Welcome to Wellness

Welcome to the Myers Group Wellness Portal!

Good health means thriving in all aspects of our lives: physical, mental, emotional, occupational, financial and community/social. This portal offers advice, resources, recipes, and tools related to these interconnected dimensions. It also provides information on MG employee programs, updates on MG community events, links to nutrition and fitness coaching, and our tobacco cessation program.
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The Wellable Continuous Wellness Program
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With our continuous wellness program, you will have the opportunity to learn about a new wellness topic each month, for example, Nutrition, Sleep, Physical Activity, and receive points and rewards ($20, $40, $60 Myers Group gift cards & Garmin fitness trackers) on an ongoing basis just for engaging with the program. No physical activity is required to earn a reward! To register for the program, visit Wellable/The Myers Group.  To learn more details about the program, click below.

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September 2025 Health Hero - Michael Simonson (Camano ACE)
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‍We’re proud to recognize Michael Simonson from Camano ACE as this month’s Health Hero. Michael has made dramatic changes to his health and life in the last two years after a significant health scare in 2023. This is his story in his own words:

Two years ago, after a life altering health scare, I made a commitment to myself to take better care of my health. With hard work and a transformed mindset, I have achieved not only significant weight loss, but an improved, more positive outlook on life. After many trials and errors, I have lost 120 pounds, my blood pressure is under control, and my cardiovascular health has been transformed. I continue to work towards living a life that I can be proud of – a life where I take care of both my physical and mental self. To understand what sparked this commitment towards change, I want to share what happened in the Spring of 2023.

One morning in April 2023,  I woke up after getting maybe an hour of sleep and drove to work like any other day. While at work, several coworkers noticed that I appeared clammy and pale with a cold sweat, but I initially brushed it off. After some time passed, I took their advice and very reluctantly agreed to have my coworker drive me to the walk-in clinic in Stanwood. After arriving, the doctor escorted me to a room to take an EKG (electrocardiogram) to measure my heart’s activity. After looking at the results, I watched her make her way to the doorway and signal to someone to come over. I tried to hear what they were whispering and all I could really make out were the words “hypertensive crisis” and “ambulance”. She calmly walked back to me and told me that I would be taken by ambulance to the ER. That is the moment when my life took a 180-degree turn.

Arriving at the hospital, my initial blood pressure at intake read 193/156. These are potentially life-threatening numbers.
Due to my anxiety and extremely high blood pressure, they had to call in an IV specialist with an ultrasound machine to find a single vein for an IV drip. After multiple tests and hours of waiting, they admitted me to the hospital to undergo further tests to determine what was wrong. I met with numerous cardiologists and doctors over a week’s time and they all came to the same diagnosis and conclusion: my heart was failing. I had Congestive Heart Failure. Those three words came as an enormous shock and I really wanted to just break down. How can a 30-year-old have congestive heart failure? I thought only older people get that. Reality set in - the cardiologists certainly made sure of that. Point blank: I ignored and neglected my health, both physically and mentally. I had let stress from work and life cloud over me and take control. I had disregarded my well-being and there is no sugarcoating it, I had let depression and anxiety take over my life.

I try to think back to the exact moment during this whole ordeal that sparked the signal in my brain that I had to make changes. I think it was when I was told that I was going to undergo an invasive procedure called Heart Catheterization. During this procedure, they insert a small camera through your wrist and feed it through your body into your heart to check for blockages. I lay in the hospital bed overnight, alone, thinking about what could go wrong. That night was the most anxious and restless I have ever experienced. It’s something that I never want to go through again. A small scar on my wrist from the procedure serves as a constant reminder of the whole ordeal.

After the procedure, I learned that my Ejection Fraction, a measure of how efficiently the heart pumps blood, was critically low. This explained my constant fatigue and occasional shortness of breath. After getting discharged from the hospital, my cardiologist and I created a plan to get my health back on track. Over the next year, I re-evaluated everything. I had not had a primary doctor in years and I wanted to improve my overall health. I got a primary doctor soon after getting discharged from the hospital, whom I now visit for annual physicals. I also started to pay closer attention to my overall health because I wanted to improve my well-being beyond just my heart.Being diagnosed with Congestive Heart Failure turned out to be a blessing in disguise. It was the wake-up call that I needed. The diagnosis signaled to me that I had to make big changes if I wanted to live a long and healthy life.

After many failed attempts over the years, I was finally able to eliminate all negative contributions to my life, including alcohol and junk food. I now go on walks 7 days a week. I have made small yet effective changes to my diet, including reducing portion sizes, and eating more whole and nutrient dense foods. These changes have led to surprisingly dramatic weight loss over the last two years.To improve my mental health, I have reduced time spent on social media and watching the news. These small changes have greatly reduced my level of stress. In general, I found that the trick to improving my health has been to find a “rhythm” that I could follow and feel comfortable with. When I compare myself today vs. two years ago, the list of positives is too copious to list. I am less fatigued through the day, and I have much more energy. I can go on hikes and bike rides that I wasn’t able to do before. At my most recent cardiologist appointment, the results were extremely positive. I’ve gotten my Ejection Fraction % and blood pressure well within normal range.

The implementation of the Wellness Program for Myers Group could not have come at a better time as I came out of the hospital dealing with all of this. The resources available on the Myers Group Wellness website are incredibly beneficial and informative. I urge everyone to check out the resources available, such as the physical wellness toolkits and social wellness checklists. I also create a new SMART Goal every month tied to the month’s health topic. Creating and realizing these goals has led to meaningful changes, for example strengthening friendships, exploring my creative side, and improving my diet and hydration. The Wellness Program truly been life-changing and incredibly advantageous to me.

To conclude, it’s important to remind myself that the road to recovery is not black and white, it’s not fast or slow. It’s unique to every one of us and it looks different for everyone. It’s not a race. We all move on our own timelines.  My objective in sharing my story is to help others avoid the same mistakes that I made. Go to your doctor. If you don’t have a doctor, get one. Get checkups. Listen to your body! Don’t be afraid to make the change to better yourself. Do not neglect your well-being.


Get in Touch
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Our Director of Wellness, Katy Nishida, is also available via email with any health related questions you have. Feel free to reach out to her at Katy@myersgroupllc.com. Katy is happy to provide advice and resources on nutrition, fitness, stress management, sleep quality, and so forth.