Carolyn Vaughn, RDN, LDN, graduated from the University of Tennessee at Martin with a degree in French and Dietetics. She completed her dietetic internship at Vanderbilt University Medical Center before moving to Memphis to begin her career as a registered dietitian.

Carolyn worked for three years at a wellness center associated with Baptist Memorial Hospital, providing free nutrition counseling to members and leading a variety of weight management classes.

After marrying her husband, Jay Vaughn, she shifted her career focus and began working at Le Bonheur Children’s Medical Center, where she specialized in renal nutrition, cystic fibrosis, the ketogenic diet for seizure control and the feeding clinic for children with aversions to eating. She also became certified in SHAPEDOWN, a child and adolescent obesity intervention program that addresses the psychological contributors to overeating. These interdisciplinary teams gave her the opportunity to hone her skills with medically and nutritionally complex populations.

While working at Le Bonheur, Carolyn became the proud mother of two daughters, Christley and Elizabeth and found herself putting her professional knowledge into personal practice. Christley was born with a rare heart defect—transposition of the great arteries—requiring Carolyn to shift roles from nutrition educator to the parent of an infant with feeding difficulties. Having long used Ellyn Satter’s Division of Responsibility to guide families in helping children enjoy eating without overindulging, Carolyn gained firsthand experience in overcoming the real-life challenges of feeding and parenting—lessons that only experience can teach.

After twenty years of both full-time and part-time pediatric experience, Carolyn transitioned from Le Bonheur to a long-term care facility, helping those in the later stages of life. This role gave her a new perspective on how a lifetime of nutrition and lifestyle choices impacts quality of life through adulthood—and what she observed was deeply meaningful.

When the pandemic hit, Carolyn began exploring new ways to support healing and well-being. She discovered functional medicine and nutrition, completing Full Body Systems with the Functional Nutrition Alliance. This approach focuses on identifying and addressing the root causes of chronic disease rather than merely managing symptoms through diet.

Today, Carolyn brings together her lifelong experience—from preterm to advanced age—with a functional, whole-body approach that helps her patients live their best lives with energy, balance, and vitality.