CWM PUBLISHER "J.J." RUSCH
On April 1, 2000 Joanne Rusch tipped the scale at 217 when she gave birth to her first and only child at the age of forty. (Her daughter weighed in at 9 lbs. 2oz.) Little did she know at the time that motherhood was not the only incredible journey she was about to embark upon.
Six months later struggling to lose the last 25 pounds of maternity weight she had gained, Joanne was cast as a member of Good Morning America's first Lock the Door Lose the Weight series, which aired in November of 2000. By the fall of 2001, she had lost that last 25 and more. The experience set forth into motion a series of life altering changes both personally and professionally.
Invited back to help kick off GMA’s second “Lock the Door Lose the Weight” series in 2003, Joanne’s recipe for a reduced calorie Boston Cream Torte was showcased during the broadcast. Pictured from L to R: Joanne, Author & Trainer, Jim Karas, Psychotherapist, Susan Amato and Nutritionist & Author, Joy Bauer. all her life, beginning with a "chubby childhood", Joanne was passionate about sharing her newfound insights for weight control. She spent the next year writing and developing an inspirational website Scaleitdown.com. Her website and first reduced calorie cookbook, the "Sweets Edition" both debuted in November of 2002. Cookbook editions for: Appetizers, Breads & Soups, Casseroles and Salads followed.
Convinced the missing link to achieving healthier lifestyles fell somewhere between real life application and the barrage of helpful (and not so helpful) information we receive daily, Joanne began devoting herself to inspiring others to seek out personal plans to work in tandem with their own unique lifestyles, tastes and schedule demands and began working with small groups and individuals.
Offered her own column in Chicago Wellness Magazine (CWM) in July of 2004, Joanne spent the next year and a half as an editor and columnist penning her column under, "Find your Fit", which quickly became her working motto. She also created recipes and participated in promotional projects (on camera and off) for Bush Beans during this time, which ultimately produced a spot for her among notable restaurateurs and chefs in the company’s, "Simply the Best in 20 minutes or Less – Great Bean Recipes from America’s Top Chefs" publication.
At the NBC affiliate in Chicago, Joanne further honed her media skills as a recurring guest of fitness reporter, Michael Sena, where she shared reduced calorie recipes and dishes on his morning news segments. In January of 2006, she was offered a returning monthly guest spot to do healthy based consumer food segments, for which she was soon dubbed the "Food Cop", by NBC5 morning anchor, Dick Johnson.
Food Cop at the Food Show—on location with NBC5 Morning Anchor, Dick Johnson reviewing new products. (Food Cop segments can be viewed by clicking the NBC logo at chicagowellnessmagazine.com.) of CWM in mid-2006 and redirected the publication’s focus to a consumer based feel. Educational and inspirational information and ideas on all things which affect our desires and efforts to achieve and live well-balanced lifestyles is the working theme of CWM today.
Wellness in the Works™ was created from Joanne’s desire to inspire positive change in the workplace and community. In 2007, she designed the Wellness in the Works™ programs, presented by the professionals of CWM and their working partners, to compliment existing wellness objectives using several core strategies: One-on-One opportunities with a variety of health, wealth and fitness pros, Educational and Skill Building Lectures, Workshops and Seminars and Wellness Event Planning and Design.
When offered a co-host spot on FIT TODAY, a new weekly show created by Andrea Metcalf beginning in February of 2008 on CLTV, Joanne immediately accepted the opportunity. She believes the only way to sincerely reach any audience is to speak to them, not at them, and is dedicated to doing so when speaking in public as well as in print and on TV.
LEE BALGEMANN, PHOTOGRAPHER
Lee Balgemann has been involved in photography since he was first published at the age of 12. He served as photo editor for the Chicago bureau of The Associated Press for 13 years and founded Lee Balgemann Photographics in 1982. His clients include Fortune 500 corporations, national advertising and public relations firms, magazines, newspapers, industry associations and non-profit social service organizations. A former National Board Member and Chicago/Midwest Chapter President of the American Society of Media Photographers, he is also a current member of the National Press Photographers Association, Illinois Press Photographers Association and the Chicago Press Photographers Association.
Lee's talents have been hired to cover a gamut of diversified subject matter. His business assignments have ranged from chronicling the clients of the Chicago Lighthouse for the Blind and Visually Impaired for their annual report to shooting the America's Cup in Hawaii for Merrill Lynch, the latter of which resulted in a poster made from one of his photographs for display throughout the brokerage house's worldwide offices. Balgemann has also documented many life stories through his photographs. One such assignment had Lee following Deanne Eggleston, a legally-blind cyclist, over a four month cross country tour called, "Vision Cycle" to inspire those with disabilities to rise above their own limitations and another, had him chronicling the life of a 14-year-old inner city girl being guided away from drugs, gangs and prostitution by Inner City Impact, a social service organization.
