As Gerald Washington stepped into the spotlight for his digital relaunch on July 30, he didn’t just celebrate another birthday—he marked a powerful return after five years of silence, transformation, and strategy. The Emmy-winning producer-turned-CEO and founder of Momentum Capital Investments has built a multimillion-dollar empire while quietly recalibrating his personal life, business model, and definition of legacy.
“I’ve always been successful,” Washington tells me during our sit-down. “But this time, I’m focused on the work—not the things.”
Prior to founding Momentum, Washington carved out a name for himself as an entertainment executive, but Washington is clear that this digital relaunch isn’t about nostalgia or name-dropping. Though his credits include Celebrity Family Feud, The Steve Harvey Show, and multiple Emmy wins, he’s no longer interested in standing behind a celebrity brand. “Momentum has nothing to do with Steve Harvey,” he says. “I don’t have anyone to stand behind now. I have to be the person in front so my daughter has someone to stand behind.”
At 45, Washington speaks with the clarity of someone who’s been through it—loss, evolution, and the kind of internal recalibration that therapy, fatherhood, and reflection demand. He describes the last five years as a cocoon phase, a necessary dark period where he stripped away ego and armor to emerge fully aligned with purpose.
“I had to be willing to submit,” he says. “To therapy. To not having all the answers. To being vulnerable. When I finally saw myself clearly, I didn’t like what I saw. But I was committed to becoming somebody different internally.”
That emotional renovation ultimately shaped his leadership style—and allowed him to build a company culture rooted in clarity, honesty, and mutual respect. “Now, I negotiate with margin,” he says. “I want the people I do business with to win, too. I didn’t care about that before.”
Under the Momentum Capital Investments umbrella, Washington has been quietly growing a diverse business portfolio that includes operations, workforce development, talent management, nonprofit mentorship, and a budding media division. But the crown jewel of his holdings is Clean & Protect Global Solutions, the commercial cleaning company he launched in 2020 at the height of the pandemic.
“I had never even been in the cleaning industry,” Washington admits. “But the world shut down. We needed to eat. I figured it out, or we wouldn’t survive.”
Today, Clean & Protect operates in 17 states with plans to expand to 45 over the next 18 months. And while the scale is impressive, the deeper impact lies in Washington’s commitment to growing other Black and brown entrepreneurs through the model.
“We took someone from $900 a month to $250,000 a year,” he shares. “Because she trusted the system, did the work, and we built her up.”
One of the most distinct elements of Washington’s strategy is his intentionality around investment. He doesn’t chase trends. He only operates or acquires businesses in industries he loves—or is so good at, he can’t afford not to. Momentum’s core ventures include entertainment, service-based business operations, cleaning, restaurants, and real estate. And yes, he’s producing again.
Through Momentum Management and Dreamer’s Institute, Washington is developing original content, managing talent, and building media platforms to tell the stories of underrepresented voices—many of them women and single mothers working within his companies.
“There are moms cleaning five to seven banks so their kids can go to private school,” he says. “They matter. Their stories matter. That’s the legacy I want to amplify.”
That perspective shift, from high-powered producer to intentional legacy builder, sits at the heart of Washington’s renaissance. His journey isn’t just about business; it’s about ownership of his story, healing, and impact.
“I want people to see that even when things fall apart, if you do the work, you can come back,” he says. “I want to be the five-year example for someone who’s still in year one.”
As Washington reintroduces himself across platforms this month, what stands out isn’t the scale of his success; it’s the intention behind it. This next chapter isn’t about returning to who he was. It’s about honoring who he is now.
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