Professional Contrarian is one company, two brands.
Professional Contrarian’s content questions and challenges conventional wisdom. We reject what’s normal, traditional, popular, and trendy. We replace that reality with practical, informed, values-driven perspectives, and resources. That’s a wordy way of saying we boost the signal and don’t fuck with noise, which is a metaphorical way of saying we teach people how to spot and overcome bullshit. See more below!
Des Moines Gems, Guides, and Goodies (G3) is central Iowa’s weekly food and restaurant digest. Housed on Substack, we share what’s new in Des Moines’ seriously underappreciated food scene. We emphasize businesses owned by folks from historically excluded populations, and we’re the only voice in Des Moines focused on inclusion in the food industry. Occasionally, we spill some chai in the paid section of the blog, highlighting questionable behavior that we want to see change.
WTF?! TMI! is our sociology-informed, values-laden bitch fest about everything, especially the stuff we were told is too rude to discuss. We explore sex, bodies, politics, open secrets, corporate overlords, religion, and everything else considered inappropriate for the dinner table. Silence is the enemy of knowledge, and we refuse to give ignorance more fuel. We’ll probably start our podcast the week before the the demolition of Earth.
The writer? She’s around here somewhere. Can’t remember the last time we saw her, but we assure you she’s actually human.
More about Professional Contrarian
Our Villain Origin Story
Professional Contrarian was a tongue-in-cheek, self-assigned nickname for the company’s founder, Seeta. Once she said it, friends and family (and her therapist) realized it was accurate as fuck. Every bit of business advice we read said to narrow to a specific niche; so, we did the opposite and created an umbrella company with two brands. Professional Contrarian, then, became a catch-all for the founder’s multiple projects and passions including writing, education, food, sociology, health, and embarrassing-but-we’re-not-deleting-it self-disclosure. The company follows the whims of Seeta’s ADHD and even she doesn’t know where it’s going, but it’ll be fun regardless.
Who We Wanna Corrupt
If your reaction to anything we share is “relatable,” you’re our audience. We’re half Gen X, half Millennial. We’re female with a lot of anger at dumbass traditional gender roles (and we’re super annoyed because we know how that shit started and we’re pissed humanity is too lazy to evolve). We’re political without apology because politicians don’t apologize for being assholes, so why should we? We’re values-focused; we actively live by our values and show you how to do it too. We’re the brand you want when you need help ditching soul-sucking billionaire-owned social media platforms. We’re the ones giving you the tools to channel your inner Alexis and say, “OK, I won’t be doing any of that, but thank you.”
We’re here to make sure you know you aren’t alone and to show you how to jump from “I wanna be that person” to “I AM that person.”
What Do We Even Do?
Most of what we offer is online resources accessed for free or through subscriptions. While Professional Contrarian is the big-ass umbrella, WTF?! TMI! and Des Moines Gems, Guides, and Goodies (G3) are holding the handle. Technically, we have another brand, but she operates like a ninja for myriad reasons.
G3 is our food blog for Des Moines, Iowa, our hometown. Everything G3 offers is subscription-based on Substack, but we’re working on a one-time, lifetime membership. Subscription models suck.
WTF?! TMI! is where we dump our sociology brain. It’s currently a section within G3 on Substack, and as we settle in, it will include educational content and a podcast. As some of the content is sensitive, it’s usually behind a paywall and is part of the G3 membership.
The third brand has a boner. That’s all we’re saying.
“You’re a Sinner! I Wanna Talk to a Manager!”
The manager’s name is Seeta. You can find how to contact her on your own. She’s an extrovert in theory but an introvert in practice, and she’s not showing you her face. Plus, she owns being a sinner. Anything else is not an option.