Interview by AXO | Originally published in She Zine, 2018 – Expanded for 2025

This Is Not a Brand Story.

When I first started She Zine Mag, spotlighting feminist makers and indie business owners was a major component. And it is again for She Zine 2.0. One of the first women I interviewed was Kaytee Trudeau — the artist and feminist voice behind Lady No Brow — whose work, wit, and wild punk rock energy captured everything I wanted this mag to be. She is a self-described “general skills-haver”. Nearly a decade later, she’s no longer running the enamel pin empire she built — and that’s exactly why her story still matters. Kaytee didn’t just walk away from a successful indie biz. She reclaimed her art, her pace, and her peace. In 2025, her creativity looks different — and, in many ways, more powerful than ever.

You can pick out Trudeau’s Lady No Brow creations from across dankest dive. She is a blatant science fiction enthusiast and also incorporates elements from pop culture, such as Doctor Who, Harry Potter and Twin Peaks into her work. ​Her designs are characterized by bold, feminist slogans and empowering messages that resonate with audiences seeking expressive and meaningful art.

Beginnings in Stitch: A Creative Origin Story

Kaytee grew up with creativity in her bones. Entirely self-taught, she learned to sew, sketch, paint, and eventually master Illustrator — all by diving in and figuring it out. She began transforming thrifted clothing into reimagined designs as a teenager and entered her first local contest at just 14.

I first crossed paths with Kaytee in Winnipeg around 2008, when she grabbed a table at the Cordially Yours Craft Sale & Rock Show—a DIY craft and music fest I was running out of a bar basement. She was selling her handmade clothes, and even then, it was obvious she had something. It’s wild and kind of perfect to look back now, knowing how hard she’d go on her own terms.

From Craft to Cake: The Detour That Changed Everything

Years later, after landing in Toronto and feeling stuck and unfulfilled, she enrolled in the Bonnie Gordon College of Confectionary Arts. What started as a plan to bake for dog birthday parties in Trinity Bellwoods became a revelation: cake was another medium for art.

Kaytee’s cake work had a cult following of its own. Combining her love of pop culture, science fiction, queer expression, and sculptural design, her cakes are literal showstoppers.

From No Brow to Lady No Brow

In 2013, Kaytee moved to California and married a longtime friend (immigration thing), with whom she co-founded No Brow, a project rooted in puns, weirdness, and humour. But when the relationship ended, so did the brand as it was. Kaytee returned to Canada, rebranded solo as Lady No Brow, and began infusing her work with unapologetically feminist politics.

From patches that read Divorced Hags Club to designs created in the emotional aftermath of the #MeToo movement, Lady No Brow became a pastel protest — cheeky, sharp, and impossible to ignore.

️Selling the Brand

In March 2019, Kaytee officially sold Lady No Brow. “I never thought I’d sell my brand,” she shared on Instagram post still viewable on the @ladynobrow profile. “But it’s time for a shift.” The brand was taken over by another indie maker, and Kaytee quietly stepped away.

It wasn’t a burnout-fuelled exit — it was intentional. A way of creating space for something more grounded, more private, and more aligned with where she wanted to go next.

She Zine Chats with Kaytee Trudeau

I originally interviewed Kaytee before she sold Lady No Brow. At the time, if a sale was on her radar, she played it close to the chest. We talked about everything leading up to that point — creative pivots, inspirations, running a DIY biz, and doing it all without losing your edge.

Revisiting that conversation now for this updated piece felt full-circle, knowing where she’s landed, and it only makes her story hit harder. In the best possible way.

Here’s What We Published Then – Unedited, 2018

When I first started conceptualizing the type of things that She Zine would cover, female-run indie business was very near the top of my list. It had been some of my main takeaways from other feminist rags, like Venus Zine and Bust.

It had been through that inspiration that had me start my first business in 2005. It was around that same time that I met the feminist phenom behind enamel pin & accessory brand, Lady No Brow.

I unfortunately caught Kaytee within days of her relocating to Montreal, so we weren’t able to catch up in person, but we had a great email exchange and I had the opportunity to ask her some interesting questions about her beginnings, her journey, and where she is now:

SZ: I know that you have a lot of great talent in all sorts of art and design. When did you start making things? Are you mostly self-taught?

