THE BIG STORY

2011 New Speaker, Jessica Setnick, offers a fresh and different approach to the topic of nutrition.

Jessica joins CAMPUSPEAK with the desire to get eating disorders out of the dark and into the light. With her lighthearted approach on serious topics, Jessica conveys that the eating and weight problems we face today have roots in our past, but the power to change them is very much in our present. With her keynotes, Jessica provides students with a solid understanding for a healthier lifestyle.

We chatted with Jessica, to gain insight into her professional life, desires and motivations as a speaker.

About Jessica…
Jessica received her BA in Anthropology from the University of Pennsylvania and her Master’s degree in Exercise Physiology and Sports Nutrition from Texas Woman’s University. In 2000 she opened her own practice and is now going on her 14th year of helping people recover from eating disorders. Jessica is also the founder of Eating Disorders Boot Camp and in 2010, she was awarded the Outstanding Nutrition Educator Award from the Texas Dietetic Association. Her knowledge of eating disorders comes from extensive education, scientific and human research and through personal experience.

What is your overall message?
Every day we make eating choices based on factors we don’t even realize. Let’s start making better choices by identifying the stories we play out with our food.

College students are a specific audience, what made you want to start speaking to them about this issue?
My eating issues developed in college, and I work with many college students who have a similar experience, due to the combination of the stress and the first time they are completely in charge of their own eating. There are many more students who are struggling with their eating who are not getting care. Speaking is a way to reach a larger audience who needs the same message.
 
What do you hope to accomplish by being a college speaker?
Eating disorders are a deadly epidemic in this generation. They need to be talked about in open discussion so that people know what to do to prevent and heal them. Usually they are hush-hush or taught academically, where they don’t relate to anyone’s real life. I like to bring the topic out of the closet in a way that is engaging and even humorous, so that everyone in the room is surprised. My favorite evaluations are the ones where they say “I came to this event because I had to, but I actually enjoyed it/got a lot out of it/learned something I can use.”

What is the most rewarding aspect of being an eating disorder/mental health clinician and educator?
The moment when I can tell that something I have said clicked with someone in a way that never had before. In one-on-one settings, it happens a lot. In an audience, it is harder to tell, but usually one or two people comes to me after a presentation to tell me that they know they need help but they didn’t want to ask, or they were afraid, or they thought they were the only one. I love to put my head on my pillow at night knowing that someone is on the path to a better life because our lives intersected. It feels like I am fulfilling my mission in life.

What are three things you hope your students will walk away with after listening to your keynote?
I have three outcomes in mind:
1. For those who are not aware that eating disorders are an issue, help raise their awareness and decrease the stigma.
2. For those who are currently struggling and not getting treatment, to give them hope and encourage them to get care.
3. For those who are worried about a friend, to give them tools to understand and to help.
 
Outside of work, what are you interests? What do you do for fun?
After using my brain all day at work, I love to use my hands at night and on the weekends. I do all kinds of crafts, like crochet, needlepoint, sewing, making jewelry. Every once in a while I get the idea to sell what I’ve made, but that takes the fun out of it, so I go back to doing it just for fun.

If you could meet anyone dead or alive, who would it be?
I avoid these type of questions, because my nature is to overthink them and get way too involved. Like, could it be someone I have already met but they died and I would just like to see them again? Or does it have to be someone new I have never met? You do not want to see what it looks like inside my head! So instead I take the easy way out. When my stepkids ask me things like, would you rather eat a scorpion or a cockroach, I tell them, I’d rather eat a turkey sandwich!

Jessica has two keynotes that are perfect for body image, eating disorders, self-esteem and women’s issues and empowerment programming.

Check out campuspeak.com/setnick to learn about Jessica’s keynotes You are WHY You Eat and Making Food Your Friend Again.