Dr. Suzie Carmack

Long Bio

Dr. Suzie Carmack makes communication and well-being science relevant for high achievers and their teams, so they can perform at 110% without burning themselves or their teams out.

As a Coach and Coach Trainer, Dr. Carmack has moved over 3000 individuals, teams, organizations, and agencies to well-being with her thought leadership and signature coaching method -- which combines the science of communication with the arts of mindful movement and mind-body medicine. Prior to training coaches and preparing them to take the National Board of Medical Examiners' Exam in Health Coaching, she had 15 years of train-the-trainer experience, training 1000's of instructors for the Yoga Alliance, the Pilates Method Alliance, and the American Council on Exercise.

As a Author and Keynote Speaker, Dr. Carmack is the author of three books that bring her thought leadership direct to the public: Well-Being Ultimatum (2015) Genius Breaks (2017), and Coaching for Well-Being (forthcoming, 2019). As an industry influencer, she has personally delivered over 150 keynotes for public and private organizations including: the University of Pittsburgh’s Women in Medicine and Science Conference (2018), Kaiser Mid-Atlantic Physician Wellness Conference (2016), the State of Maryland Wellness Conference sponsored by BHS (2016), and Professional Women in Healthcare (2016 and 2019). She regularly presents her research at adjudicated conferences such as the American College of Sports Medicine (2019), the American Public Health Association (2018; 2017; 2015; 2012), and HIMSS (2018). Dr. Carmack is also regularly asked to engineer and lead “c-suite” convenings, bringing senior government and NGO leaders together to co-create systems-level, silo-cutting solutions to solve national issues of concern.

As a Thought Leader, Dr. Carmack is frequently commissioned to develop tailored leadership training programs and well-being strategy frameworks for public and private agencies and organizations. She was recently tapped by the Commander of the Air Combat Command to create the first-ever resiliency and compassion training for senior leadership for the U.S. Air Force (2018). As one of the early pioneers in the fight against sitting disease, she was commissioned by the leadership of the Pan American / World Health Organization to work with them to create international workplace wellness and mental health campaigns promoting movement with the desk chair (2012), mindfulness in the office (2013) and walking meetings (2014). She has also custom-designed mindful leadership and resiliency workshops for the DC's Court Services and Offender Supervision Agency (2016), the National Park Service (2016-2018), Fairfax County Parks and Recreation (2008-2012), and the American Psychiatric Association (2017), as well as professional education and training workshops for educators and leaders with Fairfax County Public Schools (VA) and George Mason University (2015).

As a Strategist and Subject Matter Expert in the sciences of communication and well-being, and the arts of mindful movement and mind-body medicine, Dr. Carmack has been personally commissioned to develop team engagement, senior leader resilience, stakeholder engagement and enterprise transformation solutions for federal and international agencies including the U.S. Department of Defense and the Pan American / World Health Organization. She led the stakeholder engagement efforts that brought the Cloud to CDC (after two prior efforts had failed), and she is currently the lead communication scientist supporting the 2020 edition of the U.S. Surgeon General's Report, which explores the intersections of community development, public health and economic prosperity.

As a Scholar, Dr. Carmack is widely recognized for her non-traditional and multi-disciplinary inquiry. She was awarded George Mason University’s Alumna of the Year award by the Department of Communication (2018), and she regularly publishes and presents her community-based and ethnographic research internationally. Her work employs multi-pronged efforts informed by formative and empirical research to address four quiet threats to the health, happiness and prosperity of high achievers, leaders, and their teams: sitting disease, compassion fatigue, maladaptive perfectionism, and burnout. She has presented her research at a variety of conferences, including the American Public Health Association, the National Communication Association and the American College of Sports Medicine.

As an Educator and Mentor, Dr. Carmack has taught undergraduate and graduate level courses in higher education since 1992. She currently serves on the adjunct faculty of George Mason University (GMU), where she develops and teaches courses on compassion in the workplace, the science of stress, and well-being. She also guest lectures for the American University School of Professional and Extended Studies.

When she is not helping other high achievers to find work/life balance and well-being, she loves to apply her research into the practice of her own life. She enjoys spending time with her family and friends, traveling, and practicing yoga and Pilates. She resides in Northern Virginia (near Washington, DC) with her fiancee Bob Shircliff (a commercial broker) and her teenaged daughter Sophia. Her two sons are graduates of Virginia Commonwealth University and reside in Richmond, Virginia.