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Michael Nivens, the founder of Dashing Devil, is committed to quality. Every product from his men’s grooming company is meticulously constructed with only natural and premium ingredients. We are so honored to feature Michael in our Business Spotlight – a series interviewing makers and designers who use and love our products. If you would like to know more about Michael and Dashing Devil, click here.
What events led you to start Dashing Devil?
I’ve been making my own soaps for years. My family is German/Norwegian and as a culture, it’s tradition to grow out your beard when you grow older. When I decided to let my beard grow out, I wanted stuff to take care of it. I researched the different oils, butters, and ingredients that would actually be beneficial to keeping it soft.
A couple of my friends would say “Wow, your beard looks really really good. What are you using?” and I would say it’s something I made. Then one day out of the blue someone said, “Why don’t you sell some of this? Everybody and their mother is selling men’s grooming products – but yours is better.” And from there, it blew up.
What was the most challenging part about owning your own business?
Self-doubt. I was my own biggest obstacle. I was so scared to make any kind of an investment. In my head I thought it was never going to work – what is going to set this apart? I was my own worst enemy.
What is the most rewarding aspect of starting Dashing Devil?
Honestly, the most rewarding thing is when people post things on Facebook or Instagram. There’s one guy who made his own picture with our logo. That was really cool.
What do you want Dashing Devil to look like a year from now?
I want the products to be better than they are right now, although right now they’re really good. But I just want people to say that this is absolutely the best product.
I use Evermine because:
Evermine allowed me to start with a small amount of labels. I looked everywhere that did product labels. But because I was starting small, the last thing I wanted was a huge amount of labels that wouldn’t be used.
I was so happy with the quality of the labels. They don’t leave the paper residue and people just love the template that I picked. The fact that Evermine is here in Portland is just the icing on the cake.
Do you use Evermine for your business? We want to hear from you! Send an email to info@evermine.com with the subject BUSINESS FEATURE and include your name, business, and website.
Margaret is a graphic designer from Houston, Texas. She now lives in Portland, Oregon where she collects house plants, reads memoirs of funny people, and explores independent shops.
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