This spot-on quote came from Matthew Ames, our opening speaker at Dietitians Unite 2018 — and he had a capacity-crowd roomful of nutrition leaders nodding their heads in agreement.

But let’s back up a bit, and set the stage. Our expectations were exceeded in every regard at this year’s DU’18, held on 2 March in Brisbane. In our fifth year, we had more attendees than ever, topping the 300 mark. Attendees not only from across Australia, but also from Singapore and New Zealand [we are global!]. High-calibre sponsors, showcasing their groundbreaking products [and sharing lots of samples to take home!]. Three separate tracks, so that attendees could choose to hear from business leaders, innovative clinicians or foodservice leaders. More opportunities to network and collaborate than ever before, from pre-event brekky to multiple meal breaks, and after-event drinks.

1. Know, and accept, where you are at this junction – realise ‘it is what it is’.

2. Know where you are going – and don’t just have a task you need to complete, have a purpose.

3. Find a way around the obstacle. There’s always an opportunity; you just need to adapt to find it.

4. Remember you’re never alone. Stay open to the help of others and call on your relationships. We need other people to get to where we want to go – hence, the quote that opens this story.

On the heels of this inspiration from Matthew, we honoured the recipient of the first annual Holly Butcher award, Katie Benton, clinical oncology dietitian. Katie was chosen for exemplifying the traits showcased by Holly, a young dietitian who died on 4 January this year of Ewing’s sarcoma. before she passed away, Holly authored a refreshing reminder — that eventually reached the world — about seizing the day, and so much more. Holly’s family was in attendance to see Katie receive the award, and chose Katie specifically from a pool of incredible nominations.

As we broke out into three streams for the day, we heard from a myriad of incredible speakers. The beauty of the business-stream speakers is that they all came from different walks of life, with wildly divergent approaches – but all have found success in their own ways. Speaker Jason Smith ignored conventional wisdom that urges us to say yes to every opportunity that comes along. ‘Say no, so you can say yes,’ he explained. Focus on your purpose, he means, and don’t dilute yourself. Dean Merlo, of coffee and cafe fame, shared his philosophy on the value of exceptional customer service – especially in an age of social media, when everyone’s a critic. Dietitian Kate Wengier, director of Foost and successful Kickstarter campaigner, urged us to be clear on our purpose – but to be open to feedback constantly, especially if you feel your plans going astray. Bestselling author Rachael Bermingham of the Four Ingredients book empire, cautioned us not to stop ourselves from having a go – to be prepared to “change lanes” and find ways to achieve the success we seek.

In our foodservices stream, Dr Karen Abbey shared her vast knowledge of innovation in aged-care foodservices, and walked us through four topics with lots of key takeaways: getting your foot in the door, kitchen and dining room equipment and service ideas, technology, and doing more for less.

The day concluded with remarks from the founders of Queensland’s first and only children’s hospice, Hummingbird House. Paul and Gabrielle Quilliam spoke of the obstacles they faced in bringing their [much-needed] dream to life, and how they collaborated with partners from government to not-for-profits and private corporations to raise the necessary funding. We left in awe of their motivation and commitment to “birthing” this labour of love.