MACON, Ga. — Throw your razors away and let your beards grow.
One Macon couple has created a community group that embraces beards and those behind them.
13WMAZ's Jessica Cha met up with them to see how they've grown their brand and community.
Ben and Ashah Smith are trying to bring the community together one beard at a time. Ben Smith says they don't discriminate against any beard.
"You've got salt-and-pepper, you've got ginger beards. You've got short beards, long beards. One good way of stunting the growth of a good beard is not complimenting it," Ben said.
Ben and his wife Ashah are the creators of Beards of Macon, a Facebook group that loves beards and people who grow them.
"A good-kept beard is easily recognizable and easily appreciated, and so somebody with a good beard is more open than you think to somebody saying, 'Hey, you've got a good beard.'"
Ben says his wife is a wedding photographer, and in 2015, they started this passion project.
They just grab their camera, their dog, and get to know people and their beards.
"We're not trying to do anything but just bring the community together and have people know one another," Ben said.
Ben says their social media has swelled to over 1,200 followers, and they've gotten to know over 100 beards, including a woman's, some homeless people, and their own friends.
"It has scratched the itch that we wanted. We wanted Macon to feel honored through their people," said Ben.
Andrew Leffler has been growing his beard for over a decade. He says his beard hasn't been complimented in a while, but he likes what Beards of Macon is doing.
"I think just somebody just walking up and telling you, 'That looks great,' and spending time talking about tips and tricks, things that are working for them, it works in the best interest of the community, which is a good thing," Leffler said.
Smith recommends that if you want a healthy beard, you should put away your razors, take care of your facial skin, and let it flourish.
He says he and his wife want to have get-togethers for bearded folks once every couple of months so beard-growers and beard lovers should keep an eye out.