KT: I’ve always made things. My mom is also an artist, so I grew up seeing artistic talent as currency. Despite them trying to steer me away from the artist life, here I am. HaHa. I’ve never taken any real classes and honestly I’m sure there are better ways to draw/paint/sew/sculpt/use illustrator, but oh well. I’m still where I am now so I must be doing something right.

SZ: What was your first entrepreneurial effort or the first time you made money from craft?

KT: The first time I made money off of things I made was when I was 14yr old, I turned a weird jacket into overalls and won some sort of contest at Out of the Blue in Winnipeg. They got sold to someone after that, and were spotted at Folk Fest the following year. My first actual entrepreneurial effort was probably the craft fair you organized in Winnipeg in the basement of the Toad, in what, 2008? That was the year I decided to start paying attention to making art again. I was taking old clothes from Value Village and turning them into things I thought were more interesting – taking long sleeves and making them into suspendered skirts.

SZ: Expand a little bit on your cake making/decorating background/experience. Where does that fall in your history?

KT: Caking was a totally random thing that happened to me. I had always been a good baker, but also good at many other creative things. I hit 28 and was like, what the hell am I doing with my life, so I signed up for a Confectionary Arts College in Toronto. It was more because I thought I would make dog birthday cakes and life off the yuppie dog parents at Bellwoods, but then I got into the cake decorating section of school and fell in love. It was the most expensive course to get out and make $12/hour, but it was a steppingstone to me realizing I need to be an artist forever, and not try to fit myself into weird societally accepted boxes.

SZ: I know you spent some time in the states, got married, and started Lady No Brow. Without going into any deets that you are uncomfortable with, can you share the general details and a timeline?

KT: Oh man, I’m queen TMI, but I can keep it short. I moved to Calfornia in 2013, met back up with an old friend, on whom I’d had a crush since 2006, he offered to marry me to keep me there, so we did. We stayed together for 3 years, started No Brow as a joke with lowbrow humour of his puns and my drawings, then when we split, I changed it to Lady No Brow, and moved back to Canada the next year or so.

SZ: What were some of the pros and con of working with a partner within a relationship?

KT: Working with Tony was great because he’s the funniest person I have ever met, but I was the only one who really cared about it. He would come up with ideas, then I would do all the rest – social media, contacting stores, drawing, sourcing, etc… So it was very one-sided.

SZ: What are the pros and cons of being out of that relationship? Personally/business wise?

KT: Business wise, I have all the freedom. He wasn’t into me doing feminist stuff really, because he wanted to keep politics out of it, which is a great privilege for a cishet white man, of course. Personally, it’s also been good, because while I love him to death, and he really was my best friend, we just had irreconcilable differences. I’m glad we had the time together but I’m more glad that I’ve gotten to live beyond it.

SZ: I noticed that you have some items inspired by your being divorced. Do those products connect with your target audience? What has the response been?

KT: Ha, yeah, the Divorced Hags Club patches and pins. Yeahhhhh they’re not super popular?? The colour ones sold really quickly, but the rest of the stuff has taken a long while to move, despite how funny people think the idea is. It wasn’t really for anyone but myself that I made it, and I’m fine with folks not being super into it. But I’ve had people buy it and be like, thanks so much for making this, cuz with the 50% divorce rate, it shouldn’t be as stigmatized as it is, but if we went by logic like that, women wouldn’t be subjugated, so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

SZ: Where do you get your inspiration from? Your ideas are so very original within a space that seems to constantly replicating and copying itself. Have you experienced anyone encroaching on your products?

KT: Seriously, thanks. It means a lot to hear that. And honestly, I don’t really know where my ideas come from. They just hit me, usually when something has happened in the news that infuriates me. The Divorced Hags Club is because a woman had been sleeping with my now-ex-partner unbeknownst to me, and called me that while threatening my life. The Believe Women shirt was shortly after #metoo. There’s no real rhyme or reason, but when I get an idea, I’ve gotta do it right then. I have not really had people copy my stuff, actually. I can speculate that because it’s feminist stuff, it doesn’t have super broad appeal, but I really don’t know why.

SZ: Are there any craft sales/fairs/events that you have attended that you would recommend to other new vendors?

