Meet Our Awesome Culinary Nutrition Experts
One of the best parts about the Culinary Nutrition Expert program is witnessing how our grads decide to share their knowledge with the world. Our Culinary Nutrition Experts have launched a variety of businesses to help others nourish themselves and support health through good food. They’ve started home chef companies, written successful blogs, hosted retreats, worked with natural food brands, created custom menu plans for clients, and so much more.
Today, we’re highlighting 20 awesome Culinary Nutrition Expert program graduates and how they are changing the world.
Meet 20 Awesome Culinary Nutrition Experts
Name: Miya Didrichsons
Location: Toronto, ON
Class of: 2015
Why She’s Awesome: Miya is an online holistic health and lifestyle coach, and through her coaching she encourages people to live a more sustainable plant-based lifestyle. Miya has one of our favourite Instagram feeds, where she shows off all of her creative plant-based recipe creations and stunning food photography. You’ll find lots of inspiration, including a free Plant-Based Recipe E-Book, upcoming courses and workshops on her website. We are always inspired to get into the kitchen after we see what she is whipping up!
Learn More: www.betoblossom.com
Follow Her: @betoblossom
Name: Shiru Macharia
Location: Nairobi, Kenya
Class of: 2017
Why She’s Awesome: Shiru teaches cooking classes, leads group programs and coaches clients to help them achieve their weight loss goals and develop healthier relationships with food – a much needed skill to learn. We love her positive attitude and often find ourselves drooling over her delicious recipe creations.
Learn More: www.myplantedkitchen.com
Follow Her: @myplantedkitchen
Name: Jessica Mitton
Location: Moncton, New Brunswick
Class of: 2015
Why She’s Awesome: Jessica is an incredible recipe developer and blogger and we are grateful to have her on our team as a coach for the Culinary Nutrition Expert Program.
Since her graduation, Jessica has been very active in sharing her knowledge. She has created online courses, provided one-on-one nutritional consulting and meal planning to lots of clients, as well as speaking to broader audiences through her website and social media channels, and interviews and articles for magazines, radio, television and more. Armed with the added kitchen confidence provided to her through the Culinary Nutrition Expert program, Jessica loves creating delicious and nutritious recipes, a passion she turned into the acclaimed Some Good – a modern cookbook using traditional Newfoundland ingredients in innovative dishes, with a healthy, whole food twist. She also launched a new website with her husband called Some Good Living, designed to inspire healthy living habits.
Learn More: www.jessicamitton.com and www.somegoodliving.com
Follow Her: @jessicamitton and @somegoodliving
Name: Rebecca Chin
Location: Selangor, Malaysia
Class Of: 2017
Why She’s Awesome: Rebecca lives and breathes healthy cooking (sometimes we think she lives in her kitchen!). She is constantly out in the world delivering healthy cooking classes, teaching workshop demos and inspiring people to eat well using local ingredients. Rebecca is prolific on Instagram, where she shares photos of the nutritious Malaysian cuisine she whips up and it all looks incredible. We wish we were across the world to be her taste testers!
Follow Her: @rebeccachinkp
Name: Melissa Eboli
Location: Westchester, NY
Class Of: 2016
Why She’s Awesome: If her face looks familiar, it’s probably because you’ve seen her on television. Melissa is a sought-after Culinary Nutrition Expert who has made several appearances on the Dr. Oz Show, and been interviewed about a variety of healthy eating topics on the radio, as well as in magazines, newspapers and online publications. Melissa runs a thriving nutrition business that offers catering, private chef services, cooking classes, public speaking, custom recipe development and more.
Learn More: www.viamelissa.com
Follow Her: @chef.via.melissa
Name: Dusty Spiller
Location: Victoria, BC
Class Of: 2014
Why He’s Awesome: Dusty is a high-performance athlete and triathlon coach who helps others train for races. Conventional sports nutrition can be filled with poor advice – like gel packs and neon drinks – and we appreciate Dusty’s whole food approach to supporting fitness. He also has a very entertaining Youtube channel!
Learn More: www.dustyspillertriathlon.com
Follow Him: @dustyspiller
Name: Melissa Torio
Location: Toronto, ON
Class of: 2016
Why She’s Awesome: Fermenting food at home can be intimidating, but Melissa makes it seem so easy! She teaches fermentation and nutrition workshops, offers one-on-one culinary nutrition coaching and mentorship service, shares creative and delicious recipes on her blog and sells her own line of beeswax food wraps. If you’d like to get an online fermentation tutorial, check out her amazing guide to brewing kombucha.
