Heather's Bio

With a long standing interest in children and family issues, particularly as it pertains to heath care, Heather Quillen started her career in the field of non-profits after graduating from the University of Central Florida. The Parents Resource Center, a facility dedicated to the support and welfare of parents and children, was the starting point for Heather. A move to the Community Health Foundation provided leadership experience as the Director of Development, focusing on providing education and access to health care for low-income and migrant families, as well as farm workers from the Central Florida area citrus and vegetable industries. Heather’s career path continued in the area of health care access and advocacy in the non-profit world, including holding the position of Development Director with the Georgia Academy of Family Physicians and the Medcen Foundation.

After starting a family with two children, Heather became particularly aware of the increasing number of overweight and obese children. Having personally struggled with weight issues, Heather was acutely aware of the emotional and physical costs associated with obesity. After many years of searching for a balanced lifestyle, a whole health approach to wellness, including yoga, cardiovascular exercise and personal reflection provided the answer for her.

Recognizing unhealthy choices can become unhealthy habits, Heather was compelled to help children find the path to wellness for a lifetime. Understanding the implications and consequences facing overweight children, Heather was determined to find answers and to be part of the solution to this problem.

For Heather, founding Yomagination Wellness & Education was truly a labor of love with a mission to encourage and educate children about making healthy lifestyle choices for a lifetime. Combining her life long passion for animals and the environment with her personal and professional commitment and experience to health and wellness, The Island of Yomagination™ storyline was born. The program embraces the whole child approach to wellness by fusing yoga poses along with cardiovascular and isometric exercises into an innovative, imaginative series of journeys. Yomagination™ integrates fitness and fun with nutrition and wellness information by introducing healthy concepts for children to make the connection between their lifestyle choices and having a healthy body. All the journeys take place on the Island of Yomagination™ and all the poses and exercises in the journey are characters that live on the island.

Wanting to take this commitment to children’s health even further, Heather teamed up with pediatrician and child obesity expert, Lisa Ramey, D.O. to create YoMedics™ Kids Journey to YoPower for Life™. Through a shared passion for children’s health and a commitment to answering the obesity challenge for children, their partnership was formed. Through a multi-disciplinary approach, Quillen and Dr. Ramey, along with their team of experts, developed a program based on recommendations released by the American Academy of Pediatrics. The pair have transformed sound medical procedure into an engaging, interactive program with fun characters to follow on YoMedics™ Kids Journey to YoPower for Life™.