Kristen Hicks-Roof PhD, RD: Welcome back to Nutrition Connection, the show where science meets storytelling. I'm your host, Dr. Kristin Hicks-Roof, dietitian, researcher, and lifelong advocate of the role of nutrition, health, and wellness. Each episode, I sit down with dietitians and nutrition experts all across the food and healthier landscape, leaders whose work touches nearly every aspect of our lives. So whether you're a student, a seasoned professional, or someone simply curious about food, nutrition, and health, this podcast is just for you. The views, thoughts, and comments on this podcast do not reflect those of my employer nor the employers of my guests. So let's go ahead and get connected. I'm excited to bring out a new connection of mine. have Kim Blum. She is an adjunct faculty at Health Sciences at Purdue University Global, and she's the owner of KB Nutrition Consulting. Welcome to the show, Kim.

Kim Blum: Thanks, Kristin. I'm glad to be here.

Kristen Hicks-Roof PhD, RD: So Kim and I met actually via email through Purdue University Global. So I was excited for her to come on, because I know a lot of people are really interested in adjuncting and private practice and how these two kind of can have synergy together. So I can't wait to dive into that as we get down the road. But let's start from the beginning here. Kim, what inspired you and made you want to become a nutrition professional?

Kim Blum: Yeah, Kristen, that's obviously a good question and one that I can answer very easily. would say from since I can remember as a young child, my dad actually used to get nutrition newsletters sent to the house. And so I would read them and become very interested. I was interested in in the science and understanding how food and nutrition could help people in so many ways. And so it really inspired me to pursue a degree in this area. When I applied to college, I went to Michigan State University and the dietetics program ⁓ required organic chemistry. And so at first I was like, no way, I am not going into the field of dietetics. I don't want to take organic chemistry, but I decided to bite the bullet and I... thought through it and here we are today.

Kristen Hicks-Roof PhD, RD: That's so funny. So I love how you talked about you as a kid having this exposure. So we have three little girls and my oldest, her name's Lily. And she's been really fascinated that I started this podcast. Like she's like, mom, I wanna listen. And like I do print media and news media all the time. And she's like, I wanna read it. So maybe these are setting the seeds for her growing up to become a nutrition professional. What can only hope? Okay, see you.

Kim Blum: you Right, exactly!

Kristen Hicks-Roof PhD, RD: You ended up deciding that you wanted to pursue nutrition, overcoming organic chemistry, which I know is challenging for many of us. I was also on that journey. What have you been doing since you finished your degree plan? So you're at Michigan State. Let's talk about your journey. What sort of positions have you held ultimately to get you to where you are today, which is the owner of KB Nutrition Consulting?

Kim Blum: you Yeah, so I got through organic chemistry, graduated from Michigan State. At the time, ⁓ as you know, registered dietitians only needed to do a dietetic internship. I decided to do a master's program and dietetic internship combined, which I'm very, very grateful that I chose that route. ⁓ And it was probably the most intense time of my life, but ⁓ it was an unbelievable experience. went to Rush University in Chicago, and then out of grad school, I pretty much knew I did not want to work in a hospital, which, I mean, now there are so many different roles for dieticians. When I was in school, you know, 25 years ago, majority of dietitians were in a hospital setting, but I knew I didn't want to do that. had thought maybe I wanted to become an internship, a dietetic internship director, ⁓ but being straight out of grad school, I didn't have enough experience to do that. So I actually got a job working for the USDA in the school meals program, which was not traditional, you know, dietetics route, but it was a great experience. worked there providing nutrition education to school districts, making sure that they were meeting government regulations, ⁓ developing nutrition education materials. We worked with ⁓ Indian reservations, you know, a whole slew of government programs. And that was a great experience because then from there, I started working for an organization called Action for Healthy Kids, which also focused on the health of children in schools. And so I worked there for about five years and they're based in Chicago, but it's a national organization. And I developed resources ⁓ and we again worked with school districts across the country. ⁓ And then my family was relocated to Dallas and that's when I decided to start my own consulting company. And so I did a lot of work with restaurants actually at that point to do the nutrition information for their recipes. I did some one-on-one counseling. I also did some project work. And then when we moved to Back to Chicago, I expanded my one-on-one counseling. I worked with a local recreation center, and then I also worked for the employee wellness program for AbbVie, which is the pharmaceutical company that's based in Lake County. And I developed a weight management program with them. I mean, their reach is tens of thousands of employees across the world basically, ⁓ which again was a great experience. I was able to develop my skills as a presenter. I did a lot of webinars. I did in-person ⁓ presentations. And so when I saw the job opening for the adjunct faculty member at Purdue University Global, it was like my dreams. from grad school and all of the experience up until then kind of, you know, all came together. And so I applied for the job without any expectations. I got the job and I, you know, have been with them for three years now and it has been such a cool experience. One that, you know, I never knew I would actually have.

