Hope before fear
Fear makes people freeze. Hope makes people move. Every page here is written to leave you feeling capable.
About Joanna
Meet Joanna Gustafson, M.S., M.Ed., NBC-HWC
Founder & Chief Wellness Visionary, ActiveLiving 360
Every brain-friendly choice is a gift to your future self.
Joanna Gustafson, M.S., M.Ed., NBC-HWC, is a nationally recognized wellness educator, Board Certified Health & Wellness Coach, program developer, and active aging advocate who has spent more than three decades helping people improve their health, vitality, and quality of life through practical, enjoyable lifestyle changes.
Her passion has always been simple: helping people not just live longer—but live better.
Throughout her career, Joanna has designed innovative wellness programs that inspire individuals and communities to become healthier, more active, and more connected. Rather than promoting quick fixes or overwhelming people with complicated health advice, she believes lasting change happens through small, meaningful habits that naturally become part of everyday life.
That philosophy is the foundation of everything she creates.
As the creator of the SMARTWalk Method™ and founder of SMARTWalk Clubs, Joanna pioneered a unique wellness approach that combines movement, cognitive engagement, social connection, and lifelong learning into one enjoyable experience. Her programs have helped countless adults discover that improving their health doesn't have to feel like work—it can be something they genuinely look forward to.
Recognizing that physical health is only one piece of overall wellbeing, Joanna founded ActiveLiving 360™, a comprehensive wellness ecosystem built around three guiding principles:
Movement • Wellness • Connection
Through ActiveLiving 360, Joanna has developed a growing family of programs that empower people to take charge of their wellbeing at every stage of life. From walking clubs and healthy aging initiatives to educational experiences and community-based wellness programs, her mission is to make healthy living accessible, engaging, and sustainable.
Her purpose
Why Keep Your Memory™
One of Joanna's greatest passions is helping people protect and strengthen their cognitive health long before memory problems become a crisis.
After years of studying healthy aging, behavior change, and lifestyle medicine, she recognized that many people know they should exercise, eat better, and get more sleep—but few know how to turn those recommendations into enjoyable daily habits that actually last.
That realization inspired Keep Your Memory™.
Rather than focusing on fear or decline, Keep Your Memory™ is built around hope, empowerment, and the science of healthy living. Through the Brain-Friendly Lifestyle™, Joanna teaches practical, evidence-informed strategies that help people support memory, improve cognitive wellness, reduce stress, stay socially connected, and build habits they can enjoy for years to come.
Her goal isn't simply to educate—it's to help people create a lifestyle that supports a healthier brain and a richer, more fulfilling life.
Looking ahead
Joanna's Vision
Joanna envisions a future where every person has access to the knowledge, encouragement, tools, and supportive community they need to thrive physically, mentally, emotionally, and socially throughout every stage of life.
Today, through ActiveLiving 360™ and its family of wellness brands—including Keep Your Memory™, SMARTWalk Clubs™, Tropicize™, Sharper Method™, and the ActiveLiving Central™ platform—she continues to inspire healthier, happier, and more connected communities across the country.
I believe movement energizes us, wellness empowers us, and connection gives our lives meaning. When we bring all three together, extraordinary things happen.
What she believes
Four convictions that shape everything
Science, translated
Research matters, but only if it becomes something you can do on a Tuesday. Joanna's job is the translation.
Joy is the strategy
A habit you enjoy is a habit you keep. If a practice is not enjoyable, it is not brain-friendly for long.
Small and repeatable
Nothing here requires a new personality. It requires small, sustainable, repeatable choices.
Every Brain-Friendly Choice is a Gift to Your Future Self™
Speaking and media
Invite Joanna to speak
Joanna speaks to community groups, retirement communities, workplaces, and conferences about brain-friendly living. Reach out with your dates and audience and her team will follow up.
Speaking topics and press kit
Reserved for the speaking topics, past engagements, and press materials from Joanna's document.
Learn directly from Joanna
The $27 Masterclass is the best introduction to how she teaches and what she believes.