A new year means NEW BEARDS! Meet 2013's Mr. January...Manuel from good old Texas! Mannie has attended several colleges including Blinn College, Sul Ross State (Harvard on the Hill), Seattle Central Community College, Texas A&M University, and Sam Houston State University. He and his beard currently spend their days managing a Smoothie King franchise. Mannie shared that his secret to his burly beard is a Gladiator Protein shake! He is a self taught guitarist and has been playing since he was thirteen. Some bands that Mannie and the beard rock out to are Tool, Pantera, Tiesto, Wu-tang Clan, Bjork, and Megadeth to name a few! Keep reading to learn more about Mr. Flores and the beautiful hairs that grow on his chinny-chin-chin!
Read on to learn more about the beard!
Name: Manuel Enrique Flores (Mannie)
Age: 30
How long have you been growing your beard?: I've always rocked some kind of facial over the years. This is the first time I've rocked a full beard and its been growing for one year and four months! Minus the great mustache massacre in Charleston in May, but the 'stache is back and here to stay.
Why are you growing your beard?: I would say I am growing my beard for reasons of general awesomeness. I find it to be perfectly natural and shows a certain level of commitment. I also grow it to break down the social barriers and negative perceptions revolving around facial hair. I enjoy demonstrating to the world that Beard people are awesome and shouldn't be judged by appearance but rather the content of their character. I was also personally inspired to grow my beard in large part due to Bryan Nelson and Aarne Bielefeldt. They had rad f****** beards and were humble in character. I knew I had to have the same.
Have you won or placed in any competitions?: Yes I have. I won 3rd place in full beard groomed in Richmond, VA. I also have won 2nd place in Lansing, Michigan for the GAFBO competition for full beard groomed. It took awhile before I won any competitions and for anyone out there who is hesitant to compete it is definitely worth it. You not only gain confidence in yourself but you also make so many friends along the way. This year alone I have traveled to places I wouldn't have dreamed of going and met the most amazing people who I now consider some of my best friends. Even though it is a competition and you are there to try and place, you will get the ultimate satisfaction from the camaraderie and amazing times you'll have amongst "bearded people like you".
How did you find out about the bearding community?: I randomly heard about the show Whisker Wars on IFC when it first started airing. I started watching and was instantly hooked and inspired. That was later followed with the whole online Beard Networking with Facebook groups/clubs, Twitter, Instagram etc...
Do you belong to any beard club?: I most certainly do belong to a Beard Club. I am a proud co-founder of The North Texas Beard Alliance along side with William (wicked freestyle one eye) Ruffin. You can catch us on Facebook, @TxBeard on twitter, northtexasbeardalliance.com, and reach us at
Is shaving anywhere in your future(I hope not!)?: I can say with all honesty, that I have absolutely no intentions of shaving my beard in this lifetime. You can take that to the bank Jack!
What is the best compliment your beard has received?: "Say man, I lived in the Haight Ashbury district in the 1960's and with your beard you remind me of a young Jerry Garcia." - Old Hippie Guy customer of mine. I felt proud, what can i say.... That's the Grateful F****** Dead, enough said.
Are there any competitions that we can find you at in the near future?: You will certainly find me doing these Bearding events in 2013: Next month the Austin Facial Hair Club will be hosting Come and Shave It 7 Live at The Mohawk. Then there's the 2nd Annual Northwest Louisiana Beard & Moustache Comp in Shreveport, LA. The 2nd Annual Mid-Atlantic Beard & Moustache Championships by the RVA Beard League in Richmond, VA. I will try and make HCBMS in Charleston S.C. again. Then there is the Holy Grail of Beard Comps that I will be making in November - which is The World Beard and Moustache Championships 2013 in Stuttgart, Germany. Get your popcorn ready!!! If I could, I would make it to every Beard Comp possible and in the rare case some crazy loaded rich person reads this and wants to sponsor my trips... give me holler. You can find me on the interwebs!
A nice word from Mannie: I would also like to share that I have done alot of growing as a person since I've started growing my beard. Growing in terms of acceptance, tolerance, and appreciation of people and a love of mankind. I've found that just because people are different its not that they are weird but rather that maybe we just haven't found a way of understanding them. I try to be the best person I can be and allow others to feed off that energy as well as letting me feed of theirs when I am down. We are only on this planet for a short period of time so I find that it is essential to use our energy in a positive manner. I like helping others out as well as people in my community for the simple fact that its easy and I truely enjoy how it makes me feel. I laugh when folks ask me about my beard and the places it has taken me with the recognition I get. I feel I am the same person - the only thing that has changed is I stopped shaving, and folks remember me for that simple fact.
Bearding is awesome and it's my way life now. I wouldn't trade it for the world. Hell, I'm typing this interview smiling and laughing because a smoking hot girl asked me to, because of why? That's right, my beard folks. In closing I would just like to say thank you for allowing me to tell you a little about myself. I feel honored to be Jenny's Beard of the Month in the Bro Council. So I leave you with this last bit of Mannie Beard Wisdom, "Don't try to be different, just try to be good... that is different enough" Peace!
Congratulations to Mannie, our January 2013 Beard Of The Month! If you are interested in throwing your own beard in the ring, contact us here.