No Shave November Contest

No Shave November Contest

NOVEMBER IS HERE and we are celebrating our THIRD Birthday here at Beard & Tackle. We've gone through many changes, growth, and learning experiences...but one thing remains: Purely Awesome Provisions for Men. And not just any cheap provisions, but only the finest ingredients and the finest mission. You have made it possible to give the transitioning homeless education, mentorship, and basic needs through every purchase over the past 3 years. Thanks for joining us to Tackle Life and being more than a bottom line.

November is an extra special month for us. In addition to our normal #BeardsWithAMission giving, we give an additional percentage towards tackling mens health. Specifically, the Prostate Cancer Foundation. As with most things we do here at Beard & Tackle, we want to make sure we are serving boldly. Go big or go home, right?!So, JOIN US in our No Shave November contest. We want to GO BIG and give cancer a swift kick.

CONTEST DETAILS:

-The entry fee for the contest is $5 (you have until November 29th to enter into contest).

-100% OF ENTRY FEE MONEY GOES DIRECTLY TO PROSTATE CANCER FOUNDATION (let's show 'em what we are made of here at Beard & Tackle).

-CONTEST THEME: WHISKERS IN THE WORK PLACE.

-Contestants will send a picture to info@beard-tackle.com on November 30th of their whiskers in the work place. (don't worry we will remind you).

-What are we looking for? We want to see the odyssey you and your whiskers go through on the job. Share with us pictures of your greatest ups or greatest downs of beard wearing on the job. Be creative! When the contest ends on November 30th, send in a brief story describing your experience along with a picture of your fine facial garment.

-Winner will be chosen December 4th.

THE BEST PART: We have come up with 3 awesome earnings:

1. Grand Prize Winner: 6 months of FREE product (1 product a month, excludes Woodsman Pack)

2. Runner Up Prize: 1 FREE Product of choice (excludes Woodsman Box)

3. Third Prize: 30% OFF coupon to our online store

ENTER AT THE BUTTON BELOW AND LET'S #TACKLELIFE    

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November 01, 2017 by Hannah Bewley
Leveraging Your Most Valuable Asset to Make a Difference

Leveraging Your Most Valuable Asset to Make a Difference

We spend so much time investing in material assets so we can enjoy our least active, least mobile and least spontaneous years of our life, rather than utilizing it now to make radical improvements in the lives of people in your community.
July 31, 2017 by Molly Parker
Call of the WILD

Call of the WILD

Fatherhood takes on a whole new meaning when you become one yourself. My dad was a provider, hard worker, and well respected for his character and integrity. I hope I am considered all those as well, but a good man should be considered those even without being a dad. I am learning that being dad is WAY more than that. Being dad means that, in many cases, you were responsible for creating another being; a being in which you now have the responsibility to raise, nurture and influence. Being dad is complicated.

 

Fear not, this is not some attempt to provide 10 steps to being a good dad. I have found those to be great supplemental tools for the tool bag, but let’s face it, all children are different and require a different 10 step plan to being a good dad. Instead, I wanted to liberate dads from themselves this Father’s Day and suggest one idea that will likely radically change your daddy status, but also and just as importantly save you from the monotony of life. 

 

One of my sons happens to be a spirited fellow. This doesn’t surprise me at all, my wife and I are both spirited ourselves. This wonderful quality manifests itself in extremes. Everything is crazy high, or crazy low! It’s challenging at times as a parent. Although we are still in the early stages of parenthood, we are finding the incredible importance of freedom. I’m not talking the Bill of Rights freedom, for which I’m very grateful for. Rather, I am speaking of the freedom of distraction. The freedom of spontaneity. Best yet, the freedom to be wild. 

 

It pains me to see so many youngsters immersing themselves in ‘gaming’, whatever that is. I get it, we live in the digital age. Gaming and electronics has positioned itself to be a very important part of almost all of our lives. I, like you, carry a device in my pocket that allows me to work from anywhere, communicate from anywhere, and be available to others all the time. It’s pretty challenging to put this device away, but if we can’t how can we expect our children to? This is a big distraction. It’s hardly the only one, but one that we have more control of than we realize. The freedom from distraction allows you to invest in intentional, authentic conversations and significant quality time with your kids. If your career requires a lot of time, that’s understandable. Different jobs have different demands. However, when you have those few precious minutes, liberate yourself from the bondage of the digital age and have the freedom to invest solely with your kids.