KT: It’s a hard one. Guelph Night Market was good and fun, but I only got to do it once. I’ve done a lot of fairs, and Renegade was the most profitable, but also the most expensive to do, so…

SZ: What has been your experience selling online? Any tips for online sellers?

KT: Online selling is my jam. I have a million tips, but not enough time/room. I would suggest starting out with an ecommerce site that has a searchable marketplace, like Storenvy or Etsy. Then, when you’ve established yourself, then you can go into the Shopify like territory, where you can depend on Google and your own social media presence. Make discount codes for your best customers, give great customer service. There are so many folks doing stuff like this now that every little personal touch helps.

SZ: Do you have idols/mentors in business that you would like to mention?

KT: Penelope Gazin and Kate Dwyer, who started Witchsy, they’re fucking amazing. They were already on my radar before I started selling on Witchsy, and well before they blew up in the news for making up the male co-owner to email VCs. They’re badass chicks who do what they want, unapologetically, and are successful for it.

SZ: Other than yourself, who is your favourite pin/patch artist?

KT: I love Full Sweatpants – they’re my friends, and they make pop culture pins of shit I love like Spaceballs.

SZ: Any final feminist statements/words of wisdom that you would like to end with? Something from yourself or someone else. Something that inspires you. Keeps you motivated. Whatever.

God, I wish I had something succinct, and uplifting. Honestly, it’s my rage that keeps me motivated. I am so fucking pissed off at how I’ve been treated for being a woman (and lucky for being a white middle class one at that!) that I have zero fucks to give about shit anyone has to say to me to counter it. I mostly actually have zero fucks to give about what anyone has to say about how I should act/be/look/etc… There ya go. There are some words of wisdom. Shit sucks, make it as tolerable/awesome for yourself as you can, cuz no one is going to do it for you. haha. I’m old.

KT xoxo

Life After Lady No Brow

Kaytee didn’t disappear. She just took the glitter off auto-pilot. Now based in Toronto, Kaytee runs her creative portfolio through kayteetrudeau.design, where she offers custom illustration, small-batch product design, event-based cake art, and branding commissions. Her work is no longer about fast drops or trending slogans — it’s thoughtful, collaborative, and often deeply personal.

She has continued to create patches for causes she cares about, including one for animal rescue advocate Kitten Lady, and her work has been featured by BuzzFeed, and seen on Dietland and Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt. Her designs still carry that distinctive voice — bold, emotional, witty — but they’re no longer confined to the world of pin culture.

“I didn’t want to be a brand anymore,” she’s said. “I just wanted to be a person who makes good shit.”

Mental Health & Artistic Boundaries

In stepping away from Lady No Brow, Kaytee reclaimed more than just her schedule — she reclaimed her relationship with making. She now works at a slower pace, prioritizing mental health, consent-based collaborations, and personal sustainability. She’s candid about her neurodivergence and how it shapes her creative flow — something she used to hide in the high-output brand world.

She’s also become a quiet mentor to other artists navigating similar transitions — proof that leaving a brand doesn’t mean leaving an impact.

“Rage used to fuel everything I made. Now I try to use it as compost.”

– Kaytee Trudeau

️Where to Find Her in 2025

I’m sure you love Kaytee as much as we do and I encourage you to check out everything that she’s working on today and get in touch the next time you need a stellar digital illustration, insane cake design, tattoo flash, or totally clever apparel. She’s the best!

• kayteetrudeau.design

• Based in Toronto, available for local collabs

• Small shop updates and commission slots are shared periodically on her website and socials

• Accepting custom cake inquiries in Ontario (Spring/Summer 2025 dates filling quickly) 

If you want to check out another amazing feminist artist follow the link for our chat with Ambivalently Yours!

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AXO

AXO (she/her) is a multidisciplinary creator, editor, and builder of feminist media ecosystems based in Toronto. She is the founder of She Zine Mag, Side Project Distro, BBLGM Club, and several other projects under the AXO&Co umbrella — each rooted in DIY culture, creative rebellion, and community care. Her work explores the intersection of craft, technology, and consciousness, with an emphasis on handmade ethics, neurodivergent creativity, and the politics of making. She is an advocate for accessible creativity and the power of small-scale cultural production to spark social change. Her practice merges punk, print, and digital media while refusing to separate the emotional from the practical. Above all, her work invites others to build creative lives that are thoughtful, defiant, and deeply handmade.