Today we’d like to introduce you to Amethia Johnson.
Hi Amethia, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
In 2019 I retired from the military and to mark it, I planned a trip to Hawaii.
While getting ready for that trip, I did what everyone does: shopped the sites that were hot at the time to get the outfits prepared and the photos ready. The orders came in. I washed the clothes — sensitive skin leaves no other option — and some of them didn’t survive the wash cycle.
That was the moment. Not a business plan. A worn-out shirt from a company that never expected me to wash it twice.
I saw the gap: affordable, quality couture — clothing built to actually hold up — didn’t exist. So I started closing it.
The name and the logo took time to get right. While I waited on those, I went to work on what mattered just as much — fabrics, materials, construction; everything that decides whether a garment lasts or lands in the trash after one cycle.
TAUGEMPIE became official in May 2021. It launched in January 2022.
None of that happens without what came before it. Twenty years in uniform taught me that standards don’t bend for convenience. TAUGEMPIE is that same principle applied to fabric — built to hold up, not just show up. People aren’t just buying clothing anymore, they’re buying back into quality they can trust.
That shirt is the reason the standard exists: quality isn’t a price point, it’s a promise. Every piece we make gets held to the same test — will it survive the wash, and will it still mean something a year later. That’s the brand. Everything else is execution.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
No road is completely smooth. The first real test came with a t-shirt collection — the very first product line I tried to build. I went through three suppliers before I found one worth keeping. Two failed on sizing, inconsistent enough that the same size ran differently between batches. The third failed on quality, the exact problem that started this whole brand in the first place. Three rounds in, I hadn’t shipped a single shirt — but I also hadn’t lowered the bar. That’s the trade I chose to make, and it’s the same one this brand still makes today.
Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about TAUGEMPIE?
What I’m most proud of isn’t a metric — it’s a moment. While researching competitors for the Prosperity Bank Masterclass pitch competition, I found TAUGEMPIE sitting in the same conversation as Buck Mason and Fear of God Essentials — brands I’d studied as the standard to build toward. After the pitch, a fellow founder pulled me aside, smiling, and said it was great to learn about TAUGEMPIE in the same space as those brands. That same conversation turned into an art collective collaboration we’re building toward an execution this November.
That moment told me what I already believed but hadn’t heard from someone outside the brand: TAUGEMPIE isn’t chasing premium, it’s earned a seat at that table. Not by copying what those brands do, but by building on what was left out — a veteran-built standard, fabrics that are affordable, and premium without borrowing their culture. That’s what sets TAUGEMPIE apart. Not the comparison. The reason for it.
Is there any advice you’d like to share with our readers who might just be starting out?
Test everything the way your harshest customer would — before you ever launch. That’s the piece of advice I wish someone had handed me on day one, because I learned it the hard way. This entire brand exists because a shirt I bought for a trip didn’t survive its first wash. I didn’t set out to build a company that day. I set out to solve a problem, but it taught me that most founders test their product against their own excitement, not against real use. Wash it twice. Wear it through a full day. Ask what happens when someone with sensitive skin, a heavy schedule, or zero patience for excuses gets their hands on it — not what happens when you, the founder, handle it once, carefully, under good lighting.
If I could go back, I’d tell myself: the market doesn’t reward what looks good in the sample room, It rewards what survives contact with real life. Build for that from day one, and you’ll save yourself the three failed supplier rounds it took me to relearn my own lesson.
Pricing:
- Silk Lined Beanies-$35
- 100% Cotton Shirts-$30
- Womens Jeans-$59
- Mens Jeans-$49
- Sets and Bundles-$100+
Contact Info:
- Website: https://taugempie.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/taugempie
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/14kwm45wNFa/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/taugempie-brand/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@taugempie
- Free Guide: https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0805/7883/8765/files/taugempie-5principles..pdf?v=1777694629
- TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@taugempie
