A Day In The Life of ‘Colleen Campbell, RNutr’

When I first sat down to write this article, it took me a while to decide what to focus on because my role is quite varied and dependent on the project I am working on. The variety is probably what I enjoy most about working as a Registered Nutritionist, coupled with being able to meet and help new people every week. I work mainly on a freelance basis running my own little nutrition consultancy, NutriShion, in Birmingham.

Regardless of the project I’m involved in, I try to schedule in 20 minutes before I leave the house to read and respond to emails and scroll through my social media feeds. I don’t have a permanent day to day office base as sometimes I will work from home and other times I will hire office/consultancy space on an hourly/daily basis, or I will work from my clients’ preferred premises.

When I work from home, I usually start my day at 9.00am. My time is occupied with planning and preparing presentations to deliver to clients, updating my business literature, corresponding with project stakeholders, writing content for my lifestyle blog, producing nutrition articles for the media and other blogs, conducting remote nutrition consultations online or by telephone, and keeping up to date with the latest nutrition news and research using peer-reviewed publications (e.g. journals, digital articles).

I have set days where I consult individuals on a face-to-face basis and this is when I hire a consultancy room or office within the city centre and offer 30 – 60 minute nutrition consultations. My key areas of interest are healthy eating and weight loss.

If I am working from a clients’ premises, I am usually working on a health and wellbeing project within a school (which is what I am doing now) or other establishment, delivering corporate wellbeing at a company’s office site or contributing my nutrition expertise at a health-related event such as a road show or support group meeting.

A career in nutrition is what you make of it. Decide what you are skilled in and passionate about and create a niche for yourself, but keep your eyes open for other opportunities that may be unrelated to the traditional path. For example, a couple of my previous weight loss patients used to ask me for styling tips after rediscovering fashion following their weight loss; as a fashion enthusiast myself I decided to incorporate an image styling service into my nutrition business so if I’m not doing nutrition work, I may be doing some personal styling work. I am also a qualified teacher so if my nutrition work is a little quiet, I take the opportunity to get back in the classroom and do some supply (agency) work teaching food technology or science within secondary schools.

I’ve been on the UKVRN since I graduated from university. Being on the Register gives me an enormous sense of pride because the credential signals to customers, employers and fellow colleagues that I’m a member of a profession that distinguishes nutrition practitioners who meet rigorously applied training, competence and professional practice criteria; after all, I don’t want to be placed in the same category as the so-called nutrition experts who advise against eating fruit or advocate a zero carbohydrate diet, do I? I’m looking forward to a future where the title, Registered Nutritionist (RNutr), is protected.
Registered Nutritionist (since 2010)
Graduated from King’s College London – BSc Nutrition