At some point, usually right after someone discovers this brand, they use the word.

Controversial.

Sometimes it arrives politely in a DM that begins with, "not to be weird, but." Sometimes it arrives in all caps from someone who has clearly had a long day and decided that my sticker was going to become everyone else's problem.

Either way, it always arrives.

I used to think being called controversial meant I had done something wrong. Now I mostly think it means I said the thing before everyone else agreed it was socially acceptable to say.

The design that said too much

There is one design that has generated more emails, comments, arguments, and unsolicited moral evaluations than almost anything else I have made.

It says: I Believe In Holding Grudges, I Will Heal In Hell.

Half the reactions are some version of, "I have never added something to my cart so fast."

The other half act like I personally drove to their house, sat them down, and explained why forgiveness is dead in America.

It is the exact same design.

One person immediately understands it. Another needs to write a paragraph explaining why nobody should be allowed to admit that out loud.

Honestly, that is usually how I know I made a good one.

Nobody is actually angry about a sticker

I have noticed that the people who say a design is "too much" are almost never the people buying it.

They are watching someone else buy it, wear it, or say the thing they have been trained to discuss more politely. Then they experience the deeply inconvenient realization that they agree with the message, they just do not approve of how loudly it was said.

"Nobody gets that angry about a piece of cotton. They get angry because the design said something they agree with in a way they were not prepared to defend in public."

That is the entire point of UntamedEgo.

I make the things that say what you were already thinking before your better judgment, workplace handbook, mother in law, or last functioning brain cell told you to keep it to yourself.

What being bold actually costs

I am not going to pretend that everyone loves what I make.

Some people understand the message immediately. Some people decide I am everything wrong with society before breakfast. Both groups are looking at the same product. Only one of them knows how to mind their business.

Making things that say the quiet part out loud means some people will love your brand immediately and others will be personally offended that it exists.

That does not mean the brand has done something wrong.

We are not called controversial because we hurt people. We are called controversial because we print the sentence everyone else was trying very hard not to say.

Of course, some of the comments still get to me. I am a human being, despite what a woman in one comment section confidently suggested.

I have seen the posts. I have read the emails. I have received the screenshots people send "so I'm aware," which is always a comforting way to begin ruining someone's afternoon.

But I would not trade the sticker, the mug, or the greeting card that made someone feel understood for a quieter version of this brand that never made anyone uncomfortable.

That brand already exists.

It is called almost everything else on the shelf.

Why UntamedEgo exists

UntamedEgo started because I wanted to make the things I could never find, designs that were funny, honest, a little inappropriate, and specific enough to make someone stop and say, "wait, are you inside my head?"

I did not begin with a plan to become a brand people had capital O Opinions about.

I started at my parents' kitchen table with no money, no team, and absolutely no intention of behaving like a traditional business owner.

I just wanted to make the thing that said exactly what people were already thinking.

It turns out those are apparently the same job.

Some people will call it inappropriate. Some will call it too much. Some will immediately buy three because their friends are also one inconvenience away from completely losing it.

I call that knowing your audience.

Next time: the mother in law, the greeting card that should never have shipped, and the email it created.

I still have the receipts.

Unfortunately, I have all the receipts.