About

When Bad Experiences Hit, We SUFFER.
But, We Also DEVELOP

GREATER UNDERSTANDING. STRENGTH. CHARACTER. RESILIENCE.EMPATHY. RESOLVE. GRATITUDE. BETTER HABITS. STRONGER RELATIONSHIPS. DEEPER COMMUNITY.

The Adverse Effect is a movement. It recognizes that everyone has a story and nearly everyone goes through some form of adversity in their life.

It also recognizes that when we’re neck-deep in our own struggles, it’s hard to see the distant look in someone else’s eyes or that the rage in another person is just a symptom of something deeper.

It recognizes that it’s easy to be like “EFF that!” I’m going through my own problems. And it recognizes that it’s pretty natural to feel alone.

  • The Adverse Effect honors every circumstance as a teacher.
  • It honors adversity for what it does for us…
  • Gifts us resiliency.
  • Teaches us greater life mastery.
  • The Adverse Effect movement is a podcast that connects a community and stylish shirts and hats that spark conversation.
  • The Adverse Effect movement is you.

We Recognize:

● Adversity Survivors - These are people who have survived extraordinary adversity. They’re the triple-breast-cancer or two-time suicide survivors, rape victims, or mental PTSD suffers. They’re the courageous ones who share their devastating stories with courage and strength to ignite hope in others.

● Adversity Advocates - These are the ones who were “made” by adversity. They speak with grit and conviction and fully embrace their diversity as the reason they are who they are today. Adversity fueled their mission to rise higher and bring others with them. They’re the determined ones who share their success stories with a passion to inspire and encourage others.

● Adversity Experts - These are the people who blow our minds and get us to sit up and take notes. They’re industry leaders with years of knowledge and experience who give us data, deep insights, and instruction. They peel back the curtain and give us expert tips, tricks, and strategies on how to deal with the issues we’re facing in our personal lives, culture, and society in the best and most constructive ways possible.


Hi, I’m Ken Cheadle—entrepreneur, speaker, host of The Adverse Effect Podcast, and founder of The Adverse Effect Store. I grew up poor, carrying a bag full of my own adversity everywhere I went. It was all I ever saw. Over the last 12 years, I’ve traveled across the country and the world. I started to see that the world was going through stuff, too. I learned that everyone has a story and most everyone has been through some kind of adversity. I’m a collector of those stories and I love to share them on my podcast The Adverse Effect. It was out of this movement that this product line emerged.

It’s a representation of what we’ve been through and it unites us all.

Those who survived adversity.

Those who were forged by it.

Those who study it and provide strategies to overcome it.

And those who are in the midst of it right now.

With every purchase, you help us share more stories of hope.

With every dollar, you acknowledge your adversity rather than avoid it.



Proceeds from the “KC” shirt that honors our founder will be donated to an organization of his choice such as a burn unit or organization assisting with urban core PTSD—two causes near to his heart.


Pick Your Shirt.
Join The Movement.