 

I receive so much joy in spontaneity with my sons. On the one hand, my oldest likes to know what’s going on, but I mean creative spontaneity such as building a couch fort, ‘fixing’ your car, letting them choose what we eat for dinner. It’s funny, that some of my frustrations with raising my own son is his lack of flexibility or ability to go with the flow. I get frustrated when he’s unable to play by rules, spend quality time the way I want to. I have to give myself the freedom to just go with the flow. Be goofy, be creative, be spontaneous. Not only does the overwhelming issues of adult life melt away in those moments, but they are moments that incredibly impact your children.

 

One more idea on freedom, the freedom to be wild. This is more for personal growth as a man than anything else, but it makes dividends in fatherhood in the freedom of being your truest self. In most work places, there is an expected culture for how to measure up. Many I have talked with confess feeling they must be or act a certain way to move up the ladder of success. I myself have experienced this. I think our culture is moving us to be, act, and believe a certain way. But, as I mentioned above, all children are different, each of us are different and we should have the freedom to be our wildest, most purest self as possible. The liberation from pseudo political correctness or other entities expecting conformity to a particular life style only damages our own understanding of self, and also our ability to raise, nurture, and influence our little ones.

 

Dads, you’re awesome. You’re most awesome when you are FREE to be your truest self. Your best you, is you. Not Bob from down the street, or your co-worker Steve—your wildest and most true you. Liberate yourself and your kids from unnecessary distraction. Find freedom in spontaneity and creativity. Give up what you want and do more of what they want. Be wild. Rise up the inner super Dad and let it radically impact the lives of your kids. You are super, after all. #TackleLife

 

Happy Fathers Day!

June 16, 2017 by Molly Parker
CONNECTION

CONNECTION

Deep within all of us there is a longing for relationship, connectivity, and a sense of belonging. It’s no wonder social media impacts the lives of an enormous number of people each and every day. Many of these social media platforms can have horribly negative effects on our daily lives, but that’s not the purpose of this post. This post, however, documents the positive and tangible effects of personal, face-to-face interaction with people which we are purposefully hardwired to desire. This post highlights one of our favorite components of our brand, #BEARDSWITHAMISSION.

 

 

 

 

For some, this comes easy. Family name, successes, socioeconomic status, looks, luck etc. definitely give some an advantage in terms of relationship, connectivity or belonging. Among us, however, is a voiceless and almost forgotten group—one that Beard & Tackle has come to value and appreciate—that doesn’t have the same ease to relationship, connectivity or belonging. Some of these have done a great work to tear down their sense of belonging. Some have sabotaged themselves into loneliness. Others have been abandoned and know no different.

 The common denominator is the need to feel connected. To be known, to have someone call out your name is something most of us take for granted. A friendly greeting by handshake, or a gentle touch on the shoulder provides most with a boost of confidence, safety, or welcome. These seem like simple gestures that everyone should consider the norm, but for our homeless friends, this is rare. Many folks shy away from conversation, or any communication from a stranger approaching on the streets. In fact, many would avoid the potential for such a situation to occur. Maybe they walk to the other side of the street, take the long way, avoid eye contact and refuse to stop moving. We can’t deny we’ve done the very same things.               

Thankfully, we’ve teamed up with Our Calling to help meet these relational needs. There are many reasons that people become homeless but Our Calling has targeted specifically the root of the issue. The need for connection and relationship; the need to be known. It was at an event hosted by Our Calling that we were introduced to one specific gentleman that has forever touched us and has lead us to dream big about our involvement with the homeless in the future. As we have stayed connected with this man through his many ups and downs over the last several months, we were finally able to celebrate him. We spent an evening with close friends, who have known about our friend, but had not yet met him. We celebrated his birthday, we celebrated a sense of belonging, we celebrated the joyful expectation of great things to come. His personal journey has taken him through unspeakable things, but in spite of those things; he is an incredible encourager and an incredible friend.

