How Full Court Press owner Jeff Bruning starts his day

Even though Jeff Bruning owns some of the most popular bars in town, don't expect to see the business owner up past 9:30pm most days.

• "I'm 53," Bruning says. "I've gotten to the point that most of my business happens in the AM."

Driving the news: As the co-owner of Full Court Press , Bruning has overseen a slew of restaurants and bars in Des Moines like Lucky Horse, Fong's and El Bait Shop.

• When he first opened The Royal Mile 20+ years ago, he would work until 3am several days a week, listening to NPR and BBC in the early morning hours.

Yes, but: When the pandemic came in 2020, it was a pivotal moment that forced Bruning to "right-size" his mindset and consider what was important to him. And that led him to decide he needed to work less.

• "I spent 20+ years putting my mind and body and my family through hell," Bruning says. "At one point, we were at like 21 businesses."

State of play: Since then, he lost 130 pounds, biked 5000 miles in 2022 and found that he's "added by subtraction," in his life.

Here's how Bruning starts his day:

⏰ Wake up: 7am.

🍳 Breakfast: " An insane amount of eggs."

📚 What he's reading: Axios, the Guardian, the New York Times and the Associated Press.

• For the last 850+ days, he's also played brain-exercise games on MindPal .
• He also listens to two to three books a week on 2.3x speed.

💡 How Bruning runs his businesses: He "subscribes" to the Richard Branson and Yvon Chouinard models that focus on paying and treating employees well and trusting them to do their own thing.

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