There’s one thing that I really struggle with in life, and its name is “Accountability”. From a young age, I’ve had issues focusing on so many things – mainly because I have a whole host of varied interests, ranging from marathoning to professional-level cookie decorating to learning new languages to creating a YouTube channel. With so many different interests and hobbies, it’s extremely difficult for me to ever get bored. In fact, the only time that I feel I ever encounter boredom is when I am actively doing tasks that I don’t want to do.
There are so many tasks in life that we all need to get done, all the time, every day, and so many of them are SO boring. Unfortunately for me, an “entrepreneur” (using that word scares me) has a LOT of things to get done, and a LOT of those things are boring, mundane, and excruciatingly painful for someone like me to complete. It’s not just that the tasks in and of themselves are boring, it’s just that there’s so many of them, and as a perfectionist with ADHD, a zillion hobbies, AND a full-time job, it gets very difficult for me to prioritize what to do first.
Building a small business in its early stages, like I’m trying to do with Juju’s Foods, there’s the entire world ahead of me! Yet, with so much to do, and only one human resource (yours truly), I often don’t know where I should start my list of tasks. And I know that the big-hitter items (like actually selling my product, working on Juju’s Foods’s social media strategy, fixing my website, etc.), are totally achievable with my own blood, sweat, and tears, but I guess deep down, I’m worried that my blood, sweat and tears won’t be enough to transport my little concoction of sugar-free oats to the rest of the world.
Around this time four years ago, I had this crazy idea to informally manufacture a sugar-free granola that would taste delicious and still provide carbohydrates. As a marathon runner, yogurt and granola is my all-time favorite post-run breakfast (I’ve been eating this breakfast nearly every day for the past 15 years), but as I got older (and wiser!), I started to realize that all of the added sugar in traditional granolas were not only making me get an insane sugar high after consuming them, but they were also wreaking havoc on my GI system, my concentration, and my general well-being. Switching to keto granolas didn’t help either, as every brand on the market simply replaces all the added sugar with added fat, and oats are effectively eliminated from keto granola, rendering these varieties as nut clusters versus actual granola.
I thought, there must be a subset of people out there who WANT carbohydrates but aren’t too thrilled about the insane amount of added sugar a tiny little quarter cup of typical store-bought granola contains! Thus, Juju’s Foods was born (or at least the idea for Juju’s Foods!). When my fiance and I moved to Florida a couple of years ago, Juju’s had to go on a bit of a pause, and the impending move made it very difficult for me to move forward on my little startup, knowing that we’d be leaving the Tri-State area in only a few months’ time. In my never-ending list of boring tasks that I inevitably procrastinate on a daily basis, forming an LLC in two different states was most definitely up there (I did end up doing this, however lol).
A lot has happened since we moved to Florida, and I finally have finalized product that I have been manufacturing with a co-packer. Exciting stuff, but little old ADHD me is a bit paralyzed deciding where to go from here, and that’s where we enter Juju Runs It (hi! welcome!).
I apologize it’s taken me multiple scroll swipes for you to finally get to the point of why I started the YouTube channel, why I’m starting this blog, and why you’re now going to want to subscribe to my newsletter 🙂
- BUILDING COMMUNITY: Juju Runs It is my personal brand – centered around providing tactical running tips and advice from a marathoner who truly loves the sport. I also feel like my angle, story, and advice is unique given the fact that I am not an elite runner and am focused on sharing with others how to healthily incorporate training (both running and lifting) with life priorities and full-time jobs. Additionally, I want to connect with other startup founders and athletes that have a vision of making the world a more nutritious, accepting and healthy place!
- SHARING MY JOURNEY: As a runner, I feel like I have improved so much in the past five years. When I started marathon training five years ago in 2019, my half marathon goal was to break 1:30 (6:50 pace/mi). At the time, holding 6:50 for 13.1 miles seemed insane to me, yet against all odds, in the last year, I was able to pull off TWO sub-3 hour marathons, which included clocking my first-ever sub-3 hour Boston Marathon! I like to view life a lot like marathon training – each run every day doesn’t mean much in and of itself, and there’s not one single run you can ever pinpoint that was transformational in skyrocketing your fitness; rather, it’s the accumulation of dozens of runs together that make up results. Juju Runs It is about showcasing that this concept extends far beyond the trails, roads, and the track. And right now, even though I might still be in my couch-to-5K phase with Juju’s Foods, it’s all about putting in the work every day and sharing the journey (while doing scary things, that I WILL blog/vlog about lol) with you so you can take some wisdom and inspiration if my brand ever takes off!
- CREATING ACCOUNTABILITY: The final main reason for me to embark on this personal brand journey is so that I can hav an entire army of like-minded athletes, startup founders, and friends, who will absolutely shame me if I stagnate with Juju Runs It or Juju’s Foods. So if you come across this in a year and there’s still only one post on this website, 7 videos on my YouTube channel, no traction on Juju Runs It / Juju’s Foods’s Instagram, and only 3 flavors of granola available on Jujusfoods.com, I am giving you full permission to roast me in the comments section below.
Alright, gang, that’s a lot of mental instability to pack for one post, but I am so thrilled that you are here and ready to follow along on my journey running, training, and growing Juju’s Foods! But that’s not all, I want to hear how YOU balance training, life, and all of your ambitions, so feel free to comment below, and make sure to subscribe to the Juju Runs It newsletter down below.
Xo,
Juliana
Juju Runs It 
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