DR. JAMIE RAMSEY, founder of Ramsey Modern Wellness, brings a rare combination of clarity, discipline, and unwavering compassion to modern medicine. Her life has been shaped by resilience and an early understanding that purpose is built—not given—which fuels the intentional, deeply personal care she offers her patients today. A board-certified physician committed to integrative, patient-centered wellness, Jamie has created a practice that feels less like a clinic and more like a sanctuary: a place where people are heard, guided, and supported in every dimension of their health.
Her philosophy is rooted in balance—invest fully in your work, your family, and your faith, and surround yourself with people who elevate you. Alongside her husband and their four children, Jamie has crafted a life defined by strength, steadiness, and big dreams. In conversation, Jamie is thoughtful and clear-eyed, offering insights shaped by experience, optimism, and a conviction that women can build extraordinary lives with courage and intention.
Where did you grow up?
I grew up in the Deep South, on a farm in northeast Georgia, 15 miles from the nearest store. I was raised by a very strong mother who worked four jobs to keep us going. I also had a loving father who had PTSD from Vietnam and could not be the financial or moral backbone of our family.
Do you think your background led you to the practice of healing and medicine?
Maybe. I felt threatened growing up. The world was not easy. My mother was the hardest working woman I have ever known. She was a teacher. She ran a farm. She was a Mary Kay sales director, and she was a choir director. She did everything she could to put food on our table. Yet despite all that, at the end of the month, we ate eggs because that was what we had on the farm. There was emotional instability from my parents’ divorce and their relationship. There was some violence on my dad’s side, and I was exhausted by it. There was a constant threat that we would not be able to make the farm’s mortgage, and that we could lose everything.
Do you think those memories drive you today?
Absolutely.
I have found that most women who have ascended to the level you have, in their core, like you, they are warriors.
I do not give up. My mother taught me that you can live without much sleep. You can live without much money. It is difficult, and you may not want to do it the rest of your life. But I learned as a child that if I wanted to escape from that situation, I would have to work hard. I felt I could get to a better life by becoming either a lawyer or a physician. A family member was a lawyer but that never appealed to me.
You are a wise woman.
As a child, when I went to the pediatrician, I liked to look in all the drawers and see both the content and how she organized them. And then when I was in kindergarten, we went to the Cabbage Patch Kid Factory, and I was mesmerized by the way that they gave birth to the cabbage patch doll. I always felt that I would be a physician.
As a teacher, did your mother tell you that education was the way out?
Absolutely. She was very firm. Even when I was tired, she made me do math fact quizzes every day at the kitchen table, until I could get a hundred math facts in less than three minutes. She was resolute that the only way to get out of a bad situation is through an education.
Do you have any siblings?
Yes, I have a brother.
And where is he now?
He is about six years older than me. He lives in northeast Georgia, part-time in Florida, and has been very successful in real estate and in business.
Did you graduate top of your class in high school?
Not the top of my class, but in the top. I have always had to work hard because academics did not come easy for me. I had to study a lot, but I was willing to do that.
Where did you attend undergraduate and then medical school?
I lived at home because I could not afford to live on campus. I graduated from the University of Georgia. The entire time at college, I knew that after four years I would have to support myself, no matter what. I always hoped that I would go to medical school, but I am a person who always has a Plan B. Once I received my bachelor’s degree in nursing, I worked as a labor and delivery nurse at night while I took pre-med classes during the day.
And then you went to what med school?
I went to the Medical College of Georgia, which is the public medical school in Augusta, Georgia. I loved it.
Did you live on campus?
Jason and I got married after my first year of medical school.
How did you and your husband, Jason, meet?
I have known Jason since I was in high school.
But you never dated?
Never.
He wasn’t your type, or you weren’t his type?
You know, we were in different circles. At that time, Jason was a friend of my brother. They met in Athens while Jason was in his first job as an engineer. And I was so busy in college . . . always either working or studying. Jason was out of college and doing his own thing. I would just see him occasionally. But as I got to know him, I realized that he was different. I realized how intelligent he is. I always wished that I could find a man like him.
Does he make you laugh?
Absolutely.
Do you remember the first time you saw him?
