About the Authors

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small change

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Myrtle’s career in health began in 1982 as a private duty nurse in the historic river towns of Westchester County, New York, where she ministered bedside care to the infirmed and terminally ill.    In 1987 she returned to her native state of Tennessee, and plunged into health promotion at the grass roots level, managing a health promotion and disease prevention project in her home town of Humboldt It was there that Myrtle found her true passion and has since expanded her services to include that of writer, lifestyle coach, college instructor, and health promotion specialist.

 In 2005, she and her son, Cameron Russell, an exercise physiologist,  co-authored and self-published small change: a 28 day guide to eating, thinking and feeling healthier and the two presently conduct workshops aimed at helping individuals make healthy lifestyle changes using the small change approach. 

As a health promotion specialist, Myrtle has worked at a number of levels from face to face contact with individuals, groups, and communities to more strategic work such as policy development. The work is much more than simply advising or persuading individuals to make lifestyle changes, it  includes: Organizational, Community, Strategy, Personal, and Partnership Development for local and state government as well as non-profit organizations; Providing Health Information as the health editor for The West Tennessee Examiner, a weekly newspaper; and Project Management for rural non-profits.  

For over 25 years, she has also coached individuals in identifying and developing self-improvement skills necessary to achieve goals and in 2010, became a Certified Life Coach.  

 She is currently a health promotion consultant for West Tennessee Area Health Education Center, Inc., Somerville, TN (www.wtahec.org) ; health editor and columnist with the West Tennessee Examiner News and Classifieds (www.wtegoodnews.com); and recently became a distributor of nutritional supplements with Usana, the world’s leading company in the field of health and nutritional supplements (www.usana.com/smallchange.  Myrtle also trains individuals to own their own lives by establishing home-based businesses (www.iownmylife.net/myrtlerussell).

As a co-author of small change and University of Tennessee at Chattanooga graduate, Cameron has trained professionally in the fitness and sports arenas for ten years. He currently serves as a personal trainer/performance coach to professional athletes, as well as men, women, and children of the general population.

In addition to sports training and promoting health and wellness, Cameron serves on the Board of Directors for the North Side Neighborhood House in Chattanooga, edits sports for the West Tennessee Examiner, and contributes fitness and sports articles to online publications www.livestrong.com and www.Examiner.com. 

Cameron has been booked for several public speaking engagements, helped churches create and manage fitness ministries, written website jingles, provided online fitness regimens for clients across the country, and serves as a mentor to youth in all capacities.

A few of Cameron’s many clients include:

NFL

Peyton Manning, Indianapolis Colts

Tony Brown, Tennessee Titans

Terdell Sands, Free Agent

MLB

Ryan Hanigan, Cincinnati Reds

Corey Guerrin, Gwinett Braves

Boxing

Ryan Martin, USA Boxing

Golf

Henrik Simonson, Head Pro, The Honors