Meet the Designer

I'm Sarah Foster the founder, designer, and Chief Foul Mouth of BAD BAD. I started this brand in 2013, on my living room floor in my beach-side 450 square foot apartment in Mission Beach, San Diego, California.

 

I wanted to make and wear everyday pieces that reminded me of my power and abilities as an individual and during a time where history is truly being made by women globally. My designs are an extension of the style I love: simple, timeless, and authentic.


Each design is created to inspire and empower women to go after what they want. 


We all have the power inside us to stay focused, even when it seems difficult. Women who push past fear and go after their dreams are powerful people. I want women to leave their legacy, period.

THE BAD BAD GENESIS

At an early age, I understood the power of words; as a teenager, simple phrases and the power of thought saved my life.


Fast forward 15 years, I began using my skill of jewelry-making that I'd used since childhood to design personal reminders to help me focus, go after my dreams, and achieve big goals. 


While working a job I hated with a boss who lacked strong morals and bulldozed over people, I wanted a discreet reminder that was simple, blunt, and powerfully motivating. I made and wore a bracelet that read "fuck it". 


When I wanted to start getting into shape again, I wore "lift heavy" to inspire me to be powerful and drive the weights hard in the gym.


After friends started noticing my jewelry, they asked for custom designs too. That's when my little business started to grow. 


With a personal desire to stay focused and empowered, a $9 box of stamps I bought on a whim because they were on sale, and a 15+ year desire to do work that had meaning, BAD BAD was formed while I laid belly-down on the living room floor of my 450 sq ft, Mission Beach apartment, stamping designs in 2013. 


I'm honored to design full-time from my home-studio and hear stories from women all over the world of how these tiny handcrafted designs have changed their lives.

WHY I NAMED IT 'BAD BAD'

bad bad = good

In 2013, when I started designing empowering affirmation jewelry with explicit language, I knew my religious family and friends wouldn't approve of my bad jewelry.


There were two factors that helped me name my brand:


1.) I was inspired by Walla Walla, the name of a small town I grew up close to. Their slightly cringy slogan was The city so nice they named it twice. 


2.) I loved math as a kid, so I knew a double negative equaled a positive, which was my whole intention anyway. Design bad jewelry intended for good. 


So, I decided to double up the word to form the brand name: BAD BAD.


In all honesty, it was a placeholder until I thought of something more appropriate, but it stuck. I couldn't imagine it being anything else.


For me, the vibe and ethos of the brand was cemented the moment I came up with the name. I was rebelling against what I was taught was wrong my entire life: the use of foul language (among other things.) And my intention was to empower women. Which was something I rarely saw in the conservative church and private school I grew up in.


The older I got, the more I began to question what I was taught and so blindly accepted as the truth. I started seeing the world differently. I asked questions and widened my view on religion and spiritual teachers. There were so many rules made up by man. The text I grew up reading and memorizing had some major flaws including mass amounts of skewed interpretations.


Women, who should have been major decisions makers and leaders, were ignored, their voices suppressed, made out to be lesser than, and shamed for having incredible gifts and strong spiritual connections. Many women, who had strong spiritual connections were accused of being witches. And then an entire narrative around that was created, and well, here we are - afraid to speak up, put ourselves out there, and lean into our instinct and gifts. WTF?


And while I love and honor most of the morals and values that I was taught and instilled in me, well, fuck the other shit! Women are strong and resilient AF and we're in a new time in history - so let's make some cool ass shit happen for humanity by using our gifts, talents, voices, hands, inexplicable connection to something greater, and our genius.


That's what I plan on doing during my earthly pit-stop. That's what it is to embody the BAD BAD ethos - it's okay to question, go against the grain, and ruffle some feathers all for the purpose of doing good.

wHY I BELIEVE IN THE POWER OF MINDSET

When I was young, I struggled with confidence, like real bad. 


