Latest / Nutrition Connection by Dr. Kristen Hicks-Roof / 64: Briana Reamer MS, RDN, LDN - FOOD PHOTOGRAPHY / MEDIA

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64: Briana Reamer MS, RDN, LDN - FOOD PHOTOGRAPHY / MEDIA · Nutrition Connection by Dr. Kristen Hicks-Roof

• Kristen Hicks-Roof PhD, RDN: Hi, and welcome back to the Nutrition Connection Podcast, the show where science meets storytelling. I'm your host, Dr. Kristen Hicksroof, dietitian, researcher, and lifelong advocate of the role of nutrition, health, and wellness. Each episode, I sit down with dietitians and nutrition experts from across the food and healthcare systems, leaders whose work touches nearly every aspect of our lives. The views, thoughts, and comments on this podcast do not reflect those of my employer nor the employer of my guests. So let's go ahead and get connected. I'm super excited to bring on the guests today. We have cross pass over the time, and you guys are gonna be stoked to hear about her story. We have Brianna Reimer. She's a dietitian and food photographer at her own company, more than a dietitian. Welcome to the show, Brianna. Briana Reamer MS,RDN,LDN: Hi, thank you for having me and good to see you again. Kristen Hicks-Roof PhD, RDN: I know and I always love food photography. I know when I was teaching and my academic life, the students were always like, How do I get in like photography? And can you have a job in that? And so I'm like, Yeah, you can. You can be a dietitian and a food photographer. And you're such a perfect example. So we're gonna really get deep into it and have fun, I know. Briana Reamer MS,RDN,LDN: Mm-hmm. Kristen Hicks-Roof PhD, RDN: So let's start from the beginning, Rihanna. Like what really inspired you and made you even want to become a nutrition professional? And did you become a nutrition professional or a photographer first? Briana Reamer MS,RDN,LDN: Okay, so I did go to undergrad for dietetics. So that was the first direction was going into nutrition. It was my own personal journey. I was struggling with weight. I didn't understand. you know, first when you're in college, the first thing you see is a buffet. You get to eat whatever you want, three meals a day. You get to have variety. I came from a single parent home. So you and in the in the 80s. So you ate one meal and you ate that for the whole week. So in my mind, I was like, I can eat different meals, different times of the day. I can have ice cream if I want every day. It's not just a treat. So I went crazy. Okay. I was at Michigan State. I went crazy. Had a good time though, learned a lot, and learned a lot about myself. So when I took those experiences, I started to understand more. Kind of like you have your case studies, you're learning about people. And some of these people in the case studies were was me, was my family. And I said, I'm watching and I'm listening to how people were responding. And I said, was I doing things wrong in my own culture this whole time? So I felt a little ashamed for a while. But then I said, you know, I really want to see how I can make a difference in the profession and be able to help. with a lot of the stigmas that go on in all cultures, all walks of life. And you know, that's just kind of what made me stick to the nutrition profession. Kristen Hicks-Roof PhD, RDN: That's awesome. You know, and I feel like going back to when I was in college too, I think there was so much stigma. And I hope and I feel like it's gotten less less so of that. Like now I feel like you see so many more dietitians embracing cultural foods as part of nutritious dietary patterns, right? And but man, I remember when I was in college, I you kind of felt the same thing, right? When people judge you with everything, you're like, wait. Like our family eats greens for dinner. Like is that a that's a bad thing? Like what? Briana Reamer MS,RDN,LDN: Yeah. You're just like, okay. And then you say something and I was bold enough to speak. And so I would say things and people would sit back and say, was I not supposed to say that? was your family, you know, really eating this way, doing these things? And I'm like, Well, yeah. Like I'm from Michigan originally, even though I live in Chicago. but the way I was raised was from my Texas and my Louisiana roots. So Everything country is pretty much sitting on my plate, and I'm like, okay, this is how this is how you make bacon and eggs in the morning. You're supposed to cook your bacon first, you take that grease, you scramble your eggs in it, and that's how you season your eggs. And I did not know that I was taking in saturated fat. I didn't know that I was doing things I wasn't supposed to do. So again, you learn these things and you make adjustments, but you don't shame your culture at the same time. So it w it's been a it's been a journey. I learned a lot. Kristen Hicks-Roof PhD, RDN: I I have my Texas roots too and it's so funny because we love to garden and one of my daughter or whole family, we fight over okra at our household. Like when I grow okra, I mean that is like southern Texas. I mean that okra was staple, right? And I now live in Arizona and like it's so hard to find okra in Arizona. Briana Reamer MS,RDN,LDN: Yeah. Mm-hmm. What Kristen Hicks-Roof PhD, RDN: I'm like, why? You should grow it so easily. It should be at every supermarket. So yeah, I