Running a Business is Humiliating. But Would You Rather Be Cringe or Broke?

The grind is not sexy. In fact, it’s pretty ugly and quite cringe.

I just wrapped the first phase of my second drop for my brand, Nüclei, and the jump from the first drop to this one taught me more about business than any mentor or “how-to” video ever could. I started this business because I wanted to exit the content creator hamster wheel to stop trading my visibility for money, but I quickly realized that moving into product doesn’t mean you stop “showing up.” It just means the stakes are higher.

Here is the unfiltered truth about what I learned between the Brain Bank (2024) and the Black Standard Time Calendar (2026) :

For my first drop, I created a chrome piggy bank shaped like a brain, also known as the Brain Bank. It was a genius concept, but because it was so unique, there was no template. Product development was extremely challenging, long (1.5 years to create & launch) and expensive.

• The Lesson: The more unique your product, the higher the Minimum Order Quantity (MOQ). The factory has to make their money, so my MOQ was 1,000 units. I thought, “I have 50k followers and 5,000 likes a day; I can sell 1,000 easily.”

• The Reality: I sold 200 on day one. 30 on day 2. That’s great, but ultimately it left ~770 brains staring at me. I realized you can’t just “exchange visibility for money” once and quit. You have to keep selling. There are no shortcuts. If you don’t put the effort in one place, it’s going to have to get put somewhere else.

I spent all my money on production and had nothing left for packaging. My Brain Banks came in plain cardboard with white styrofoam. My “Idea” notepads came from a different vendor. I had to manually open every box, stuff the notepad inside, re-tape it, and ship it. It was incredibly inefficient. I was calling friends to help me pack because my processing time was cutting into the shipping time.

The Rule of Expectations: Anytime someone parts with their money, they have an expectation. If your product costs more, their expectation is higher.

By neglecting packaging, I disappointed about 15% of my customers. To me, that’s too high. Packaging isn’t just a box; it gives intention and luxury. Plus, your customers are your marketing team. If it looks good, they post it. Why not give them the best experience ever?

My first campaign was just: “Look at me, I launched a product.” It was photo-heavy and self-centric. I mean at the time, I was a full blown content creator. That’s all I knew. Gor the second drop, I pivoted. I was listening to an interview with James Baldwin and Nikki Giovanni, and a quote hit me so hard it inspired an entire commercial.

I stopped trying to make “content” and started trying to share a mission. I wanted it to feel big, purposeful, and storytelling-driven.

• The Result: SZA reshared my commercial. It hit nearly 500k views.

• The Strategy: I mixed high-production storytelling with “lo-fi,” gritty videos of the actual product. I threw away the rule book of what a “business owner” should look like and just did what made me personally want to “add to cart.”

There is a specific type of nausea that hits around Day 3 of a launch. The initial “I’m a genius” dopamine has evaporated, and now the only thing standing between you and a room full of unsold inventory is yourself.

Selling feels cringe. We all feel it. But I had to ask myself a serious question: “Would you rather be cringe or broke?”

I got on my phone, showed the pages, and sold my heart out. The people who think it’s “cringe” aren’t the ones buying anyway. The ones who actually want what you made usually need to see it ten times before they remember where they left their credit card.

The grind of packing orders for a week straight and going to the post office daily isn’t sexy. I looked “ugly” all week while getting it done. I didn’t get my hair done; I didn’t spend money. I put the business before the things I wanted.

But that’s where the discipline kicks in. I’ve been sober for six months, and that gave me the mental “callous” to do the hard work. If my body knows I can do something hard for six months, packing boxes for a week is easy work.

I truly believe everyone should sell something they made at least once. Not just for the money, but for the autonomy.

Money buys you autonomy, and autonomy is the most addictive feeling in the world. Once you realize you can create your own path and provide for yourself, you look at anyone telling you “you can’t” and realize they have no power over you.

My calendars are currently sold out and while I wait for them to get reprinted, every day I am losing out on sales. I used to think Sold Out was this ultimate badge of honor, and while it definitely proves that the demand is high, it is also a reminder that the clock doesn’t stop. It’s an indicator that people want what I have right now, and the reality of physical products is that you’re often at the mercy of production speeds. It’s a bittersweet place to be.

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Nüclei is growing, and I’m excited to move some of my business minded thoughts into my newsletter and share them with you all.

What’s one “hard truth” you’ve learned in your creative journey lately?

Reply and let me know.