Today we’d like to introduce you to Amy Goldsmith.
Hi Amy, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
I knew I wanted to become a dietitian when I was a junior in highschool. It was between this, a laywer, and a journalist (because I loved to write). I was lucky that my mom was vested in my future as I would be the first one in my immediate family to go to college so she coordinated for me to shadow a group of female lawyers and a dietitian. The dietitian I shadowed worked in the hospital, provided individual counseling, and contracted with Gatorade. I was sold. I went to Virginia Tech for my bachelors degree and UNC Greensboro for my internship in 1999. The internship is highly competitive and allowed me to gain the experience I needed to pass the national exam.
I started my work at Johns Hopkins Bayview as a clinical dietitian. I loved it but the pay was extremely low and I had loans to pay. I moved to Washington Hospital Center which was higher pay and I was able to continue my clinical experience working with a group of MD’s who provided a unique surgery that required the dietitian to advance all patients from NPO (nothing by mouth), to slowly advance to being fed through the veins (TPN), through a tube, and then by mouth. This gave me a lot of clinical experience as well as a unique bedside experience as the patients stayed in the hospital for a greater length of time than the usual patient.
Money became an issue again as my loans were still there, the commute added significant hours to my day and I became burnt out, as most clinicians do in the hospital. I moved to a company called SHS North America, now Nutricia, and worked in research/product development with infant/pediatric formulas. This introduced me to not only product development but sales and I traveled around the world. Our labs were in Amsterdam and Liverpool and I got to go to conferences in Paris, for example. Not only did I use my strong clinical skills but now I was able to interface with organizations such as the FDA, and provide sales training, discuss points of differences, and work with Key Opinion Leaders, physicians at the top pediatric hospitals throughout the United States.
I had a knack for speaking and sales and moved to other coporations for sales, moving up to management and regional roles and then started my family. Once my children were toddlers I made a decision that it was too difficult to be away so much. My son was dealing with medical issues, now completely fine, and it wasn’t worth the stress of managing travel.
This is where I took a risk and attempted to start my business Kindred Nutrition. I called on many local physicians who kept encouraging me to open shop, stating they needed a resource. I had always consulted with clients outside of all my corporate jobs to keep up my clinical and counseling skills so I took a chance, created Kindred Nutrition and the rest is history.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
No, it has not been a smooth road, nor did I expect it to be. I do feel like working in sales brings a resilience other positions don’t. You go from hero to zero every month, making your goals and chasing after a larger goal- nothing is ever good enough. I also worked with difficult personalities which gave me great experience. I made a lot of money in sales so leaving that salary/bonus system was hard.
I have had ups and downs in the last 18 years. Taking insurance during the pandemic was a disaster as the monopoly for profit insurance companies did not reimburse for weeks or months at a time. At a time of complete stress for COVID reasons I was dipping into my savings to pay my employees. I have had great loyal, employees, and I’ve had some who aren’t interested in building a career.
I also work with a specific niche that is scary and emotional. It’s important to be compassionate and assertive and recognize that people’s behavior has very little to do with you.
Last but not least owning a business and having employees is extremely expensive. In the land of the free, entrepreneurs are taxed significantly whether it’s payroll taxes, employee taxes, liability insurance and more. You have to bring in a lot of money to make a profit and many don’t understand that. In my business if you have an employee that can’t retain patients, they will destroy your earnings. Expenses have also more than tripled in the last 17 years I’ve owned this business.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
I own a private Medical Nutrition Practice. I specialize in Sports Nutrition & Performance, Eating Disorders, and Complicated Medical Nutrition such as rhabdomyalisis, POTS, MCAS etc. I also am a media dietitian where I am a a recurring expert contributor at Fox 5 DC news. In addition to individual and family work with patients I work with teams at the highschool and collegiate level. You may also see my work with brands where I consult on consumer outreach, blogs, branding and more.
I believe there are many things that set me apart from others:
1) I believe in coordination of care, something that is non existant with many MD’s, Therapists, and Psychiatrists. I receive permission and always reach out to the medical/behavioral team. It is rare that a collaborating therapist or physician reaches out to me first which is disappointing. I make sure it happens.
2) I am out in the community often. Since creating Kindred Nutrition I made sure I was out in the community providing useful information to high schools, groups, teams, and more.
3)I have been a dietitian for 27 years with strong clinical experience along with Fortune 500 corporate experience. I also have international experience. I’ve worked with different cultures and different socioeconomic levels.
4) I will not back down when it comes to helping my clients get answers. People often come to me when they feel the system has failed them. I will not give up and we will find a way to help clients feel better, get the RIGHT diagnosis, and find a new team if needed.
5) I will not sell my clients short. I’ve made very hard decisions to scale back to provide better care. I will not work with a brand I don’t truly believe in, and I will not disguise my personality to gain followers on social media.
If we knew you growing up, how would we have described you?
I am the oldest child of three and I am the oldest grandchild on my mom’s side. I have a very large family, over 20 cousins. I loved growing up and going to all the holiday events. When I dream I see myself at Thanksgiving, Christmas, and at my grandparents pool with my cousins on a summer night. I was a competitive kid in sports. I was fast and grew up playing baseball or running football routes in the back yard with my dad and neighborhood kids, eventually loving soccer and track. I believe I could do anything as proven by being 5 feet 2 and learning to run hurdles.
I was also an anxious kid. I’m not sure if many new this outside of my parents. It was important to me to “be the best I could be” whether it was having good grades, making a team, or more. I put a lot of pressure on myself.
I loved college and was not afraid to go 10 hours away.I had a lot of fun in college and it was also extremely stressful for me because of the pressure I put on myself. At the same time, I graduated Cum Laude and got into an internship which was mandatory to become a dietitian, when many in my major didn’t.
After college I traveled across the country for a couple of weeks before I landed in Baltimore to start my career. Although I could be anxious at times because of my perfectionist traits I am not afraid of change. I believe I was born with resiliency and grit.
I no longer carry that perfectionist trait and wouldn’t label myself as anxious which is a great relief!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.kindrednutrition.com
- Instagram: @amygoldsmithrd
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kindrednutrition/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amygoldsmith/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@reelrd_amyg
