Meet Garden of Life’s Corporate Nutritionist - Dawn Thorpe Jarvis, M.S., R.D., L.D.N.

Nearly 12 years ago, Dawn Thorpe Jarvis joined the Garden of Life family and now serves as its Corporate Nutritionist.

Extraordinary Health™ (EH) Magazine: Dawn, you’ve been with Garden of Life for almost 12 years, but you have a wealth of experience prior to joining the GoL family. Please share some highlights.

Dawn Thorpe Jarvis (DTJ):  As a licensed and registered dietitian with over 30 years of experience as a nutritionist and a strong passion for natural health, I’ve had some exciting opportunities both here and across the pond. For example, I was a consulting sports nutritionist for the British Olympic boxing team, the Oxford football club, the Tae Kwon Do world championship team—as well several others. I’ve also served as the head nutritionist for the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) at Wimbledon and as clinical dietitian for hospitals in London, Windsor and beyond. Guest writing and speaking have been highlights, too, with appearances in Sport Science Review, Cycling Weekly magazine, BBC One television, BBC radio and more. When I first came to the States, before joining Garden of Life, I had my own private nutrition practice, and I also worked in the local health food store. I loved it. I gave talks, ran weight-loss classes and helped educate our customers about healthy food shopping and dietary supplements. This experience gave me a solid appreciation for our industry and also a greater understanding of our customers’ needs.

EH Magazine:  How exciting! What roles have you served in with Garden of Life through the years?

DTJ:  In 2003, I started out as the Director of Product Support. In this role, I shared my knowledge of nutrition and dietary supplements with the product support team who speak to over 2,000 customers on the phone every month. I also wrote FAQs and trainings on our products. The product support team answers a lot of customer e-mails, and I’d make sure we addressed every customer question. In 2006, my job expanded to the Director of Education, where I was travelling across the country to give trainings, and I was also responsible for hiring and training the Garden of Life educators. I got to work with our formulators and to visit some of our suppliers. I learned so much about the wonderful ingredients that we use in our top quality products. Today, as the Corporate Nutritionist, I serve as the nutrition expert to all departments, write product trainings, advise on formulations, proofread labels and literature, manage product education and training for all staff, plus I write the monthly corporate nutrition newsletter as well as articles for Extraordinary Health magazine

EH Magazine:  As corporate nutritionist, you are highly educated in nutrition and products, but what is something most people don’t know about you?

DTJ:  I love music and learned to play the violin when I was 11 years old — not very well, though!

EH Magazine:  Dawn, what do you love most about your job?

DTJ:  I feel very blessed to work for such a wonderful company that truly cares about the quality of their products and the fact that I get to help people to improve their health. How cool is that?

Learn more about Dawn by visiting her educator page.