17:05
Natalie Allen
ah Those are both really good ways to cook protein.
00:17:05
The Jobs Podcast
Hmm.
00:17:08
Natalie Allen
And that's one of the hardest things for my students here is how do they cook meat? And you meat's not something you can um just cook on the flat, like you can brown hamburger. But You know, if it's frozen when you got home at four o'clock, you you're going to have a little bit of a dilemma here.
00:17:24
Natalie Allen
So um I like batch cooking that and and starting with getting, you know, maybe cook five chicken breasts on a Sunday and then use those in various ways um over the next few days for lunch and dinner.
00:17:24
The Jobs Podcast
Amen.
00:17:37
Natalie Allen
Make a wrap, make a pasta, add rice, make it like a chicken fried rice, and make a barbecue chicken sandwich, a barbecue chicken pizza. So, but you have that base of the protein because we, you do need protein and protein is also what helps you feel full and satisfied.
00:17:54
Natalie Allen
And so we want people to have a protein source at each meal.
00:17:59
The Jobs Podcast
So let's ah thanks for indulging me. Let's go back to the education side of things. You are in college. You're taking all of your classes. You're winding up that time.
00:18:10
The Jobs Podcast
What was your first step out of college into the real world of working as dietitian in your field?
00:18:18
Natalie Allen
Great question. So I graduated from Missouri State University with my bachelor's degree in dietetics. And then you had to do you have to do a dietetic internship. That's required now is required then.
00:18:29
The Jobs Podcast
Oh.
00:18:30
Natalie Allen
And um that is like a supervised practice, kind of like student teaching, if you've had a student teacher in high school or elementary.
00:18:37
The Jobs Podcast
okay
00:18:38
Natalie Allen
And so um It's ah about a little over a thousand hours where you are with registered dietitians and you see them working and they're precepting or helping you understand things in the field.
00:18:50
Natalie Allen
So I did that at Barnes Jewish Hospital in St. Louis and St. Louis Children's Hospital.
00:18:55
The Jobs Podcast
yeah
00:18:55
Natalie Allen
And that was with Wash U School of Medicine. And I learned so much from working at a teaching hospital um where there's med students and PA students and OT and all that. It was it was a fantastic experience.
00:19:08
Natalie Allen
And I also got my master's then in education. And then um I got a job at at Barnes Jewish Hospital. And so I always tell my students, you know, where you do grad school and your internship, it's a great networking opportunity. And And they learn a lot about you and you learn a lot about them. And so i was very fortunate then to get a job. And I worked clinically in the hospital for a few years. And it was great.
00:19:34
Natalie Allen
i I learned so much.
00:19:36
The Jobs Podcast
Thank you.
00:19:36
Natalie Allen
I i appreciate my health. And um I'm just a better person having worked with um children that were ill, ah cancer patients, transplant patients,
00:19:50
Natalie Allen
And it was just a really humbling and a really educational experience. And i had an awesome medical team that I worked with that we're still friends to this day. And um so I did that for a few years. And then um at while I was at Barnes Jewish, um I did a lot of media work.
00:20:08
Natalie Allen
And for promoting nutrition to the public, like on TV or on a podcast or on the radio.
00:20:13
The Jobs Podcast
na
00:20:15
Natalie Allen
And um so I did that for a while and um worked for large food corporations as well. um Most corporations have a dietitian, even like McDonald's has a dietitian. yeah.
00:20:31
Natalie Allen
so ah
00:20:31
The Jobs Podcast
Really?
00:20:33
Natalie Allen
ah Everybody has a dietitian, right? And so that was super fun for me because i it was such a different side of dietetics, looking at um how they make decisions on what's on the menu or um working with farmers to grow enough lettuce to make a salad at their fast food restaurant. So um looking at what drives market decisions, um educating the public about different options. So that was ah that was a really cool thing.
00:21:02
Natalie Allen
While I did that, I also um worked for Barnes-Jewish still and ah went to schools in the St. Louis area and taught nutrition to kids.
00:21:13
Natalie Allen
And that was, it was the best, so fun, right? I worked with kindergarten through twelfth grade and it was a grant funded project. And we went to, uh,
00:21:26
Natalie Allen
ah City schools, county schools, private, public, everybody. And we taught this at that time, what were the health standards for the state of Missouri to um school-aged children.
00:21:37
Natalie Allen
And it was super fun. I wrote the curriculum. we We jumped around. We played games. We um made cool crafts. We ate fun snacks. And I did that for over a decade. And it was ah just a really great way to meet people in the community, to teach others about how to the path of dietetics um and how to take control of their health at a younger age.
00:22:01
Natalie Allen
um So I did that for a while and it was awesome. And while I did that, I'm working at Barnes. ah Barnes had the contract with several professional sports teams in St. Louis.
00:22:13
Natalie Allen
And so I then became their dietitian as well. So I my job was twofold. I taught elementary children and then I did professional sports teams in St. Louis.
00:22:25
The Jobs Podcast
wow
00:22:25
Natalie Allen
um And that was a really fun part of my job for a long time. So I got to work with professional athletes in the NFL, the NHL and Major League Baseball.
00:22:36
Natalie Allen
I worked with Olympics teams and seeing how can they improve performance through nutrition.
