Bar None Jennifer Maxwell’s next act with JAMBAR BY Daedalus Howell
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PHOTOS BY PAIGE GREEN
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t was writer F. Scot Fitzgerald who opined that “There are no second acts in American lives.” It was JAMBAR creator Jennifer Maxwell who proved him wrong. Maxwell’s first act—at least in terms of one of her professional pursuits— included co-creating the PowerBar in Berkeley, a product that launched the energy bar market in the mid-80s. After growing the company to wild success over 14 years, the venture was sold to consumer packaged goods juggernaut Nestlé. End of act one. Now, Maxwell is back in the limelight with her new organic, artisanal energy bar, JAMBAR, which she makes in a newly built, state-ofthe-art facility just over the Richmond Bridge in Marin County. “The building has history,” says Maxwell, as she leads this reporter on a tour of the facility. “It was a Hostess bakery. Then it was a printing press for many years. Part of the building was a recording studio for the Grateful Dead.”
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EAST BAY MAGAZINE | EASTBAYMAG.COM | MAY/JUNE 2022
THRIVE Jennifer Maxwell is an entrepreneur, athlete and drummer.
