Today we’d like to introduce you to Jen Cui.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Jen. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I’m in the health and wellness industry because of my own struggles with depression and anxiety in the past. I remember having my first suicidal thoughts in 5th grade, not knowing what it really meant, but just wanting to escape life. Those thoughts just became more frequent in middle school. Along with the stress of creating my future and pressure to be a high achiever, I fell into a deep silent depression.
One of the most salient and pervasive challenges for me throughout the years has been my relationship with my body. When I started to gain weight from puberty in middle school I was very insecure with my hips and thighs. I was so hyper-aware of body and felt so much shame around getting bigger because thinness is so celebrated in our society, and especially in Asian culture.
My mom would point out that my butt was getting bigger and would tell me to wear tighter jeans to keep myself from getting bigger. I was a base in my cheer team and felt really fat compared to other girls, and I also stopped fitting into the clothes I was wearing. There was so much negative self-talk during my teenage years and I said the meanest things about myself and my body that I would never say to anyone else.
I got caught up in calorie counting around age 14 and became obsessed with it. I would feel guilty about eating, workout for hours on end to make up for it, binge on the weekend, feel awful about it, and then repeat the cycle. Every time I lost some weight and lowered my body fat, I was hit with dopamine and just kept going, but I was never satisfied and there was always another goal to reach.
By the time I was 17, I weighed the lowest I have ever weighed since middle school, I had a noticeable thigh gap and toned abs. I thought I would be happy, feel like I finally accomplished my goals and had the dream body I wanted, but that was not the case at all.
I realized later that my challenges were not unique to myself, in fact, the majority of girls and adult women struggle with their weight, dieting, and negative body image. On top of that, a significant number of teens and young adults are fighting depression and anxiety while trying to function in our work-addicted society.
I count myself as one of the lucky ones that actually make it out of the deep dark hole of depression, but it wasn’t a sudden transition and it certainly was not easy. But through my time in therapy, medication, and hospitalization, I realized the system wasn’t going to heal me. I needed to heal myself if I really wanted to get better. Finally, between 19-20 years old, I recognized that I had the power to change myself and started taking small steps to recover.
I had a really transformative experience when I studied abroad at the University of Melbourne and while staying at Queen’s College there, I found so much love and peace within myself and I was shocked by how vibrant my life became. This ultimately led me to form Jen Cui Health shortly after, I felt like I was being called to be a coach and really make it my mission to help others make that life-changing shift from living with pain, to constantly thriving.
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?
Definitely not, I don’t think anyone’s life is smooth sailing, but I think the beauty of having all of these challenges is the lessons you learn from dealing with them, growing as you overcome them, and then continuing to build resilience as more challenges arise.
Aside from the personal challenges I had, the biggest obstacle for getting my business started was the seemingly simple task of just starting. 100% every challenge I faced in life came down to mindset and 100% of those challenges I overcame with shifting my belief systems, changing my perspective.
I think when you’re subconsciously wired to seek certainty and safety, entrepreneurship isn’t exactly the first path you think of. However, that entrepreneurial spirit has always been in me and I just can’t see myself working at an unfulfilling 9-5 job for 40 years.
I’m very grateful to have met some incredible mentors along the way, my professors at USC helped me through the infantile stages of my business and I need to give special thanks to Professor Albert Napoli as he really encouraged me to just keep going and believed in me when I didn’t believe in myself (as cliche as that might sound, it’s true).
My dad has also been a great inspiration to me. He is an immigrant from China (along with my mom) and he actually left a very secure and stable job in Michigan early on after working there for ten years to pursue his side hustle with his friends. Thankfully it all worked out, but that took major guts so I give him all the props.
Having him as a role model, I do my best to emulate his insane work ethic and have adopted his ability to have unwavering faith that anything is possible and everything will be okay. That mindset piece is really crucial to the survival of an entrepreneur, especially a solopreneur when school and society are built to produce workers. I do believe that having the grit to forge your own path is the most rewarding thing I can do given my nature.
Please tell us more about your work. What do you do? What do you specialize in? What sets you apart from competition?
Jen Cui Health (JCH) offers a 12-week mind-body transformation program that gives you the tools to be confident in your body and life. We boil down the individual’s three biggest challenges to find the root cause of their suffering, formulate the vision for their happiest healthiest self, and then break down their big ambiguous goals into small achievable steps that they feel confident they can achieve.
I’m really proud of everything my company stands for and the mission that drives me forward. The values of the company reflect my own authenticity, honesty, and compassion. I approach coaching through a very holistic lens. I know some may see things like positive thinking, mindfulness, and body-positivity as very poliana (like the foo magic of spirituality). But that’s not the case at all. We get sh*t done in our sessions. There is a science to behavior change rooted in psychology and branching out into subcategories like neuro-linguistic programming.
I found through my journey that my purpose is to authentically connect with others to empower others so they can experience true happiness, find freedom in their struggles, and unlock their inner badass. I’m doing what I’m doing because I know how much it sucks to constantly live in a suboptimal level of mental and physical health.
I’m the sole practitioner at JCH right now, and although I specialize in sustainable health behavior changes, some people view me as a life coach because the impact of the different mindfulness and challenge-solution skills I teach bleed into every other aspect of their lives. I pull from my experiences to provide empathetic coaching and tailored support.
I understand how sh*tty it might be right now. I know how hopeless she might feel. But, I also am so confident that she can pull through and the challenges she’s facing now are all learning and growing moments.
The JCH clientele is extremely driven to improve their wellbeing. My best clients come to me recognizing their ability to rewrite their own stories. They want to have more energy, be more confident, build a healthy routine now rather than later, and see the power in getting guidance to keep them accountable. My clients are the real superstars as they work diligently to build their health all while celebrating and enjoying every step in the process.
What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
I was asked to be a wellness practitioner panelist and to cater for WellSet’s beta launch and I remember thinking, “Holy sh*t. People know me. They notice the work I’m doing.”
That was really exciting for me because I think as entrepreneurs, we work so hard and at the weirdest times, feeling like we’re always building, and especially in health there is so much energy exchange that it can take a toll sometimes. So being able to have that opportunity and partnering with other companies in my journey so far has been incredible. See Jen Cui Health getting noticed and people resonating with my mission is a really fantastical feeling.
Pricing:
- Free 15-minute Coaching Session Email Jen (jen@jencuihealth.com) with the subject line “Free 15-minute Coaching Session” Provide your full name, best contact email and phone number, and why you’re seeking coaching
- Health Jumpstart Session: 45 minute intense health coaching session Get clarity on your biggest challenge Understand your why Envision the goal Create a roadmap to success $100
- 12-Week Health Coaching Program: Free jumpstart session Weekly 45 minute 1-on-1 coaching calls Access ANYWHERE (Online & over the phone) 24/ 7 email support between sessions Actionable steps for fitness and nutrition goals Stress reduction and mindfulness techniques Holistic Health approach Body confidence and self-love habits Sustainable lifestyle behavior changes Guides and resources tailored to your needs $1200, monthly payment plan available
- 6-Week Custom Personal Training Plan: iOS and Android app In App video demonstration Exact number of sets, reps, weights, times, RPE, etc In app messaging Progress Tracking Nutrition Tracking Pricing based on # of workouts wanted per week Starting at $99 (email for more specifications)
Contact Info:
- Website: jencuihealth.com
- Email: jen@jencuihealth.com
- Instagram: @jen_cui & @jencuihealth
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jencuihealth/
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/jen-cui-health-los-angeles
Image Credit:
Kaila Tu
Kevin Lu
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