Her Story
About Jeannine
Jeannine Riess serves as Public Health Administrator for a major research university, where she oversees community health and regulated programs including food safety, indoor air quality, and communicable disease, while also leading public health and wellness operations with a focus on compliance and risk management. As founder of InnerEdge Wellness LLC in Colorado, she draws on more than 20 years of experience in the health and wellness field to help leaders, organizations, and individuals address the root causes of disease and optimize lifestyle habits through evidence-informed prevention strategies that enhance health performance, resilience, and longevity. Riess earned a Master's of Public Health in 2007 and a Bachelor in Environmental Health; she is a certified health coach, certified food safety professional and healthy homes, certified in biohacking, and Reiki certified. She is a member of the National Environmental Health Association, Colorado Environmental Health Association, American Public Health Association, American Industrial Hygiene Association, and American School Association. Her notable achievements include authoring research articles and founding the RAM Food Recovery Program, which reduces food waste and expands food access for underserved populations. Riess attributes her success to hard work and daily dedication, values authenticity, integrity, honesty, and work ethic, and advises others to pursue their passions without letting fear or the pursuit of perfection hold them back.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Jeannine
01What do you attribute your success to?
I attribute my success to hard work and daily dedication. Just going for it even when you're tired. You can have all the talent in the world but if you don't put that daily dedication into it, you can only be good for so long.
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
The best career advice I received is just go for it, do it. Done is better than perfect. You'll just start it, move forward and you'll figure it out along the way. If you're passionate about it don't let fear stop you.
03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
Don't let fear get in the way. We all have fear so throw that fear out the window and go for it. You're gonna make mistakes and just make the mistake and learn from it and move on. Everybody sees the success but they don't see the mistakes that they made along the way.
04What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
One of the biggest challenges in health and wellness today is that our healthcare system is largely designed to treat disease after it develops rather than prevent it in the first place. Clinicians are often under tremendous time constraints and must focus on diagnosing and managing immediate medical concerns, leaving little opportunity to explore the lifestyle, environmental, nutritional, and metabolic factors that contribute to long-term health.
At the same time, many people have been conditioned to believe that declining health is simply a normal part of aging or that medication is the only solution. While medications are often necessary and lifesaving, there is tremendous opportunity to improve health before chronic disease develops through early intervention, biomarker optimization, nutrition, movement, sleep, stress management, and targeted supplementation.
The greatest opportunity in our field is shifting the conversation from disease management to prevention, wellness, and longevity. By helping people understand the "why" behind their symptoms and empowering them with personalized, evidence-informed strategies, we can improve not only lifespan but healthspan, the number of years people remain healthy, active, and thriving.
05What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
Authenticity, integrity, honesty, and work ethic are most important to me.
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