The Menswear Style Podcast is a leading men’s fashion and menswear podcast exploring men’s style, clothing, grooming, lifestyle and the business behind some of the world’s most exciting fashion brands. Hosted by Peter Brooker, each episode features conversations with menswear designers, fashion entrepreneurs, innovative brand founders and industry experts from across the global fashion and apparel industry. Discover the stories behind established and emerging clothing brands, from the first idea and challenges of launching a fashion start-up to building a successful international business. Guests share their experiences and insights across fashion design, sustainability, manufacturing, marketing, branding, eCommerce, retail, social media and business growth. Whether you’re interested in men’s fashion and style, discovering new menswear brands, starting your own clothing label, or learning how successful fashion businesses are built, the Menswear Style Podcast takes you behind the scenes of the modern menswear industry. New conversations with the people shaping the future of menswear, men’s style and fashion.
Adam White-Johnson, Founder of BeardGang Members / Hemp Beard Care
•Menswear Style •Episode 226
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In this episode of the Menswear Style Podcast, we speak with Adam White-Johnson, founder and CEO of Beard Gang Members, the men’s grooming brand built around helping men grow, maintain and properly care for their beards.
Adam’s journey began with a problem of his own. While trying to grow his beard, he struggled to find products that felt relevant to him and, more importantly, products that actually delivered results. After becoming increasingly frustrated with the quality and positioning of products available on the high street, he decided to create his own.
That personal experience became the foundation for Beard Gang Members.
We discuss why Adam believes the beard-care industry is still in its infancy, despite the growing popularity of beards, and why so many men give up during the early stages because they experience dryness, irritation and itching. Adam explains that the problem often isn't the beard itself, but the neglected skin underneath it.
The conversation explores the formulation process behind the brand, including Adam’s use of hemp seed oil as a key ingredient and his extensive trial-and-error approach to creating products capable of tackling thick, coarse and dry facial hair.
Starting with a single beard oil and comb, Beard Gang Members has since expanded into a broader grooming system including multiple beard oils, beard wash and shampoos, balms and other essentials. Adam explains how the products are designed to work together and why maintaining a regular grooming routine can make the difference between successfully growing a beard and eventually reaching for the razor.
We also talk about the challenges of building a business around hemp-derived ingredients, including the misconceptions surrounding hemp and the practical difficulties Adam encountered with social media advertising, payment processing and other aspects of running an e-commerce brand.
Adam shares the story behind Beard Gang Members’ distinctive branding too. From designing the packaging himself to creating the logo from a photograph of his own profile, he explains how keeping the visual identity simple, clean and recognisable became an important part of the brand.
As the face of Beard Gang Members, Adam has also deliberately made himself the brand’s primary ambassador. He discusses why being front and centre has allowed him to create content himself, build trust with customers and grow an audience organically without relying entirely on expensive influencers or celebrity endorsements.
The episode also looks at the cultural side of beard grooming — why beards have become increasingly mainstream, how social media has influenced perceptions of facial hair, and why Adam believes men need to start thinking about beard care as an everyday grooming routine rather than something they only consider when problems appear.
Finally, Adam reveals his latest innovation: a compact, portable beard mist designed to take beard grooming beyond the bathroom and into everyday life. Small enough to carry in a pocket, the product is part of his wider mission to make beard maintenance as normal and convenient for men as other forms of personal grooming.
A lively conversation about entrepreneurship, men’s grooming, beard culture, product development, hemp-based ingredients and the growing movement encouraging men to take better care of themselves.
Hello, welcome back to another episode of the Men's Wear Style Podcast. I'm your host, Pete Brooker, and today on the show I'm talking to Adam Johnson. He is the founder and CEO of Beard Gang Members. Beardgangmembers.com is the place you can go to look at the products, buy the products, and find out more about the brand. And their products gently cleanse, condition, and nourish hair and skin. They avoid sulfate, silicones, and other artificial ingredients to maintain harmony with the natural chemistry of the human body. They do this to maintain natural oils and to keep your hair and skin as healthy as possible. And to talk more about beard gang members is the founder Adam Johnson. Well, online one, I've got Adam Johnson. He is the founder of Beard Gang members. How are we doing today, Adam?