think there's a lot of interplay there. But I think many people have that same experience that you do, right? We quote unquote the freshman fifteen. I don't think that's really going away because people just they're exposed to so many different foods that maybe their parents never cooked. It's food unlimited at your the tips of your fingers, morning, noon, and night, right? So there's a lot of experiences that college I feel like opens people's eyes. And I used to love teaching the intro to nutrition class because people were like, like they s were starting to understand how food was affecting their bodies, which prior to them and their household, they didn't. So let's talk about your journey a little bit. What kind of careers, what kind of jobs have you had? And when did photography come into play and ultimately to where you are today? Briana Reamer MS,RDN,LDN: Okay, well, first when I got, well, let's back up. Every dietitian has probably gone through this before. Your first degree that you really want to go into, you want to be a doctor. So I was in pre-med. So I wanted to be an orthopedic surgeon. I was really excited. To this day, if you know my personality, I can't be quiet that long. I can't focus that long and concentrate. So I don't know how well of a surgeon I would have been. But Kristen Hicks-Roof PhD, RDN: yeah. Briana Reamer MS,RDN,LDN: I started out that way. Got very excited, obviously, about my own personal journey, which led me to do a lot of culinary work. So one of the first things I did was become a diet dietary manager. Yeah, that's what you are, CDM C F PP. So I did that. So I became a dietary manager after graduate undergrad. And then I was trying to get into an internship. I struggled. I got I said, okay, I'm I'm gonna try three times. So the first time I tried, I didn't get in. Okay, that's fine. You work. I remember I haven't my first job at working at Bob Evans as a manager. So I did that. And then you become a dietary manager back and forth. And you know, and I'm like, okay, I can do low risk patients. You know, this is getting me excited. I can still stay in nutrition, still do culinary work. And then over time, I enjoy cooking so much I didn't realize that that was becoming a part of my life. Okay. So that's how I end up, you know, doing a little cooking here and there. As I was looking for internship opportunities, the second time I applied, I said, listen, I'm gonna apply for graduate school at the same time. Let's see which one I get in first. I got into graduate school. So then I said, okay. That led me as a student at the University of Michigan, I was able to work in the hospitals. So I was a dietary manager. and then at the time when I was going into graduate school, my friend said, Hey, I think you should become a diet tech at the university. And I said, can I do that? Great. So you see, I'm having all of these jobs that are outside of being a registered dietitian, but I know they're all connected. So my journey was not for nothing. You know, I wanted to make sure that, hey, I'm gonna do nutrition. Come hella high water. I'm gonna be this dietitian. I'm gonna figure this out, right? So I become this diet tech, and then I end up going into research. So I get very excited to do that. And plus, you know, they they get to use me for work study, so why not? And then I'm doing research where I'm actually focused on packaging food. So I'm back in the kitchens. So I'm packaging food items for different research studies. So I'm excited about that. I'm doing measurements, the accurate recipes and and things like that. So I had that in my past. I had all these things under my tool belt. And then I started to understand, like, you, you know, you have to learn your purpose. And your purpose is what drives you. And I didn't realize that over time, not only was I in these p positions, but I started to realize how much I loved educating. So then when I started educating people on how to cook, and then I educated people on how to eat better. And then you start getting into a place where I think having my master's in health education really took me to a place where I wanted to go in more into health communications. So of course, we talked about the culture and all the concerns I had. And then third time around, there's layers to the story. So the third time around I apply. And I, in the way I applied, I was in Tennessee, I was doing a telehealth job, and I reached out to my old internship director. And I said, Hey, you know what? I can't get into this internship. So maybe I'll just be a dietek and just keep it moving, right? I just want some kind of credential. She said, Absolutely not. You've got way too much experience, way too much education to just be a dietek. You're gonna go back to the Midwest, you're gonna come to Chicago and do this internship. So I did it's ISPI. I took all my job experiences and I was able to do an internship and I was like, thank God I finally got in. So I get into this internship at Dominican University in Chicago, haven't left since, been here for about 13 some odd years now. And so during that time, I said, this is my passion. This is where I'm supposed to be educating, educating, educating. But I had all these talents, right? So for one, I got the gift of gab, I can talk all day. And then also I started to realize that my family