Dannet Charles

I've dedicated over 30 years to food service management, building a career that has touched both education and healthcare sectors. For more than 20 years, I worked in school nutrition, managing 26 schools and ensuring students received proper nutrition. After getting burned out from that role, I wanted to try healthcare, where I served as a food service director at healthcare facilities. In this role, I was responsible for running the entire dietary department, overseeing about 13 employees, and managing everything from food ordering to ensuring diets were accurate and meal service and preparation was intact. One of my biggest professional challenges was spearheading the development of the HACCP Manual for the food service department, coordinating with both the health department and the USDA to make sure it was fully intact. I've been managing people all my life, and I just retired 6 months ago, though I'm now looking to reinvent myself and find ways to feel useful again.