Eric Bandholz – Bearded Beginnings and Beyond

Posted By Ibropalic on Mar 9, 2015 | 0 comments

Eric Bandholz Bio

Eric Bandholz is a newly recognized entrepreneur sensation, who has a deep passion for technology, investing, web design, marketing, family… and beards. He began life in the beautiful state of South Carolina and earned his education. He eventually married his lovely wife, Anne, had a child and settled in Austin, Texas, though he traveled, developing temporary roots in Charlotte, North Carolina and Spokane, Washington, among other cities.

Though somewhat young, Bandholz has wisdom beyond his years, which has helped move his success to the high road. Eric enjoys travel and constantly challenging himself to reach new goals, overcome challenges and gain more knowledge. He initially established a career as a financial advisor and excelled in the industry. However, the constant nine to five grind lacked creativity, causing Bandholz to feel his life becoming stagnant, and his back against a boring office wall.

Thus, he chose to step away from the stability of the financial industry, and use his own creativity to start something new and exciting.

He currently has two businesses, Sovrnty, which is a web based design company, and the one he is perhaps most known for, Beardbrand.

Eric and his partners opened Beardbrand in early 2013, ironically, around the time his daughter was born. He gained entry on the television show Shark Tank in 2014, but unfortunately, the sharks didn’t bite. This is quite possibly due to the lack of “beards” amongst the sharks themselves.

Regardless of not receiving an investment from the professionals on Shark Tank, good things still came out of the experience. The sharks were all friendly and inspirational, which in itself is encouraging. However, being featured on the popular television show, gained Bandholz some of the recognition needed to get Beardbrand on the charts. The national exposure caused a spike in business, with sales increasing from a nothing to over $120 thousand each month.

The company earned over $1.1 million in 2014, and Eric now works out of a home office in order to spend more time with his family.

Both Esquire and Men’s Journal have featured write ups on Bandholz regarding Beardbrand. The company’s products are now available in well over 100 retail locations, and on the web. Eric is the portrait of a young entrepreneur success story with an even brighter future ahead of him.

Eric Bandholz Interview | DUDE LIVING EXCLUSIVE

As an entrepreneur, you almost have to have an obsessive drive to keep moving things forward. What direction do you find your obsessions taking currently?

I’m really excited about all the content we are building for UrbanBeardsman.com. We’ve got some bigger plans for our YouTube channel, launching a podcast and really focus on the lifestyle.

There is always that defining moment that ether changes the way we think or act to some degree. What would you consider to be that specific moment, which placed you on the path to success?

My development as an individual has been a slow and gradual process. The person I am today is significantly than the one who graduated college 10+ years ago. Life throws a lot of wrenches in your plans and sets you back years when you weren’t planning on it. No really cares what’s happened to you though, they only care about how their lives are going. Focusing on the thoughts of others, rather than myself, has been a big reason we’ve been able to connect with our audience.

In my humble opinion, I think we have moved away from beard stereotypes. Most of the people I know still wear a beard of some sort. Do you feel society’s perception of bearded men has changed over the years?

Absolutely! How do you feel it has changed?  I think there has been a big shift from where we were 5 or 10 years ago when it came to the perception of beardsmen. Obviously we aren’t to where we want to be, but when we have achieved our goal it won’t be whether a dude has a beard or not, it’ll simply be about the qualities of the individual. Kinda like how you shouldn’t look at someone as black or white, you shouldn’t look at guys as bearded or not bearded.

Do you feel you have attained nirvana as a father, husband, and entrepreneur?

Hah! I don’t know if that’s even possible, especially with entrepreneurship. That’s something where there is always more to build or to conquer. Being a father and a husband also is a challenge and I’m very grateful to have such a wonderful wife and a sweet daughter. Life certainly would be a hell of a lot worse if home life was stressful and Beardbrand certainly wouldn’t be where it is today without the support of my wife. I am always trying to become better, but it’s a long hard journey.

What advice would you provide others in regards to following your own path in life?

You know every individual is different and they must embark on their own journey on their own terms. That being said, self ownership is the root of my philosophy and it allows you to interpret the world in a completely different light than how tradition society portrays things. Don’t try to change everything on day one but evolve towards your goals. You’ve got 70+ years of living and we don’t have to do it all at once, but if you try to make each day better than the last – life will be good.

What are you working on currently with Beardbrand? Are there any exciting new products men can look forward too?

We’re doing a slow roll out of our beard wash and softeners and today I photographed the Tea Tree line, edited it and got it up on the website. Seeing our wash and softeners up on the website has been a great feeling as it’s been a 15 month project that is finally seeing the light of day. Our customers have really enjoyed the products and they are top of the line. It’s fun to experience product launches, despite all the hiccups.

Lastly, anything else you want to share, or anything that we could help promote for you coming in the near future?

I said we are going to launch a new YouTube channel called Urban Beardsman and we are going to do some really cool lifestyle content. I’m probably 6 months away from getting stuff up on there, but I’d love to have a great following ready on day one. There’s nothing there now, but go ahead and subscribe and get ready for awesomeness. https://www.youtube.com/user/UrbanBeardsman

We would like to thank Eric Bandholz for taking the time to share his experiences and expectations since being recognized on Shark Tank, and updating us on some of the exciting new products that are being released. We welcomed the opportunity to gather a positive message to share with those considering starting a business venture of their own. Bandholz has proven that success is possible when we follow our dreams, backing them up with persistence, hard work and confidence.