 This is Mike with the 21 report behind the scenes in Orlando, Florida for the 21 convention 2017 10-year anniversary event. I'm sitting alongside George Bruno George. Thanks for being here and welcome to the show Pleasure. So George you just got off stage and you spoke about the true face of modern masculinity And before we dive into some questions. I've got written down Could you give everyone a brief overview of your talk and why you chose to talk about this idea of the modern face of masculinity? Yeah Everybody's different Every every man is different and every man can be masculine no matter what his features are if he is considered Classic handsome or if he doesn't consider himself handsome at all every guy depending on how he cares for his skin and his hairstyle can Exude masculinity Which is important for a man to do and it distinguishes him from everyone else And it has a big effect on his success in life as well because Men that are masculine tend to do better in business. They tend to make more money Awesome. So what are some of the mistakes you see guys making when it comes to not only, you know haircuts But facial hair and also skin care. I Think what it's their choice of stylist or barber that they go to they need to think a little more do a little more research and do more homework What I find is There's so many what I would call one size fits all types of barbers and stylists out there You need to find someone who works best with your hairstyle doesn't work in an assembly line fashion doesn't do Two on the side and four on top type haircuts haircuts are based upon many factors and not just a Clipper blade they're based upon face shape length of neck How tall the person is what they do for a living how much time are they willing to commit to styling that hairstyle and that beard and also How committed are they to you learning how to use the proper product So you mentioned finding a good barber Are there any specific questions that you'd recommend? Men can ask their barber to determine if it's the right barber for them first thing would be appointment or walk-in That's the first question. Yeah, I tend to find that those who Take appointments. This is just my experience because I've sat in over 260 Barbers and stylist chairs in my lifetime. I go to a different person almost every time so I've Probably Experienced more stylists and barbers than anyone that I know and I've seen good and bad and the reason why I do it People say are you willing to risk a bad haircut? I'm like, yeah, you know, it's it's hair. It'll grow back It's not like I'm asking them to you know, take off a hand or an arm which won't grow back And I find that those who take appointments tend to spend a little more time With their clientele and I tend for most For most let's say for the for Caucasian hair straight hair. I find that those that are more skilled with scissors Create I think nicer softer Haircuts that lay nicely and they grow in beautifully whereas ethnic hair Tight takey curly hair is best cut with clippers and Not necessarily the assembly line types of barbers where it's just one after another all day. I still Completely recommend finding an appointment person. I think that's important. So in terms of growing and be it if someone wants to grow a beard What what would the one piece advice you'd give them starting out? two things When in doubt grow it out That's just let it rip. You can't trim your way to a long beard Long beard means just let it go So if I'm gonna if my goal I always ask people what is their beard goal? If their beard goal is I want to grow ZZ top. I want to grow big long giant beard Then I say okay, then don't touch it for six months I people have come to me for beard trims and I've sent them away come back in three months When you have more for me to work with or when people come with a bad beard trim they went to a chain Where are they just kind of butcher and they don't really know what to do with a beard? I can't fix something that doesn't exist So I I will tell people get some more critical mass then I can work with that So once a man has grown out his beard and he's found a bar by he's had the first trim What should his beard routine look like when he wakes up in the morning? Shower that's the first thing. I think the best cleaning is done in the shower Use a shampoo brush to clean your beard that exfoliates the skin. That's underneath the beard and helps it go Go away. I mean when you're taking a shower the water is going on your face and just you Basically, if you don't have a shampoo brush Then just take a regular hair brush and go through the beard to the skin and go in little circles That loosens up the dead skin and it washes away second thing is Don't use soap or shampoo on your beard use if you're going to use any kind of shampoo. Let it be a baby shampoo Which is not harsh and it won't wash away all the beautiful oils, which is mother nature's conditioner To the beard a lot of people will dry out their beard So what I recommend is co-washing six days and then using a cleanser one day. So there's your seven-day Routine co-wash is just short for conditioner wash So you're just using a conditioner in the same way that you would use shampoo it removes environmental Matter and particulate matter from the beard if you're out working on a road crew you're working construction. You're going to get dirt metal chips grass stones Road dust things like that in your beard If you're working a dirty job, then obviously you have to Use a cleanser more often But for the average guy who's not digging ditches or getting dirt in his beard six days of co-washing one day With a cleanser. Okay, and in terms of beard oil Do you recommend it if so? When is the best time to apply it right after the shower right after you towel dry what I like to do is? Hair is is like cigars Hair is like a cigar a cigar is best at 70% humidity and 70 degrees Humidors are best are optimized at 70 degrees and 70% humidity hair is the same way if you take a cigar a Dry cigar and squeeze it. It'll go crunch and up bounce back a good properly humidified cigar is spongy It it kind of bounces back after you squeeze hair is the same way hair is exactly like cigars 70 degrees and 70% humidity is the perfect environment, but we don't live in a perfect environment. So What happens is when you are in the shower your Hair on your head and the hair in your face absorbs water when you come out of the shower The moisture content is about 90% in your beard absorbed moisture while you are in the shower Towel dry then put in your beard oil What that does is it coats the hair while it's at 90% moisture and It doesn't allow it to escape a Moisturized beard is a softer beard. So that's the power of beard oil and put it all through just everywhere And then I tell people go get dressed Come back in front of the mirror put the beard balm in to shape the beard and protect it So let's paint a picture here. Let's say you're stranded on a desert island and you're allowed to You want you want to look good on this island? You're allowed to bring one tool like a hairbrush or something like that and one Kind of product. What would you pick and why? I would pick a Boar bristle brush, which is natural bristles They help spread the oil and that leads me to my second thing beard oil Yeah, so George and this was your first time speaking at the 21 convention. Yes How is your experience been so far compared to maybe other events you've been to in the past? Yeah, I've been to a lot of a lot of events and I've spoken in front of many many conventions and conferences and over the decades and I was here for all four days and I Met many people last night who thought I was an attendee and not a speaker because I've been here right from the first day People just thought I was just Like them just sitting around so And being a student of people I saw I saw how this Gathering meets the needs of men It It raises up those That might be more frail There's guys here That have been divorced for years like myself There's guys who just got divorced and the and the wound is raw and They're hurting and they're in pain. I saw some guys in tears one one day and because certain certain things will touch touch a guy Different concepts will speak to men differently not everyone responds to the same thing for some It's getting them back to feeling normal for those that are already quote-unquote normal and feeling well I see that it gets them to be higher performance men Optimizing their lives and the popular phrases to help them be the best version of themselves And and I've seen it the whole man is being Addressed here everything from outside to inside and how to deal with chaos and and when things don't go your way and the things that make us uniquely a man a Female could come here and not Get the same message that a man men get it when they come here So I highly recommend Everyone and I was really really happy to see so many married men here and the concepts Can be practiced and embraced by guys who are in great healthy relationships It's not just everyone who had a bad experience It's guys who have thriving marriages who want to be even better and that's what I like awesome So before we wrap this up George and if people want to learn more about you more about your work Where's the best place or places they can go ah very good? Okay? Well my website is George Bruno comm if you want to email me its GB at George Bruno comm You can find me on Instagram at George a Bruno Twitter at George Bruno And if you want to do business with me you can find me on LinkedIn as well I find that to be a much more serious site for doing business for doing joint ventures strategic alliances and If I can be a spokesperson for you or work with you or work with your team just reach out to me on LinkedIn I'd be more than happy to do that Awesome. So George once again. Thank you for being here. This has been Mike with George Bruno for the 21 report Thank you