Hello Iowa.: January 2013

Well, it's a few more weeks down and that much closer to having a real job! These past few weeks have been spent in Retail Management. This rotation was a very eye-opening experience. Though my past experience in retail has been minimal, I learned a lot about how to manage people in a different way than I have ever been taught before. It's all about developing rapport and creating a sense of mutual respect within the work environment. I know what you're thinking... DUH. But I think we have all had a manager who...perhaps did not learn that. So let me tell you all about how these dietitians mastered the concept.

Each day, the dietitians (Beth and Levi) go to "do rounds" in each area they are in charge of, which includes four dining areas. They manage more than 50 employees, including students, part-timers, and full-time employees. They know everyone by name and seem to keep tabs on how they are all doing; not only at work, but in their social lives as well. Each morning during rounds, they make sure to check in with supervisors of each area to see how things are going.

From an outsider's perspective, it was cool to see how relaxed the employees were when Beth and Levi came around. I know of many places where I was employed that when "the boss" came around, everyone suddenly became all-star employees with perfect posture and big smiles. Their work areas are magically in ship-shape and all customers are treated like celebrities. Even to an outsider, it can seem staged and insincere. However, when Beth and Levi come around, everyone continues to go about their business and do the jobs they are supposed to do because--get this--they're already doing a good job. I think that's the difference between earning respect and demanding it. Levi and Beth are approachable, fun, and fair, which I think the employees really appreciate.

In addition to learning a new approach to management, I also learned about creating new menu items, marketing, procurement, and recipe standardization. The hospital just signed on to Lady Obama's Partnership for Healthier America (PHA), which will radically change the types of foods that can be served at the hospital. By 2015, 60% of the meals served/sold at the hospital must comply to a certain set of standards. This required an in-depth view of what is already being served in each of the dining areas, trying to figure out what we already had to work with, and how we could fix the rest. It was my favorite project to work on! We got a spreadsheet of the nutrition information for each entree and side that is served at the hospital. The important criteria include percent saturated fat, total calories, and mg of sodium. For over 300 items, Dagny (my partner in crime for the week) and I had to write "yes" or "no", indicating if each food item fit into these standards. The next step was to take a few items that were close to meeting the requirements, but not quite, and see what we could do to modify those recipes. For example, one of the pizzas we looked at had 666 mg sodium, when the requirement was that it had to fall below 600 mg. The percent from saturated fat and the total calories were fine. So, what could we do to decrease the sodium? By looking at the ingredients containing sodium (cheese, sauce, and crust) and using half the amount of each, we were able to bring the sodium down to 593 mg instead. Plus, even though the other criteria were OK, we ended up decreasing both calories and saturated fat as well! And guess what? IT WAS STILL YUMMY! Victory!

Isn't nutrition fun?

Instead of gifts this year, my "other" family took us all on a cruise for Christmas. I can't remember a time when I have actually felt warm on Christmas Day, let alone in a swimsuit on a beach!

It. Was. Awesome.

We boarded the Carnival Destiny on Christmas Eve and took a five-day cruise to Nassau (Bahamas) and Grand Turk. We were also supposed to stop in Half Moon Cay, an island open only to Carnival cruiseliners, but the water was too rough for us to get to shore. Total bummer.

That is probably the worst thing that happened though; if you could even call it a bad thing, considering we got to spend the day outside--reading and bronzing our skin. Not many people can say that for a day-after-Christmas event!

The rest of the time we spent stuffing our faces with the best food ever. We're talkin' all you can eat frozen yogurt, lobster, strawberry bisque, shrimp, sushi, pizza, fruit, a chocolate buffet--I'm shocked I didn't need to be rolled off the ship!