Finding beam in our pursuit for better
You might not know it today, but ten years ago, Matt and I were both pro athletes. As former classmates at Boston College, I had gone on to pitch in the Chicago White Sox organization and Matt spent two years with the New Jersey Devils and Pittsburgh Penguins. We’d lost touch, busy doing our own thing and focused on the immediate future.
Now, we’re business partners and the co-founders of beam, a CBD and wellness brand bringing the highest-quality ingredients to our growing community.
But if you’d asked us back then, we never would have imagined we’d be here today. Turns out, 2015 had other plans for us.
While moving into a Boston apartment building, I bumped into Matt who just happened to be moving out the very same day. Catching up, we realized we had more in common than we’d ever known. We had both retired from our athletic careers and had newfound passion for endurance sports. I was training for an Ironman and Matt was immersed in the CrossFit world.
And like most former pros, we were dealing with a range of injuries that carried over from our past. I’d also been suffering with chronic migraines from the endurance training and had yet to find a solution (more on that later).
As luck would have it, we were both looking for a fresh business venture that would cultivate and support our new lifestyles.
Enter CBD. It wasn’t mainstream and our knowledge was limited. All we knew was that it had helped ease the constant discomfort we felt from chronic injury. And after seeing a string of neurologists to no avail, I found that CBD was the only thing that not only made my migraines less severe, but I was getting them less frequently.
Plus, there was something missing from the CBD space. Neither of us had found a brand that was all-natural or transparent about ingredients. We wanted to create something that didn’t exist, something that met our personal wellness standards.
So we went all in. We learned everything there was to know about CBD and its benefits — easing stress, supporting recovery, delivering better sleep — and created our own high-quality CBD that was effective, natural and non-toxic.
And so beam was born. We had created a transparent process and product that consumers could actually trust. We were demystifying CBD.
Speaking of that, I’ll never forget the time a skeptical friend, holding a bottle of our THC-free CBD oil the one, asked if it would get you high. Savvy businessman that I am, I drank the entire bottle right there to prove that no, it will not get you high. Do not try this at home. However, I will always support putting your money where your mouth is (literally).
Ultimately our quality standards paid off, now we work with some of the fittest, most successful athletes out there. And we’ve expanded beyond CBD into hydration, offering a range of non-CBD electrolyte powders held to the same quality standards that sparked beam.
When I look back at how two unlikely acquaintances started a business and got to where we are today, I know it’s because we’re opposites. Matt and I always say that we take different highways to get to the same place. We see things from separate perspectives, and I know now that going into any business decisions, any challenge, that is the most important thing. We can argue and disagree, but we are always fully committed to the mission.
And to think it’s all because of a chance encounter. Thanks, universe.
Kevin Moran
co-founder of beam
