Rod, if anyone deserves to succeed it’s you, habibi. I always said you and Mandy are masters of this trade! Corinne and I send our love!
I'm not at all surprised to see Xecutive Man as #1. Course we remember Doc Ezlovan in the Maggard Meetup video saying the list-topper is "Xecutive Man by far".".
Rod, sounds like a big year for you, and I look forward to following your progress. I wish you good luck in getting your health back in order.
Thanks for the well-wishes, guys, I really appreciate it. I'm hopeful that the new projects will work out. We're just trying our best to diversify and build a company that is sustainable for the long haul. Mandy and I really love our lifestyle and being able to work together everyday and spend time with our sons everyday. I don't think I could ever do anything different. However, I'm fully aware that even with how relatively inexpensive we are, we are super expensive compared to a bar of ivory soap and a can of barbasol. If there's an economic downturn, which there always will be at some point, we will lose customers who go back to the commercial stuff. I just want to diversify enough that we hopefully can survive anything and come out stronger when the next boom cycle of the economy comes up.
Thank you very much. Mandy is not happy with me right now as she wants me to go get my blood pressure meds upped, but I know that if I do that it gets harder for my body to ever get off of them. I really just need to drop all the weight I've put on since leaving the army. That would go a long way towards solving the problems.
Trust me, I know the feeling. After our last child was born, my weight had gotten out of control, and I was very close to turning diabetic and had required back surgery. After a follow up to my surgery where the surgeon told me not to worry coming back to him if I wasn't going to do my part, and a wife who kicked me in the shorts a few times (maybe more) I finally got myself on track. It was a little effort, but I have more energy for my kids and definitely feel better. I commend anyone who is making an effort to improve their health, as I know it pays off but is also some work.
Great to see you back around @Gnomeo0228! You really make Bonaparte sound interesting. I've been good though and through all 4 of my orders I haven't gotten anything for myself. On a separate note, I finally got to use my Arkadia bath soap. Tremendous manly scent with tantalizing spice notes. Wonderful performance as always, so glad that I took a flyer on this one. Thinking about trying Stirling Gentleman soon.
Thank you very much, I really appreciate that. I have to tell you, this scent is really something special to me lol! Like I said, I think this is one of Rod's most complex scents yet, right up there with B&M!
Thank you very much! Arkadia is an AMAZING scent! One of my favorites for sure, but Gentleman is by far my Favorited from Stirling! Now Bonaparte is such a complex scent(to my nose). I really don't know how Rod does it lol!
I've mentioned before that even though I am not a personal trainer, I do know a thing or two about diet and exercise. Now, having said that, I would recommend you get the book 4 Hour Body by Tim Ferris. Excellent book with a lot of great info that's great for both men and women. PM me if you want a cliff notes version, but the book is all about the Minimum Effective Dose which can be very helpful when you're super busy as you and Mandy are these days.
That's greta to hear! I love hearing stories about people getting back into control of their health! Keep up the great work!!!!
My blood pressure is high, but I also s Good luck Rod! I’m currently coasting past the 50 lbs lost mark as we speak. I’ve been at it since last summer and feel/look great. I started out using the Paleo/Primal lifestyle (not just a diet) but ended up fast-tracking things by going Keto. I won’t sugar coat things (pun there), it SUCKED getting started. It takes a couple weeks to get your mitochondria retrained to burn fat rather than carbs. It takes equally as long to retrain your brain that fat is your friend. I’m 48, and have been told about the evils of fat for as long as I can remember. But once “in Ketosis” life isn’t bad. No more sugar spikes and crashes. No more thinking the world might end if I’m a few hours late for a meal. I also adjusted my daily routine to maximize my success. I put coconut oil and grass Fred butter in my morning coffee at 5am, and that extends the ketosis starts during sleep. Notice how you’re seldom hungry when you first wake up? That’s ketosis. Then a few hours later, around 1030-11am I have breakfast. I cook it at work, either in the office or on the tailgate..........three fried eggs and two ounces of pepper jack. Then I’m full until dinner. I eat dinner (more fat and protein) at least four hours before bedtime, then get eight hours sleep. Sleep is the biggest “health hack” there is! It’s not a hidden secret, but us Type A’s tend to blow it off! Anyway, the dinner/sleep routine builds in a painless 12hr fast..........which carries through to breakfast the next mid-morning. The hardest thing for me is the constant reminder that sugar and processed carbs (all grains) are the enemy. I have to view it like booze........enjoyable, but counterproductive to health goals. The next hardest thing is leaving my daily routine to visit family. ME and my new cultish diet are definitely the center of conversation. I just share the knowledge I have, let the results speak for themselves, and explain that I’m not looking for attention, I just have a goal and want to see family too. I also found a great free phone app called Fat Secret which tracks my daily macro nutrients. It’s super helpful. I’d like to slowly switch over to Paleo now, but really have to watch out for carb overload even with whole vegetables. The 50+ lbs have all been shed with going to the gym or running. Just living a very stressful career and life. I need to develop an exercise program I can stick to before introducing carbs again. My primary reason for dumping the weight was the visceral (hidden) fat I know I must have had. I also stumbled into a copy of Diabetes For Dummies for about ten minutes and was given a wake up call. I’m two years from retiring from my first career, and my health is the only thing I can truly influence in my favor. My seven year old son is the most incredible thing in my life, and I want to be healthy and capable to do things with him, rather than fat, slow, tired, or dead. My blood pressure is still high (always has been) but I view medication like you do. Lifestyle/work is the cause, and I can see the finish line from here, so I’m going to keep tweaking things naturally. I wish you all the best Rod. I’d strongly recommend Primal Blueprint by Mark Sisson. It’s loaded with good information, and a balance of technical and easy to understand explanations and stories. You can pick and choose as you see fit for your situation. Good luck and Merry almost Christmas. Jason
My wife gave me an idea.....what if Rod is talking about candles with his top 8 scents? Marvelous shave today with Ozark Mountain. Love this scent and it was SWMBO approved. Hence the talk of candles because she said "if they made that scent in a candle I'd want it". Got me thinking. Anyway, slick slick slick lather today and wonderful results.
Oh, Candles are coming. We've had the wax and wicks for over a year now. Just don't have the space to make them.....yet. And they will be in way more scents than 8.
