About Jess

Founder of JESSI+CO

 

Hey! I'm Jess. 

And I'm obsessed with using integrative health to optimize your energy and make you feel amazing so you can crush it at work and life.

I'm also a workaholic. And I'm not ashamed of it! I've learned how to integrate work and life in way that works for me. But it wasn't always this way.

I grew up as a stereotypical Asian kid with immigrant parents and a tiger mom - I knew my multiplication tables when I was 4, skipped first grade, played piano, violin, and accordion (plot twist!), went to after-school tutoring, Kumon math, and SAT prep, barely got into Phillips Exeter where I pulled all-nighters trying to keep up with the other kids, graduated high school when I was 16, moved to NYC to go to NYU's Stern Business School to study Finance and Management, graduated in 2009 and couldn't get a job in Finance, ended up at S&P Capital IQ in a client support desk job for two years, then followed my mentor to ZocDoc, a hot healthcare tech company in 2012. And it's been the high-growth startup life since then.

I now work full-time on the leadership team of a commercial real-estate tech startup based in NYC, I commute back and forth between Boston and NYC almost weekly, and I've also managed to build this clean beauty + wellness business. In order to be a high performer in all areas of my life, I've had to learn how to optimize my energy by eating to nourish my body, proactively managing my stress, moving my body, and resetting my circadian rhythm from night owl to morning person. Through it all, I also managed to decrease my anxiety, lose weight, clear up my skin, and just FEEL better and more confident in my body.

My mission is to make wellness more accessible. While it took some time to get here, I truly believe that being healthy doesn't have to be so elusive and overwhelming. There are little things you can do every day to become the best version of yourself. And I'm here to help you incorporate them into your life and hold you accountable.

The first step is deciding to prioritize yourself.

--

My health journey:

  • Childhood:
    • Grew up eating TV dinners and fast food (ham egg and cheese croissant, OJ and hash browns from Burger King was my go-to on the way to school in the morning)
  • High School Years (2001-2005):
    • Went to boarding school where I got my ass kicked academically
    • Slept ~4-5 hours a night
    • Could nap at anywhere at any time
    • Started taking birth control to manage my PMS symptoms
    • Was always hungry and always eating
    • Gained 15 pounds my freshman year from overdoing it with grilled cheeses and chicken finger calzones
  • College Years (2005-2009):
    • Moved to NYC at 17 for college and had to learn to adult
    • Ate out almost every meal
    • Rarely exercised
    • Would skip meals or restrict calories to try to lose weight
    • Tried to be healthy but didn't know how
    • Struggled with body-image issues
    • Got UTIs all the time and took a bunch of antibiotics
    • Was still tired all the time
  • Post College Years (2009-2017):
    • My anxiety increased, and I'd get super stressed and break down crying over simple things like doing laundry, figuring out what to eat for dinner, or planning for a night out
    • Went on Prozac for a couple months for anxiety and depression but stopped because it was f*cking with my sleep
    • Started working at a high-growth tech startup -- worked 60+ hrs a week, and was always on all the time
    • Ordered seamlessweb every night and ate out almost every meal
    • Worked in client facing roles where I was always fighting some fire
    • Would binge eat and then feel like garbage, mentally and physically (tbh, still struggle with this one)
    • Got diagnosed with anemia and took some iron supplements that seemed to fix it, but kicked off my ongoing struggle for daily bowel movements
    • Still barely exercised
    • Was still tired all the time
  • 2017:
    • Discovered clean beauty somewhat accidentally, and founded JESSI+CO to create all natural and affordable clean beauty products (from my sister's kitchen)
    • Decided to start prioritizing myself and my health
    • Did Kayla Itsine's BBG workouts for 6 months consistently and built some muscles. It was the first time in my life when I looked at myself in the mirror and instead of seeing fat I saw strength.
    • Tried keto and Whole 30 diets but binged one day and fell off BBG and the diet for 6 months
    • Still struggled with waking up every day groggy, slow and with brain fog
    • Started listening to health+wellness podcasts and learned that feeling sleep deprived and tired every day is NOT NORMAL
    • Started on a deeper health journey to figure out wtf was wrong with me
  • 2018-Present:
    • Became obsessed with integrative health and functional medicine, and figuring out and treating the underlying imbalances in the body leading to issues (vs just treating the symptoms)
    • Got certified as an Integrative Health Practitioner through the Cabral Wellness Institute
    • Learned how mindset, habits, diet, exercise, stress, sleep, toxins, and supplements all impact your overall health and wellness
    • Shifted my mindset with food. Learned how to nourish my body with foods that fuel me, give me energy and make me feel good
    • Went from struggling with waking up every morning to waking up early (most days...)
    • Finally learned how to incorporate exercise into my lifestyle in a consistent way
    • Launched JESSI+CO integrative health coaching services to help other high-achieving women in tech startups build healthy habits to optimize their energy