Kristen Hicks-Roof PhD, RD: That's how you have worn so many hats. I love it. That's one of my favorite things, honestly, about talking with all these guests is no one has a linear path. You kind of go where your passions reside, but also maybe that's available to you in terms of location. So let's let's start kind of from the beginning a little bit. You were really focused on children nutrition, whether that was in school food service or, you know, healthy, healthy kids. So how did that?

Kim Blum: I'm sorry.

Kristen Hicks-Roof PhD, RD: kind of mold into your consulting? Do you focus on children now too, or have you kind of expanded that reach?

Kim Blum: I do a lot of work with children, but I also have expanded that reach. ⁓ I feel like, you know, my biggest priority, I mean, obviously aside from helping improve the health of my clients is connecting with them first. And that as you know, is so very important, especially when it comes to building trust. and then actually following the recommendations that you put forth. So I do find that I'm able, whether I act like a child myself and that's why I'm able to connect with them, ⁓ but I do find that starting at that young age is so incredibly important. So when parents come to me and they say, either, My child wants to learn about healthy eating. My child is in sports and is not fueling their body properly. My child is starting to exhibit patterns of disordered eating. All of that, you know, if we can get in at such an early age, that makes such a difference in terms of the longevity of the person, the prognosis of whatever they're dealing with. And so I do have a passion for that, but then, you know, working with adults too, who are interested and motivated, that is something that, you know, I enjoy doing as well. I think it's interesting because I knew I didn't want to work in a hospital and part of that was, you know, because it wasn't the preventative side of things. So I still feel that most of my work, I like to focus on the preventative side of things. I still work with people who have high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes management, things like that. ⁓ But I do enjoy working with people who we can make a difference before things get worse ultimately.

Kristen Hicks-Roof PhD, RD: When you talked a lot about how you were helping with corporate wellness too, I was a corporate dietitian and I even, my very first corporate experience was actually when I was an undergrad student. I worked for the city of Tucson and I developed a employee wellness program for the city of Tucson, Pima County. And that was such great exposure because it ties back into your message. You not only love helping people, but you love getting to know and build that rapport to be able to ultimately have long-term beneficial outcomes. And that's one thing I think employee wellness programs are really good at is you not only come in, which I think outpatient and inpatient hospitals have a challenge sometimes. These people don't feel good. They're being counseled in real time and there's a lot of competing demands versus things like employee wellness or private practice. Sometimes you have very specific connection points and usually they're more longitudinal. So you get multiple connection points over time. So I do think there are some perks and benefits to that. So let's bring you to being an adjunct faculty. You know, I know a lot of people are interested. They're like, how do I find those roles? What do I do as an adjunct faculty? lot of people ask what do they pay and let me tell you from a form academic.

Kim Blum: Thanks

Kristen Hicks-Roof PhD, RD: Adjunct faculty, you're not doing it necessarily for the pay. You're doing it because you love teaching students and maybe you're really passionate about a topic or a subject that you just really want to bring that subject matter expertise. So give us a little bit of insight with like how you found it, why you thought you were a good candidate, and then what you do in terms of being an adjunct faculty.

