At 21, Welshman Gwilym Pugh was a 280 lb insurance salesman, working from home and generally unhappy with his wellbeing. “At that time I was pretty overweight, working 12 hours a day, plagued with injuries which meant I couldn’t train at all,” Pugh told the Daily Mail. “The business was doing okay, but I decided I needed to get my life in order and wanted to get healthy again.” Several years ago, Pugh joined a folk band with his friends and was advised by his barber to grow a beard so he could look the part. Pugh also quit his desk job and subsequently adopted a much healthier lifestyle. “It was the best thing for my health as I stopped sitting for nine to 10 hours a day.”
Needless to say, growing a beard and losing 90 lbs was a pretty considerable transformation … and within five years, Pugh was giving off some major model vibes.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BfOj4tdBSEf/?taken-by=gwilymcpugh
That’s not an exaggeration, either — Pugh is actually working as a male model now.
Pugh’s modeling career eventually took off when Welsh tailor Nathan Palmer took notice of his Instagram account.