IAM077 – Innovator Creates a Virtual Wellness Platform Helping People to Conquer Health Goals

Jillian Bridget Cohen is the CEO & Co-Founder of Virtual Health Partners, Inc. (VHP), a results-based virtual wellness platform that provides live one-on-one nutrition appointments, fitness classes, and lifestyle modification by a team of wellness specialists. In May 2016, Jillian launched VHP with the goal of creating an ecosphere of wellness support, available anywhere and anytime. She continues to develop both the brand and her team, working closely with partners and their clients to provide a VIP experience.

With over 15 years of experience in the medical industry, Jillian was responsible for the multi-million-dollar growth of three start-up companies, with a strong focus in the non-invasive weight loss space. Starting her career at Johnson & Johnson, then moving to Novare Surgical, ElectroCore and Apollo, Jillian specialized in development, implementation, growth, and marketing for new medical procedures. Jillian received her Bachelor of Science from Rutgers University Business School and believes the key to success is having a great team.

• CEO Hack: Constantly multi-tasking, getting back to people & Fish!: A Remarkable Way to Boost Morale and Improve Results
• CEO Nugget: Her dad's advice: “Every single person puts on their leg one leg at a time” and treating everyone the same. Also, before taking the plunge (starting a business) make sure you have a true business model.
• CEO Defined: Responsibility to all customers–employees, investors, partners and their customers

Website: https://virtualhealthpartners.com/
Website: https://vhpgo.com
Brand Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/virtualhealthpartners/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jillian-bridgette-cohen-33834715/

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Transcription:

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Intro 0:02

Do you want to learn effective ways to build relationships, generate sales and grow your business from successful entrepreneurs, startups, and CEOs without listening to a long, long, long interview? If so, you've come to the right place. Gresham Harkless values your time and is ready to share with you precisely the information you're in search of. This is the I AM CEO Podcast.

Gresham Harkless 0:27

Hello, hello, hello, this is Gresh from the I AM CEO Podcast and have a very special guest on the show today. I have Jillian Bridget Cohen of Virtual Health Partners, Incorporated. Jillian, it's awesome to have you on the show.

Jillian Bridget Cohen 0:38

It's so awesome to be with you. Thank you so much for having me.

Gresham Harkless 0:42

No problem, no problem. And what I wanted to do, is read a little bit more about Jillian so you can hear about all the awesome things that she's doing and accomplishing. And Julian is the CEO & Co-Founder of Virtual Health Partners, Inc., a results-based virtual wellness platform that provides live one on one nutrition appointments, fitness classes, and lifestyle modifications by a team of wellness specialists. In May 2016, Jillian launched VHP with the goal of creating an ecosphere of wellness support available anywhere and anytime.

She continues to develop both a brand and her team working closely with partners and their clients to provide a VIP experience. With over 15 years of experience in the medical industry. Julian was responsible for the multimillion-dollar growth of three startup companies with a strong focus on the non-invasive weight loss space. Starting a career at Johnson & Johnson, then moving to Novare Surgical, ElectroCore, and Apollo, Jillian specializes in the development, implementation, growth, and marketing of new medical procedures. Jillian received her Bachelor of Science from Rutgers University Business School and believes the key to success is having a great team.

Jillian, are you ready to speak to the I AM CEO community?

Jillian Bridget Cohen 1:55

I am so excited. Thank you so much.

Gresham Harkless 1:59

No problem. Thank you. And what I wanted to do was just ask you a little bit more about your CEO story and hear what led you to start your business.

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Jillian Bridget Cohen 2:06

Absolutely. So you know, I think like all CEOs, you have a vision and you have ideas. And it's really about taking that idea and bringing it to life as some slogans say that we're all familiar with. And with VHP. It was really the fact that I spent so long in the medical device arena and seeing the need that people had for the ability to have access to nutrition and originally started with weight loss surgery procedures, such as the Oberon Intragastric Balloon, which is a balloon you swallow for that's temporary for weight loss all the way through to big procedures like surgical procedures for weight loss surgery.