Kim Blum: Yeah. So I mean, I found it. So this is the nerd in me and this is how, how I connected with you too. So, you know, some people are scrolling through Instagram, Facebook, what have you. I scroll through LinkedIn and it's not, you know, searching for jobs. It's making connections, networking, seeing what people are up to, all of those things. So I happen to see this position available and As I mentioned before, you know, I had expanded when I first started working, I worked for I remember this explicitly when I worked for the USDA and we had to do presentations at conferences and we because it was the government, there were, you know, scripts that you had to basically read to do these presentations. And it was the bane of my existence because It was, you know, I was a young dietitian. I was presenting in front of these rooms of very experienced people. I was extremely nervous. I was following a script. All of those together was not the ideal situation. But obviously, as I continued to, you know, gain experience as a dietitian, do more presentations when I worked at Abdi, I was, you know, doing webinars and in-person ⁓ presentations. When I worked for the local rec center, I was doing in-person presentations. so I gained experience presenting and I love the field of academia. And so it just seemed like the perfect fit for me. ⁓ And so I applied. It was, which I think they're doing more of, one of those interviews where you're basically talking to nobody. They give you a question and you have to answer to the camera, ⁓ which is a little nerve wracking because I like the interaction and the response from somebody, but I did it. And apparently I did it well enough that I got called back for a second interview. And basically I was hired on the spot and I did my required training. I was able to have shadow access to other instructors and it's been a wonderful experience. I I am on committees to redo some of the courses. So the capstone course has just gone through a renovation. the fundamentals in nutrition course has, ⁓ you know, is brand new. And so we're working on updates to that, but being able to work in that environment and bring my experience to the classroom. think, you know, when I get evaluations from the students, I think that's one of the, the top comments that they include is that they appreciate having somebody with experience who has worked in a variety of fields and can bring that into the classroom, which I think is definitely a benefit for them. And they can see what it's like to be a practicing registered dietitian.

Kristen Hicks-Roof PhD, RD: Yeah, I think there's so much value. I know when I was in academic, you know, in various classes, I would bring in case studies of actual patients that I've had in corporate wellness or in behavioral health or in private practice. And what are some of those learnings that I learned, ⁓ you know, in terms of like, when you have a private practice, like, how do you do your marketing? What kind of charting systems there are, right? Like I actually was in that space. So I was able to give those practical tools and guidance. So I do think against nothing against long-term ⁓ academic professionals, because I think there's a balance of both worlds. But I do believe that adjunct faculty in particular are really an asset to higher education because you can get these subject matter experts where it's like, okay, you're really good and you have extensive experience in these different areas. And so a capstone may be a really nice fit or lifestyle nutrition or life cycle nutrition. or research methods, like there's so many different classes where you're like, okay, this person is a nice fit. So there's a lot of ways that you can find adjunct positions, LinkedIn being one of them, but there's higher ed jobs and there's, know, connect with local universities in your area if you want, say, hey, I'm interested in teaching, here's my resume. And you never know when they're gonna reach out to you if like they have a particular course need. ⁓ I know when I was an academic, we... tapped into adjunct faculty all the time and it maybe was consistent or maybe it was inconsistent. But I do think that there is a lot of added value to kind of building your network, right? To being able to be that. And I loved how you talked about instead of scrolling Instagram and TikTok or whatever, you're scrolling LinkedIn. I'm the same. I am a crazy LinkedIn person. I'll fully admit it and I'll take claim in it. But really I've seen so much growth in how

Kim Blum: You

Kristen Hicks-Roof PhD, RD: how you're not only just having content, but you're having research and job opportunities and career networking that can hopefully elevate you into the next step. So I think there's something very unique about LinkedIn. I am gonna be talking at Fency with a group of panelists about using LinkedIn to elevate your professional voice. So if you're going to Fency, make sure you tune in. So let's talk about...

Kim Blum: Be there watching you.