00:22:44
The Jobs Podcast
That's a lot to unpack, and that's very impressive. ah i I have a soft spot in my heart for Children's Hospital in Barnes-Jewish. My oldest son, Cooper, got a kidney transplant there when he was four and a half.
00:22:56
Natalie Allen
Oh wow.
00:22:56
The Jobs Podcast
And they took the kidney out of my wife over at Barnes and walked it over to Children's and then put it in him.
00:22:56
Natalie Allen
Yep.
00:23:02
The Jobs Podcast
And so we have spent a lot of time in both of those hospitals, and I have nothing but appreciation and respect for them.
00:23:02
Natalie Allen
ye
00:23:09
The Jobs Podcast
yeah.
00:23:09
Natalie Allen
Good.
00:23:10
The Jobs Podcast
the
00:23:10
Natalie Allen
I'm glad they're doing okay. It's an amazing place. I tell people it's an amazing place to go if you need something like a kidney transplant.
00:23:12
The Jobs Podcast
oh yeah Yeah.
00:23:17
The Jobs Podcast
Yep.
00:23:17
Natalie Allen
I don't know that I go there, you know, to get stitched up.
00:23:20
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah.
00:23:20
Natalie Allen
It's a big hospital.
00:23:21
The Jobs Podcast
It is. They did. Yeah.
00:23:22
Natalie Allen
As you know, it's hard to navigate at times, but...
00:23:24
The Jobs Podcast
it is
00:23:25
Natalie Allen
um but If my kids need anything, thats that's a really great place to be. So I'm glad your your kids are okay. And hopefully they had a dietician who helped your wife and your son and at St.
00:23:35
The Jobs Podcast
they did yeah
00:23:36
Natalie Allen
Louis. Yeah. So great, great place. And i one advantage of working in a larger hospital setting like that is there are just so many opportunities that come to you in healthcare.
00:23:46
The Jobs Podcast
Oh, I bet.
00:23:46
Natalie Allen
So whether you're a nursing student, dietetics, OT, PT, PA, that's what's great about that setting.
00:23:47
The Jobs Podcast
Mm-hmm.
00:23:52
Natalie Allen
There's some hard things about that setting, but for me, it was a really great springboard for my career. And I got exposed to a lot of different people and made great connections.
00:24:03
The Jobs Podcast
The, I almost use the term residency, but your internship, it's kind of like your, your version of a residency that you did for a thousand hours.
00:24:09
Natalie Allen
Correct.
00:24:11
The Jobs Podcast
so Is that typically like industry wide? Is that a typically a paid thing that or is someone, is that part of their education where that's going to be pretty rough on you financially while you get through it, but then on the backside, it's worth it.
00:24:25
Natalie Allen
Great question. It depends. So and I would say the majority are not paid.
00:24:27
The Jobs Podcast
Okay.
00:24:32
The Jobs Podcast
Okay.
00:24:32
Natalie Allen
um And so I have some students who take a year off in between undergrad and grad um because now it's required. It changed us just a couple years ago where you have to have a master's degree to be a dietitian.
00:24:45
Natalie Allen
So when you get your internship, you're also going to graduate school.
00:24:45
The Jobs Podcast
and Okay. Mm-hmm.
00:24:50
Natalie Allen
Those are a combined thing typically.
00:24:52
The Jobs Podcast
wow
00:24:52
Natalie Allen
um And so ah there are definitely some paid. The Veterans Affairs, the VA, a they have paid options, um but the majority are not paid. And so I have a lot of people who will take a year off and save up um or they'll move back home. So they can like we have students here at Missouri State that apply.
00:25:13
Natalie Allen
and There's some in the Kansas City and St. Louis areas, and they'll go to those because they can live at home and save money that way. There's also um a dietetic internship graduate program here at Missouri State.
00:25:25
Natalie Allen
It's a little bit more reasonably priced than some of the other ones. So I tell my students, take into account the the financials, right? You need to look at that.
00:25:33
The Jobs Podcast
Sure.
00:25:34
Natalie Allen
um And most internships and grad programs have an emphasis Here at Missouri State, ours is public affairs and rural health. um So there's a need for healthcare care practitioners in the rural setting.
00:25:47
Natalie Allen
So it's been a, we have a fantastic director. We have a great program here. Others um might have more of an emphasis, let's say on sports nutrition. um Some of them have an emphasis in pediatrics.
00:25:59
Natalie Allen
Some are more community-based. So I want my students to look at those and decide and their internship based on that pathway as well.
00:26:09
The Jobs Podcast
Is the internship that you're doing, is that typically when someone is going to, because you're being exposed to so many things, that's usually when they kind of start seeing the the avenue they want to go or the area of specialization they want to follow?
00:26:24
Natalie Allen
Yes, it's a great time to get a taste of everything and then decide that.
00:26:27
The Jobs Podcast
Okay. Okay.
00:26:29
Natalie Allen
And i a lot of dietitians start in clinical work, which is in the hospital. And some of my students are like, I don't know if I want to do that. And then I'm like, just try it. You learn so much.
00:26:40
Natalie Allen
And there's a need for clinical dietitians. And um A lot of them will come out of their internship telling me, I liked clinical more than I thought, and I am going to start there. It may not be where they want to stay their whole career, but it is a good but beginning step for a lot of people.