And we've now evolved to be able to work into eight different verticals. And we support patients who are unfortunately fighting cancer and patients who are working with orthopedic and fertility specialists to be able to get pregnant or to be able to have surgery and lose weight for surgery. And plus, we also have a whole area within the fitness and wellness space with medispas. And we're working with this great partner LightRX as an example. And then the fitness clubs were also able to offer a whole wellness package that includes their own programming and our nutritional component.

So how I saw this whole thing evolve is the fact that when you do need nutritional care, it's very hard to access. And we also can only take so much time off for jobs. And we'll do that to go see a doctor, right? But we wanted something that could be at our fingertips. And that also combined a whole program so that you'd have nutrition, you'd have lifestyle modification, and fitness at the touch of your fingertips all live. That's really how everything came to fruition.

Gresham Harkless 3:46

That makes perfect sense and just great foresight of you to be able to kind of see that pain point. But also just kind of see the holistic pieces of the Virtual Health, the puzzle, so to speak, and being able to kind of fit all those things together so that you can help kind of service and help bring a solution to your clients.

Jillian Bridget Cohen 4:01

Thank you for that, you know, I look at Uber, and we've all what would we do without it now, right? Could you imagine not being able to get a car when you want it or not being able to order something from Amazon when you need something? And really that's how we see ourselves fitting into the wellness arena.

Gresham Harkless 4:19

I love that. I love that. And now I wanted to drill down a little bit deeper and hear a little bit more I know you touched on kind of some of the aspects and ways that people can kind of interact with what it is that you build on your platform. Could you talk a little bit more about that?

Jillian Bridget Cohen 4:30

Absolutely. So we are a Business to Business to Consumer company. So we partnered directly with everyone from doctors and hospital systems to medispas and fitness clubs and fitness equipment companies to be able to enable their clients to access our services through an app. So our platform and what we are able to offer includes things like one on one appointments virtually for nutrition or for virtual fitness training, we have live stream classes.

So you can literally take a class about trends in nutrition or food shopping for your family on a budget, live on your phone, those will also record so that you're able to listen to them later in time, if you're not able to make it just like a podcast. And they're interactive, where you can ask questions, and then nutritionists or psychologists or a fitness instructor that are leading the class, we also have a huge array of fitness classes offered through a lot of our partners, where you're able to do live streamed fitness classes in your own home or apartment or on the go. If you're a business traveler like me, you can do them in your hotel rooms. And then we also have this really unique offering called a support group.

So if you think about the fact that God forbid you or your family members battling with cancer, you're able to actually join a trained professional nutritionist, health coach, or social worker psychologist in a group to gain support, whether it's from a nutritional needs emotional needs, both you and or your family. So you're in a group that's complete privacy or HIPAA compliant, where you're able to share your stories and gain support from others plus a professional and be able to really get that positive vibe that one needs to be able to continue through and have peer support with a professional, it's very cool the professionals able to see you.

And then on the flip side, we offer the same thing on the fitness piece where the fitness instructor is able to see all 8 or 12 clients that she or he or she is working out with on the platform, and they can hear each other and see each they don't see each other.

So it's totally privacy protected. So if you're a business traveler, and you want to be able to work out with your yoga instructor or your normal yoga class time, that yoga instructor is able to actually instruct you in your hotel room, they can see you and adjust you and you're also able to get the energy of working out with others. Lastly, a really popular feature that we have that's life is the messenger. I mean, who does not text message in today's day and age?

So we have a messenger that's supported around the clock by our team of nutritionists and fitness specialists, and they're able to message you back. So if you're on vacation and on a cruise, and you need to take a picture of the buffet, you can snap it and say hey, I'm having trouble Can I eat or you can also send a picture of a favorite recipe and ask how I can tweak it to make it healthier. We also have a substantial media library that people are able to access at all times anywhere.

And they can do everything from fitness videos to download recipes that are healthy that fit within a meal plan. And that's really what our users are able to interact with. We also adapt I should say, or we interface with lots of Bluetooth devices such as Fitbit, Samsung watch, Myzone, I watch and Bluetooth scales as well.

