Company hits a gusher with beard oil
Unique process extends shelf life of conditioner for facial hair
An internet-based company tucked away in the Mariposa neighborhood of Rio Rancho has a unique product that is being sold worldwide.
Legendary Beard Company, a Halo River LLC-affiliate, is gaining a lot of traction by utilizing Facebook and Google, according to CEO Nate Lind.
The beard oils Lind’s company sells online are created using a one-of-a-kind process, he said.
“We do all the formulation,” Lind said. “We have a fantastic scientist, that lives here in Rio Rancho as well, that is one of the first scientists in America that has developed an ozination process for oils.”
According to Lind, the ozination process is put in place to ensure no moisture enters the beard oil at any stage, thus giving it a longer shelf life.
Along with ozination is a process called pasteurizing, which creates a two-chemical stage that purifies the oil before men apply the product to their beards.
“This is an important process,” Lind said. “Many guys don’t realize that many times they are putting oils on their face that are rancid or turning rancid.”
The two-stage process the beard oil goes through prevents beard odor and counteracts the effects of moisture being introduced into the oil, he said.
Besides formulating their product locally, he said, many of the natural ingredients in the beard oil, like the fragrance, come from a manufacturer in Santa Fe, where the product is shipped after the ozination process is completed in Albuquerque.
Legendary Beard Company offers two different scented oils that can cost between $30-$40, depending on what promotional item is being offered at the time of purchase, Lind said.
“For the first time in my entrepreneurial career I’ve never been as passionate about a product that I use myself on a daily basis,” Lind said.
Although Lind and his partners are optimistic about their products and the success they’ve recently generated, Lind’s journey started out — ironically — selling women’s products.
“I love women. I have a beautiful woman in my life, my wife,” Lind said, laughing. “But I don’t use those products and I didn’t have the same passion around them as I do for our own products.”
In 2014, Lind and his partners moved to the Rio Rancho area after locating a bigger space that was in foreclosure in the Mariposa neighborhood, he said.
“We had outgrown our space in Albuquerque and thought this building would be good for us as is,” Lind said. “This building is the best business card we’ve ever had, if we have potential investors visit us, we have an amazing view of the mountains and the mesa.”
The remoteness of the new office is something Lind said he has gotten used to and now enjoys. Since the majority of the company’s business is done online, and the building came equipped with a brand new broadband connection, the location was an ideal one for Lind and his associates.
“We have always pretty much been an internet-based company and that’s kind of what Halo River’s magic has been,” Lind said. “We sell products using Facebook, Google and display through advertising just through other websites — and that’s been our forte from start to finish.”
Halo River consists of 11 offices and 22-25 employees, depending on the season, Lind said. The business space is the entire second floor of the building at 2500 Parkway, atop the Point Grill.
Mason Graham, marketing and video specialist for HaloRiver LLC, said he‘s been lucky enough to channel all of his passions into his daily work routine since he came on board.
“I am self-educated,” Graham said. “I worked on making websites and shooting video, which is cool because I am such a big fan of movies. I just finished setting us up with Shopify, which I believe is live now.”
Graham said he tries to figure out what the next design piece will be that will help the company gain traction and get more exposure.
“Right now I am just trying to formulate how it’s going to play out when we roll out this video content,” Graham said. “All of this video stuff is fairly new and so I try to learn as much of it as I can.”
Graham, who does not have facial hair of any kind, said he believes in the product he advertises because of how effective it was on his dreadlocks.
“I’ve taken the supplements and it worked on my dreads and my fingernails grew like crazy,” Graham said. “I also had a nice mustache for a while, but nobody said anything about it,” he said while looking at Lind.
Graham said he sees the future for the company expanding because growing a beard is considered the ultimate form of expression in today’s society.
“It’s mysterious, because someone can’t see your whole face, but a beard also has so much personality; no two people have the same beard, so I see it (the company) expanding because of the uniqueness of the beard industry.”
Lind said he reaches out to other beard enthusiasts in the community to gauge how effective his products are and to gain feedback from other beard enthusiasts.
“We buy them beer and pizza for their opinions and also support charities with other beard organizations,” Lind said. “It’s soul food for me, it’s stopped being a business and work for me quite some time ago. This is my playtime; I’m like a 3-yearold out playing in a gym.”