Within a few years of gaining a dietetics degree, a young University of the Sunshine Coast graduate is providing job opportunities for other graduates at her expanding private practice in Gladstone.

It was a goal Megan Leane set for herself when, at just 22, she moved to the Central Queensland city to run her own clinic after completing a Bachelor of Nutrition and Dietetics at USC in 2012.

“In four years, my clinic has grown from one day a week from a shared office to full-time in my own private office,” said Ms Leane, who recently won the Young Business Leader at the Gladstone 2016 Best in Business Awards.

At the start of this year, Ms Leane employed recent USC graduate Taleisha Bennier of Bundaberg to keep up with demand at her busy practice that provides nutrition and diet advice to Gladstone residents. And next year she plans to hire another dietitian.

Ms Leane said she chose to study at USC after finishing high school in Coffs Harbour because the degree provided a direct transition to a nutrition and dietetics career.

“My degree allowed me to develop the skills, strength, confidence and professional ability I needed to set up my own clinic,” she said.

Ms Leane is using that experience to mentor another USC Nutrition and Dietetics graduate, Gladstone’s Charlotte Bush, who gained her degree last year.

“Charlotte is working to set up a private practice in the Stanthorpe region, and I am acting as her mentor and sharing what I have learnt from both a business and clinical perspective,” the Accredited Practising Dietitian and Accredited Nutritionist said.

Promoting a “no one-size-fits-all" approach to nutrition, Ms Leane said she was passionate about health and fitness.

This had led to a special interest in the areas of sport nutrition, family nutrition, weight loss and weight loss surgery, and hundreds of hours of volunteer work with athletes, sporting clubs and school children in the Gladstone region.

— Clare McKay