The Goodbeard Society
Welcome to The Goodbeard Society, the podcast where we celebrate all things beards and the bearded lifestyle. Join us as we explore the world of facial hair and the culture that surrounds it.
In this podcast, we'll be chatting with veterans, heroes, and everyday people who are making a difference in the world. We'll be discussing why their work matters and how they are leaving their mark on society.
We'll also be diving deep into the world of beard care, sharing tips and tricks for maintaining a healthy and stylish beard. From grooming to styling, we'll cover it all.
But The Goodbeard Society isn't just about beards, it's about community. We believe that the beard is a symbol of strength, courage, and individuality, and we want to celebrate those qualities in all of our listeners.
So join us for lively conversations, inspiring interviews, and a whole lot of fun. Whether you're a seasoned beard veteran or just starting out, The Goodbeard Society has something for you.
The Goodbeard Society
Beard and Mustache Mania: Competitions, Camaraderie, and Charity with Joe Mills
Get ready to dive into the fascinating world of beard and mustache competitions as we chat with Joe Mills, a seasoned veteran in the circuit and a member of the Rocky Mountain Beard and Mustache Club! We'll be discussing the Mile High Beard Bout happening on June 24th at Stonys Bar and Grill in downtown Denver and the incredible cause it's supporting - the Motorcycle Relief Project, which aids veterans and first responders with PTSD. Don't miss this opportunity to learn more about the growth and camaraderie within beard and mustache competitions, and join us on June 24th for a fantastic event in support of a worthy cause!
We also take a closer look at the competitive facial hair community, discussing the European pioneers who have influenced today's competitions and the unique bonds that form among participants. From local events to the upcoming World Championships in Berghaus, Germany, you'll get a taste of the excitement and commitment that surrounds this amazing subculture. Whether you're a facial hair aficionado or just curious about the scene, you won't want to miss our conversation with Joe Mills and the chance to learn more about this incredible community!
Thank you for listening! Follow us on Instagram @docgoodbeard or find us on Facebook.
Hello, fellow good beards and welcome back to another episode of the Good Beard Society where we discuss all things beard related and occasionally some things that aren't Kev. How you doing, buddy? I'm doing great. Nick. How are you, man? I'm doing great. I am excited to be here on Sided Stonies today.
Speaker 3:I am too. It's good to be back doing another podcast, and especially with a special guest that we got today.
Speaker 1:That's right. This tall drink of water that we got sitting here in between us is a seasoned veteran of the Beard and Mustache Competition Circuit and a long time member of the Rocky Mountain Beard and Mustache Club. Mr Joe Mills, welcome to the podcast.
Speaker 2:Thank you very much, nick. Thank you, kevin, good to meet you.
Speaker 3:It's good to meet you too, Joe Don't believe we had met prior to today.
Speaker 2:We met just as I was coming in.
Speaker 3:Yeah, we did, and you know Jim Dawkins was our partner at, doc Goodbeard was the founder and I know you know him. Yeah, i met him a long time ago. Yeah, we knew Jim, jim was a good friend of that. Yeah, so it's really wonderful to be here today.
Speaker 2:I'm glad to see you guys carrying on the brand and the legacy.
Speaker 3:Oh, absolutely. We're having a good time with it too, aren't we Nick?
Speaker 1:Oh, it's been wonderful. It's been such a crazy time and so much fun and we're looking forward to it. You're getting bigger and better and all that good stuff So the reason we're here today is because we want to talk about the wonderful world of Beard and Mustache competitions, which, of course, joe, you are a seasoned veteran of a number of them.
Speaker 2:That's where I met you. You came to our Beard Bouch here, right here at Stonys Bar and Grill.
Speaker 1:That's right.
Speaker 2:Downtown.
Speaker 3:Denver And, by the way, yeah, i was going to say we're out here in Denver, colorado, for you out there listening in the other states. We're here talking about the mile high Beard Bout that's going to be here on June 24th at Stonys, and so we're really happy again to be here and we want to ask Joe a few questions and he can probably fill us all in, and we want you to join us out here on June 25th. So Joe.
Speaker 2:I'm on June 24th. I'm sorry, sorry, the internet knows We'll drop a link. Do you guys do that? Yeah?
Speaker 1:Can I do that? Yeah, absolutely. I have a number on your screen.
Speaker 3:Yeah, you know well everything will be linked up, perfect. So, joe, why don't you just give everybody out there a little bit of information about the bout.
