My Two Year Beard Journey
It all started with a beard challenge. On the trail of life, with all the twists and turns, we often find ourselves in unexpected places. Today, I’d love to share just a bit of this unexpected journey that all started two years ago, with a beard challenge.
Yes, I'm right upon the anniversary of it. Today is March 16th. I'm a few days away from March 19th. March 19th, 2022, is when I started the beard challenge.
If you'd rather watch the video, just click below:
So, let's back up…
My good friend, Nate Harris, is my right-hand man in my other business, Tommy's Windows, Doors, and Siding. One day, as we worked together, I was sharing about my next trip to hike the mountains of Colorado. I invited him to come along. Excited, he accepted the challenge and then shot out one of his own.
“You know man… How cool would it be if we grew our beards out big and just really went for it?”
I just shook my head. Nate and I are friends. He knows me better than that.
“Man, you know I'll never do it.”
I shot it down right away. Honestly, I'm an OCD kind of guy, never liking one little hair out of place. I only kept a little short beard over the years.
I'll never grow out my beard.
I dismissed it. But a few days later, I was planning the trip, getting excited, and then: BAM! It hit me, baby.
I said out loud, “Beard challenge. What the heck? Let's do it. It's on!”
I texted Nate. “All right, you called it, but I'm putting it into force. The beard challenge is on. You can't cut, trim, or shave anything from now until the time that we go to the mountains.”
That was in March. We weren't going to the mountains until July.
It was on.
Altogether, it was me and three other guys that I got in on the challenge; my buddies Nate, T, and JP. All four of us guys were growing our beards out and getting excited about the trip.
We were off to the races. Well, right before I went on the trip in July, I started looking into the Beard World and found out, man, there was a whole community, a whole brotherhood of the bearded. There were all these gurus, leaders, and beard product companies.
All these things you could do for the beard. What to put in it, how to groom it, how to grow it, all that stuff. Wild.
Now the trip. It was AMAZING.
First, we went to the Durango area and Lake City. I climbed Red Cloud and Sunshine. These are two 14ers; 14,000+ ft mountains in Colorado.
Love that. Then we went over to Denver and Breckenridge. We met up with some of my buddies over there and climbed Mount Elbert and Quandary Peak. Great time there. Great trip.
When we came back from the trip, I just decided to keep going with the beard. I kept growing the beard. My buddies trimmed theirs or shaved them off. A couple of them have kept the beard, but they kind of keep it kind of tight.
But I just kept going with it, until BAM! One day it hit me:
A beard products company. How cool would that be?
Could I pack my love for adventure, the mountains of Colorado, brotherhood, and that spirit of embracing challenges into a beard products company?
I consulted some of the best in the industry. We were off to the races. I started Geaux (Go) Bearded—G-E-A-U-X Bearded.
I'm from Baton Rouge, right here in Louisiana, and so we tap into our Cajun roots when we cheer for LSU. We say GEAUX (Go) TIGERS! Louisiana and LSU are a big part of who I am too, so I figured, let’s GEAUX Bearded.
Then, a lot of behind-the-scenes work. I had to find the right people, had to find the right consultants, had to find the right scents I wanted to work with. Not only that, but I found a graphic designer, came up with a logo, and a killer website designer, a buddy of mine, Will Dew (1Match Marketing). We worked on the website.
We worked on everything behind the scenes. We worked on the brand and the brand story. Put a lot of blood, sweat, and tears into it.
We ended up launching it in 2023, somewhere around May.
And let me tell you. People love the scents, love the products, love the brand. We've created a Geaux Bearded community.
We've got a brotherhood and it has been quite a ride.
So, you know, now it’s 2024, and I'm a few days away from growing my beard for two years. I guess you would call this the tweared? The two-year beard. I've done a few little perimeter trims along the way, and now the longer it gets, I'm kind of wearing it a little more down in a point. I’m liking the pointed Viking look.
It seemed at one point, I thought it stopped growing for a little bit after I hit the year mark. Then I started taking some supplements, making sure I was drinking enough water, making sure I was getting enough exercise again, and it started growing again. And here we are.
This is my ride. If you take the official measurement from the bottom of the lip down to the bottom of the beard, I'm at about an eight-inch beard right now. I'm just going to keep letting it rip.
That's where we are right now.
This beard has changed me. It has changed my life. I've met so many cool people in the beard world. Most importantly, Dan C, Dan C Bearded, Dan Command, who has become a friend and mentor of mine.
Speaking of that, later this year, on October 5th, 2024, Geaux Bearded is hosting a Beard and Mustache Competition right here in Baton Rouge at Rally Cap Brewing Company. We're going to be getting the details out.
We've already started, so we want you to be a part of it. Come on in, baby, as I always say to the Geaux Bearded Brotherhood: Get you some bearded love, baby.
I want to invite you to be a part, but even if you can’t come to this event, JOIN OUR BROTHERHOOD.
Take the beard challenge. Grow that beard out and see where life takes you.
If you need products, you're going to love all the stuff we have. You're going to love the scents, oil, butter, balm, wash, conditioner, and merchandise.
If you need Brotherhood, share your challenges, and victories, join our Facebook group and YouTube.
And it's all for you. We want you to be a part of it.
And hey, man, we're gaining ground with the company, with the Brotherhood, with the community. Really looking forward to the killer, killer beard and mustache competition we're going to have this year. We invite you to come on in and be a part of it.
As I said, October 5th, 2024, Saturday at Rally Cap Brewing Company. So, hey, that's a little bit about my two-year beard journey. As always, Geaux Tommy's, Geaux Tigers, Geaux two-year beard journey, baby, and Geaux Bearded.
Two years, baby!