Dr. Suzie Carmack, PhD

Meet Dr. Suzie Carmack, Phd, MFA, MEd, ERYT, PMA-CPT, NBC-HWC

Dr. Carmack has over 28 years of experience in the promotion of well-being, as an award-winning performance coach, college professor and trainer of coaches and yoga teachers as the CEO of YogaMedCo, LLC.

As an Assistant Professor in the Department of Global and Community Health at George Mason University, she trains undergraduate and graduate students in the practice of public health promotion and conducts research on the effectiveness of face-face and digital coaching interventions for leaders in high performance occupational fields (healthcare, education, military service and law). As the CEO of YogaMedCo, she develops and delivers face-face and digital training experiences that train leaders, coaches and yoga teachers to optimize their own well-being, and the well-being of those they teach and serve. As the author of three books and multiple journal articles, she lectures internationally to share her translational research and thought leadership with teams, organizations and agencies through customized keynotes, white papers, and academic conference presentations. As a performance and leadership mindset coach, she has personally coached over 1000 leaders and senior military personnel to lead more effectively and efficiently, while optimizing their work/life balance and well-being.

Dr. Carmack is internationally recognized in the public health and well-being promotion fields for her pioneering efforts to fight stress and sitting disease by creating  well-being promotion campaigns that de-stigmatized the practices of yoga, mindfulness and mindful movement in the workplace and in schools. She was later personally commissioned by the World Health Organization to design pioneering health campaigns that launched global efforts to (1) fight sitting disease (2013); (2) promote mindfulness in the workplace (2014); and (3) reduce stigma around walking meetings (2015).  Since then, she has engineered and led multiple well-being promotion campaigns and translational research projects for U.S. government agencies, including serving as lead author on a white paper that inspired the Department of Defense to establish an office of performance in the Pentagon. She recently created and delivered the first-ever resilience training for senior leaders of the U.S. Air Force Air Combat Command, instructing over 200  two-, three- and four--star general officers to the science of performance coaching methodologies so that they can protect their own well-being as a "force multiplier"  (2018). She also researches the conditions of burnout, compassion fatigue, maladaptive perfectionism and stress contagion, and the ways that they can be transformed through the power of coaching and yoga, in order to improve professional performance, patient safety and quality of life -outcomes. 

Dr. Carmack was named George Mason University’s Department of Communication Alumnae of the Year in 2018. She has been featured in multiple regional, national and international publications and media appearances, and is frequently sought-after as a well-being expert. She and her fiancee Bob Shircliff and their daughter Sophia reside in Fairfax, VA. Her sons Christopher and Brandon are both graduates of Virginia Commonwealth University and live in Richmond, VA. 

Professional and Academic Training

Higher Education

• Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Health Communication, George Mason University, 2014
• Master of Education (MEd) in Health and Kinesiolgy, University of Texas at Tyler, 2009
• Master of Fine Arts (MFA) in Theatre & Arts Administration, University of Alabama, 1991
• Bachelor of Arts (BA) in Communication Arts & Writing, Allegheny College , 1989

Professional Training

• Well-Being Coach & Coach Trainer National Board for Health and Wellness Coaching (NBHWC), since 2018
• Personal Trainer & Teacher Trainer American Council on Exercise (ACE-CPT), since 2006
• Yoga Teacher & Teacher Trainer Yoga Alliance (ERYT 500), since 2006
• Pilates Teacher & Teacher Trainer Pilates Method Alliance (PMA-CPT), since 2006