Selling more is always the goal—but sometimes growth costs us the very thing that made our brand matter in the first place. The human touch. So here’s the real question: how do you sell out… without losing your soul?
What Chewy, The Bear, and Bill Murray Have in Common
In the early days, some brands framed their first dollar. Others still remember their first order by heart. It was human. Messy. Magic. Handwritten notes, surprise deliveries—not because they were part of some CRM flow, but because you were juggling every role and genuinely excited to serve someone.
But then came growth. Ops got tighter. Margins thinner. That magic didn’t disappear completely—but it definitely stopped being the priority.
We’re Starving for Soul
A friend of mine recently lost her dog. It was brutal—Barbie had been with her through college, her first job, a breakup. Then, just days after the loss, her Chewy subscription showed up. A box of dog food on the porch. A punch in the gut.
She called to cancel. Chewy couldn’t take the bag back due to health rules—but they refunded her anyway. And two days later, she got flowers. Not a template email. Not a discount code. Actual flowers.
In that moment, she didn’t just feel better—she felt seen. She became an evangelist. A customer for life.
These stories are rare—but they’re unforgettable. McKinsey found that brands investing in emotional connection grow 85% faster than competitors. Customers who feel valued are 3x more likely to recommend and 4x more likely to repurchase. Loyalty doesn’t live in your logistics. It lives in care.
Do the Unreasonable
Paul Graham once said, “Do things that don’t scale”. It wasn’t romantic advice—it was a strategic edge.
In The Bear, when Cousin Richie gets thrown into the world of fine dining, he doesn’t just learn about food. He learns about service. Will Guidara calls it “unreasonable hospitality“—the idea that surprise, delight, and real human connection can be operationalized. Not faked. Not forced. Designed.
Chewy isn’t sending flowers for clout. They’re doing it because they understand what it feels like to lose someone you love. It’s still a business—but it’s run by humans who care. And people can tell the difference.
From artists crashing weddings to founders hand-delivering their first 100 orders—those moments create five-minute memories with five-year impact. Sometimes even virality money can’t buy. Don’t dismiss them because they don’t scale. Prototype them until they can. Rediscover the soul in what you do.
What Will Bill Murray Do?
Customers won’t remember the unboxing experience or the A/B-tested headline. They’ll remember how you made them feel—especially when they didn’t expect you to show up.
If you’re building for the long game, don’t just optimize for performance. Build for presence. Because presence is what people talk about. And presence is what they never forget.
