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Devin: What is your superpower?
Emily: So I think— I, I don’t— it’s hard for me to boil it down to just one, but I would simply say my superpower is really rooted in connecting dots. And so seeing things that others may not see because I’m able to put the dots together.
Food as medicine can move from a hopeful idea to a scalable health care solution when the people closest to the problem build the system.
That is the lesson I heard from Emily Brown, founder of Attane Health and now Chief Healthcare Officer at Sifter Solutions after Attane’s acquisition. Emily’s work began not with a business plan but with her daughter’s diagnosis and a family grocery budget that suddenly could not keep up.
“It all started with lived experience, my family’s own personal experience with food insecurity and just the need to have specific foods to support my daughter’s health,” Emily told me. “We were on WIC, SNAP. I’m actually a former Medicaid recipient.”
That experience revealed a gap in health care that millions of families know too well. Doctors can diagnose food-related conditions but families are often left alone to figure out how to pay for and prepare the foods that could help them heal.
Emily first responded by founding a nonprofit that helped get special dietary foods into food banks and pantries. Under her leadership, the organization launched one of the first food prescription programs in Kansas, serving clients who had prescription diet orders from physicians.
Over time, Emily saw that charity alone could not solve the problem at national scale. Health care needed the tools, data and infrastructure to make food and nutrition care part of routine delivery.
“I knew that technology was gonna be really important to scaling our work,” she said. “So I left the nonprofit, started what became Attane, really to develop the technology and the infrastructure to do food and nutrition care at scale.”
Attane Health now works as the health care arm of Sifter Solutions, partnering with health plans, pharmacy benefits and health systems to expand access to nutrient-dense foods, education and measurable outcomes. Emily pointed to high-risk maternal health as one powerful example, where better nutrition can support mothers facing gestational diabetes or preeclampsia while helping reduce risks for babies.
Her message is practical and hopeful. Food is not a side issue in health care. For millions of people living with chronic conditions, food is part of the standard of care. Emily is helping build the bridge so patients can actually access it.
tl;dr:
This episode shows how lived experience can spark scalable health care innovation.
Emily Brown built Attane Health to make food and nutrition care accessible.
Attane Health now grows through Sifter Solutions after a strategic acquisition.
Emily explains why storytelling helps turn hidden health challenges into action.
This article highlights practical ways to develop the superpower of connecting dots.
How to Develop Connecting Dots As a Superpower
Emily describes her superpower as “connecting dots” and “being able to tell that story.” She sees things others may miss because she can “put the dots together,” then frame the insight in a way that helps others act. She said, “The power of storytelling is really significant because we learn through stories, we connect through story.” That combination has helped her move from being a mother on Medicaid facing food insecurity to becoming a venture-backed founder building solutions for families like hers.
Emily’s superpower became visible when her daughter received a diagnosis that required a gluten-free diet. Overnight, Emily looked in her pantry and realized many of the foods her family relied on were no longer safe. Her grocery budget quadrupled while her resources shrank. Instead of accepting a system that paid only for clinic care, she began identifying every point of friction. That led her to start a nonprofit, create food prescription programs, advocate before federal agencies and eventually build Attane Health to integrate food and nutrition care into health care at scale.
Frame your challenges as opportunities for growth, connection and innovation.
Ask what is missing from the data before assuming the data tells the whole story.
Look for the friction points hiding in plain sight and treat them as places to build solutions.
Bring others with you by using stories from data, patients and partners.
Be patient when building disruptive solutions because meaningful change often takes time.
By following Emily’s example and advice, you can make connecting dots a skill. With practice and effort, you could make it a superpower that enables you to do more good in the world.
Remember, however, that research into success suggests that building on your own superpowers is more important than creating new ones or overcoming weaknesses. You do you!
Guest Profile
Emily Brown (she/her):
Founder of Attane Health, Chief Healthcare Officer at Sifter Solutions, Attane Health, Now a Sifter Solutions Company
About Attane Health: To improve health through food and nutrition care by providing access to health foods, education, and actionable data.
Website: attane-health.com, siftersolutions.com
Company Facebook Page: facebook.com/attanehealth
Biographical Information: Emily is the Co-founder of Attane Health and Chief Healthcare Officer of Sifter Solutions, a digital health company in the “food is medicine” space. Rooted in lived experience, Emily leads a passionate team dedicated to changing health outcomes through harnessing the healing power of food.
After experiencing first-hand, the challenges of managing chronic health conditions with limited resources, Emily founded Food Equality Initiative (FEI). Under her leadership the nonprofit grew to a 7-figure annual budget, supporting patients access to healthy food. Emily is a national patient advocate who has provided both oral and written testimony to the FDA and USDA. A member of the 2025 Child and Adult Core Set Annual Review Workgroup, Emily works to advance health equity in all pursuits.
Her research interests include food systems, health disparities, and patient-centered approaches to care. Emily is a published co-author of several peer-reviewed articles with top research institutions in allergic disease. Emily believes in the power of patients and data to achieve greater health outcomes.
Personal X/Twitter: @emilybrownspeak
Personal Facebook Profile: facebook.com/emily.brown.37853
Instagram: @emilybrownspeaks
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