Tim Brady’s big idea came after he noticed a gap in the market for endurance athletes like himself.
The 22-year-old, going into his second year of the HBA program at Ivey Business School, played football for the Mustangs when he first came to Western and quickly clued into something – he and his fellow teammates were lacking a proper nutritional recovery product. So, he came up with a solution.
“I was training year-round and noticed there was a need for a better recovery solution,” Brady said. “Every day, after our workouts, we’d all bring our different stuff – protein, glutamine, flax – all these different supplements.”
Combining the three, Brady founded MojoMax Health, a growing company he started in 2011 in order to better serve athletes like himself, providing them with nutritional supplements that promise to reduce recovery time.
“I’ve always been an entrepreneur looking for an opportunity, and I wanted to see if this was feasible. After a year of researching, contacting manufacturers, lining up financing, it came to fruition,” Brady said. He has had the help of industry experts, fellow athletes, and friends in business alongside an advisory board, helping him along the way.
The MojoMax product is basically an advanced formulation of glutamine, he explained.
In the last year, Brady’s business has continued to grow and his products are now available in more than 20 retail locations, including Goodness Me! locations in the Toronto area.
MojoMax recently sponsored a health-and-wellness event in Burlington, which brought together some of the world’s most fit athletes, including plant-based entrepreneur/Ultraman athlete Rich Roll.
“We have been fortunate enough to continue to grow our athlete base among elite Canadian athletes and have become a sponsor of the Alberta Ski Cross Team and a few of the Canadian development team athletes. Our company has grown in size and brand awareness, which is key for any startup,” Brady explained.
“As the school year kicks off and I head back to Ivey for my second year of the HBA program, I will again have to work on balancing school, running the company, training for my own sports, and preparing for my full-time job,” he said, adding the company has grown and he has appreciated the support from others in the process, including that of his brother, who also has a business background.
“I have learned some of my best lessons by making mistakes over the past three years in running and getting MojoMax Health off the ground,” he said.
His advice to students looking to build a start up? Be ready to commit almost all of your time and effort. Be ready to adapt, pivot and don’t give up on making it happen at all costs. Make mistakes; learn from them. Build and depend on a supportive network. There’s no substitute for hard work.
Story originally appeared in the Aug. 21 edition of Western News.