00:26:57
The Jobs Podcast
Are the folks that go into professional sports like you dealt with with the St. Louis teams, are they like the rock stars of your of your industry?
00:27:07
Natalie Allen
yeah Well, it kind of depends, you know, um a lot of people want to do sports nutrition and it's, it's probably a little bit more visible, um, and high pressure, I guess I would say too.
00:27:13
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah. Sure.
00:27:20
The Jobs Podcast
yeah
00:27:20
Natalie Allen
ah but at the same time, um you know Some people are like, i don't I don't like athletics and I don't want to do that. And I'm like, that's okay.
00:27:27
The Jobs Podcast
chair
00:27:28
Natalie Allen
There's other options in dietetics that you can do just as easily. So for me, the sports nutrition was um a natural next step because I had been an athlete and had a dad who was a coach and liked sports and understood that world. And so um I moved from professional Olympic teams and now I'm the dietitian for all of our athletes here at Missouri State. We have 21 teams.
00:27:52
Natalie Allen
And almost 600 athletes. So um that what I like about sports nutrition is it is where most people want to see me and um ah want to get better because they want to win.
00:28:07
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah.
00:28:08
Natalie Allen
um athletes are typically competitive. They're very, very performance driven. So if I can change their diet and they can help me with those changes, and that's going to help them perform better and have less injury and less cramping on the field or whatever it might be, they are all in.
00:28:25
Natalie Allen
And that's what I love about working with athletes is they're generally um very motivated to make changes.
00:28:33
The Jobs Podcast
It's you tell them this is what you need to do and they've bought in and they're going to do it.
00:28:38
Natalie Allen
Correct.
00:28:39
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah.
00:28:39
Natalie Allen
Yep.
00:28:39
The Jobs Podcast
Sure.
00:28:40
Natalie Allen
100%.
00:28:40
Natalie Allen
And our coaches, we have awesome coaches here at MSU um that are helping us and everybody's bought in. There's a great medical team with athletic trainers, um our team physicians, a team psychologist.
00:28:54
Natalie Allen
and myself. And so we we all work together to help the athlete. And i I always emphasize there's three things we're trying to do for our athletes here. One of them is to keep, just keep them healthy, right? Health is your number one goal for all of us.
00:29:08
The Jobs Podcast
sure
00:29:08
Natalie Allen
um And then number two, we want them to get a good education. We want them to graduate. Most of them are not going to do a sport after college. So, you know, get your degree, get your good education.
00:29:15
The Jobs Podcast
Mm-hmm.
00:29:18
Natalie Allen
We have great faculty and teachers here at Missouri State. And then third, we want them to win. Right. We want them to enjoy being a part of their team and have a great experience, not be injured and win. So I think um I have to do research as part of my job here. And so some of my research is focused on particularly female athletes.
00:29:37
Natalie Allen
I have a great research team and it's like, how can we help prevent injury through nutrition or whatever screening tools, and ah team, the medical team working together so that they're not missing games and practice and time away from their sport.
00:29:52
Natalie Allen
And we've we've been able to do some of that. And I feel really good about that.
00:29:57
The Jobs Podcast
I want to pull a question out of your training with professional athletes. Is there anything that you recommend to athletes that your everyday person who just has an office job, are there any kernels of knowledge that apply to people, whether they're an athlete or not, or is it really situation specific?
00:30:19
Natalie Allen
Well, certainly there's some overlap. i I think with athletes, generally they can just eat more calories, right? So, um and and my a lot of my athletes, I mean, they're working out hours and hours a day, right?
00:30:27
The Jobs Podcast
and Okay.
00:30:34
Natalie Allen
And they're lifting more weights than they've ever done and they're training and conditioning. So we want them to be eating more calories. And and where you get your calories from matters. And so if you're have a desk job, maybe I'm going to steer you to getting more of your carbohydrates from fruits and vegetables and ah having a plate that's maybe half fruits and vegetables and then a fourth meat and a fourth, a carbohydrate, like a starch.
00:31:02
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah.
00:31:02
Natalie Allen
Whereas if you're an athlete, it might be a little different. We might, we might flip that. You might have more carbohydrates from a starch like rice or, or bread, or we, um, We might be adding more omega-3 fatty acids, the good fats that help lower inflammation because inflammation is very common in an athlete.
00:31:19
Natalie Allen
Like think of a baseball pitcher who is constantly using his shoulder, right, to throw that ball over and over.
00:31:26
The Jobs Podcast
yeah
00:31:26
Natalie Allen
So he's going to have inflammation there. So we we work a lot with what foods can we add in to help you feel better and be less likely to be injured.
00:31:37
The Jobs Podcast
Salt is something that has been, you know, talked about more recently. People are talking about it from a hydration standpoint.
00:31:42
Natalie Allen
Thank you.
00:31:46
The Jobs Podcast
Am I seeing a shift away from being scared of salt? I mean, I'm sure some folks, if, you know, they have a medical reason why they shouldn't consume additional salt or keep it on the low end, that's a different, different setting. But for athletes and folks, is salt becoming more used nowadays?
00:32:03
Natalie Allen
Salt is trendy right now, for sure.
00:32:05
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah.
00:32:06
Natalie Allen
ah um i just did a ah nice little piece for Nike, and it talks about should you use salt in your hydration drinks?
