After graduating from law school at the University of Michigan and practicing law for five years, John Cascarano decided to return to start-up life and built online beauty product retailer Lock & Mane, which became a huge success and eventually sold in 2015. He spent the next two years working as the e-commerce director at women’s fashion retailer ABLE (formerly known as Fashionable), helping to triple the company’s revenue in one year.

A serial entrepreneur, Cascarano has spent the past 20 years creating consumer products and online retailer businesses. He wanted to build an iconic global consumer brand that was also good for the environment, and in 2013, Cascarano founded BEAST—a line of personal care and grooming products with scents derived from all-natural, intense botanicals and sustainably sourced ingredients.

“I wanted a brand with the quality ingredients I saw in premium brands, but at a more approachable price,” says Cascarano. “I also wanted heightened, energizing levels of botanicals and in some cases, awakening intensity.”

The brand is also earth-friendly and features reusable and recyclable packaging. BEAST is a member of 1% for the Planet, a global organization whose mission is to build, support, and activate an alliance of businesses financially committed to creating a health planet. Their members contribute at least one percent of their annual sales to environmental causes.

We chatted with Cascarano, who shared the inspiration behind the brand, favorite products, future plans, and more.

When was BEAST founded and what’s the meaning behind the name?

The brand goes back to 2013 as "Tame the Beast," which my wife came up with. Originally, it had to do with "taming" things such as smell, hair, beard, etc. However, more recently, around the time we added Kelley O'Hara from the US Women’s National Team as a stakeholder, we transitioned to being known as simply BEAST. BEAST is a broader name that reflects the true spirit of our lifestyle brand: everyone has a Beast inside of us that we seek to harness for maximum happiness, success, and well-being. Our mission is to support that pursuit in "Beasts of All Kinds."

Tell us more about your products and what makes them special.

We do the kind of things you should demand of a brand these days. We are dedicated to being planet-, animal-, and skin-friendly in ways that are growing as we grow—and have real plastic reduction goals. However, we don't just do that as you're average, frankly boring brand does. We do it with a sense of humor and personality that you won't find in any other brand out there.

Do you have a hero/favorite product?

I love our YAWP Wash Refill and Tingle Shampoo. Also, our Wash for Everyone has won over the five ladies (3 girls, 1 wife, 1 puppy) in my household as both a hand wash and body wash.

Where are your products sold?

On our website, Amazon, and some major retail websites.

What's next for the brand?

More fun content from Kelley, VP of Brand Strategy & Development Jay Wilkinson, and me; less plastic in our packaging; and more inclusive messaging. We're also launching some fun videos soon on our YouTube Channel. Please stay tuned!

For more information and to purchase, visit the website and follow on Instagram: @tamethebeast

[Images courtesy of Beast Brands]

Kamala Kirk is a University of Southern California graduate and has been an editor/writer for more than a decade. She has written for E! Online, Total Beauty, TravelAge West, Malibu Times Magazine, and many more. She resides in Los Angeles and is a proud pug mom. Follow her on Instagram: @kamalakirk