What We Told Hinge®

Sightly tweaked from the submission but you get the gist :)

First of all, love stories rarely follow a straight path, and ours is proof that the best ones often take unexpected turns. What started as a journey of self-discovery, honesty, and openness led us to something we never could have planned: finding each other. Our love story is anything but conventional. It’s a tale of growth, second chances, and the power of saying YES to the possibilities life throws our way.

If you want the full unfiltered version, we just launched a podcast, Yes. F*ck Yes. (on Spotify), where we deep dive into how we got here. But for now, here’s the short version on how a workaholic mom of two and a free-spirited 26-year-old found love, all thanks to Hinge.

Now, to the storyline (or what we like to call a good plot twist). It all started with me, April, 40-ish, married at 22, divorced, and mom of two (3 & 13 at the time). I was in a relationship with a man for over a decade but never envisioned marrying him (like I couldn’t visualize what it would look like) but we had my little one and we enjoyed the life we built. It was easy. He was a fantastic dad but I almost died in childbirth (lost half of the blood in my body). He really insisted on trying for another child, but in asking, he didn’t realize that it felt like my well-being didn’t matter and that truly didn’t sit right. So I started to detach and just focus on my girls and working. One night, we were watching Handmaid’s Tale and a part of the show that we chatted about was with June loving two guys pretty equally. We agreed that maybe there are multiple soulmates for each person. Ultimately, I told him that I didn’t want him to have any regrets in life. I wanted him to have another child since the world needs more of him… but I’m not the vessel for more. It was not worth the risk for my girls to lose their mommy. By the end of the conversation, we decided to open our relationship. He did a ton of research about open relationships, rules and popular dating apps. See, neither one of us had online dating experience. After a lengthy amount of time, he decided that Hinge was the best one for an introvert like himself. Me, I’m an EXTRA-extrovert so I could talk to anyone but would prefer to do it irl so I opted out of the online dating apps (for the time being). He was on it for about 3 months but I found out midway through that it was because he brought me up right away and that would deter women since it sounded too complicated. After his failed attempts and a ghosting, I decided to give it a shot. Why tf not. I like chatting and getting to know people. The goal was to find someone that would like me but would eventually want kids with him (ENM relationships can be complex and I can explain our specific rules later… but moving on for now)!

He strongly recommended Hinge to me right away since that was his favorite and I obliged. I perfected my profile. I’m in the marketing world so image is everything. I uploaded a diverse group of photos, added my voice memo and started sending roses right away. The app was incredible! Perfectly designed, easy to use, pretty amazing people on there that felt real and easy to talk to. To be honest, my favorite features were the awesome ice-breaker prompts. What others chose for their profiles and what they interacted with the most told me a lot about their personalities. Was on it for a month and dated a few women (first time dating women btw). The best part was dissecting myself and getting to know myself again after losing my identity with a divorce, a transactional relationship that some call a "situationship" and two kids. However, I was ghosted by one girl I somewhat had hopes for and felt like I was wasting time, so I told him I was going to give up. He says, “just try one more time.” And I did. One more time.

Enter Jules. 26, moved back in with retired parents after a 5yr breakup, new to FL just looking for friends that stayed up after 9pm on a weekend. Downloaded Hinge and put minimum effort into her portfolio.  Day 1, likes my photo. And that’s it. The beginning of our love story. And forever grateful for Hinge. Truly. Thank you for being made and bringing two soulmates together!

Describe first date

Oh my god, it was magical ✨ We met at a rooftop (Sal y Mar) in Tampa. I waited for her by the elevator since the restaurant is in this amazing hotel. As soon as the doors opened and I saw her smile, it lit up my life. It was golden hour and the sun just looked so beautiful on her flawlesss skin and sharp jawline. Right before we hug, I say “Yes. F*ck Yes.” I hug her and it was like perfect puzzle pieces coming together. She was wearing this silky two piece (looking so cute and sexy) and I, for a moment, forgot she was a women and groped her for a brief second and I jump and she didn’t even notice. She was just gazing at my face and smiling from ear to ear. She was speechless. And if you know my wife, the word "speechless" is not really in her vocabulary so a lot of people do not believe this detail. lol. We quickly grab seats at the bar outside and just giggle. She couldn’t talk, much less even look at me!! Literally, she kept looking at the bar and would constantly bite her fist like Leonardo DiCaprio on the The Wolf of Wall Street. So cute! I just kept looking at her side profile, studying ever inch since she couldn’t look at me. I couldn't get enough of her. There is so much more to this story … but that’s when I knew I loved her from the second I met her.

What specifically drew you to each other's profile?

April: both masculine and feminine style clothing in each photo! Very intriguing and so interesting. Had to learn more about her!

Jules: her voice note and the open-ended prompts that showed how cute and funny she is.

The Power of One More Try

Looking back, it’s wild to think that our entire love story hinged (pun intended) on one final attempt. When I first joined Hinge, I wasn’t looking for a soulmate... I honestly was rediscovering myself. After years of prioritizing everyone else, I was learning to say YES to me. Jules, on the other hand, wasn’t exactly on a mission for love either. Fresh out of a long-term relationship and new to Florida, she just wanted to meet people who were not receiving Social Security benefits just yet.

One like. One message. One date. And that was it. From the moment I saw her step out of that elevator with a smile that literally lit up my entire world, I felt it. This was different. This was it. Hinge didn’t just introduce us... it changed the entire trajectory of our lives. It gave us a way to meet that wouldn’t have existed otherwise, a platform to be our authentic selves, and a chance to find exactly what we didn’t know we needed.

So, truly, Thank You, Hinge for making our love story possible ❤️