00:32:14
The Jobs Podcast
Oh, yeah.
00:32:15
Natalie Allen
And the short answer is probably you don't need it unless there are certainly times. Sodium or salt is very important to maintain fluid balance in your body.
00:32:27
Natalie Allen
We all need sodium. However, most people in America get plenty, plenty, because remember back to our processed food conversation, processed foods have a lot of salt and we like salty things.
00:32:34
The Jobs Podcast
oh yeah
00:32:39
Natalie Allen
And so generally um we are getting enough in our diet. Now, there are caveats to that. If it's really hot and humid and you're sweating a lot and you're losing a lot of sodium through your sweat, you might need to replace some in your body.
00:32:53
Natalie Allen
um If you're somebody who doesn't ever cook with salt and you don't eat processed foods and you don't add salt to your food, we might need to talk about that a little bit. So um or for an athlete who struggles with muscle cramps, salt can be ah very, very important because salt does help you retain fluid.
00:33:13
Natalie Allen
And um we, when you're cramping, we have to look at, there's a lot of pieces to it. But one piece might be that your cells need a little bit more fluid in them. And adding sodium can help get that fluid into the cell.
00:33:26
Natalie Allen
So and that's why sports drinks have sodium in them. And um adding salt to your food might be necessary.
00:33:30
The Jobs Podcast
um
00:33:33
Natalie Allen
That's why pickles help when somebody's cramping. They're very salty. They also have vinegar, which plays another role in preventing cramps. so um Salt is good and we need it, but it's like everything.
00:33:45
Natalie Allen
We don't want to get too much.
00:33:47
The Jobs Podcast
Sure. What would you say if I just asked you right now, what is your most enjoyable aspect of your job? What would you say?
00:33:57
Natalie Allen
Oh, 100% my students.
00:33:59
The Jobs Podcast
Okay.
00:34:00
Natalie Allen
um My students in my classes, I teach in the nutrition and dietetics program, and they are fantastic. We are so fortunate. We have great students. I have wonderful colleagues. We have six dietitians that work together to educate our ask our students. And then also in that, when I say students, my student athletes, right?
00:34:21
Natalie Allen
um So I have a really great job in that it's kind of in two different realms, but they overlap and they help each other. And um I love being able to um just help prepare people to go out into the workforce and hopefully do a job they love. I've met so many great people.
00:34:38
Natalie Allen
We have a lot of great faculty and staff and administration here at Missouri State. and And I'm just lucky to be a part of it.
00:34:47
The Jobs Podcast
the The unfortunate reality is that every job has an aspect that we don't like or a negative. Even someone who is like, this is what I'm made to do.
00:34:58
The Jobs Podcast
I'm in my lane when I'm doing whatever I'm doing. what Is there something that you dislike about your job or is there an aspect of it you wish you could do away with to make it perfect?
00:35:10
Natalie Allen
Good question. You know, grading papers takes a lot of time, ah yeah ah but you know, that's necessary.
00:35:14
The Jobs Podcast
Oh, sure, yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
00:35:18
Natalie Allen
um
00:35:19
The Jobs Podcast
yeah
00:35:19
Natalie Allen
i also, something I didn't think about when I started as a dietitian, I have to write medical chart notes to be part of the medical record on every athlete I see.
00:35:27
The Jobs Podcast
and
00:35:30
Natalie Allen
It's not bad, it's necessary, but it does take time. And that's something I find myself doing sometimes at night because I see so many people during the day I have to chart at night. So I'm constantly keeping on top of that because you want that medical record to be accurate and up to date.
00:35:46
Natalie Allen
um And then one part of my job I didn't think I would like, but I've come to like it, is I... um am required to do research and publish. That's part of academia. And um that was a really big learning curve for me and not something I thought I wanted to do necessarily.
00:36:05
Natalie Allen
Research very time consuming. It's um gathering a lot of data.
00:36:08
The Jobs Podcast
yeah
00:36:10
Natalie Allen
It's a lot of tedious things that you have to look at. But we need good research out there to guide us on our health care decisions. And so I've been fortunate now to be a part of some great research teams. And we've gotten published several times. And so That was when I'd say I was all grumpy about having to do, but now I'm like, okay, that wasn't so bad.
00:36:29
The Jobs Podcast
i This is a question just out of curiosity for me. You're dealing with different athletes in various sports. Am I correct in that the football players eat the most?
00:36:41
Natalie Allen
You know, that's a great, everybody thinks that, but no.
00:36:44
The Jobs Podcast
Or swimmers? Swimmers?
00:36:45
Natalie Allen
Swimmers, it is swim at Missouri State.
00:36:47
The Jobs Podcast
Okay.
00:36:48
Natalie Allen
Our swimmers, male swimmers, all of them, but male, ah generally male have a little bit more muscle mass and are taller. So they need a little bit more calories. They swim about 10,000 yards a day
00:37:01
The Jobs Podcast
Good grief.
00:37:01
Natalie Allen
When they're in their heavy training, that is a lot. They, our swim team here has been very successful. They practice morning and afternoon. So a swim burns a ton of calories and some of our linemen and the football is different because it's very dependent upon your position on how many calories you need.
00:37:20
The Jobs Podcast
Sure.
