00:00Gwilym Pugh is originally from Wales, but he lives in London nowadays
00:04He's 33 years old and has a truly remarkable story to tell
00:08There's no doubt that Pugh's life so far has been pretty eventful
00:11And so it's no surprise that he's featured in the Daily Mail among plenty of other publications worldwide
00:25His story is one of remarkable transformation
00:28Everyone evolves a lot between the ages of 21 and 33
00:31But not many change quite as much as Pugh did over the years
00:35In fact these days the Welshman seems a million miles away from the person he was in the past
00:40Back in 2006 Pugh was spending a lot of time at home
00:44That's because that was the year he set up his own life insurance business
00:47And he was working seriously hard 12 hours a day in fact
00:51Perhaps unsurprisingly the sedentary lifestyle caused him to pile on the pounds
00:55At one point he weighed about 280 pounds
00:58Not only that but Pugh also had a catalogue of injuries that prevented him from hitting the gym
01:03The business itself was blossoming
01:05But the Welshman's personal life was suffering a little as a result
01:09But it wasn't all work and no play
01:11Pugh started a folk country band with his pal Kellum Ross
01:15They named themselves the Magic Rooster Brothers
01:18And Pugh was the guitarist
01:19It was around that time that Pugh made a trip to the barber shop
01:22Where he received some advice that changed his life
01:25The barber told Pugh that he should grow a beard
01:28As it would fit the look of a folk band
01:30And it was advice that Pugh took seriously
01:33He stopped shaving off his ginger stubble
01:35And let it grow into an impressive auburn colored beard
01:38That became his trademark
01:39Then it was time to revamp other areas of his life too
01:42Pugh began to turn his unhealthy lifestyle around
01:45By making some alterations to his diet
01:47First of all takeaways became a thing of the past
01:50And then came the biggest change
01:52Pugh quit his job
01:54Speaking to Wales Online in February 2018
01:57Pugh said that it was a good move
01:59It was the best thing for my health
02:00As I stopped sitting for 9 or 10 hours a day
02:03He said
02:03He also made an effort to increase his daily step count
02:06To the point where he was averaging 15,000 every day
02:10The weight slowly began to come off
02:12And within a few years Pugh was a totally changed man
02:16Then the Welshman joined Instagram
02:18And he skyrocketed
02:19He had only joined the social media platform
02:22To network and promote his band
02:23But he got a lot more out of it than just that
02:26Before long his online following had grown exponentially
02:30And then something happened that steered Pugh's life
02:33In a whole new direction
02:34His incredible transformation
02:36Got him noticed by the right people
02:38And he soon began to do a spot of modeling
02:41First he posed for a book called 100 Beards
02:44Before taking part in another photography project
02:47And after that the rest was history
02:49Nowadays Pugh is signed to a well-respected modeling agency in London
02:53And has found a lot of work because of his striking looks
02:56Ever since he got discovered
02:58Pugh's modeling career has gone from strength to strength
03:01The industry couldn't quite get enough of the life insurance professional
03:05Who dropped from 280 pounds down to 190
03:08And became a sought-after model
03:10And neither could the public
03:11His Instagram popularity snowballed
03:14These days Pugh has more than 305,000 followers
03:18Not only that but he's been fortunate enough to work with
03:21Some seriously big brands and famous figures
03:23For example he was asked to work on campaigns for vans and diesel
03:27But there's even more
03:29Pugh's striking appearance landed him a job
03:31Working on a Bud Light project too
03:33But perhaps his biggest success to date
03:36Was teaming up with David Beckham
03:37The famous footballer selected Pugh to represent
03:40Hague Club Whiskey
03:41Beckham's latest venture
03:43Despite his incredible success
03:45Pugh has managed to remain grounded
03:47Having worked in finance for years
03:49The opportunity to work with creative people
03:51And travel around the world is amazing
03:53He told Wales Online
03:55But he also said that it was a crazy lifestyle
03:58You forget how nuts it is
04:00It all becomes normal
04:01Pugh continued
04:02But thankfully he's got a supportive girlfriend
04:04Who's able to bring him back down to earth
04:06I try not to get caught up in it all
04:09And my girlfriend helps a great deal with that
04:11He said
04:11Pugh recognizes that he's lucky
04:14To have broken into the modeling world
04:15And he recently thanked his followers
04:17For helping him get so far
04:19I'm so incredibly grateful
04:21For everyone commenting kind words
04:23And supporting me
04:24A recent post read
04:25Pugh also uses his newfound fame
04:27To encourage others
04:28He shared an old photo of himself
04:30Alongside a recent modeling shot
04:32With an inspirational caption
04:34Anything is possible
04:36If you give it enough time
04:37And patience
04:38He told his followers
04:39Referring to his own remarkable transformation
04:42There's no doubt that Pugh's journey
04:44To stardom is not only impressive
04:46But also inspirational
04:48However, he remains modest about it
04:50The model recently reminded his followers
04:53That the process took a whole 10 years
04:55And that what he achieved
04:56Has nothing on countless people out there
04:59Who have changed their lives
05:00For the better
