Suzann Pileggi is a New York City/Philadelphia-based wellness writer and consultant. She is a monthly columnist for the International Positive Psychology Association (IPPA) newsletter, Positive Psychology News Daily, and Wisdom magazine. A certified holistic health counselor, Suzann works with people on nourishing their bodies and souls by helping them make better food and lifestyle choices.
Having worked in the corporate world for over a dozen years before starting her nutritional counseling practice, Suzann understands the demands of a busy work schedule and the importance of maintaining balance through healthy living and eating. Prior to pursuing her passion for wellness, Suzann directed media relations campaigns for a range of Fortune 500 clients as a vice president at Weber Shandwick Worldwide. In 2006, she conducted press interviews for Dr. Walter Willet, head of Nutrition at Harvard Medical School, and other health experts surrounding the NYC Department of Health's public hearings to ban trans fats in the city's restaurants. Earlier in her career, she worked as a television producer interviewing many complementary health experts who believed that the body and mind are connected, and that our thoughts impact overall health.
Suzann became further intrigued about mind/body wellness after reading the ground-breaking book Learned Optimism by Dr. Martin Seligman, past president of the American Psychological Association (APA), and FOX Leadership Professor of Psychology at the University of Pennsylvania. Seligman's convincing evidence on how psychological states affect one’s immune system and how optimism can be taught inspired her to return to the University of Pennsylvania to study the impact of a positive attitude on health in greater depth.
Suzann is passionate about spreading the message of positive psychology to millions of people worldwide by continuing to leverage her 15 years of experience in public relations and television production, along with her nutritional expertise. She is in the process of launching a monthly positive psychology column for a leading national consumer magazine and plans to spin it off into a television program that celebrates mind/body wellness. Her mission is to teach people how to choose healthier thoughts, along with healthier food, for ultimate nourishment.
Additionally, she's currently looking into ways to bring positive psychology to poverty via the Evershine English School (http://www.evershinefoundation.org), a sponsorship school that she helped start over ten years ago to help address the social development and educational needs of disadvantaged children in the local villages of rural Hulahalli, in Bangalore, India.
Suzann holds a Bachelor of Arts in Communications and a Master of Applied Positive Psychology from the University of Pennsylvania. She is also a graduate of the Institute for Integrative Nutrition, which is affiliated with Columbia University. An avid yoga practitioner and snowboarder, Suzann enjoys weekend respites in the mountains of Vermont and on the sunny beaches of Ocean City, NJ to refuel and help maintain her positive attitude.