Our Story
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Beards and Body Odor
Over eight years ago, after seeing my newly grown beard, my dad decided at age 80 to grow a beard of his own for the first time…just to see if he could. My dad was so proud of his beard, not only for the beard itself but also because it was a fun loving way to poke at my mom, who wasn’t thrilled with his transformation. It became our “thing.” Beards and, of course, coffee. You see, my dad and I used to drink LOTS of coffee together. To this day, the smell, the taste, everything about coffee reminds me of him and how he would drink it anyway it was served. He didn’t care if it was black, or light and sweet. He just appreciated the hot mug of java and the company that went with it.
But life is more than beard and coffee. It's about the stench in my house too.Being a father to active triplet teenage boys, my house was filled with more than the smell of coffee if you know what I mean. One day I looked at their deodorant and I was shocked to see the amount of chemicals on the label. Have you tried to read the label? I had a better chance of pronouncing characters from Dungeons and Dragons than my sons’ deodorant. So, I gave it a go and created a recipe for a natural, no cr*p deodorant that includes coffee infused oil…because I already knew how great the coffee infused oil is for the skin and beard. My wife was so happy! Who knew that coffee oil is actually an odor terminator. Our house smelled like our home again and not like the bottom of a stinky gym bag. Our boys loved it so much that my wife and I started using and loving it as well. Now we all smell great without all of the unpronounceable ingredients contaminating our bodies. Just like that our KAFX Body Deodorant line was born.
Our Mission
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It has taken me years to perfect my beard and body products. Honestly, I never thought I would ever sell my products to anyone but close friends. Life was busy with owning a family business and raising triplet sons with my wife. But then on March 17, 2020, life as we knew it ended. Like many families, the pandemic stole from us. In an instant, our family business of 20+ years was shuttered. Our children were crushed, losing school and friends overnight. Life was quickly spiraling downward, with no end in sight. It’s hard enough being a teen (and parents of teens!) in a perfect world, and the news of increasing teen suicide rates terrified us. But perseverance is in our blood, and we’ve survived hard times as a family before. As a family, we decided the pandemic would not be the worst time in our lives…it would be the best.
But how? We got outside. Every. Single. Day. In the rain, snow and sun, we challenged ourselves to learn new outside activities. We hiked, biked, surfed, skated, rucked, shot, climbed, rowed, fished, exercised and explored every historical site, light house and park in the tri-state area. Even when the government shut down public outdoor places, we would find obscure areas to explore. We made getting outside an adventure. It didn’t matter what we did as long as we were together.
The moment we started our adventures, our family became healthy again. We were happier despite the world’s decline. We became a formidable force where anything was possible as a family, so much so that our friends and family were excited to read about our adventures online as if our lives were an inspiring novel of making lemonade from lemons. The positivity of our adventures and bloopers while learning new skills was contagious. Suddenly, other families started their own adventures, creating a culture of building family bonds through healthy activity and positive thinking.
Posting our adventures online was not enough, though. With the mental health of youth declining around the world, we want to make an impact on all teens. Out of that determination, Java Beard’s mission was born. A percentage of all Java Beard net profits supports organizations who provide experiences to decrease teen suicide, and increase a positive and active teen lifestyle.