RDN Spotlight: Jodi-ann Brown, RD, LD

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

Black/Jamaican. I grew up in Jamaica eating all the traditional Jamaican foods and now feed them to my 21-month-old son.

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

I did my undergrad at Florida International University and my internship through Keiser University.

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

In high school, my favorite classes were home economics and Biology. I sought to find a field that combined both- dietetics was that field.

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

I work full time in Dialysis, Dialysis is my favorite area of clinical nutrition so far. I love the fact that I see my patients weekly and get to build long-term relationships with them. I also have an online nutrition business where I help folks lose weight in a sustainable way and I just wrote my first children’s book around the topic of nutrition called ”Jaxson really likes Ice cream” available now on amazon.

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?

I busted my butt in undergrad, was one of the top students in my class, volunteered, worked full time but I did not get into my programs' internship. They only had 8 spots available. I was devastated. I knew I should have been chosen, I cried for days. I decided to apply for my teaching license and swore off of the field of nutrition. I taught high school biology and chemistry for 1 ½ years until I got laid off. At this exact time, the opportunity came up to do my internship through another program- I saw this as a sign from God and decided to give nutrition another shot. The rest is history. Moral of the story is, don't give up on your dreams just because things don't go exactly the way you had it mapped out. There are many roads to the same destination.

Another one of the biggest challenges I experienced in my journey of becoming a dietitian was being a minority in my program, not only in race/ethnicity but being a curvy woman...most of the women in my program were not only caucasian but thin...straight up and down. I felt at that time that to be in this profession, a profession hyper-focused on health and nutrition that you had to look a certain way. I felt I had to be thin, straight up and down. For many years I tried to be the thinnest version of myself, trying to fit in. I tried multiple diets, and I worked out religiously. But, as time went on I learned to embrace my curves and learned that skinny does not equal healthy. Good health does not have a "look" or a certain body type or weight. Now I focus on and promote the message that being in your best health is not a look or a certain body type and you do not have to diet to be the best version of yourself.

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

I had an RD by the name of Chris Kallas who I met in my clinical rotation. She was a RD consultant who worked with many long-term facilities in the Miami/Ft Lauderdale area and oversaw both clinical and food service in the facilities. She took me under her wing, gave me my first job after getting my license and many jobs after. She taught me so much about clinical nutrition and I will forever be in debt to her. The head RD at my first full-time clinical job Sandra Allen was also an amazing mentor who I really admire, she taught me how to chart like a pro.

Why do you think diversifying this field is important?

We really need so many more RDs of color. I work in an area where the population is mostly Black and Latinos. I cannot tell you enough how limited the knowledge is of cultural foods in the community. Instead of being taught how to include cultural foods as a part of their daily eating plan, use portion control and educate on cooking methods. Members of the community are instead taught to avoid foods from their culture and told to only eat westernized foods. There is no consideration for eating on a budget, eating what is accessible within their communities, incorporating gardening and growing one’s own fruits/veggies/herbs. There is just so much lacking when the field is not diversified.

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

Your path will never be easy, but keep pushing forward. You have so much to offer, you are so needed and in the end, you are enough!