We recently had the chance to connect with Mary Turner and have shared our conversation below.
Mary, it’s always a pleasure to learn from you and your journey. Let’s start with a bit of a warmup: What is a normal day like for you right now?
A normal day for me right now is balancing family, work, friends, and my own wellness. Mornings are busy with getting my toddler ready for preschool, drop off, and seeing clients; the rest of my day I’m lucky enough to spend with my son, playing with blocks, chasing him around outside, and making dinner with him by my side, trying to stir and taste everything we whip up. My husband gets home from work and we eat together, go for a walk in our neighborhood, and then bedtime routine. After he’s down for the night, my husband and I are usually working, trying to keep up with house work, and doing our best to find a few minutes to connect and relax! It’s an exhausting time in our lives, no doubt about it, but so full of joy, fulfillment, and purpose. I feel like a kid again, seeing everything through my son’s eyes everyday, it’s such a beautiful time!
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
I’m a passionate holistic dietitian who helps others build simple, sustainable wellness habits into daily lives. As a new mom with a former career in the corporate world, I’m skilled at helping clients juggle a busy schedule while taking care of themselves and their families. I’m most passionate about working with pregnant women and supporting their journey toward becoming mothers. Helping with pregnancy symptoms, choosing a supplement regimen, working on incorporating nutrients of concern during pregnancy, improving body image, and supporting mental health during this time are just a few of the things I love to help expecting moms navigate. I also love working in corporate wellness, as a previous corporate girly myself, I certainly know the lifestyle! Keeks and Co’s Nourish and Flourish program allows us to help those in the corporate world learn foundational nutrition information and apply it to their daily lives through weekly classes and 1-on-1 sessions with our dietitians. I love being able to help our patients find balance and joy in taking control of their wellness in sustainable ways.
The Registered Dietitians at Keeks and Co take intimidating diagnoses, generalized recommendations from a PCP or specialist, and/or interest in general health trends and create personalized wellness plans that our patients ultimately guide and understand.
We aim to be the change we wish to see in healthcare, as dietitians that support each other, to how we counsel and advise the patients we meet with. We lift each other up to help us grow, professionally and personally, to ultimately be able to help our patients best.
Amazing, so let’s take a moment to go back in time. What did you believe about yourself as a child that you no longer believe?
When I was young, everyone always said that I was shy. I always saw that as a weakness growing up. But after having my son, watching him grow into a toddler and start preschool, I’ve realized that shy was never the right word to describe me. Like my son is now, I was an observer. It might take me a beat to observe and get comfortable in social situations, but one on one, I love to connect with people, I always have. I used to be self conscious about my “shyness” but now I realize my style of observing, listening, and then connecting is unique and powerful in one on one nutrition counseling. I’m able to be a helpful listener and observer of another’s experiences while also connecting with them.
If you could say one kind thing to your younger self, what would it be?
After 10 years in the corporate world as a management consultant, I decided to change careers and pursue my true passion of nutrition. While I don’t regret my previous career at all because it taught me so much, I do wish I had given myself more time when I was young to figure out what I liked, what I didn’t, and how I wanted to help the world. I’d tell my younger self to not be afraid to take some time to get to know yourself, find your own path, find your own passions. When we’re young, we feel pressured to make so many important decisions at such a young age and sometimes we’re guided, usually with good intentions, to make the decisions that others feel are in our best interest. I wish my younger self had taken more time to get to know me, what I enjoy, what I don’t, and not feel like I should be in such a rush to grow up so fast. I’m very grateful for all that led me to becoming a dietitian and helping people live healthy and happy lives, but it was a long, difficult road. I wouldn’t change my journey for anything, but I wish 16 year old me had been given the opportunity to find herself before feeling forced to choose a path at such a young age.
I think our readers would appreciate hearing more about your values and what you think matters in life and career, etc. So our next question is along those lines. What’s a belief or project you’re committed to, no matter how long it takes?
I truly believe time is the most precious, valuable, and limited resource we have. This became very clear to me around the time I turned 30, and since then I’ve chosen to commit myself to building a life where I spend the majority of my time and energy with the people I love and doing the work that I believe is most important for this world. Limiting things that don’t align with this can be challenging, but I want to live a life that is an example of this for my son and for my clients as well.
Okay, so before we go, let’s tackle one more area. What will you regret not doing?
I will never regret changing careers, even though it took me years to leave corporate America and become a dietitian. It took a lot of focus, futuristic thinking, planning, endurance, and support from my husband, family, and friends to leave an established and lucrative career to pursue the happiness and purpose I find in helping others through nutrition. Sometimes I look back at the long years of taking biology and chemistry while still working, getting through a master’s program during the pandemic, and finishing my dietetic internship, and I still can’t believe that I’m here now. It was hard and it was risky, but I feel like I’m really doing what I was meant to do. I have the ability to be a full time mom and a part time dietitian, do what I love and be with my family. I will never regret choosing this path!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.keeksand.co
- Instagram: keeksand.co
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/keeksand-co/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/keeksanddotco
Image Credits
Image 1 & 4 Kelley Deal Photography
Image 2 Erica Levy Photography
Logo for Print Keeksand.co Kyrstin Draney
