Our Clinical Team
LISA GRENTZ, MS, RDN, CD
Dietitian
Lisa earned both her undergraduate and graduate degrees from Washington State University and completed her dietetic internship at Fairview Medical Center in Minneapolis, MN. Over the ensuing 20+ years, Lisa has worked as a home infusion dietician specializing in pediatric tube feeding and weaning and consults for various feeding teams in Eastern Washington. Her expertise and passion lie in providing community-based nutrition services to infants and children. She has served in many active leadership roles within the nationally recognized Pediatric Nutrition Practice Group. In her home life, she enjoys cycling, cooking, and spending time with her husband and three boys.
AUBREY PHELPS, MS RDN PPCES IFNCP CLC
Dietitian
Aubrey is a registered nutritionist and an integrative and functional nutrition certified practitioner. She received her undergraduate degree from St. John’s College in Annapolis, MD, and her graduate degree from Bowling Green State University in Ohio. She specializes in perinatal and pediatric nutrition, with a focus on supporting families in having a happy, healthy, life-long relationship with food. After delivering her second baby at 30 weeks and experiencing a severe feeding aversion and g-tube life first-hand, Aubrey had to put her expertise to work for her own daughter, both in the NICU and in the year of tube-feeding following. She sought out a team that would support her own food philosophy and found GIE. Aubrey became passionate about helping other families facing such feeding difficulties and confronting often frustrating and counterproductive feeding approaches. She is passionate about supporting other families through this tough journey and is honored to now be a part of the very team that helped nurture her own daughter so that she could stop being her dietitian, and start being her momma. Aubrey loves exploring the outdoors with her oldest son and two daughters, and looks forward to bringing their soon-to-be baby brother along too! She loves baking, cooking, playing soccer, sailing, and spending time with her husband.
BECKY KEIFER, MA, CCC-SLP
Feeding Specialist & Co-Owner
Becky graduated from Washington State University with a BA in Speech and Hearing Sciences, followed by a master’s degree in Communication Disorders. She began working as a speech language pathologist at Kootenai Medical Center and quickly found her passion for helping pediatric patients and their families. In 2007, she moved her services to the Center for Pediatric Therapy in Spokane, Washington. She has worked with hundreds of clients and specializes in feeding-tube management and weaning. Becky also works as a clinical supervisor at WSU, where she oversees students and new speech and language therapists. Her professional interests include feeding and swallowing for children with sensory, respiratory, and GI concerns; weaning from feeding tubes; and issues of early relationships and attachment in children’s feeding and language development. Becky has a dynamic circle of friends that she nurtures in the Spokane area, where she lives with her wife and their five children.
ELISABETH KRAUS, MIT
Parent & Family Coordinator
Elisabeth earned both her graduate and undergraduate degrees from Northwest University in Washington and has spent the last 9 years as a College Professor and professional writer. But as it does for all of us, motherhood steered her life in an unexpectedly glorious direction, and she entered the world of pediatric feeding as just that: a mom. Working with her youngest daughter to overcome the challenges that dysphagia brings, Elisabeth fell in love with so many families who fearlessly navigate a wide array of complex feeding dynamics. She loves talking “mom” with anyone who will listen, and she is continuing her teaching career as a part-time English Instructor for Bellevue College and Northwest University. In her (albeit limited) spare time, you’ll find her at the park with her kiddos, settled down with a good book, or continuing her adventure as a writer who explores women’s issues as they pertain to motherhood and academia.
KATHRYN SHULTZ, M.S. CCC-SLP C/NDT
Feeding Specialist
Kathryn graduated from Gonzaga University with bachelor’s degrees in psychology and biology and recently achieved a Post-Baccalaureate and master’s of science degree in Communication Sciences and Disorders from Eastern Washington University. After completing her undergraduate degrees, Kathryn worked at the University of Washington Autism Center on an NIH research grant investigating behavioral intervention impact on toddlers with autism. During graduate school, she completed a variety of clinical rotations serving children with communication, feeding, and swallowing disorders. Kathryn aspires to become a specialist in pediatric dysphagia with specific interests in feeding tube weaning, behavior, language development, infant-caregiver attachment, and interdisciplinary collaboration to support children and families. In her free time, Kathryn enjoys exploring the outdoors with her golden retriever Cooper, skiing, traveling, and spending time with close friends and family.
CAITLIN HARRIS, M.S., CCC-SLP, IMH-E
Feeding Therapist
Caitlin graduated from the University of Washington with a bachelor’s degree in Speech and Hearing Sciences, followed by a master’s degree in Medical Speech-Language Pathology. Through clinical rotations and work experiences, she found passion working with children in the community, schools, clinic settings, pediatric hospitals, and early intervention agencies. Caitlin has aspired to gain experience in pediatric feeding and swallowing related to dysphagia, tube weaning, behavior, and sensory focuses. Caitlin is endorsed as an infant mental health specialist with a focus on early relationships within families, which she strives to carry into her work surrounding infant feeding, early language, and social communication development. Outside of work, Caitlin enjoys camping with family and friends, traveling, rock climbing, and taking road trips to visit national parks.
AMANDA KYLE,
MA, CCC-SLP
Feeding Therapist
Amanda received both her undergraduate and graduate degrees in Speech and Hearing Sciences from Washington State University. She has sunk her roots in her hometown of Spokane, WA, and has spent her entire career focusing on pediatric feeding. She specializes in helping children expand their repertoire of accepted foods as well and oral motor skill development. In her free time, she loves getting out to the lake with her dog as much as possible as well as cooking and baking an array of delicious foods.
Executive Leadership
SARAH K. KEIFER
CEO & Co-Owner
For over a decade, Sarah has served in several capacities, earning dozens of awards for her expertise within the telecommunications industry. In roles spanning sales, program management, operations, information technology, and new service development, Sarah has proven time and again that her passion lies in making needed services available for people who may not always have the obvious means to access them. To grow her capacity for fulfilling this passion, Sarah completed her bachelor’s degree in Business Management and served as a consultant on a number of philanthropic projects directly aimed at improving the lives of low-income and foster children. Sarah currently serves as our CEO, while also serving on the board of a Georgia-based nonprofit that is involved in bringing the community together to support programs like food drives, Youth for America, Habitat for Humanity, and a number of other organizations. Currently, Sarah lives in Atlanta and enjoys a wide variety of traveling adventures and the arts.
KAYTIE WILSON
Operations Manager
Kaytie comes to GIE with a wealth of administrative experience, and a true love for kids and families! A mom herself, she is excited to support the weaning process in real and practical ways.
Previously, she worked in property management for several different firms and loved helping families find peaceful and loving homes -- and the fact that no two days were ever the same! However, the housing industry seems to prioritize profit rather than people. So, in 2018, she decided to quit that job to focus on her family and find a company that truly cares about its clients. In 2019 Kaytie was welcomed to the Growing Independent Eaters administrative team! Kaytie is excited to be a part of a group that is so deeply passionate about its mission of bringing whole families, happily and healthily, to the family table.