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My son Jordan turns 24-years-old this week. Many of you who have regularly read my columns know that he is a miracle child and overcame great adversity when he survived a terrible motorcycle accident that put him in a coma, leaving him with a Traumatic Brain Injury when he was 14-years-old. He is a true survivor and has overcome great odds in life. I’m happy to say he is healthy and living back up in Wisconsin, getting ready to return to college this August to work on a degree. I am incredibly proud of him and yet still always incredibly worried about him. But that’s my job, I’m a mother.
When I think about overcoming odds, I often think how ironic it is that I do the work that I do, helping other people to make positive changes in their lives. Actually, it’s not ironic as much as it’s exactly the path that was put before me. I think most people who end up in any leadership role, or in any helping profession, have had to overcome some adversity in their lives, it’s what builds us as leaders. It’s what gives us experience and wisdom to help others and to encourage people along the way. I had a shaky home-life as a child, as people used to call it, a “broken home,” but these days, coming from a family of divorce or dysfunction seems to be more of the norm, and having parents that are married and stay married (and are actually happily married), is the more unusual situation.
As I grew up, I lived in foster homes as a teenager, on and off, and moved out when I was sixteen years old. I worked evenings and went to high school during the day. I was a year ahead in my class and was the youngest senior at the age of sixteen. I worked nights at a truck stop and drove to school in the mornings in my ratty old Chevette that had holes in the floor that would splash up on my passengers if it rained the day before. Eventually I dropped out of high school because I was too tired to stay awake in algebra class and was often falling asleep on my desk. I moved to Montana and became pregnant at the age of seventeen. I decided at that time to move back to Wisconsin, where I was from, to have my son. I finished my High School diploma, taking tests while I was pregnant and finishing with him by my side in his baby carrier.
When Jordan was two, we were very poor, but I was able to get accepted into college and began going to the university during the day and working at UPS loading trucks in the evenings and cocktail waitressing on the weekends. Later I was able to go to college full-time on the weekends and work a better day job during the week. I built a house on my own at the age of 29 and raised Jordan there until he was through with high school and into college.
I finished both an undergraduate and master’s degree in the weekend program at the College of St. Catherine and I attended law school, working toward a dual degree until Jordan had his accident. At that time I took a year off from school during his recovery, but went back to complete my graduate program. I taught yoga and fitness as a part-time job around my full-time work and I raised Jordan. Over the years we have both been through many trying times, many big changes.

When Jordan was 21, he had been in college for a while and I decided to put my house up for sale, pack up a 20 foot U-haul and my 100 pound dog, and I headed to Texas, ready for a change in my life with nothing more than a wing and a prayer. There’s a lot more to my path to becoming a wellness professional, but I am grateful every day to get to do the work that I do and even for the experiences that I have gone through that were difficult at the time because I hope that I can be an example to others that they can achieve their goals and can overcome the odds that may seem to be stacked against them.

Liz Jones is the Wellness Coordinator for the City of Mesquite and a wellness professional in Rockwall, Mesquite, Wylie and surrounding areas. She is a writer, certified yoga instructor, personal trainer and wellness coach. She holds a Master’s Degree in Organizational Leadership and Strategic Management, with a graduate certificate in Ethics and Leadership. Her undergraduate studies included communication, business, writing, art, fitness, and dance. Liz Jones can be reached at: [email protected].

