A native of Sacramento, California, Jessica Jones ’12 M.S. moved to New York with a degree in journalism and thoughts of attending graduate school. Not satisfied with her job at a law journal, she began working for a nonprofit that brought food education to underserved communities. Jones loved the work and enrolled in Brooklyn College for her master’s degree in nutrition. A chance meeting at a party brought Jones a lifelong friend and business partner and set them both on careers as digital dietitians. Here Jones talks about the path to cofounding Diabetes Digital.

Could you tell us a bit about your background?

I have a big family. What’s interesting is my mom went to school to become a dietitian and ended up changing her major to journalism. I went to school to become a journalist and ended up changing my career to nutrition.

I studied journalism and magazine writing at San Francisco State and loved it. I still write to this day. I moved to New York on a whim, found a place in Brooklyn and got a job at the American Lawyer magazine. I remember going to these different law firms to interview people. I had a big natural hairstyle, and I didn’t feel like I fit in. This was in 2006. I was anxious all of the time and so afraid of making a mistake because it was a rigorous publication—I wanted to do something different. I took a job at a nonprofit called the Torch Program. It was around that time I decided long-term what I wanted: a career in nutrition. I also dreamed of working for myself. I decided to go back to school.

Why did you choose Brooklyn College for your master’s degree?

My best friend, who was at the time also going back to school to become a nurse, told me I should enroll in a nutrition program—that a degree in a solid registered dietitian program opens up more opportunities. I’ll never forget when I met with Dr. Kathleen Axen.

I told her about my background in journalism, and she told me that becoming a nutritionist could be a great career choice for me. She said there is so much misinformation out there about nutrition that it would be amazing to have someone who has a journalism background and a nutrition background to be able to report on nutrition from a factual and not sensational place. She walked me through the program and I enrolled. During my time at Brooklyn College I did an internship at Brooklyn Hospital Center, then worked as a dietitian at Kings County Hospital after I graduated.

Somewhere along your timeline you met your business partner, Wendy Lopez.

We met through a friend at a potluck in New York. We just started hanging out. Wendy became interested in a career in nutrition when I told her about my own career arc and she decided to go back to school (Hunter) for her degree. At around that time I learned about the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. The organization had a new program called the Stellar Farmers Markets Program. It brought nutrition education and cooking lessons to underserved communities. I ended up working for the Stellar program, teaching nutrition all throughout New York City. I eventually became a senior nutritionist there and I brought Wendy on board. We had the best time doing cooking demos, entertaining, and really feeling like the community was benefiting from the information we were giving them. From there, we came up with an idea to do a show on Brooklyn Public Access Television (BRIC). I took a production course at Brooklyn College and learned how to use the camera equipment. I wrote a grant proposal for a  show called Healthy Kitchen Chronicles for a community nutrition class project.  Wendy and I recorded the show, which was really us cooking foods from different cultures—Wendy’s Afro-Dominican. And we did an entire soul food episode, highlighting nutrition and affordability. On top of the TV show, we started a blog.

So you combined your storytelling skills with your nutrition education. How did Diabetes Digital come about?

I had had my own practice in New York City for some time and decided to move back here to Sacramento. I worked as a dietitian at a wellness center. Because we could no longer record together for public television, we created a podcast called Food Heaven, which was an extension of our media company Food Heaven Made Easy.

Doing the podcasts and appearing on social media felt new at the time—this was around 2015. There weren’t many dietitians online yet. But about two years ago I realized the nutrition landscape had changed; it felt oversaturated. Even though we were making good money, I no longer enjoyed making content. I took it as a sign. I missed having more of a direct impact on patients. And also people were always asking us for referrals. There wasn’t a place I felt like I could send people to see a dietitian that held all our values, like diversity, health at every size, weight inclusivity, but also nutritionists who deal with chronic conditions, particularly diabetes. That’s where Diabetes Digital comes in. We created a digital practice of registered dietitians and certified diabetes educators specializing in prediabetes and diabetes care and launched it at the start of 2024. It’s the best decision we ever made.

Having other dietitians on board, including those, of course, who specialize in diabetes, a condition that is deeply tied to diet and nutrition, has been transformative.

What do you see as the role of a dietitian?

That can be broken down into four parts. Number one is the information and education we impart; it’s important to stay on top of that, but that’s only 25 percent of our role. What makes a good dietitian in a counseling setting is that are skilled in helping the patient with behavioral change. Behavioral change is really what matters if you’re trying to get someone to go from point A to point B. The third is working with the client’s emotions around and relationship with food, which can be complex. The final thing is accountability. It can’t hurt to have someone to check in with every week to make sure whatever goals that are being set can be adhered to.

Any advice for students?

One of my professors, Kenneth Axen—Dr. Kathleen Axen’s husband; he passed in 2020—told me, “Don’t let a slip become a fall.” I share it with patients. Also, he said, “sometimes it’s good to pick a practical career and do your creative stuff on the side. Choose a career that is still interesting to you and pays the bills.”

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