Swoveralls Comfort Club · April 2026 · Volume 4, Issue 4

A Love Letter to Listening

By Kyle Bergman, Founder of Swoveralls · April 2026

Hey there,

Spring is finally pretending to commit, which means everyone's optimism is at peak levels and nobody's quite ready for it.

This month is a love letter to listening.

To actually hearing people.

To slowing down enough that you catch what they're saying instead of waiting for your turn to talk.

I've been on 3 customer calls recently that reminded me how much I've gotten wrong by talking too much, and I want to share what those conversations taught me.

Plus a book that's been an absolute godsend at home, and a small experiment we're running that might show up in your next order.

Here's what we're covering:

• 🧠 The science of being heard (and why it matters more than you think)
• 🎅 Lionel - Santa Claus, comic book collector, and the man waiting patiently for red Swoveralls
• ✂️ John - Air Force vet, Cincinnati barber, and the customer who unknowingly changed our roadmap
• 💚 Nicole - a legendary Head Comfort Coach and the inspiration behind something cool we're building
• 📚 Brands Books We Love: the parenting book that's making me a better human

Let's go.

🧠 The science of being heard (and why it matters more than you think)

I've been thinking a lot lately about how rarely most of us feel actually listened to.

Not the polite-nodding kind. Not the "I'm-waiting-for-you-to-finish-so-I-can-talk" kind. The real kind. Where someone is so present with what you're saying that you can feel it.

Turns out there's actual research on why this matters so much. A 2017 study published in Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin by Itzchakov, Kluger, and Castro found that being listened to by a high-quality listener (someone empathic, attentive, and nonjudgmental) reduces speakers' social anxiety and helps them think more clearly about their own positions.

In other words, being heard literally regulates your nervous system and helps you sort out what you actually think.

The catch? Most of us are terrible at this.

We listen to respond, not to understand. We're already drafting our reply while the other person is still talking. We jump in with advice when someone just wanted to be heard.

I've been guilty of all of it. And I'm working on it.

I've been getting reminded of this in two very different parts of my life lately. One is on customer calls (more on three of those below). The other is at home with my twin 2.5yo boys, Max and Bernie, who are deep in the trenches of their toddler era. (Our ten-month-old, Baby Belle, is a sweet angel who can do no wrong, at least for now.)

Toddlers will humble you fast. They will also teach you that most of what looks like bad behavior is just a kid trying to communicate something they don't yet have words for. And the only way to figure out what that is? You guessed it. Listen.

So this month, try this: in your next conversation, just listen. Don't load your response while they're talking. Don't interrupt with a similar story of your own. Don't jump to advice. Just hear them. See what happens.

It might be the simplest comfort hack we've ever shared.

⭐ Customer Spotlight #1: Lionel, Santa Claus Is Patiently Waiting for Red

I called Lionel earlier this week and within a few minutes I learned that he is, in fact, Santa Claus.

Not metaphorically. Lionel works as Santa, including doing "Christmas in July" events, which is how he ended up buying our red Swoveralls Shorts back in May 2024. They didn't fit, he returned them, and we haven't had red in stock since.

For two years, every time we've sent him an email, Lionel has replied asking when red is coming back.

Two years. Of patiently asking. Of giving us second, third, and fourth chances. Of buying forest green in the meantime because that's what we had.

Here's what I would have missed if I'd done all the talking: Lionel isn't just a customer. He's a small business owner himself, a Fortune 500 alum, and one of the most empathetic people I've ever talked to. He understands the realities of building something hard. He's been through the sizing changes (sized up from 2X to 3X to a 4 in our Waffles), the manufacturing partner shifts, the fabric composition updates. And every step of the way, he's stayed kind.

Good news for Santa: red is coming back. Campfire rust drops in August. A red and white pinstripe Swoverall drops in August.

Lionel, thank you for your incredible patience and understanding. Christmas in July 2026 is going to be the year of the candy cane Swovie Santa!!

⭐ Customer Spotlight #2: John, Doc the Barber, Air Force Vet, and the Conversation That Changed Our Roadmap

John goes by "Doc" at his barbershop in Oakley, Cincinnati. The name comes from his late father, who was a doctor and called Doc by everyone who knew him.

John is an Air Force veteran, a small business owner running his own one-man operation out of a salon loft, and a husband who took a few years to convince his wife that Swoveralls were worth it. He's seen 2,700 unique clients over five years, which when you do the math is a staggering amount of one-on-one human interaction.

He found us during the COVID blur, and bought a black pair (great taste). Wore them to the barbershop. Got asked "dude, overalls made of sweatpants?" and got to deliver the line every Swoveralls customer dreams of: "Yep, and they're called Swoveralls."

