Zachary Darnowski started blindfolding himself to hug strangers after feeling heard during depression. His videos of giving flowers and gift cards went viral, reaching 34 million followers in three years and showing how small acts of kindness ripple outward.
Questions this video answers
Zachary Darnowski (known as MD Motivator).
December 20, 2024.
Approximately 34–35 million followers (over the last three years).
Blindfolding himself and hugging strangers (no recording).
Chapters
Meet Zachary Darnowski, known as MD Motivator. He's given away millions of dollars spreading the message that kindness is cool. What started with simple hugs has grown into a global movement of generosity and connection. Here's some of what he had to share with us.
A lot of things happened in my life that got me to a breaking point. And it was one night. I was really struggling with depression and questioning my life at that point. And I went for a walk in the middle of the night. Cause I didn't want my roommate, who was also in medical school, with me to see and know what I was feeling. Because I feel like that's what we feel when we're going through stuff, is we don't want anyone to see those low emotions. So I went for a walk. I sat down on, like, a curb. This, like, time of the night. Like, dark like this. And I just let it out. And I thought I was by myself, but there was two women in, like, their mid to late 30s, and they came up to me and they saw me crying, and they said, hey, what's going on? And I said, I'm fine. They said, how are you? And I said, I'm good. And, like, I didn't want them to see or act, but what they did right there changed my life forever. They sat with me right in that moment in the wet cement, because it was raining at that point, too. And they just listened to me, a stranger. And I'll never forget how great it felt to be heard. Not, like needing answers, but to feel heard from a stranger. And I knew at that moment, I'm like, I want. I'm not good mentally, but I'm like, I want to be that for somebody else. My dad. So sorry. And then because of that, I love you. I started blindfolding myself and hugging strangers. No recording, just blindfolded. Hugging strangers. That's how it started. And then it's went from. In the last three years, we've grown to, like, 34, 35 million followers across the platform. But from hug to flowers, to gift cards to money, to hundreds of thousands of dollars of crowdfunds, to Kim Kardashian to Kevin Hart to the craziest thing. But at its core is the beginning. And I make videos that go viral of giving back because I hope that people feel enough to want to go and do something in their own life. The thousand dollars or the mystery. This is great. It'll go viral. But that isn't the secret sauce. You calling your grandma you haven't spoke to in a few months. You actually asking somebody how they're doing or buying someone a cup of coffee. Like those small acts, people don't forget and they are the magic. So I hope when you watch the video you do that. Because when you do that, the small acts, not only are you impacting them, you feel better about yourself than you ever could for doing something like selfishly for yourself. I've watched hours on hours of Tony Robbins videos, obviously like through YouTube or podcasts. My mom originally initially showed me him when I was end of high school. So this goes back a long time. His self belief and his confidence and not his confidence so much that it instills it in others. And you can feel that through the videos that I've seen. Just his message as a whole is resonating with me whenever I watch his videos. In the moment of like connecting with someone, being able to give. And it doesn't mean give money, it means give time. It means hear them out, it means to get them tickets or meet somebody. Like just that feeling is what makes me feel not like good, it makes me feel alive. Secret of living is giving is like, I mean that's like spot on.