 

    

 

 

We look forward to discovering more ways in which we can serve. This experience has lead us to have conversations about how we can expand #BEARDSWITHAMISSION. We live in a fast paced society in which many families rarely eat dinner together. It’s very easy to be overwhelmed and feel insignificant in terms of being able to help others. As we’ve learned, a greeting, a hand shake, and a thoughtful conversation can not only create friendship, but be the very thing someone needs to find the empowerment to make real change in his or her life. Although our new friend is experiencing a transition to a better life, we can’t help but be overwhelmed by the unexpected joy we have found in that relationship. Will you join us?

 

 

May 22, 2017 by Molly Parker
Earth Day '17

Earth Day '17

 

 

Earth day is celebrated the 22nd of April each year since 1970. Earth Day was established to bring awareness to the inefficient, wasteful and harmful practices that humanity irresponsibly used to drive our consumer driven economies. Its purpose not to oppose consumerism, capitalism or the incredible choices we have because of them, but rather, to inform consumers and businesses alike of the real and potential harm we do to the earth. The goal, to educate us, equipping us to make more responsible decisions that have less harmful impacts on the environment.

As a socially conscious brand, we have become more and more aware of the incredible responsibility we have to make and execute decisions that affect the environment around us. Of course, this is essential to the inner-workings of all successful businesses, but we also feel incredibly responsible to ensure that each of our actions, personal and business related, echo those sentiments. Even the largest of businesses have a limited reach when it comes to the protection of the earth and its resources, but it’s the awareness and practice by as many businesses and consumers as possible where real change begins.

As consumers ourselves, we carefully and as much as possible vote with our dollars. We prefer to consume products that have social components working to make change, which are also responsibly sourced, thoughtfully produced, and easily disposable in ways that least harm our environment. We certainly aren’t perfect and can’t always do this, but when possible we make all conscious efforts to do so.

As a family, we are avid outdoorsmen and obsessed adventure seekers we make efforts to preserve and conserve our most frequented destinations. In our previous blog post, we share about the importance adventure is to us. Recently, I had the privilege to have a conversation with one of the owners of one of our favorite places. We discussed at length how precious his land was; how incredible the experience is just to be able to enjoy the sunrise and the sunset. It’s a heck of a bonus that we get to hunt quail and other animals, but what was most significant about the conversation was that our appreciation of the land and our experiences there mean more to him than money. This ranch could easily sell the experience to high end private executives for enormously large sums of money, but for what? The land’s true value sold out for profit and nothing more. It’s a model I wish more appreciated. (For more on this trip, visit: http://bit.ly/2okgcNH)

We also must also shout out to our close friend Seth Patterson, who is starting up a brand whose sole purpose is to inform the public of the devastating impact that we have had on our rivers and fisheries in America and across the globe. 84 East is an incredible follow on IG and it’s been fun to watch him grow and inform through captivating photos and relevant information. Check out 84 East , for yourself. As we intentionally seek out brands that have a cause bigger than profit, it’s been amazing to find all the incredible brands, big and small, local and national, that have incredible purposes that align so well with Earth Day.

 

 

     

As we seek and source our own ingredients we are very considerate about who and where we buy from. Our vendors are incredible! All of which are here in the U.S. and also have the same passion for responsibly sourcing each of their offerings. Each of our products are made from all natural, raw, pure and unadulterated ingredients which we believe have incredibly powerful intended purposes. We hope to extract and exploit the power of nature without using any product that is harmful to the environment. Our packaging is also carefully considered in our effort to do our part for our community and the environment. All of our packaging is reusable and 100% recyclable. Further, each or our products can be used in multiple ways saving you money and responsibly using our Earth’s valuable resources.

We invite you to join us as we celebrate Earth Day by making a conscious effort to vote with your dollars. We are passionate about the earth. Not only are we passionate about outdoor adventures, but we are also very passionate about the process by which we source and use our ingredients. This is why we make such a huge effort to capture nature’s finest ingredients and use them naturally without additives and fillers. As a result, we produce little waste and produce a powerful product. Celebrate with us and purchase all natural beard care products while helping us help the homeless. What’s not to love about that?

