Executive Director Joaquin Razo shares personal health journey that led to role.
When Joaquin Razo accepted the position as Executive Director for Blue Zones Project Upper Napa Valley, he was already well aware of what it looked like to live a Blue Zones lifestyle. About four years before joining the team, Razo said he had a personal low point with his health. "I was in an unhealthy place mentally, physically and emotionally," he says. "I weighed more than 435 pounds and lost connection to my purpose and community. I knew something had to change."
During these last four years, Razo started making different decisions. "I changed my diet habits, became more active, reconnected with communities that mattered to me, and changed my mindset on well-being," he says. Razo adopted some major lifestyle habits from the original Blue Zones before knowing they were the same evidence-based behaviors of the world's healthiest, longest-living people.
Since beginning to introduce these changes, Razo has lost over 135 pounds. "It's a daily practice to choose to be healthy," he says. "I realized the changes I was working to make aligned with the Blue Zones Project."
Razo says one of the lessons he learned was how important it is to make someone feel heard, saying real change can happen when people take the time to listen. While he says his journey isn't over, he continues to make the daily decision to choose the path toward health. Now, his goal is to help create an environment in the community that makes healthy choices unavoidable.
Razo says he knows firsthand how difficult it can be to make healthy changes on your own, but when the surroundings are designed to help people stay physically and mentally healthy, it makes complete well-being more achievable.
"People living in our community deserve to live longer and happier lives," he says. "Every day, I witness our local Blue Zones Project team working hard to make healthy choices easy in our community. Not only is this important to me and my personal story, but it's good news I want to share with everyone – that they too can live a healthy life."
When people ask Razo what the secret to making that change toward healthier living is, he tells them there's no one correct answer. "What makes the Blue Zones Project great is that it's up to the individual," he says. "We provide them with the tools, but the change is made when we adopt the collective mindset to choose to be healthier together."
By connecting multiple organizations, volunteers, public officials and individuals for every sector, Blue Zones Project helps communities come together and create an impact by collectively deciding to be healthier. "As a community, we're building the space for people to be the best and healthiest version of themselves," Razo says. "Hope is on the rise. Health is on the rise. That's what keeps us going."