The Nutritional Supplement

Which Course(s) did you graduate from at CNELM and when did you graduate?

I graduated in April 2017 with the BSc Hons in Nutritional Science and then completed the NTPD in 2018.

What did you do before doing this course?

After I first graduated in the early 1990’s I worked for several years in China and Hong Kong where I developed and delivered language training and cultural briefing programmes to corporate clients.  After I returned to the UK, I made the move to consumer magazine publishing, where I managed a team in the direct marketing department.

What made you decide to embark on this course of study and what attracted you to CNELM?

I took a career break to start a family and during this time lived overseas in the USA and Singapore.  I was fascinated by the differences in food culture and how it seemed to impact on the general health and wellbeing of the population.  As a mother with small children my energy levels at this time were quite low!  I started to make some changes in the food that I was eating and noticed first-hand the impact it had on how I felt.  This coupled with the desire to give my children tasty and nutritious food was when I really started to become interested in nutrition and began to think about retraining for a career in this area. 

I did quite a lot of research around nutrition courses and was attracted to CNELM as it offered a degree qualification that was NTEC accredited.  As I was living in Singapore at the time, the fact that I could do the degree programme via distance learning was also a key factor in my decision-making process.

What was your first role after graduating?

Immediately after graduating from the NTPD in the autumn of 2018 I started to set up my own Nutritional Therapy practice in Winchester.  At the end of 2018, I also applied for a position to become a module leader at CNELM and was successful!  I’m now a co-module leader for Nutrition in Practice and module leader for Thinking Critically on the Nutritional Science degree programme.

How did you kickstart your practice/career?

I was lucky that word of mouth got me my first few clients.  I also worked in partnership with a local fitness instructor to deliver some educational evenings to her clients. 

Do you specialise in a particular area of health?

I have come to realise over the past year or so that my real passion lies in Public Health nutrition.  I am now taking steps to move my career in this direction.

If you were graduating now, would you do anything differently?

I would be more honest with myself about what I wanted from a future career and where my strengths lie.  I think that I tried to shoehorn myself into the role of nutritional therapist as I have always loved conducting the client consultations and applying my nutritional knowledge, but it involves so much more than that.  I do not particularly enjoy the business and promotional side of running my own practice and am happiest when I can focus all of my attention on the nutritional side of things, which is why I enjoy my role at CNELM so much.  Had I recognised this at an earlier stage I may have taken a different route after graduation.

Is there anything you wish you’d known before finishing your studies that you might have prepared for differently?

The amount of work involved in running your own business!  I had always previously worked for a company as an employee and had hugely underestimated the logistics of being self-employed!

Do you have any tips, hints, things you’d have done differently...?

Make the most of your student BANT membership and attend your local network meetings and the AGM.  It’ll help give you a real insight into the profession and build up your network of contacts.