Kristen Hicks-Roof PhD, RD: I love science and I love data. I'm a researcher. I'm a total nerd when I give presentations. ⁓ But how does science and data impact your day to day and what you do as both an academic as well as an owner of your own private practice?

Kim Blum: Yeah, I mean, it obviously has an impact in both when I'm teaching. I want to make sure that they understand that my students understand the science behind what we're talking about. And obviously it depends on the area of nutrition that we're discussing. So if we're talking about community nutrition, then we can still talk about data and research and what's actually happening in communities and why certain communities need more nutrition education than others. But then when we're talking about sports nutrition, there's obviously, you know, new information coming out when I feel like every day, every minute, yes, making our jobs very difficult. in

Kristen Hicks-Roof PhD, RD: Every minute, sometimes.

Kim Blum: General, think that evidence-based nutrition guidance is more important than ever because there are all of these nutrition experts out there that is not necessarily evidence-based. So as a... registered dietitian being able to provide practical guidance that is based on research, in my opinion, is more important than ever. And when I deal with clients, I mean, I do in addition to working with kids and teens who are following these influencers, I'm working with women who are going through paramenopause and all they see is more protein, more protein, more protein. need, you know, 4,000 grams of protein a day. How do I do it? It's my job to actually show them the research and help them figure out what's actually going to work for them. And it's not what these influencers say. It's not what their sister says. It's not what their friends say. It's not what their personal trainer says. It's what's actually, going to work for them and what's grounded in science and, you know, is coming from somebody who has a credible degree in nutrition.

Kristen Hicks-Roof PhD, RD: I know my dad always likes to say, if it's too good to be true, it probably is not true. And I always was be like, okay, it really does make sense, right? Like whenever you see big influencers who are not credentialed and not nutrition experts per se, it's always this huge hook, right? Like this is going to cure your diabetes or.

Kim Blum: Thanks

Kristen Hicks-Roof PhD, RD: make you lose 30 pounds in one week or whatever it might be. And so I think it's it's an opportunity actually for nutrition professionals to really lean forward in these spaces. And I think it's something that a lot of nutrition experts are standing up, giving more presentations, talking more with the public, not only on a one on one, but also on a community or population level to really start sharing like, OK, there's some nuance here. Like, here's the general guidelines. Here's what the research, right? So whether that's citing your research or the PubMed IDs, we can go out as not only the credentialed body, but also giving some truth and rationale, which is, it's challenging, Kim, right? Like there's so much information overload. I know when I was a corporate dietician, people would come to me with stuff where I'm like, I'm gonna have to look this up. where did you find this? Who did you learn this from? Do you ever find that with your patients coming to you?

Kim Blum: Yes. And, you know, I don't, you know, I don't want to pretend to know everything. So I'm happy to say that I'll look into that. But yeah, they come up with some completely random new diets, new products. And, you know, I can't I try to keep on top of most things, but It's wild.

Kristen Hicks-Roof PhD, RD: It's what and it's an ever changing landscape. I remember I had a patient when I was in corporate wellness and she was she loved trends, you know, and so every month when I would go see her, it was like a different story and like she would go. I mean, all or nothing. It would be like I'm going gluten free this month and the next month she was like following this me only military diet and then the next month she was doing this and I'm like. I think we could have a better strategy here. We don't have to go all or nothing. There's, there could be a really good middle ground with foods that you really love and ways that you approach food. Like we can find a middle ground. And it took swinging one way to the other way, to the other way, to like, we finally found that center ground, but it's not an easy world out there, especially with a lot of information. So I think not only from an academic point as a faculty, how do we talk with our

Kim Blum: Exactly.

Kristen Hicks-Roof PhD, RD: students about some of the challenges that we're facing in nutrition, but also as a private practice expert, like you can be that voice of truth when there is so much confusing information. I mean, I'm a nutrition expert and I still get confused. I'm like, is that true? Like I've never heard that before. So yeah.