Community enrichment has also always been a priority with Lee. He currently is the Vice President of the Board of Directors of Youth Service Project, a social service organization, which works with young people in the Humboldt Park community of Chicago and is also on the Board of the Percy Julian Science Institute in Oak Park. He lives with his wife, Linda, in River Forest and Augie, their dog. Their two sons, Bryan and Brad, both live in California.
Exhibits of Lee's work are routinely on public display and can be currently seen at Midway Airport in a collection profiling Humboldt Park on the north side of the lower level baggage claim carousel #6. To view more of his photographs go to: www.balgemann.com.
SUZANNE DAL LAGO, RN, CN, CNC, CPT
Registered Nurse, Nutritionist, Certified Personal Trainer, Health Coach. Following a career in traditional nursing, Suzanne began her private practice specializing in weight loss/management, fitness and lifestyle training in 1992 providing highly personalized consultations to her clients.
Suzanne's core philosophy is that she does not advocate diets, fasting, measuring, buying special foods or any other short-term weight-loss strategies. She is passionate in her desire to assist her clients in developing a unique life plan based on their values, visions and needs. She helps them with accountability, education and support and remains in contact with them on a daily basis by email and phone. In recent years, she founded "LEAN ON ME", a support/discussion group for weight and health related issues open to clients and others.
As a member of the Editorial Staff of Chicago Wellness Magazine, Suzanne's experience and knowledge is called upon each issue to educate consumers on the fine art of label reading and sorting through nutrition misnomers, as well as on a variety of other wellness related topics. She has also been published in numerous health publications, featured on the radio talk show "Health Matters" and once hosted her own cooking show on local cable access television.
Suzanne's talents are also routinely summoned to serve the medical and corporate communities. She is accustomed to doing motivational presentations for physician and hospital seminars and at various businesses throughout the Chicagoland area. Suzanne has also spoken at conventions around the country for McDonald's and Mary Kay Cosmetics, and conducted nutrition consults with McDonald employees at the company's headquarters in Oakbrook.
Suzanne can be reached via telephone at 630-543-4655 or via email at Suzanne0812@aol.com for more information.
JOANNE FLOM, L.S.C.W.
A frequent contributor to CWM, Joanne Flom joined the editorial staff in July of 2007. Flom is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (L.S.C.W.) with a Masters in Social Service Administration from the University of Chicago. She provides consultation to management teams focused on increasing quality of services to clients through trainings in the following areas: effective communication and problem solving skills, meaningful reflective supervision, understanding the impact of increased work loads, addressing work place transitions, navigating through management shifts, finding a balance between professional and personal self, stress and time management, and valuable team building techniques. She also works with individuals and families on issues of grief and loss, trauma, attachment, addiction, and relationships. In addition, Joanne is an adjunct faculty member of Joliet Junior College where she develops and teaches core curriculum for Psychology 101 classes. Her passion is to help clients explore, embrace, and experience an increased level of self awareness.
Contact Joanne by phone, 773-403-5149 email: jrflom@yahoo.com
DAVID GROTTO, R.D., L.D.N.
David Grotto, R.D., L.D.N. started his career in the natural foods industry 25 years ago having, owned and operated his own natural foods store. After becoming a registered dietitian, Dave specialized in several areas of clinical dietetics including chemical dependency, cardiovascular health, weight management and oncology. He then started his own private practice and consulting firm called Nutrition Housecall, LLC, providing nutrition communications, lecturing and consulting services in addition to offering personalized at-home dietary services.
Dave speaks and freelance writes on a vast array of health and wellness topics including nutritional oncology, integrative approaches to cardiovascular disease, alternative medicine, kid’s nutrition and optimal dietary strategies for men. He serves on the scientific advisory board at Men’s Health and Fitness magazines, writes the featured column, “Ask the Guy-a-titian”, in Chicago Wellness Magazine and has appeared in numerous other media. Dave recently authored 101 Foods That Could Save Your Life! (Bantam-Dell, 2008) and an anglicized version of the book is due out in the UK June 2008. To date, foreign rights for the book have been sold for the French, Turkish, Romanian, Greek and Portuguese languages. Dave is now writing his follow-up to the 101 Foods book which will be due out Fall 2009.
One of Dave’s passions is improving the health of children through good nutrition. To this end, he serves as the advisory board chair for Produce for Kids® and PBS Kids™ health initiative. Dave served as a national media spokesperson for the American Dietetic Association for more than six years. He lives in the Chicago area with his wife, three daughters and two female dogs, making him an expert on the subject of “unopposed” estrogen.
Contact Dave at:
www.nutritionhousecall.com
www.101FoodsThatCouldSaveYourLife.com
CHRISTINE JEFFERS, CPT: ACE, NASM, ZEN SHIATSU
Drawing from over a decade's worth of experience in Triathlon and running competition, and her love of Eastern theories, Jeffers creates complete personal training programs for her clients using an east meets west approach. She currently trains tennis athletes, and teaches Pilates at the MidTown Tennis Club in Chicago. She also offers online training plans at: www.chicagoonlinepersonaltrainer.com, and is extending her practice to include private in-home sessions.
