RDN Spotlight: Carlie Saint-Laurent Beaucejour, MS, RD, LDN

What is your ethnicity/race? Did your family have any customs related to food? Please describe.

Haitian-American. Soup Jou mou - New Year's Day, Good Friday Meal - an example is located in my IG highlights title "haitian tingz".

Where/when did you go to undergrad/dietetic internship/grad school?

I went to the University of Delaware, Class 2014, I did their distance internship from 2017-2018. I have my master’s in Clinical Nutrition from New York Institute of Technology.

Why did you decide to choose nutrition and dietetics as a career?

When I was originally a nursing student, I had never heard of a dietitian until I was doing a nursing externship at the local hospital and saw a woman in a lab coat checking on patients’ diets. It was so cool to me and never knew that it was a career possibility. That following semester I found out I no longer will be returning to the nursing program due to not passing 2 classes (don't take 7 classes in a semester y'all). I was fortunate enough to be going to a University with a great dietetics program and I already completed a majority of the prerequisites. It was meant to be.

What do you do now as an RDN and what does a typical day/week look like for you?

I have my own virtual private practice helping people prevent diabetes and hypertension, eat healthier, and improve their relationship with food. A typical week consists of half the week with back to back client session, the other half planning (social media content, challenges, creating meal plans, blog posts) doing administration things (billing, marketing, invoicing), and professional development (listening to podcasts, audiobooks, webinars, etc).

What is/was the biggest challenge for you in becoming a dietitian and how did you overcome that challenge? This can be related to being an RD of color or not just any challenge?

My biggest challenge was getting accepted into the internship. The whole DICAS process was confusing, daunting, and laborious. It took me 3 times to apply to finally get in a program.

Have you had any mentors in your career if yes how have those mentors affected your career/life?

Yes, I have. The mentors in my life motivate and inspire me to what I can become and encourage me in my ideas. It's nice knowing I am not alone on the journey and that people want me to succeed without anything in return.

Why do you think diversifying this field is important?

Diversifying the field is so important because nutrition and food shows our diversity as a human race. Without dietetics being diversified, it is doing an injustice and is harmful to our communities. Diversifying dietetics is the future.

What is a piece of advice you would give a student of color interested in entering the field of dietetics?

Don't give up. We need you. Ask for help. Don't compare someone else's journey to your own. It's great to have examples and mentors but no one is on your journey but you.