SPEAKER_00
Yeah, brilliant. Brilliant. Thank you for having me.
SPEAKER_02
Well, thank you for coming on. It's nice to meet you. Adam, please give me an overview of the brand. Can you just tell me about like what the inspiration was for starting the brand?
SPEAKER_00
Yeah, so the main inspiration was really because I um I was trying to grow up my beard and I couldn't find any products out there that spoke to me. So I decided to create products that suited my hair, my hair texture, my hair type. Um, and I wanted to create a brand that actually, you know, people wanted to go and buy, they felt proud about using. You know, I didn't when I was entering the beard grooming world, I didn't feel like there were any products out there that actually spoke to me or made me want to go and buy. Um, and then when I did try some products off the shelves, from like boots and super drug, um, the quality wasn't that great. Um, so I knew that was an issue with a lot of the products out there. And a lot of the research I did found that most people were so dissatisfied with beard care products that people just had no hope left. When I started selling beard oils to people, the first thing they came back with was, what's the point? None of them work. You know, so I wanted to change that stigma and actually create something that people feel like works for them.
SPEAKER_02
So tell me, what is your what is different about your products? What did you have to go through? What's the process of getting your ones right to to to a place where you're happy with them?
SPEAKER_00
Um again, I think it's just trial and error. I tried so many different combinations of oils. Um, but the the key ingredient that I use in all of my product range is hemp seed oil, which most brands out there don't use. Now, it's an amazing oil and it's an amazing product, you know, so versatile. You can use hemp to make anything. You can, you know, use hemp to make paper, you know, you can build things with hemp. But the the the seeds of the hemp plant, um, they have some seriously incredible properties when you actually cold press them and put that and create it into oil. Um, so what I've done is I just blended that with oils that complement it, um, and it's had you know remarkable, uh remarkable impact.
SPEAKER_02
And how come no one else is is really capitalizing on hemp, especially in in this area in this market?
SPEAKER_00
I think initially, because it was quite a difficult product to to actually sell, um, simply due to the fact that the infrastructure was not set up for it. So, you know, for example, Facebook ads, Instagram ads, my accounts were was constantly getting shut down um due to you know the the algorithm picks up on hemp and thinks that I'm selling illegal products.
SPEAKER_02
Right.
SPEAKER_00
Um, I think that's probably one reason why a lot of businesses didn't do it because you just incur so many issues with with the social media marketing.
SPEAKER_02
Right.
SPEAKER_00
Um and then even bank accounts, you know, I couldn't get a merchant bank Shopify um straight away declined my uh my merchant processing website just because of the the nature of my product. So I've had to you know go outside of the country for my merchant banking. So there are a lot of hurdles when you're dealing with hemp, and I think that's why most most companies stay away from it. Um, but I persevered and managed to find a way, and I think that's what's making a difference. What about PayPal? Yeah, PayPal, fine. Oh, there we go. Okay, so when I when I first started when I first started the company, I could only accept payments through PayPal.
SPEAKER_02
Yeah. Oh god, they're a nightmare. I had I had uh well, I just set up my own business uh a couple of months ago, um, but I didn't set it up for a PayPal business account, and so all of the money that was coming into my personal account, PayPal just shut down. And well, at first they asked for an audit, and I was on a cruise at the time, so I had to do like an audit in the middle of the Adriatic Sea, and they go, Oh, thanks for that. Yeah, we'll reinstate your PayPal, quickly withdrew all the money from it, and then they shut me down like minutes later, and uh I've now gone back to try and set up a business PayPal, and they say, Oh, no, no, no, we don't want to do business with you anymore. Oh, come on. But I was only selling like maps, you know, it's not like I was doing anything uh like firearms or it is a pain dealing with these payment processes, there's so many hoops jumping through. Yeah, I feel your pain. So, I mean, so hemp, talk to me about hemp and why it is taboo and where we are with it now in this country. Is it is it decriminalized? Was it ever was it ever illegal?