actually loves to take photographs. And I didn't realize how important it was to have your culture represented in print. So When I started to pull that together, I said, yeah, I remember when I was a kid, I really loved taking pictures. My uncle, my mom's oldest brother, took photographs. We have like big bins of photographs, you know, to this day. And you can pull them out and I can Yep, Uncle Charles took this picture. I automatically know this was professionally done. I remember lo loading a camera and learning how to add film. When my mom, she also worked for the University of Michigan. so I remember when she Was like, I want to take a class. I guess I'll get back into photography. So she takes this black and white film class. I'm in the dark room with her. I think this is so cool. And I said, I think I want to do this now. So, more and more often, photography was just showing up in my life. So when I got my first job as a dietitian, one of the great things is that I worked on a research study. So the mind diet. I when I worked on the mind diet, what I loved is that for those five years, we had to engage these patients. We had to keep them going. So not only do you have to educate them, but you have to be able to keep them through the entire research study. And we were going through COVID. So we really had to engage them the entire time. So visual visualizations was so important that I said, tap in, tap into your skills and what you, you know, what you know how to do. so we had a lot of group sessions. I love doing those group sessions. And so I was very good at muse and plas because of culinary background. And I was able to create a recipe, grocery shop, organize it, do the cooking demonstration, do the education for that moment. And then I started to see compositions, and I didn't realize that there were so many compositions on my plate. As I was preparing food, as I was pulling it out of the oven. And I said, this is great. Storytelling. I said, this is what's gonna capture all these patients now. We can keep them, you know, going. And so they enjoyed it for the most part. We all did that, you know, throughout the the whole time of the research study. But I just had a a way about it that I just really loved. And so then I started telling everybody, I said, Hey, y'all. Going to photography school, I'm gonna start taking this at the end of the day. So I didn't have a car working in Chicago. That means I'm on the trains. I had to take a train for an extra 90 minutes just to get to the north side of Chicago to take these photography classes. I did not only take the classes, but over time I started teaching post-processing courses. So then the more you taught, the more you had credits to take more classes. So I learned about post-processing, color technique, the art of composition, printing. So, you know, I was like, so now I can take a photo and actually can go on a billboard. Great. I know what I'm doing now, right? I have I have made it. So there was a point in time when I said, I don't want to be a dietitian anymore. But I passed, you know, when you pass the exam, you never, ever, ever want to take that exam again. So I said, well, maybe. Yeah. So I said, well, maybe I'll just take. Kristen Hicks-Roof PhD, RDN: No, you hold those credentials to the grave. Briana Reamer MS,RDN,LDN: You know, like maybe one or two patients, whatever keeps you in that little 75 credits, you know, every five years. So I said, I'll do that. But I'm gonna be this food photographer. So I was excited. Keep in mind I don't do that. I I I know my worth now. But before I thought I was just gonna soar with this talent. But the reason why I talked about having a purpose is because your purpose is to educate, your talent is to help steer you through that purpose. And so I had to understand like, don't just go into your talent and think you're gonna just boom, blow up. It's great. If it happens, that's wonderful, but really stick to the mission because you were designed for this. So in every example I mentioned through my journey, it's all been educating. That's all I do is stand in front of people and educate all day long. So now it became full circle when the s when the Research study was ending. Then they had a second edition to their book. And then they needed someone to take photographs for the pictures and the recipes. And I said, Look who I got published in a book. What? You know, and it and I didn't realize how high profile the research study was till after I was done. Then I said, we were doing a pretty good thing. And we're actually helping individuals. And not only that, I helped myself. learn my talents and how I can add it to my purpose, which was educating overall and nutrition. Kristen Hicks-Roof PhD, RDN: I mean, that sounds incredible. It really sounds like a storybook, right? Like I'm like reading a book of adverse, you know, facing challenges. But, you know, I think so many dietitians are in similar boats, right? Of facing challenges, of also how do they merge their passions with something that will also bring in an income? You know, and you you talked about like, yeah, here I thought I was just gonna be this rising star and you know, I could just fully fully go this pathway. And then it's like, wait a minute, maybe that's not exactly either one, fulfilling, or two, financially reasonable. And so