GIGI CARTER (NS, 2017) Business Consultant and Individual Coach • mytrueself.com
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igi Carter is a business consultant and individual coach for plant-based nutrition as well as author of the book The PlantBased Workplace: Add Profits, Engage Employees and Save the Planet. “By helping clients, I am not just helping them but I am making an impact on their family and friends as well.” Gigi Carter loves this quote from Aristotle: “Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom.” So in 2012, she took a good long look at herself. At the end of her self-evaluation she decided to adopt a whole-food, plant-based diet. “It changed me physically to where my health improved; It gave me significantly more energy and I took up cycling and started racing; and it changed me emotionally and spiritually to where I came to realize that I was finally living my values,” said Carter. And then, after 22 years of building a career, working hard and sacrificing, and climbing the corporate ladder – she walked (actually it was more like she ran) away from it all. “During my time as an operations manager, I witnessed the impact chronic disease has on employees because much of the workforce had diseases such as diabetes,” said Carter. “In particular, there was a gentleman who was worried about his father who had another amputation due to diabetes, and I knew that he was concerned about his future as well. I realized there were many pieces to that environment that were backwards – like giving sausage biscuits as rewards for productivity – and I decided something needed to be done and that I would be the one to do it.” Shortly after this, Carter enrolled at UAB in the M.S. in Nutrition Sciences – Lifestyle Management and Disease Prevention (LMDP) Track. She chose UAB over all other programs because of the
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reputation and credibility of the program. She chose the LMDP Track because it trains graduates to work within a multi-professional team to assist in the design, development, and dissemination of comprehensive nutrition and health programs that promote wellness to reduce the burden of chronic diseases on communities. In 2016, Carter established her company My True Self where she offers corporate consulting services to help businesses transition to a plantbased workplace and individual coaching that is customized for each person to help achieve personal health and wellness goals and objectives. In 2017, Carter graduated from UAB. She says the strength of the program gave her confidence, validation, and an immense comprehension of nutrition. So much so – in 2018, she published her first book The Plant-Based Workplace: Add Profits, Engage Employees and Save the Planet. Carter says none of today’s success would have happened if she hadn’t made one change in her past. “I changed what was on the end of my fork and it changed my life,” said Carter. “Not only did it make me healthier, but I opened up as a person and that helped me break through my perceived barriers to success.” And although it was one change that catalyzed the many changes, Carter tells those seeking something unique:
“Don’t expect everything to happen quickly. Get in the right frame of mind and be in it for the long haul – it will take time, but it can happen.”