Father and Son Interview
Jaden: Dad, why did you start Standard No More?
Chad: There was really one reason, but two moments came together that ultimately got me off my butt to start this company and become part of the non-toxic movement.
The first—and I’ve talked about this before—was discovering that a grooming product I was using on myself and on my youngest son, you, Jaden, was loaded with chemicals and synthetic fragrance. That really bothered me.
That discovery led me to a brand I still really admire called Hardworking Gentlemen, which is also based here in San Diego. I used their products for years while I kicked around this idea for my own brand. I wanted to pick up the torch and build on what brands like Hardworking Gentlemen and a handful of others had started, but do it with my own philosophy, my own standards, and my own influence.
The second moment happened a few months later with your older brother, Mason.
We were driving in the car talking about life when he looked at me and asked, “Dad, you’re smart. Why are you working for other people? Why don’t you start your own company?”
He was completely serious.
Honestly, I was kind of embarrassed because I didn’t have an answer… and I knew he was right.
I’ve always had creative ideas, but for most of my life I had a habit of letting them stay ideas. I had squandered too many opportunities.
Well… not this time.
Knowing there could be better products, and believing there were probably millions of people just like me looking for safer, higher-quality grooming products, I got up one night, ordered some ingredients on Amazon, and started making pomades in the kitchen.
Just like that.
That was the beginning of Standard No More.
Jaden: Who have been your biggest influences?
Chad: Well, I already mentioned Hardworking Gentlemen, which is really the brainchild of Reid Ryan, their founder.
Another brand I’ve always liked—even though they’re not really in the same body-safe lane that we are—is Dauntless Modern Grooming by Mike Smith. I actually had the opportunity to meet Mike and his family a few months ago. We spent a long time talking about the grooming industry, branding, product development… really everything in between. It was an awesome experience. And if you remember, you had a blast hanging out and playing with his son while we talked.
Another brand I really respect is Ace High Co. out of Michigan. I think they’ve created an excellent blueprint for hair styling products, especially because of how simple and focused their formulations are. I really wanted Standard No More to embrace that same simplicity, but refine it even further using organic and naturally derived ingredients.
The last person I’d mention is Steve Lockhart from Lockhart’s Authentic. Steve makes one of my all-time favorite hair products—a matte paste called Anti-Gravity. I’ve always admired what he’s built.
I’ve learned something from each of these companies, but ultimately I wanted Standard No More to become its own thing.
Jaden: How did you come up with your formulas?
Chad: (Laughs.) That’s actually probably the second most common question I get after, “Why did you start Standard No More?”
As you know, I bootstrapped this entire company. I did everything on my own through trial and error. There have been no labs or white labeling. Everything is homegrown from the branding down to the ingredient lists.
I have a Liberal Studies degree. I don’t have a chemistry degree or any formal background in cosmetic formulation.
I simply researched hundreds of products, learned what the essential building blocks of pomades, shampoos, body washes, and other grooming products were, then started experimenting until I created products that matched the vision I had in my head.
Every product we make has two simple goals.
Number one—they’re non-toxic.
Number two—they work.
That sounds simple, but it’s actually really difficult to accomplish.
One thing that disappointed me over the years was how many natural products just didn’t perform very well. The hold would break down halfway through the day. The texture wasn’t right. The product simply didn’t perform the way people expected it to. And while there were certainly some products that worked better than others, I felt like too many companies expected customers to accept mediocre performance just because the ingredients were cleaner.
I never wanted that tradeoff.
I wanted our products to perform every bit as well as the best conventional grooming products on the market while eliminating the harsh chemicals.
The other thing that was incredibly important to me was scent.
Even if the product works great, people simply won't use a product every day if they don’t genuinely love how it smells. I also felt like a lot of natural brands treated fragrance as an afterthought. Some scents were pleasant enough, but they didn’t really have an identity. Nothing felt signature or memorable.
I wanted Standard No More to have a scent people would immediately recognize.
That’s why I spent nearly an entire year developing Brightwood—our signature fragrance made exclusively with 100% pure essential oils. I wasn’t interested in creating just another essential oil blend. I wanted something masculine, refined, distinctive, and unmistakably ours. I chose woods combined with citrus and it smells great...it's subtle, but smells amazing.
So today every Standard No More formula is built around three simple principles.
It’s non-toxic.
It performs exceptionally well.
And it smells incredible using only pure essential oils.
That’s the standard I hold every product to.
Jaden: What are some of the biggest hurdles you’ve had to overcome?
Chad: Oh man… there have been a lot.
If I had to pick one, it would definitely be rebuilding our Hair Styling Wax.
This one was honestly my own fault.
As you know, Standard No More is a petrochemical-free brand.
I had spent months developing what I thought was the perfect wax. It had a simple formula, no synthetic fragrance, incredible hold, amazing texture… everything I wanted.
Then one day, while continuing my research, I discovered that the primary emulsifier I was using—a critical ingredient in any water-based hair product—was actually processed using petrochemicals.
I thought I had done my homework.
Turns out… I hadn’t.
That meant I had to throw away the entire formula and start over.
Changing emulsifiers isn’t like swapping out one oil for another. It’s one of the biggest changes you can make to a formulation.
It literally took me the entire year of 2025 to rebuild that product from scratch.
It was frustrating.
It was humbling.
But it forced me to stay true to the standards I had set for this company.
Today I’m incredibly proud of where that wax ended up.
In fact…
It's the Standard No More product I use every single day to style my hair.
Jaden: Where do you see Standard No More going in the future?
Chad: We’ve really only scratched the surface.
In the near future, we already have several products beyond the six we launched with.
We have an awesome Sea Salt Spray coming soon. In fact, I just received the labels for it last week.
I’ve also developed the initial formula for a naturally scented, non-toxic deodorant. I still have more testing to do, but I’d love to release that before the end of the year.
Long term, though…
I don’t see Standard No More as just a grooming company.
I think this philosophy belongs in a lot of different categories.
- Cleaning products.
- Household products.
- Maybe even snacks.
The sky is really the limit because the need for cleaner, better products exists almost everywhere.
Jaden: What do you want people to know about Standard No More?
Chad: Wow…
That’s a big question.
More than anything, I want people to know they can trust us.
You saw firsthand how many nights and weekends I spent out in the garage over the last few years.
I poured an unbelievable amount of time and effort into developing these products because I wanted to make sure we got them right—or as right as we possibly could.
I’ve said it before, but I’ll say it again because it’s really the heart of everything we do.
If people remember only one thing about Standard No More, I hope it’s this:
Our products are non-toxic.
They perform.
That’s really all people need to know.
Not the branding.
Not the marketing.
Not our social media.
Not any of that.
Just those two things.
Clean.
Effective.
That’s Standard No More.
Thank you, son.
I love you.
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