We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Earnestine Jackson. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Earnestine below.
Earnestine, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Was there a defining moment in your professional career? A moment that changed the trajectory of your career?
I began my journey to becoming a Registered Dietitian in 2012. After graduating a year early from my Bachelors program in 2015, I was required to complete a 1200 hour competitive internship in order to sit for the board exam to become a Registered Dietitian. Upon completing my Bachelors degree, it became a great challenge to get accepted into an internship. The national acceptance rate averages at about 50%, leaving top scholars without an internship. I spent 4 years working within the field of nutrition, but not as a dietitian. I gained experience in the field, but while doing so, I was underpaid, overworked, and not fulfilled. My goal was to gain work experience in the field that would make me a better candidate for the internship. During this time, I also went back to school to earn my Masters of Science in Nutrition as well. Working in the field of nutrition without being a licensed dietitian limits what job duties you’re able to perform, as well as salary, regardless of the degrees accompanied your name. I knew I wanted to help others learn about healthier eating and how to create a healthier relationship with food, but without my license, I was limited to what I could do. My husband and I came up with the idea of starting a meal prep company. We started Eatz By E Meal Prep as a way of helping others make healthier choices by providing healthy precooked meals. Although this wasn’t exactly what I wanted to do, it allowed me to begin my journey as an entrepreneur and also allowed me to begin helping others become healthier through food. While working and running the meal prep business, I managed to eventually get accepted into the internship. Of course, a new obstacle came about; we weren’t about to afford to pay the tuition based cost for the internship ($11,000). My admission was held for an additional year in which my husband and I spent working extra hours at our jobs and meal prepping to earn extra funds. A year later, I began the internship and completed it within 6 months. After completing the internship, I struggled to pass the national exam. It took me 3 attempts, and on the third try, I passed the exam and officially became a Registered Dietitian. This moment changed the trajectory of not only my business, but my also my life. Shortly before testing for the third time, COVID negatively impacted our meal prep business drastically which resulted in Eatz By E Meal Prep temporarily closing. Although heartbreaking, this gave me the time to focus on studying for my exam and passing– in which I did. Once I became a Registered Dietitian, I knew I wanted to get business going again, but didn’t have the passion to cook anymore. I wanted to help others manage health conditions through food and teach them how to become healthier– the mission didn’t change. At this time, I decided to rebrand Eatz By Meal Prep into All Things Nutrition. Rebranding has now allowed me to exercise my license as a Registered Dietitian, service more people, and make a greater impact.
Earnestine, 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?
I was born and raised in Garland, TX. I grew up in a household where I was the youngest of 9. With such a big family, food was introduced as a survival mechanism– you ate what was presented to you. when it was presented to you, and no further questions asked. The focus was making sure we weren’t hungry, not making sure we were properly fueled and nourished. With that in mind, I grew up on fast, convenient foods such as noodles, sandwiches, etc. Of course we ate fruits and vegetables, but not as often or as much as we should have. This eventually led to me being an overweight child/adolescent. I joined sports at the age of 13, but we all know you can’t outwork a bad diet. At the age of 16, a few events took place that pushed me towards pursuing the field of nutrition. The first, I joined another sport, boxing. With me being overweight and young, there wasn’t many other athletes for me to compete against which led to me training vigorously with no fight. My coaches pulled me to the side and told me if I wanted to get more fights and actually compete, I would need to lose weight to fight in a different weight class. At this same time, my mother was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. Her doctors prescribed her medication and told her to “eat better”. They didn’t provide her with any guidance, direction, etc., and watching her become overwhelmed and frustrated hurt me. I was so confused as to why there wasn’t anymore action or resources available to assist my mom. This year I was in the 10th grade and enrolled in a health science class. I knew I wanted to be in the medical field, but wasn’t sure what I wanted to do. At the time, we learned a little about diabetes and I took that information, with the help of a few Google searches, and designed a meal plan for both my mom and I to follow. Together we lost over 100 pounds– I was able to move to a lower weight class to compete in boxing and my mom was able to get off of 50% of her diabetic medications. At this moment, I knew EXACTLY what I wanted to do. I wanted to help others make simple changes to their diets that would get them loud results. I wanted to become a Registered Dietitian. I now offer nutrition coaching in which I work with clients one-on-one over 1-6 months to assist them with accomplishing their nutrition related wellness goals. I don’t push diets, restrictions, or trends. I beleive in creating a lifestyle change that includes balance without guilt. My main focus is fine tuning the areas in my client’s life that will make an impact on their goals. The journey is 100% customized to fit my clients wants, needs, and desires. A part of the coaching program includes us dissecting the thoughts that my client has around food because this interferes with their nutrition journey as well. We focus on many aspects that effect our relationship with food, on and off the plate. I also offer custom meal plans, macronutrient calculations, article creations, and contract work for other companies. I also offer funny, foodie graphic tees and will be adding kitchen gadgets in the near future. I do a lot of freelance, one-off work as well where people can hire me to assist them with any nutrition/wellness related tasks.
