Caroline

Nutritionist and mother

I wanted to be a nurse or teacher when I was young. Looking back that makes sense.

Caroline came to nutrition later in life. Before having children, she worked as a teacher’s aide but wanted to be more involved in the health industry, so became a personal trainer. The nutritional aspect inspired her to complete post-graduate studies in nutrition.

We don’t tell people what to do. I explain these are your options, this is what we know and this is what we know people experience. Now you can decide what you’d like to do.

We are not asked to sell any product which I believe is very important. After the call ends, I wonder how they get on. Sometimes we get feedback from parents, and they are just blown away by how we can help them. Some even take the time to come back to us and say, “Yes that made a difference”. 

I really enjoy using my training to help people.

Sue

Nutritionist

I wanted to help people make the right nutritional choices for themselves and their families. 

Sue always knew she wanted to work in the health and science arena. Initially, she wanted to be a doctor but changed direction to primary school teaching. Then in her 40s decided to train as a nutritionist. 

“No one has been able to come up with a solution that works or explain things like you have” is typical of the positive feedback we get from parents struggling with their baby’s symptoms. I think that skill comes from years of teaching primary school.

We have a lot of experience and knowledge at Careline. Not just about our products, we really help people. If I don’t know the answers for a parent, I’m confident I’ll find it out. We work together as a team and come up with a plan for the family.

That’s what makes our job so special. I get a lot of satisfaction out of that.

Hilary

Nutritionist

Hilary is a highly valuable member of the Careline Team and has been for the past 7 years. She would have been a winemaker if she hadn’t chosen Dietetics.

Coming from South Africa and then having my children in NZ, I feel for parents who don’t have family support. Not having someone they can trust to talk to, you know what they’re going through.

When I help someone who is really upset, teary, and tired with a lot of decisions to make I just simplify everything for them. I give them a clear plan we’re going to try, so it’s not overwhelming.

It’s so nice to hear the stress go out of their voice.

I like to follow up to make sure we’re on the right treatment path and the decisions we made are the right ones, just to make sure they feel OK with what’s going on.

The Careline Team are super supportive, super smart, emotionally and mentally. Everyone is here to offer support.

I really enjoy using my training to help people.

Tara

Dietitian

Tara is a Paediatric Dietitian with 35 years of experience. She’s no stranger to Careline. She raised her first child whilst taking calls from distressed parents and would often be asked about the baby they could hear in the background. She returned to Careline after spending 14 years in the field as a Community Paediatric Dietitian. 

My passion is paediatrics so I understand how hard it can be to find unbiased information, particularly for first-time parents. Sometimes the best support you can give parents is listening to their concerns. Backing them up on the fact that they made the right decisions.

I have my list of prompts to make sure I don’t miss any details. The more information I get from the call the better I can support them. Then I ask them to check in with their healthcare professional.

I love teaching people, and what I love most about Careline is we don’t sell, we support.