Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Letal Garber. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Letal, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Can you share an anecdote or story from your schooling/training that you feel illustrates what the overall experience was like?

One of the best decisions I ever made was listening to that gut feeling I got when I spent nearly 2 years in pre-med classes preparing for a career I was not passionate about. Instead of pushing through what I thought was the only career my medical interests could lead me to, I pivoted and thought about what else I could do. But, it all kind of was a happenstance. I worked for a Gastroenterologist practice and at one of the Christmas parties I met a clinical dietitian that worked with our doctors. Her job seemed so interesting and I inquired what it took for her to get to her position. After I learned of the steps I could take, I met with my college advisor and she said my only 2 options would be to go to a coordinated program (masters in nutrition and internship combined) or transfer to another 4 year school with a nutrition major. The latter option was out of question, so I switched majors and started aggressively applying to the very few programs all over the US. A few years later I packed my bags and moved to Atlanta for my opportunity to make the first steps towards my chosen career!

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your background and context?

My path towards the wellness industry was not always clear.. After grad school some of us got lucky enough to land a job in one of the internships we rotated through, yet most of us just applied to any job we could get. I started in long term care as a nutrition manager in a facility with 100+ beds. Most of my responsibilities revolved around making sure my patients were getting adequate nutrition and on the correct diets for their chronic health conditions. It became very clear to me that this was not a passion of mine. When the opportunity for a promotion to regional manager slipped through my fingers, I knew it was time to shift gears. I applied for a clinical dietitian role at an Endocrinology office dealing with Diabetes and was out the door! Over the years, I discovered my love for Diabetes and alleviating the burden of its management for people through education and awareness. I also knew that health behavior change must start from the correct mindset, so I acquired Yoga teacher and Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction trainings to help my clients improve their overall well-being.

Western medicine makes us live in a fragmented way, alleviating one symptom at a time and focusing on cures rather than preventative solutions. I’ve always been intrigued in fusing the eastern practices of mindfulness with the esoteric trainings I acquired in my role AS a clinical dietitian.

That’s what I focus on in my current role as a dietitian in a virtual health company, Vida, and in my own business, Letal Nutrition and Wellness, LLC. My services include general nutrition counseling, Diabetes education and mindfulness instruction (yoga, meditation and breath-work). They are fee-for-service offerings that may be combined a la carte or purchased as packages. My colleague, Caroline Young, and I also created a course about connecting mind and body practices through nutrition lessons, intuitive eating tips, mindfulness videos, and more. This is a lifetime access course that is completely self-paced and aimed to help our students improve their relationship with their body and food.

I am passionate about helping others on the preventative side of health, and also to realize if they are burdened by chronic disease, that they can become empowered to change that narrative.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

The Covid outbreak was arguably the most stressful event in my adult life. I’m sure I’m not alone in that. During this time I was still working at the Endocrinology practice and feeling burnt out. I knew it was unlikely I would grow in my position and feeling quite stuck. My dream was to work remotely and experience the freedom of setting my own schedule. As a lover of coffee, I imagined myself working from a cafe on my own pace. For some reason that dream fell further and further away as I matured in my career. When we shifted to remote work at our practice it was a temporary solution while navigating the pandemic. Inevitably, we had to go back into the office. After getting a taste of remote work, I didn’t want to go back to in person work. Then the opportunity to work as a clinical dietitian in a remote virtual setting fell in my lap! It was like my prayers were answered and just like that, I set up my home office (along with much of the world) and began living my dream. Sometimes I wonder if it weren’t for Covid, would I have chased this opportunity at all? Would I still be stuck in a 9-5, commuting on a daily basis? I’m forever grateful for this shift in my career!

Other than training/knowledge, what do you think is most helpful for succeeding in your field?

Training and knowledge in nutrition and wellness is just the tip of the iceberg. In order to persevere in this business, I believe you must maintain grit, persistence, patience, and most importantly, compassion and empathy towards your clients. Through motivational interviewing, I’ve had to unlearn this concept called “righting reflex,” an innate sense of wanting to course correct the client whenever they behave in a way unaligned with their goals. That is always counterproductive because people are driven by their inner motivators, not yours! Building rapport with clients takes time, patience, and a great deal of empathy. By doing this you help the member (please change to client instead of member) open up and share their true desires and wants… over time you create a plan together and gently guide them down this path while emphasizing their autonomy. This is very difficult to do, which is why maintaining grit is very important. Reminding myself what my purpose is periodically helps me refill my cup when I feel it is on empty. Helping others is a tiresome task, and it is vital that we take time for self-care in order to fully show up for people.

Contact Info:

• Website: Letalvitality.com
• Instagram: Instagram.com/lgarberrd
• Other: https://makingconnectionswithnutritionandyoga.teachable.com/p/makingconnectionsforfreedom/ -course

Image Credits
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