 

April 20, 2017 by Molly Parker
Live an Adventure, Live Authentic, Tackle Life

Live an Adventure, Live Authentic, Tackle Life

A good beard tells a good story. A good beard creates conversation and makes a man memorable.
March 27, 2017 by Molly Parker

A HIGHER CAUSE

Today, we'd like to explore the high cost of low prices versus the Higher Cause of Beard & Tackle.

Science is providing more and more evidence that shows the adverse effects of using synthetically created products or derivatives of products in our daily lives. The cosmetics and body industry harbors a plethora of these 'fillers' that act like the natural product, but for a fraction of the cost. More than 500 cosmetic products used in the U.S. are banned in Japan, Canada, and Europe. As we mention in our funding campaign, these may be harmless in low doses, but women and even men repetitively apply these products at an unbelievable rate. Over the course of a lifetime this may cause irreparable damage to your skin and overall health, thus, the high cost of low price.

The way we see it, you're applying products to your FACE, your greatest identifying asset. So why risk it? Many do because it is cheaper to buy mass produced synthetic products, which by the way, the government doesn't require all ingredients to be listed; in some cases you may not actually know what you are applying to your body. Some, because of the millions of dollars spent on advertisements with celebrities which convince the masses that their lives will benefit from this product--while ultimately taking the consumer further from who they were uniquely made to be. May I mention, all this for a huge, impersonal, bottom line. Although the consumer may be saving money on mass produced products, the short-term savings can quickly be diminished by long term and increased need for the product or worse, unnecessary medical expenses. 

Instead, we've chosen to offer products that are crafted with the highest quality of natural ingredients possible. Each of our vendors are experts in sourcing ingredients that are extracted fairly, properly, and ethically. We choose to pay more for better ingredients because we are constantly in awe of nature's ability to heal. No imitations, no fillers--only all natural, pure ingredients. 

A number of our vendors support various organizations or charities doing work in the most underdeveloped places on the planet. Our purchases contribute to their cause and we feel interconnected or woven into the lives of others, as we all should be. Your purchases allow us to continue to support the outreach opportunities of our vendors.

Locally, your dollars go towards serving our homeless friends here in Dallas, Texas. We support the good people at Our Calling, who work to transition the homeless into better situations. What your dollars do when they purchase our products is amazing--reaching further than you can possibly know to benefit the lives of others. That is what we are about...it's our bottom line and we're proud of it.

In summation, the consumer's choice to purchase mass produced, cheaply sourced products comes at a high cost...your body. I challenge you to look at the ingredients listed on those products and discover the harm that they have been found to do. Next, discover the Higher Cause of Beard & Tackle. We use the finest available ingredients from vendors that have a desire to serve others as we ourselves work to serve the homeless. Really, it's a no brainer. Line a wallet and potentially harm your skin, or use your dollars to make a difference in the world, oh and your skin will never feel better.

April 13, 2016 by Molly Parker

It's Christmas Time in Texas

We are deep into beard season and its busier than ever. So far this fall we have run a funding campaign and funded, launched new products, launched a website update, sponsored a Movember event with our good friends at Goodfriend, and if that isn’t enough, we’ve got more ideas and development brewing. The response and support from many of you, our loyal customers and friends, has enabled us to continue working to make a vision come true and support a very special homeless population right here in our home town.

We find it hard to believe that it’s already December 10. There is clearly not enough time in the day to get any agenda complete. Few are the days were we rest our head knowing we have tied up and finished all loose ends and ready to blaze new trails tomorrow.  Speaking of tomorrow, have you finished up gift ideas for this holiday season? If not, there's still time to get something socially responsible providing you with a quality, unique gift while providing good to the community. So, in addition to the wonderful products we offer and the homeless people you help through purchasing our ‘Tackle’, we thought we'd offer you some other awesome ideas that are mission and vision minded and seek to serve a greater purpose.

#1 Mitscoots

“Mitscoots are socks made 100% in the U.S.A. We have our products manufactured in North Carolina and packaged in Austin, Texas. Our socks last because they are designed for the needs of those that may have to wear them days on end. We’re modest about most things, but the quality of our socks isn’t one of them. They are bright, bold, comfortable and represent your commitment to helping the homeless.