March is National Nutrition Month. Any good trainer will tell you that 80% of your fitness results come from what you eat, 10% from your fitness program and 10% genetics. Even if you are religiously sticking to a workout plan, but you make poor choices with your diet, you are not going to see the results that you are looking for or the health benefits that are so important. Eat clean, train mean, get lean.
One good way to become more aware of what you are consuming is to log your meals. I’ve always been an advocate of writing down what you eat and drink when starting a program. It helps to be accountable to yourself and more mindful of what you are putting in your mouth. I’ve always been a pen and paper writer and hold off on most technology until it has become necessary (I am a late bloomer with getting an IPhone and still have never downloaded a song in my life and don’t own an IPod- which some may find very strange for someone who teaches any fitness or yoga class), but recently I decided to try MyFitnessPal.com, which is a free app that you can use on your phone, computer, or other device to log your food and exercise. I found this incredibly useful, not because I want to count my calories, but to be able to see the nutritional breakdown of my meals. It has been very interesting and also has helped me to shed a few extra winter pounds as I emerge into my spring training program. It also helped me to realize that I wasn’t getting enough potassium in my diet, which is surprisingly hard to get enough! High blood pressure runs in my family, so it’s extra important for me to make sure I’m getting enough potassium.
I am not an advocate of getting “demerit” points for eating because I think that it attaches a psychologically negative association to eating. What we need to do is learn how to eat for nutrition and nourishment, while still keeping food enjoyable. I do think having treats like desert or margaritas (or your favorite) can be good to have in moderation and on occasion, but that it shouldn’t be used as a reward or punishment. Finding balance and a positive association with food is probably the best ultimate goal, even more important than reaching a certain weight or pant size.
Trying new foods is also important to help your family get the nutrition that they need. Things like kale, quinoa, or flax seed can add great benefits to your meals. Or trying avocado based chocolate mousse, using unsweetened applesauce in place of fat, agave nectar in place of sugar, or creating smoothies with power foods can be a surprising way to have treats that are much healthier and still delicious. If you’d like some tips on food that are high in potassium or some new foods to try, follow me on Facebook in March for “Try This” tips https://www.facebook.com/liz.jones.1441810.

Liz Jones is the Wellness Coordinator for the City of Mesquite and a wellness professional in Rockwall, Mesquite, Wylie and surrounding areas. She is a writer, certified yoga instructor, personal trainer and wellness coach. She holds a Master’s Degree in Organizational Leadership and Strategic Management, with a graduate certificate in Ethics and Leadership. Her undergraduate studies included communication, business, writing, art, fitness, and dance. Liz Jones can be reached at: [email protected].

I’ve had a couple of discussions lately with people who are “regular” runners, about whether running burns off muscle. As with most things, it really depends what your goals are in order to determine how much cardio and weight training you should do (see my previous article on lifting heavy or light). My personal belief is that everyone needs to do cardio, weight training, stretching and relaxation in order to achieve wellness and to help them meet their personal goals.
Many of my friends in the Rockwall Running Club are strictly runners, they can get up in the morning and run ten miles right out of the shoot, but they don’t do any weight training or yoga, so they may want to add a weight training program to increase their leg strength, shape their body, or for bone health reasons. Many runners I know also suffer from shin splints, hairline fractures, plantar fasciitis and other ailments). Yoga or a stretching program is also important for runner to help maintain flexibility and decrease soreness, cramping, etc.
On the other foot are my body builder and power lifting friends. Many of the people I know who compete, especially the power lifters, focus more on their weight training and do not include much cardio in their training plan. You can weight train intensely enough to raise your heart rate to achieve health benefits, but that takes careful planning. Most body builders also need to do enough cardio to achieve heart health and fat burning benefits. The same philosophy applies to body builders doing yoga and stretching, it helps them to feel better as well as excel in their sport.
One fear body builders/fitness/figure/power lifters have is that doing too much cardio will burn away hard-earned muscle. In some cases that is true and when working to add muscle while getting lean, it is a balancing act to be able to increase lean muscle mass, while being lean enough to see muscular definition. How much cardio you need also depends on your diet, what types of foods you are consuming and the volume of food and beverages you ingest.
I don’t mean to generalize any category of fitness folk, but these are some known trends in various sports. I encourage you to have a well-balanced fitness program along with a mostly clean diet, no matter what your passion.

Liz Jones is a wellness professional in Rockwall, Mesquite, Wylie and surrounding areas. She is a writer, certified yoga instructor, personal trainer and wellness coach. She holds a Master’s Degree in Organizational Leadership and Strategic Management, with a graduate certificate in Ethics and Leadership. Her undergraduate studies included communication, business, writing, art, fitness, and dance. Liz Jones can be reached at: [email protected].

How many of you have ever felt like you were a little stressed out at work? Maybe felt you needed a little more energy by the middle of the day? How about missed a day of work because of a chronic illness or body pain? I’m guessing if you are raising your hands, few people would be left now that don’t have their hand up. I’d love to talk to you to learn your secret!
Most people can relate to at least one or all of the statements above. So what can employers do to help their employees to have better health and be at their best both at work and at home? It’s important for employers of all sizes to encourage a culture of wellness for their employees- even if you are a business of one, a family business, a non-profit or a large corporation. Employee health directly impacts healthcare costs — an issue for every business. However 75% of these costs are driven by preventable and highly manageable chronic diseases, like heart disease, type-2 diabetes, and some forms of cancer.

