Behind the Brand

The cringe, the doubt, and where this little project is taking me.

I started posting about Toaster Coaster™ before I even had a product.

Months before launch. No inventory. No website. No idea if anyone would care. Just a concept, a phone, and apparently a willingness to put myself on the internet and talk about a crumb catcher like it was the most natural thing in the world. For months. About a product that didn't physically exist yet.

Spoiler: it was not the most natural thing in the world. I did it anyway.

That's building in public for you. You start before you're ready because if you wait until you're ready, you never start.

What it actually feels like.

It's a creative outlet. That's genuinely how I think about it — something that's mine, that I work on in the margins of the day after the girls are in bed and the house is quiet. Picture a stay-at-home mom at 10pm, sitting in a quiet kitchen, editing a video about crumbs, genuinely believing in something she made. That's the reality of this. Some nights it feels exciting. Some nights it feels completely unhinged. Most nights it's somewhere in between.

Some nights it looks like filming a video I'm actually proud of. Some nights it looks like reading a comment that says "just wipe your counter" and having to put the phone down and walk away.

The roller coaster isn't dramatic in the way people might imagine. It's not "huge win" to "catastrophic failure." It's more like: yay, this is exciting and I can't believe I'm actually doing this — to — omg what am I doing, does anyone care. Sometimes in the same afternoon.

Some people see Toaster Coaster™ and get it immediately. They've been using a cookie sheet under their toaster for years and the second they see this they think: yes, obviously, why didn't this exist before. Those comments feel like a small exhale.

And then there's the product itself — which has its own communication challenge. Some people picture something flimsy. They don't picture powder-coated steel with actual weight to it. They don't picture something that looks intentional and considered sitting in a kitchen. Getting that across — without sounding defensive about it — is an ongoing project.

The GoCleanCo moment.

Last week, GoCleanCo — if you know her, you know — was doing a giveaway. Thousands of people in the comments asking to be picked. I did something different: instead of asking her for something, I offered to send her mine.

"Can I just send YOU my product instead 😉 shooting my shot.... fellow Albertan, mom of 2, made something simple but that didn't exist: a powder-coated steel pad made specifically for your toaster — to catch crumbs and protect your counter."

She hasn't replied yet. But 95 people liked it. Her followers said the idea was great. A few new faces showed up. And honestly — that was enough.

Ninety-five strangers on the internet telling you your idea isn't stupid is a surprisingly powerful thing.

You take the wins where you find them. Even the small ones. Especially the small ones.

Where this is going.

Honestly? I don't know.

I don't know where this little project is taking me and I've made a quiet peace with that. Maybe it grows into something. Maybe it stays small and scrappy and runs on late nights and crumb reveal videos and the occasional comment that makes me feel like I'm onto something. Either way, I made a real thing that solves a real problem, and I put myself out there in all the cringe glory of talking to a camera about toast — and I'm glad I did.

If you've been watching and you're curious, this is the nudge. We ship anywhere in Canada.

Come find out what's been living under your toaster.

Crumbs stop here.