“The Bleeding Edge of Human Excellence In Your Pocket”

The team over at EVR1 makes inspired accessories, crafted using the most sustainable methods, and containing a tiny chip that holds’ the world’s wisdom. Their customers are folks who enjoy knowing they have the Library of Alexandria with them, who connect with human excellence in all its forms – poetry, philosophy, science, literature, religion. Their goal is to reconnect humanity with the long arc of its progress, to remystify our everyday lives. If you took a knife and skimmed the top off the internet, this would be the few gigabytes that constitute the EVR1 Canon – this selection includes the entire website of Wikipedia, the Eastern and Western literary canons, the world’s major religious texts, how-to manuals, and recent essays from leading thinkers on the nature of reality.

MO: What inspired to you launch EVR1?

Brandon: My purpose is integrity and wonder, to simultaneously open to and include the largest most comprehensive understanding of reality, and then incorporating that ever widening understanding into business practices. My business partner, Dane Zehrung, and I constantly ask “why?” and enjoy applying insights from philosophy, spirituality, poetry, systems thinking and ecology into everything we do. In February of 2012, I was doing a great deal of “True Purpose” work with a mentor, Jonathan Gustin, to hone in on what my immediate mission in life is. During the course of our work together, I had a revelation, in the deepest meaning of the word. I knew at that moment I would launch a company that produced goods that were equally useful and spiritual. I registered the URL that day and began prototyping products. Our goal is simple – put the bleeding edge of human excellence in your pocket.

MO: Has the feedback that you’ve been receiving from customers indicated that that a global shift is taking place? If so, what does this mean for the direction and future of EVR1?

Brandon: Indeed, there is a huge shift towards holism, towards cultivating the broadest worldview and embodying the broadest manner of being. People are on fire to find their purpose, to honor their gifts and give them away. Our customers are divine lightning rods in this sense, connecting with all of reality via their EVR1 good, and living life purposefully.

MO: Can you share one marketing strategy that’s worked well for you so far?

Brandon: Telling the EVR1 story. Folks enjoy knowing why we do this and it imbues what we do with honesty. We aren’t marketers by trade, just guys who like to shout from the mountain tops about what inspires us. What could be more awesome than developing metaphorical promiscuity with the entirety of existence?

MO: Metaphorical promiscuity?

Brandon: Its the idea that all of life is imbued with meaning, and that we can choose to see it through mystical glasses, wherein our own journey is continually illuminated by what happens to us, in the world and in our hearts. Its remaining grounded in reason when life is on the line and staying open to magic at all other times.

MO: Can you talk about the process behind launching your new women’s line at the end of July?

Brandon: I’ve been asking women what they want for most of my life, and have decided finally to to do something about it. We’re working with talented women’s jewelry designers and adding a few products ourselves to connect with women who love our story, but haven’t yet found a form factor that works for them. This new line will feature a limited edition pieces from holistic and creative artisans.

MO: What inspired you to launch the Kai Zen Master Award to recognize excellence in holistic human evolution and what do you hope to achieve?

Brandon: I was playing pool and having a few beers with my friend, Jared Brick. And it was his suggestion that we connect folks who drink the same Kool-Aid as us. And the Kai Zen Master was born. We see breadth of perspective everywhere and believe its important to tie it together under a common theme – oneness, depth, purpose, breadth – in short, holistic human evolution. There are a great many people at the bleeding edge of this revolution and its important to recognize their work, not just for how well they do it by their particular trade group, but to recognize the meaning of their work from the perspective of the species, and how it pushes humanity forward and together in new ways. Heart-centered, world-beating pioneers like David Eagleman, Tracy Chapman, Haruki Murakami and Seane Corn speak to this revolution.

MO: How do you plan to keep the momentum going?

Brandon: Getting up everyday, doing yoga, having fun, spending time in nature, creating products, listening to our souls, reading great books and connecting with the myriad of world-changers out there who seek to realize the fullest potential of humanity.