SPEAKER_00
So with the hemp, the problem is that I think most people don't understand the difference between the you know cannabis and the hemp. You know, it comes it comes from the same plant the same plant family tree, right? It's a marijuana plant. However, you know, when you you can branch it out into two set different sections, and you've got cannabis and you've got hemp. And with hemp, uh you know, you can't get high from smoking uh hemp leaves or or you know, so I think there's a massive misconception in in what the plants are used for. Um in terms of uh where it's at now, in terms of like regulations, it's it's a perfectly legal drug. Um you know, so it's it's legal substance. CBD is now massively you know sold everywhere. Um, and all that is is is the seeds of the leaves of the plant used to make CBD. Um so it's a different section of the plant you're using. But I think with the commercialization of CBD, that's helped in terms of you know build awareness around the actual plant in itself and and the benefits it does have.
SPEAKER_02
Right. So you have CBD and you have hemp. Both of these are like a non-toxic part of the plant in terms of it doesn't carry any any any drugs or altercating things, but then it's just the THC, I guess, of the marijuana plant.
SPEAKER_00
Exactly.
SPEAKER_02
So is that next? Are we can we get anything like uh THC in our beard oil? I guess they will shut you down for that, right?
SPEAKER_00
They will, yeah. I mean, oh I I think the UK will definitely legalize it at some point. Um, they'll probably follow the steps of a lot of the other European countries. Um, you know, most of the European countries now you can legally buy uh THC. So I think we'll probably get there eventually, but I guess they just they just gotta figure out a good way to taxi it first.
SPEAKER_02
Adam, you'll be on the front line for that though, with your company, right? The new range, beard gang THC. It's finally here. Okay, well, talk to me about some of the other products then. So we have the oil, what else have you got in the range?
SPEAKER_00
Um, yeah, so I started off with just one oil and a comb. Um, and I sold that as a beard kit. Um, that started to grow in popularity as I was, you know, it was during lockdown as well. So people were growing out their beards, and I was able to show like you know, grooming routines using the products, um, then branched out and and created another two oils, um, and then another one which is in a similar style but uh fragranceless basically. Um so I catered for everyone. Um, and then on top of building that, I said, okay, I need to have uh like a beard wash, you know. So that was the one part I was missing from my morning routine. Um, so I created that. So we've got a beard shampoo um and a couple of balms as well. So different different fragrances or balms you can use. The balms are used as well as the oil, or instead of some people prefer to use a balm, some people prefer to use the oil, so I can cater for both. Um, but in terms of your grooming routine, you should really use the oil and then a balm afterwards because it seals in all of all of the moisture, right?
SPEAKER_02
And what about the packaging as well? So you have to design all the packaging, or do you get outside people in for that? How does that work?
SPEAKER_00
Yeah, no, so I designed it all myself. Um yeah, funny story in terms of the logo, um, it's literally just a photo of my my profile.
SPEAKER_02
Uh okay, yeah. So it's got like a side. Well, we'll put all the links on the show notes and the photos.
SPEAKER_00
The thing is, it's literally when I um when I was creating the brand and creating the logo, I used just uh you know generic images of a of a of a man with a beard's profile. And I was creating all these designs, and I was just like, just none of it just feels right. None of it feels right. And I thought to myself, hold on a minute, let me just take a photo and see what my profile looks like. And then did that, sent it to a caricature artist, he made it into a cartoon, sent it to a logo maker, and then we've created the logo out of it. So kind of sort of outside the box way of doing things, but it worked out really well. And then I wanted like a clean, simple design, so I stick stuck with black and white or white and black, even right.
SPEAKER_02
Okay, yeah, yeah. That's uh that's pretty cool, and yeah, I think a lot of the times with logos, people can just overthink them so much. I mean, I I've been in a number, I've had a so many startup companies where the the brand, the logo, and the packaging. I remember working in a in a shop in a in a fashion shop in Cambridgeshire. It was a startup shop, me and my best friend from school, and we had a team meeting for what color the carrier bags would be. And that meeting went on for about an hour. And we were like, I think I think we're just overcooking this, guys. Can we not just get on to selling it? You know, just start with something, get it out there, maybe have a have a soft launch, a limited release, and then if people like really, really love it and you feel like oh, the logo's worked, we've kept it simple. There's always room to kind of do something else on a you know, a second or third or a different batch or another limited run, right?
