Take a Chance and Dive In
Hannah Carroll is the Food Service Director at the Goleta Union School District. Daily, she is not only managing her own schedule, but she is overseeing the day-to-day responsibilities of the team. It is a challenging role with many unexpected obstacles, such as staff emergencies, which require her to find creative solutions to issues that may arise. She also handles any quality concerns with food at a school site and discusses concerns with parents regarding their child’s allergies. Moreover, her responsibilities include employee management, program compliance, budgeting, procurement, and menu planning.
The path to her very exciting and rewarding career was not always straight and narrow. When first starting out in college, Hannah had an undecided major with hopes of eventually entering an architecture program. It was her mom who urged her to enroll in a nutrition course and she immediately fell in love with the science. This led her to enroll for Penn State University’s nutrition program.
After not getting matched to an internship during the first round, she felt devastated and wasn’t sure what she should do next. Her mentor then encouraged her to apply to Fontbonne’s program, which she eventually was accepted into. There, she completed her internship and master’s degree. During the program, she originally had plans to become a clinical dietitian. Instead, she found herself leaning towards a career in food service with community interaction. Looking back, Hannah believes the theme of her career and life is that you can’t always lock yourself into a plan and you need to be open to what life presents to you.
"You can't always lock yourself into a plan.. you need to be open to what life presents to you."
Her first job after the internship was as a Nutrition Education Coordinator for a school district in Virginia. In this role, she learned that there is more to school nutrition than food service. Her tasks included education, allergy management, menu development and nutrition compliance. She enjoyed the position so much that she decided to continue the path to becoming a director. She had a few more jobs as a supervisor and worked in 3 different school districts, which provided many diverse experiences.
Hannah’s favorite part about being a food service director is seeing the kids enjoy their food and being the constant resource that kids can depend on for food. The position has a great balance she enjoys, where she gets to wear many different hats. For example, she can spend part of her day analyzing the school’s budget and another part visiting school sites to conduct reviews. She constantly is working in different capacities. The biggest challenge in being a food service director is being a manager because it can be difficult as times making sure the staff are always feeling supported. In this role, there may be times where you might encounter employees that test your patience and skills as a leader. Being around the kids to boost your optimism is a great way to make it through those difficult situations.
Hannah’s favorite way to unwind is by enjoying the California outdoors. She loves camping and hiking all while enjoying the diverse landscape of beaches and mountains. She also loves biking, snowboarding, and paddleboarding. She enjoys any activity that involves being with her two dogs, Dylan and Duncan!
Hannah’s advice for anyone looking to become a food service director, or a similar position, is to learn as much as possible about leadership skills and practice them. During college, Hannah applied for a women’s leadership program. She was nervous at first, as she felt she was not a “natural born” leader and was sometimes shy. However, she became more comfortable the more she practiced being a leader. The most effective leaders are those who can say they aren’t perfect, will make mistakes and will continue learning. It helps to actively practice your social skills by putting yourself in new conversations, even if your natural introversion would normally avoid them. Practicing listening skills is also important because a leader must know how to listen to their staff. It is especially valuable to find mentors around you that you can shadow in a leadership capacity. Hannah says, "Our lives don’t always need to be mapped out, our plans may take a turn and we should just embrace it. If a future Registered Dietitian is contemplating taking a leadership role, take a chance and dive in!"
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