“I was just trying to survive, the way my patients were just trying to survive.”
Meg Ochipinti, Registered Dietician Nutritionist and team member at Ripple Health and Wellness, felt like each day was a battle while working through her required rotations to obtain her license. Although she chose her profession to provide health counseling and diet education, she quickly learned that in the hospital environment she was in, it was not about helping– it was a numbers game.
“I would chart 50 to 55 patients a day and I didn’t even know what they looked like. I would get questioned as to what I was doing with my time if that number was any lower. I’d get a lot of dialysis patients and it was more about what feeding tube was best. It was just survival. The doctors would reject my recommendations and I had a hard time with it but thought, I just have to bite the bullet and get through it.”
Eventually, Meg completed her rotations, got her license, and through a job with Xymogen, acquired a taste for functional medicine and the impact of getting to the “root cause.” So, when she and her fiancé moved to Oregon, she decided that she would steer clear of a hospital career and instead looked for a role with someone who shared her vision for health.
“I came across Dr. Lexie [Ching], looked her up, and loved everything. I called her and when she interviewed me, we just clicked; and that’s kind of how our relationship is now. She’s easy to talk to, she’s ambitious and she has these visions that are super similar to mine. Even for five and 10 years down the road, our vision is pretty much aligned.”
Understanding the role that food plays in our lives was embedded in Meg since childhood. In college she organized events where she and other dietetics would teach on the importance of good food and how to create new mentalities around nutrition and fitness.
“I really wanted to build community gardens and help educate kids and adults on nutrition and where food comes from. My family always had a big garden and that’s where it all began. I fell in love with helping to set those foundations for people and now I get to apply my knowledge into a functional medicine aspect with nutrition.”
Meg and Dr. Lexie make up the entire staff at Ripple Health. They each bring a wealth of knowledge to the table and take ownership of several roles within the practice. They know their own weaknesses and know how to build on each other’s strengths and hold themselves accountable. It’s a lot of work but Meg says there’s no place she would rather be.
“This feeds my soul and working alongside Dr. Lexie to help change the healthcare system makes me feel fortunate. There is a copious amount of gratitude I have for her, and I couldn’t think of a better person to fight this battle with.”
“Go to the workshops,” Meg said when I asked her for advice on behalf of other FPC team members.
“I am always in Mindi’s workshop learning what I can. There are always going to be certain things that you struggle with. And if you go to the workshops and talk to Mindi or talk to Luke, even if you aren’t doing the coaching portion of it, you’re going to learn. You will be able to talk on the phone with patients about the programs better, and about how it all works. FPC does a good job at training the staff around the price tag and what to say when we empathize with someone who can’t afford the program.”
After attending Novembers in-person quarterly event, Meg said she saw her and Dr. Lexie’s confidence skyrocket. Being submerged with other like-minded people who not only share the same mission, but also have the same types of challenges was a “game changer,” she said.
“We walked away with so much. Our confidence level has definitely gone up in being able to communicate authentically without worrying that we are hurting our clients’ feelings. And all the team members I met there were fully on board and supporting their practitioners. I felt like we were all in the same boat. We are all human, and we all need coaches too; just like our clients.”
Are you ready for your own success story?
If you are, I have good news! We can get you results like this. It won’t be easy, nor will it happen overnight, but I’ve seen it happen so many times that I can tell you that’s it’s possible.
You’ve got to be hungry, driven, up for the work, listen more than you talk, complete more than complain, implement plans more than you announce them, and show up daily with a beginners mind. If you’re ready, it’s time to get to work!
