Alicia Phillips - Educated Beards

Meet Alicia Phillips, co-founder of Educated Beards, a brand of all-natural beard and hair care essentials including oils, balms, and grooming accessories.  

The brand began in 2016 when Alicia’s husband, and Educated Beards co-founder, Kevin Leboeuf, began his transition into civilian life after 14 years in the Canadian Armed Forces. During his time in the army, Kevin wasn’t allowed to grow a beard,  and as he began to grow one for the first time, he found it itchy and uncomfortable. 

Kevin decided to try beard oils, but every time he brought home a new product, Alicia noticed the ingredients contained harsh and toxic chemicals. 

After throwing away the toxic products, Alicia used her background in holistic nutrition to do her own research and find a more natural solution. 

“First it’s education,” said Alicia, “when you’re growing hair on your face, why does it become dry, itchy, flaky?”   

She discovered that growing facial hair pulls the natural oils away from your skin, leaving it dry and itchy. Alicia created a beard oil that contains organic oils to replace the oils in your face. 

Soon after, Alicia said people started to notice Kevin’s beard and ask about the products he used.  
 
“There didn’t seem to be a company out there that had both all natural, safe, conscious, ingredients and also really nice branding,” said Alicia.  

Soon after the couple launched their natural products, beards around the country began using Educated Beards.  

As of now, Educated Beards can be found in 3500 locations across Canada, the United States, and soon in the European Union. 
 
Alicia said the resources at Planet hatch made a difference in their entrepreneurial journey. They went through the Sales Accelerator twice to help them boost sales in the United States and Europe. She said the resources at Planet Hatch gave them access to human resources specialists, lawyers, accountants, and other experts that would otherwise be difficult and costly to access as a start-up. 
 
“Having access to things like that when we were a very early company made a huge difference to where we are today."  
 
Alicia said they are also thankful to the Fredericton community and the general support for start-up businesses like theirs, despite the hardships of the COVID-19 Pandemic. 
 
“If you want to start a business, this is where you need to be.” 

For more information about Educated Beards, click here.