Meet Jordan!

Hi everyone! I’m Jordan, a Registered Dietitian-Nutritionist, and one of the co-founders of Nutrition Empowered, LLC. There’s so many things about the field of nutrition that I LOVE and I am excited to tell you about what got me here, starting this business with my dear friend in hopes to shine a little food freedom light in this diet culture world.

I grew up in Akron, OH and was a dancer my whole childhood life. For those of you who are unfamiliar, the world of dance is pretty biased towards a certain body (thin, white, small). Taking up space is discouraged, because you don’t want to stand out too much. Not to say that in dance I was ever pressured to be thinner by instructors (which has been quite common practice in the past), but regardless the pressure was still there because that’s how all the pros looked.

I believed that food had to be earned, and labeled foods as “good” or “bad”. When I went to college and was not dancing everyday, I became your typical cardio everyday kinda-gal who would never set foot in the heavy weights section at the gym because I was working out to burn calories, and didn’t want to look “bulky”. While I never had a diagnosed ED, I know now how disordered my habits were looking back. Since then, I have learned to eat with gentle nutrition, move in ways that I enjoy, and not be afraid of strength. I want to help people like me who struggle with these thoughts because life after food freedom is DAMN worth the work!

This is honestly the story of so many women and men, who grow up with family members and peer/societal pressures to look a certain way. It wasn’t until my dietetic internship at OSU that I really started to learn about intuitive eating and learn to move in ways I enjoyed rather than just move to burn calories. Once I let go of my food rules, I didn’t feel like I needed to workout everyday, or be super rigid with eating or not eating certain foods, and as cheesy as it sounds I could just enjoy life more!

Outside of Nutrition Empowered, I have a full time job as an Outpatient Dietitian at a major hospital system in Columbus called OhioHealth, where I am inspired by watching patient lives improve through nutrition. I see a variety of patients with diverse nutritional needs from diabetic and gestational diabetic education, to irritable bowel syndrome.

As for what I do while I’m not working, I love hiking, watching dogs play (would like to have my own fur baby but not there yet), live music, traveling, trying new restaurants, biking, (I love any outdoor activity if we’re being honest), and hanging out with my fiancé and friends in Columbus! I consider myself a dedicated craft beer drinker, as long as the beer is an IPA (don’t come at me, they’re delicious).

I wanted to start this business because I know from my own experiences and the experiences of many friends and family members that there is a more enjoyable life on the other side of food freedom. I also love empowering women through important walks of life, such as learning how to eat to best fuel life growing inside them and combating the “sweat for the wedding” or “lose the baby weight” mentality. Starting a business was always my long-term plan, as it was for Colleen. We agreed that two heads are better than one, and that our business would be 2x as great with both of us than with just one. From there, Nutrition Empowered was born!

Below are pics of me doing things I love with important people in my life :)