A DAY IN THE LIFE OF . . .
A FREELANCE DIETITIAN BUILDING A NEW BUSINESS At the time of writing this, I am going through a very interesting period of transitioning from permanent employment into the world of freelance dietetics full time! Evelyn Toner RD Dietitian, Sports & Exercise Nutritionist Having worked in both the NHS and private sectors, in clinical dietetics and management, Evelyn is now building her freelance career as The Active Dietitian, specialising in health and wellness, fitness and gastroenterology. Instagram: @the_active_dietitian
To date, I’ve been lucky to have had a varied and busy dietetic career, starting off in the NHS as a Band 5 with a busy general caseload, then going on to specialise in gastroenterology. During this time, I completed a parttime PgCert in Sports and Exercise Nutrition and began seeing sports clients privately alongside my NHS job. This was my first experience of freelancing and I well and truly caught the bug. After four years in the NHS in Belfast, my now husband and I upped and moved to London where I got ‘bank’ work (similar to locum) in a prestigious private hospital. I loved it there and worked hard to progress my career, climbing the ladder to become the acting Dietetic Manager. This role gave me great experience in the business world and the non-clinical side of dietetics, including marketing, service development and financial management. Alongside my full-time job, I continued to do freelance dietetic work, and recently made the scary decision to make this freelance work my fulltime occupation! Currently, I dedicate one day a week (plus weekends often!) towards building my own business, these days are varied and exciting, so I’m going to do my best to take you through a day in this new life of building a business.
06.30 – 09.30
The days I work in the hospital begin at 05.30 with a 40-minute cycle into London City for a gym session 46
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before starting work, on the days I’m working on my own business, I enjoy a slightly later start, and the alarm will go off between 06.30 and 07.30. I get to have a cup of tea with my husband while we get ready to leave the house, then I go to my local gym for a couple of hours - this is my ‘happy place’ and I need to be mindful of time, as I could quite happily while away the hours here. Depending on what day it is, my sessions will include interval training, strength training or road running. Then it’s time for breakfast – usually overnight oats with yoghurt and berries, prepped in a batch over the weekend (#mealprep!!).
09.30
My working day then begins with checking my emails, marking client emails for response later on and dealing with media enquiries immediately, as these are often timesensitive. I will then dedicate some time to social media interaction, commenting on and sharing posts on Instagram and Twitter, researching and creating content for my own pages which I run as The Active Dietitian. I find social media invaluable for networking, building relationships with other freelancers through the BDA Freelance Group’s Facebook page and through Instagram ‘pods’. It’s also a great place for finding business leads and opportunities. My role as secretary for the BDA Gastroenterology Specialist Interest Group also lends itself well to networking.
11.00 – 13.30
Late morning to lunchtime is often my ‘client time’. This may involve face-to-face consultations that I have in a local coffee shop, or virtual consultations, followed by answering client emails and reviewing food diaries. I tend to see clients for advice on IBS, the low FODMAP diet, sports nutrition, or those wishing to optimise their health and wellness - this allows me to combine my clinical skills with my own passion for fitness and healthy living. I make sure I protect some time to get outside for a walk before lunch, as it’s easy to neglect regular movement, and your daily ‘step goal’ when working from home. I’m lucky in that I’m right beside a beautiful park with a lake full of swans, so it’s no hardship to go for a lap. Fresh air always works up an appetite for lunch.
14.00
As I am in the early stages of building my business, I plan to dedicate some time in the afternoon to website, business and package development. This may be time in front of the computer, or meetings with businesses, personal trainers or fellow freelance dietitians. Perhaps I will work on developing some resources, eg, presentations, articles, diet sheets, or meal plans, depending on the leads I’m pursuing. I may go to a coffee shop in the village with my laptop for a change of scenery and some social interaction if it’s a particularly computer-heavy day.
16.30
One of my passions is recipe testing and development and swapping ingredients in traditional recipes to make healthier versions of well-known treats so that they can be enjoyed as everyday foods. One I’m working on at the moment is a lemon drizzle cake (more like a lemon bread), so I’ll spend some time on this in the afternoon and if it works out, photograph it for a blog or Instagram post! This leads nicely into preparing dinner.
19.00
As a freelance dietitian, soon to be without the support network of a ‘dietetic department’, it’s important to seek out opportunities for CPD, so in the evening I will either do some reading, watch a webinar, or attend an event - either related to dietetics or perhaps a marketing masterclass as this is particularly relevant for me at the moment. I find the BDA Freelance Group create some wonderful content and events to support the CPD of those working independently, also people post great content on social media sharing new research. So, I’ve given you a taster of what a day centred on building my business looks like. I’m excited to embark on this journey and enjoy the flexibility, autonomy and variety that being self-employed brings.
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Make the most of your NHD Community! www.NHDmag.com February 2019 - Issue 141
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