SPEAKER_00
So, yeah, yeah, exactly.
SPEAKER_02
Yeah, so keeping it simple, but looks good, yeah, it looks cool. Um, so how long does it take to get something like this off the ground, then, Adam? So, like from the first time when the light bulb went off, how long did it take from then to get some products in your hand?
SPEAKER_00
Um, it was fairly quick to be honest. Um, this is this isn't my first business. Um, I've been you know entrepreneurial all of my life. This is the second business I've opened up. The first one was a gymware company, and the process in terms of setting it up was fairly similar. Um, I ran that for a few years, wasn't going exactly how I wanted to do to do, so I was just shut it down, focused on other things. So when I started up Beard Gang, it all went fairly smoothly and quickly because I already had the experience, you know, setting up a company before. Um, so I would say from when I decided that I wanted to do it to the first product being in my hand, maybe six months. Okay, that's pretty good. About six months, yeah. And to be honest, the majority of that time was just spent testing. You know, I I basically already had everything set up and ready to go, you know. The majority of that time was spent just testing different, you know, different ingredients together, trying to come up with the right formula.
SPEAKER_02
Testing it on yourself, or did you have a bunch of? So, did you like I mean, so if you have a lot of products to test, did you have, and because your your beard is quite voluminous, did you have like half on one side that you can test, and then you go, right? I'm gonna try the other half on the other side.
SPEAKER_00
No, so but what what what I did basically is I just live with the products for a while. So if I'm testing out a sample, I'll just use that and for maybe three weeks every day, see how my beard reacts to it. If I feel like my beard, uh and you know, my beard is very challenging, it's thick, it's coarse, it's dry most of the time. So I felt like if I could create something that actually tames my beard, then it's gonna help other people out there because mine's probably one of the extreme cases.
SPEAKER_02
Yeah, I guess the only danger with having a brand like this and you being kind of the front and center and the and the main guy behind it is that it's now your identity, right? So if you decide, God, I I really just fancy shaving it off for you know it's gonna be hot when I go to Vietnam or wherever on holiday, you might think I can't be dealing with a massive beard. So you've do you feel like you're kind of now attached to the brand, to the beard? It's you're in it for the long haul, or do you are you enjoying it?
SPEAKER_00
Most definitely. Um, and do you know what? Like it was my intention anyway. Um, I wanted to be the the brand and the main brand ambassador. I wanted you know what I say about the brand to matter more than an influencer or celebrity or anyone else. I wanted my my presence to be the main driving force because you know, if you haven't got a huge budget to work with, you can't afford to be paying influencers and to have spokesmen like you know, and now I do have those things, but a lot of that has happened organically. You know, the people, the spokesmen that I have that are publicly speaking about my brand and my products, or that will create content with the products and put it out there to their their own audience. They're doing it because they love the products, um, they're doing it purely off their own back, or even if I I do have to pay them, I'm not they're not charging me what they're gonna charge other people, uh, you know, huge brands simply because they like the products and they respect it. Um, but that had to come from me um first. You know, I had to be the main spokesman for it first. Yeah, um but I feel like I've I've managed to get the message out there and put myself across well to the masses uh through social media and through adverts. Because again, you know, be in the face of the brand means that I can just create all the content myself. Yeah, I don't have to pay someone else to create content, I don't have to pay someone else to do a grooming routine or this, that, and the other. I can do it all myself in my bathroom, keep the costs down, and the effect is gonna be the same because when people see me on their screens, they associate it with an amazing beard or you know being well groomed. So that's pretty much why the only the only pressure I do have is making sure that my beard is always on point when I step out because yeah, I can't I can't I can't have anyone see me out with my beard looking all scruffy.
SPEAKER_02
Otherwise, I'll just be they'll be throwing them products in the bin, they'll be like Charlatan. Can't believe this guy.
SPEAKER_00
Well the good thing is most of my time my beard is is glistening and it's shiny, and I'm getting confidence in my beard all the time. So it looks good. Perfect advocate for it.