00:37:21
Natalie Allen
So um certainly some of our football players need a lot of calories, and then some of them need to be quick and fast and zippy and don't need as many calories. So um I would say that's a test question on one of my, I teach the sports nutrition class.
00:37:37
Natalie Allen
And one of the test questions is which team at Missouri State burns the most calories?
00:37:38
The Jobs Podcast
Okay.
00:37:42
Natalie Allen
And the answer is swim.
00:37:44
The Jobs Podcast
Was it Michael Phelps that I guess in the Olympics, it was there was rumored he was eating about 10,000 calories a day
00:37:50
Natalie Allen
Yes, I remember reading that. And that, that's, you know, he's pretty, he's a tall guy, too. So that factors into it.
00:37:55
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah. Yeah.
00:37:57
Natalie Allen
But certainly most of my male swimmers here are eating at least 5,000, 5 to 6,000 a day. And honestly, that's hard to get in. Right?
00:38:06
The Jobs Podcast
yeah
00:38:06
Natalie Allen
So we sit down and we're like, okay, what's going what What can you drink to get calories? Now we're doing the opposite things, right? How can we add calories to your food? What sauces or dips can you use that have some nutrition, and but also will add calories and flavors? So um it's it's a different game when we're trying to get someone to gain weight versus lose weight.
00:38:27
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah, that's a pretty good problem to have when you're trying to put on weight, I think, but I'm jealous of those folks.
00:38:30
Natalie Allen
Yeah. Yeah. I always tell them you cannot eat like this when you graduate and you don't swim anymore.
00:38:35
The Jobs Podcast
Right.
00:38:36
Natalie Allen
So we do actually do a session for our athletes when they graduate on how to, you know, how to eat in the real world. Because when you go from being a football player to being an accountant and you're sitting more, sometimes it doesn't go smoothly.
00:38:46
The Jobs Podcast
Sure.
00:38:49
Natalie Allen
So we do work on that too.
00:38:49
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah. What changes have you seen in your industry since you were graduating from college and starting um your your internship to now?
00:39:02
The Jobs Podcast
Have there been any big shifts?
00:39:03
Natalie Allen
Oh, gosh, so many changes. So many changes.
00:39:05
The Jobs Podcast
Technology? Technology? Or is it just the data?
00:39:07
Natalie Allen
Yeah, technology for sure. You know, apps and things that track your calorie intake or things that track your activity level.
00:39:11
The Jobs Podcast
Sure. Okay.
00:39:14
Natalie Allen
um I think social media has been a really big change as well and not necessarily... as good as I would like.
00:39:23
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah. Right.
00:39:23
Natalie Allen
There are accurate and good things in social media related to nutrition, but there's a lot of quackery and a lot of can people preying on and vulnerable people.
00:39:34
Natalie Allen
um Like you have cancer, try this supplement and it's going to cure your cancer. And that that's just not true.
00:39:39
The Jobs Podcast
yeah
00:39:40
Natalie Allen
I mean, I wish it were, but you know that.
00:39:41
The Jobs Podcast
right
00:39:43
Natalie Allen
yeah, I think also, though, what i one thing I talk to my students about is that everything is trendy and comes back around. So when I started as a dietician, fat was bad.
00:39:54
Natalie Allen
and And nobody wanted fat. And we ate things like pretzels and Snackwell's cookies and um everybody ate pasta. And then a few years ago, you know, keto was really big and fat was good and you needed more fat.
00:40:02
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah.
00:40:07
Natalie Allen
and And now the trendy macronutrient is protein. Everybody's trying to get more protein in their food and we're adding it to cereal and we're adding extra protein to milk and things like that. And so I think it really lends to the the bottom line that all foods can fit and you just need a balance, right? You need to balance protein, carbs, and fat.
00:40:28
Natalie Allen
and ah get a little bit of each at every meal. um But it's always fun to me to see what's going to be the next trendy thing.
00:40:36
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah. Has there been any seismic shifts in your career, aside from the ones you just mentioned, where just the the way that you conduct your job was just completely changed direction?
00:40:53
Natalie Allen
Hmm. i don't I don't know that I would say there's been one thing.
00:40:56
The Jobs Podcast
Any research?
00:40:58
Natalie Allen
I mean, research, one thing in nutrition is a lot of things don't change that much because physio like physiology of the body doesn't change.
00:41:09
Natalie Allen
Metabolism doesn't. I mean, there's some nuances or things that we're learning.
00:41:14
The Jobs Podcast
Uh,
00:41:14
Natalie Allen
But um so some older research is still foundational. Yeah. in nutrition. For example, like carbohydrates are important in an athlete.
00:41:25
Natalie Allen
And so we have to think about how can they get those. Now, what two foods they choose to get carbs from is up to them. um And so um i think we what I have seen more of is just helping my patients work through the confusion and the noise that they're seeing on nutrition.
00:41:48
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah.
00:41:48
Natalie Allen
you know I'll have people who are like, you know I think I'm deficient in magnesium. I'm like, what? Why do you think that? you know um and And so we work through that because you could be, you could be deficient in magnesium, but you know here are some foods you can eat to help with that. So um I think what what where I've seen dietitians, we're pretty flexible and we're trying to adapt with the times and help people use food to feel better, but food also doesn't cure everything.
00:42:22
The Jobs Podcast
Right.
00:42:22
Natalie Allen
And so people who...
