We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Emery Sumberlin a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Emery , appreciate you joining us today. Alright, so you had your idea and then what happened? Can you walk us through the story of how you went from just an idea to executing on the idea

We started Gold Link Beard Company in 2018. My business partner (Broderick Williams), and I (Emery Sumberlin) both worked as Academic College Advisors for a high school in Texas. We shared the same office space, and would always talk about business ideas. At that time I owned a carpet cleaning company, that was doing pretty well; but I was not enjoying the work. So, one day we talked about beard care and our own grooming routines, and it was like a light bulb flickered in the room. We started hashing out ideas about selling beard products online. It was organic, as we started to research the business by looking at Beard Brands that sold products online. We started to formulate a plan on how we would could get into the business. We agreed that we needed a cool logo, we both had intermediate skills in Graphic Design so we created a logo that we thought was marketable but simple to the eye. Next, we needed to find a company that would make the products. Again, with online research I found a company in California that specialized in grooming products. Broderick had more knowledge in reference to ingredients and functions of beard care than I did. But I knew how I wanted to label and advertise once we found a company that could bring our vision to life, and create a quality product according to our standards. We started with three products, which was a beard oil, beard balm and shampoo. Once we received the samples of what we created, we knew we had something special. We then created a website, and started to market those three products. We created Beard Kits, and presented them as gift sets for men. Attending vendor fairs, and marketing online. Our next phase was to get more exposure, so one day walking in the mall, I noticed small kiosk selling different products, jewelry, lotions, cologne, but no one sold beard care products. By that time, I had sold my carpet cleaning business, and started to do Real Estate. This gave us leverage in reference to putting money into the business, instead of getting a loan. Our online sales were not good as we struggled with the marketing side of things, but we noticed we did well at vendor fairs. We would literally sale out, so we knew if customers could see our products in person, they would want to try it based on our catchy logo, color scheme, and labels on bottles. So in 2023 we invested in a Mall Kiosk, customized it in black with Gold trim and started selling our products in Parks Mall, located in Arlington Texas. Now we have over 10 different beard products, and accessories for men that we sell onsite and online.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

We’d love to share our story with you!

Our journey into the male grooming industry was not unexpected at all, but it has been filled with passion for our products, providing outstanding customer service, great community, and our personal brand enhancement too, the male grooming market. It all started when we were in our classroom talking about, what else to men talk about? Our beards and what we do to make sure they are healthy and look good! With that we stumbled upon the idea of creating a brand that offers stylish and high-quality all natural male grooming products.

We realized that there was a gap in the market for products that not only looked great but also delivered exceptional quality. We wanted to provide men with grooming options that were on trend and fashionable, while still meeting their needs for effective grooming solutions.

What sets Gold Link Beard Co. apart from others in the industry is our attention to detail and our keen eye for forward-moving trends. We understand that grooming is a form of self-expression, and we strive to offer products that help our customers achieve their desired look and feel confident in their own skin.

But it’s not just about the products for us. We also place a strong emphasis on outstanding customer service. We believe that every interaction with our customers is an opportunity to build a lasting relationship. We value and respect how hard someone works for their money, and we want to make sure that every product they purchase from us is worth every penny.

One thing we are incredibly proud of is the journey we’ve taken to bring Gold Link Beard Co. to life. It all started with a creative dreamer, and a highly motivated doer. We’ve poured our hearts and souls into this business, working tirelessly to turn our vision into a reality and we are blessed to see it grow.

What sets us apart is not just our work ethic, but also our ability to have fun along the way. We understand that every day may not be ideal, but we approach each challenge with a positive mindset and an unwavering determination to succeed. We believe that we have the power to write our own story and create a brand that truly resonates with our customers.

So, if you’re looking for stylish and quality male grooming products, exceptional customer service, and a brand that is passionate about what they do, look no further than Gold Link Beard Co. We’re here to help you look and feel your best, and we can’t wait to embark on this grooming journey with you!

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

At Gold Link Beard Company we pride ourselves on customer service. We took the traditional route of building our brand through vendor fairs and face-to-face interaction with potential customers at Parks Mall. We have a strong reputation in our local community because our team members have been trained to have transparent communication with customers. We also ensure that our products and services consistently meet or exceed customer expectations. This includes sending out a text message to our customers shortly after a purchase, which allows them to rate and leave a review about our products or shopping experience. We respond to each message, and if there is an issue we immediately do our best to met the customer needs. We foster brand loyalty, and make sure we listen to what our customers need when it comes to the men’s grooming industry.

We’d love to hear your thoughts about selling platforms like Amazon/Etsy vs selling on your own site.

We sell products online using Woocommerce platform which host our website and also links to facebook, instagram. We choose to use this platform in 2018, as it was the most cost effective option at the time. The platform has all the functions of Shopify, but can be a little more complex at times. There is no monthly fee to use this platform and it has all the functions of any other provider. The negative aspect of using Woocoomerce, is that it can be overwhelming at times. It’s not the most user friendly platform so we have had to hire professional help to execute a function that can be easily done on another platform.

Contact Info:

• Website: Goldlinkbeardco.com
• Instagram: @goldlinkbeardco
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GoldLinkBeardCo

Image Credits
Alex J. Martin