We recently connected with Rae Mueller and have shared our conversation below.
Rae, so excited to have you with us today. So much we can chat about, but one of the questions we are most interested in is how you have managed to keep your creativity alive.
My day job is pretty black-and-white and scientific, so there isn’t a lot of room for creativity. That’s why art is so important to me. Creativity and the desire to continue making art, even when I feel uninspired, is a muscle I have to work. I’ve found that the less I create, the less desire I have to create. I had an artist and mentor tell me the same thing – that inspiration won’t keep flowing in, but to keep creating anyway. When I have no motivation, I try to find a different medium, technique or subject to learn. My medium of choice is acrylics because I feel comfortable with it, but sometimes that comfort turns into complacency. So, this year, I started learning how to paint in watercolors. Just simple YouTube videos with guidance, a pre-planned subject, and seeing how different techniques create different results – has kept my creativity alive. I find I’m excited about painting now. So keeping things interesting and challenging helps a lot.
Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about your plans are for the coming year?
This year, I’ve decided to invest more time in my art. While I love being a dietitian – specifically working 1:1 with clients – there is limited room for creativity. That’s why creating art is such an important outlet. While my subjects of choice have been landscapes – particularly the Colorado mountains – I want to change it up and challenge myself. This year, I am incorporating watercolors and mixed media into my work, and aim to focus more on learning how to paint people and animals. I’m excited to place more emphasis on art, getting it out into the public, and broadening my subject matter!
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
1. Embrace yourself and find career or job that plays on your strengths and not the other way around. For the longest time (until my 30s), I worried I wasn’t extroverted enough to be successful. Many roles I was in required me to be super social and outgoing all the time – it was exhausting. Because I felt drained after every day, I worried there was something wrong with me. It wasn’t until I started working from home on a flexible schedule – balancing 1:1 client work and independent tasks – that I felt like I was truly thriving. That, and making time for independent hobbies like art, is what helps me feel balanced. Being able to choose when I have energy to work with people and when I want to work alone has greatly decreased my burnout and stress.
2. Just Start. I knew I wanted to be a business owner when I was in college, but put off starting a business because I felt I needed more experience as a dietitian first. However, that meant I was stuck in jobs that felt draining and didn’t align with my goals. When I started Intentionally Nourished, I had no idea what I was doing, how taxes worked, what steps I needed to take to start an LLC – nothing. I just did it. That feeling of starting something you are truly passionate about and is yours – is 100% worth it. You’ll figure it out along the way and there are so many free resources to help.
3. Don’t compare your journey to someone else’s. There are so many people who are farther ahead, more successful, etc. I was late to the party when I became a dietitian. I felt that traveling and figuring out whether dietetics was the right path for me was more important than doing the internship right after college. For the longest time, I felt like those experiences set me back. Now, I’m so thankful I traveled and have those experiences. There is not a “perfect age” or a deadline to be successful and content in your career.
How would you describe your ideal client?
My ideal client at Intentionally Nourished is someone who has struggled to embrace the body they were given. Someone who has been taught to fight against their body since they were young. Someone who has probably undergone significant trauma or bullying. This person may struggle with disordered behaviors around food and their body – for example, binging episodes, restriction, chronic dieting, overexercise, and/or body dysmorphia. Someone who may feel confused about what to eat because they’ve been on so many diets and read so much conflicting information that they don’t know what to believe. This person may be consumed with thoughts of food and their body all day. These are my favorite clients to work with, because healing one’s relationship with food is absolutely life-changing.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.etsy.com/shop/ArtbyRaeAnn
- Instagram: Nutrition: https://www.instagram.com/intentionally.nourished.rd/ Art: https://www.instagram.com/art.by.raeann/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/raeabrandenburg/
