We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Kristina Cooke a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Kristina, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We’re complete cheeseballs and so we love asking folks to share the most heartwarming moment from their career – do you have a touching moment you can share with us?
I had a client come to me eager to lower her blood sugars and A1C. She had a history of dieting, type 2 diabetes, and PCOS. When she reached out to me, it was clear that this wasn’t just about numbers and labs. It never is. It’s always about that one really special reason that this is so important. It’s about how life will change after reaching those health goals. This client shared with me that she wanted to have a baby, but her doctors told her it was “nearly impossible,” due to her blood sugars and A1C.
She confided in me throughout the course of the program about how hard it was to see family and friends get pregnant and have babies, not knowing if she’d ever get the chance herself. During the last month of my program, she reached out to me and told me that she could not believe it, but she was pregnant. This was over a year ago, and today she sends me photo updates of her precious little girl and how she feels this would not be possible had it not been for her finding me and learning the tools she did in my program. I’ll always keep this near and dear to my heart.
Kristina, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
Growing up, I was a very picky. I grew up in a German household and didn’t see a lot of adults around me eating vegetables. My diet mostly consisted of microwaved hot dogs, Top Ramen, and gas station candy I’d purchase after scavenging for quarters in my dad’s couch. When I was 16, I joined the dance and drill team in high school. We had an instructor that was into yoga and holistic health, and I was intrigued. I went into a deep dive online and had a realization about how important it is for us to fuel our bodies properly. It is the very vessel that allowed me to dance and do what I love, yet I had no idea how to properly care for it via food.
At 17, I started challenging myself to eat vegetables – something that I despised, and in fact, gagged at the mere thought of. I couldn’t name 1 vegetable I liked, but I kept challenging myself to try them. The first was a caprese salad from a local Italian deli, that I eventually grew the courage to taste a tomato from. I was thrilled and encouraged, and continued to try new things. That year, I decided I wanted to become a Registered Dietitian.
Nutrition was a catalyst that led to my healing in more ways than one. A few years later when I was 19, my father passed away unexpectedly. A few years after that, the closest person to me, my Oma, passed away. Things felt rocky for a while, but I eventually graduated and became a Registered Dietitian, like I always wanted. I knew I wanted to help others heal through nutrition and realize that healing in one area of life can carry over to others. That is how we change our lives.
My Oma struggled with diabetes, and after years of clinical experience in the hospital working with people with gestational diabetes, prediabetes, and type 2 diabetes, it only felt natural that I focus my career there. I love working in these populations. From my own experience with nutrition, my focus is on helping people with diabetes heal their relationship to food and step away from the yo-yo diets so they can finally learn to exist in a world where they can enjoy food and still reach their goals. Whether it’s a favorite childhood treat, cultural foods, a social event, or that one thing that brings back the memory of a past loved one – we should all be able to enjoy the beauty of food that’s beyond mere physical health. Nutrition is more than that. It is what connects us to others and ourselves.
In 2024, I opened Kristina Cooke Nutrition, and specialize in my group coaching program, The Blood Sugar Collaborative. In this 4 month program, clients are able to change their lives. With weekly coaching calls, online video modules, recipes, printable materials, daily chat, and a community of others that are in the same boat, they feel supported from both myself and other members of the group. I have had clients lower their A1C from 11.1 to 7.5%, 10 to 6.4%, and more! Many clients have gotten pregnant (when told they couldn’t due to diabetes), lost 80+ pounds, and lowered their cholesterol and triglycerides. You can learn more on my Instagram at @type2.diabetes.nutritionist!
Have you ever had to pivot?
I was working a job for a beverage company after working in the hospital setting. It was not what I was used to, now being a part of the marketing team in a corporate job. I loved the company and position, but I deeply missed working directly with patients and helping them transform their lives. I didn’t feel I was able to make the impact I came here to make, and as a result was feeling restless and, honestly, depressed. It was during COVID and I knew I needed to make a change.
During that time, I decided to rebrand my private practice, which I opened as a sole proprietorship in 2018. I didn’t do great, considering I did it the way everyone said I should. I rented an office space, had no idea how to market, and basically spent what I made from clients to put the money towards rent. In 2022, I decided I wanted to rebrand and do this full time. I opened Kristina Cooke Nutrition, and hired a business coach. I learned all I needed to know, and took the leap.
I opened the group coaching program, and I told myself I made more that first year than I was making in my full time job. Somehow, listening to your gut always works out. There is something within you, or perhaps beyond you, that just knows.
Are there any books, videos, essays or other resources that have significantly impacted your management and entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy?
I read the book Daring Greatly by Brene Brown several years ago. This book greatly impacted my life, as her research is all about how there is strength in vulnerability. As a person, most know me to be very deeply feeling. I prefer the term deeply feeling to sensitive, as there is a connotation that comes with it. It made sense to me that our vulnerabilities are the very things that help connect us to others. I never forgot this, on a personal level and it’s something I took into my business, as well.
She spoke about how she went to Fortune 500 companies, and they said how much they looked forward to her speech – as long as she didn’t talk about “that vulnerability stuff”. It’s the crux of what we all want to avoid. But there is no getting to true strength without honoring those parts of us. It’s something I deeply resonated with, and felt alone in most of my life. It was something I resonated with.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.kristinacookenutrition.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/type2.diabetes.nutritionist
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kristina.cooke.79
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristina-cooke-rd-48729015/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@type2.diabetes.nutritionist
Image Credits
Nicole Freitag Photography
https://www.nicolefreitagphotography.com/