Former Jacksonville Jaguars punter Adam Podlesh, now a private wealth manager, and his wife, Miranda, a former emergency room nurse, are launching CoolRoom.
The CoolSculpting process focuses on a technological procedure that freezes a patient’s fat cells so that the body can shed them naturally and permanently.
Miranda Podlesh is the operator of CoolRoom while Adam Podlesh functions as the business financial officer.
Adam Podlesh, a private wealth adviser with Merrill Lynch since May 2017, said the couple considered several endeavors.
“Nothing really made sense to me as far as being a realistic way of delving into the business world until now. Looking at the business model, it just made sense,” he said.
This, he said, could really work, “especially after analyzing the legitimacy of the science technology, the business plan, and considering the ability to successfully execute it while maintaining our values and goals.”
Podlesh, 35, calls himself a finance guy. “I’m dollars and cents.”
Miranda Podlesh, 34, is the operator.
“Since I met her, I knew she had a keen entrepreneurial mindset, that she would thrive in that world,” said Adam Podlesh,
They declined to estimate their investment into the startup; it is not a franchise.
“It is an investment that her financial adviser is OK with,” quipped Adam Podlesh.
“We’ve spent a lot of time on the front end to research and make sure it was worth that step because it is such a big risk to take, but it’s been fulfilling and rewarding,” said Miranda Podlesh.
“We love helping patients and making them feel good about themselves, and this has provided me with an unexpected and very different way of fulfilling that from what I was previously used to, which was helping very sick people,” she said.
The CoolRoom is being built-out in about 1,500 square feet of space in Tapestry Park at 9823 Tapestry Park Circle, units 6-7.
Miranda Podlesh said it might open in December depending on construction, “but we are planning to kick off at the beginning of the new year.”
She said it will employ five or six people to start, although more could be hired later.
They worked with brokers Joseph Lentz and Ryan Switzer with Cantrell & Morgan Commercial Real Estate Services.
The landlord, South Coast Management LLC of Atlanta, was represented by Geneva Henderson, executive vice president with Lat Purser & Associates.
The contractor is Rich Ionelli with Platinum Construction Southeast Inc.
The Podleshes were looking for a venture that would allow Miranda to spend time with their two young children – 6-year-old daughter Addison and 4-year-old son Carter – while also advancing her career by running the business.
Family time is important, especially given that Carter and his mother survived a difficult childbirth.
In 2014, while giving birth, Miranda Podlesh suffered from peripartum cardiomyopathy following a complete placental abruption. The effect on the blood and oxygen flow affected both Miranda and the unborn baby.
Both defied the odds and survived the complications.
That wasn’t the Podleshes’ first experience with a serious medical condition.
In 2010, Adam Podlesh was diagnosed with cancer of his salivary gland and underwent surgery. He faced the situation with Miranda, his girlfriend at the time and a registered nurse.
He successfully recovered from the illness.
“With what we’ve been through, we wanted to make sure we weren’t sacrificing what meant most, which is our family, and this is the perfect alleyway of doing it,” he said.
The couple met in Jacksonville, introduced by former Jaguars placekicker Josh Scobee and his wife, and married in 2012.
The Podleshes registered the name CoolRoom LLC with the state June 7.
Miranda Podlesh is president and secretary and Adam Podlesh is vice president and treasurer.
Adam Podlesh was selected in the 2007 draft by the Jaguars. He played in Jacksonville for four seasons and three with the Chicago Bears. He was signed in 2014 for a year by the Pittsburgh Steelers but released.
Podlesh, a Rochester, New York, native with a degree in business from the University of Maryland, is part of the Jaguars Ambassadors group of retired players. The members are active with charity and community events.
“There’s actually a good amount of ex-players who live in the area for a lot of good reasons,” he said.
Podlesh said there are quantitative and qualitative reasons.
“Quantitative, there’s no state income tax here, the cost of living is really low. There are a lot of growing businesses, real estate is advantageous,” he said.
“The qualitative aspects are there are a lot of great things to do, particularly outdoors, there are a lot of great people here, the weather’s awesome.
“You put all that together and for me and a lot of other guys, it’s kind of a no-brainer if we are going to stick around or not.”