It's time to meet John Of Firehouse Moustache Wax. I know a lot of you guy know and use his products, now lets get to know him a little better.
Could you give a brief history of your company?
Basically I decided to come up with my own wax when 2 different waxes I liked stopped making them. I couldn’t find anything comparable or any that could withstand the weather conditions in Mississippi and rigors of firefighting, so I started experimenting. It probably took a couple years off and on, but eventually came up with a formula that worked well. The guys at the station got right in the middle of it, often offering ideas/help, which is how I came up with the name for our product.
I then told my wife in 2006 that we should try to market it on the internet. She said sure, but all the while was thinking, “Who in the world is going to buy moustache wax?!” She found out that actually lots of people do! We’re still a very small ‘mom and pop business,’ but sell all over the world and have been blessed that it’s done well.
Do you have any other employees, or is it just you and your wife?
We do have 2 part time employees that split up doing the orders that come in thru our website each week. One is my sister-in-law and the other is the wife of one of my good fire department buddies, and she’s also one of my wife’s best friends. My wife runs all aspects of the business and stays busy filling retail orders, and I make the wax.
I see that you donate a portion of your profit to a different charity every year, very nice. How do you chose your charity?
We basically just sit down and talk about which charity we want to choose. There are always plenty to choose from! Sometimes we get referrals from friends/family, so we’ll research that, or choose charities we have dealt with personally. Charities that deal with children, animals or vets/military are always close to our hearts.
I see you also make Muddy Waters bowstring wax, anything you want to tell us about it?
Muddy Waters is something we kind of started but really haven’t had the time to push sales on it. I love bow hunting, especially traditional bow hunting, and there really weren’t any handmade waxes for the bowstring. Just the commercially produced waxes were available. So, just like the moustache wax, I formulated my own.
I see your wax is unscented, that's nice because it helps to go with anything.
But a lot of guys really like scented stuff too. Do you have any plans of adding scents to your waxes?
The moustache wax actually does have a scent, but it’s from what’s naturally in the waxes. So it’s not a specific scent or fragrance. We don’t add any fragrances or dyes/color, and both come naturally from the waxes used. As of right now, we don’t have any plans to add different scents. If time allows, it might be something we would consider in the future.
How about beard oils or balms, do you have any plans of branching into these too?
Not at this time. We’re so busy with the wax itself that we don’t have time to expand or experiment with other products. Since our wax is specially made in small batches in-house, we’re just concentrating on it for now.
How old were you when you first grew a mustache?
I was 21 when I first started growing one and haven’t shaved it since. I went on a vacation (muzzle loading hunting) with my Dad and brother for a week and didn’t shave…and haven’t shaved it since!
Has it always been a solo handlebar, or have you changed it up over the years?
I’ve changed it up, but about 70% of the time it’s been a handlebar.
Since we are on a shaving forum, what is your shaving setup?
I’m a no-frills kind of guy. Give me a Bic razor and some shaving cream and I’m good! When I retire from the fire service, I hope to never have to shave. The wife isn’t fond of that idea though.
Is there anything else you would like us to know about you or your companies?
Was just going to mention that we offer 3 kinds of wax: Light, Dark and 'Wacky Tacky' (Tacky for short). Wacky Tacky is a customer favorite, and I personally prefer the Dark. The Light wax is generally for blonde/gray hair, the Dark wax for brownish/reddish hair, and the Tacky for brown to black hair. The main difference between the Dark and Tacky is the Dark is lighter in color and a little less tacky in texture. All 3 have great hold and will help tame/control/train the hairs where you want them to go. It's also not just for moustaches but is good for all facial hair. We even have some customers that use a little on their eyebrows! Thanks for this opportunity to share about our business with your forum. Best wishes to all of you in 2018!
Could you give a brief history of your company?
Basically I decided to come up with my own wax when 2 different waxes I liked stopped making them. I couldn’t find anything comparable or any that could withstand the weather conditions in Mississippi and rigors of firefighting, so I started experimenting. It probably took a couple years off and on, but eventually came up with a formula that worked well. The guys at the station got right in the middle of it, often offering ideas/help, which is how I came up with the name for our product.
I then told my wife in 2006 that we should try to market it on the internet. She said sure, but all the while was thinking, “Who in the world is going to buy moustache wax?!” She found out that actually lots of people do! We’re still a very small ‘mom and pop business,’ but sell all over the world and have been blessed that it’s done well.
Do you have any other employees, or is it just you and your wife?
We do have 2 part time employees that split up doing the orders that come in thru our website each week. One is my sister-in-law and the other is the wife of one of my good fire department buddies, and she’s also one of my wife’s best friends. My wife runs all aspects of the business and stays busy filling retail orders, and I make the wax.
I see that you donate a portion of your profit to a different charity every year, very nice. How do you chose your charity?
We basically just sit down and talk about which charity we want to choose. There are always plenty to choose from! Sometimes we get referrals from friends/family, so we’ll research that, or choose charities we have dealt with personally. Charities that deal with children, animals or vets/military are always close to our hearts.
I see you also make Muddy Waters bowstring wax, anything you want to tell us about it?
Muddy Waters is something we kind of started but really haven’t had the time to push sales on it. I love bow hunting, especially traditional bow hunting, and there really weren’t any handmade waxes for the bowstring. Just the commercially produced waxes were available. So, just like the moustache wax, I formulated my own.
I see your wax is unscented, that's nice because it helps to go with anything.
But a lot of guys really like scented stuff too. Do you have any plans of adding scents to your waxes?
The moustache wax actually does have a scent, but it’s from what’s naturally in the waxes. So it’s not a specific scent or fragrance. We don’t add any fragrances or dyes/color, and both come naturally from the waxes used. As of right now, we don’t have any plans to add different scents. If time allows, it might be something we would consider in the future.
How about beard oils or balms, do you have any plans of branching into these too?
Not at this time. We’re so busy with the wax itself that we don’t have time to expand or experiment with other products. Since our wax is specially made in small batches in-house, we’re just concentrating on it for now.
How old were you when you first grew a mustache?
I was 21 when I first started growing one and haven’t shaved it since. I went on a vacation (muzzle loading hunting) with my Dad and brother for a week and didn’t shave…and haven’t shaved it since!
Has it always been a solo handlebar, or have you changed it up over the years?
I’ve changed it up, but about 70% of the time it’s been a handlebar.
Since we are on a shaving forum, what is your shaving setup?
I’m a no-frills kind of guy. Give me a Bic razor and some shaving cream and I’m good! When I retire from the fire service, I hope to never have to shave. The wife isn’t fond of that idea though.
Is there anything else you would like us to know about you or your companies?
Was just going to mention that we offer 3 kinds of wax: Light, Dark and 'Wacky Tacky' (Tacky for short). Wacky Tacky is a customer favorite, and I personally prefer the Dark. The Light wax is generally for blonde/gray hair, the Dark wax for brownish/reddish hair, and the Tacky for brown to black hair. The main difference between the Dark and Tacky is the Dark is lighter in color and a little less tacky in texture. All 3 have great hold and will help tame/control/train the hairs where you want them to go. It's also not just for moustaches but is good for all facial hair. We even have some customers that use a little on their eyebrows! Thanks for this opportunity to share about our business with your forum. Best wishes to all of you in 2018!
