The Bad Form Manifesto
A guide for acting up, breaking out, and joyfully building on your own terms, and in community with people like you.
01. Don’t play nice. Play real.
Too often we’re told to stay likable, agreeable, non-threatening. But growth doesn’t come from shrinking. Take up space.
02. Don’t perform polish. Perform guts.
We’ve learned to sand down our sharp edges to get a seat at the table. But the table’s rotten. Say the thing. Wear socks with sandals. Show up anyway.
03. Don’t fit the format. Rewrite the form.
Professionalism is just a performance of norms built to exclude. Do it your way. Let it be weird. It opens the door for others.
04. Don’t smooth the story. Show the scar.
The world thinks it wants a sanitized, linear success arc. But our real stories are messy, nonlinear, and full of power. Say what really happened. Lead with the truth. Start before it’s perfect because it never will be.
05. Don’t stay in bounds. Break the damn mold.
The rules weren’t made for you—they were made to contain you. Step out. Speak up. Talk with your hands. Like you mean it. Own your out-of-bounds energy.
Bad Form is radical honesty. Self-trust. Unapologetic ambition.
It’s what it looks like to tell a new story. To build a new model.
Bad Form is a joyful act of rebellion. The joy that comes from being completely yourself—even when you’re saying no, speaking up, or needing something else.
Bad Form is proof that something real happened.