Meet Anna Brown | Functional Registered Dietitian

We had the good fortune of connecting with Anna Brown and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Anna, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
My thought process for starting my own business was a need I saw in our changing world. Having grown up in Colorado, I spent my early childhood barefoot (and sometimes naked!), running around outside from morning until night. I was fortunate to have this early exposure and love of nature built into my DNA because it has kept me sane and grounded despite living in cities since I was 22 (first San Francisco and then New York City for 12 years).

I truly believe reconnecting with nature is the missing piece of the wellness puzzle and I decided to make it my mission to help others achieve optimal health by reconnecting with nature in all aspects – from the food they eat and following their own biological rhythms (circadian and infradian rhythms) to reconnecting with their inner wild child and spending more time outside and less time inside on screens.

Nutrition and health are actually my second career and I didn’t actually launch my private practice, Nutrition Squeezed, LLC until May of 2020 when I was 34 years old (and 5 months pregnant!). I had a previous 8-year career in Public Relations working with health and wellness brands like KIND Bars, ASICS, the Vitamin Shoppe, Driscoll’s Berries, and Plum Organics. After 8 years of working with brands in the wellness space, I realized that my passion for wellness went way beyond writing press releases and pitching media. I wanted to BE a wellness expert.

It was October of 2014. I was hiking Machu Picchu and had the realization that I needed to quit my job and go back to school to become a Registered Dietitian. In retrospect, I’ve learned that this was my Saturn Return and it was my spirit’s way of telling me to follow my passion for helping others. I wanted to work with people to help them stop surviving and start thriving by reconnecting with nature.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
My business, Nutrition Squeezed, LLC is a virtual nutrition private practice based in Brooklyn, NY. I am a Functional Registered Dietitian which means I practice a root-cause approach to helping clients heal and optimize their health, whether that’s heal digestive issues, rebalance their hormones, develop a more empowered relationship around food, increase their energy, and live a lifestyle supportive of longevity.

My practice and philosophy are quite different from other Functional nutrition practitioners in that I truly integrate nature, science, and woo woo. While I practice evidence-based nutrition, I believe there’s a place at the table for all three and that we can’t really achieve optimal health and wellness if we’re ignoring one.

I got where I am today for several reasons. First, is that I’m extremely passionate and lit up about my work. I LOVE what I do and I would do it for 12 hours a day if my schedule allowed for it. I feel incredibly grateful that I’ve found my passion and that I’ve been able to craft a career out of it. I don’t think anyone should stop looking or trying until they get to this point. The second reason I’ve gotten to where I am today is from investing in my health. I truly believe the biggest ROI in business is your own health. If you don’t wake up every day feeling SO GOOD physically, how do you expect to show up fully in your business?

I struggled from digestive issues (SIBO), headaches, and fatigue while I was in my Dietetic Internship to become a registered dietitian. I worked with a functional doctor who found the root cause of all my symptoms and I was healed within 6 months, it was incredible and that’s when I knew I really wanted to take a functional approach with my clients.

I want the world to know am here to help the people see that the way we’re living today, in our modern world and society, is not the way we as humans were meant to live. We evolved IN nature, spending a majority of our time outside, moving our bodies, eating and living seasonally. While we don’t all need to throw our iPhones in the trash and move to a cabin in the woods, I do believe we need to start living more naturally and more in tune with nature. With our biological rhythms, with the seasons, and with nature – both outside and bringing it inside.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I would start with a morning walk around Fort Greene Park so we could get some sunlight and movement in to support our circadian rhythm. Then we would grab brunch at Evelina, an amazing restaurant just up the street from me.

After brunch we’d head to Greenlight Bookstore and then get a non-toxic mani/pedi at Ph7.

Lastly, we’d end with dinner at one of my favorite neighborhood restaurants, Miss Ada.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I would love to dedicate this to my entire family for being incredibly supporting throughout my career pivot, time as a student in grad school, and as a new business owner trying to get my private practice up and running.

Website: www.nutritionsqueezed.com

Instagram: @nutritionsqueezed

Image Credits
Diana Davis, Falcon Griffith