Obesity among full-time employees cost employers $73.1 billion a year in medical costs and lost productivity in 2008. A recent study estimates that an obese person incurs annual medical costs that are over $2,700 higher (in 2005 dollars) than if they were not obese.

Healthy workers + Healthy Corporate Culture =
• Higher productivity
• Less absenteeism
• More job satisfaction
• Better bottom line on health care costs in the long-term
• Connection with co-workers
• Employees are our most valuable asset!

This is a link to an article on America’s Healthier Companies, of all sizes, and what they are doing to be leaders in employee wellness:
http://greatist.com/health/healthiest-companies
Some of the things that you can participate in as an employee of the City of Mesquite are things like wellness coaching (creating a personalized plan, nutrition counseling, exercise planning and instruction); group coaching (creating challenges, rewards, team support); education (Lunch & Learns, handouts, newsletters, videos), and Wellness Days (information, chair massage, blood pressure or other biometric screenings). We also have various wellness activities going on right now that you can be a part of. If you need help figuring out what would work best for you, send me an email and I can help you create a plan.

Liz Jones is the Wellness Coordinator at the City of Mesquite and a wellness professional in Rockwall, Mesquite, Wylie and surrounding areas. She is a writer, certified yoga instructor, personal trainer and wellness coach. She holds a Master’s Degree in Organizational Leadership and Strategic Management, with a graduate certificate in Ethics and Leadership. Her undergraduate studies included communication, business, writing, art, fitness, and dance. Liz Jones can be reached at: [email protected].

As I write this article, yesterday I attended the memorial service of my friend’s 22-year-old son. I have to say, it was heartbreaking and hard to bear for many reasons. My friend Melinda has shown an amazing amount of strength throughout the time I’ve known her. Her son Jake was in a car accident in 2007 and left with a severe traumatic brain injury. He required 24-hour care for the rest of his life. Recently, he took a turn for the worse and sadly passed away after a long battle.
I met Melinda when I first moved to Rockwall a few years ago. I became a part of a group of ladies that went out together and it’s how I got to know some people in the area. Ironically Melinda and I, along with our friend Kim, had something more in common- we all had sons who had suffered traumatic brain injuries to different degrees. They were all different situations and very different outcomes, but I always felt like there was something that brought us together. Although I am deeply saddened by Jake’s passing, I have to say that Melinda is also very inspirational. Nobody can truly know what she is going through, or what she is dealing with, but anyone that has seen her as a mother knows that she was always there for Jake and kept pushing forward, doing what she felt was best for him, no matter what the sacrifice.
Looking at what Jake went through and what Melinda, as a parent, had experienced, it is humbling and puts most other situations into perspective. I won’t compare losing a child to anything else in the world, but I hope that in some way, their story will inspire you to overcome whatever obstacles you perceive to be in your way and to keep moving forward and pushing through.
Here are some tips for various setbacks that commonly throw people off track from their goals:
• A health issue- injury, severe illness or disease can really wreak havoc on a wellness program. Talk to your medical provider, most will encourage you to continue a healthy lifestyle, including a training program and good nutrition to help you through your recovery. If you break an arm, you can still work your legs. I learned after orthoscopic knee surgery many years ago that I would have recovered much better had I stayed active. I also gained over 20 pounds from my couch time and ice cream consumption because I felt bad. Hindsight is 20/20. If you are diagnosed with a disease, again, most medical providers will encourage you to continue eating well and exercising to help your body to fight the disease.
• Relationship ending- many times people will avoid the gym if they went there with an ex, or because their regular habits are changing, they allow that to change their fitness habits as well. Try to focus on yourself and give yourself extra self-care during a breakup and keep active going to the gym, your current Zumba class, or try something new.
• Depression- Although it may be hard to feel motivated when going through situational or chronic depression, exercise is proven to raise endorphin levels and lower the rate of depression. Exercise can also boost your self-esteem, helping with many symptoms of depression. Eating healthy also aid in managing and preventing depression, eating foods high in Omega 3s such and tuna and salmon, avocados as well as increasing Vitamin B and D, and amino acids all have been shown to help.
• Financial issues- Many places, like the YMCA, offer scholarships and other gyms offer some very low cost options, such as Express 24 Fitness, has memberships as low as $15 per month. Many classes offer a free first class or a week trial. Depending on the situation, there are also many workouts you can incorporate at home, outside, with a video or taking a recreation center, low cost class.

