“Seek discomfort” — what began as a simple reminder to push past the confinements of the comfort zone quickly evolved into a lifestyle that the members of the Yes Theory Youtube channel embraced to the fullest extent. Over the past several years Seek Discomfort has become more than a motto, but a lifestyle that inspires adventure, positivity, and meaningful connection. In May of 2018, the Yes Theory guys decided to lead the movement and launch the Seek Discomfort brand into the world.
Since then, the brand has cultivated a thriving global community of “Seekers”. These Seekers are not just fans of the brand, but real people who have made the choice to seek discomfort in all they do — push the limit, promote positivity, and connect on a deeper level.
SocialLadder had a chance to chat with Seek Discomfort CEO, Bryan Spunt, on how building authentic connections with their community of Seekers has allowed the brand to make a meaningful impact on the world together.
We love Seek Discomfort’s mission that emphasizes positivity, inclusivity, and human connection. How did these ideals inspire the brand to build a dedicated community of Seekers?
At Seek Discomfort, we strive to treat our customers like family, and we are guided by a single golden rule: community comes first. At the end of the day everything we do circles back to this simple yet powerful idea. We expanded this philosophy into three main goals for our business: 1) Create products that serve as daily reminders for our community that the best things in life are outside their comfort zone 2) Help connect like-minded Seekers around the world so they can establish deep and meaningful relationships, and 3) Create the world’s largest and most inclusive family. We believe that if we can accomplish these goals, the sky’s the limit. There is no stopping the amount of good our community can inspire in the world. My hope is that as a Seekers you can see that our company cares deeply about our community and that this is about more than just business for us. It’s about all of them. A global family.
What does it mean to be a part of the Seeker family, and how do fans of the brand become a part of it?
Seekers are always seeking… seeking adventure, seeking connection, and seeking growth. They are the go getters and the dreamers. They know that discomfort is a step beyond the ordinary. It is a refusal to be confined by societal standards. They choose to seek discomfort because it is a state of progress – never stagnant and never at the destination.
They crave experiences with unknown faces, conversations that dive deeper than surface level interactions, and they are filled with a curiosity that surpasses all exterior differences. They are bound through the universal language of love over fear. They are human. They take risks. When they fail they get back up. Meditation, self-reflection, and gratitude propel them forward. They know that one positive thought has the power to create a miracle.
They appreciate the simple fact that they are alive – living passionately in the present. They are okay with being unfinished and don’t pass the days like checks on a to-do list. They live, and they don’t let fear call the shots.
All these traits link us Seekers to a global family. A family that will always be there to support one another. Becoming a part of the community is simple, you just have to believe in it. Seekers can engage with us, and others in the community, on all of our social platforms and get inspired by watching Yes Theory videos on YouTube.
Seek Discomfort recently made the decision to use Seekers to create content as well as posting #SeekerSpotlight features, rather than hiring professional models to promote the brand. How has this helped strengthen your content strategy and relationship with your brand community?
I think this is a great example of our golden rule and the emphasis we place on our community. As the brand started to grow, we began hiring professional models for our photoshoots. We quickly felt a disconnect. Our brand seemed less approachable, and it was drifting away from our core belief. Seek Discomfort was started by everyday people chasing their wildest dreams, and the Seekers in our community are cut from the same cloth. We decided there was no better way to connect and show our community that we care than to share their stories through these photoshoots. It’s truly an inspiration to meet these Seekers; it reminds our team why we put in all this time and effort. Another example of our focus on connecting with our community is what we call Seeker Sessions. Our CEO and Director of Operations connect with a handful of people in our community every week on a video call to talk about life, our business, and everything in between.
How has covid impacted your connection to the Seeker community, and what new ways have you found to connect?
At the start of this pandemic, our team was filled with discomfort and uncertainty. We were unsure how to best connect with our community. We couldn’t travel, we couldn’t meet new people, and our team was separated during quarantine.
This was when something powerful happened. Our community of Seekers came to the rescue. They pushed through the discomfort and found ways to connect with each other digitally. They got creative with events like a 24 hour long live concert or speed dating with friends both on Zoom. They inspired us.
We also banded together to help those that were less fortunate. We donated 255,000 meals to food banks through our partnership with Feeding America, over 10,000 medical masks to frontline medical workers, and $35,000 towards the BLM movement.
Where do you see the future of the Seek Discomfort family headed in 2021?
There is so much opportunity for us to connect and do good together in 2021. One of our big initiatives is the Seeker Sustainability Project. It’s our effort to focus on sustainability as a brand and community. To leave the world better than we found it. We also hope that the pandemic subsides with the introduction of the vaccine and that we can get back to connecting with our community in real life. Hosting in person events, meetups, and once again working together to help the less fortunate. We are also working to launch our own line of Seek Discomfort activewear and expand on our free online workout platform called SWEAT by Seek Discomfort. We hope this inspires many Seekers to venture towards a healthy and active lifestyle together. More than anything, the future will be supportive. Our community will support one another as we chase after the wild dreams that we all wrote down on a piece of paper somewhere when the year began.
Bonus question! If you could pick one song to describe your community, what would it be?
Freedom by Kygo & Zak Abel from the Seeker Sounds playlist on Spotify.
Thank you, Bryan! To learn more about Seek Discomfort and join the community, visit them at seekdiscomfort.com or connect with them on Instagram.
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