Speaker 2:Well, so our Beard Bout. We've been doing this. Gosh, I don't know how long we've been doing this. I started. I've been growing 10 years. Now It's 2013. I started growing my beard. I met some of the Rocky Mountain guys. It's been 2014,. I guess early 2014. I met my good buddy, Keith Stanzel, and he was like, hey, you should come up to the Beard Bout in Fort Collins. So we've been doing this a while now. The scene has been I mean, it's been going all over the country, all over the world, for a couple of decades. Absolutely, It really blew up about 10 years ago or so, I mean when I got into it, obviously.
Speaker 3:Well, I think you're right. I mean that probably around 2017, i really started noticing a lot more guys out there starting to grow beards again, and now look where we're at. It's fantastic. As a matter of fact, your beard. How long is that thing? I don't know.
Speaker 2:Just long Trust me.
Speaker 3:I'm boving. It's below the belly button. People ask it all the time.
Speaker 1:I should have bought my tape measure with me. Yeah, I don't know We could do the iPhone measure.
Speaker 2:It's always the weirdest. I mean, most people know, or most people are curious. They're like how long has it been? That's their most curious question.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Sometimes they'll just say how long. It's the weirdest when you're like be like you know 12 o'clock in a bar at the urinal and some guy comes up next to you and he's like how long man You're like yeah not here, buddy Right, not the proper environment?
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's not it.
Speaker 2:Context context matters.
Speaker 1:So do us a favor and just tell the people what a bearded mustache competition is.
Speaker 2:Right For the lay person out there. I don't know, i don't know much about your audience here.
Speaker 1:I assume they're just just lay people waiting to be recruited to the scene.
Speaker 2:Yes, Yeah No. so it's the kind of thing I don't know what's pretty much everybody's like. there's bearded mustache competitions. Nobody's ever heard of it, or maybe they have a Google it or seen. they saw Whisker Wars back in the day or something. But once you get into it it's kind of I don't know you kind of get hooked. It's just a really fun silly thing.
Speaker 3:And we're doing this for charity, which is even better So we're doing this for the motorcycle relief project. Why don't you tell us a little bit about that?
Speaker 2:Yeah, so the motorcycle relief project. they're a local front range Colorado charity It's. they do adventure motorcycle rides for veterans and for first responders with PTSD. So they do. I think they said they do over 20 rides a year. I think we talked to Mike, the head of the organization. He came to one of our meetings a while back. Yeah, we all gave it a thumbs up. Sounds like Red Upper Alley Beards motorcycles, front range veterans as well. Yeah, i understand you're a veteran.
Speaker 3:I am, i'm a veteran And, as a matter of fact, i'll show, i always do this, i show people my tattoo. This is the pause sign for the suicide prevention And I'm a huge supporter of the 22 that take their lives every day. And Dr Goodbeard has hooked up with some people out there in different venues for, like, we have a guy named Shannon Book, who is a singer, songwriter, who is actually the one who did the jingle of the beginning of our beard goodbeard society podcast. Oh, you guys have been jingling everything.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, i was not aware I did not listen to any episodes before I came on, sorry.
Speaker 2:That's like a textbook.
Speaker 1:Your penance is legal Cut off your beard at the end of this podcast.
Speaker 3:So, anyways, i didn't mean to interrupt, but I just want to know, everybody to know, that this is a great cause. Dr Goodbeard supports us 100%.
Speaker 2:Right on. Yeah, i mean, we have a lot of motorcycle enthusiasts in our group. They got us hooked up with them. We thought it was a perfect match. Yeah, so that'll be the charity we're supporting So most. Yeah, like, so, the vast majority of competitive beard competitions out there right are for charity. That kind of started really I'm not really sure the genesis of that It makes sense. You know what I mean.
Speaker 2:It is a big fun, silly thing You get together. It's sort of a. I always compare it to like a. It's kind of like a dog show slash beauty pageant. Like a dog show in the sense that there's different categories that have sort of specific you know things to specifications to look for different lengths, different styles, things like that. And a beauty pageant because you get up on stage, you talk to the. you don't have to answer any questions about solving world hunger or anything like that, Although that would be fun.
Speaker 1:We could try that If we need to kill some time, if we need to kill some time on stage.
Speaker 2:We may be doing that.
Speaker 1:Throwing a bathing suit, exactly Just random questions out of a hat.
Speaker 2:That might be good. Yeah, yeah, that might be fun. Yeah, you just like. So everybody you know, you have the mustache categories, you have the partial beard categories, the full beard categories, the crazy style categories, for all those crazy characters spend hours and hours and hours.