Any advice for growing your clientele? What’s been most effective for you?
Growing clientele is a beast within its own and the proper way to do so varies based on the field. Personally, I have witnessed the most effective strategy for growing clientele is in the health and wellness field is with practicing what you preach. I not only tell others how to achieve their nutrition goals, but I publicly share my goals as well and the journey to accomplish them. When it comes to food selections and meal choices, I share on all social media platforms. Not only do I post, but I share free nutrition information/education about what it is that I am sharing. When people see value in what you give for free, they become more interested in spending money with you. Another strategy that I implement is being very social and vocal on social media. It seems very simple and ineffective, but it works wonders, especially over time. People buy into personality. If you are friendly online, give small gems, free advice, and implement what you’re sharing with others, they are more likely to remember you. People become interested in the life you live, what you like to do, etc. Many times people may not even need your product or service, but they become a customer or a client of your because they like what they see and choose to support. Even if they can’t benefit from your service or product, they will more than likely recommend you to someone else who could. At this point, they have spent so much time getting to know you online, they are ready to vouch for you and basically sell your product/service to the person they are recommending. With that being said, I spend a lot of time on social media simply interacting with others with the goal of drawing them into my page. After learning my target audience and followers, I created a social media posting schedule for all platforms. Consistency is key when it comes to social media. Regardless of the amount of likes, shares, followers, etc. I get, I continue to post. This gives people something to look forward to and keeps your name fresh on their feed. The way you post, your caption, etc. are more ways for people to get to know you online. Again, personality sells. Although social media is the greatest way that I have grown my clientele, there are other ways that I have effectively done so. I connect and network with others in the field. I offer collabs, trade offs, etc. to other businesses who could benefit from my service. This simply expands my exposure. I would say most importantly, to grow my clientele, I never stop talking about my business. If you share conversation with me, you know that I’m a Registered Dietitian and you know that I own my private practice.
We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?
I had to unlearn that having a degree meant direct success. I have both my Bachelors and Masters of Science in Food and Nutrition. In addition, I am a licensed Registered Dietitian nationally and in 2 states (1 pending). I just knew that after I accomplished the journey that I did, I would step into immediate success. I have been told all my life that once you finish your degree that success is next. With this in mind, I first had to decide what success looks like for me. I learned very quickly that success has several meanings and it looks different to everyone. I grew up in an era where education was everything; not that it isn’t now, but in the 90s and 2000s, getting an education was the only way to society that you could make money and be deemed as successful. As times has changed, I learned in order to be successful, you have to be able and willing to change with the times. With that being said, I had to unlearn society’s definition and standards on being successful. I had to learn that success isn’t only measured by a 9-5 or the amount of money in your bank account. I had to reshape my focus and desire on what I wanted out of my career, which was more than just a check. I had to unlearn the corporate expectations of success and establish my own lane as an entrepreneur.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.allthingsnutrition.org
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/allthingsnutrition__/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/allthingsnutritionllc
- Other: tiktok.com/@allthingsnutrition__
Image Credits
Merissa Fleming