Nele Schellschmidt – Co-founder of Judes Family
Nele Schellschmidt is the co-founder and CEO of Judes Family GmbH. As a mother and entrepreneur, she actively creates a "strong counterstatement to hustle culture" – an inspiring story that has been widely featured in media such as Business Insider and N-TV. She proves that a successful career and a fulfilling family life can indeed go hand in hand.
The Path to Founding Judes
The vision for Judes arose from a personal turning point. After her son was born in 2020, Nele was shocked by the huge amount of waste generated by disposable diapers. At the same time, as an employee, she saw only two options: forgo exciting projects, or continue working as if she didn’t have a child. Neither was acceptable to her.
Dissatisfaction with disposable diapers grew quickly, even though at first she herself had the typical prejudices against cloth diapers.
“We quickly realized: It’s really crazy, carrying out a bag of trash like that every day. It didn’t feel good at all to have that plastic feeling on our baby’s skin.”
When a trial pack of conventional cloth diapers turned out to be hopelessly complicated, her ambition was sparked. Together with her partner Leon von Klitzing, she set out to develop a better solution—one that truly anyone can use.
Our Mission
The mission of Judes is to develop the “easiest cloth diaper in the world”. With this, the company aims to bring cloth diapers out of their niche and free them from the “boring eco-image.” This is achieved through the combination of simple functionality and a clear, minimalist design. At its core, it’s about reaching a broad audience.
“We want to reach completely normal, imperfect families who can make it work, too. Recommendations among friends or by midwives are our most powerful tool here.”
Today, Judes is one of the most popular and highest-rated cloth diaper brands in Germany.
A New Work Culture
Nele’s leadership style follows a clear philosophy: “We don’t serve the company; the company serves us.” This principle is consistently reflected in the way she works. Since founding Judes, she has worked an average of just four hours a day and splits childcare and household duties 50/50 with her partner. To maintain this independence, the founding couple deliberately decided against taking on external investors.
Expertise and Background
Nele’s commitment to fairness was apparent early on. “A strong sense of justice was definitely instilled in me at a young age,” she says. “My siblings affectionately called me the ‘world policewoman’.”
Before founding Judes, the business administration graduate (International Management) gained extensive experience in e-commerce and marketing. Her career included various stages at mytheresa.com, where she most recently worked as a team leader before becoming self-employed as an e-commerce consultant in 2020. She is passionate about sustainability, equality, and, of course, babies.
