Rising Stars: Meet Jacque Salomon

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jacque Salomon. 

Hi Jacque, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstories with our readers?
My family and I moved to Arizona in June of 2010; one year after my 11-year-old son passed away from a severe allergic reaction to a pharmaceutical. We spent the next decade trying to heal from the most devastating and traumatic event our family could have ever imagined. 

The pain and destruction that wound revealed was a legacy of disease and sorrow that pushed our health to the tipping point. Our bodies held so much karma and trauma already –both inherited and experienced– that the heartbreak, guilt, and sorrow evoked a vulnerability to disease and illness that almost took my life twice. 

Not only were we living with obesity, chronic diseases like Type 2 Diabetes, Hypertension with an Arrhythmia, Insomnia, Depression, Anxiety, Auto-Immune Disorders, Autism, Learning Differences, Toxic Family Dynamics—for brevity I will end there—but then, due to unfair and unjust educational practices against my children who learn differently, we had no choice but to enter into battle with the Arizona Charter School System. 

We stood strong in defense of my children’s civil rights for four-plus years with two charter schools. The stress exacerbated our declining health and it was all too much to bear. Soon after I discovered both of my twins had prediabetes. One of them had a small hole in his heart and high cholesterol as well. He had to begin seeing a cardiologist and was prescribed Statins! Statins for my 14-year-old!!! Not an option. 

I began studying and researching. I came across the documentary Forks Over Knives and my world has never been the same. I transitioned to Whole Foods, Plant-Based No Oil immediately. There WAS another way. I knew it. My babies needed me to figure this out because more pharmaceuticals and procedures were not an option! Orphaning my children was not an option! 

I learned and I networked. And the healing was mind-blowing. We all lost an incredible amount of weight which eliminated my teenage boys’ diagnoses of Prediabetes and High Cholesterol. My son went back to the cardiologist and the hole in his heart was undetectable. It healed! 

My other son broke his leg in such a critical location that the orthopedic surgeon swore he would be out for the rest of his first-ever basketball season. That didn’t happen. He played the last three games of the season! 

My Type 2 Diabetes gone! My Hypertension and Arrhythmia GONE! My restless leg syndrome, gastric reflux, depression, anxiety gone. As well as an additional 164 lbs. I was carrying around unintentionally. Gone! 

Through a Whole Plant Foods Lifestyle, meditation, yoga, and psycho-spiritual remediation, I arrested and reversed my chronic diseases. This is the profound power we have over our own health and wellbeing. This is health sovereignty. Why didn’t I know this? This is where my non-profit and activism was born. 

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It has not been a smooth road at all. As we heal, we learn things about ourselves that require courage to stand in front of. The healing process is a mind-body-spiritual journey of navigating the parts of us we have never had the opportunity to experience. It is scary but so rewarding; incredibly humbling and liberating. I learned that I truly did not know how to speak the language of love. I learned that my skill and love of writing was hidden in the shadow as well… hidden from judgment and ridicule. Self-reflection begins with self-love. And self-love includes boundaries and critical thinking. Many family and cultural dynamics fear these necessary human qualities and skills. I had to learn self-compassion and releasing others to their own healing journeys. Love always wins but it isn’t a fairytale. We must protect Truth, Life, and Sovereignty at all costs. We have no choice. This isn’t easy but together in community we will co-create a path forward for our progeny; one they deserve.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
Realizing the truth about how imperialism and colonialism is at the center of the climate crisis, environmental crisis, health crisis ESPECIALLY health disparity is the catalyst for my work, I am determined to bring my story and support to underserved communities; because communities challenged with health inequity and disparity are also most at-risk for future pandemics and climate destabilization. Imposed colonial diets has and continues to create food-born lifestyle diseases that are fulfilling a genocide that began on this continent over 500 years ago. Uncolonizing our minds and bodies is paramount for our Indigenous and Black communities to make it through these intersecting crises. 

I am so grateful for my health and am driven to channel this into my work as a Plant-Based Health Advocate and Intersectional Activist by serving at-risk communities in the Phoenix metropolitan area and surrounding reservations. I am a firm believer in children’s access to comprehensive, holistic, autonomous, potential-driven learning models and a “village” of transgenerational knowledge to guide and nourish their developing innate gifts and skills. 

Our organization, Seeds to Inspire Foundation 501c3 has built on the 6 Pillars of Lifestyle Medicine to marry Trauma-Informed resources and support to bring our Community Lifestyle Wellness Initiative to your community. My work is focused on bringing Whole Plant Food Nutrition education, culinary medicine interventions, and culturally relevant trauma-informed resources to underfinanced, underserved, underrepresented communities by collaborating with grassroots organizations devoted to healing our most distressed zip codes. 

Is there something surprising that you feel even people who know you might not know about?
I am incredibly simple and silly. I love to dance and laugh. I am really quiet but love practical jokes. I am a homebody and enjoy snuggling with our non-human companions, our fur babies and my kids’ watching movies, playing board games, listening to old skool music, and not much more. I have suffered a lot. As so many mothers have. But I really am full of joy and gratitude. I am living my purpose and my best life. That despite any challenges, I don’t break not because I am special but because I know some stuff you may not know yet. We are the same! Do not let anyone ever tell you any different 

Contact Info:

• Email: Contact@seedstoinspire.org
• Website: www.seedstoinspire.org
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/seedstoinspire/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/seedstoinspirefoundation
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtHvf_XItONPS7BTrOYD3lA
• Other: https://www.facebook.com/Jacque.Salomon/