January 19, 2026
Hello Ferocious Fans,
Thanks for visiting my shop! Since first opening Ferocious Beard Company in 2017, I've had the pleasure of meeting so many of you either virtually or in real life at various beard competitions, vendor shows, farmer's markets or just while out and about. So some of you that follow me know that I started Ferocious Beard Company on a hope and a dream with my wife Barb. She was more than my wife, she was my best friend, my business partner, and made a great deal of Ferocious product with the same care (hell, probably even more) than I did. My favorite time was when she focused on production while I focused on marketing, social media and hosting two livestreams weekly (Collaboration Corner and Friday Night Free For All). It was a wonderful time and we both had the time of our lives making quality products for all of you!
In July of 2024 while on vacation in Florida, she started to have trouble swallowing. Thinking it was perhaps a stomach virus, we didn't really think that much of it. But after returning to Texas, we started to slowly realize over the next few weeks that she wasn't getting better. After several trips to the hospital, it became apparent that something serious was going on. Finally in late November 2024, we received devastating news. Barb had cancer. A very rare form of cancer called Signet Ring Cell Carcinoma (Essentially stomach cancer). We spent Thanksgiving at home after her last hospital discharge, and made appointments with a local oncologist to discuss options. Based on the oncologist's recommendation that she NOT pursue chemotherapy (he could tell the cancer had advanced to a critical stage) and following her heart, Barb decided that she was going to forgo chemotherapy and stay home with us.
We sat together daily for hours. She sat in the recliner and I slept on the couch waking up to give her pain medication every few hours and assist her with everything she needed to be comfortable. Unfortunately, on Monday December 16, 2024, Barb passed away in my arms. I was devastated.
https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/name/barbara-powell-obituary?id=57074332
We had been married since 2002, and had two teenagers. I was lost and needed time to cope with all that had happened and suddenly changed. I kept Ferocious Beard Company open because the business side of me thought I could keep operating fairly normally, but I had never experienced loss like this before. Meanwhile, I had to come to terms with the fact that it was now completely up to me to make sure the needs of my kids were met. And those needs had to come first. Ferocious had to take a back seat. For how long, I didn't know, but with the benefit of hindsight, I should have closed the site much earlier to avoid disappointing some customers that perhaps didn't know what had happened.
Thank GOD for Social Security to provide funds to help make sure the kids needs were being met financially.
Thank GOD Barb had smartly taken a position in County Government when we first moved to Texas in 2007 and had stayed long enough to earn a pension that suddenly became available.
Thank GOD for Costco (my employer) who graciously allowed me to step down from full time to part time in a position that allowed me to be free during the weekdays for medical appointments for the kids so that I could keep the amazingly affordable medical benefits Costco provides its employees.
Thank GOD for friends and family that supported me during my darkest time.
Thank GOD for a special woman named Nikki who has been so comforting to me and pushed me in her gentle ways to gain the strength to see through these dark days.
Thank GOD for my customers who were graciously patient with me as I would sometimes take too long to give refunds to because I kept thinking I could get these orders out as soon as possible when I in fact just couldn't do it at the time.
I am able to keep the lights on. I am able to provide for my family. The silver lining in Barb's passing is that my relationship with my kids has become so much tighter than I could ever have hoped for. They are my everything and I couldn't be prouder of both of them.
But one thing that is abundantly clear is that time keeps moving. We're all getting older. And it is time to reopen Ferocious Beard Company. I have a new focus on my business - one of providing MY very best products at the best possible price to you. I have limited my scent selection to focus on making and sending out my products as quickly as possible to my customers.
Thank you for your 7 years of support! I look forward to providing many more years of making quality hand-crafted products to you with a smile. Life isn't always easy, and it isn't always fair. But the one thing I know is that I certainly won't give up without a fight!
Warm Regards,
Nate Powell, Owner of Ferocious Beard Company