Just some random beard stuff I do

Yesterday I posted my first #introduceyourself post, just scanning over some general info about myself. So today I thought I would dive a little deeper into my most precious hobby, competitive bearding. Yes, you read that correctly. Competitive bearding.

Now, I started growing a beard as soon as my body would allow. Which ended up with me growing a weak donegal (Amish) beard when I was 14 years old. But I didn't care how scraggly it looked. I grew it and was damn proud. Ever since then, I have consistently sported a beard. Granted, in the past it was grown to varying lengths. Never truly seeing my bare face for nearly 20 years.

Fast forward to today and it's been over 5 years since I made a pact with myself to never shave again. And I've loved every moment of it. By growing this face fro out it opened me up to the world of competitive bearding.

My very first competition was at the Michigan Renaissance Festival in 2015. It was quite a small competition and I ended up taking home a 3rd place prize in the Most Rugged Beard category. Which I was stoked about. My second competition I decided to style my mustache and compete in the full beard natural styled mustache category. And after a roshambo battle, I ended up taking home 2nd place. From that point on I have competed in every competition in the full beard freestyle category. Working on three years competing now, I have been to over 30 competitions. And have taken 1st, 2nd, or 3rd in all but a handful. So, I have been fortunate to have won quite a few. I like to do freestyle designs that no one has ever tried before. And I like to just do my own thing.
Here is a list of what all of the competitive categories are. I'm sure you'll be surprised by it. https://www.worldbeardchampionships.com/categories/
And let me tell you something, these things are crraazzyy! Depending on the size of the competition, there could be 10 competitors or there could be 1-2-300 competitors. Or in the case of the 2017 World Beard and Mustache Championships, nearly 800 competitors. Of which, I was one of those competitors. We broke a Guiness World Record for number of competitors in a beard competition. 33 countries and all 7 continents were represented there. It was live streamed on Amazon and YouTube, had numerous news sources and photographers there from all over the place.

In the full beard freestyle category there were 40 of us. Coming in from all around the world to stand up on that stage in Austin, Texas and be judged in front of millions of people across the globe. Out of the 40 freestylers, I ended taking home 8th place. Coming in in the top 10 was a secret goal of mine. And I was ecstatic that that goal was met. So, until the next World Championships in 2020, I am the 8th ranked freestyler in the world. Which, to me, is pretty damn cool.

So, if you find beards to be as awesome as I do, then make sure to give me a follow or leave me some comments down below. I hope to create some more beardcentric posts very soon. If you have any questions you'd like me to answer, ask away.