00:42:22
The Jobs Podcast
Sure.
00:42:24
Natalie Allen
come to me and they're like, well, I don't want to take this medication that my doctor recommended because I'm going to try to fix this problem through diet. there There are maybe times you can do that, like high high blood pressure.
00:42:36
The Jobs Podcast
sure
00:42:36
Natalie Allen
We could maybe work on your diet, um cholesterol and things like that. But some things we can't do through diet and we do need to use the medication. So just keeping abreast of that and looking at what's accurate and knowledgeable.
00:42:51
Natalie Allen
um i think one thing that's really changed since I've started is the amount of supplements that are available and the amount of supplements that people feel like they need to take.
00:42:57
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah.
00:43:01
Natalie Allen
And um I just don't know that that's necessary necessary for most of us. I mean, certainly there are times I want you to take vitamins and and certain nutrients and protein powders and things like that.
00:43:13
Natalie Allen
But I think supplements have really exploded. And then following a restrictive diet of some type, like not eating gluten, not eating dairy, um those things have become trendy. And it was not like that when I started it, um you know, several years ago.
00:43:29
The Jobs Podcast
What types of soft skills would benefit someone that wants to get into your line of work?
00:43:36
Natalie Allen
I think you have to be a great communicator to be a dietitian and um be able to be empathetic and put yourself in someone's shoes. It's hard to change diet habits.
00:43:47
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah.
00:43:47
Natalie Allen
You need to meet them where they are. Can they cook? Can they afford food? Do they have a kitchen? Do they have a car to get to the grocery store? And so that's communication and empathy are really important.
00:44:00
Natalie Allen
I think you need to be able to think critically so you can look at science and evidence to make your decisions um and make ethical decisions related to practice.
00:44:11
Natalie Allen
um And then I think if you're gonna work in the sports realm, you need to have a little confidence too. athletic Athletes generally are pretty confident people, which is what you want, right?
00:44:19
The Jobs Podcast
Oh yeah, sure.
00:44:20
Natalie Allen
You want them to be able to take the shot when there's one second left on the clock.
00:44:25
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah.
00:44:25
Natalie Allen
and um And so um with my athletes, you know i'm like, no, this is this is what we're this is what science shows and this is what we're gonna try. Let's try it first, right? Before we go down a rabbit hole of spending $200 month on supplements.
00:44:40
Natalie Allen
And um so that quiet, poised confidence, I think that's important in almost any job. But um you do have to kind of be ready for that in dietetics and particularly the sports nutrition realm.
00:44:53
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah, the type A competitive types, you you probably have to go in there knowing what you're talking about and be able to sell why your idea is better than the one that they walked in with.
00:45:02
Natalie Allen
Correct. 100%. And so, and you have to be able to do that on a level they understand.
00:45:04
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah.
00:45:08
Natalie Allen
And, and not that athletes aren't smart people, but they're not studying metabolism.
00:45:09
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah.
00:45:12
Natalie Allen
That's my job. So i always tell my students, we need to make this very clear and very succinct and understandable.
00:45:13
The Jobs Podcast
Sure.
00:45:19
Natalie Allen
And then like a three goal, you know, maybe set three goals that you're going to do before I see you the next time. So it's very individualized and it's very um concrete. I give them specific examples. I show them foods.
00:45:32
Natalie Allen
I have them download a grocery store app and I show them foods to put in their cart. So we want to make it practical and easy for them. So I am understanding the science on my back of, in my mind, but I'm not.
00:45:44
Natalie Allen
telling them grams of fat they need or, you know, the metabolism related to adding zinc to their diet. That's something I need to know, but I'm going to tell them, let's add a piece of meat here at dinner.
00:45:57
The Jobs Podcast
If you could go back, when you look back on your career so far, are there any changes that you would make if you could go back and go, I kind of got that part wrong, or I should have done this instead of that? what What lessons have you learned that maybe would streamline your career path to now if you could do it over again?
00:46:20
Natalie Allen
I think one one thing that most people don't think about is if you want to get advanced degrees. So master's is now required. It wasn't when I started. And I did get my master's right at the start of my career. And I'm really glad.
00:46:35
Natalie Allen
It would be hard now for me to get extra certifications or other degrees. Just time wise. Right. So I think if you if you think you want to work in academia and want to get a doctorate or, you know, you want to get a specialty certification like it there's a ah certified sports specialist dietitian or there's ones that focus on like diabetes educators, you know, you.
00:46:44
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah.
00:46:59
Natalie Allen
get those Get those when you have, I know you and may not think you have time, but get them and then enjoy them your whole career, I guess, is one thing um that that I might think about.
00:47:10
Natalie Allen
I switched from working um in the hospital and and professional with professional teams as much to academia because it was a better work-life balance for my kids and my husband and me.
00:47:20
The Jobs Podcast
Right.
00:47:22
Natalie Allen
And so think... i think I'm really, i feel really fortunate that I had a lot of fun opportunities in the beginning of my career. And I still do. But I had to prioritize where, you know, who was going to be home because my husband has a job where he travels.
00:47:37
Natalie Allen
And so we had this sweet baby and we're like, oh, wait, somebody has to be home with the baby. And so that's when I switched to academia and it gave me a better set schedule.