But here's the part of the conversation that changed everything.

I asked John what would make his Swoveralls experience an 11 out of 10. He said something I would have completely missed if I'd been talking instead of listening: "A little swag in the bag. A couple stickers. Something I could put on my mirror or my fridge."

Then he explained why. He cuts a lot of college kids. Their cars look like graffiti art of stickers. He talked about how stickers travel, how they create conversation, how they reach people in ways ads never could. He even mentioned displaying something for us in his barbershop because he's connected to the local supporters group for FC Cincinnati and there are five guys who'd buy Swoveralls the moment the warm weather hits.

I had heard the same feedback from a customer in Omaha that morning. Two requests in one day, from two completely different people, in two completely different contexts.

That's not a coincidence. That's a signal.

So we're making it happen. Stickers are coming. And I made John a custom batch with a QR code so anyone who scans it gets $20 in store credit. And you get $20 every time someone uses it.

Thank you Doc for the great conversation and support, and for those reading and in need of a cut in the Cincy area....give John a holler!

⭐ Customer Spotlight #3: Nicole, The Comfort Coach Legend Who Inspired A Crazy Idea (maybe)

Some of you might remember Nicole from a previous newsletter. She's earned her second feature.

Nicole and I caught up recently and spent most of the call geeking out about what's coming. She was just as fired up as I am about an awesome collab we're launching in August (I can't share the full details yet, but trust me, it's going to be special).

She's also pumped that we're bringing back some all-time best sellers, including Dancing Skeletons. 💀

But here's what made the call extra special. On the spot, mid-conversation as Nicole was chatting about how challenging it can be to share her referral link... I had an idea I'd never had before. I told Nicole I was going to make her a small set of custom business cards with her own personal refer-a-friend QR code on them. Something physical she could hand out to people who asked about her Swoveralls.

She's the first comfy fam member to get them. And it got me thinking.

How cool would it be if your next Swoveralls order arrived with a handful of custom cards featuring your own referral code? Stickers for your laptop. Cards for your coworker who keeps asking where you got your overalls. Something tangible that turns the comfy fam into actual ambassadors.

I'm working with my team on the best way to make this happen for everyone. No promises on timing yet, but it's officially on the roadmap.

Nicole, thank you! You didn't just inspire a one-off thing for one customer. You inspired something we're going to build for the whole community.

❤️ Books We Love: No Bad Kids by Janet Lansbury

This one might be relevant for some of you and not for others, but I have to talk about it.

I have twin 2.5yo boys named Max and Bernie. They are smart, hilarious, full of life, and currently in the absolute deepest trenches of their toddler era. If you know, you know. If you don't, imagine two tiny humans with all the emotional regulation of a fire alarm and twice the volume.

Janet Lansbury's No Bad Kids: Toddler Discipline Without Shame has been an absolute godsend. The premise is simple: there are no bad kids, only kids communicating something they don't yet have the tools to express. Your job as a parent isn't to control them. It's to set calm, clear limits while genuinely listening to what's underneath the behavior.

Here's the thing that surprised me, though. This book isn't just making me a better parent. It's making me a better human in every single conversation I have.

The principles she teaches for toddlers are the same ones that work for adults. Don't react, respond. Don't assume the worst, get curious. Don't talk over, listen. Hold the line on what matters without making the other person feel small.

It's the exact same skill set I'm trying to bring to customer calls with people like Lionel, John, and Nicole. Turns out two-and-a-half-year-olds and adults aren't all that different. We all just want to be heard, taken seriously, and treated with respect.

If you're a parent, grandparent, teacher, manager, or any human who interacts with other humans, No Bad Kids is worth your time.

(And Baby Belle, my ten-month-old, gets a free pass for now. She is a sweet angel who can do no wrong. Ask me again in eighteen months.) 👶

Until Next Time...

3 customer conversations and 2 toddlers all taught me the same thing this month: listening is more powerful than we give it credit for.

If you've been meaning to reach out to someone, do it. If you've been meaning to actually hear what someone (or some tiny someone) is trying to tell you, try it. If you've been meaning to tell us what would make Swoveralls better, reply to this email. We're listening.

Stay cozy, stay curious, and keep telling us the things we need to hear.

Yours in all the free waistband energy,

Kyle Bergman
Founder | Chief Swoveralls Officer

P.S. - If you or someone you know could benefit from waistband-free clothing, reply to this email. I take these conversations seriously.

P.P.S - If you made it this far, you might as well join our facebook group here (the Comfort Club), and special shoutout to comfort coach Mary Elise for helping run the group.