Yes.
Really? How old were you?
I was 18 years old. I was a senior in high school when he came to my house with my brother. They came to ride motorcycles together.
He was 21 and you were 18?
I thought, oh, great. Motorcycles are dangerous. He remembers it differently. As he drove up, he saw I was doing yard work—weeding—because I took care of our yard. He thought, “Wow, this girl doesn’t look like the kind that would be doing yard work.” More than anything, Jason inspired me.
Because?
He was so driven. He knew that he wanted to be successful in life. And coming from a small town, I had not met anyone like him before. He started his own business when he was 20.
What was the business?
He started a commercial painting business in Athens. He wanted to build houses, but he didn’t have the capital to secure a bank loan. So, he learned how to paint and hired college students to do the work. Before long, he had a very successful painting business on the side, while he worked as an engineer.
A newly married woman starting medical school, how did that go?
You know, it was a safety net for me with Jason not being in medicine. He was such a bright light. 9/11 happened two months after I started medical school.
Did you think about going to New York after 9/11 to help out?
We had been to New York on our very first trip together. He picked me up from the MCAT. I was at UGA sitting on a park bench, and he took me to the airport. We flew to New York, which was the first time I had been there. We love New York.
So, he opened up a whole world for you. And he, likewise, was fortunate because he obviously was looking for an intelligent, elegant and beautiful woman.
You know, I think what we were most impressed with, in the other person, was tenacity and big dreams.
Did he meet your father?
Yes. He loved my father. They were both mechanically minded. My father could fix anything, and Jason loves to work with his hands… but also with his mind. My father was the most fun.
Did you ever hope that your father and your mother would get back together?
When I was young, I dreamed of it almost every day. So, as a child I longed for it. But when I became a teenager, it was obvious to me that they were different. They were raised in very traditional homes. But after Vietnam, my father came back a different person, and she was the same person that she had always been. After the war, they were no longer compatible. Sadly, some of my earliest memories are of my parents arguing. The older I was and the more I got to know my mother and father as people, I realized that they were better apart. Did either remarry? They both remarried within two years of the divorce and then both divorced again. It was an unstable upbringing.
After the second divorce, did they remarry?
\No, after that they were both single and just happy living their separate lives. My dad actually came back to live on our farm when I was 14. He lived first in a tent and then in a camper for 10 years while he was working for my mother and helping us keep the farm.
Did he ever move out of the camper?
Yes, he lived in the camper until he was able to afford a small mobile home. He did not have the money to access medical care, and he did not know that he could go to the VA for medical treatment . . . By the time he did get medical care he was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer.
What kind?
Esophageal. He lived for a month after his diagnosis.
And you as a, as a burgeoning medical professional, understood that esophageal cancer is a hard cancer to beat.
Yes, it was actually during my second year of residency when he was diagnosed. I was working 120 hours a week, which was tough because I was not able to travel to Georgia. I did my residency in Asheville, North Carolina.
Was your husband portable? Did he have the capacity to follow you in your career?
Absolutely. When I moved to Augusta, Jason without a doubt said he was moving, and he didn’t care that he had built a business in Athens. He said, “I’ll build more businesses.” And he did. He moved to Augusta.
He is a serial entrepreneur.
He is, absolutely. He has done so many different things. He is not just in one niche. He has done whatever he needed to do at that place in time to be successful. And so, he built businesses in Augusta. He built million-dollar homes. He helped start a solar factory in Spain. Wow. And then when we moved to Asheville with my work, he picked up and moved everything to Asheville and started new businesses.
Do you think there was a form of redemption that your mom and dad were able to coexist peacefully, at the very end?
Absolutely. My mother was there. By that time, we had a one-year-old daughter. My mother came Monday through Friday of every week to take care of my daughter, because I was working such long hours. And she took care of my father while he was dying with the greatest compassion and grace.
What a great example.
Absolutely. It was.
To have that kind of example in your life really sets a high bar for you to reach. Is she still alive?
She is. She lives a mile from here.
She sold the farm?
No, she will never sell the farm.
Who tends to the farm?
