An international model and high school dropout has revealed how she spent 15 years refusing to eat any carbs out of fear they would destroy her enviable figure – but now ironically owns a multi-million dollar restaurant chain serving loaded potatoes.
Jess Davis, 31, always thought she would finish her education once she completed modelling, but as she enters her second year in business with fiancé, Tyson Hoffmann, she admits she has no idea what she would study.
Jess, who lives in Adelaide, was just 15 when she dropped out of school but her lack of formal education hasn’t stood in the way of her success.
Jess Davis, 31, dropped out of school when she was 15 to pursue a modelling career – this lead her to eating a diet free from carbs for 15 years
Now the successful model owns her own store selling baked potatoes. She built the Mr Potato restaurant chain alongside her partner Tyson Hoffmann
Before starting her potato-based restaurant chain, Jess hadn’t eaten carbs for ten tp 15 years
She told Femail her four Mr Potato stores go through a tonne and a half of spuds every week, and have been popular since opening day.
‘On that first day we thought we would serve five customers, we served 100 and ran out of everything,’ she said.
‘We were a baked potato shop with no potatoes. And when we told customers we were out they just sat in the shop for an hour to wait for more.’
Jess and Tyson had no experience in the hospitality industry which made planning, fitting out and running their own business challenging.
‘When we were so busy so quickly we knew we needed staff and hired some in the first week, we now have over 50,’ she said.
‘There were a lot of mistakes early on but we got through them together.’
The model said she was under the impression carbs, including potatoes, were the enemy and avoided them completely but reveals her physique is better than ever now she eats them
Jess says she eats loaded potatoes every day at work and is ‘making up for lost time’
The model says making mistakes and building the restaurant with Tyson one step at a time has been one of the most incredible experiences of her life.
The couple had been dating for only weeks when Tyson came to Jess with the restaurant idea.
‘It was a bit of a nightmare sometimes when we started but it is so funny looking back. And now we can look at this thing we built together, just Tyson and I,’ she said.
Jess’ family and friends were shocked when she decided to open a restaurant chain with her boyfriend of two months.
‘They kept saying come on Jess, you are a smart girl, what are you doing?’ she said.
‘But Tyson and I knew it would work – we could see the hole in the market and we wanted to fill it.’
Now her family, who were also anxious when she left school at 15 and feared she would never succeed without an education, are incredibly proud of her.
The couple launched one store on their own 16 months ago and now run four stores and have more than 50 staff
Jess now eats baked potatoes every day and says she is making up for lost time after avoiding carbs for 15 years.
‘I was under the impression that carbs were the enemy and that I had to avoid them or I would put on weight,’ she said.
‘But I feel better than ever and have actually lost weight since adding them to my diet, I just love them.’
In fact she believes potatoes have had a ‘bad wrap’ for over 30 years since the invention of the Atkins diet and she wants to show people they can be a key part of a healthy diet.
Jess hopes her business will continue to expand and is proud of what she has achieved, especially after being criticised for so long for not finishing her education
Jess and Tyson started talking about going into business together weeks into their relationship and two months later they opened their first store
‘Potatoes are so good for you, they are packed full of vitamins and minerals and were once widely labelled as a superfood,’ she said.
Mr Potato now operates in Adelaide and on the Gold Coast.
Jess wants to open a store in Sydney by the end of the year and hopes the business continues to grow.
She suggests people who want to go into business ‘start before they are ready’ and be careful who they take advice from because some people will only share their fears.
The couple did everything on their own at first including renovating their restaurant despite having no hospitality experience
Jess believes living and working together and being able to bounce ideas off each other 24/7 has been key to their success
She also says being original is important when it comes to creating a successful business, and says she believes it has been key for Mr Potato.
The model joked she hopes to see 3000 stores around the world and be able to ‘pop into a Mr Potato franchise in every country’ before she retires.
Jess is proud to be able to offer vegan options and guarantees everything in the store is gluten free.