SPEAKER_02
You say that you your beard is quite challenging, but I think for a lot of people it's having a consistent beard that's not patchy in places, and like you say, getting past that two-week phase. I remember I had a real good run at a beard. I was I was making a film, so I wanted to get into that Spielberg Lucas beard phase, you know, get focused. And I feel like when I grow a beard, I get really focused. You know, there's something that a beard does to a man that helps him channel his work. I still believe that. But after the film was done, after a month and a half, I said, I can't be living with this anymore. So I mean, like I'm one of those numbers that basically gives up because it gets it gets too itchy.
SPEAKER_00
Did was it actually just too itchy for you though when it was at that point when it was fully grown, sitting in your face?
SPEAKER_02
Yeah, yeah. I mean, I have like I'll I can let it run for a couple of weeks and then I'll start to get a little bit irritated with it. Um, but then but that time when I was growing it, I had it for about six weeks. But I was determined to finish this film with a beard so that I could do some press shots and look like look like an I don't know. It was a weird time in my life, but I haven't got past the two-week phase.
SPEAKER_00
Were you well when you did have a big beard, right? Were you using products? Did you have a green beard? Oh no, no, this was like this is this is the problem.
SPEAKER_02
This is why you still have I'm gonna I'll tell you, I'm gonna send you some photos. I've got I think I've still got some photos of me with that beard. Um, but yeah, I wasn't using anything. But this was I don't know, this was probably like 12-13 years ago, and I and this space wasn't anywhere near what it is today in terms of men's grooming. Uh, in fact, that's a question for you. Do you find like the space now is like ready and waiting for more products for men to test and go through different regimes, or do you feel like it's just quite saturated and you know you found it tough to get in there?
SPEAKER_00
I I think the whole industry as a whole is in such an infancy stage because the the education and it isn't there and it's not a natural process for most men. Just like you said, you grow out your beard and you weren't using any products, yeah. But growing out your beard and using products should go hand in hand. As soon as you're growing out your beard, you should think, right, let me get some beard products so I can actually look after it. Because had you been using products every day and actually took care of it, it wouldn't have been itchy, it wouldn't have felt uncomfortable, and you probably would have kept it. But the problem is that people do it, they don't look after it, and then they wonder why they feel like shaving it off. But it's because you've not actually looked after it, you know. Because you gotta remember what when when when you do grow like a beard, you've then got a bunch of like a lot of skin underneath that hair that needs to actually be like looked after. Like, you know, right now, if you put some moisturizer on your face, your skin's getting that directly. But if you're not using any products on your beard, the skin underneath your beard is going to be dry, and then you've got like new hair follicles trying to grow through that dry skin, and it's gonna cause irritation, it's gonna itch, and that's what happens with most people. So if you're you know, when you're not using products, you're not actually caring for the skin underneath, and that's what actually causes the irritation, it's not the hair, it's the skin underneath your beard. Yeah, and that's what most people fail to realize. So that that's why I think the industry is at such an infancy stage because yeah, people like me don't know the mindset, the mindset isn't there yet. But slowly but surely, with the content that I put out, with the whole you know, beard gang brotherhood that people feel a part of, is that that then changes the mindset. And the amount, like all of my customers, amount of people that come to me, you know, other people stop me in the street and like give me a high five and say, Thank you so much for creating these products because you've changed my whole life. It's a real thing because when you're getting up every day and you're growing your beard out and you're using these products, it's a part of your daily life, part of your routine. And if you're using that thing every day and it's actually making your beard feel nice, it's give you know, people are complimenting your beard, you know, girls are touching your beard saying, Oh, it feels soft, or they they smell it and they go, Oh, your beard smells so nice. And like these are like real feelings that people will get all down to the product that they're using. So the the the product in the brand is then associated with a good feeling, and that's what happens when you have a consistent routine. So, right now it's just my mission is to convert everyone that has a beard because the problem I face is I'll see people with beards, and you think, oh great, they'll be an easy sell. They're hard sell, even though they've got a beard, because you're still stuck in their ways of not using anything, right? You know, so it's like, and then people that don't have a beard that would love to grow one, they're skeptical because they've been sold a load of you know magical growth oils their whole life and nothing's worked, you know. But my products genuinely work, they for people that are struggling to grow beards.
