Sean Eadie

 Sean Eadie is a legendary Australian track cyclist whose infamy is based on the awesome power of his legs and the rugged style of his beard. Eadie was born in Sydney, Australia in 1969 and competed as a track cyclist from 1990 to 2005.

He earned several medals, broke the 2002 Commonwealth Games record for a flying 200 meter, and forever changed the common perception of the relationship between facial hair and aerodynamics. When asked if he thought his beard was slowing him down, Eadie replied, “[I] won the team sprint..., won the world’s—[the beard] wasn’t too counter productive!"

Eadie’s beard also gave him an edge in his other career as a kindergarten teacher: the reverent students called him “Mr. Gorilla.” Nobody messes with Mr. Gorilla—certainly not if he is the one teaching you the ABCs or challenging you to a championship race.

The Buddy System

Bill Alley, Broadcast Host, Producer & Beard Advocate

Motivation comes in many forms: a goal, plan or destination; a cause or purpose...all are great when you need to move from indecision to action. That is how I’ve lasted with facial hair (and especially that ‘virgin moustache’) since the early 70s. Once I stopped plucking the thicker whiskers—embarrassed to have them at age 14 at first—that became the start of the mental flip necessary to embrace manhood and let childhood quietly die. All that was accomplished without beard clubs or contests; I had a vision and a neighbor as role model.

Since 2005 the maturing of the beard movement finds itself at age 14 with endless resources available; just point and click, search a word or phrase, and “voila!”: bearded folk and groups with extensive support and knowledge come to view – and as a bonus, there’s plenty of cheerleading and beard love from the masses.

Here’s where the Buddy System can be personalized: you can make this a ‘together’ journey with a buddy who is at the same starting point. Growth plans often work when one guy gets frustrated and the other stays focused because of that inner manly battle to succeed. You have the option to ‘game it up’ for fun; do a bit of philanthropy and make your beard growth a charity event. It’s amazing how many Movember men keep growing past their intended goal. Professional beard experts are there to help at legendary websites like Jeff’s Beard Board and Beards.org who are great mentors. The Bearded Brotherhood is always there to achieve goals and foster confidence so long as you commit to your goals and the spirit of mentoring.

The Frederick Douglass ABC

by Bill Alley, Broadcast Host, Wordsmith and Beard Advocate

With the month of February upon us, Black History Month comes alive with enduring, challenging and breakthrough stories, music and art. It just so happens that this very month is a starting place, a living legend, and an epitaph of Frederick Douglass. Born February 1818 under the legal name Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey and surviving until his 77th year in 1895, his yearning for the freedom shaped his quest for breaking forced servitude far beyond his own experience.

A for Abolitionist: his quest for loosing both tongue and pen got moving while living with his new wife in his early 20s in New Bedford, Massachusetts. The Bay State, its nickname, was the first colony to adapt slavery in the 1640s. With the new nation getting down to business in becoming ‘a light on a hill’, part of that light was a cross-examination on the keeping of a servant class. Douglass was able to state his mission to remove the enslavement of not just the African; his work coincided with powerful and influential people throughout his life— especially from White politicians, Jewish and Protestant religious leaders, Women who were equally skilled orators and writers. All contributed greatly to move the public perception from the ownership of a race to the freedom of fellow Americans.

B for Beard: Douglass spent the first three decades with a shorn appearance, but by his mid-30s he was seen with a full head of straight hair and a full, stout beard. Historians and scholars record two very telling ways Black men were presenting themselves since the mid-1800s. First in style and skill, many of the enslaved were the barbers and stylists for men and women of all parts of 19th century society. History also speaks to the power and prowess of the manly whisker, viewed as scholarly, secure, and a mark of leadership quality.

C for Clergy: It was in his New Bedford rented home that Douglass found the orator’s voice within organized religion. His spiritual guidance was nurtured within the Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, the first Black denomination in the US, with notable membership in the ranks which included ladies Harriet Tubman and Sojourner Truth. Ordained in 1839, Douglass would progress through his intended mission with Bible and the Abolition movement in his heart and soul.

For more on the life of this Bearded Champion of faith and freedom here are three autobiographies, all historic artifacts which are royalty free and downloadable.

Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave at LibriBox

My Bondage And My Freedom - http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/202

Life and Times of Frederick Douglass at LibriBox