Kim Blum: I And I mean, I will say that most of my like my paramenopause menopause age women love when I tell them they can eat carbs, like carbs are not the enemy carbs actually fuel our bodies and give us energy. And they you know, the the typical response is but I'm going to gain weight. And my response to them is, well, if your goal is not to gain weight and I give you a recommendation that's not in line with your goal, I'd be a pretty bad dietician that nobody would want to hire. So I want to help you reach your goals, but you can eat carbs. You 100 % can eat carbs.

Kristen Hicks-Roof PhD, RD: Yeah, it's validation. You know, a lot of people, that's what they're really seeking. They're seeking understanding, validation, and relevance. So I think that is a good opportunity for nutrition professionals to come in and be that almost like a health coach. Like, yes, you may be a dietician and you have medical nutrition therapy, but sometimes you need that health coach and counseling skills to be able to get them across the finish line to whatever their goal might be. So you've had quite a variety of

Kim Blum: Absolutely.

Kristen Hicks-Roof PhD, RD: niche careers along your way so far, but what's been your favorite or something that you're most proud of?

Kim Blum: It's hard. I mean, I think I absolutely love being an instructor. Love being an instructor. And, you know, when I see my students actually connect with the coursework, like almost like an aha moment, and them feeding off of my passion for nutrition. I mean that, makes me proud for sure. I love that. I will say though, you know, when working one on one and I see, I would say more so even when I'm working with a client with ARFID or selective eating and Helping them find options and expanding their nutrient intake. I mean, that is also one of those moments and experiences which makes me just so proud of what I'm doing and proud of being able to have an impact and helping somebody since that is what I went into this field for, ⁓ organic chemistry and all. The end game is helping people. So, you know, I would say it's hard because I am doing such very different things. And so having, you know, a variety of moments is, I guess, you know, easy. ⁓ Well, it's not easy, it's, you know, there's a variety of opportunities, I guess I would say.

Kristen Hicks-Roof PhD, RD: there's many moments of being rewarding. I agree with you as a former academic. When you had that student who had this aha moment, you talked about ⁓ teaching a class before we got on the podcast. You talked about teaching a class of career paths. And if you could have that student say, ⁓ my gosh, I did not know there was that career path. That blends all my passions into one, whether that's... media or adjunct faculty, right? Like whatever it is, I think showcasing that, like that's, it's a mini win. Cause that student all of a sudden it's this light bulb and they're, and it's just like inspires them for what's to move on. Or on an individual patient level, having that actual change to their diet or health outcomes is, yeah. I mean, I, I've, I've felt that personally and there's no way to describe the feeling of satisfaction that you actually feel when you really do help someone and you're not just giving them information and then just not going anywhere, but you actually see that meaningful change. So definitely have felt it. And if you're a practitioner and have felt it too, you know, that feeling that we're talking about where you're making that impact, whether it's one or many, they're all important. So Kim, what sort of suggestions or tips would you have for someone, let's say who's interested in going out on their own with private practice or in trying to become an adjunct faculty member? What tips would you have?

Kim Blum: I would say stick with it and try to, know, if it's a big goal, then I just feel now more than ever, there are so many opportunities for dieticians that... again, are not necessarily working in a hospital. So going out in private practice, you can be an adjunct faculty member. You can work with sports nutrition. I think that's one of those that's becoming even bigger. And all of the college and professional teams are hiring dieticians because they're finally realizing. that nutrition can and does influence ⁓ athletic performance. So there are so many different areas that you can work in. And this is what I tell my students too, is, you know, find something that you're interested in. It doesn't have to be necessarily your dream job. ⁓ Find something that you're interested in and go with that because as my kind of professional career has evolved, it has definitely not been linear. I mean, one thing led to another, but I didn't go into my first job thinking this is what I'm going to do for the rest of my life. but it was a wonderful opportunity and it ultimately helped get me to where I am today. So I think, you know, being okay and satisfied with maybe something that is not what you want to do forever. But it brings you some sort of meaning, I think, is really a great to start on.