Speaker 3:Hair spray Yes. And I think isn't that part of the?
Speaker 2:competition. That is part of yeah. So at our previous two beard bouts, this will be the third incarnation of the Rocky Mountain Speed Style. We were the first club to do this to have the styling at the event. Competitors have one hour. It's the very first event. It's the kickoff to the event. I love that. Yeah, it's awesome. We set up the mirrors, it's.
Speaker 3:And they do in front of it.
Speaker 2:It's basically, everybody's on the starting line And all the people are going yeah, yeah, yeah, because it's the kind of.
Speaker 1:Thing.
Speaker 2:It gets a lot of the attention online, like if you see, you know, whenever you see a news story, it's like bearded men gather to celebrate whatever. It's always the freestyle, exactly. So like people know that and they see that And it's really cool that we do that in front of the crowd And also we give them like an hour to do it, because I know I've helped friends of mine, i've assisted them to do their styles before. I know people spend three, four, five hours plus on doing this. So that's where we sort of throw a little wension and mix the Rocky Mountain Speed Style. That's the deal. You want to do freestyle in Denver? You got an hour to do it. That's, that's how we roll here.
Speaker 1:And I think that adds a whole new, much more interesting element to it The last time I was at the Mile High beard bout.
Speaker 1:I was the first time I saw the speed competition and it is a blast to watch, to actually see the process, you know. I mean you see these guys show up and they have these amazing, wacky, crazy all out beards, but you never see the process of it. They just show up that way. So it's really cool to watch them pull out the table full of hairstyling products that they have to get this done, and then the added pressure of doing it for an hour is incredible. So, and I think you forgot arguably the best and at least my personal favorite category, which is the Whisk Arena category, and so there might be some ladies listening or watching and are like, well, this is great, but I can't compete. Yes, you can.
Speaker 2:You guys, can you do like picture and picture? Can you like flash a little slideshow across the screen, or can we cut to that?
Speaker 1:Yeah, get to that table. Yeah, i'll write it. Do it in a little time, because it's like that, one's hard to explain as well, so Whisk.
Speaker 2:Arena. It's the name for the female category.
Speaker 2:But, technically anybody can enter. So I mean, as far as I understand, this sort of evolved from wives and girlfriends of the scene Sort of got tired of coming to all the events and just standing around doing nothing. So they thought, like what if we could craft our own beards, make our own beard, use our own hair, knitting, sewing, any kind of like metalwork, like the most elaborate, extravagant things you can think of? It's literally, it's one of the marquee categories, for good reason. It's absolutely incredible to see.
Speaker 1:Yeah, What they come up with.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, It's incredible, like full costumes, themes, electronics, flashing lights, blowing smoke, sometimes all sorts of crazy stuff.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah, and it's amazing how talented and creative that these women are that create these beards And they spend you know what like upwards of 150 hours And like I mean just something ridiculous.
Speaker 2:Or sometimes your parents just slap a beard on it and they drag their adorable little butt on stage and they'll oh, look at one.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:Are we going to see a repeat performance?
Speaker 1:All right, Maybe I see if I get my daughter to compete. She competed last June at the Great American.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and she was just certainly adored. It was a lot of fun.
Speaker 1:So you know, ladies, you know, if you want to compete, if you've got kids, you want to make something for them and have them compete, everybody is welcome And it all goes to a good cause. It's all for charity And all. Like Joe said, all of the competitions Is the world's. Do they have a prize? Does that all go to charity as well? You know, i am not sure, i don't. No, i don't know. So Joe here is actually competing in worlds. So this is a world competition held every other year.
Speaker 2:Yes, Well, yeah, this will be the first time since 2019, i guess.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah, damn COVID.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's sort of like the Olympics, it's, like you know, a biennial, i believe would be the proper term, but, like so, different, different clubs around the world can bid to host the world championships. I went to 2017. A bunch of us Rocky Mountain, beard and Mustache Guys went down to Austin, texas, for the world championships, which is just incredible. Like the Austin Facial Air Club is just like the best, most established club there is. They threw an amazing party down there for like a week. It seemed like a bunch of our guys rode down. We tried to ride the motor.
Speaker 2:They succeeded in riding their motorcycles all the way to Austin, with many, many mishaps and adventures along the way Always, yeah, We were I mean, we were sitting there, Those, the bunch of us flew and we were sitting there, just you know, at the bar crawl Thursday night with like oh, you guys aren't in town yet. Oh, that's too bad. Yeah, oh, you broke down in Amarillo. Oh, that sounds terrible We're enjoying Terry Black's barbecue here Austin's incredible town.