When she was able to pay off the mortgage after 25 years, she closed the doors on the farm and had horses that she enjoyed, but no longer had to work the long hours. That wasn’t her dream. That was my dad’s dream. But she was stuck with it because it was on her family land and it was all that she had.
Do you visit there?
Not much. I still have a little family there. But we have fully embraced the mountains. This is where Jason is from.
Do you think your children will at some point gravitate to the farm?
I don’t think so. They love it here.
What will happen to the farm?
It will become my brother’s. He still enjoys Georgia. He is a huge UGA football fan. They go to all the games, and so the house will become his. I am so happy here, and I have no yearning to have a piece of it.
You don’t look in the rear view mirror, do you? Have you ever?
No.
Most entrepreneurs are always forward facing.
I think everything happens for a reason. And things happen that seem hard, like when the healthcare corporation came and gave all the physicians in this area, including myself, no cost terminations. This area lost 18 physicians.
So, you just pivoted and said, I will use this as an opportunity to build a concierge medical service, second to none. And here we are.
That’s right. I felt like it was God telling me that it was my opportunity to spend some time with my kids for the first time. It also was a time to think about how I wanted to do medicine differently.
What do the next five years look like for you?
We have four children, ages 6 to 16. The next five years for me will be balancing being present for them and leading them . . . and for the first time in my life having the time to actually invest in something I created. And this feels great.
I want to talk about the idea of balance. What is the key to balance?
The key to balance is giving whatever needs you the most, your time. And for me at times it is the medical practice, but also at other times it is clearly the family. When I get out of balance in those two things, it is so evident to everyone. I was raised traditionally where the father should be the leader of the household. But in my opinion, it is the mother who provides the glue that holds it together. And so, we have to be there. We cannot farm it out. I also believe in getting the help that you need, so that my time can be spent in the highest and best use. I have wonderful employees at work and at home. When I am at home I try to be fully engaged in the family.
Could you do it without your husband?
Could I do it? Yes. I could do it because that is how I was raised. Would I want to do it? No. Absolutely not.
I have found generally that women who have “the soulful peace” often have a supportive mate.
I think that strong women cannot be with weak men. You have to have your intellectual mirror and partner . . . someone to drive you, believe in you and support your crazy ideas. We have been that for each other.
Did you ever question his decisions in business?
No.
You always trusted them . . . Have they always been successful?
Things have not always gone perfectly. There have been difficulties. The project in Spain did not end the way he had hoped. And for a very brief moment, he felt lost and frustrated. I said, “Do you know what? Do not worry about it. I’ve got it, and we are going to be fine. Come home and do what you do so well, you’ll figure it out . . . we will figure it out.” And then at times when I have needed a break, he has been there for me emotionally, financially and with the kids.
Where does your husband work physically?
He works from home.
That gives you some flexibility and latitude.
It is wonderful that he has complete control of his schedule.
I do not have complete control of mine. Do you?
Me neither. When I schedule people, I have to be here. Yes. Jason can set his schedule around what is going on with the kids, which has helped out a lot. You know, women sadly have relied only on themselves for way too long, just like my mother. She could only rely on herself, and she taught my brother and me that ultimately, we had to be financially secure, alone. But it is hard to have a life alone. I could not have achieved what I have without Jason, and vice versa.
Imagine five years from now, what will you be doing?
Five years from now, I will still have middle schoolers. I will also have a daughter in college. This practice, at its roots is very similar, but I hope in five years that it is running like a well-oiled machine.
Do you want to scale? Do you envision bringing in lots of physicians or will this always be your sanctuary?
I do not want the practice to be chaotic. I think when medical practices scale, they often lose personality. I will always be the only physician here, and I will see every patient. But I will hopefully one day have more support staff to wrap their arms around the patients. I would like to bring in expertise that I lack . . . like a mental health counselor.
Do you think mental health is a big part of helping folks find their path?
Often in the South, people do not speak about mental health as a part of health. If someone was diagnosed with a chemical imbalance, it was to be kept secret. I remember when I was in my first year of medical school and my grandmother was clearly not doing well. She flushed her antidepressants down the toilet because she said she “was not taking those crazy pills.” And that is how people often felt. They feel like it is a personal failure if they have a mental health condition, whereas they do not feel that way about a thyroid condition or high blood pressure.