We give socks to those in need all over the country. The need for socks is enormous and we want to do everything we can to take care of it. We have partnered with a number of amazing local and national charities to help give away as many socks as possible and are excited every day for the chance to do it. For every pair of socks purchased we take an equal pair of socks and give them out on your behalf.”

#2 TIM Watch

TIM, which stands for “Time Is Money,” is a cause-based business founded with a mission of alleviating world poverty at its root rather than just providing a temporary fix. We envision a world where all people—no matter where they live—hold the power to create opportunity for themselves and for others. So we’ve created something special to help us journey together in the fight against world poverty. Empower people. Strengthen communities. Build humanity. That’s what you do when you wear a TIM watch. And the best part? It keeps on giving. Each watch provides food, clothing, and education for a family in a third world country and enables that family to turn around and give to others. We give. They give.

#3 EarthRunners

 For earthy minimalist everywhere! “Earth Runners give you that satisfying "ground feel," while offering both protection and comfort in a great fitting sandal. What distinguishes Earth Runners from other minimalist sandals is our original design that allows you to absorb the ever-present subtle electrical energies of the earth: this provides an experience similar to going barefoot, while still enjoying a measure of safety from varied terrains or street hazards.”

“Our goal is to create affordable USA-made earthing sandals that allow your feet to function closest to how they’re naturally designed – and that’s barefoot.  We’re passionate about promoting a more grounded way of living that’s possible when we’re connect to the electrical energy of the Earth. This is why we pledge that for every ten sandals sold, we will donate a pair to Seva Sandals - a non-profit organization dedicated to providing protective footwear to children in India.”

#4 Kammock

Kammock is an innovative outdoor brand that connects people with the adventure of changing lives. Through the provision of quality outdoor gear and apparel to the socially-conscious adventurer, every kammok purchase has a direct impact on helping people in need and improving our natural resources. Kammok is a 1% For the planet member and a certified B-Corp.

 #5 Sword & Plough

Made in America with Care for the Planet

We empower veteran employment by working with companies and non-profit organizations that employ veterans as sewers and manufacturers, and we ask our partners to scale with us by hiring veterans to meet the growing demand for S&P products.

We hope your season is merry and bright.

Merry Christmas,

Beard & Tackle 

December 10, 2015 by Molly Parker

Meet Our Manbassadors

It's been a while since our last blog post but running two brands, having two full-time jobs and raising two boys leaves us with little time to sit down and write. We are thrilled of the progress that B&T has made in name recognition, product recognition and sales over the last few months. We have mostly our friends, fans and followers to thank for this as it's been your word-of-mouth praise that has marketed this brand.

Speaking of word-of-mouth praise, we've yet to introduce you to what we call our 'Manbassadors'.  A Manbassador is an individual who has agreed via contract to receive, use and advertise our products to their friends, fans and followers using their presence on social media. These few and spectacular bearded specimens emit not only high quality beards but also share a similar mission as B&T's Beards With A Mission. It's my pleasure to introduce you to them.

Meet Justin:

This dude was recommended by a super cool dude, @lu_test, who has a high profile beard. Turns out, our search for stellar beards landed us a stellar dude too. He not only share awesome pics of NYC each and every morning, but shares our passion to serve by supporting a charity for St. Judes, @the_bearded_worldwide. Follow him on Instagram using the handle @the_bearded_shiznit.

Meet Jerod:

Jerod is source of light to the people of Florida. He has been a regular supporter of B&T and does great work marketing our products. We are very thankful and excited for him to represent us as a Manbassador. You can follow him on Instagram using the handle @jtogg.

Meet Tyler:

Tyler is one of our local Manbassadors.  He is architect here in Dallas and does quite a bit of traveling. It's imperative to have local beards regularly giving shout outs about the people taking care of their beards! You can follow Tyler on Instagram using the handle @studiopatina.

Meet Cody:

 I happened upon this beard in front of my favorite local hardware store. He was allowed to store and work on his tiny little project, building a tiny home. Turns out, its a small world and he graduated HS with my brother-in-law. It's been the start of a new friendship and we are excited that he is a Manbassador among the tiny house revolution that is going on now. You can follow him on Instagram using the handle @bestlittlehouseintexas.

