Walk to Wellness: Transforming Lives with Every Step

On this episode of Inside the Texas Heart Studio, Dr. Joseph G. Rogers interviews the CEO of Baker Ripley, Claudia Aguirre, as part of Fit Houston's campaign encouraging people everywhere to #WALK30. 

They will discuss:

• How exercise doesn't have to be hardcore; even a simple daily walk can lead to physical and mental benefits.
• As CEO of Baker Ripley, Claudia highlights strategies to inspire employees and the community to prioritize physical activity.
• The role of accurate information and expert guidance in promoting healthy behaviors like walking.

Join the conversation as they delve into how walking can be a transformative tool for wellness and community health.

For more information regarding #WALK30, visit  texasheart.org/tag/walk30

🔗Watch the Studio Interview on Texas Heart TV

Visit Our Website: texasheart.org

Transcript

0
00:00:00.100 --> 00:00:03.300
Hi, I'm Joe Rogers president and CEO of the Texas Heart Institute. And

1
00:00:03.300 --> 00:00:07.100
 I'm joined in the studio today by Claudia Gary. Who is the CEO

2
00:00:06.100 --> 00:00:09.700
 of Baker Ripley here in Houston Claudia. Thanks

3
00:00:09.700 --> 00:00:12.400
 for joining us today to spend some time talking about the

4
00:00:12.400 --> 00:00:15.100
 importance of exercise and the new program that's rolling out

5
00:00:15.100 --> 00:00:18.600
 walk 30 a real Community effort to try

6
00:00:18.600 --> 00:00:21.300
 to enhance people's awareness of

7
00:00:21.300 --> 00:00:24.400
 the importance of just walking but getting out and

8
00:00:24.400 --> 00:00:27.600
 beginning to do beginning to exercise. Sure. Thank

9
00:00:27.600 --> 00:00:31.200
 you for having me. I'm so delighted to be here. Well, I

10
00:00:30.200 --> 00:00:33.600
 understand that there's a bit of

11
00:00:33.600 --> 00:00:36.900
 a personal Journey for you that you've taken around around

12
00:00:36.900 --> 00:00:40.100
 walking and exercise and I wonder if you'd be

13
00:00:39.100 --> 00:00:42.100
 willing to share some of that with those who

14
00:00:42.100 --> 00:00:45.300
 are watching sure. I was always under the belief that

15
00:00:45.300 --> 00:00:49.200
 to do exercise you had to go to the gym or you know,

16
00:00:49.200 --> 00:00:52.700
 sweat and get really into the exercise. So

17
00:00:52.700 --> 00:00:55.900
 for many years been paying the monthly membership fees,

18
00:00:55.900 --> 00:00:58.700
 right and then covid hits and

19
00:00:58.700 --> 00:00:59.800
 everything shuts.

20
00:01:00.200 --> 00:01:03.100
And I'm wondering well, what do I do? What do I

21
00:01:03.100 --> 00:01:06.500
 do and like everyone else that Cove attend

22
00:01:06.500 --> 00:01:09.600
 he started, you know, creeping in until one

23
00:01:09.600 --> 00:01:12.300
 day it just hit. You know, I'm just gonna go for a walk.

24
00:01:12.300 --> 00:01:15.400
 I'm gonna go for a walk and and I

25
00:01:15.400 --> 00:01:18.800
 went and it started, you know day after day started to shift

26
00:01:18.800 --> 00:01:21.400
 my thoughts and Not only was it a physical

27
00:01:21.400 --> 00:01:24.500
 transformation but a mental transformation for

28
00:01:24.500 --> 00:01:27.600
 me and so that's why this became so personal

29
00:01:27.600 --> 00:01:30.900
 for me 36 pounds less but

30
00:01:30.900 --> 00:01:33.200
 more importantly my sanity. I think of you

31
00:01:33.200 --> 00:01:36.300
 ask any of my staff. They're like, she hasn't taken her

32
00:01:36.300 --> 00:01:39.800
 walk. So it really is a very

33
00:01:39.800 --> 00:01:43.400
 personal journey. I think added to

34
00:01:43.400 --> 00:01:46.900
 that is that growing up in a

35
00:01:46.900 --> 00:01:49.900
 Latino community in a Latina family. It

36
00:01:49.900 --> 00:01:52.000
 just was not one of those

37
00:01:52.300 --> 00:01:55.400
 things that we did right? I mean we played Sports and

38
00:01:55.400 --> 00:01:58.500
 that was our physical activity, but we just never really

39
00:01:58.500 --> 00:02:00.000
 talked about

40
00:02:00.100 --> 00:02:03.500
Exercise and so the perception of exercise was

41
00:02:03.500 --> 00:02:06.700
 this hardcore got a sweat and

42
00:02:06.700 --> 00:02:09.800
 so, you know during covid it was a slow but

43
00:02:09.800 --> 00:02:12.400
 you know steady movement and I'm I'm

44
00:02:12.400 --> 00:02:15.100
 a better person right now Dr. Rogers because of

45
00:02:15.100 --> 00:02:19.600
 it. I think that you've you've hit on two really interesting themes.