00:47:42
The Jobs Podcast
right
00:47:47
Natalie Allen
I was off in the summers and I, I'm glad I did that. um But it was a different career path than if I had stayed in working with the professional teams as much.
00:48:00
The Jobs Podcast
Are most of the folks that ah do your line of work, are they introverted or extroverted, or does it really matter as long as they can develop their communication skills and whatnot?
00:48:10
Natalie Allen
You mean dietitians in general or sports dietitians?
00:48:12
The Jobs Podcast
Yes. Well, mostly dieticians in general.
00:48:15
Natalie Allen
Yeah, I think that's the beauty of dietetics is that if you're an introvert, you can do research in a lab as a dietitian, right?
00:48:21
The Jobs Podcast
Okay. Okay.
00:48:23
Natalie Allen
um you could ah You can maybe be in a field and an area that is more introverted. Maybe you work in an ICU setting where the patients are probably not chit-chatting a whole lot with you and you're not doing education, but you're looking more at nutrition support or feeding them through their through a feeding tube.
00:48:40
The Jobs Podcast
Okay. Okay.
00:48:40
Natalie Allen
um But I'd say the majority of dietetics careers, you need to be more of an extrovert um and able to communicate because no matter what part of dietetics you're in, you need to be a good communicator.
00:48:46
The Jobs Podcast
and okay
00:48:54
Natalie Allen
I public speak every single day and I public speak to a lot of people. I am recorded every day in my lectures. I speak. can easily speak to a thousand people in a conference about nutrition.
00:49:07
Natalie Allen
So you got to get your game on and be ready for that. um The public speak speaking realm, at least in my role, is very common. Now, some parts of dietetics, it's not going to be as much, but even in those, you probably need to be a little bit more extroverted if you can.
00:49:24
The Jobs Podcast
The question that um folks always want to know is when I talk about pay, and I'm not asking you what you make, but is there a general range of dieticians? You're typically going to start in this ballpark, or and then if you go into, i can see the the professional athlete role being a little bit higher pay, but it's also higher pressure, higher stress.
00:49:48
The Jobs Podcast
what What's the industry pay kind of look like for that?
00:49:51
Natalie Allen
Yeah, good question. People ask me this all the time. So I tell them, you're not going to be rich being a dietitian, but you're going to be come just fine, comfortable.
00:49:59
The Jobs Podcast
OK.
00:50:00
Natalie Allen
Very similar to a teacher's salary, I would say starting out.
00:50:00
The Jobs Podcast
OK.
00:50:04
Natalie Allen
um So I'd say depends on where you work.
00:50:09
The Jobs Podcast
Sure.
00:50:09
Natalie Allen
Probably $45,000 to $50,000, your first job would be standard. Now, if you're living in a big city, you're probably going to make more. And actually, if you're willing to work in a rural setting, they need dieticians so bad, they generally pay a little bit more as well.
00:50:25
The Jobs Podcast
OK.
00:50:25
Natalie Allen
um And then, you know, you have the propensity to go up into a six-figure range over time.
00:50:31
The Jobs Podcast
Okay. um Failure. That's one thing that I always get feedback on from folks. You've had a successful career, but you just like I and everybody, we do make mistakes from time to time in our careers.
00:50:47
The Jobs Podcast
What is your advice for someone listening on how to deal with mistakes and failure when you make them?
00:50:56
Natalie Allen
100% agree failure is part of life, right? And um i always tell my own kids, you know, sometimes you win, sometimes you learn, right? And so with failure, think of it as a learning opportunity.
00:51:11
Natalie Allen
um i even have, even now as a teacher, and I've been a college teacher for a while, you know, I'll do an assignment, I'll be like, well, that didn't work, right? Or, ah i'll I'll explain something in in a lecture I'm giving and I think, okay, now, no, I need to revamp this.
00:51:27
Natalie Allen
So learn from it and then how can you how can you make it better the next time?
00:51:28
The Jobs Podcast
Mm-hmm.
00:51:34
Natalie Allen
and And for me, i I'm a list person and I i um jot a lot of things down. So I make a for example, if I'm teaching a new class, there's going to be things in there that don't work, right?
00:51:49
Natalie Allen
So I have a piece of paper I literally keep in my folder where I i have the all the stuff for the class. And I'll write down like, okay, I need to change this question on this exam, or I need to better explain metabolism of lipids for liver failure, right? And so then when I redo the class the next semester, I have that feedback that was like a running feedback for me.
00:52:15
Natalie Allen
um And that has really helped me um because I can't remember what I taught in January, then the next January, what I need to change.
00:52:22
The Jobs Podcast
sure
00:52:23
Natalie Allen
Right. And so, but, but no, that's part of it. Don't let it get you down. Look at it as a learning opportunity and um just, just hit it the next time.
00:52:34
Natalie Allen
Right. And how can I, how can I improve on this and help the people that I'm trying to help? Yeah.
00:52:40
The Jobs Podcast
It's not so much a failure, it sounds like you're just constantly improving and fine tuning the information you're delivering.
00:52:47
Natalie Allen
Correct, 100%. And nutrition's changing all the time. Like we talked about, there's some foundational, but there's some change.
00:52:51
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah, sure.
