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“Everything but now is a story. We live for stories. Social media and the internet has become nothing but noise. Tell a story that cuts through that noise and resonates with your customer.”
Ryan Lane is the founder of Dream Beard—an e-commerce brand for hair, beard, and body products—run with his wife, Brittany. It began in 2012 as a humble experiment funded with the last $46 in their bank account. Six years later, the label was generating well over six figures in monthly sales and a cult following.
The pivot from $46 to a thriving brand started with an itch—literally. Dissatisfied with the 9-to-5 treadmill during the Great Recession, Ryan wanted more than his desk job could offer. After long talks, he and Brittany quit, left Ohio for Atlanta, and moved in with her dad. They applied to hundreds of jobs. Rather than wait, Ryan decided to build something of his own.
At the time he sported a "short corporate beard" that itched like mad. Off-the-shelf remedies failed: harsh formulas, bad fragrances, lots of promises, few results. So he began mixing essential oils at the dining table, testing blends on himself, then sharing with friends, who shared with their friends. The idea snapped into focus: a product designed for the problems of real beard growth.
Timing helped. Facial hair was shifting from a tentative five-o'clock shadow into a lumbersexual wave, while beard-specific oil blends scarcely existed. With $46 and a borrowed table, Ryan opened an Etsy shop and named the brand Dream Beard. He wanted a lifestyle company with durable products, honest voice, and community. The strategy: avoid big ad spends, make something great, and let word of mouth carry it.
He immersed in beard culture—bands with beards, artists with beards, beard meetups and competitions. Social media was ascending, so he posted relentlessly, encouraged user photos, and stayed in the comments. In year one, Dream Beard sold roughly 30,000 bottles of its signature oil. By 2018, cumulative sales approached a million bottles across more than thirty-five countries. Celebrity fans turned up—Kid Rock among them, as well as ZZ Top's famously bearded Texans.
Growth required infrastructure. Ryan and Brittany moved from the in-law's house into a place with a roomy basement to fill orders and store supplies. They hired a few team members who believed in the mission and could keep production, packing, and customer care on track. Ryan's own "business beard" became a visual shorthand for the brand, growing into a waist-long, braided statement he declined to trim because it felt off-brand.
The marketing engine stayed scrappy and direct. Ryan posted on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, building a combined audience north of 400,000. He treated social as both billboard and hotline: previews of new scents, tutorials, grooming Q&A, and real-time support. A live-chat widget gave customers instant access and converted at around 90% among those who engaged.
Dream Beard's origin resonated because it filled a gap: a high-quality, good-smelling solution to a common pain point in an under-served niche. Product led, community amplified, and momentum compounded—those were the levers. Ryan avoided paid advertising early, proving fit with organic demand before layering in collaborations and limited releases.
In 2017 he expanded into media with a podcast, Life Gets Hairy—conversations about business, parenting, etc. Within the first month the show cracked Apple's top 200, and monthly listeners grew to nearly half a million, giving Dream Beard another channel to reach and retain its audience.
Operationally, the Lanes kept refining. They standardized formulas, tightened supplier relationships, and dialed in fulfillment while protecting the handmade feel. Feedback from social and chat guided small improvements—dropper design, scent balance, packaging tweaks—without losing the brand's core. International orders climbed as wholesale and direct channels spread the oil far beyond Atlanta.
As the company matured, so did Ryan's perspective. He became a father and began distributing his energy more deliberately, exploring ways to contribute beyond "the beard guy" while maintaining what made the brand special. Dream Beard remained a testament to starting scrappy, listening obsessively, and building a culture around something as simple—and as stubborn—as an itchy face.
Looking back, the arc is clear. A pair of newly unemployed spouses took a $46 risk at a dining-room table and created a category-defining beard-care line during a cultural moment ready for it. They leveraged timing without faking authenticity, grew through community instead of massive ad budgets, and turned customer conversations into a product roadmap. The result: a seven-figure-plus annual business with global reach, a loyal base of bearded evangelists, and a founder whose own beard became the mascot.
What comes next is still forming. Ryan is focused on family and on widening his creative lane while keeping Dream Beard healthy. The lesson is straightforward: identify the itch, solve it better than anyone else, and build the kind of brand people want to talk about. Then keep showing up. The rest—followers, press, celebrity nods, and monthly revenue that dwarfs the original bank balance—flows when a small, honest solution meets a big, eager market.
Listen to today's episode to learn more...
