ALUMNI PROFILE

Healthy choice

Candice Carswell, Comm ’03, knows how to help anyone stay on a diet. Just put her in the kitchen.

By Joni Moths Mueller

She designs low-salt or low-fat or veggie-rich solutions to appeal to any dieter’s special needs. And she does more than assemble recipes and construct menu plans; she rents an industrial kitchen and cooks meals that turn diets into delicious dining experiences. Then she teaches her clients how to do it themselves. “I want to help people nutritionally, talk to them about where they’re headed and what nutrients they need to keep up their metabolism,” she says. “I don’t want to be their chef forever. I want them to take responsibility for their health.”

Carswell learned she had a knack for cooking when she was in high school. She parlayed her talent into competition then, and her team’s four-course dinner took second place in the state in the Future Homemakers of America contest. She enrolled in a culinary course after graduating from Marquette and later founded Candid Catering. Her clients keep asking for more. The latest request — and her next venture — is to earn certification as a vegan chef. Once all of her training is completed, Carswell hopes to open a coffee shop and, later, a restaurant.