Christine is passionate about "getting the word out" to people who are unfamiliar with alternative medicines and bodywork modalities. She currently writes the Health & Fitness Column for Chicago Jazz Magazine - The Whole Note, Mind, Body and Spirit Health,and "The Zen Way for for CWM, which focuses on helping people learn about the many health benefits to be gained through said alternatives and techniques. Jeffers also conducts corporate seminars on creating fitness plans based on east and west philosophies.
Christine can be contacted by phone at: 847-322-8687 or via email from her website at:
www.christinejeffers.com.
ANDREA METCALF, CPT: ACE, NASM, PES, ISCA
For over 25 years, Andrea Metcalf has inspired people from all walks of life to be fit, feel better and move. She owns and operates mbc Fitness in suburban Chicago and is the proud "super mom" of three teenagers. In high school, Andrea was a top athlete who competed in track, gymnastics, cheerleading and diving at the state level. After receiving a Bachelor of Science degree from DePaul University Chicago, she began an impressive career as a fitness instructor, personal trainer and health educator, quickly winning the hearts of students and clients with her high energy and motivational spirit.
The reputation she developed over the years enabled Andrea to fulfill her lifelong dream. In 2002, she opened mbc fitness, where she continues to train news anchors, athletes and specialize in "Boomer" fitness. Andrea also created Well Centered, a comprehensive weight loss program highlighted in Chicago's "16-Week Summer Fitness Challenge". Her most recent project is the 2007 debut of PT-2-GO, interactive fitness DVD and Flip Cards that enables users to choose everything from individual exercises to six complete 10-minute workouts to 20-minute Pilates and Yoga programs.
Outside the gym, Andrea is a contributing writer for various Chicago publications, pens her own column, "Mind Body Connection", for Chicago Wellness Magazine and has written for such nationally recognized print editions such as, IHRSA's Club Industry Magazine and Women's World Magazine. She has also been a featured expert in the Chicago Tribune, Parade Magazine and Health Beat articles.
Andrea can also be seen in numerous visual mediums. She is a weekly featured fitness trainer for Chicago's NBC5 News Today morning show and most recently, appeared on the TODAY Show with her own segment "Workout for the Decades" and as contributing fitness expert for the "McDonald's R-Gym" stories in December of 2006. Her newest media endeavor can be found on www.podcastgo.com, where her exercise instruction can be downloaded FREE to your video iPod or video phone. Andrea also writes weekly blogs, offered at:
http://andreametcalfsmindbodyconnection.blogspot.com.
Her fitness diversification and expertise is further lent to consulting and facilitating corporate wellness and health initiatives under the umbrella of "mbc Bottom Line". Working with numerous major and medium sized corporations, Andrea and her team are now helping America to downsize their waistlines and improve their overall health.
Andrea's studio, mbc Fitness Essentials is located at: 28 N Cass Avenue in Westmont, Il. (Phone: 630-493-3000). Web & Email: www.mbcfitness.com, www.pt-2-go.com, and andreametcalf@comcast.net.
TRACY M. SMITH, TMS COMMUNICATIONS
Tracy brings over 20 years of public relations and marketing communications experience to her clients. After learning from some of the public relations’ industry best at Burson-Marsteller, New York and Hill & Knowlton, Chicago, she launched TMS Communications in 1990.
Throughout her career she has designed and executed public relations and marketing plans for high-profile brands including McDonald’s Corporation, Sears, Roebuck & Company, Oral-B, Krispy Kreme Doughnuts, Nintendo and Sprint to name a few.
She has also provided counsel to not-for-profit organizations The American Red Cross, Little City Foundation, Partnership for a Drug Free America and Ronald McDonald House Charities.
Tracy acts as marketing and public relations advisor to Chicago Wellness Magazine.
TMSCom@aol.com
JASON P. WHITE, WEB DEVELOPER
Jason's passion for technology and innovation led him to start up JPW Production Design in 2005, a website development company that focuses on the individual and small business. Jason provides his clients with hands free professional website, intranet and online marketing services. Jason enjoys furthering his education to remain current with the ever changing internet market while providing solutions and knowledge to his clients. His company strives to achieve what consumers look for in a website and can provide the tools needed to enhance and expand the business. Jason is a supporter of Open Source programming and the general use of (GPL) Free To Use applications and softwares. The excitement, passion and creativity is what helps Jason retain his clients and attract new ones. This same sense of drive is what motivated Jason to start writing for the Chicago Wellness Magazine.
Learn more about Jason's company by visiting www.JPWchicago.com.
You may also send Jason an email at Jason@jpwchicago.com.
