Swoveralls Comfort Club · March 2026 · Volume 4, Issue 3

The Liking Gap: Why Your Brain Is Wrong About Reaching Out

By Kyle Bergman, Founder of Swoveralls · March 2026

March is the month where winter overstays its welcome and spring keeps texting "omw" but never shows up. Classic spring.

This month we are bringing you three customers who all share one thing in common: they did not wait for an invitation. And honestly, they are making this brand better than we ever could alone.

Plus some research on why your brain is lying to you about reaching out to people, a running glove that might be my new lucky charm, and something important I have been meaning to say for a while.

The liking gap: why your brain is wrong about reaching out

Here is something wild: you know that thing where you want to reach out to someone but your brain says "they probably do not want to hear from you" or "that would be weird" or "they are too busy"?

Your brain is wrong.

Research from Yale psychologist Erica Boothby and her team found something called the "liking gap."

After conversations between strangers, people consistently underestimated how much the other person enjoyed talking to them and how positively they came across.

We think we are being awkward. The other person thinks we are great.

The gap was significant. And it persisted even after multiple interactions.

A follow-up study published in Psychological Science found the same pattern when people reached out to old contacts, pitched ideas to colleagues, or simply introduced themselves to someone new. The anticipated awkwardness almost never materialized. The other person was almost always glad to hear from them.

This matters because initiative is a muscle most people never flex. Not because they do not have good ideas or genuine things to say, but because their brain invented a rejection that does not exist.

So this month, send that email. Schedule that call. Pitch that idea. Introduce yourself to that person. The "liking gap" says they will be glad you did.

Why am I telling you this? Because three of our customers did exactly that, and every single one of them made our world better. More on them below.

Customer spotlight #1: Dana, PhD, comfort on the floor

Dana Allen has a PhD, works as a parent educator, and spends her days on the floor with families. Literally on the floor. Leading new baby classes, working alongside families during some of the most challenging moments of their lives, including working with police and hospice services.

Her clothing needs to keep up with all of that. And apparently, Swoveralls do.

Dana has 4 pairs and describes having "something that is halfway decent and comfortable" as "a brilliant thing." Which, coming from someone who has to be physically active, emotionally present, and professionally polished simultaneously, means a lot.

Here is what I love about Dana: she comes from an LL Bean family (her relatives work there) and has a deep appreciation for brands that combine quality with genuine values. That same standard is what she applies to Swoveralls, and the fact that we meet it is something we do not take lightly.

She is also excited about new fabric types, which tells me she is not going anywhere. Dana, we are working on it. Stay tuned.

Dana did not just buy Swoveralls. She adopted them into her professional life and became an advocate. That is initiative.

Customer spotlight #2: Saurabh, the comfy corporate infiltrator

I met Saurabh last year at a Shopify and ecommerce event in NYC, and he immediately bought a pair of our Dino Print Swoveralls. Love at first dinosaur. (Speaking of which, Dino Print is coming back. Preorder drops this Friday and they ship next month. Just saying.)

Then he reached out about making UGC content for us. Always flattered and happy to collab with any customer who wants to create with us.

But then things took an interesting turn.

Saurabh pitched Swoveralls to the company he works at. Not because we asked him to. Not because there was a referral program. He just believed in the product enough to walk into a meeting and say "we should do custom Swoveralls for our team."

And they said yes.

I cannot share all the details yet, but this is our biggest company swag collab by a country mile, and we are making custom Swoveralls for his company and they are going to be incredible. More on that in a few months.

This is what I mean about initiative. Saurabh went from customer to content creator to internal sales rep, all on his own. I love it.

Customer spotlight #3: Jeff, 17 pairs and counting

Jeff Fritz owns 17 pairs of Swoveralls. SEVENTEEN.

But here is why that number matters: Jeff experienced sudden, severe pain when wearing anything tight around his waist. Traditional clothing became unbearable. His mom saw Swoveralls on Shark Tank and recommended them.

Jeff describes them as "the only thing I wear right now" and says they completely saved his life.

He joined the comfy fam in July 2025 and quickly became a head comfort coach (what we like to call our super customers around here).