Liz Jones is the Wellness Coordinator for the City of Mesquite and a wellness professional in Rockwall, Mesquite, Wylie and surrounding areas. She is a writer, certified yoga instructor, personal trainer and wellness coach. She holds a Master’s Degree in Organizational Leadership and Strategic Management, with a graduate certificate in Ethics and Leadership. Her undergraduate studies included communication, business, writing, art, fitness, and dance. Liz Jones can be reached at: [email protected].

We all have gone through it, in our minds we are doing what we should, going to the gym, eating better, managing our stress and working hard. Then we will step on the scale and not see a number that makes us happy. Or we will get a mind numbing headache when we have been doing our best to be healthy and relaxed. Maybe we work and work, yet feel like our “to do” list has only gotten longer as the days go on. This week’s article will focus on ideas when you hit a plateau or frustration from not making progress that you want to, and what to do if you are doing what you think you should, but still are not feeling fabulous.
This time of year is especially hard. The “newness” of the New Year has worn off, the weather is gloomy and cold. Many people are feeling overwhelmed by goals that they are trying to reach at work, New Year’s “resolutions” that have since lost their luster. I’ve experience much of this myself at different times in my life.
If you are not reaching your goals at the gym:
• Take an HONEST inventory. Did you go to the gym to workout, but cut out some of the activities that were on your daily plan? Did you spend ten minutes talking to someone you know? When you do cardio are you really sweating or are you just going through the motions? If you are lifting weights, how long has it been since you increased your repetitions or weight lifted? Are you actually following a plan or are you just floating around the gym or doing your home workout willy nilly?
• Re-commit to yourself. Goal planning is not just for January 1, in order to reach our goals we need to often reevaluate what is working and what is not and sometimes change up the measurement of success. Was your goal to lose 30 pounds? You may need to break that up to set a goal to lose 1 pound per week and monitor your progress. Did you make a goal to go to yoga class twice a week, but are finding that you are making excuses or your schedule is getting in the way? Make the commitment to yourself again that you WILL make the time to do what you need to do. Don’t give up. Life is a journey, not a destination. You have not failed! You just haven’t finished. Giving up is not an option, so you may as well make the best of it and become determined to work toward the life that you want.
• Give yourself credit for what you have done. Focus on the positive, not the negative or any perceived failure. As with all things, positive acknowledgement encourages more positive behavior. This includes positive reinforcement to ourselves. Scale hasn’t budged? Well, that’s a bummer, but are you feeling better, have you gotten stronger, have you started to develop healthier habits?
• Get support. Work with a trainer. Join a boot camp or group exercise class. Talk to your family and enlist their support. Maybe your family will commit to an activity with you once a week. If you are working with a trainer- listen to what they tell you, be honest, and make sure you are doing what you need to outside of the gym when they are not with you. A big part of my work as a trainer and wellness coach is to listen to what’s going on with people outside of the gym and to help them find ways to overcome challenges they are facing. In order for me to do that, they need to be honest with me and share their struggles as well as their accomplishments. Feel free to email me if you have any topics that you would like to see more information on!

Liz Jones is a wellness professional in Rockwall, Mesquite, Wylie and surrounding areas. She is a writer, certified yoga instructor, personal trainer and wellness coach. She holds a Master’s Degree in Organizational Leadership and Strategic Management, with a graduate certificate in Ethics and Leadership. Her undergraduate studies included communication, business, writing, art, fitness, and dance. Liz Jones can be reached at: [email protected].