I think you're right, I'm gonna always hold on to those dietitian credentials. I don't know when I'd ever give those away. But I think that is something that, you know, you can have both of these career paths that merge into one because it goes into what's your purpose? And I loved how you really talked about that. Like your purpose is still to help people, is to educate, is to integrate nutrition and cultural foods. But you can do that via many different ways, you know, in the kitchen. I love how you're involved in research. I can't wait. Like I wish we could whole have a whole conversation about that, but we won't yet. So what does your day-to-day look like now? Briana Reamer MS,RDN,LDN: Right. well, first I did too much and I had way too many jobs doing too many things. So the beginning of the summer, I decided that I was going to leave my job in outpatient care. So diabetes education is what I did. I was there, I did four 10-hour days, I worked way too much, and I did telehealth in the evening. Well, you gotta fund your passion, right? You gotta fund that talent, and photography is not cheap. And the way they pay you is not gonna always supplement that. All the toys and the gadgets that you want, right? so I had to take that you know, that opportunity to say, you know what, do telehealth at home. So I love the fact that I'm doing that now. I do that every single day. give a take, maybe one or two days that I could take off. In the middle of the day, though, I don't work. So what I love is that I flex my hours in the middle of the day. I do photography. I'm also getting in more into the media so that visually I can actually walk into spaces and have people who look just like me understand, I can eat healthy. she's struggling too. Okay, let's do this all together. Let's make this work so that we can not only eat healthy and live healthy, but not think that eating and living healthy means the absence of culture. And that it means the absence of something that won't look delicious and you know enjoyable. So I've been doing that for a while. this summer I've had a lot of job opportunities come up where I'm doing a lot of partnerships with certain food companies so I can help with their blogs. Also, so I can help not only with their blogs, but also doing TV segments. So encouraging healthy eating with foods that Are minimally processed, we'll put it that way. And then you have an opportunity because let's face it, we are in a time now where food is expensive. Not only is it expensive, if you had ten dollars, I mean, I don't know how many times I've had someone tell me that came into my office and said I only had five dollars. So I did a two for five at a restaurant. And so I had a burger for lunch and I had the other burger for dinner. Well, yeah, that five dollars could have went towards some fruits and some vegetables, but would that have satisfied them? So how can I help them find ways that they can prepare a meal that is healthy and acceptable for them and their budget? So that's another part of culture, you know, where you're trying to really figure out how am I gonna eat healthy and still live in this society? Leave it at that, right? Kristen Hicks-Roof PhD, RDN: You know, it you bring Yeah, and you bring me back too. So I used to teach a socio-cultural nutrition class when I was a professor. And one of the things I used to always teach my students is you have to show diversity in multiple different ways, right? And that was in the photography that you're using. Like if you're developing handouts, let's say for a community clinic, are you using a diverse set of people, whether that's ethnicity, that's age, that's different. physical abilities, right? Or non-abilities. And so it was like you can show it visually, but then you also have to show it in the content that you're doing. You know, I remember I gave a lecture. my God, I I shudder when I remember this because I got invited to give a lecture when I was in Florida to a community church, predominantly African-American. I was so early in my career, and I was like, right, like. Fruits and vegetables and whole bre it was like so my plate, which I love my plate, but I was like, here I am talking to these people, no mention of cultural foods, no photography of people who look like them, no discussion about topics that really actually resonated with them. And I leave, and it was just like silence. And after that I was like, I butchered that. Like I seriously butchered that, you know? And I started learning, if you don't know who you're talking to, then you're not gonna do a good job, right? Because like if you're going and talking to whoever the brand is, right, and you want to know what their audience is, is their audience high socioeconomic factor, you know, high socioeconomic people living in the ur urban area, are they way out in the rural area where they have less access, right? And so there's like so many different layers to this. And so when I used to teach that class, I talked about it in not only visual, but like the content you're producing, and you know, and the photography that you're using. And I would think more people need to really think about that when they're writing their content and presenting. Would you say the same? Briana Reamer MS,RDN,LDN: a hundred percent. Yeah. I I know that I struggled. Well, that was like