I wasn't as smart as one girl in my class, as pretty as another, and my crush didn't have a crush on me. Because of all this I felt stupid, ugly, and unlovable. I didn't just think these things, I believed them.


Looking back, it's clear I spiraled because of my critical self-talk as I compared myself to others, negative beliefs, and feeling like I wasn’t enough and would never measure up. These beliefs lead my young, impressionable mind to dark fucking places.

READ MY FULL STORY HERE (TRIGGER WARNING)

When all you do is beat yourself up every damn day for months, eventually the weak will buckle.

I buckled. 


I was depressed. Really fucking depressed.


[Trigger Warning] 


At school I was funny and did my best to keep a happy face, but at home I struggled, remained quiet, and distant.


I tried to take my own life on multiple occasions. From attempting to overdose on pills to holding the cold barrel of a loaded gun to my head, I'd experienced one of the darkest places of the human mind. 


With shaking hands, I set the gun down when I began considering  other possibilities.


What would I be missing if I ended it all?

Was this feeling of worthlessness and hopelessness what I'd feel like forever?

Was a better life possible?


I'd never asked these questions before. This time they were enough to stop me from pulling the trigger and instead opened my mind to possibilities and a tiny ass drop of hope. 


That was the last time I'd attempt to end my life.


My depression still hung heavy though. The thoughts continued and I still lived each day feeling numb inside.

Until one day...

My mom and I were on our weekly grocery store run to stock up on food for my very hungry brothers.


While riding passenger in the front seat, we sat in our own thoughts as soft-hits from the 80's hummed out of the stereo speakers of the family's large boat-like sedan.


My body felt heavy and hopeless. (My daily norm.) 


While staring out the window, a simple everyday common phrase abruptly ripped into my thoughts.


The words, unlike my usual thoughts, tore my entire belief system wide open.


The words it's going to be okay (I told you they were simple) swept through my psyche. Faster than melting butter in a preheated pan, peace and hope found every cell in my body and saturated my whole being.


Immeasurable amounts of hope flooded my thought-space.


My entire body felt light.


For the first time in years, the dark cloud that hung over me had vanished.

It's going to be okay.

The words soothed me. They brought so much relief that during moments of despair and hopelessness, I repeated the phrase to myself.


It's going to be okay. It's going to be okay. It's going to be okay. It's going to be okay. It's going to be okay.


I knew that I could lean on those 5 words when I had nothing else to lean on. They always restored peace and hope.


I didn't know it back then, but my life's purpose was being formed as a young teenager.

Every Word Counts


You have the power to decide what words and thoughts you want to think to yourself over and over.


As do all humans, you're subject to random thoughts that you can't control, but when you're aware and actively choose what you want to think and repeat to yourself, you become capable of more than you could imagine.


It wasn't until years later that on my way to work I came up with my own method of using words powerfully. As cheesy as it sounds, it feels like magic power, so that's what I fucking named this process DISCOVER YOUR POWER AFFIRMATION. 


A quick read and small workbook (it's free btw) that takes you through a few simple-as-hell steps to help you define your magic word.


Enter your name and email below and I'll send it to you right-effing-meow.


DAILY INSPIRATION

When you need courage, inspiration, and a wearable reminder beautiful enough to wear daily, but not as permanent as a tattoo. 

BAD BAD = GOOD

Going against the grain can ruffle feathers, and 21st Century women are rebelling against outdated norms. It's 'BAD BAD' because two negatives equal a positive.

HEADQUARTERS

Based out of [wherever the hell I want], all items are handmade by Sarah using materials mostly sourced in the USA.

Words have the ability to...

shift moods

Fuck It Heart Charm Necklace (As Seen on Nasty Gal) - BAD BAD JewelryFuck It Heart Charm Necklace (As Seen on Nasty Gal) - BAD BAD Jewelry

uplift

Badass Bar Necklace - BAD BAD JewelryBadass Bar Necklace - BAD BAD Jewelry

inspire

Do Epic Shit Coin NecklaceDo Epic Shit Coin Necklace