A USC football standout and a UCLA graduate have brought their wellness operation back to their Los Angeles roots, all in the mission of bringing athlete and military-tested products to the everyday consumer.
Now with an office at 2210 Main Street, Momentous’ nutritional track record in creatine, protein, omegas and other supplements has been co-signed by more than 150 professional and collegiate teams. More than half of the National Football League (NFL) swears by Momentous products, partly due to a football fraternity member at the forefront.
Momentous’ Co-CEO, Jeff Byers, will be known to locals as a standout offensive lineman for the USC Trojans. After being named the 2004 Gatorade Football Player of the Year in Loveland, Colorado, Byers arrived at USC in the Pete Carroll-led glory years, starting four games during the 2004 National Championship campaign. Later in his run with the Trojans, he earned First-Team All-Pac-10 and Third-Team All-American honors in 2009, before making his mark in a four-year NFL career with the Denver Broncos and Carolina Panthers.
In his college years, however, Byers had missed both the 2005 and 2006 seasons due to injury, leading to the offensive lineman becoming close with performance staff, such as strength coaches and data scientists. Stating that the conversations gave him "tons of osmosis," he began to think hard about rehabilitation, fitness and sleep regiments, while also using his business administration degree to consider his future.
"I was much more on the track of finance capital markets and that path, and I was realistically thinking about running or starting a business … the things that I loved most about playing led me into joining early-stage Biotech, [which] ultimately what is now Momentous," Byers said.
While transitioning his passion for health and wellness into the biotech field, he met eventual Momentous Co-Founder and President Erica Good, a UCLA graduate who came "through a more traditional path" into the business realm. Each of her parents, grandparents and sisters ran their own operations, making her path a foregone conclusion, just not knowing what product she would be selling.
The two were working in an outlet focused on transdermal drug delivery, and wanted something "that would come to life much quicker for the consumer," eventually developing "PR Lotion." The lotion delivers electrolytes to working muscles, neutralizing acid buildup, and teams like the New England Patriots were quick to catch onto the product.
"Elite pro athletes were so stoked that it was out there because it replaced [a] practice that they did that’s really hard on the stomach," Good said. "We started to get this traction pretty quickly … but it didn’t really fit into [the] biotech company. They didn’t want to give us marketing resources, ad [spending], those types of pieces. So we actually raised our hand to spin it out, and in 2018 that’s how we created Momentous."
Saying their core customer "is somebody who really lives life [with a] purpose," Byers noted that Momentous products have gone far beyond just pro and college athletes, but for anyone wanting to focus on fitness and health. Their three pillars are "athletic performance" products like protein powder and creatine, "cognitive function" supplements like Omega-3s, and "foundational health" built on promoting a healthy and natural sleep.
The sleep focus is one that Byers was in on early, he says, compared to his future NFL brethren. Momentous sleep products include Magnesium L-Threonate, L-Theanine, Apigenin and Inositol.
"When I was in my playing days in the NFL, sleep wasn’t a [huge] thing yet, sleep got cool eight years ago and I retired a decade ago," Byers said. "But, I was habitual with my sleep. I literally was in bed nine o’clock, up at 5:30, because I always prioritize sleep."
It hasn’t been just top athletic teams that have called on Byers and Good, as the country’s finest have also taken notice. So far, the United States Department of Defense has awarded 10 innovation and research contracts to Momentous, funding clinical research and product development. Good stated that this is typically with special operations groups where there is a "physiologically-oriented problem" that can be tackled by "nutrition-leaning solutions."
Momentous’ piercing of elite athletic and military marketplaces has made the company very attractive in what Byers called "a really messy, crowded" space in supplemental brands. The company tripled its revenues from 2022 to 2023, and were projected to finish 2023 with revenues north of $70 million. Recently, Momentous ranked #345 on the 2024 Inc. 5000, an annual list of the fastest-growing private companies in America.
Now on the ultimate upswing, the wellness duo decided to branch out and create a Santa Monica-based headquarters, highlighting the active community that fits right into Momentous’ messaging.
"[The] Santa Monica, Venice area was the ideal location when you think about proximity [to Los Angeles], but also the kind of lifestyle that we live," Byers said. "Health, wellness, [activity], that’s kind of what the Main Street area is … it’s a very easy location, lots of great outdoor easy access … it was a super natural fit for us," Byers said.
To browse all of Momentous’ products, visit livemomentous.com.
thomas@smdp.com
