How I Turned an Insult Into a Brand With Teeth and Horns

My name is Bay, and Nasty Cow didn’t come from a five-year plan, a marketing brainstorm, or a Pinterest mood board.
It came from surviving some of the hardest sh*t life threw at me — and refusing to stay quiet about it.

I’m a twenty-something illustrator living in Bristol, trying to turn chaos into art and art into armour. After the pandemic, and after an attack that flipped my world upside down, I had to figure out who I was without the version of myself I’d lost. Drawing became more than a creative outlet — it became survival, rebellion, and therapy rolled into one messy sketchbook.

Eventually, all that healing and rage and rebuilding took shape.
It grew horns.
It grew attitude.
It became Nasty Cow.

Why “Nasty Cow”? (And Why I Wear It Like a Crown)

The name comes straight out of my childhood.
I once watched a relative call my mum a “nasty cow” because she dared — dared — to set a boundary at a family gathering.

That moment branded itself into my brain.

Because you know the type:
The people who call women “bossy,” “dramatic,” “nasty,” “too much,” or “difficult” anytime we stop playing nice.
Anytime we say no.
Anytime we decide our comfort matters.

Growing up, I kept seeing the same pattern.
As an adult?
I started to get the same labels.

So I flipped them.

If you think fairness is nasty…
If boundaries make me difficult…
If self-respect looks like attitude to you…

Then babe — I’ll be the nastiest cow in the field.

And I’ll do it proudly.

Clothes With Attitude (and a Spine)

Nasty Cow is my way of turning every insult, every silencing, every “calm down” into something wearable. Something bold. Something that laughs in the face of people who can’t handle women taking up their rightful space.

My work celebrates:

• feminine strength with teeth

• sex positivity without apology

• boundaries without guilt

• loud, deliberate, electric energy

• survivor resilience

• community over silence

Every design has a pulse.
Every line is a middle finger to the idea that we’re supposed to shrink.

Why I’m Starting This Blog

Because Nasty Cow isn’t “just a T-shirt brand.”
It’s a protest in cotton.
It’s a diary in ink.
It’s my way of refusing to be defined by what happened to me — and refusing to let other women be defined by what was done to them, either.

This blog will be where I share:

• the raw, real behind-the-scenes of my art

• the inspiration and chaos behind each design

• feminist commentary that doesn’t tiptoe

• survivor empowerment that’s safe but unapologetically strong

• the unfiltered journey of running a tiny, fierce brand with big horns

• the culture, community, and woman-powered energy behind Nasty Cow

If you’re here, welcome.
Whether you’re a fellow loudmouth, a quiet survivor, an art lover, or someone who’s sick of being told to “be nice,” you belong in this herd.

Nasty Cow isn’t just mine anymore.
It’s for every woman who has ever been shamed, labelled, belittled, or underestimated.

Let’s reclaim it together. 🐄