Detroiter Named Wahl Man Of The Year

Farmington native and Detroit resident Jason Heien – and his most fabulous beard – received a unique honor on Tuesday. The 44-year-old software engineer at Quicken Loans won Wahl’s Man of the Year award.

The competition by Wahl, which makes grooming tools, recognizes the best facial hair in America.

“It is surreal right now – it really hasn’t hit me except I walked by the newsstand at CVS and there’s my picture on the front cover of the Free Press," Heien told Patch. "Everybody at Quicken was walking by my desk saying ‘Hey, congrats!’”

Heien added that even though he’s on the Detroit mortgage giant’s technology team, he “dresses like a banker.” Does that include big beards? “Quicken’s a pretty accepting place to be,” he explained.

Heien, a Farmington native, spent eight years in the Navy before returning to Michigan. He was stationed in Norfolk, Pensacola and Chicago, among other places. For his full, luxuriant beard, Heien won a grand prize of $1,500, a Wahl trimmer, a role in a national ad campaign and, he says “I get a pretty nice platform to promote charities.”

After being named Wahl’s Man of Detroit last month in the run up to the national award, Heien received word that Michigan Gov Rick Snyder had honored him as part of 26 for 26, a program recognizing Michiganders' volunteer work.

One of Heien's charities is Mittens for Detroit, for whom he is a board member.

"Their mission is ‘providing warm hands two at a time’,” Heien said. He's been involved with the nonprofit for about three years. It was this work that the governor cited in recognizing Heien. In a post on his official Facebook page, Snyder wrote “Congratulations, Jason…and thank you for continuing to use your platform as a tireless advocate for the city of Detroit.”

Photo via Wahl.