Speaker 3:Actually, that's where Shannon's from.
Speaker 1:Shannon booked the musician that. Oh really, Oh, OK, cool.
Speaker 3:That we talked a little bit about earlier.
Speaker 2:Yeah. So yeah, like I was that was my first worlds And that was. It was like just just epic. It was huge. It was like over 700 competitors. Oh wow, yeah, it was two days, two days of actual competition. So I mean it was huge. Every, every category is huge. I actually are very own. Scott Rubish took home. Third place in the category is the Garibaldi category I believe, scott, double check me on that, scott our beautiful fire hair, ginger beard.
Speaker 1:It is a beautiful Garibaldi, that's for sure.
Speaker 3:Incredible. Yeah, where's it gonna be this year?
Speaker 2:This year it is in Berghaus, in Germany It's in the area, so a little international travel, yeah Well so. so basically the thing started in Germany, as far as I know. I'm no scholar, i've done a little bit of Googling. Yeah, but it's a very, it's a very German thing to, if you just imagine, later hosting, and you know, like a white beard gentleman with the the old Tirolian hat, you know that's that's.
Speaker 2:that's kind of where competitive facial hair started. The Europeans definitely pioneered, i think, the competitive scene. We definitely sort of adopted it, sort of British invasion stuff, yeah, taking, taking something and making it our own. So yeah, there's actually there's quite a few people from around the country I know going over to Germany for this year's worlds me and. Brian are good buddy Brian.
Speaker 1:Hall.
Speaker 2:He's gonna be going over. He's our reigning national Shenandoah beard champion. He's a nice Shenandoah which is a very long, thin, partial beard with no mustache, sort of like a, you know, like an Amish longer Right. So yeah, brian and I are going over there. A bunch of people I know from around the country. So yeah, that's June, that's literally the week, it's like two weeks before the beer bout.
Speaker 2:So I'm leaving here a little over a week, be there competing, bumming around the Alps for a few days with my 18 year old nephew who just graduated high school. Gotta go get an assumption adding in Nice, Oh that's gonna be fun Makes some poor choices.
Speaker 3:Well, i'll tell you what we'll do. when you get back and we have about, we'll do a podcast. You can tell us all about the world, yeah we'd love to hear all about it. I mean because I think people want to hear about you guys?
Speaker 2:I mean we could do you guys like it'd be cool You could come out. We do like interviews, maybe the bar crawl Friday night We could just do you. Could you guys you could post, do like many interviews, get off stage.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that would be a lot of fun.
Speaker 2:Cool like multimedia experience? Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 1:So we know that the world is kind of the, like you said, the Olympics of the beard mustache competitions. But it starts as far down as just your local, right. And so we've got your local, which means wherever you are, there's probably a town nearby that will hold a beard and mustache competition. And then it builds up to the national level and we've got two major national level ones, right.
Speaker 2:Correct. Yes, there is the Great American beard and mustache championships. that is every year, every even number year that travels around to different That's more of a that's actually continental. The Great American would be include Mexico and Canada, technically, Oh well, I didn't know that Yeah the next one is in, that's, in Detroit, i believe, september of 2024.
Speaker 2:And then there's the the Beard Team USA Nationals. They held every year, i believe. Now There was a wacky couple of years, obviously Right Like, like I said this, the last beard bout we did here in Denver was 2019, right before the pandemic.
Speaker 3:Yes, we need to get. We need to get some people coming into Denver.
Speaker 2:Right, that's, i mean, that's, that's, that's, that's really the point. Just get back on the horse.
Speaker 1:That's basically like I've been.
Speaker 2:We've been planning, we've been doing all that scrambling, remembering how to do all this stuff.
Speaker 1:Yeah, we're like we hope people show up And we know, during COVID they try, they try doing a couple of internet based beard and comb and it just doesn't have the same feel to it. You know, the bearded community is some of the nicest people that you will ever meet in your entire lives. You can walk up to any stranger with facial hair and they will talk to you as if they've known you for 20 years. Right, i mean, it was great. The first competition that I was actually here for, the Mile High beard bout back in 2019, my wife was actually 39 weeks pregnant and still came out to support me And before too long she had a very hairy human barricade of just the nicest bearded men you can think of protecting her from anybody who might, you know, drunkenly bump into her, or whatever.