Kristen Hicks-Roof PhD, RD: When I love that, that your end goal may not be the first step you take, right? That you gotta take these steps to be able to open your eyes, discover, learn, and then you may pivot to another thing. And that's one of my favorite things about being a nutrition professional is you can pivot across every aspect of your career. If you're in clinical or you're in food service or you're in community or sports, research, public health, whatever you're in. you can always cross to another domain. You're not stuck in that domain. And I think to be able to open your own private practice, would you agree that that would have been challenging if you started that right from the beginning? Like maybe you didn't know every aspect to be able to do that. So sometimes you have to get those varied experiences to go that direction. Would you agree with that?

Kim Blum: 100%.

Kristen Hicks-Roof PhD, RD: Yeah. So I do think, and I don't think you're the only one who says that. Like I think owning a private practice and having a lot of niche responsibilities within that, sometimes the only way you can create that is by taking all these other experiences culminated together to be able to open the doors for future. So Kim, my favorite question, if you had a crystal ball, what do you think is coming next in nutrition?

Kim Blum: ⁓ I wish I did have a crystal ball, but I kind of think that we're already somewhat seeing the at least immediate future. And I almost hate to bring this up, but I have to is GLP ones. ⁓ And I'm not even going to go into what I think about them. I just obviously think that they're changing. not just weight management, but they're changing how people eat, how food products are designed. We know the food industry, restaurants are changing the way that they're presenting their products. Just in general, how we think about nutrition overall. I will say that I don't think, well, I know they're not. replacing dieticians. They're actually increasing the need for us because people on GLP-1s still, I mean, we know that they need guidance. There's potentially issues with protein and fiber and total nutrient needs in general because they're obviously eating less food overall. And so they need dieticians to learn how to meet their nutrient needs, how to preserve muscle, manage side effects, and then ultimately build sustainable habits long term.

Kristen Hicks-Roof PhD, RD: I mean, I couldn't agree more. think GOP ones are here to stay. They're only going to get better and better depending on if you ever, if you're fascinated about GOP ones, look at phase two and phase three clinical trials that are going on with GOP ones. mean, the medications are becoming more effective, less side effects, ⁓ less reduction of harmful, you know, side effects. So it's just fascinating, but I agree with you, Kim. Like I think

Kim Blum: you

Kristen Hicks-Roof PhD, RD: If it was my ideal situation, I would love it somewhat similar to a bariatric surgery model where you have to see a dietician months prior to the surgery and then you work alongside a dietician ⁓ post-surgery for a period of time. I would love to see this dietician integrated care process from prevention, right? Or before they start the medication all the way through because I think there's a lot of... nuance here, like people of course are seeing very impactful weight loss, which is as a person, I think everyone could be excited, right? Like that is a health transformation journey for many who've struggled with weight and stigmas and depression, anxiety, right? Like all these side effects from it. But we also want to make sure that that person is most healthful as they age. So you talked about the peri-mental pausal and mental pausal period. where we know the number one risk factor from morbidity and mortality in older adults is low muscle mass and falls and injuries. So when you have this key population who likely are the ones taking the medications, because they have the affordability, they're interested in the weight and health management, are we setting them up for long-term failure, really? I mean, that's where I'm super fascinated that I think we need a lot more science, but I hope.

Kim Blum: Yup.

Kristen Hicks-Roof PhD, RD: alongside with you that dietitians can be just a team player in those clinical roles, but beyond the clinical roles. I think it is in the food service industry, in the food industry, ⁓ in private practice when you're seeing one-on-one. So lots of opportunity there, Kim. I think you're crystal ball. I'm gonna shake it like an eight ball and I think you are right. ⁓ It's happening there, so.

Kim Blum: Yes!

Kristen Hicks-Roof PhD, RD: We'll see how that plays out, but thanks so much for being on the show. Remember, if you like the show, make sure you like, subscribe, leave a review, but most importantly, check out the next episode because every episode I bring out a different dietitian and nutrition expert to share their story and give you tips and advice on how to be successful in the field.