SPEAKER_02
I got a question for you, Adam. And I want to I want to kind of phrase it delicately. But are you are you with someone? Are you single? You got a partner? I've got a girlfriend, yeah. You got a girlfriend, okay. Yeah, and I take it she she has to be into beard.
SPEAKER_00
Oh, yeah, massive.
SPEAKER_02
But I mean, was there I guess any stage where you were seeing someone and they're like, oh god, I really want to date you, but I don't like beards. And then you go, well, if you don't like beards, then we just can't we just can't run together. Do you know what I mean? Was there ever a compromise in any any kind of like growing up, all right? So I'm like mid-40s now, I always thought round about my 20s, it was about a 50-50 split, whether women like beards or not. I think I don't know, let don't let me put words in your mouth, but throughout like the last five-ten years, especially, as men have started to get into grooming a bit more and been able to manage their beard a bit better, you know, women have become a bit more acceptable of men with beards in general, and that's why we might be seeing more beards out there. What say you?
SPEAKER_00
I think it's become a lot more popular, definitely, because especially with social media, and you've got women outwardly saying they prefer these, you know, these attractive traits on a man. You know, he must be over six foot, he must earn six figures, he must have a beard, all these kind of things, right? So men see this as something to strive towards.
SPEAKER_02
Um, I might be able to get the beard, the other two. I mean, like I'm like X, I'm a I'm free enough on that one.
SPEAKER_00
I think I think more like I think more women look prefer beards than than dislike them, to be honest.
SPEAKER_02
Well, we've gone down some weird paths, but I enjoyed that. Thank you, Adam. Well, beard, give the uh website a shout out, Adam, while you're there. Where can people find the products?
SPEAKER_00
beardgangmembers.com.
SPEAKER_02
Hmm. And you hang around on Instagram?
SPEAKER_00
Yeah, so active on all socials, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, uh, and the handle is beard gang members for everything.
SPEAKER_02
Nice. Okay, all right. Well, people should head over there and and certainly seek out the products if they want something new, getting their their beard on the go, especially if they've always thought about growing a beard like we discussed, but you know, haven't found that right product yet.
SPEAKER_00
And and and the next thing that I'm trying to revolutionize now is obviously the the educating everyone on the benefits of grooming your beard every day is one thing. But now with this new product that I've developed, it's uh on the go beard mist, which is actually this one here. Um and basically the idea of it is you know, for far too long, grooming, men's grooming is being confined to at-home use only. Women, on the other hand, if they need to if they're you know about to go on a hot date or doing something important, they'll go to the bathroom, they'll touch up their makeup. Their grooming process is on the go. Um like something I've I'm introducing to men for the first time, really, and that's not like an on-the-go grooming process for your beard. Um so it's uh an oil uh water mixture, basically, and it sprays in as into as a mist.
SPEAKER_02
It's spraying some there on camera. Oh, okay. And it's how that's like a was it a hundred mil, two hundred mil there?
SPEAKER_00
Uh 20 mil. Oh, 20 mil. It's it's it's small and portable to fit in your pocket.
SPEAKER_02
You can travel with it, check it in.
SPEAKER_00
Yeah, it's travel exactly. So it's something that you know it's the kind of product that you won't want to leave the house without, and that's basically what I've wanted to create. Something you make sure when you pick up your car keys, door keys, you pick up your beard missed as well, and you comb. You can't leave the house without it, right? You never know when you need to quickly freshen up your beard, give it some light, give it a clean through.
SPEAKER_02
Yeah, all right. I love that. All right, brilliant, Adam. Great talking to you. Best of luck with the brand. Sounds like you're doing the Lord's work. We'll catch up with you soon.
SPEAKER_00
Yeah, thank you for having me. Take it easy.
SPEAKER_01
You've been listening to the Menswear Style podcast. Be sure to head over to menswearstyle.co.uk for more menswear content and email info at menswearstyle.co.uk if you would like to be a future guest on the show. Finally, please help support the show by leaving a review on iTunes or wherever you're listening to this podcast. Until next time.
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