Paleo, vegan, juicing, cleansing programs, omnivorous, macrobiotic, raw, Ayurvedic. There are so many meal plans, as well as so many fad diets out there. Crazy things like the grapefruit diet, heavily restricted calories, prepackaged foods, the cabbage diet, so many I can’t list them all here.
With all of the information out there, how is anyone, especially the “average Joe (or Josephine)” supposed to figure out what is best for them to maintain a healthy lifestyle? What I tell people when I meet with them as a trainer or wellness coach and nutritionist is that I don’t personally advocate for “diets” I believe in eating for nutrition. Give your body the fuel and care that it needs, cut out the toxins (processed food, white flour, white sugar, chemicals), get a handle on portion sizes, make sure you are getting the protein, complex carbohydrates, good fats, water, amino acids and vitamins that you need. Be active. I’m an advocate for eating clean. That means cutting the garbage out of your food. Replacing white flour with things like coconut flour, ground oats (gluten-free if you are sensitive to gluten), or almond flour. Replace white sugar with better choices like not eating sweets, or getting your sugar from fruit. You can also use (in moderation) better choices for sweeteners like agave nectar, raw local honey and REAL maple syrup. Also, eliminating foods that causes allergies and inflammation in your body can be a very good choice.
Some of my favorite resources for recipes are things that I make up at home (follow on Facebook for regular recipes and meal ideas https://www.facebook.com/liz.jones.1441810 ), as well as sites like EatCleanDiet.com and Body for Life websites and books. There is also a “Clean Eating” website that has some good tips and meal ideas. I do think that some other meal plans have some virtue, I think trying recipes from some of them is a great way to add new, potentially healthy, meals to your family’s routine (for example trying a meal from a Paleo cookbook or add juicing smoothies to your day to get extra nutritional bang in your body), or trying to eat vegan a few days a week (or if you do go fully vegan, making sure that you have educated yourself enough that you are not missing essential nutrients) can all be beneficial if you do it right, do it carefully, and make sure you are getting an adequate variety of foods.
If you are dealing with a medical issue, I highly recommend, and often refer people, to meet with a registered dietician, who can get down into the more “nitty gritty” of an individual’s nutritional needs. I’m always happy to hear from people. Let me know how I can help you reach your goals in 2014.

Liz Jones is a wellness professional in Rockwall, Mesquite, Wylie and surrounding areas. She is a writer, certified yoga instructor, personal trainer and wellness coach. She holds a Master’s Degree in Organizational Leadership and Strategic Management, with a graduate certificate in Ethics and Leadership. Her undergraduate studies included communication, business, writing, art, fitness, and dance. Liz Jones can be reached at: [email protected].

Anyone who has a family at home and is trying to live a healthy life probably knows that the people around you in your home probably influence your life and your choices more than any other factor in your life. Many individuals who struggle with weight management (over 66% of our population) are likely to have children that struggle with weight issues at some point. Or if your spouse eats unhealthy food or doesn’t exercise, it may be hard for you to maintain healthy habits.
The best way you can encourage your partner or children to be healthy is to work as a family toward your fitness. Finding ways to be physically active together, like going for family walks, playing volleyball or soccer in the yard or joining group sports together. Another thing you can do is schedule a group session with a personal trainer to learn some exercises that you can do together. You could also participate in things like indoor wall climbing, 5K walks/runs, WII sports, or take a Zumba class together.
Some of the things that we do together is go to the gym to train together whenever we can and we box together in our yard (he holds the pads and I practice my hits and we do bag work together). With our thirteen year old we both help with the soccer team that she plays on, we all play volleyball in the yard and have even made up games with racquets hitting tennis balls or other objects around the yard. We are planning to do a 5K together in May as a family.
Not only is staying physically active good for your whole family’s health, it is good for maintaining healthy relationships within your family.
If you are looking for ways to implement fitness into your family, please feel free to send me an e-mail and I’d be happy to make some suggestions.

Liz Jones is the Wellness Coordinator for the City of Mesquite and a wellness professional in Rockwall, Mesquite, Wylie and surrounding areas. She is a writer, certified yoga instructor, personal trainer and wellness coach. She holds a Master’s Degree in Organizational Leadership and Strategic Management, with a graduate certificate in Ethics and Leadership. Her undergraduate studies included communication, business, writing, art, fitness, and dance. Liz Jones can be reached at: [email protected].

