Today we’d like to introduce you to Jessie Poole.
Jessie, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I grew up having no idea or direction on what I wanted to do professionally but always finding the same universal truth. I didn’t want a boss. I never really liked authority and can remember saying, “you’re not the boss of me,” all the time as a kid. Funny thing, I would say it to my parents, who were – in fact – my boss when I was young, then at my managers, under my breath of course, as I got older. I had friends who always just knew their direction, but that wasn’t me.
I was born and raised in Mesquite, Texas. I went to high school at North Mesquite and graduated when I was 16 years old. I moved immediately to college, way to young. I went to Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches, where I studied Psychology and Art. I was focused on large-scale ceramic sculpture and was molding bodies out of clay while studying the perception we have on body image. I was caught up in body image myself & the idea of “shame” when it comes to shape & size. That’s ironic now – since I own a CoolSculpting business. I did this art gallery my senior year with women’s torso’s made out of clay that hung on the walls. Each one had it’s own accompanying “body-shame” disorder attached with research on that topic.
When I graduated college, I took a job as a receptionist for a cosmetic surgeon back in Dallas – because it’s what I found on Craigslist that would pay the bills and get me out of living at home. That job catapulted me into the aesthetic industry and it’s what I built my career on. That practice, and the female doctor who ran her own business, taught me so much. She was a powerhouse. I climbed the ranks from receptionist to Practice Administrator, where I was running the business. I was staying up late watching videos on Quickbooks & teaching myself how to manage a team via Youtube. You can learn anything on the internet these days.
I loved that job, but I still hated having a boss. I remember skipping a family funeral because there was another staff member who had ‘already requested off’. Have I mentioned hating being told what to do? I had this tough conversation with myself where I decided I had to move into a career where I set my own schedule. So, I hired a headhunter and took a job working as a consultant in medical device sales for a company I had never heard of – CoolSculpting, by Zeltiq.
When I heard about CoolSculpting, I was really skeptical .They told me that you could freeze your fat away for good & that sounded too good to be true. But I was treated – and it worked. I went from a size 12 to a size 8 – and that inspired me to really change my lifestyle. I became a lot healthier and happier – confidence can do that, you know? I think I fell in love with CoolSculpting after I was treated. Then my husband was treated too – and I couldn’t deny that it worked.
I worked really hard as a sales rep and consultant for CoolSculpting. I spent more nights traveling than I did at home. It was the hardest I had ever worked & I was a total outsider in the industry. I felt really out of place with all the glitz and glam around me. My coworkers were wearing shoes that cost as much as my rent. But work ethic doesn’t care about your socioeconomic background or how expensive your shoes are. I was a top-performer for CoolSculpting, but the job was really hard on me and my family. I trained providers and consulted business owners for 2 years before moving on. During that job, I realized is not everyone is business savvy & even fewer people have an artistic eye. I had this realization… I recognized that I had been training my whole life to own a CoolSculpting business.
I’ll never forget sitting on my couch and talking to my husband about the dream of opening up Element Body Lab. I just felt like if other people could do it, we could too. He was so supportive and helped me build the confidence & know-how to make it a reality. When I was terrified of making the jump, he encouraged me & reminded me that even if I failed, it was worth a shot. I hired business coaches & attended Small Business Association classes in Dallas, then filed for my LLC and we just went for it. I don’t know if it was brave or naïve, but either way I’m so glad we did.
Looking back on my career, it all looks so tidy and like a straight line to get where I am today – but it did not feel that way. It felt more like a tornado than a straight line. But it all worked out! I say that to encourage other women who feel like they’re on the ride of their life. You’ll get there. Just show up, follow your gut & work harder than anyone else in the room, regardless of the shoes.
Great, 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’s hard in ways you wouldn’t imagine to own your own business. There’s the stuff you expect, but then there’s this emotional roller coaster you had no idea was going to happen. You have to deal with all this personal growth & the baggage you’ve carried your whole life. Of course, there’s the sleepless nights and the struggle of every entrepreneurial journey, like how to make payroll – but I’m talking about the personal stuff. Like how to set boundaries and check in on yourself so you don’t become a zombie. At first, the business was all I talked about & all I did, and that’s really boring to friends and family. And to yourself.
