Who is JBGBC

Who is JBGBC? JIMBOB'S GRIZZLY BEARD CARE

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I started my beard journey long before I was allowed to grow one. In the Marines, I was forced to shave daily and when I would interact with civilians with beards, I’d become envious. After serving 4 years, I decided to get out and try the civilian world life. I immediately stopped shaving and started my beard. A couple weeks in I was itching like crazy and decided to shave it off. I kept trying to grow it out, but I kept failing due to the itch.

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I started college at MSU the fall of 2014 and I was putting anything on my face that would stop the itch. I searched stores high and low with no prevail. I found a beard oil that I saw on Facebook, so I placed an order. I didn’t like how it left me feeling slimy and greasy, but it did make the itch calm down.

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I was fortunate enough to attend a study abroad to Madagascar my sophomore year and I found the powerful benefits of baobab oil. This was a plant I had never heard of, but they told us about all the skin benefits. While I was there, I met a business owner that makes zebu (African cow) horn combs. I hadn’t thought about JBGBC at this time, so I just bought one and came back to Michigan.

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When I returned from Madagascar, I soon decided I would make my own beard oil, but with ingredients I chose. At this point I had learned how to research due to my science degree I was pursuing. I looked up all kinds of carrier oils and read about their benefits. I started out with like 12-13 carrier oils some beakers and 12 dropper bottles. I started mixing and burned though a lot of product to find the perfect combo of oils that I liked. It absorbed easily into my skin and didn’t leave me slimy. I then started adding essential oils to my perfected base.

 

After several attempts I developed the Original Grizz. At this point I was selling them to my friends with masking tape as my labels. My fiancé (now wife), Brittany, encouraged me to invest a little more money and have some labels drawn up. I made 4 more scents and had a whole line of oil and balm. I took my ideas to a local artist and he drew up my vision. My fraternity brother uploaded the art digitally and made up my labels. We worked together to make up the Grizzly Mark brand and we took it to a local store in Lansing. Within the month of legally establishing the business, we had our products in the Old Town General store, a website, and a growing Instagram account.

 

From there we just kept pushing and trying to get our name and message out there to guys like me trying to grow a beard. We started gaining some real traction when I started offering gift boxes. My customers were asking for some beard accessories such as a comb or brush. I reached out to my Madagascar tour guide (Dani) and had him put me in touch with the comb maker. I worked with her to custom design the curved comb that we sell today. They are a 3rd world country with an average salary of $300 a year. We supply her with $600 every time we order.

 

We soon invested in a laser engraver to give our customers more bang for their buck. We offer free custom engravings on the inside lid of every box, personalization on every comb and double-sided brush. In 2018, we were earning profitable sales and growing exponentially, while still working full time jobs. We invested in a clothing line and branched out to hats and stickers to focus on expanding our product line.

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The end of 2018 came, and I was working as a federal contractor for the USGS. I was impacted by the government furlough and with no other source of income, JBGBC kept food on the table. I fell into a deep depression from thinking I didn’t have any more options for a future. The degree I achieved seemed to be worthless, I was struggling trying to make ends meet, I had reached my rock bottom. Then a hand from a stranger reached down and pulled me up!

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 January 2019, the weekend before work started back up, I was contacted by Spencer Boyd (who embarrassingly enough, I had never heard of) and asked if we could help him pursue his future season in NASCAR. I thought, “Man, I’m probably not going to make it to next month.” He called me up and we discussed our situation. We all agreed that we cannot afford to sponsor the truck, so he offered me the space on his helmet visor. We tapped into what we were saving for a house and went for it!  That sponsorship gave me hope for the future and pulled me out of my depression.

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By August 2019, Spencer asked if we could sponsor the truck and we were so proud to say yes without hesitation! He made his first NASCAR Cup Series debut that weekend and it was an honor to share that experience with him. He invited us down to Talladega Superspeedway in October 2019 and put the JBGBC Grizzly Mark on his NASCAR Cup Series car for the Sunday race. He raced the Truck series on that Saturday and achieved his first career NASCAR win! It was a true honor to stand with him in Victory Lane and I could not have done it without the support from all of you! We are excited to see what the future holds.

 

Who is JBGBC? You are JBGBC!