At BrilliantRead Media, it is our constant endeavour to identify and share some of the unique and compelling stories from the startup ecosystem. As part of this, we invited Pooja Malhotra for an interview with BrilliantRead Media. She is a Leader, Coach, Nutritionist, Wellness Consultant and Change Enabler. Let’s learn more about her background, her inspiring journey so far and her advice for our growing community!
Excerpts from our exclusive interview with Pooja:
Could you please talk us through your background and your journey?
My journey has been long and winding. My goals and vision were always clear. I cultivated an interest in Nutrition science at a very young age.
My mother also being a Nutritionist from the same esteemed alma mater, Lady Irwin College, I had set my eyes on my goal pretty early.”
I enrolled at the Lady Irwin College, DU for my undergrad, Bachelor of Science (Home Science), completed my Master of Science (Food & Nutrition) with specialization in Therapeutic Nutrition & Institutional Food Administration and finished it with my training at the very prestigious AIIMS.
A Gold Medal in M.Sc. was the perfect fine finish to my 5-year stint at Lady Irwin followed by authoring 2 popular books on Nutrition- All You Wanted to Know About Calories and All You Wanted to Know About Vitamins.
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Who is your role model?
My role model always has been my mother. She is a Nutritionist par excellence. She epitomizes the virtue that good health has all its ingredients in the kitchen and that our pharmacy lies in our kitchens.
She strengthened the idea of freshly prepared family meals. She cooks her food scientifically, blending in the very best of culinary art thus optimizing nutrition as well as taste quotients.
How did you discover your passion as a ‘Nutritionist’?
Clean eating is in my genes and in my blood, it is an indispensable way of life and the purest form of self-love and self-care. I realized at a very young age, the importance of good nutrition.
I realized how much I enjoyed participating in planning our family meals. I also felt that Nutrition as a science is well recognized, however, a vast majority of people either underestimate its importance or are too lazy to come out of their comfort zone and change their lifestyles and eating habits.”
I realized that the masses needed to be educated even on something as basic as the importance of including proteins in all our meals. It’s a shame that approx. 73 per cent of Indians are protein deficient.
What challenges do you frequently face? What drives you to keep going?
My journey has been very interesting. The biggest challenges that any person faces, lie within themselves. My passion for Nutrition helped me overcome my inner fears. Fortunately, as a Nutritionist, I got an opportunity to interact with people from diverse backgrounds and cultures.
Understanding their food culture and offering them diet advice that fits into their palate is always a challenge that I love taking up; succeeding in this gives me immense satisfaction.”
Also as in any industry, the wellness industry is also invaded by quacks, people with limited knowledge, self-proclaimed wellness experts etc who often propagate and popularize unhealthy diets and shortcuts.
Busting such diets and nutrition-related myths is another challenge I love to take up. The desire to build a healthier future generation drives me to keep going every single day.
Who do you believe has been the biggest source of motivation in your daily life?
My biggest source of motivation is the rock-solid support that I have from my family. What keeps me going is the positive feedback that I get from my clients.
When the clients blood reports improve with the diet, when they are able to reduce their dose of diabetes or blood pressure medications, when they are able to shed excess weight and fit into their favourite clothes, I earn blessings in abundance, and that is what keeps me motivated.
What are some of the strategies that you believe have helped you grow as a person?
The strategies that have helped me grow are:
> Being sensitive to client requirements
> Being updated on the latest in the field of Nutrition
> Never compromising on my ideals
> Never prescribe fad/shortcut diets.
In your opinion what are the keys to success?
The key to success is hard work, persistence, honesty, determination and being true to your profession and passion.
No amount of advertising or marketing would help if your core services are not worthy.
What advice would you give to our readers?
Women often face tough choices, have odds stacked against them. When faced with difficult times, seize the power within you, face the sunshine and the shadows will fall behind.
In the professional arena, knowledge is the single most powerful tool that gives you the extra edge. The gender divide dissolves if you know your subject well and portray yourself justifiably.
Last but not the least, what about your journey makes it satisfying/exciting?
Curating new healthy recipes so that my clients enjoy the food that they are eating is very exciting to me. I am thrilled when they say that they love my diet plans or that my diets don’t seem like ‘dieting’ at all.
Having counselled thousands of clients and after curating lakhs of diet plans, what is most satisfying is the love, respect and gratitude that my clients express.
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