Natalie Castro, MS, RDN, LDN

I would say determination, just wanting to see something better. It's about persistence, constantly looking forward to how we're going to get to that next step and having a vision of what the drive is. Success comes from trying to block out the noise and keep going, always moving forward with purpose and focus on the goals ahead.

The best advice I've received is about living in the moment and being able to go through the season that you're in. It's about trying to take in the experience that has been put in front of you or the opportunity, because you don't know where it's going to take you. This was especially meaningful during transition phases, like when my department was reorganized at Baptist Health. Instead of dwelling on 'now what?' I focused on the opportunities I had gone through and what I could do for the next phase. That mindset led me to the blessing of being able to develop the internship program, allowing me to take a different passion forward.

I would say definitely stay open-minded to different opportunities. Don't be stuck on one idea or fixated on one path. Take those opportunities that come and make the best of whatever is in front of you. Try to mold it in a way that satisfies what you want it to be. Stay positive and move forward, adding your own piece into it so that you can make it worth your while. The key is being flexible and making opportunities work for you rather than waiting for the perfect situation.

The biggest challenge we're facing right now is social media. It's a double-edged sword - it's excellent with how it can reach so many people in an easy way, yet right now anybody can say anything. The challenge is that people don't know or care if information is coming from a credible or reliable source. As professionals, we feel we need to get in there and make sure people know what the right voice is, but there are so many challenges to that. Nobody's paying you to do it, and if you get paid, then you're being influenced by a company. We're dealing with massive misinformation about health, and even information from the top down that should be reliable is questionable right now. There are also significant policy barriers in place. People think it's easy to just have healthy food available, but there are red tapes and barriers we have to fix. For example, there isn't even a manufacturer that can make the clean food products we want. It takes organizational buy-in, budgets, and agreement from all parties, and unfortunately we're nowhere near agreeing to things.

The values most important to me are being true to yourself and being authentic. We live in a world right now where people present themselves one way but are completely different in reality, and that's frustrating. I value integrity - doing what you say and following through on your commitments. Compassion is also crucial to me. Becoming a mother really opened my eyes to what people go through in different seasons of their lives. I didn't realize what my colleagues were battling before getting to work when they had little ones. I think we have to have a lot of compassion and recognize that people might not be all there on a given day, and that's okay. We need to step back a little bit and meet people where they are in their journey.