a little part of why I got into photography even more. because during that process of going into the research study, one of the things is that every time I created a recipe, I did not see African American hands. I did not see anyone else's culture really shown in those photographs. And I said, I, you know, I I want to be able to make something like that happen. and that kind of led me to there's other things that I do in the culinary space where I started pitching ideas, and then I got into a mentorship program with the James Beard Foundation. So, you know, being in that space, I had mentors who mentors who still help me to this day. still things that I need help with in understanding the culinary space because I don't work in the back of the kitchen 100%. That was Bob Evans. Okay. That was when I was in my 20s, when they were like, hey, those are newspaper jobs. Okay. If anybody understands, that's when you had to go in the newspaper, you found a job, you want to make $30,000 here. This is where you start. And I thought $30,000 was a lot of money back then, you know? so I got really excited. But anyhow, when you're really trying to figure out How to appeal to individuals, what's the best style of cooking methods, you know, and and then just kind of saying, okay, what do you guys do? What is your, you know, kind of like what's their expertise when it comes to going into different environments? So because a lot of these people are classically trained. So they've gone to all of these different spaces, but then they're like, hey, I run a food truck. And I'm like, really? And tell me more, right? So it's nice to kind of like rub elbows with all these individuals. but I'm still a regular, you know, everyday person. But when I do get excited, because I'm like, my gosh, like I went to the media awards, probably because I live in Chicago, it's so easy to get to. And I'm sitting behind someone, I'm like, my gosh, I've got your cookbook. If I had it, In my purse because I had a little clutch, but I'm like, I'm gonna bring a purse next time because I'm gonna open my book and let you and make you sign it. Right. I couldn't fangirl, I was in a room full of people where I deserved to be in that room, and I said, I can't act this way, but I was I was so fangirling. Kristen Hicks-Roof PhD, RDN: You feel it on the inside. I did that at AAPA, the conference. There was someone, there was a contestant from Love Is Blind that my friends friends with, and he was at the booth and I was like, my God. I was like totally fangirling in your social. So I get it. So how do you feel like how does science kind of come into your day-to-day? Like, do you use science in your day to day? Briana Reamer MS,RDN,LDN: I will in a sense where if I'm talking to people that are diabetic. I I think that's the best example because in the telehealth job that I have now, I love the fact that AI have taken on the opportunity for you to take a picture of your food. So I want you to take a picture of your food. I need you to balance out your carbs and your protein. I need to make sure I'm understanding where your blood sugars are lying at that moment. So I think that has been the big the biggest thing. And I love the my blade. We're not I got confused with the upside the right side up pyramid back in the day. So this upside down pyramid, I don't understand. But I tr you know we can't. Kristen Hicks-Roof PhD, RDN: Well we're not gonna get we're not gonna get too deep on that, but I think there's a translation. One of these papers I wanna write one day is like what is the translation for a plate? 'Cause it can be. It's just people love people love images that can be like very easily mimics, right? Especially like the plate was a concept. So yeah, I did love my plate and yeah, we won't get too deep in that. Okay, so but what so what's been what's been like your favorite so far? What Briana Reamer MS,RDN,LDN: Right. Right. no, we can't. We can't, we can't, but we Kristen Hicks-Roof PhD, RDN: or like something you're most proud of in your career because you've held a lot of different jobs and you've overcame a lot of adversary and my gosh, I cannot say that word today. Yeah, you've you've overcame a lot of adversity. So what's been your favorite? Briana Reamer MS,RDN,LDN: Adversity, yeah. I will say the challenges that I went through and how I overcame them has been the biggest accomplishment because it went from if I could be honest, I was having a little riff with some, you know, some individuals that work with you because everyone wants to be the best at the best at the best. And you're like, Whoa, wait a minute, you're good at this, I'm good at this. Let's start learning our own talents, skills, and abilities. But Sometimes that wasn't, you know, the thing. And so you have that work politics that you try to get through. And there were some unfortunate microaggressions that I had to deal with. And so to be honest, I overcame them. And not only did I overcome them with the work that I did, I said to myself, Yeah, you do belong here. You you belong here in every step of the way. Not only did you help your patients get through this research study, but you also Have been able to talk about this research study in so many other avenues throughout your career. And then now, you know, being in the book, I'm like, who else can say that on the