Conversations with Mia Rigden

Today we’d like to introduce you to Mia Rigden.

Hi Mia, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I’m a board-certified nutritionist, professionally trained chef and the founder of RASA, a private nutrition practice in Santa Monica. My journey began with food. Everyone in my family cooks; both of my parents are excellent cooks, and my grandmother was not only the queen of pumpkin pie and roast chicken but was an ardent student of nutrition. She studied at Carnegie Mellon in the 1930s and was always ahead of her time, cooking with and slathering coconut oil all over herself in the 90s when popular nutrition culture wouldn’t touch fat with a 10-foot pole.

I started working in restaurants when I was 15. First as a host, then a server, and after college I moved to New York and enrolled at The French Culinary Institute (now part of the Institute for Culinary Education), which spawned an exciting career in restaurant PR, where I worked with some of the top restaurants and chefs in the city. It was a 25 years old dream; free meals and choice reservations at all hot spots. I loved it until I didn’t. At some point, all the dining out took its toll. I had gained a little weight and just felt off, so I started to experiment with different cleanses and diets. I was constantly oscillating from periods of extreme healthy eating to indulgent nights out for work and with friends. I loved how I felt when I was eating “clean,” but that rigidity was at odds with my career and my social life, and I couldn’t figure out how to align those forces.

In 2013, I moved to Hong Kong with my now husband (then boyfriend). Leaving New York gave me a chance to rethink my career choices, and I decided to pursue the health coaching program through the Institute of Integrative Nutrition. After I started working in the field, I felt like I didn’t have enough knowledge to help my clients at the level I wanted to help them, so I went back to school for my master’s in nutrition and integrative health, then later became a board-certified nutritionist.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Nutrition is an ever-changing science, and getting that foundational education has always been super important to me, but it’s equally important to keep up to date with the latest research and trends. It’s taken me the better part of a decade to build my business, and in that time I’ve made three huge moves. Luckily, many of my clients have stuck with me, but it always takes time to adjust to a new city. I think what my clients like about working with me is that I’ve been there. It took me years to get to a place where I truly feel like my actions align with my goals.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
Most of my work is one-on-one nutrition coaching. I work closely with my clients to help them figure out how to apply nutrition science to their everyday lives in a way that feels sustainable and (hopefully!) fun. I find that a more practical approach to nutrition leads to better results that are easier to maintain and more enjoyable to practice.

I also have a book out called The Well Journal (a food journal that helps connect the dots between how we eat and how we live) and am working on a cookbook that will be released next year.

Contact Info:

• Email: [email protected]
• Website: www.therasalife.com
• Instagram: @the_rasa_life