But Jeff did not stop at buying. He recognized that as someone with chronic pain issues, his story could help other people who are searching for the same solution. He told me that searching for comfortable bibs for men on Amazon yields basically nothing. There is a whole underserved community of people who need waistband-free clothing and do not know we exist (I talk more about this below).

So Jeff wants to create UGC content sharing his experience and how Swoveralls transformed his daily life. He is positioning himself as an advocate for people who struggle with waistband restrictions, and honestly, I cannot think of a better person for that role.

Jeff, thank you for trusting us with something this personal. Your story matters, and we are honored you want to share it.

A note about all three of the above humans

You are all incredible. And I do not mean that in a generic newsletter kind of way.

Dana gave me direct feedback about how to improve the shopping experience.

Saurabh hired himself as an internal sales rep at his own company to get his team in custom Swoveralls.

Jeff wants to make content to help other people with chronic pain find a solution that works.

You give feedback. You pitch us to your employers. You want to create content with us. None of that is normal customer behavior. And all of it makes this brand what it is.

So on that note: if you, reader reading this sentence, have feedback, want to explore a custom order for your team, or want to make some free-the-waistband UGC with us, reply to this email. I would genuinely love to chat.

Or, and I have never done this before in a newsletter, I am including a link to my calendar right here: calendly.com/swoveralls/vip15

Usually I save this for personal email notes to comfy fam members who have placed 2+ orders. But if you are still reading this, you are definitely a VIP. Book a time. I would love to chat.

Brands we love: FlipMits

I discovered FlipMits recently when we both supported the We Got This LA Marathon team. (Side note: shoutout to WGT founder Elissa and all of the runners who participated in this year's race.)

FlipMits are running gloves, but that undersells them. They are a 4-in-1 piece of handwear made from organic bamboo fabric that converts between gloves, mittens, sweatbands, and a hand towel. You switch modes mid-run without stopping. No stuffing gloves in your pocket. No soaked-through sweatbands. Just one piece of gear that adapts as fast as the weather does.

I have worn them a few times now, and I recently had a great race at the Richmond Half Marathon while wearing them. Finished 9th overall with a 1:18:49 (6:00 per mile pace). See the pic below of me and my FlipMits deep in the pain cave.

I would not consider myself a superstitious guy. But given that performance, I will probably wear them for the Boston Marathon next month. First time running Boston. Nervous. Excited. Will be wearing FlipMits.

(And obviously Swoveralls pre and post-race. Always.)

Check them out at flipmits.com. Thoughtfully designed, genuinely effective, and comfy and soft, like something I would even just wear around the house (maybe).

When comfort becomes medical: the stories you do not see

I need to share something that has been on my mind lately.

When I started Swoveralls in 2017, I thought I was making fun, comfy clothing. I did not anticipate how many customers would tell me Swoveralls are not just comfortable, they are the only clothing they can wear without pain.

Jeff's story is just one example.

We hear from people with Crohn's, IBS, fibromyalgia, POTS, EDS, sensory processing disorders, and chronic pain conditions.

People recovering from abdominal surgery.

People with ostomy bags or feeding tubes.

Pregnant people dealing with hyperemesis.

For all of them, waistband pressure is not a minor annoyance. It is a barrier to getting dressed.

A 2002 study in the International Journal of Biometeorology found that pressure from tight clothing significantly increased cortisol, adrenaline, and heart rate.

I feel like that is something I could have told you, but nice to know the science backs up the intuition.

And for people already managing chronic conditions, that compounds everything. Comfortable clothing is not luxury for them. It is medical necessity.

Jeff searched Amazon for "comfortable bibs for men" and found nothing. People are cutting waistbands out of pants, living in pajamas, DIY-ing solutions because nothing else exists.

If Swoveralls help you manage pain, sensory issues, or a medical condition, that is not a secondary use case. That is just as valid as someone who wears them because they are cozy. And if you know someone struggling with this, share Jeff's story. Word-of-mouth from people who genuinely need these products changes lives.

We did not set out to make adaptive comfort clothing. But if that is what we have accidentally created, we are honored to serve that community.

Yours in all the free waistband energy,

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.