study, I should say? You know, who else could say? Like, yeah, I got published, you know, like my first time out. And I was like, wow. And at that time, I'm also proud of that because I also had breast cancer. So when I was diagnosed with breast cancer, I wasn't trying to pick up my camera. I didn't know what I was gonna do. I was just dealing with, hey, I gotta go to work. I gotta pay these medical bills and I gotta go home and recover. And when I was able to beat that on top of, you know, walking in the door and dealing with all the adversities, I said, you know what? Yeah, you're you're a force. And I said, Okay, Lord, this is what you put on me. This is what I'm supposed to deal with. I'm just gonna keep rocking and rolling. So I think that's where a lot of that the parts of me that become so strong to overtake where I can say, I'm proud of that. I'm proud of all these things that I've done and that I've accomplished. And I can't wait to do more. I'm in my mid forties and let's let's keep rolling. What else can I do in nutrition? You know, let's keep going. Kristen Hicks-Roof PhD, RDN: And there's so much of a future ahead, you know, and I I think you you gave a good example of like how there were some, you know, challenges of people wanting to be the best. One of my favorite things about being a dietitian is you can kind of do a little bit of everything or you can really get into your niche and do one thing, you know? But if you're like, I'm gonna dabble in this space, I'm gonna do food photography in this space, I'm gonna counsel a little bit, I'm gonna, you know, and I think that is something that is a great opportunity for our profession, is that you can be really good in one thing and you don't necessarily have to compete against other people because they're gonna find their own niche, you know, and we can help each other. One of the things I hope and pray that the academy just rises up to like, let's stop fighting each other and let's support each other because we're all in it for the same mission. we wanna help people. And that's ultimately your driver, right? That's what you talked about. Like that's one of your purposes. So Briana Reamer MS,RDN,LDN: Yeah. Yeah. Kristen Hicks-Roof PhD, RDN: What suggestions, and thanks for opening up. I know, I mean, I can only imagine that was challenging. I've had several friends go through breast cancer, and that is a whole nother story, and I don't want it to be unacknowledged. So I'm definitely I'm glad you're still here and you're rocking it and you have a lot more great things to do. So, what tips or advice would you give for someone who is interested in a career like yours? Maybe interested in the balance, trying to understand working with brands, overcoming challenges of Briana Reamer MS,RDN,LDN: yeah. Kristen Hicks-Roof PhD, RDN: Especially, you know, some demographic challenges or other adversities. I don't know why I did not say that to So what tips would you have for someone? Briana Reamer MS,RDN,LDN: Yeah, there you go, you said my Think that you have to still stay true to yourself. No matter what the world is trying to tell you and trying to shape you into who they think you should be, you know, you you really gotta be true to yourself. That's why you really gotta know your purpose. And you have to start observing the talents that you have, because when you observe those talents, though those become transferable skills. Okay. So no matter what job you have, if you haven't gotten into your internship just yet, that is still okay. Whatever job you have. You learn how to add that skill into that application. Okay. And then once you get that internship, you learn how to make that adaptable. You could be in customer service and realize in the meanwhile, I still have to learn how to communicate. Not everybody that's a dietitian knows how to use communication effectively. So some people are just science, science, science. And let me tell you, because I know these things, because I went to school for these things. And it's like, no, no, no, no, no. I am not the expert of your body. You are the expert of your body. So now I have to be able to tell you what I know and see how I can help you along your journey. Then if you don't take those skills and if you don't take and I don't want to say the skills, if you don't take those bad days, those hard moments, if you really don't take those lemons and make lemonade, it's gonna consume you. You cannot sit there and feel bad because you were. working in a space with mean girls or you were in a space that challenged you and made you feel like you were a failure. You know how many times I did things and everyone used me as a teachable moment. It was so embarrassing. And then I was like, okay, use me as a teachable moment. I dare you. So now not only do I know what to do, but I can do it 10 times better. Because now you know everybody made me, you know, the teachable moment. So you have to take those moments and say to yourself, you know what, I'm gonna be okay. I'm I'm really gonna be okay as long as I tap into myself, my purpose, have those talents, use them as transferable skills so you can personalize who you are. And that's how you get set apart. That's how when it's time to talk to a brand and you wanna be on TV one day, you wanna do media work, you you know, you have to be able to set yourself