Ugly Baby - Do You Have One?

And… maybe they were right?

I know the hours you’ve poured into it. The 1 a.m. Google dives. The deck iterations. The extra coffee-fueled brainstorms. You breathe life into this “baby.” Whether it's a business, a team, a campaign, or a creative leap.

So when someone says, “Hey… this isn’t working,” it doesn’t just sting. It can feel like a gut punch to your identity. But what if it wasn’t personal? What if it was… useful?

Here’s the shift:

1. Separate your worth from your work. Your work might stumble, stall, or flat-out fail. You are still whole. Still valuable. Still evolving. (And no, if it disappears, you don’t vanish too.)

2. Pause. Don’t pounce. Feedback isn’t always flawless. Neither are we. Resist the urge to defend or deflect. Strength doesn’t always roar. Sometimes, it listens.

3. Ask better questions. “What are they seeing that I’m not?” “What if this feedback is the key to the next version?” Sometimes, the toughest truths are your clearest mirrors.

Maybe your baby isn’t ugly. Maybe it’s just not done growing yet.

Thankfully, my mom never had to hear that about me (😏)… but I have had to hear it about my work.

90's, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil

Now I’m curious. What’s one brutally honest piece of feedback you’ve gotten about your “baby”? Did it change how you built it?