Jacquie Johnson is an accomplished African American woman who has helped thousands of people as a financial wellness director in the banking industry. As an army brat, she has lived all over the world and has learned the value of doing whatever it takes to get the job done.
I think the key is not giving in to frustration and doing whatever I must until I get the results I want.
In addition to successfully navigating her career, Jacquie has also had to navigate her health; particularly, her hypertension that was diagnosed in her 20s.
“Living on different army bases around the world, I’ve always had to adapt quickly to change,” Jacquie said. “When it came to my blood pressure, it was always a rollercoaster ride in terms of medication.”
Over the past two decades, Jacquie has been prescribed several blood pressure medications to regulate her hypertension. There have been moments where she was frustrated that none of them would work to keep her blood pressure down.
“My doctor would prescribe one type of med, but my blood pressure would remain high,” Jacquie said. “I knew that, as I got older, this would be a bigger problem so I had to do whatever it takes to get my blood pressure under control.”
Jacquie admits that she didn’t always make the best choices in terms of diet and exercise. Now that she’s in her 50s, that has taken a change for the better as well.
“I had to make some lifestyle changes,” Jacquie admitted. “I couldn’t rely on just the doctors and the medications to put my blood pressure in check. My husband is a gym fanatic and my daughter plays travel volleyball, so I’m in an active household. Like I said earlier about being adaptive to change, I knew I had to change my eating and activity habits to give these blood pressure medications a chance.”
Now that Jacquie has added a few gym days to her schedule and reduced the amount of sodium in her diet, the medication is starting to perform.
“It’s not where it needs to be, but it’s definitely headed in the right direction,” Jacquie added. “I think the key is not giving in to frustration and doing whatever I must until I get the results I want.”
