Polly Jessup was born in Hartford, Connecticut. As a young woman, she worked for Margaret Sanger in New York City and later married John Colgate Jessup. They relocated to Florida during the land boom of the late 1920s where he invested in Olympia-Picture City near Hobe Sound, the subsequent bust forced the Jessups to pursue another line of work and soon after they formed Jessup Inc. which consisted of wood and upholstery workshops and later drapery.In addition to manufacturing furnishings, Jessup provided interior design services. The company was located in the manufacturing district on Georgia Avenue in West Palm Beach close to Mizner Industries. Their early commissions were for Maurice Fatio’s First National Bank and Marion Sims Wyeth’s Cielito Lindo. After John's death in 1945, Jessup became the sole owner of the company. Despite a lack of formal training, Jessup’s eye for color, style, and form made her a nationally renowned interior designer whose designs were integral to the gracious lifestyle for which Palm Beach is known. Jessup remained active in interior design for over sixty years, and created graceful and sophisticated interior décor for Palm Beach society’s biggest names—du Pont, Ford, Whitney, Mellon, Reed, and countless other socialites.