46
00:02:18.600 --> 00:02:21.300
 The first is that you don't

47
00:02:21.300 --> 00:02:25.800
 have to carve out time drive

48
00:02:24.800 --> 00:02:27.700
 to a gym typically trying

49
00:02:27.700 --> 00:02:30.200
 to find a place closest to the front door to park right,

50
00:02:30.200 --> 00:02:34.800
 you know, you don't have to spend that money to

51
00:02:33.800 --> 00:02:36.500
 do that. You can just get out and

52
00:02:36.500 --> 00:02:40.000
 walk. So I think that that's one really important theme for

53
00:02:39.200 --> 00:02:42.300
 for us as we begin to

54
00:02:42.300 --> 00:02:46.000
 to walk down this path together around

55
00:02:45.700 --> 00:02:49.000
 exercise in the community. And the

56
00:02:48.100 --> 00:02:51.200
 other one that I really liked was

57
00:02:51.200 --> 00:02:55.900
 this idea of integrating almost mindfulness into

58
00:02:54.900 --> 00:02:57.500
 your exercise routine

59
00:02:57.500 --> 00:02:59.700
 and I find the same thing for me. I

60
00:03:00.100 --> 00:03:03.200
Like to think that I'm an urban hiker and I love to

61
00:03:03.200 --> 00:03:06.500
 take long walks, you know through through Houston on

62
00:03:06.500 --> 00:03:09.700
 the weekends, but it is such an a remarkable way

63
00:03:09.700 --> 00:03:12.200
 to clear your mind to have

64
00:03:12.200 --> 00:03:15.500
 some time for your own thoughts and I

65
00:03:15.500 --> 00:03:18.500
 find myself solving an awful lot of problems, you know

66
00:03:18.500 --> 00:03:21.100
 during the day as I get out and take

67
00:03:21.100 --> 00:03:24.400
 a walk. Absolutely, you know, we often get asked about

68
00:03:24.400 --> 00:03:27.600
 this work live balance and how it impacts

69
00:03:27.600 --> 00:03:30.800
 your your mental well-being and

70
00:03:30.800 --> 00:03:34.700
 it's one of those things where integration

71
00:03:33.700 --> 00:03:36.800
 is a much better way of,

72
00:03:36.800 --> 00:03:39.500
 you know, leading to this discussion really

73
00:03:39.500 --> 00:03:42.200
 isn't a balance. It's you know, you've got to find a

74
00:03:42.200 --> 00:03:46.700
 way to integrate it you're mental well-being. The

75
00:03:45.700 --> 00:03:48.700
 transformation is amazing right

76
00:03:48.700 --> 00:03:51.500
 when you're taking a walk and stuff. So yeah,

77
00:03:51.500 --> 00:03:55.000
 not you know, 12 14 16 18

78
00:03:54.400 --> 00:03:57.800
 hour day. Sometimes during covid was hard

79
00:03:57.800 --> 00:03:59.800
 on me and on my staff.

80
00:04:00.100 --> 00:04:03.400
a CEO I'm you know, hoping and representing, you

81
00:04:03.400 --> 00:04:06.700
 know, the 1400 people we have at our offices, but

82
00:04:07.500 --> 00:04:10.700
It was one of those aha moments for for

83
00:04:10.700 --> 00:04:13.400
 me that while I was trying to lose weight. I

84
00:04:13.400 --> 00:04:17.500
 was trying to get healthy physically the shift

85
00:04:16.500 --> 00:04:19.800
 that my mental health had

86
00:04:19.800 --> 00:04:22.500
 especially during covid was what made

87
00:04:22.500 --> 00:04:25.600
 me into the believer now, right so walking

88
00:04:25.600 --> 00:04:28.900
 love it and lost weight did everything but how it

89
00:04:28.900 --> 00:04:31.300
 has been able to clear my mind and you

90
00:04:31.300 --> 00:04:33.700
 know, and really sometimes five 10 12 minutes.

91
00:04:34.400 --> 00:04:35.800
in spurts of that

92
00:04:36.600 --> 00:04:39.600
it just it's magical and transformative. I

93
00:04:39.600 --> 00:04:42.200
 agree with you, you know, so one of

94
00:04:42.200 --> 00:04:45.400
 the things that this campaign will be doing is working to engage

95
00:04:45.400 --> 00:04:49.300
 other leaders in the community. You have

96
00:04:49.300 --> 00:04:50.400
 a large Workforce.

