Entering New Territory (Blog Hop Week 4)

This was my comfort-zone.

I've worked as a dietitian in the hospital setting for about 6 out of my 8 years as a dietitian. 

During that time I met many families who needed nutritional advice and instructions about the type of diet to follow based on a medical diagnosis. For example, the families of children with newly diagnosed diabetes needed to learn about carbohydrate foods, balanced eating, and blood sugar management. Families of children undergoing cancer treatment needed suggestions for nausea management and nutrient-dense options to support weight maintenance as much as possible. I was comfortable going to work every day, not knowing exactly what I would encounter, but still feeling ready to offer families whatever advice they needed at the time. 

But I recognized that it's not just a matter of "knowing the right answer" or "trying hard enough to follow instructions" ... there are so many variables that come into play in the real world outside of the family's visit with a nutritionist that can make it difficult to follow through on the suggestions they are given. So I wanted to create a tool that could really make a difference for families to help them implement the feeding recommendations that they are given by their medical team. 

During my 3 years at Duke I had started working with a team of doctors to create a diabetes management app. I was inspired by my work on that app to consider what type of nutrition app would be useful for families. 

One of the themes that I noticed across the board was that unless a child is willing to eat the food that is served to them, the food won't get in to be able to help nourish them.

I wondered... could an app work some magic to help kids actually want to eat the foods that are healthy for them??

The stars aligned in my life to be able to move to NYC where my sister lives, around the same time as the diabetes app project was becoming more demanding, so I was at a crossroads where I needed to make a decision. Would I stay at Duke and do my best to juggle my work there in addition to spending my evenings working on the diabetes app too? Or would I take the leap to quit my day-job and delve deeper into the app world to take on a second project too and create a nutrition app?

At that time, I was very nervous to leave the comfort and security of a 9-5, a paycheck, a community of fabulous colleagues, and a job that I absolutely loved. I was nervous about the unknowns of what app development would involve, where all the funds would come from, how it would feel to work from home when I had always enjoyed the collaborative setting of the hospital, and so many other things in my life that would change if this happened.

But at the same time, I knew that the power of apps was so fascinating to me and I wanted to dedicate more of my efforts to create a tool for my colleagues and the families we work with in order to help improve the nutrition and quality of life for kids and their parents!

So I did it -- last April I left my job at Duke and made the move from NC to NYC. I assembled a team of app developers who did a fabulous job implementing the illustrations that my sister created for Tiny Tastes. And we haven't stopped working on the app since! 

This was a huge leap for me to take, and it still remains to be seen how things will work out practically for us over time. But I am so glad that I made this decision, because now I am able to help more than just a certain number of kids per day in the hospital setting, as Tiny Tastes can now reach countless numbers of children and families to help them meet their goals! We've designed the app to not only help families with medical needs, but also to make the feeding process more fun for anyone trying to reach their own nutrition goals as well, such as helping kids want to taste new foods or eat more fruits & vegetables. 

I don't personally have any children, but I have gotten to know so many parents and kids over the years that I have tons of respect for what parents & families sacrifice for their children and how much they work, give, love, and care for their children's wellbeing. I am happy when there is something that I can share with them through Tiny Tastes in order to help reduce stress and improve the enjoyment of a family's food and their time together.

We're all in this crazy adventure called life, and I hope that you and yours have fun trying all kinds of new things along the way!