The recent pandemic period brought with it several compelling shifts within the eCommerce landscape. Be it with the rise of digital-first mediums, or the massive growth of the small-business owners community – the last couple of years have been a time of constant evolution for business owners.

In the midst of all the changing shifts and tides, also came out the movement to support local, and women-owned business. The smaller communities across the globe took this time of transit to truly come into their own. With digital resources becoming more accessible by the day, as well as a change of focus in buyer-attitudes towards locally-run brands – it’s not surprising that the pandemic gave birth to over 4 million businesses with a direct to consumer eCommerce model.

Recently, we caught up with one such business owner, who found her entrepreneurial calling during the pandemic. Jaime Johnston, the founder of Goddamn Man Co. – a beard-care brand that’s made with the central idea to make self-care and grooming more fun, and accessible for men.

The edgy founder opened up to us about several interesting aspects of the journey she paved to build a successful men’s grooming range, being a woman. She circled down upon a myriad of factors that define the paths charted by female business owners of today – from the importance of staying prepared – to the necessity of staying authentic, and the value of giving back to the community. 

Read ahead to get a better insight into Jaime’s story – 

The initial years, in Jaime’s words :

I grew up in a rural setting, with an abundance of forest lands and lush landscapes where I spent a lot of my time growing up. My family wasn’t that well-to-do, so we didn’t necessarily have access to many things that I do today. We stayed very close to our outdoor surroundings, my four siblings and I. Running around the forests, playing in the woods was a big part of my childhood years, and a time that I truly cherish when I look back.

For my education, my parents sent me to a Catholic high school. I think my time and experiences there changed my life for the better. It wasn’t so much to do with Catholicism but it was a college prep. high school, which really changed my trajectory. I ended up going to college, but before that I had a child. So I took some time to raise her. After that, I went to college and got my bachelor’s degree in Family and Human Services, because I thought I wanted to be a counselor. And then, I went ahead and got a master’s degree in special education because I thought I wanted to be a teacher.

Ultimately, I decided on not doing any of those things and ended up working in disability policy for about 20 years. This led me to tour all over the country for work, as a consultant for different states, and working for disability pride policy projects.

After all my years of experience in the field, I got a job in Oregon as an executive director of a federally-funded state agency, whose mission was to do policy work to improve the lives of people experiencing disability. I continued here for nearly 7 and a half years, and then the natural thing to happen, happened. I experienced a burn-out. 

Making the shift : From retail to a full-time entrepreneur.

After I decided to take some time away from all the years of work I had put in with disability policy, I felt like doing something different from the field, and got a retail job. I was that desperate – for not just some change, but also a good break. I worked at a store for a month, and then I was let go because it wasn’t a good fit. Which, I mean, wasn’t a surprise. (giggles)
This was right before COVID hit, which came about a month later.

That time was full of uncertainty and a lot of changes, which now that I look back – worked out rather positively for me. I was able to collect unemployment, and the lockdown also left me with something I had been seeking all that while – time. I took the time I had in hand to start developing my business. I had been doing my own skincare for some years, and had also taken a few courses in aromatherapy.
For some reason, I just had this intrinsic confidence in me that said – I’m going to do this, I’m going to start my business. Things started to fall in line after.

Trial-Error : The flickery quest of finding what works for your brand.

I don’t think I put as much research as I probably should’ve before starting my business – which is what led me to take to a lot of experimentation during the initial stages.

For starters, when it came to picking out the right online platform to sell my products – I relied on the advice of people who were already running successful businesses of their own. Also, since I had bootstrapped my business – I was short on funding too. This often led me to try out ways of my own to get the job done, and look for more alternatives to solve a problem than just one.

When it came to setting-off on an online platform, I got a friend of mine to help me make a start on WordPress. It was lovely, but we quickly realised that we needed better developer skills to be able to actually use the platform optimally. So, I made the shift to Wix. It was quite easy to use and also very design-friendly, which I loved since I’ve always had an eye and interest for design.

I spent some time on Wix, experimenting and just taking it one day at a time. It was a process of its own, but then I learnt that it wasn’t the best eCommerce platform for a product-based business like mine – so I knew it was time to shift the tides, again.

Next up, we decided to take a shot with Shopify. By this time, I had found myself a community of small-business owners. This community helped me gain access to a lot of real-time insights into the whole process of what it’s like to run your own business, and run it sustainably. I had mostly heard mixed reviews about the platform, but I knew that if I wanted to give my business a bigger reach – I had to take the big leap. 