97
00:04:51.300 --> 00:04:54.400
How do is this program begins to roll

98
00:04:54.400 --> 00:04:59.100
 out? How are you thinking about inspiring the

99
00:04:58.100 --> 00:05:01.500
 people that work with you at Baker Ripley to

100
00:05:01.500 --> 00:05:04.900
 follow this lead and and take up the torch

101
00:05:04.900 --> 00:05:07.200
 for for walking and

102
00:05:07.200 --> 00:05:08.300
 exercise. Yes.

103
00:05:08.600 --> 00:05:08.900
so

104
00:05:09.900 --> 00:05:13.400
I was right now Dr. Rogers Dido got 1400 employees

105
00:05:12.400 --> 00:05:15.300
 82% of our

106
00:05:15.300 --> 00:05:17.200
 1400 employees are female.

107
00:05:18.700 --> 00:05:21.700
60% of those are you know between the ages of

108
00:05:21.700 --> 00:05:25.500
 35 and 50 and and one

109
00:05:24.500 --> 00:05:27.500
 of the commitments and

110
00:05:27.500 --> 00:05:30.500
 priorities that I made as CEO is is

111
00:05:30.500 --> 00:05:33.500
 trying to engage them into much

112
00:05:33.500 --> 00:05:36.800
 more healthier balancing, you know

113
00:05:36.800 --> 00:05:39.300
 strategies their moms, you

114
00:05:39.300 --> 00:05:43.000
 know, they've got work their mom. So, you know, what can we easily figure

115
00:05:42.300 --> 00:05:45.400
 out that something that works for

116
00:05:45.400 --> 00:05:49.000
 them? So we're beginning to think about, you know, walking and

117
00:05:48.300 --> 00:05:51.500
 meetings. We're beginning to think about

118
00:05:51.500 --> 00:05:55.000
 wall clubs. We run. We

119
00:05:54.400 --> 00:05:57.300
 operate the Turkey Trot every year and what

120
00:05:57.300 --> 00:06:00.700
 we started to do is have communities build teams getting

121
00:06:00.700 --> 00:06:03.400
 ready for that. Right? So it's it's going to

122
00:06:03.400 --> 00:06:06.700
 be a process but I think making sure

123
00:06:06.700 --> 00:06:09.500
 that our community of employees have

124
00:06:09.500 --> 00:06:12.400
 at least the awareness of how important this is

125
00:06:12.400 --> 00:06:15.400
 and how we can really shift them physically and well-being I

126
00:06:15.400 --> 00:06:17.800
 think was was the first stage and now

127
00:06:18.300 --> 00:06:21.300
We're really going to start talking about how walking for 30 minutes

128
00:06:21.300 --> 00:06:24.600
 every day can really shift your thoughts and

129
00:06:24.600 --> 00:06:27.400
 your body. That's fantastic. So got

130
00:06:27.400 --> 00:06:30.600
 one other question to challenge you with yes, and

131
00:06:30.600 --> 00:06:33.700
 that is as we were talking before we

132
00:06:33.700 --> 00:06:35.700
 started to tape this segment.

133
00:06:36.500 --> 00:06:39.700
We were talking about the fact that your organization touches.

134
00:06:40.600 --> 00:06:44.200
Over a half a million people in the community. I think it's actually 600,000.

135
00:06:45.200 --> 00:06:48.500
It that's an amazing reach that you have

136
00:06:48.500 --> 00:06:51.500
 and the thing that struck me about Baker Ripley

137
00:06:51.500 --> 00:06:54.900
 is that you have the opportunity to influence the

138
00:06:54.900 --> 00:06:55.700
 lives.

139
00:06:56.400 --> 00:06:58.600
of very young children

140
00:06:59.600 --> 00:07:03.000
and seniors and every person sort

141
00:07:02.100 --> 00:07:05.200
 of every age group in between there and

142
00:07:05.200 --> 00:07:08.400
 it's a fascinating organization. How can

143
00:07:08.400 --> 00:07:11.500
 you leverage those touches to

144
00:07:11.500 --> 00:07:14.900
 really begin to bend the curve on Community

145
00:07:14.900 --> 00:07:17.300
 Health through exercise? Yeah. That's such a

146
00:07:17.300 --> 00:07:22.000
 great question. I think first I wanted to say that because we

147
00:07:21.400 --> 00:07:24.200
 serve so many people 600,000 every

148
00:07:24.200 --> 00:07:27.200
 year and because we've been in existence for 115 years

149
00:07:27.200 --> 00:07:30.100
 keeping this region a place of opportunity for our

150
00:07:30.100 --> 00:07:33.800
 low income communities. We have such a responsibility to

151
00:07:33.800 --> 00:07:36.600
 ensure that our communities get healthy.