Sleep is one of the important health factors that affect us most. I speak to almost everyone that I meet with for wellness coaching on the topic and it is often one of the most common struggles that people are dealing with. It’s also becoming one of the most medicated wellness issues out there. I’ve always had trouble sleeping due to having a very busy brain if I wake up at night and being a light sleeper, I wake up often. I also share a home with someone with sleep apnea, which is a huge health issue in itself and obviously a noisy one that creates more sleep deprivation for both of us.
There are so many factors that can affect quality and quantity of sleep and in turn so many medical issues that lack of sleep can cause. Problems such as age-related cognitive decline, anxiety, bipolar disorder, chronic fatigue syndrome, depression, restless leg syndrome, sleep apnea and snoring, various medications, or as I mentioned, a busy brain, can all have an impact on your sleep. In a vicious circle, the things that cause a lack of sleep, can also be amplified by lack of sleep. Diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease all have been shown to have a link to sleep. Sleep issues can wreak havoc on emotions and cause stress in relationships.
Sleep quality has been linked to risk of Alzheimer’s disease as well as protein deposits on the brain. Sleep apnea causes a lack of oxygen and can in some cases end in death or have long-term effects. People prone to anxiety and depression find the symptoms growing if they are not getting enough quality sleep. Lack of sleep can result in detrimental health from causing a heart attack to weight gain. Your body is more susceptible to infections and viruses when run down, your cortisol and other hormone levels rise and can cause weight gain and make it nearly impossible to lose weight. Of course being tired also causes people to not have the energy to workout, make poor dietary choices and in general causes a lower quality of life.
Not drinking alcohol before bed, eating too late, or exercising in the late evening can be better choices to help with your rest. Most of us know that things like Epsom salt baths before bed, yoga, meditation, turning off electronics and taking supplements like melatonin and Valerian root can aid in sleep, but most importantly, if you have a pattern of sleep issues see your doctor, get a sleep study to rule out sleep apnea if you are at risk, talk to your family to recruit their help with creating a healthy sleep environment. Wishing you and your family happy, healthy holidays!
Follow me on Facebook for tips: https://www.facebook.com/liz.jones.1441810

Liz Jones is the Wellness Coordinator for the City of Mesquite a wellness professional in Rockwall, Mesquite, Wylie and surrounding areas. She is a writer, certified yoga instructor, personal trainer and wellness coach. She holds a Master’s Degree in Organizational Leadership and Strategic Management, with a graduate certificate in Ethics and Leadership. Her undergraduate studies included communication, business, writing, art, fitness, and dance. Liz Jones can be reached at: [email protected].

Sometimes when you are trying to healthier, it can start to seem like all you are eating is chicken and broccoli over and over again. It’s important that food is still enjoyable when you are making clean eating a part of your lifestyle, so that it is something that is sustainable and to avoid an all-out meal mutiny one day while driving past the Dairy Queen. An easy way to do this is to try out new flavors, herbs and spices, adding both flavor and nutrition to your meals. There are many, many great flavors that taste great as well as have wellness benefits to eating them.
Cayenne pepper- known as one of the world’s healthiest foods. It is high in capsaicin content, which is well-known for its pain relieving property. It is said to help prevent ulcers, as well as being loaded with vitamins, such as beta-carotene, and fights inflammation, clears congestion, and can boost weight loss.
Cinnamon– was historically used as a medicine. It has microbial agents, as well as known to boost brain function and help control blood sugar levels.
Chinese 5 Spice– is one of my favorite blends to add to dishes. It contains anise, cloves, cinnamon, Sichuan pepper, and fennel- all of which have great attributes on their own, and together make a unique tasting addition to most meats. My favorite way to use it is on sliced sweet potatoes along with a scoop of coconut oil, wrap in aluminum and put it on the grill.
Cilanto– is another one of my favorites that we add to many things in our house such as eggs, rice and quinoa, with meats and in sauces. Cilantro is known for its anti-inflammatory benefits and has been shown to lower cholesterol and regulate blood sugar.
Cardamom– from the ginger family, is known for is digestive support. Cardamom is used for digestion problems including heartburn, intestinal spasms, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), intestinal gas, constipation, liver and gallbladder complaints, and loss of appetite. It is also used for common cold, cough, bronchitis, sore mouth and throat, and tendency toward infection. Some people use cardamom as a stimulant and for urinary problems.
**Always remember, if you are managing a medical condition to consult your health care provider and seek their input on any dietary changes.

Liz Jones is a wellness professional in Rockwall, Mesquite, Wylie and surrounding areas. She is a writer, certified yoga instructor, personal trainer and wellness coach. She holds a Master’s Degree in Organizational Leadership and Strategic Management, with a graduate certificate in Ethics and Leadership. Her undergraduate studies included communication, business, writing, art, fitness, and dance. Liz Jones can be reached at: [email protected].