RDN Spotlight: Valerie Espinoza, MS, RDN, LD

What is your ethnicity/race? Did your family have any customs related to food? Please describe.

My mom is Bengali and my dad is Ecuadorian. I grew up eating Desi food so rice and spicy dishes were a huge staple in the house.

Where/when did you go to undergrad/dietetic internship/grad school?

University of Georgia and then completed my master's and dietetic internship at Southern Illinois University

Why did you decide to choose nutrition and dietetics as a career?

I love learning about how food can prevent many diseases and conditions. I believe this makes me feel so motivated and empowered to educate and help others be as healthy as they can be!

What do you do now as an RDN and what does a typical day/week look like for you?

I worked mainly in specialty units in clinical nutrition. Currently, however, I'm taking a break from work, but will hopefully resume in the next year or so.

What is/was the biggest challenge for you in becoming a dietitian and how did you overcome that challenge? This can be related to being an RD of color or not just any challenge?

Being an RD of color can sometimes make you feel like an outsider as most of your peers and colleagues will not look like you or have many of the same experiences to relate or connect to you on a personal level.
I decided to overcome this challenge by using the fact of being a POC, I can relate to many of my patients and the outside community. A lot of nutrition-related preventable diseases are more prevalent in minority groups and having someone like me make a difference and help change their lives, is hugely rewarding.

Have you had any mentors in your career if yes how have those mentors affected your career/life?

I haven't had any mentors but I always admired people around me who loved what they did and were passionate about their field.

Why do you think diversifying this field is important?

I think it's important because many preventable nutrition-related conditions, affects a lot of poc and minority groups. I also think it's important to be able to have people in the same field who can relate and have similar background experiences. In order to give back to the community, we as a field should represent ALL communities and make a difference in their lives.

What is a piece of advice you would give a student of color interested in entering the field of dietetics?

Don't be afraid to think outside of the box!