Mission statement: To make a difference in people's lives


Priorities Simplified, LLC was created and named by president and owner, Pam Schmid, to describe and reflect what she believes is crucial in helping people take charge of their health and well-being. Living hectic lives In a world immersed in information overload, makes it challenging to do that.

Over the years working in a variety of settings to make a difference, from being a special educator early in her career, to a health and fitness professional in non-profit, corporate, and private settings, all the way to working in a drug treatment program in a federal prison, she learned that helping people move forward started with a simple step. Keeping it simple and basic, prioritizing what mattered most, was key.

Priorities Simplified provides health and wellness services with an emphasis on a real life, practical approach to optimizing health, fitness, happiness and well-being with programs that inspire hope, motivation, and give a pathway to lasting change.

Pam Schmid
Speaker, coach, patient advocate, and author

Pam has been energizing people to create and live their best lives since 1981, as a health and fitness professional and wellness coach serving in a variety of capacities. Pam delivers her passion for helping others through energizing, practical keynotes and workshops around topics that matter, to lay audiences and professionals that are engaging, authentic, and warm but always simplify the facts!

Pam is a certified Executive Wellness Coach through Wellcoaches Corporation (an ACSM partner), ACSM (American College of Sports Medicine) Health Fitness Specialist, and an ACSM/ACS Cancer Exercise Trainer. Pam is a speaker, coach, patient advocate, and writer who has been interviewed and quoted by local, national and international media, including US News and World Report, ABC and CBS local, Danish Broadcasting Corporation, and many others. She has written numerous articles for professional and popular media on health and lifestyle topics, was co-investigator for the first wellness coaching study utilizing the Wellcoaches methodology (credentialed professional working as coaches) as a single intervention, first to bring wellness coaching to cancer survivors, and was contributing author for the first coaching textbook in health care, Coaching Psychology Manual, (Lippincott, Williams, and Wilkins). She also serves as Wellcoaches® faculty, advisor, and live workshop presenter for Wellcoaches Corporation.

In 2004 when Pam was diagnosed with breast cancer, the name of her company, Priorities Simplified, took on new meaning. Struggling to regain strength, energy, and confidence after aggressive treatment, she understood how challenging living a healthy lifestyle could be for survivors. Being a leader in the new field of wellness coaching, she saw the perfect opportunity to make a difference using a program that would incorporate all parts of a survivor’s life, and help them build confidence in their ability to take charge of their health and well-being. Most importantly, it was a program to give survivors a pathway to feeling their best with powerful, yet practical steps, that inspired hope, possibility, and strength.

Healthy and Fit After Cancer® programs provide coaching services, training, and consultation to cancer centers and organizations who want to provide wellness coaching, learn more about healthy survivorship, and communication skills helpful in promoting healthy behaviors for their survivors, starting with brief motivational coaching and information about cancer and exercise.

Research was published in 2009 around her program, studying the long term benefits of wellness coaching for cancer survivors. Significant results showed reduced anxiety, depression, and overall quality of life as well as sustained healthy lifestyle changes one year after the coaching ended. She has presented at numerous cancer related workshops/conferences delivering keynote and other educational sessions.

Pam’s patient advocacy efforts began soon after her diagnosis, when she wrote her story for a local magazine. The response to the story taught her the power of her words and how one person could make a difference. She began passionately speaking and writing during her treatment and hasn’t stopped since. She created a website around early detection for breast cancer, www.KnowYourDensity.com and is author of “101 Things You Should Know About Breast Cancer” , a book she was asked to write by Healthy Learning Publishers. She is a patient advocate at the local, state, and national level, as a founding member of the Duke Patient Advocacy Council, past 2 year co-chair for the NC Comprehensive Cancer Survivorship workgroup, a TeamSTEPPS master trainer, and three time Lance Armstrong Foundation LIVESTRONG national delegate, Global Summit volunteer, and army leader. Pam is currently featured in the national public service announcements for the Mammography Saves Lives campaign, sharing her story.

Pam’s greatest joy and accomplishment has been raising her two boys, and being a wife of almost 30 years. Pam is also an actor who has done work in commercials, industrials, and film. Her acting reel can be viewed at www.Youtube.com/user/PamelaSchmid