From Barber Chair to Wellness Brand: Why I Created Pure Rebel
From Barber Chair to Wellness Brand: Why I Created Pure Rebel
For over a decade, I stood behind the barber chair listening, learning and watching people walk in carrying the weight of the world on their shoulders to walking out feeling lighter.
Hair was never just hair to me.
It was identity.
It was confidence.
It was therapy without the clipboard.
But Pure Rebel didn’t begin as a business idea.
It began as survival.
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Recovery Changed the Way I Looked at Everything
Pure Rebel was created early in my recovery journey from drugs and alcohol.
Like many people in early sobriety, I dove deep into research and not casually, but obsessively. I wanted to understand exactly how drugs and alcohol affect the body, the brain, the nervous system and long-term health.
As I learned just how toxic what I had been ingesting truly was, one question stopped me cold:
If I was intentional about what I put into my body, why wouldn’t I be intentional about what I put on my body too?
That question changed everything.
That question became Pure Rebel.
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When Healing Required Stepping Away
Early on in sobriety, I was still behind the barber chair but I wasn’t okay.
I was having consistent panic attacks while working. On the outside, I may have looked fine. On the inside, my body was screaming for rest, regulation, and healing.
I had to make one of the hardest decisions of my life:
I stepped away from the chair.
Which put not only myself but my family in the worst financial state, ever.
Not because I didn’t love barbering because I still do.
But because my health and recovery had to come first.
I needed to heal my nervous system.
I needed to feel better in my body.
I needed quiet from all the noise.
And in that space, something new began to form.
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From Ingesting Toxins to Absorbing Them
During my time away, I went down the rabbit hole and took a deep dive into everything that touches the body on a daily basis. As I learned more about how substances affect our internal systems, one realization hit me:
Our skin absorbs far more than we think.
So I started reading ingredient labels like REALLY reading them.
Soaps.
Shampoos.
Beard products.
Skincare.
If it touched the body, I researched it.
What I found was disturbing.
Harsh chemicals.
Endocrine disruptors.
Toxic fillers added to cut costs and boost profit.
Ingredients banned in other countries yet completely normalized here!
It wasn’t just shocking.
It was disgusting.
Companies knowingly choosing profit over people.
Quantity over quality.
Convenience over health.
And that never sat right with me.
Even behind the barber chair, I’ve always been about intention by giving my best, every single time. Quality mattered then, and it still does now.
So I had to ask myself:
How can I be healing my body while unknowingly coating it in things that work against me?
Why would I support companies that don’t care about what’s best for the people using their products?
That curiosity turned into obsession.
That obsession turned into research.
And that research turned into creation.
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More Than Products. It’s Purpose.
Pure Rebel started as a personal outlet, a way to channel creativity, healing and intention into something tangible.
But it quickly became something bigger.
A percentage of every product sold goes toward organizations supporting mental health awareness and drug & alcohol recovery.
Because I’ve lived it.
Because I know how isolating the fight can feel.
Because no one should feel alone in theirs.
This brand exists to remind people:
You can take care of yourself and still be unapologetically you.
Clean doesn’t mean boring.
Wellness doesn’t mean losing your edge.
Recovery doesn’t erase who you are, it reveals you, the purest version of yourself.
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This Is Just the Beginning
Pure Rebel is about choosing better without losing yourself in the process.
If you’re here, you’re part of that story now too.
Welcome to the rebellion.
Welcome to wellness, your way.
— Ashley
Founder, Pure Rebel