We recently connected with Mike Wiseman and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Mike thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Let’s kick things off with talking about how you serve the underserved, because in our view this is one of the most important things the small business community does for society – by serving those who the giant corporations ignore, small business helps create a more inclusive and just world for all of us.

We host a lot of charity events. Our next one is in two weeks in Ohio we have 5 bands playing and a 10 category beard competition, it will benefit the Cooper and Thomas Animal Rescue. Just last month we hosted a benefit for a local girl named Kayleigh who had a rare and terminal DIPG BRAIN TUMOR Where we raised over $3000 for the family, unfortunately Kayleigh passed a few weeks after the event and her funeral was this week (sorry that’s why it took so long to respond)

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

My name is Mike aka Hemp Wizard. I’m one of the owners of HEMP WIZARD BEARD and SKIN CARE. I have 3 degrees one of them is in chemistry. I am a beard enthusiast, and I’ve been making my own beard products for years. I shared some with my friends and they loved it next thing you know they are telling their friends and they started wanting to buy it. So me and my buddy Joe were looking into hemp plastics, we had the engineering done, including the step files we had a production facility that was going to manufacture them for us, but then we ran into having to get the molds made and that was going to be millions of dollars and that was a risk we just couldn’t take even if we would have been able to raise the funds for that. We were super bummed out and it hit me why not start a website and see what I can do with my beard products. So I called Joe and I started telling him my idea and the name of the business, the first 4 scents we were going to do, and that I was going to do some more research and break every ingredient to their molecular structures and consult some friends in the medical field, and came up with what we feel is a blend that is not only super absorbent, but provides superior hydration optimizing the benefits of each of the carrier oils to provide (for lack of a better term) health benefits for both the beard and skin. So once we did all of that and ordered supplies to start with, designed some labels and started a website. At first it was just friends and family and it was kind of slow for a while, but then a YouTube reviewer somehow got a hold of our products and did a review on them and he gave us some criticism about the labels (which we appreciated because it made us better) but what impressed him was the quality of the product. We got some sales from that and we redesigned our labels. Then something happened that changed us forever. Greg Frazer drummer for a progressive death core band called Walking Corpse Syndrome (a band I was already a big fan of) found our products and started using them. One day Greg reached out to me and asked me if I had ever thought about doing a cedar scent, because that was one of his favorite scents and as we talked back and forth it turned into me releasing a scent with him. Oh also btw Greg is also a member of the Montana State Legislature Next thing you know his brother Shawn (also in the band) about a scent he liked so we did one for him as well. Next thing you know we are working with more and more band as well as podcast. Bands like Black Sasquatch (who is about to go into the studio to record a song called “The Wizard” and I’ve been sending them footage to edit into the video they are going to film for it).Phestur (just released an album earlier this year that I designed the album art for). SoHi who has a new song coming out and rumor has it a few variations of my logo make a brief appearance in the video. Ryder who just released a new live album. sevVven who we were set to debut a scent with at the Throwdown at the Campground Festival. Sour Mash String Band, a progressive bluegrass band who are fantastic musicians. Podcast include Musicians Hangout a music podcast based out of Seattle, both host are in bands. Licking County Metal Heads a music podcast that features independent rock and metal bands, fun fact the host Roy went to the same highschool I did. The Hard Rock N Sports Show out of New York City. We host charity events both online and in person. We have a scent where part of the proceeds goes to the Jasmine Nyree Campus. We have done events for veterans charities. We just hosted a benefit for a local 13 year old girl named Kayleigh who sadly passed a few weeks after the event. In just a few weeks I’m going to Ohio to have a benefit for the Copper and Thomas Animal Rescue. What sets us apart from other companies is we don’t because we love it and our formula was created for optimal health benefits for your health and skin, we don’t follow trends, we don’t resort to cheap sales tactics like limited edition scents, we connect with a lot of our customers we have a commitment to quality and customer service, we do things to help out others. We have helped raise more money for charity than we have made as a company, and I’m very proud of that, and that alone makes me richer than any monetary value can ever have. There is so much more but this is already long.

Have you ever had to pivot?

There are so many, but most recently they benefit for KAYLEIGH, originally we had Whey Jennings (Waylan’s grandson) but there was an an unintentional breach of contract by Wheys management so that fell through and we had to scramble and get replacement. Musical acts to play for it. But there is always going to be something that comes up and you always have to be prepared to switch gears and adapt.

How’d you meet your business partner?

Joe and I met through the vaping industry, we have known each other for about 9 years. We are best friends in fact the benefit I some of a few times for Kayleigh well she is Joe’s daughter and I took this one very personal because I know his entire family.

Contact Info:

• Website: Hempwizard.net
• Instagram: Hemp_Wizard_Beard_Care_Co
• Facebook: Hemp Wizard Beard Care Co but I use my personal note
• Youtube: Hemp Wizard Beard Care Co
• TikTok: Hemp_Wizard