Kate McGowan, RDN

Kate's communications career began as a dietitian working in NBC's marketing department as a summer intern. (sounds crazy right?). It was there that she got a behind-the-scene look at the influence of advertising and marketing.  She thought to herself - "now if only fruits/vegetables could sponsor a TV program, the world's problems would be solved."

Prior to launching Bittersweet Nutrition, Kate was vice president at Ketchum, where she counseled numerous brands and commodity organizations including siggi's yogurt, HelloFresh, Zespri Kiwifruit, VitaCoco coconut water, Daisy cottage cheese and The Egg Nutrition Center. It was here that she was able to marry her passion for communications and nutrition.

First and foremost, she is an RDN who is passionate about nutrition and working with brands she believes in (aka consumes them a regular basis) and creating 360˚ programs that successfully communicate why. As a registered dietitian nutritionist (RDN) and communications expert, her diverse skill set includes helping health focused companies expand their customer base and execute multi-level marketing programs by building brand awareness, creating grass-root ambassador programs that deliver influencer support and endorsement, and drive business results.

Food has always meant two things for her – fuel and love. She was fortunate to be surrounded by amazing women who loved to cook – starting with her Grandma Edie (an Italian woman who expressed her love through food #madewithlove), and her mother Jane (Irish by blood that fueled Kate every day with balanced home cooked meals. Side note: she packed Kate’s lunch from kindergarten through high school. That is 3,380 lunches #dedication).  Kate was blessed to have a positive relationship with food, there were no good/bad foods, it was just food; fuel to get her through the day. Kate was a competitive swimmer and always fascinated with food labels (and still is) and understanding why certain foods made her feel better or helped her perform better in the pool. This desire to constantly understand why led her to study nutrition in college.

Kate holds a bachelor’s of science degree in dietetics from the University of Delaware and she completed her dietetic internship at Yale New Haven. She is a member of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (AND), the Engagements Program coordinator for Food and Nutrition Magazine, and past sponsorship chair for the Nutrition Entrepreneur (NE) dietetic practice group (DPG).

Kate lives in Brooklyn, New York with her husband Sean and son Briggs (1). When she isn’t talking about her favorite foods/brands, you can find her working out (she loves a good boot camp), window shopping for farmhouse pottery (for her imaginary 1880’s country home), or more often than she likes to admit enjoying a muffin at her corner bakery.