apart. Now, one of the things that's bad about me. I listen to what I say, not always what I do, because I am someone that it is really hard to find my niche because I've done so many things. So I'm like, hey, don't stick me in this one category of diabetes when I can pivot and go into heart disease or any area cardiometabolic, or don't put me in those spaces when I actually can do photography. So there's so many things where you're like, okay, if you got the time to pivot, you can, but you know, be true to that one purpose. So for me, it was educating. So I'm able to educate in all those different platforms. Kristen Hicks-Roof PhD, RDN: Yeah, when it always goes back to that driver, right? Your driver is to help people through education. So yeah, I think I think we can wear many hats. I think sometimes it is hard because you got you maybe get pinholed in one area. And so you have to, you know, show to other people that no, I'm not just that person. And I think sometimes that is that does happen, but not always. So I think really helpful tips and advice of just be authentic too. That's one of the things that I've seen over and over my career. Let's like Yes, people can fake it and make it, but you also kind of see that in some of the content they produce. Or you see that in, you know, the passions. But then if you just stick to things that you're really passionate about, you also really see that. You see that in the voice. You see that in the nonverbal language, you right? And so I think just like stick to what you love and and be authentic to yourself. And I think that's really good advice. Okay, my favorite question. If you had a crystal ball, Brianna, what do you think is coming next in nutrition? Briana Reamer MS,RDN,LDN: Yeah. I think what you were talking about, you know, what's coming up in the future is that dietities just needs to start making food and feel more human. We are human, it's not just data-driven information. So I believe people are catching on to that. So that now in the future, you're gonna start to see more individuals, and I don't know if that's support from the content creators, but on social media, but it's allowing us to be human. That's why I'm okay with sharing that okay, I had breast cancer. I'm a survivor. I'm in remission. Wonderful. I can now touch on that. Now, would it make me tear up some days? Yeah, you know, but you get through that. You're able to talk about, yeah, it's hard being a plus size dietitian. How do you talk about I'm trying to lose weight, I'm trying to move forward, I'm doing just like what you're doing. So that human feel is the future of nutrition. And it's really going to, it's really going to really resonate with so many individuals. Kristen Hicks-Roof PhD, RDN: It's a differentiator too. I think we need all shapes, sizes, colors, ethnicities. I think we need dietitians of everyone. And I think that's been a big issue really in our profession in dietetics, is it's been a lot of white females, right? And nothing against white females. Trust me, I'm a white female myself, but I think it's an opportunity to diversify our profession because that also brings in. Different cultural foods that also brings in different life experiences, right? Like you would talked about, you know, being raised, I think you said a single fam a single parent. Is did you say at the beginning? So I mean like that experience when you counsel patients who may be in that same scenario, it would be different than someone who didn't, right? And I think all these life experiences having breast cancer, like those life experiences allow you to be a different communicator and storyteller. To help pay people in different ways. I think that's why content creators are so good at what they do because they connect with people and they feel it. And I think we can, as nutrition professionals, connect with people to like make food that is nutritious but also tastes really good. Right. Like I I just posted on LinkedIn not too long ago. Like I remember chicken, broccoli, and brown rice, and I ate that literally every day for like mu I don't even know. It felt like months, if not years. And I looked back and I was like, why? Why did that was that the only thing we could eat? Do you remember that? Like in your training, it was that was it. If you veered outside of that, it was not healthy. And I'm like, I feel like we're under this new era, a new Taylor Swift era that we can embrace all and we can, you know, show that food can be nutritious and delicious. Briana Reamer MS,RDN,LDN: Ha ha. Yeah. So that's my hopes. My hopes is, you know, when I take the photographs, you you can feel it, you can understand it. It tells a story. you know, in the future I might go into blogging because I have a million and one stories about my life. if you ever met me in person, I'm kind of introverted in the beginning, but then I just and I just go. Kristen Hicks-Roof PhD, RDN: Yeah that say I don't think you are introverted. Not even I bet you, but thank you so much, Breonna, for coming on the show. Rank sure if you like the podcast, like, subscribe, leave a review. But most importantly, check out the next episode because every episode I bring on a different dietitian and nutrition expert to share their story and give you tips and advice on how to be successful. Briana Reamer MS,RDN,LDN: Yeah.