00:52:54
Natalie Allen
So um i was just actually this morning reading a study that looked at the incidence of colon cancer. And it was... yeah looking at colon cancer and people who follow a very low carb, but gluten-free, low carb, somewhat ketogenic diet.
00:53:11
Natalie Allen
And um like that's new research. So I need to talk about that. I need to learn about that. I need to see what are we, what are we saying? Cause we sure as heck don't want anyone getting colon cancer if they can prevent it.
00:53:22
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah.
00:53:22
Natalie Allen
And so how can diet help with that? So being, I think, When I think also being, being open and willing to understand change and how things have evolved in your field and going with it.
00:53:36
Natalie Allen
Right. And so, you know, I don't do a lot of social media personally, but social media is a really common way that people get nutrition advice. So we need to think about that. I need to help my students understand how to get appropriate nutrition information out there. And, and um that's something that I had to, had to learn.
00:53:57
The Jobs Podcast
Is there any other career that if you could go back and do something completely different, is there something that you've always thought, I, you know, I think I, I might've wanted to do that.
00:54:10
The Jobs Podcast
What would it have been?
00:54:12
Natalie Allen
Oh, gosh. Well, when I was trying to decide I was between dietetics, I also considered being a physician.
00:54:19
The Jobs Podcast
Hmm.
00:54:19
Natalie Allen
and And I do think I would like that. ah
00:54:24
The Jobs Podcast
Any type?
00:54:24
Natalie Allen
Dietetics is probably a little bit better work-life balance.
00:54:27
The Jobs Podcast
and Okay, yeah.
00:54:28
Natalie Allen
um But i love I love the idea of helping people with their health. The other thing I got to do more in the beginning of my career, and sometimes I think, oh, gosh, I wish I would have done more of that now, is I did a lot of...
00:54:41
Natalie Allen
of um news and media. and health reporting on TV. And that was really fun. and And sometimes I think maybe I should have, should I have pursued that?
00:54:53
Natalie Allen
But it wasn't as ah friendly for having two babies. And so, um but I like that aspect of educating and sharing information.
00:54:58
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah.
00:55:05
Natalie Allen
And i I like public speaking. I'm okay to be on camera and do all those things. And so I just sometimes wish we had more dieticians that um were featured on, let's say, the Today Show or something like that, instead of maybe somebody who doesn't have as much of a nutrition background.
00:55:24
The Jobs Podcast
It's probably the latest flash in the pan is what's getting the most attention and the folks that are over here just doing the work every day that, you know, they're not ritzy and whatnot. Those are the ones that sometimes we forget they're over there, but they're doing the important work.
00:55:38
Natalie Allen
Yes, agreed, agreed.
00:55:40
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah. So if someone wanted to look more into your degree program and the classes that you teach and all that kind of stuff, is there a website, Missouri State, do they have a ah one that overlooks your whole department and they can get more information?
00:55:56
Natalie Allen
Absolutely. and it's ah Just go to MissouriState.edu and then search nutrition and dietetics and it'll pop up and it'll give you the classes that you need to take.
00:56:07
Natalie Allen
um were We're really proud that um almost 100% of our students are employed. And almost 100% of our students pass the RD exam the first time.
00:56:14
The Jobs Podcast
Oh,
00:56:18
Natalie Allen
You do have to take a nationwide exam to become a registered dietitian. So you want to ask, if you're looking at different schools, what is their pass rate on that? And we're really proud that ours is very high.
00:56:29
Natalie Allen
um And it'll introduce you to the the great faculty members. I work with some really excellent dietitians here, and we all have different backgrounds, which makes us a really well-rounded faculty.
00:56:40
Natalie Allen
um So yeah, check that out. And then we also have Instagram, ah Missouri State Dietetics and Facebook as well. We'd love to have people follow us there. It's a great way to see what our students are doing, either in the classroom or in the community.
00:56:54
Natalie Allen
um It also features different faculty things, just, you know, different things happening at most state. And we'd love to have people follow us there as well.
00:57:04
The Jobs Podcast
That test that you just mentioned, is that a written test or a practical test or both?
00:57:09
Natalie Allen
written, ah it's online, and you are eligible to take it after you finish your graduate program with your grad degree and your number of internship hours.
00:57:09
The Jobs Podcast
Okay. Oh, okay.
00:57:20
Natalie Allen
So, and then it's it's different than when I took it.
00:57:20
The Jobs Podcast
Okay.
00:57:24
Natalie Allen
I got a letter in the mail saying I passed, but ah they click a button and it says if they passed. So it does have different areas. It has like food service management, um clinical or like hospital um metabolism dietetics. It has community dietetics on there.
00:57:41
Natalie Allen
Questions about nutrition for throughout the lifespan, like babies versus the elderly. So it's a very comprehensive nationally um accredited exam that is required to be an RDN.
00:57:53
The Jobs Podcast
Wow. Okay. Natalie, thank you so much for this. It was really interesting to talk with you. There's way more to it than i realized. And that I didn't realize there were so many different avenues that you could go once you get ah your certifications and whatnot. So it was extremely interesting.
00:58:09
Natalie Allen
Great. Thank you so much for having me. We hope people go into the field. We need good dieticians out there.
00:58:14
The Jobs Podcast
Right on. Thank you very much.
00:58:16
Natalie Allen
Okay. Thank you. Have a good one.
00:58:17
The Jobs Podcast
You too.