Speaker 1:They were ready to block the roads to get her to the hospital. She dropped into labor. It was the most amazing thing I've ever seen, and these people didn't know her from you know, from anybody else on the right, but they I mean it's just, they'll give you the shirt off your back, they'll talk to you for hours. I mean, this is the greatest community out there. So if you've never attended, even if you don't want to compete, please come down and just spectate, come and talk to people, have a few drinks, have a good time. It's just an amazing experience. And you know, as Joe said, there is if you can grow any kind of facial hair, there's a category for it. So don't think, well, my beard's too short, or I only have a goatee, or I only have a mustache, or you know, you have a category that you can compete in One caveat I have.
Speaker 2:I've been saying this for years We need an eyebrows category, eyebrows or facial hair to nobody. eyebrows get ignored, i'm sorry, i all. facial hair is valid.
Speaker 1:Eyebrows are visual.
Speaker 2:there There should be a category. Maybe next year we should do one Yeah absolutely Pioneer that as well. I think that's a great idea, yeah.
Speaker 1:Pioneer mom, baby, exactly Because there are some fantastic eyebrows out there. So yeah, it's just you know it's gonna be fun.
Speaker 2:It's gonna be fun I like. so gosh, i don't know. I think this is the third I have MCed the past few. I will be MCing again This year. I have a co-host who happens to be sitting right here. Yay.
Speaker 1:I'm really excited for that. I get to stand next to this all night long. Yeah Yeah, you jealous yet, right?
Speaker 3:That's gonna be great.
Speaker 2:Yeah, no, it's fun. It's always good to tag team these events. You know what I mean. You take one category, I'll take the other. Well, you know we'll get some stay, We'll get some Johnny Carson, ed McMahon stuff going on, that kind of thing.
Speaker 3:Stony's here in Denver is a huge bar and grill, you guys, And let me tell you there's gonna be people everywhere. So come on and enjoy that evening, but stop by us because they've got this thing separated into different areas because it's so big. You're gonna love it here at Stony's And you're gonna be supporting the motorcycle relief projects And we're gonna be supporting all those guys and gals out there with PTSD. On the 24th of June this year And was there a specific time to show up?
Speaker 1:for this event. Doors open at 4 pm and the competition starts at 5.
Speaker 2:It sounds right.
Speaker 1:Yeah. So a competitor tickets are $25, spectator tickets are $15. You can get them on eventbritecom and know that all of the proceeds will go to the motorcycle relief project. So we do this, we do this for fun, we do it for bragging rights and we do it for charity.
Speaker 3:Joe, we're so happy that you joined us today.
Speaker 2:My pleasure.
Speaker 3:Yeah, and we're gonna do this again in a couple what about a month, i guess? Yeah, and I just want everybody to know hey, join the Goodbeard Society, doc Goodbeard. I'll second that. Yeah, thanks, man, we're doing our podcasts live.
Speaker 1:It's available on all the major platforms, All the majors.
Speaker 3:Spotify, Pandora, iHeart Amazon.
Speaker 1:Music Amazon. You name it. Yeah, we're out there, spread the word And if you're listening to us or watching this And follow us. Yes, follow us. If you're listening to this or watching us and you're like, well, this is great, but you know Denver's a little too far away. Check out beardcalendarcom. Yes, they list all of the beard and mustache competitions around the world, so if you're looking for something closer to you, it's definitely a place to get to check out. So again, it's beardcalendarcom.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's Google beard calendar. Literally they comb the internet for competitions, if it's any kind of thing, at a county fair or whatever, it's on there It's all the way out to 2025. I think now there's stuff on the calendar. It's great, great, great resource Been overdue for a long time.
Speaker 1:Yes, yes, It's really great, Joe man Kevin.
Speaker 3:No, i was just going to say, yeah, this is going to be great. And again, thanks for joining us today. No, thanks for having us. We've got well. What do we always do at the end of these shows, nick?
Speaker 1:Oh, we tell them, it's all about the beard man.
Speaker 3:So you want to tell them it's all about the beard, it's all about the beard And especially June 24th.
Speaker 1:Stony's Bar and Grill, 1111 Lincoln.
Speaker 2:Lincoln Street 1111 Lincoln Street, right here 1111 Lincoln downtown, denver, colorado.
Speaker 1:Colorado, a mile high beard bout where men and women come to compete for the title of the best facial hair in the mile high city. Be there, you don't want to miss it.
Speaker 3:You don't want to miss it. So again, thanks everyone. Thanks Joe.
Speaker 1:Thanks, Joe. Yeah, we really appreciate it.
Speaker 3:We'll see you guys next time on The Good Beard Society And remember it's all about the beard man. Amen, amen.