CDM, CFPP of the Month - October 2024

Mistin Warkenthien, CDM, CFPP, CFPM


Name: Mistin Warkenthien, CDM, CFPP, CFPM

Job Title: National Director of Culinary Services

Employer: Traveling CDM, CFPP

Job Location: Bloomington, MN

Years at Current Facility: 1.5 years

Years in Current Position: 11 months

CDM, CFPP Since: 2023

 

Why did you decide to become a CDM, CFPP?

I worked at a school district for a third-party company for 3-4 years. When that didn’t work out, I wanted to become an RDN to start my own school foodservice company or self-operate for a school. I started working at a hospital while I began classes in Dietetics. When I found out that they would be requiring a Masters degree to be an RDN, I decided to no longer pursue it. I then became a supervisor at the hospital, and they required you to take the CDM course. I decided to take it a step further and sit for the exam. My husband took a job in another state, and I was hired to be a National Consultant in that state before I sat for the exam. I feel like I found a mix of my passion for cooking and my desire to help others through nutrition and dietetics, and I couldn’t be happier with how I found my way here. 

What are your main responsibilities in your current position?

Currently, I am the National Director of Culinary Services, so I don’t have a permanent facility that I work at. I am a traveling CDM, CFPP, and my employees are travelers also. Our responsibilities are to go into a location and try to help improve their dietary programs for the good of the resident and the dietary staff. This means we are usually the interim director of food service and do all the same things a director does – staffing, filling in shifts, training, coaching, implementing and monitoring systems and procedures, etc. We try to get the program to a state of almost self-operation and then assist in hiring or promoting a CDM, CFPP to take our place. We want to get the place in working order before we get someone in, so they do not go running for the hills. 

How do you organize your time at work to make sure you accomplish all your responsibilities?

When I am on site, I must break down my tasks on a to-do list and then I block off time on my Outlook calendar. Being the National Director, I have extra responsibilities, and it can be quite daunting getting everything done answering to a client and my direct supervisor. When I block out time for each item, I get things finished more often. It also helps with my ability to tell people when I have no more bandwidth for a request or assignment. I have a visual cue on if I can honor or fulfill something for someone or not. 

What is an example of an innovative way you have made change at your facility and how did you implement it?

My team and I make innovative changes in facilities all the time. It is a part of what we do. One of the biggest things we need to do to implement changes is to get staff buy-in. No matter what you want done, if the staff doesn’t agree, it is almost impossible to achieve. I don’t think I have a dictatorship over the department, except on a few occasions when it deals with food safety or personal safety. I like to make sure staff help me come up with the solutions, making it easier for me to assist them in implementing the change instead of forcing the implementation. Implementation also takes a lot of monitoring and accountability. You have to be hands-on when implementing change and coaching people until it becomes second nature of what is expected. 

What was your first job in the foodservice industry?

I worked at a grocery store as a grocery bagger at 14 years old. As soon as I turned 15, they promoted me to cashier as they loved my personality and interactions with people. As soon as I was old enough, they cross-trained me into the deli and that was when I fell in love with cooking and kitchens. 

Who has been your biggest mentor in foodservice and how have they helped shape your career?

Honestly, I have had so many. I learn a little something from each person I have worked with. I have had the strict boss that taught me how to have standards and hold myself to my expectations. I have had the person that first taught me ServSafe that gave me a solid foundation and passion for food safety. I have had the women that showed me who to be and not to be as a leader. I have had seasoned cooks that taught me how to improve my skills. I could never name just one mentor because even today people amaze me with what they can teach me, still. That is why I love my position. I meet so many people going from location to location and learn so much from each place I go. 

What are the biggest challenges you face in your position and how do you handle them?

My biggest challenge is still handling difficult staff members. I don’t think it’s something I’ll ever be completely comfortable with, as I’m sure we can all relate to. I go into difficult conversations and push back with the mindset that many of the people I work with have been through a lot. From working through a pandemic, to managing turnover, running their departments on their own when they have never had the education or leadership, some even being thrust into leadership with little to no training and no compensation. They’ve been doing their best and you’re there to tell them things aren’t correct. I really try to sit down with them and just have a conversation. There is a lot of explanation for the why and even that doesn’t always work. This then leads to disciplinary action if they can’t follow my expectations. I think a lot of people have let accountability go by the wayside in fear of losing staff. I would rather find a way to alter the program to work with less staff than have a negative and hostile atmosphere due to someone that doesn’t want to help us toward a solution. 

What is your favorite part of your job?

My absolute favorite part of the job is when residents start complimenting us on the changes in food and service. I can’t begin to describe how much emotion wells up in me when a resident increases their intake or just comes with a huge smile because the food was so great, or they had a wonderful experience with an aide. Nothing beats that.

How do you stay up to date with current innovations and trends?

I get a lot of emails sent to me through several different associations. I read these every so often. The most I get is from social media like Facebook and LinkedIn. 

How do you envision the foodservice industry changing in the next few years?

I think that we have a lot of people that are passionate about making food better for those we serve, and that is going to absolutely skyrocket our industry, but we are met with many challenges. I see prices rising and people cutting their costs the way they always have, and if we don’t start finding other ways to save money, we’re going to end up with very poor products. 

We are also still dealing with staffing issues and if we aren’t flexible enough to re-think how we run our programs, we will continue to lose CDM, CFPPs and dietary staff. 

I also think that the innovation of allergy free and texture modified foods is being revolutionized at an unparalleled rate, which is fantastic for those that have had to struggle with needing special foods and ending up with cardboard and/or mush. 

What is your advice to those just getting started in the foodservice industry?

Don’t be afraid to bring new ideas and outside of the box thinking to the industry! I know sometimes there will be those that don’t accept them, but there is so much support out here! If you reach out to your local ANFP chapter, or even other state ANFP chapters, [or] ANFP in general, there are mentors and leaders that have been in this industry that are jumping at the bit to help us and support us as we start this journey, and they want us to begin the path to leading and helping the industry thrive.