Calling all climbers, misfits, and lovers.
These are my people. Here’s how I found that out:
The problem with climbers
One of the first and most interesting problems I ran into with Dynamite Starfish was with the label, “climber.” I would travel as a vendor all around the country and talk to people who were obviously rock climbing. But I found that a significant portion of those people refused to call themselves “climbers.”
Some of them felt some degree of self doubt. They felt that “real” climbers were unlike them. “Real” climbers went on life threatening adventures and survived multiple days on the side of a wall through wildfires and snowstorms at the same time. Or at least, that’s how the media made it seem.
Others felt like the “climber” stereotype was something they were turned off by. Most magazine photos showed muscle-bound athletes who look more like supermodels than fun-loving recreation enthusiasts. So much so that the term itself was bound up in unrealistic and unwanted expectations.
I wanted to know how to bring those people into the fold. The art and products I create are clearly about rock climbing. But more importantly, it’s for people to want to try hard, have fun, and care about the things they love. They just happen to enjoy climbing.
I quickly realized that building a brand just for people who call themselves climbers wasn’t going to be good enough.
Finding the misfits
Climbers are weird. There aren’t a lot of people who think that trying to get to the top of the rock the hard way is a great time. There is a common streak of resilience or maybe even masochism that draws climbers to do the things they do.
There’s a willingness to iterate and learn. There’s a willingness to take risks and fail in front of a crowd. There’s a willingness to make a huge effort to engage in an activity that offers no evident reward.
I found that the climbers I enjoyed getting out with all shared these qualities. Many of them didn’t — actually, couldn’t hold conventional jobs. Most of them had disparate interests and hobbies that made them hard to pin down into any kind of category.
They demanded to be seen as individuals. They were misfits to the core and had no problem with not fitting in.
So as my brand grew, I began to understand that Dynamite Starfish wasn’t just for climbers. It was for misfits. And I saw that misfits are the people who hold the key to human connection.
The more misfits we can gather, the more interesting and unconventional ideas we can come up with. Personally, it makes no difference whether they rock climb or not. I still want them on my team.
Connecting the lovers
Climbing is about trying hard, having fun, and caring about the things you love. And when you can do those things, life is very sweet. It’s easy to find connection, and serendipity abounds.
Once I found a few people that I really enjoyed climbing with, I realized I had fallen into a place of pure love. I had to accept that even though I didn’t feel like a great climbing partner, there were still people out there who wanted to climb with me. I had to learn to deal with my own feelings of inadequacy to continue to be a good partner to my friends.
And when I was able to accept my own shortcomings, it turns out I could be a lot more compassionate to others, too.
True partnership requires love. Every time you climb with a new partner, you notice even their subtlest tendencies and personality quirks. But you can’t get turned off by them. On the rock, it’s imperative to communicate clearly and listen well if you are to survive together. Over time, you form a highly functional bond with that person.
You know their traits, both positive and negative, and yet continue to adventure together. And if that’s not true love, I don’t know what is.
Closing thoughts
A lot of brands struggle to find their people. I hear them talking past their audience, highlighting product features or brand values that just don’t resonate.
Honing in on my brand’s audience and feeling good about it didn’t come until my fourth year of business. And it’s still a work on progress.
I went to great lengths to get to know my customers. I traveled to climbing gyms and festivals so I could sell my art in person. When an online order from a stranger would come in, I would look them up on Instagram to find out more about them.
In my fourteen years of working as a designer and helping other businesses grow, it’s been a difficult battle getting other brands to understand the importance of connecting to their core audience.
I hope more brands can find their people and learn to work dynamically with them.
Your target audience is not a point on a map that you arbitrarily choose to land on. Your audience is a moving, shape-shifting beast that you befriend by getting to know it, finding out what it needs, and leading it in the right direction.
Thank you, Leslie for all you have done to gather a true brand of love. I’m a perfect fit as a misfit climber. The first time in my short 54 years I can be myself - absent of doubt of being me, absent of childish misperceived societal junk-which allows for me to share love where I may go.