Gresham Harkless 7:50

Awesome, awesome, awesome. I love that and it kind of sounds like it's like your health Swiss Army knife so to speak, where it is connected to everything that you need to kind of make sure that you're living at home and a holistically healthy lifestyle seems.

Jillian Bridget Cohen 8:01

I might need to steal that line. I really love the Swiss Army watch that since they stopped letting those go through security, I totally stopped thinking about switching Swiss Army watches.

Gresham Harkless 8:12

Now I wanted to ask you what I call your secret sauce. And this is essentially like what you feel kind of differentiates you. I know you guys are obviously changing the industry and doing a lot of awesome things. But are there some things that you kind of touched on that you feel makes you kind of different or distinguish you or your business?

Jillian Bridget Cohen 8:27

Absolutely, I think the biggest piece other than just what you made me think about is that I will never check a bag when I travel for pleasure. No matter how long I go for is two weeks. And this alone check made me think about that with that Swiss Army Knife anyway, no, but the secret sauce of VHP, I think is the fact that once we are B2B2C where we're able to adapt exactly what it is that our partners need.

So if it's a nutritional supplement company or a medical device company, and they need specific programming, to be able to educate those consumers that are using those devices or that pharmaceutical drug, we are able to provide that at a program-to-program level. We're also treatment agnostic. And what I mean by that is that we're able to derive programming that is specifically in line with the needs of our partners for their consumers. So it's a meal supplement or meal replacement that we're working with, we'll make sure that all of the programmings that someone sees is one branded for that company. But to that, it is also in line with what the necessary lessons and support are that are needed to support that meal supplement. The same thing goes true for anything in the fitness industry, or the wellness industry, too, with medispas.

Gresham Harkless 9:43

Awesome, awesome. I love it. I love it. And now I wanted to switch gears a little bit and ask you for what I call a CEO hack. And this might be an app or a book or a combination of things or habits that you have that make you more effective and efficient as a CEO.

Jillian Bridget Cohen 9:56

Yeah, so I think the first habit is that I'm constantly multitasking my team jokes around when they all first start working here. They think that I'm not listening. And even if like my doors partially cracked, I overhear conversations. My parents would tell you probably started when I was a little girl, I used to sit down on their stairs and listen to them doing bookkeeping and hear like multiple things at once that I was always, some people might say it's adj. But you know, hey, works for me.

Definitely multitasking to get back to people immediately is the biggest piece. There's a book that I absolutely love that is about the Pike Fish Market in Seattle. And it talks about how these workers at this fish market are actually able to have fun during the day and what they're able to do and accomplish a right. And they working with smelly fish get they've somehow built this team environment that is known throughout the world. And I really truly think about that every single day.

So what is it that you can do to create a fun culture no matter how stressed people are when deadlines are, our business has grown so quickly, we have so many partners, and our deadlines are always really tight. But our team still has fun together. And I think that's the biggest piece like making sure that there are laughs during the day that no matter when somebody is stressed or on deadline, there's always that pause to add a personal sense of relationship in the work environment.

Gresham Harkless 11:18

Yeah, I would definitely echo that. And I think that's phenomenal. The two phenomenal CEO hacks, no matter what you know, whether you're like he mentioned, you're at a fish market, or you're actually creating an app that's changing things in the health industry, you want to make sure that you have a really good environment so that your team can make sure that they're successful and happy at what it is that they do.

Jillian Bridget Cohen 11:36

Thank you for that. Yeah. So you know, I think a happy team is a happy company that leads to a successful product.

Gresham Harkless 11:44

Absolutely, absolutely.

Jillian Bridget Cohen 11:46

Now, I get such Chinese food orders.

Gresham Harkless 11:50

There you go. So now I wanted to ask you for what I call a CEO nugget. And the CEO nugget might be something that you would tell your younger business self or a word of wisdom or piece of advice that you might have for entrepreneurs and business owners.

