This short conversation kicks off a new Feminist Founders mini-series on discomfort.

Becky Mollenkamp and Faith Clarke start by unpacking a question many of us struggle to answer clearly: What’s the difference between discomfort and conflict?

They explore how discomfort often shows up first as a somatic signal in the body—tight shoulders, a knot in your stomach, a sense that something isn’t right. Conflict, on the other hand, tends to emerge when our stories about a situation collide with someone else’s.

The conversation moves into how identity, power, and lived experience shape our relationship to both discomfort and conflict. Becky reflects on how whiteness and privilege can create an expectation that comfort should always be restored quickly. Faith shares how marginalized identities often require learning to navigate discomfort without the luxury of avoiding it.

Together they discuss:

• The difference between internal discomfort and interpersonal conflict
• How meaning-making can escalate discomfort into conflict
• The role of power, identity, and cultural conditioning
• Fight, flight, freeze, fawn—and the possibility of facing discomfort instead
• Why learning to sit with discomfort is essential for building something new

This episode lays the groundwork for the rest of the series, where Becky and Faith will share stories and tools for navigating discomfort more skillfully in leadership, business, and social change work.

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