Abe Minkara (PMBA ’04)

Alumna's Bold New Skin Care Line Garners International Attention

Bald is beautiful-especially if you are SMU Cox alumnus Abe Minkara (PMBA '04). But he prefers the term "bold." Using the skills he acquired at SMU Cox, Minkara has capitalized on the growing number of bald men by creating Bold For Men, an innovative line of products that redefines the traditional shaving experience.

Minkara did his undergraduate work at the American University of Beirut, Lebanon, where he earned a degree in computer and communications engineering in 1997. After graduation, he worked overseas in the information technology sector for several years before moving to Irving, Texas, to become senior manager of retail e-solutions and analytics for Verizon Communications Inc.

While his career was going strong, Minkara decided to expand his field of knowledge in the areas of marketing and finance. In evaluating different graduate schools, he did extensive research and selected SMU Cox because of its high rankings and strong reputation in the Dallas business community. Minkara also wanted to continue working while he pursued his graduate degree, and the Cox Professional MBA (PMBA) program allowed him to do just that.

In the program, Minkara enjoyed studying the different aspects of finance. He also learned about international entrepreneurship in a class taught by Anthony McClure, president of The Peregrine Group International, a Dallas-based international marketing, management and security firm. "Professor McClure knows firsthand how to succeed internationally," Minkara said, "and he helped students understand the complex problems that entrepreneurs can face."

Minkara tapped into the Cox network for support when he began his entrepreneurial venture.

"As an emerging entrepreneur, I found tremendous value in connecting with the Cox professors and staff members who take great pride in assisting their alumni. The contacts I made through the Cox alumni network provided me with valuable business advice."

In 2006, Minkara began designing a business model and in 2007 he launched Bold For Men, a men's grooming line designed for the face and ideal for the head. Not only was Minkara's timing perfect, with clean-shaven heads becoming all the rage, his flagship product, the Dry Shave™ gel, is unique because it is designed as a waterless shave formulation. "There's no water, no foam, no mess... just wet the razor!" Minkara said of his new product. "A few gentle glides of the razor are all it takes to leave your skin nick-free and smooth without any razor-burn or irritation."

Minkara says that after graduating from Cox, he knew he wanted to start some sort of entrepreneurial venture; he was just not sure what that was. He says that this venture came from a personal need-he did not like foam shaving creams, the razor burn or the mess that comes with shaving. He began conducting preliminary research examining what he liked and did not like in various products. Eventually, he created a virtual product that combined the best ingredients and components that he liked most. Minkara researched the best labs and chemists in the country and found one that would work with him to create this new innovative product.

Since its launch in January, Minkara's product has been featured in gift bags at the 2007 Oscars, Muhammad Ali Fight Night in Las Vegas and high-end racing event Bullrun. In March 2007, Bold For Men was also featured in a full-page article in The New York Times. Minkara's fame doesn't stop there-his product has also been featured in New Zealand and U.K. magazines and even the Dermatology Times in the United States.

Minkara's product appeals to the high-end shaving niche and is already being sold at specialty men's stores in the U.S. as well as in the U.K., Ireland, Spain, Greece, Norway, the Netherlands, Australia and New Zealand. He is currently working to create a three-step process of pre-shave, shave-gel and post-shave that will be the best in the industry. He says that once the three-step line is created, his company will begin to market to the larger upscale department stores.

"We want to show that we have a product line solution and not just a single product," he said. "The fact that Bold For Men has gotten so much international attention in such a short period of time is a great testimony of the high quality of our product. We want to continue in our product innovation to deliver even more freedom to daily shavers worldwide."

Minkara spends most his time working with Bold For Men, and says that even in his spare time he is thinking about his business.

"Coming up with business ideas and working on product development is a passion. If you enjoy what you're doing and it's something you want to do, then it doesn't always seem like work."

With his product line going strong and coming up with new ideas each day, Minkara has a bright future. With his background in IT and finance, creating a skin care line may seem out of the ordinary, but Minkara says that when starting a business you need to find something you are interested in and take it to the next level. Thanks to his education at Cox and the entrepreneurial inspiration and knowledge he gained there, Minkara has been able to take his idea boldly across the globe.