Meet Lewis:

Lewis is our international Manbassador claiming turf in the UK. Always good to have a strong (pun intended) beard representing products in other corners of the world. You can follow him on Instagram using the handle @lewisvjackson.

Meet Seth:

Hailing from the Pacific Northwest, Seth resides in Portland, Oregon. We met in college and now consider him my brother. Thus far, his contributions to B&T's startup has been incredibly self-less and priceless. Known for wearing the same clothes for days, sending him a B&T t-shirt may be the best marketing we've done yet. He is also a fine photographer and writer. Follow his work on instagram using the handle @sethpatterson.

These fine chaps represent Beard & Tackle well and we are excited to follow their bearding story and provide them with quality products for the health and maintenance of their facial hair. 

Looking forward, we are proud to announce the launch of some new products towards the end of summer and beginning of fall. Please stay plugged in and see what new products you may benefit from and watch B&T continue to build momentum and serve the Dallas community.

Beard On Brothers,

Beard & Tackle

 

June 25, 2015 by Molly Parker

A Greater Purpose

  I find myself right now in the midst of an onslaught of confirmation and visions of greatness for Beard & Tackle. Since our launch in November, we’ve had so much fun tackling the day-to-day challenges of entrepreneurship and seeking new opportunities to expand the awareness of our brand.

 

A couple of years ago I read the book, The Alchemist, which is about seeking and discovering your significant purpose, or personal legend. In the book, over and over again, the main character is told and shown how when someone is trying to achieve their personal legend, all the universe conspires to help achieve it. I feel this way now about Beard & Tackle. Daily, through various mediums, it seems like so many outside forces are aligning to spring board B&T forward and the only things holding us back are the limitations we are putting on ourselves.

 

Recently, actually, one month ago, we welcomed our second boy, Micah Emmet to the B&T family. Over the last several weeks I have been reminded over and over of how blessed we are. But at the same time I have an overwhelming sense of guilt that I have so much more than most anyone else in the world and yet find myself wanting a larger house, a nicer car or to not think twice about taking my wife on a date and getting a sitter for the boys. All the while people all over the world don’t have a place to call home, adequate food or even appropriate clothing. Even right here in our own city, a city of wealth, we have so many who have so little.

 

Further confirmation of B&T’s mission has come through our local church, Northwest Bible. We’ve been promoting foreign and domestic missionaries through a series called invisible borders. I’ve been significantly convicted about the invisible borders I have been guilty of guarding. Bottom line, I enjoy comfort and my comfort or safety has been of greater priority than rolling up my sleeves, tightening my belt, strapping on my boots and taking to the streets to serve those that need to be served. Too often these people aren’t reached because of the invisible borders society has created which imprisons them.

 

And still yet another glaringly obvious encouragement has come from the book I am currently reading, Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis. Let the record show I am just a regular simpleton with a beard. This book, as fantastic as it is, really gives me a headache. He brings up a point indicative of our culture and I couldn’t agree more. Over the last several decades we have given over the responsibility of caring for the poor to a government that in turn, has created a dependence that only bandages a wound, which it alone never will be able to heal. We can’t expect the government to fix society. We, through charitable giving and our own service, can only fix society; after all, we are society. I can’t with certainty say how much each of us is responsible, but we should probably give more than we can spare. In other words, as C.S. Lewis says, there ought to be things we would like to do but cannot do because our charitable giving or service excludes them. What could we, as a neighborhood, city, state and country accomplish if more of us had this attitude.

 

The convergence of these influences has really inspired and motived B&T to work harder, more creatively and more passionately to promote our brand and the significant work our partner, Our Calling, does to serve our cities most needy. I’ve been wrestling with the above mentioned as well as others, but what has really conspired to motivate me to write this and give so much effort was a social experiment done by a group here in the states showing the invisibility of our homeless. Please take a look at this video by clicking HERE. Our hope here at Beard & Tackle is that we, together with our customers, would understand our significant purpose to serve others. May we break through invisible borders and see through new eyes.

 

With each beard product purchase, you can help make this change possible, as we give back 10% of our profit to aid in this mission. SHOP NOW

Let's battle together,

B&T

 

 

 

March 02, 2015 by Molly Parker
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