Jessica Jeworutzki: Forbes 30u30 Founder and Athlete

Hey Jessica, first tell us a bit about yourself, your history and relationship with sport in general.

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I am 31 years old and founded Brammibal's Donuts together with my partner Bram in 2015. We are a Berlin bakery that specializes in making vegan donuts. We now have two bakeries in Berlin & Hamburg, nine cafés and an office in Friedrichshain. We employ a total of 135 people. I am originally from the Ruhr region, actually have a background in nursing and was never really active in sports in my youth. I tried different sports, but didn't really pull off anything for long. I spent the longest time in a taekwondo club and also took part in a few competitions. However, this “only the tough get in the garden” mentality that my coaches showed was too much for me and I stopped because of that. In 2020, I started racing cycling through my partner Bram — but more for relaxed coffee rides than structured training.

What is your vision for yourself, your life and Brammibal's Donuts?

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We founded Brammibal's to show people that you don't have to sacrifice anything when it comes to a vegan diet. We are not advertising strikingly that everything we do without animal products, as we deliberately do not want to “scare off” anyone. New customers often only notice it after their visit and they are pleasantly surprised how good it tasted.

Since we started out quite spontaneously and without a business plan, we always try to get a little better. We're still working on our recipe, trying out lots of new things and expanding along the way. I simply enjoy creating things that we can inspire other people with. I get up every day with this mentality.

In addition, it is important for me to show that you can successfully build a sustainable company in the catering industry. Because that's still quite a niche.

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The “only the tough get into the garden” mentality was too much for me and I stopped because of that.

Jessica Jeworutzki

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You certainly have a lot on your mind. What is your motivation to regularly prioritize time for sport? What does regular training give you?

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It was only through my training plan that I actually managed to have a work-life balance at all. As an entrepreneur, I don't have a direct supervisor who looks over my shoulder to see if I'm working overtime. There are always emails to answer or projects that we are working on. It's super tempting to just keep working — because you don't want to disappoint your team & customers and are therefore often available 24/7. After 5 years of intensive work without vacation, I was no longer mentally and physically fit at all. When I go to the swimming pool or run a round now, I'm really not available and this clears my mind.

Through regular training, I have also become a more relaxed person. I've always had a lot of energy and enthusiasm, paired with stubbornness, and put 100% of that into my work, partly to the suffering of my colleagues. The training gets me back on track a bit.

Do you see parallels between sport and business? In your development as an entrepreneur, did you also learn things that shaped you as an athlete?

Definitely! I've learned three things:

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1. It's worth staying tuned. When I started running, it really didn't feel good and I was completely out of breath after 500 meters. But I took it slowly and kept increasing the distance a bit until I was able to run my first half marathon after 4 months. Of course, even at work, there are always moments when I want to stick my head in the standing position. But you have to pull yourself together and move on.

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2. It's more fun together. I usually train alone, but if you were racing without competitors or spectators to cheer you on — that wouldn't be anything, would it? It is simply better when you can share the ups and downs with other people. One of my colleagues was so inspired by my triathlon that he set himself the long-term goal of running a marathon. He wasn't really active in sports before, but has been running for a few months now. On Saturday, we'll run our first 10 km run together at the adidas Night Run. It really makes me happy.

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3. You don't have to be able to do everything. Just as I don't expect myself as an entrepreneur to be a professional in marketing, accounting and personnel matters at the same time, I wouldn't expect myself to start swimming, running and cycling without getting tips and support from outside.

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What does “good” training mean to you? What is important to you that you say that training “works” for you in the long term?

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It must be fun. I work out around 15 hours a week and of course there are days when everything feels like it's going wrong and I feel like a sack of potatoes swimming. But in the long term, training is not sustainable if you don't enjoy it. It is also important to me that I can continue to improve and get out of my comfort zone.

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I'm sure you've also gone through ups and downs, in all areas of life. What advice would you give to people who doubt whether they can really be sporty?

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At school, I was always chosen as the last person when a team sport was on the agenda — no joke. Of course, that didn't exactly encourage me to become sportier. But if you don't believe in yourself, who does? You just have to start with it. Don't expect too much of yourself, have fun doing it and, best of all, find other people with whom you can train so that you stay on track.

For me, signing up for a race was super motivating. Because I knew that day X would come at some point when I would have to cover this distance. Of course, I had also told all friends, acquaintances and colleagues about it and didn't want to disappoint anyone. However, you should always be realistic and not sign up for a marathon overnight in order to avoid unnecessary injuries.

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