Jillian Bridget Cohen 12:02

I think I've been really reflective and united spoke about this when we first met about my dad and the lessons I learned from him as I lost him in September last year, it's been almost a year, my dad used to teach me that every single person no matter what their job is in life, puts on their pants one leg at a time unless you're an acrobat and able to apparently do flips to get them on or something. But it's a true fact about people, right? Where we're able to relate to people and to think about everybody as being equal in the same on the same playing ground.

So I treat everybody on the team no matter what their level is the same. So I will have the most junior person on our team in with our senior leadership team if I think that they have a good idea or something to add. So the concept of levels really, it's important when it comes to management and structure. But when it comes to product development, and also having people feel as if they're all owners of the business, they can key to hear every person's voice and involve them in all facets as much as possible.

Gresham Harkless 13:03

I agree with that. And I think that's an incredible CEO nugget that you were able to kind of learn from your dad and carry on through your business as it is now. So now I wanted to ask you my absolute favorite question, which is kind of the definition of what it means to be a CEO. And we're hoping to have different CEOs on this podcast. But I wanted to ask you specifically, what being a CEO means to you.

Jillian Bridget Cohen 13:21

Hey, Gresham, I love this question. I've listened to a lot of your podcasts and think it's really meaningful ones. So I think the first and foremost, one is its responsibility. So it's not just responsibility, where yes, you have external investors and a responsibility to want to grow the business and make a profit and profit for your investors, etc, you have a responsibility to your employees.

So as you look and start a company, you originally it's just you, and then you have a few additional people. And now when you have 20 and 25 people and more, that are directly related to what you're providing them and accompanying them and plus all of our consultants as well. We have 200 across the world, they are relying on us when it comes to being able to provide for their families and to be able to you know, grow their own careers.

So I think when I think about being a CEO, it's a responsibility factor. And it's the responsibility of all of your customers. So your employees, your investors, your direct partners, and their customers are as well. And that, to me is the most meaningful part of it that every single day I come to work and it's like, what is it that I'm going to do to make our product and company better for all four of those customers?

Gresham Harkless 14:33

Very true. It's a holistic kind of mindset as well. And that's your role. And it's great to hear that you're dialed in with it. So Jillian, I truly appreciate you for taking some time out what I wanted to do was kind of passionate that mic so to speak, just to see if there's anything additional you want to tell us whether it be words of wisdom or pieces of advice and anything additional about VHP and also how best people can get a hold of you.

Jillian Bridget Cohen 14:54

Thank you so much for that question. So I think my first word of advice is I hear a lot of great ideas and I wouldn't be scared to take that plunge. But make sure you have a true business model that you know can be sustained based on your initial business model, and then recognize that that model is probably going to change and evolve and become things that you would never expect it to be. And don't be scared by that because it's the evolution of business. And it will truly equate to success if you're able to evolve with it.

So that's the biggest piece that I could probably lend to anybody. As far as Virtual Health Partners, I would love to hear from anyone who is listening to this podcast, whether they're interested in working with us, at a consumer level, we can gladly connect you with a partner and you're able to go to www.vhpgo.com or download our app and get connected to one of the partners where we can make sure that the services offered are specific and tailored to what your needs are. Or if you're interested in working with us from a business perspective. We're available at virtualhealthpartners.com. Parently. I still say www, which I know my tech people tell me I'm not supposed to say anymore, but I do. So thank you so much.

Gresham Harkless 16:05

No problem. Thank you. I truly appreciate you for taking time out of your schedule and all the awesome things that you're doing. And I hope you have a phenomenal rest of the day.

Jillian Bridget Cohen 16:13

Appreciate it and look forward to hearing about the end product Gresham, cannot wait to speak to you more soon.

Gresham Harkless 16:20

Awesome. Sounds good.

Outro 16:22

Thank you for listening to the I AM CEO Podcast powered by Blue 16 Media. Tune in next time and visit us at iamceo.co

I AM CEO is not just a phrase, it's a community. Be sure to follow us on social media and subscribe to our podcast on iTunes Google Play and everywhere you listen to podcasts, SUBSCRIBE, and leave us a five-star rating grab CEO gear at www.ceogear.co. This has been the I AM CEO Podcast with Gresham Harkless. Thank you for listening.

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