Jesslyn Rollins, Founder of BIOLYTE
Name: Jesslyn Rollins
Company: BIOLYTE
Who is Jesslyn Rollins?
Since BIOLYTE's inception, Jesslyn has held every position in the company from director of sales, chief sales and marketing officer, to CEO (at age 30), managing the sales, marketing, operations, finance and production teams. Jesslyn has led BIOLYTE to become a multi-million-dollar business; it was named a 2022 Inc. 5000 company, earning the 605th spot on the list of America’s fastest-growing private companies. Jesslyn was named a 2022 Atlanta Business Chronicle “40 Under 40” awardee and is passionate about making an impact on her community.
In less than three sentences tell us about your company and what you do.
The world’s first “IV in a bottle,” BIOLYTE is a dehydration remedy and electrolyte drink created by Atlanta anesthesiologist Dr. Luther “Trey” Rollins for his wife as she battled breast cancer and underwent chemotherapy. BIOLYTE delivers intense hydration, alleviates side effects from serious conditions and treatments such as chemotherapy, and relieves symptoms like nausea, migraines, cramps, fatigue, and generally feeling run down. One bottle of BIOLYTE delivers as many electrolytes as one medical-grade IV bag – equivalent to drinking 6.5 sports drinks, but with one-third of the sugar. BIOLYTE, which is NSF certified, also boasts less calories (just 40 per bottle) than other leading hydration products on the market, gives a natural energy boost without spiking blood sugar, is pregnancy safe and relieves pregnancy-related stomach inflammation and morning sickness, and cleanses the liver to remove toxins and optimize function
What does BEING a FoundHer mean to you?
It means believing in the true potential of the women in my company even before they see that potential in themselves. Then giving them the tools they need to grow, the opportunity they need to try, and the feedback they need to hear to grow. Slowly but surely, they will see in themselves what I already knew was there.
How do you support other female founders and women in business?
Three young women were thrust into my Leadership Team before they were ready. They are highly talented with a tremendous amount of potential in the areas of People|Culture, Operations, and Fiance. To get them ready, BIOLYTE is investing company dollars in specialized coaches and giving them access to the incredible Advancing Leaders program that my business group, Vistage, offers. It makes me smile thinking about how much they are crushing it right now. \
What lesson or skill did you take with you from a prior job to help you succeed in your role today?
I was a Theatre major, and I’ve acted in paid and unpaid live performances all my life. The skills and lessons learned from my time in theater is an unlikely pairing to being BIOLYTE’s CEO, but BOY has it made all the difference. For example, last week we had our entire 28 person team fly in for BIOLYTE’s annual review of 2022 and 2023 planning session. We were coming off of a restructure so we had to be very intentional and considerate with everything we said and did. Said in another way, we needed to chill everybody out and make sure they knew BIOLYTE wasn't, as my team member put it, “burning to the ground.”
Because of this my main goal was for everyone to be unified in what we said and did. To get us there, we did a “dress rehearsal” for our State of the Company - the 1 hour review of 2022 and overview of what was to come in 2023. Just like a dress rehearsal, we went through everything everyone was going to say for their slide(s) in the presentation LIVE with each other as the audience. Then we went through each and every person’s section and critiqued how they needed to improve it. NO ONE wanted to do it - it’s nerve racking standing up in front of your peers! - but this action made all the difference. It got the “ya yas” out and ensured we were all “one band one sound.” The team said it was the best quarterly we ever had - 10/10 would recommend!
How did you land your first client?
In 2017, I had the opportunity to meet with Savannah Distributing, and at the time, BIOLYTE only had a handful of retail accounts. This opportunity had the potential to expand our company and place BIOLYTE in thousands of stores. Since our reach at the time was small, we didn’t have any “proof of concept,” so I needed to figure out a way to stand out to them. Through research, I found out the CEO and every CEO before him had attended the University of Georgia, my alma mater, and they all happened to be members of Sigma Alpha Epsilon (SAE), the same as my father. I saw this as the perfect way to connect with them. With only two weeks to prepare for this meeting, I decided to drive up to Athens in the meantime and visit every convenience and independent grocery store I could find, trying to sell BIOLYTE. In addition, I had spoken to multiple fraternity chapters, trying to gain more traction within the community.
By the time I walked into the meeting with Savannah Distributing, BIOLYTE had 15 brand new accounts, a 900-bottle order from SAE plus, now, a verbal commitment to a four pallet order from Savannah Distributing – our biggest order to date, by far. A few weeks later, Savannah unfortunately wanted back out on the order, but if somehow BIOLYTE could get a spot in Kroger, they would take it. Just like before, I put everything into my presentation. With a rolling cooler in one hand filled with ice-cold BIOLYTE and printed copies of my presentation in the other, I met with Randy Waters, the head of the all-natural division for Kroger in Atlanta.
After I was done telling our story – I thought I had bombed. He had not cracked a smile throughout the entire presentation, and I had some jokes in there. I was already planning how to break it to my parents when he said, “Okay, so here is where we are going to put BIOLYTE…” and proceeded to list out hundreds of Krogers in Georgia, Alabama and South Carolina. I asked what sold him on the brand since he had not even tried the product, and he said – simply, he loved the passion and enthusiasm. That was just the beginning – and Savannah Distributing is still our largest distributor today!
Do you want to share your story and advice with the Dear FoundHer… community? CLICK HERE to submit your information.
Follow us on Instagram @dearfoundher and join our Facebook community for more conversation.
Make sure you tune in to Dear FoundHer… for new episodes every Tuesday and Thursday.
