We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Monica Auslander Moreno a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Monica, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to hear about the things you feel your parents did right and how those things have impacted your career and life.
My parents are my heroes. They raised me to be philanthropic, compassionate, diligent, scholarly, humorous, humble, kind, playful, and resilient. Above all else, they taught me that all ailments can be treated with unconditional love. I never realized how special they were until I was an adult, and now raising my own child, how salient all their life lessons and infinite love could be. There was always a spare moment for play and hugs, and well into my teens, my mom would crawl into my bed before we went to sleep for pillow talk (+- various dogs).
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 back background and context?
I didn’t become a dietitian to proselytize. I became a dietitian because I truly thought food was scientifically *cool.* The ambush of chemistry classes — not so much — and I’ll die on a hill of that I will never be defined in my life via my career. We could chat at a party as strangers for hours and you’ll never know I was a dietitian. I maintain varied interests and I think that is what makes people interesting — being well-rounded and curious about topics apart from their profession. If you’re a lawyer and you think ANYONE wants to hear about ~the law~, please go take a nap. Because my team and I are not your *typical* dietitians (calorie counting, weight-obsessed, kale-worshippers), we bring a unique plate of knowledge and fun to the table, so to speak, with our work. Essence clients understand that transforming health is a deeply psychodynamic process, and in fact, we have several dedicated therapists on our team to have psychological work woven into ours. Our clients understand that health is a broad and all-encompassing concept and are happy to submit and surrender to the process of renovating their relationships with food far beyond “eat this, not that.” Our work is meticulous, intense, and ultimately extremely rewarding. We meet with clients weekly and are happy to shop with them, liaise with their household or care teams, dine with them, and embed ourselves into the fabric of their daily life so as to not merely serve as a “consult” service, but rather, nutrition general contractors that improve lives at large beginning with food. We want clients to discover that food is absolutely amazing and to be cherished and respected, not feared. We seek to banish a culture of diets, weigh obsessions, thin ideals, cultural biases, and seek to simply make healthy nutrition habits physically and psychologically enjoyable and attainable for children and families. We have specialized dietitians for pediatrics, geriatrics, female and men’s health, antenatal nutrition, sports, renal and digestive disorders, autoimmune disorders, general wellness, oncology, and pride ourselves on the unique relationships we foster with our clients that inspire them to harness their own self efficacy.
Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?
People who act out and are cruel, demanding, entitled, rude, or confer any other negative energy in our dealings are not clients we wish to engage with. Above all else, they deserve pity and love and require help. Something damaged them, something happened to them, something befell them (we’ll let our psychologists dig into that), but we will not accept disrespect from clients and are very selective with whom we work. Basically — no frowns allowed.
How do you keep your team’s morale high?
As one of the only group dietitian practices in the city, my dietitians are my engine and it’s crucial to keep them happy and feel honored and respected. I maintain a culture of high transparency, candidacy, and what some might consider “informality” between us because I have always been personally put off by “professional” environments that are too buttoned up because I believe they invoke fear and poor communication which leads to poor output. My dietitians all know they can always come to me with anything and we don’t work for the FBI – we’re just a bunch of contemporary healthcare workers who know we are the best and brightest and are coming together to serve clients in ways that are joyous and meaningful for them.
Contact Info:
- Website: http://www.essencenutritionmiami.com
- Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/eatlikemonica
- Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/essencenutritionmiami
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/monica-auslander-moreno-ms-rdn-07050b60/
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/essence-nutrition-miami
- Other: Book with us: [email protected]
Image Credits
Jordan Braun photography