Jenny Craig proved that it’s never too late to make dreams come true when, at age 50, she and husband Sid Craig opened the first Jenny Craig Centres in Australia. Her decision to share her philosophy of balancing nutrition, physical activity and lifestyle launched a career that would bring her international acclaim as a weight-loss expert and author while helping millions of people improve their lives. As Co-Founder and Chairman of the Executive Committee, Jenny remained closely involved in the Company she helped found nearly 20 years ago, until it was sold in May 2002.
Jenny’s personal weight-loss experience, and the industry knowledge she obtained in the years that followed, provided the foundation on which the company that bore her name would ultimately be based. Working in Centres and with clients uniquely positioned her to understand and address the challenges faced by those trying to shed extra pounds. That expertise was put to good use when, in 1970, Jenny met future husband Sid Craig As National Director of Operations, Jenny helped Sid build Body Contour to a 200-center, $35 million-a-year business, and became his wife in 1979. In 1982, the Craigs sold their interest in the company and moved to Australia, where they opened their first Jenny Craig Weight Loss Centres in Melbourne a year later. Centres in New Zealand soon followed, and in 1985, the Company expanded operations into the United States by opening 12 Centres in Los Angeles.
Today, Jenny Craig, Inc. is one of the largest and most recognized weight management service companies in the world, with 652 Company-owned and franchised Centres in the U.S., Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Puerto Rico and Guam. In addition to the tens of thousands of clients active in Jenny Craig’s weight management program, thousands more visit the Company’s Web site each week seeking ways to live happier, healthier lives.