I also struggled saying no. I thought everyone else’s time was more valuable than my own. It took a while before my schedule really stopped running me into the ground. It seems simple to explain that time management is key and you have to say no to things, but in reality – that was hard for me.
The thing I struggled most with was realizing who was “on my team”. Let me explain – I gave too much credit to people who weren’t really my friends, and took feedback from people who loved me as crippling criticism. It felt way too personal, so for a while I stopped asking anyone for their opinion. That’s a dangerous place to be as an entrepreneur. You need feedback.
The person impacted most by this was my husband, Daniel. He is more than my life partner, he’s also my business partner. He stays up late on the couch to help me with anything the business may need. He goes with me to the office to record content on his weekends, helps categorize financials, & humbly picks up the slack at home when I’m slammed at work. This is all while he works full time as an Engineer. That man is my rock & the yin to my crazy yang.
It was really hard to not take the feedback he’d give me on business stuff as criticism personally. He’d say, “oh that video is good but what if we did XYZ…” and I would hear “that’s not enough.” It took a lot of personal growth & some work together to change that. I see why so many couples don’t get into business together but luckily for us, it made our marriage so much stronger. It’s really beautiful, but it was really hard to learn each other’s working style. I still find myself whispering “we’re on the same team” when I revert to my lizard brain and get defensive. Luckily, that’s less often these days.
Please tell us about Element Body Lab.
Element Body Lab is the first, best & only CoolSculpting dedicated business in Dallas. We freeze away unwanted fat for good with no downtime, so you can get back to your busy life, with more confidence and less fat.
CoolSculpting is amazing technology that can be customized to treat anywhere you have pinchable fat between chin and knees. It’s easy and fast – with no prep work and no change to lifestyle. You can even work out same day as treatment. At Element Body Lab, our philosophy is to focus on just CoolSculpting and be the best at it. We’re all for applying science & art to get the best results possible and provide the best experience we can. I was trying to create the Four Seasons of freezing fat, if that makes sense.
We really wanted an experience so cool, you’d forget you were having a medical procedure. So we decked out our treatment room with a TV and soundbar, got all the streaming services, and an extra-wide massage table instead of a tiny treatment bed. There’s natural light and a spacious room, all found inside a full-fledged medical practice with our medical director, Dr. Phillip Dauwe onsite.
Unlike liposuction, there’s no downtime with CoolSculpting. Unlike weight loss, we can target a specific trouble spot! And unlike other medspas – CoolSculpting is all we do at Element Body Lab. We are hands down the most passionate people in the fat-freezing business. Our results are the best I’ve ever seen & our reputation is something I’m really proud of. We focus on customer service in addition to getting the best CoolSculpting results. From remembering your kiddo’s name to sending you a handwritten thank you card after treatment – we want to participate, really show up, as friends & as experts in what we do.
You can feel the difference in culture when you talk to anyone here – or even when you look online. Our website, our reviews, our social media. You can tell we’re really trying to be the best at what we do and we’re succeeding in that. We’re real people, living out our dreams. We know that it would be impossible for us to do what we do every day without our customers. That’s the simple truth.
If you’re thinking about freezing away fat, you should check us out. Follow us on Instagram @elementbodylab at least.
Do you look back particularly fondly on any memories from childhood?
I remember going to Mexico with my aunt and grandmother, who raised me. We went almost every summer on a beach vacation, and I always loved them. It was super special getting to travel as a kid.
My favorite spot was Puerto Vallarta. There was this place there that would braid my hair and put beads in it, right next to a restaurant where you could watch the sunset and eat bananas foster. I had no idea you could get a flaming dessert in the USA. I swore as a kid that they were the only place in the world who served “fire-dessert”. We went back to that same restaurant probably 4 or 5 times when I was growing up because it’s the only thing I ever wanted to do.
One year, my Aunt really wanted to go to New Mexico, and I had no idea it was going to be cold there when we went. I was so disappointed and I’m pretty sure I complained the whole time. We never went skiing again as a family! That’s the stubbornness in me, I guess.
Contact Info:
- Address: 2801 Lemmon Avenue
Suite 300
Dallas, TX 75204 - Website: https://www.elementbodylab.com
- Phone: 2148973006
- Email: hello@elementbodylab.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/elementbodylab
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/elementbodylab
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/element-body-lab-dallas-coolsculpting-experts-dallas
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