About Us
“Nichole and I got married very young. Both 21 years old, we moved out on our own, with the help of our parents and a best friend, completely broke and trying to navigate our way in the world. Eventually I landed a sales job at a local car lot after wrenching on cars for several years to scrape by. It was at that point I knew I had to do something about my look and really clean myself up. Working on a hot black top pavement all day meant that virtually nothing could hold my hair in the heat so I decided I wanted to create something specifically for my situation. By this time I had formed a good relationship with my barber in downtown Flint, Michigan who was really encouraging me to go forward with crafting an entire line of products. Word spread, and more and more people wanted to try out what I had created so we opened up a simple Etsy page just so we could get our products into our friends hands. From there, customers from all over the world starting asking for specific products and giving critique for product enhancement in their region of the world.
It's very important to us that we're able to create products that can be used by any person, any walk of life, any part of the world.
The feedback we received led to more product development out of our own kitchen, and to pretty rapid growth. At this point we had created a healthy following organically online and that helped to form the Facebook group ‘Everything Pomade’ where we gathered even more feedback directly from our customers. We quickly grew our wholesale business across the globe, and I was finally able to quit my car sales job and jump into Lockhart’s full time. After welcoming Nichole’s sister into our home, and growing our product line and complexity, as well of number of accounts we were serving, the home kitchen was just no longer feasible. So, we opened up our own Apothecary in downtown Perry, MI (population: 2,000).
I think our story is very unique as it really is a rag to riches story (I use the terms riches loosely of course haha!).
Some of the different things that we really enjoy doing is hybridizing products, or at least experimenting with hybridizing products and seeing what comes of it. There's a lot of trial and error that goes into the process, but that normally results in very unique formulations that you wouldn't find from any big lab production facility. I like to view the craft as an art form and the products really are my canvas. I'm actually a nationally recognized Stuckist artist and used to be an avid painter and sketch artist. Now that we have two young daughters, I no longer have the time or energy to paint so I pour all of my creativity into my products.
We have a strong belief that supporting others will result in success for everyone in the long run. Both professionally and personally.
You will find many of our “competitors” products on our site because we believe that a strong and flourishing pomade market leads to success for everyone. As they say ‘A high tide raises all ships.’ I’ve always compared the pomade market to the local Flint metal music scene that I grew up in. The bands that supported each other, stuck around for everybody’s sets, promoted each other on social media (myspace back then…), and purchased each others demos and merch were the bands that received the most love from their fans and always seemed to be enjoying themselves much more than the elitists who turned their noses to the openers. That’s why we always want a strong and vibrant pomade community. One that will challenge everyone to always get better and create more unique and creative formulas. That’s the beauty of it all. The connections and friendships made. We hope to connect with as many of our fans as possible.”
-Steve Lockhart
