40 under 40 – 2017 winners

Marko Paulic

Marko Paulic
Rocky River, Ohio
Nutrition-Dietetics Professional. Croatian Folk Dance Instructor.

Marko plans on taking the state registration exam in the Summer of 2017 to become a registered dietitian. He has built many professional relationships through his volunteerism and service within the dietetic community.

As secretary for the Student Dietetic Association in 2014-15, he arranged numerous events: “Apple Crunch Day” and “Make A Difference Day” in and around the University of Akron (UA) campus. He is just finishing his college studies and also, volunteers as the student liaison for the Greater Akron Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, a professional organization that connects professionals and students in the greater Akron area. He has maintained his full time student status while also collecting internship hours in the Coordinated Program at UA.

In this unique 2-year program, he balances honors (3.5 GPA) along with clinical rotations in hospitals, schools, government programs, skilled nursing facilities, and long-term care facilities. He has collected to date over 400 clinical hours in the accompaniment of a dietitian. He earned a Spanish minor and certificate for the health professionals so he is able to communicate with Cleveland’s strong Hispanic population.

Marko teaches folk dance every Saturday from 9 am to 2 pm with the Cleveland Junior Tamburitza (CJT). He enjoys working with children and the CJT has nearly 100 members now, ranging from 4 to 21 years of age. He says that every child teaches him something new when that Saturday practice comes along. He is still committed to expanding his knowledge in the art of folk dance, and remains a member of Zelena Polja, an adult Croatian folk dance group, and attended Ljetna Skola Hrvatskoga Folklora in 2012.

He has been involved with the Cleveland Junior Tamburiza since 2010 as a folk dancer. In 2013, he was asked to become an assistant dance instructor. He has been a member of the Croatian Fraternal Union of America since 2010 and has participated in every annual junior tamburitza festival since that year. While traveling and visiting family in Croatia, their own success in entrepreneurship has actually inspired him to go into the food industry.

It is a personal goal of his to attend a culinary school as his father did in Opatija and he dreams of maybe opening a bakery, like the many he has seen sprinkled across Istria. Marko proudly comes from a long bloodline of Istrijani and Kordunasi people. His family originates from Butlug (a village near Pazin), Mutvoran (a hill top near Marcana) and Batnoga (another village near Cetingrad).

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