Women for women : Gaining support from the community.

I think one major aspect that I’m truly grateful for, throughout my business journey is the wonderful community of female business owners that I got to be a part of. I was fortunate to find myself a group of strong, like-minded women who were here to discuss our goals, and hold each other accountable.

Through this community, I further got access to experts – who gave me the answers to a lot of questions that I didn’t know I was even supposed to be asking in the first place. Questions on subjects like social media marketing, planning your email marketing campaigns, and inventory management.

This small community really fostered my growth as a business owner, and gave me the potent realization – that I’m not alone in this journey. There’s access to not just support, but also informative resources and guides that make the climb easier.

I had gained a lot more momentum than before, which also made me realize the importance of research, and being prepared. I went to the Small Business Development Center, took a course there, and studied their reports on market research. It helped me connect a lot of dots, and took me back to my initial days when I was mostly just relying on trial and error to know what works.

The Good Old Numbers Game :

I think the hardest part isn’t the beginning, but the tread ahead. Once your store is set-up, the website is up and running and you’re good to go – how exactly do you make the go? That’s the real test.

I wasn’t exactly experienced with managing the numbers’ game, so I took the help of an accountant to help me understand the nitty-gritties better. He made me see that in order to make a break-even, I had to sell every month. And even though sometimes we couldn’t meet the deep ends of those metrics, the information was really helpful. Eventually, I got a better hand at the process and it started to show in my sales metrics too.

There’s a lot at play when it comes to making the numbers of profit-loss work in your favour, and another crucial aspect of it is marketing. I think what I chiefly learnt in my own journey of marketing my products was that if you stay authentic to who you are and what you believe in – it shows. In order to get people to take notice of what you’re trying to say through your marketing stints – you need to believe in your product before anyone else does.

What sets Goddamn man Co. apart from the rest :

Well, first things first – it’s a men’s beard grooming product range being run by a woman. Most men’s styling or grooming businesses, even today – are run by either men, or a couple.

Our beard grooming and styling products are made keeping the contemporary man in mind. I’ve often observed that there are several skin-care alternatives for women to make use of when we find ourselves in need of one. That isn’t the case for men. More often than not, men don’t even know that there’s options out there that exist for them to be able to care better for their skin. This was also one of the core motives that led me to creating something like Goddamn Man Co.

I think it all started for me when my partner was trying to grow a beard and experienced dry, itchy skin. I decided to make some beard oils for him, and it worked! Not only did the oils smell delicious, but they made him grow a luxurious, healthy beard.
What I centrally aim to create with all my products – be it the oils, beard balms or the hand creams is a holistic grooming range that provides men with not just the option to style their beard the way they like – but also to genuinely care for their hair and skin.

I take a lot of pride in saying that my products are all eco-friendly, and all of my purchasing-sourcing and packaging is done keeping the environment in mind. A question that I constantly ask myself is – what’s the environmental impact of my choices? So, I use recyclable packaging, and only organic and ethically sourced products to answer that with a clean conscience.

I also like to get a little cheeky with my marketing stints, like I’ll put on a faux beard to pose with my product, or even the name – Goddamn Man has an edge to it and I’ve seen that it definitely gains people’s attention.

Another aspect that I’ve been able to add to my brand is authenticity. Both my husband and I ride motorcycles, so I’ve added the motorcycle design to all of our product packaging. Not just that, each of our beard oils is named after a motorcycle too! I think it’s these small bits and pieces of running your own business that make the ride so much more fun.

Final Outtakes : The importance of giving back to the community.

At the end of the day, I think an aspect that I give a lot of priority to, and one that’s reflected in every process of my business is – giving back to the community.

As a small business owner, I truly feel for others like me, who’ve built something of their own especially during the time of the pandemic. There’s been a lot of learning, and unlearning throughout the journey, and it’s really something to be able to build something constructive out of an uncertain time like that.

Whenever it’s possible for me to, I make it a priority to purchase from women-owned business, or black or indigenous persons owned collectives. I only use the more commercial alternatives when a local company doesn’t have the item(s) I’m looking for.
It matters to me that my business and it’s aligned efforts are such that they contribute to keeping the money in the community, where it’s needed most.