Learn More: www.melissatorio.com
Follow Her: @melissa.torio
Name: Angela Simpson
Location: Santa Monica, CA
Class of: 2016
Why She’s Awesome: Angela is a prolific food blogger, recipe creator and extremely talented photographer. Since graduating as a Culinary Nutrition Expert, Angela has continued to coach her clients towards reaching their health and wellness goals. She regularly publishes content on her blog, My Fresh Perspective. This include tons of healthy recipes, workouts, subscriber-exclusives, goal setting guides and downloadable healthy meal plans. Her latest resource, Anti Inflammatory Eating 101, is a comprehensive and easy-to-follow guide for anyone wishing to reap the benefits of anti-inflammatory eating.
Learn More: www.myfreshperspective.com
Follow Her: @myfreshperspective
Name: Trudy Stone
Location: Toronto, Ontario
Class of: 2015
Why She’s Awesome: Trudy’s positive attitude helped her transform her life after a life-threatening illness. In her business, Trudy assists clients with weight loss and food cravings, and runs a food blog full of mouth-watering recipes. She’s authored a best-selling book, Unbreakable, has been interviewed countless times by major newspapers and television outlets, and is launching a new online course called Feed a Healthy Brain in partnership with the Clean Eating Academy. We can say ‘we knew her when’!
Learn More: www.eatliveandplay.com
Follow Her: @eatliveandplay
Name: Caitlin Iles
Location: Quispamsis, New Brunswick
Class of: 2012
Why She’s Awesome: Caitlin has been rocking holistic wellness retreats that invite clients to slow down, nourish themselves and breathe. But that’s not all – she also works one-on-one with clients, teaches cooking classes, is a program coach for the Culinary Nutrition Expert program and posts a ton of helpful content and recipes on her blog (check out her awesome healthy living guides here). We also love seeing her as a guest on television programs across Canada, where she teaches cooking skills like creating fermented foods and easy breakfast recipes.
Learn More: www.caitliniles.ca
Follow Her: @nourishedbycaitlin
Name: Kathryn White
Location: St. Thomas, Ontario
Class of: 2017
Why She’s Awesome: A stage 4 colon cancer diagnosis shook Kathryn’s world, leading her to healthy changes and a desire to help others be the healthiest they can be. Since graduating, Kathryn’s been teaching up a storm in her cooking classes, delivering one-on-one consultations and creating meal plan packages. We are endlessly inspired by her dedication and strength!
Learn More: www.thrivenutritionandyoga.ca
Follow Her: @thrivenutritionandyoga
Name: Maya Henry
Location: Pittsburgh, PA
Class of: 2016
Why She’s Awesome: Maya is an expert menu planner whose business focuses on helping busy moms get healthy meals on the table quickly so they can have more free time. Upon graduation, Maya started doing corporate cooking demos in Pittsburgh and delivered a regular segment that focused on healthy weeknight meals on her local TV station. Maya is a certified health coach and teaches programs, such as Healthy Holidays to help women lose weight and feel energized during the holiday season, and Healthy Moms First, which encourages women to develop healthier habits. She also runs a unique wellness retreat that combines skateboarding and wellness. You can glean from Maya’s post, How to Start A Cooking Cooperative, her masterful meal planning skills.
Learn More: www.mayahenry.com
Follow Her: @mayahenryhello
Interested in learning more about how you can take your passion for health to the next level? Check out our 14-week certification program that is 100% online. Click here to learn more.
Name: Rachel Druckenmiller
Location: Baltimore, Maryland
Why She’s Awesome: Rachel is an award-winning health promotion professional who has delivered a ton of workshops about maintaining a healthful diet and lifestyle. Rachel is proof that a positive attitude and goal setting pays off: she sets her sights high, and then implements the step-by-step process that will manifest her dreams. She’s also an amazing food blogger, sharing delicious recipes on her site Rachel’s Nourishing Kitchen.
Learn More: www.rachelsnourishingkitchen.
Name: Michelle Vodrazka
Location: Ottawa, Ontario
Class of: 2014
Why She’s Awesome: Michelle’s twin passions are nutrition and exercise – and she’s incredibly skilled at both! She’s the author of a couple of best-selling ACN-approved cookbooks, Smart Snacking for Sports and Help Yourself to Seconds. Plus, she just released another gem, The Bodybuilding Meal Prep Cookbook , which includes six weeks of done-for-you meal plans, shopping lists, recipes, nutritional calculations, meal prep instructions, and recipe variations and tips for fat loss, muscle gain, and/or maintenance. And we’re not the only ones who think she’s nifty – she has been featured by multiple magazines and newspapers in her area.
