Meet Danielle Southern

Today we’re excited to be connecting with Danielle Southern again. If you haven’t already, we suggest you check out our prior conversation with them here.

Danielle, thanks for joining us again. Just to level set a bit for folks who may have missed our last interview together, can you briefly introduce yourself?
My name is Danielle Southern, MS, RD, LD, and I am a Registered Dietitian based in Georgia. I created my private practice, Southern Nutrition, to increase accessibility to compassionate care. I incorporate Intuitive Eating to find ways nutrition can help people in their daily lives, and my goal is to help others discover freedom from food rules and restrictions.

After receiving my Bachelor’s in Dietetics from the University of Georgia and completing my Dietetic Internship and Master’s in Nutrition Sciences at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, I started working in inpatient clinical settings. My clinical experience includes working with patients who have cancer, diabetes, heart disease, and eating disorders/disordered eating. In addition to clinical nutrition, I have worked with sports nutrition, corporate wellness, and college health as the dietitian for the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech) and Kennesaw State University. Through these roles, I have found that one-on-one nutrition counseling and education using a non-diet approach are my specialties.

As an avid runner, I have also worked with Atlanta Track Club, the second largest running club in the country, by encouraging others to find community and health through running and walking. In my free time, I enjoy traveling to new places to run races and discover new foods.

Great, so let’s jump into an update on what you have been up to since we last spoke. What can you share with us?
It feels like there’s been big changes and everything has stayed the same at the same time!

Professionally, I’m still working in Southern Nutrition. I did become credentialed with insurance to increase access to care for individuals, and that was an arduous process! I compare it to getting dressed in the dark: you have no idea what you’re doing, and you hope it all works out in the end! I’ve also continued to network with local providers to build a referral base for clients to receive respectful care. I’ve also got some fun collaborations coming up this year!

Personally, I’ve been traveling whenever I can. It’s all been domestic, but I’m hoping to do an international trip soon. I also ran my first marathon last year! That’s something I never thought I would do. I’ve been running for 12 years, and it took that long to even consider a marathon! Not sure if I’ll do another one, but I really enjoyed the process, even if I was tired, sore, and hungry all the time.

Alright, so let’s do something a bit more fast-paced and lighthearted. We call this our lightning round and we’ll ask you a few quick questions.

Favorite Movie: The Parent Trap

Favorite Band or Artist: Tove Lo

Sweet or Savory: Sweet

Mountains or Beach: Beach

Favorite Sport (to watch): Baseball

Favorite Sport (to play): Running

Did you play sports growing up (if so which ones): Not at all. I was the most un-athletic child…now I pay to wake up early and run races

French Fries or Onion Rings: Both

Favorite Cartoon growing up: Arthur

Favorite Childhood movie: The Nightmare Before Christmas

Favorite Breakfast Food: Hashbrowns

What do you want people to remember about you and your brand? What are some of things that you feel are most important, unique, special, etc?
As a non-diet dietitian, I want people to leave their nutrition counseling sessions with me feeling heard, validated, and excited. Unfortunately, healthcare is often full of judgement, which leads people to make changes based in shame, or not make changes at all. I want them to see that there is a path to behavior change through compassion and patience, and that they are are never judged in our sessions. People often apologize in our sessions for talking too much or saying something with too much detail. I remind them that it is their session and they can say whatever it is they need to work through a topic.

Website: https://southernnutrition.org/

Instagram: southernnutritionllc

Image Credits
Ryan Southern