Meet Jessica Fuller, Business Owner, and CEO at The Hot Yoga Spot, a premier hot yoga and barre fitness facility based in the state of New York.
Jessica Fuller founded The Hot Yoga Spot as a 22-year-old over a decade ago. She wanted to teach people yoga, help them, and do something for the community through her own business. Eleven years later, she is the owner of five studio locations in upstate NY, three juice bars, a CrossFit gym, and founding two franchises in the health and wellness industry. She is still working on projects, one of which is a new fitness gym with a concept that combines cardio and HIIT classes.
She is also the co-founder of BARE Blends, a smoothie-juice bar concept offering plant-based, gluten-free products. Its goal is to assist people in making informed decisions about their nutrition and bodies. It guarantees a vegan, cruelty-free lifestyle for the wellbeing of their customers. She loves giving people the tools to eat better, move better, and ultimately live a better life.
Jessica is passionate about fitness and always wanted a career in the field. She grew up as a single child of divorced parents. They always supported her and even moved from Long Island when she decided to relocate after college. She earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in education from SUNY Albany. Her ventures not only ensured financial freedom but also gave her a chance to give back to the community. She had no formal business training, so she made a lot of mistakes along the way. But learning from your mistakes and becoming better is an important part of the business. When asked about that one idea that worked for her, Jessica says, “Jump before you are ready. This is always how I have operated and made business decisions, and it basically means not to wait for the perfect time but to act when you have opportunities and then work hard to make dreams a reality”.
She accepts that it’s challenging for women to be in business, especially as a young woman. When she started at The Hot Yoga Spot, she wanted a studio space, but the real estate broker didn’t take her seriously. He wouldn’t even let her submit a letter of intent and proposal to take space in the plaza for her business. But she didn’t back down and connected with another realtor, who assisted her in finding a great space and thus beginning her journey as an entrepreneur. However, she feels that it would have been much harder for women 20-30 years ago. She had it fine as compared to them. These are some challenges that male and older entrepreneurs don’t have to go through.
Apart from this, she has two young children who are not in daycare as she insists on taking care of them herself whilst managing her work. Her ventures have gotten a lot of positive feedback from customers. Every year, The Hot Yoga Spot wins the best studio award, and Jessica has received awards such as “The Business Review 40 Under 40” for business and leadership.
As the owner of successful businesses, Jessica has become confident in her abilities and goes after the opportunities as they arise. Leaving a motivating message for her readers, she says, “Believe in yourself, and you are halfway there. Get comfortable being uncomfortable and put yourself in different situations to get the things you deserve. With hard work and dedication, you can make things happen, so have faith and get after it.”