How We Navigated The Pandemic and Opened Our Second Store

Jessica Stellwagen

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Published: August 7th, 2020

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Jessica Stellwagen

Founder, Bodify

$350K

revenue/mo

Founders

Employees

Bodify

thebodify.com

from Arizona, USA

started January 2015

$350,000

revenue/mo

Founders

Employees

Discover what tools Jessica recommends to grow your business!

Discover what books Jessica recommends to grow your business!

Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap and Other... Jim Collins

The E-Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don't Wor... Michael E. Gerber

The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join ... Timothy Ferriss

📗

Breaking The Habit of Being Yourself: How to Lose Your Mi... Dr. Joe Dispenza

Want more updates on Bodify? Check out these stories:

1. Bodify Update: How We Opened 2 Locations And Grew Revenue To $350K/Month (2021) ➜

2. How Two Sisters Started A Fat-Freezing Empire (2019) ➜

3. How We Built A $4.2M/Year Business By "Mastering The Mundane" (2022) ➜

This is a follow up story for Bodify. If you're interested in reading how they got started, published almost 5 years ago, check it out here.

Hello again! Remind us who you are and what business you started.

From an early age, my sister and I knew we wanted to own a business together, but our interests nor our passions collided until CoolScultping. We were crystal clear that we wanted to own a business that would uplift people, spark joy, be fun to run and allow us to have a team that was kind, passionate, fun, and driven.

CoolSculpting was the perfect device choice as it is predictable and consistent and there are millions of people who want to look and feel better in their skin but are not willing to undergo surgery!

how-we-made-higher-revenue-on-our-second-store

Tell us about what you’ve been up to! Has the business been growing?

We have been so very fortunate. We were able to continue to do virtual consults during shut down and get our books packed for when we opened. We re-opened May 8th. One week later we had our busiest revenue week to date!

We attribute this to many things, one of which is that we stayed in touch with our database and prospects during shut down. We reached out, checked in, chatted, and just reminded them that we are here to support them no matter what is going on in their life. We are very passionate about uplifting people and sparking joy, why should that stop just because we can’t freeze fat.

Find a way to surround yourself with others who are like you, who push you, who inspire you, and who will hold you up when you may want to quit.

Our second location is doing so well; in the first 6 months, it did more revenue than our first location did in our first year of business. We are beyond grateful to have built a brand people trust and want to interact with and that CoolSculpting continues to be a device that delivers on its fat reduction promises.

We still intend to open a 3rd location- stay tuned!

What have been your biggest lessons learned in the last year?

So many great lessons and opportunities have come from these last 5 months. First and foremost, we are incredibly proud that we have built a business that was able to withstand 7 weeks of zero revenue yet continue to pay our team (they are amazing). Being debt-free made our shutdown much less stressful and hard.

The level of dedication and heart our team showed to us, Bodify, and our clients during shut down amazed us and was a simple reminder that we have attracted the RIGHT team members. It reinforces the importance of culture and being a strong, compassionate, confident, and kind leader.

It was a great opportunity to find ways to work “on” the business rather than “in” the business, something many entrepreneurs forget to do.

I think humanity came together in many ways and showed heart and compassion and we got overwhelmingly positive feedback from our database when we send handwritten cards, called, or sent emails.

What’s in the plans for the upcoming year, and the next 5 years?

We plan to continue to grow steadily! We love self-funding growth and there is great comfort in knowing we don’t owe anyone any money. It allows us to make the right decisions for our business as it relates to clients, marketing, and our team, instead of feeling pressure to hit numbers so we can pay people back.

We can’t wait for our third location and to recruit and attract new team members. It’s always fun to add someone to the team, teach them the Bodify way and watch how the entire team rallies around the new person quickly and energetically to make sure they meld into our culture seamlessly.

Have you read any good books in the last year?

Joe Dispenza - Breaking The Habit Of Being Yourself

This book impacted me deeply. I grew up in a home where you were told to put your head down, work hard, and good things would come. It’s so wonderful and interesting to be open to the possibility of knowing and accepting that my thoughts and feelings impact my outer world just as much, if not more, than my “action”

Advice for other entrepreneurs who might be struggling to grow their business?

Clarity leads to power. Being very clear on who you are and what you are trying to build, will give you strength and courage to keep going even when it gets tough.

Find a way to surround yourself with others who are like you, who push you, who inspire you, and who will hold you up when you may want to quit.

Always have a plan, but be willing to be flexible and pivot if the market tells you what you are doing is not working.

Be attached to success and winning vs. obsessing over the path that will get you there (opportunities are EVERYWHERE).

Remember how you think and feel impacts your inner world which impacts your outer world. If you want your outer world to change, you must start thinking and feeling differently.

Are you looking to hire for certain positions right now?

Not currently, when we open our 3rd location, we will. T-minus 6-9 months we hope.

Where can we go to learn more?

If you have any questions or comments, drop a comment below!