152
00:07:36.600 --> 00:07:39.500
 So really how we leverage

153
00:07:39.500 --> 00:07:42.500
 that is we have 300,000 people

154
00:07:42.500 --> 00:07:45.600
 every day in our reach right 600,000 a

155
00:07:45.600 --> 00:07:48.500
 year, but 300,000 people every day get touched

156
00:07:48.500 --> 00:07:51.300
 by Baker Ripley. So figuring how our program

157
00:07:51.300 --> 00:07:54.700
 initiatives and strategies are going to be integrated with some

158
00:07:54.700 --> 00:07:57.400
 kind of knowledge around the walking and the

159
00:07:57.400 --> 00:07:59.400
 being healthy. I think it's

160
00:07:59.600 --> 00:08:02.500
Right now is probably the most critical moment. We've

161
00:08:02.500 --> 00:08:05.700
 got a window of opportunity that

162
00:08:05.700 --> 00:08:08.600
 we can start to really engage our communities because

163
00:08:08.600 --> 00:08:11.900
 they're listening right? We're hearing this mental health

164
00:08:11.900 --> 00:08:15.400
 issues with our children. We're hearing about you

165
00:08:15.400 --> 00:08:18.300
 know, our Latinas with chronic illnesses. We're hearing

166
00:08:18.300 --> 00:08:21.400
 all this there's a window of opportunity that they're ready to

167
00:08:21.400 --> 00:08:24.400
 listen and our job and our priority

168
00:08:24.400 --> 00:08:27.700
 and our responsibility is getting them aware of

169
00:08:27.700 --> 00:08:30.400
 all of this opportunity so that they could

170
00:08:30.400 --> 00:08:33.800
 start shifting their lives. Yeah. I loved this concept that

171
00:08:33.800 --> 00:08:36.700
 you had developed earlier about one of the really important roles

172
00:08:36.700 --> 00:08:39.500
 for Baker Ripley is arming people with

173
00:08:39.500 --> 00:08:42.200
 information and education and I think

174
00:08:42.200 --> 00:08:45.600
 this is such an obvious place to start and there's

175
00:08:45.600 --> 00:08:49.100
 so much to do around just inspiring

176
00:08:48.100 --> 00:08:51.300
 people to exercise but

177
00:08:51.300 --> 00:08:55.300
 arming them with the knowledge that they that they

178
00:08:55.300 --> 00:08:58.600
 can really impact their health by doing

179
00:08:58.600 --> 00:08:59.000
 fairly.

180
00:08:59.600 --> 00:09:02.300
Thing now, that's right. I think we would be

181
00:09:02.300 --> 00:09:04.200
 amazed if

182
00:09:05.200 --> 00:09:09.000
we saw how much misinformation is out

183
00:09:08.000 --> 00:09:09.000
 there.

184
00:09:09.800 --> 00:09:12.600
Not only with food but with

185
00:09:12.600 --> 00:09:16.200
 you know new trends vitamins walking

186
00:09:15.200 --> 00:09:18.400
 physical pieces all the

187
00:09:18.400 --> 00:09:21.300
 misinformation out there. And so again our responsibility to our

188
00:09:21.300 --> 00:09:24.900
 community is ensuring that we bring in the content experts

189
00:09:24.900 --> 00:09:27.900
 to deliver the message, right our

190
00:09:27.900 --> 00:09:30.300
 name our trust. Our reputation allows us

191
00:09:30.300 --> 00:09:33.300
 to have a front, you know seed at

192
00:09:33.300 --> 00:09:36.700
 in our communities, but it's bringing in the content right?

193
00:09:36.700 --> 00:09:39.600
 It's bringing in the experts and this is why I love

194
00:09:39.600 --> 00:09:42.700
 our partnership is because I want to make sure that our

195
00:09:42.700 --> 00:09:45.500
 communities get the right information and they

196
00:09:45.500 --> 00:09:48.600
 have the tools they need to get started. What else is

197
00:09:48.600 --> 00:09:51.400
 easy and free rather than walking. You

198
00:09:51.400 --> 00:09:54.400
 just cannot get any better in any faster and

199
00:09:54.400 --> 00:09:57.100
 ready and I think that that now is the time for us to

200
00:09:57.100 --> 00:10:00.100
 get our communities ready. Oh, yeah. I can't tell

201
00:10:00.100 --> 00:10:03.400
 you how much fun I've had. Just visiting with you and

202
00:10:03.400 --> 00:10:06.100
 I'm inspired by the work that you do at

203
00:10:06.100 --> 00:10:09.400
 Baker Ripley. Thank you very much, and I'll look forward to continuing the

204
00:10:09.400 --> 00:10:09.600
 part.

205
00:10:09.800 --> 00:10:13.200
Ship as we advance this initiative

206
00:10:12.200 --> 00:10:15.400
 toward a healthy behaviors in

207
00:10:15.400 --> 00:10:17.800
 the Houston Community. Thanks very much. Thank you.

208
00:10:29.400 --> 00:10:32.200
here