Learn More: www.michellevodrazka.com
Follow Her: @michellevodrazka
Name: Candi Haas + Rita Childers
Location: St. Louis, MO
Class of: 2014 & 2015
Why They’re Awesome: Candi + Rita hit the ground running after graduating from the Culinary Nutrition Expert program with a food-based business, selling cold-pressed juices, nut milks, salad dressings and other vegan treats at local farmers’ markets. They went on to refine their business and develop an exclusive line of creamy and dairy-free sauces made with whole ingredients and that suit vegan, Paleo, Whole 30 and ketogenic diets – so it’s a sauce for everyone! It took Candi and Rita a year to develop the shelf-stable recipe without additives or preservatives using organic and non-GMO ingredients, making it the only one of its kind on the market. And it’s absolutely delicious!
Learn More: www.coreandrind.com
Follow Them: @coreandrind
Name: Christian Beilke
Location: Frankfurt, Germany
Class of: 2018
Why He’s Awesome: After graduating from the Culinary Nutrition Expert Program, Christian began a thriving business of health and nutrition coaching. He focuses on helping clients achieve a healthy weight, build strength and make healthy living a practical daily habit. We enjoy seeing his tasty recipes made with simple ingredients, too!
Follow Him: @christianbeilke
Learn More: www.procoach.app/christianbeilke
Name: Kristine Peacock
Location: Stouffville, Ontario
Class of: 2015
Why She’s Awesome: As a young widow with three children, Kristine bravely left her stable job as a teacher to educate people about her true love: food and nutrition. Her courage and tenacity has yielded an amazing kickoff to her business, which includes wildly successful online nutrition programs, in-person classes, nutrition consultations and school programs.
Follow Her: @mealsmatter
Name: Abigail Hopkins
Location: Toronto, Ontario
Class of: 2014
Why She’s Awesome: After graduating, Abigail immediately launched her online meal planning service, That Clean Life. Since then, she’s helped tens of thousands of people feel amazing through the food they eat. That Clean Life is packed to the brim with delicious recipes and tools that make healthy eating a breeze. If you’re following a popular diet, like vegan, keto, Paleo, AIP, anti-inflammatory and others, Abigail’s got you covered with a tailored menu.
In 2016, she launched That Clean Life Business, which has quickly grown to become an essential business tool (and time saver!) for fellow wellness professionals and Culinary Nutrition Experts. That Clean Life Business allows you to create menu plans for clients using recipe resources designed to help a variety of health conditions. The system is packed with high-quality recipes that are in line with today’s most popular diets, and are easily customizable based on client needs.
Learn More: www.thatcleanlife.com
Follow Her: @thatcleanlife
Photo: Baltimore Sun
Name: Kim Young
Location: Ellicott City, MD
Class of: 2014
Why She’s Awesome: Kim is one of our scholarship recipients with a passion for inspiring young chefs – including her son, who met former President Barack Obama. She runs Healthy Little Cooks, which helps young kids cook and eat healthfully. This led to the launch of an exciting business, Kifoodie, a monthly subscription box that includes 2-4 kitchen gadgets and products, a culinary activity (with a healthy twist), a recipe, shopping list, and a mystery bag of 3-5 artisan treats and snacks hand-picked to inspire kids who are learning to cook. What an awesome idea!
Learn More: www.healthylittlecooks.com and www.kifoodie.com
Follow Her: @healthylittlecooks
Name: Tanya Smith
Location: Toronto, Ontario
Class of: 2013
Why She’s Awesome: Tanya practices acupuncture and Chinese medicine and specializes in working with women and couples who are pregnant or trying to get pregnant. Her kind, supportive nature, her warmth, her keen mind and her seemingly endless supply of compassion are some of the many reasons why her clients adore her. We were also lucky enough to have her on the team for two years as one of our awesome Culinary Nutrition Expert program coaches.
Learn More: www.tanyasmith.com
Follow Her: @tanya.smith
Name: Emily Roach
Location: Boston, MA
Class of: 2016
Why She’s Awesome: Emily’s gumption and spirit compelled her to hit the ground running as soon as she completed the Culinary Nutrition Expert program. Her heath coaching packages are designed to help women boost their vitality through one-on-one consulting, classes, workshops and public speaking. She also offers a number of free resources and meal plans to get you started on your health.
Learn More: www.emilyroachwellness.com
Follow Her: @emilyroachwellness
