Today we’d like to introduce you to Jo Poole.
Jo, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
The story of my interest in all things relating to health and enjoying a vital life began with an inspiring woman: my Mother. Diagnosed at age 37 with Breast Cancer, she threw herself into understanding what good nutrition is. Our home became filled with recipe and health books that fascinated me. As my friends ate classic 80’s breakfasts of frosted flakes, we were having Bircher Muesli with homemade yogurt. I remember going through her supplements of royal jelly, flax seed, selenium and vitamins ACE with a sense of wonder, realizing that everything had a role to play in helping the body to work to it’s the best ability.
At her appointment with the renowned naturopath Jan de Vries, I saw iridology in practice for the first time and loved seeing how he melded natural supplements, good food advice with a strong conventional science background.
I believe in utilizing the best that modern Western medicine has with other holistic practices. We shouldn’t have to choose between the two. At Med School in the U.K., I saw the power of Acupuncture in a pain clinic and was so impressed with the results that trained in Medical Acupuncture. During my Med School years, I realized that there was absolutely no focus on Nutrition despite it being one of the best tools we have to prevent disease. As a result, I asked for permission to study for a BSc in Nutrition to complement my medicine. After qualifying as a medical doctor I used this extra knowledge to specialize in Integrative Medicine.
We moved to the USA with 2 kids under 16 months and I thought I’d challenge myself and set a goal of completing a triathlon. I won as overall female and continued to have more wins in the next few years. What I loved though was the training – being outside, running and biking miles with friends and appreciating what a wonderful green area I live in and swimming around Walden pond with other crazies. I wanted to share this love of exercise with others so trained as a fitness instructor. I taught individual and small group classes including SPIN and core in my basement which I still do, but in 2014 expanded by setting up a boutique fitness studio, Concord FItSquad, with my gorgeous friend Suzanne Mirak teaching fun, effective classes in an inclusive friendly environment. I taught a foam-rolling fascial release class at FItSquad which led to me being more aware of the importance of keeping the fascia supple and the muscles underneath restriction free. Graston Technique Therapy was a natural next step. I trained in this amazing therapy and see clients at my home.
Graston keeps my friends and athletes free of pain with a better range of motion, faster recovery and stops them from proceeding down the road to surgery where possible. GT metal instruments are used first to detect soft tissue lesions, scar tissue/fibrosis or restrictions. The instruments are then used to address and treat the abnormal tissue. When GT is combined with appropriate therapeutic exercises and activities, a pain-free function is often restored. I’ve used it with positive results for many soft tissue injuries including golfer’s elbow, tennis elbow, hamstring pain, patellofemoral syndrome and shoulder pain.
All my interests now come under one umbrella of achieving your pure potential for your body and mind. There are five pillars equally important to achieving this: 1. Good nutrition, 2. Exercise you enjoy 3. Sleep 4. Meditation and Gratitude and 5. Social connectedness – having friendships and people that you love and care about within a community that thrives is vital. I feel that through FitSquad and my home group training I have a wonderful network of kind, fun inclusive women that laugh, support and encourage each other. It keeps me loving my job and wanting to spread the net wide to include even more people.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc. – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Struggles were often self-imposed. Lack of self-belief or confidence can stymie the most adventurous women and it is a particularly female problem to doubt ourselves and not be pushy. It appears that there is more education now to empower women to believe in themselves and raise each other up and I would encourage all young women to own their beliefs and interests and to be appreciative of other women’s talents around them.
So, as you know, we’re impressed with DrJoPurePotential for holistic health. ConcordFitSquad for workouts. – tell our readers more, for example, what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
I’m most proud of the group of kind, fun, interesting, inclusive women attracted to fulfilling their pure potential and the wonderful connections that they have made through their group training. To see women encourage each other and laugh together is a daily treat for me.
My breath of knowledge sets me apart: Medical, Nutritional, Athletic, Acupuncture, and Graston technique. I want to imbue this knowledge to everyone whilst still having fun. Plus, I genuinely get excited and happy about women supporting other women and this authenticity comes through.
Often it feels as if the media, by and large, is only focused on the obstacles faced by women, but we feel it’s important to also look for the opportunities. In your view, are there opportunities that you see that women are particularly well positioned for?
Women are good listeners and good collaborators. We should use those skills to take over and improve whatever we think needs to be addressed in our worlds. No limits.
Pricing:
- Exercise class @ Concord FitSquad $20
Contact Info:
- Website: concordfitsquad.com , drjopurepotential.com (coming soon)
- Email: jo@concordfitsquad.com
- Instagram: drjopurepotential
- Facebook: ConcordFitSquad
Getting in touch: BostonVoyager is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
