Joseph Wheeler founded Balance and Beam℠ LLC, parent of iBeamforLife℠, in 2008 to inspire and empower people to change the way they eat and live and find the best in themselves. A staunch believer in the transformative power of nutritionally rich and varied food choices, he created a program to introduce others to a philosophy and an approach he has successfully practiced for many years.

At the core, Joe teaches that eating well is an essential ingredient to improving one’s overall health, energy and outlook. Witnessing first-hand the extraordinary regeneration made by a number of people in his life, Joe was inspired to seek renewal from his deep grief following the loss of multiple family members and discovered the healing, restorative, and emotional power of food.

He wasn’t a foodie. He didn’t cook. He didn’t know it was possible to prepare and enjoy delicious food that restored your vitality, good health, and overall balance until he cooked with his now mentor, Christina Pirello.

While getting his BA in Communications at Rowan University, Joe had his first wake-up call at an unnamed fast food chain where poor quality food (read: loaded with salt, sugar, and fat made to feed the masses) was consumed by people making poor quality choices about fueling themselves. After a stint in graduate school in D.C. where a string of family tragedies left him physically, mentally, and emotionally drained, Joe became a disciple of Chefs Christina and Robert Pirello.

Under their tutelage, he immersed himself in experimenting with, and exploring, food and its energy potential. With renewed life from completing intensive course work in macrobiotic and vegan cooking at Drexel University, Joe, like many, didn’t apply this learning to work. He studied to become a Certified Financial Planner instead. But his desire to help others discover what he had learned about the power of food was inescapable. While studying at Merrimack College, Joe helped a friend reorganize his kitchen, introduced him to new food and cooking styles, and changed his life given his severe problems with eating dairy. A business was taking shape before his very eyes. After bending a professor’s ear, Joe was introduced to now business partner, Melanie Beach.

Joe simply approaches everything with a sense of openness and adventure. His personal journey means keeping a practice that is fresh, fun, and interesting—and applying it to everything—including exercise, stress reduction, shopping, cooking, and eating. And of course, business. His adventure continues with Balance and Beam. Taking what he has learned and lived, Joe now helps others gain new understanding about food and to be successful in achieving their health goals, with a practical, caring and supportive approach to changing how to eat well, for life.

Hitting your mark