Mental health would be one area to be built out. Is there another area that you would want to develop more?
Integrative care. One of the ways I support myself is through massage, acupuncture, and yoga. I would like for people to know that medications are not the only option available, and I would like to be able to provide more choices here.
How would you do that with the physical footprint your practice currently has?
There are four rooms upstairs. I already collaborate with an acupuncturist. I have plenty of room since I can only be in one room. We do aesthetics upstairs. I foresee mental health, acupuncture, some yoga classes on the side lawn that we own.
Will you ever run for political office?
Absolutely not.
Will your husband?
No.
Do you look at your children and have concerns about their future?
I do, but I feel confident that they have the backbone to withstand. I am very optimistic. Whether you call it hopeful or optimistic, I feel confident that they will be OK. I do not feel that way about all their friends. But their close friends I do, because they choose wisely.
What is your biggest fear?
Failure.
What are you fearful of failing at?
I am fearful of ending up dependent. I do not ever want to feel like I felt as a child. You know, money will not bring happiness, but it brings a lot of peace to your life. It was one of the missing links when I was growing up, and it created so much chaos.
Do you feel that you plan wisely financially now?
Yes, I am very conservative—financially, as well as in most other ways. But I do enjoy nice things. I believe that we only live once. I am not doing everything so that my kids can have it easy. They will have to make it on their own, the way I did.
What brings you joy?
Being outside, my horses, finishing a project, and success.
In your older years, will you live here?
Yes.
Is this your forever home?
Yes. Where I live, I can walk to this office from my home. We have 18 acres. I have everything I love there . . . my family, horses, and a garden. I told my neighbors I hope to be buried here one day. I love it here, although the winters are hard. Eventually, I do hope to spend some time in Florida during the winters. But this is where my heart feels at home, and this is where I hope my kids come back to.
You have four amazing children. One by one, give them a relatable “pearl of wisdom” unique to each one.
For my oldest daughter, who is a teenager and will be 16 in a week, I would say, “You have everything you need to be successful in life. Continue to believe in yourself.” She wants to be an OB-GYN.
Is she most like you?
She is very driven with a Type A personality . . . but super serious and competitive. She plays soccer. She is a force in defense, and I know that she can put her head down and do whatever she wants in life.
Your second child.
Our second daughter is in middle school, and she is so different. She is brilliant. I would tell her to believe in herself as well and not go with the crowd.
Is she more of a follower?
No, she is a leader, but she is very social. I do believe that our children have what they need inside. They don’t have to get it from the people around them. I think any young person who has the confidence will do whatever they need in life.
Your son?
My son is 10 years old. He is the most caring human I have ever met.
I met him, he has the gift of empathy. I watched him watch other people. He has that visceral kindness and is a sweet human being.
He really is. I want him to know how valuable that is and how rare. There is a different path for every person. Some people are academic while others are social, and their relationships are where they find success in life. That is our son. He is so gentle. But yet when he plays football, he also is a force. He has a tough, manly side that I think is important for boys to become men one day. He will be a great husband and a great father. And I sure hope that he lives right beside me. So that he can be there for when I need a hug.
And then your baby.
She is a dreamer. She is a 6-year-old and wants to be a singer and an actress. And my words for her would be to “dream big.” I would tell her that she can achieve whatever she sets her mind to and not to feel like she has to go in a traditional path.
I want you to speak to the Aspiring Woman and give advice that perhaps if you had been told or understood, might have changed your decision-making. What would that be?
The people around you can either elevate or sink you. Choose friends wisely and always choose people who inspire you to be better. When you are building your life, whatever is most important to you, go in fully. You might miss out on some things when you are young, but it is worth it. Invest in yourself. I think investing in a career as well as family is important. Do not put off family because you really can do it all. I really believe that.
Finally, never forget how much you need Jesus in your life. Because even strong women cannot do it without God. Whenever our lives are at points of decision or if something terrible happens, we need to remember how much we need God. Sometimes during the good times, we do not remember. But there is so much wisdom in the Bible if we just access it in a way that inspires us.