Our Story

Funny Because It’s True

In 2010, laughter was the last thing Tamara Bissell expected to find. Yet as she worked through a period of personal grief, she noticed something peculiar: no matter how difficult life became, it never seemed to lose its capacity for absurdity.

So she started drawing.

Her illustrations captured the little ironies, frustrations, and ridiculous truths of being human. Putting them on paper made her laugh, sometimes when very little else could. And when she shared them, something wonderful happened. Other people laughed, too. What began as a personal outlet became a way to connect.

Working from her home in Spokane, Washington, Tamara turned those early drawings into pin-back buttons and began selling them on Etsy. The response encouraged her to keep creating. The buttons became a business, the business became Pithitude, a playful contraction of “Pithy Attitude,” and the collection expanded into original illustrated apparel, home goods, and gifts.

More than a decade later, Pithitude is still built around the discovery that started it all: humor has a remarkable way of finding us when we need it most. And when we share a laugh with someone else, we share something more meaningful than a joke.

Laughter heals, and laughing together connects.

The very first product I sold online.

More early Etsy buttons & magnets

An outdoor event on the Oregon Coast.

A Little Snark. A Lot of Recognition.

Pithitude humor works because there’s truth underneath the joke.

It’s the mug that makes you think, “That is so me.” The gift you immediately know belongs to your sister, best friend, coworker, or mother. The design that makes two people laugh because they both know exactly what it means.

That moment of recognition is the point.

Oktoberfest on the boardwalk, Port of Brookings-Harbor

The Pirates of the Pacific Festival on the boardwalk of Port of Brookings-Harbor

Every Pithitude design starts with Tamara’s original artwork and is brought to life in our Oregon studio. Producing in-house lets us try new ideas, create in small batches, and offer customization, keeping Pithitude personal, flexible, and a little less predictable than mass-produced giftware.

Finding a Home on the Oregon Coast

What started at home in Spokane grew through Etsy, Amazon Handmade, art shows, markets, and eventually wholesale. In 2017, Tamara moved Pithitude to the southern Oregon Coast.

Today, Pithitude operates a retail showroom and print studio at the Port of Brookings-Harbor, where visitors can shop, laugh, watch ideas become products, and have select items customized.

In the shop in 2020

Tamara fixing the printer.

Pithitude products are also carried by more than 150 independent retailers, including gift shops, bookstores, coffee shops, galleries, and specialty stores.

Through all that growth, the idea behind the business has stayed consistent: create original products that help people recognize themselves and the people they love, laugh about the ridiculous parts of being human, and share that laugh with somebody else.

Grand opening day of the shop: October 14, 2019, with Judy and Mavis, my first customers.

Because sometimes the best gift isn't the thing itself.

It's the moment someone opens it, looks at you, and says, “You know me way too well.”

The front of Pithitude's retail store on the Port of Brookings-Harbor.

First Place and Audience Choice Award Winner for 2025 Curry County Pitch Night

Xcelerate Women