nutriFoodie

Call her a food coach, nutrition counsellor, or entrepreneur — all equally fitting titles for self-professed Jill-of-all-trades, Cristel Moubarak Hackenbruch, a Vancouver registered dietitian and founder of nutriFoodie, which launched in April 2014.

Cristel used her talents as a self-taught home cook to carve her niche in the food service industry, cutting her teeth in catering and developing menus and recipes for Vancouver restaurants. Originally, nutriFoodie grew organically out of social media. "I started sharing my food photos on Facebook before it was cool," confessed Cristel. "The album got a lot of likes, but I had no intention of turning it into a business."

After earning a BSc and majoring in Dietetics at UBC, it took Cristel a couple of years before she discovered her passion. "I combined science, business, education, working with people, and event planning, and brought them all to life through the dietetics platform."

Eventually, the Facebook page became a launch pad for her business model: provide nutrition education and nutrition counselling with the objective of bettering people's relationship with food, and empower them with cooking skills to prepare colourful, delicious and nutrient-rich meals.