Hinge Founder Doesn’t Believe in “The One”
Hinge CEO Justin McLeod opens up about his own love story with wife, Kate and why his views on “the one” evolved.
Read an edited transcript below, and listen to the full interview with Justin on the First Contact podcast.
“I believe that you can work and make someone ‘the one.’”
Laurie: Do you believe in “the one”?
Justin: Uh, no. I don’t. I know that sounds crazy after everything I just said, but, I believe that you can work and make someone “the one.” You know what I mean? I think that…I used to believe in “the one.” I used to believe in the idea that there was only one person out there for us. And that’s why I flew over to Switzerland. And what I learned through that experience is that what made Kate “the one” wasn’t that she was just like this magical person, although she’s a pretty magical person. It was I think we both learned how to be vulnerable with each other… And for me, it was a commitment thing.
For me, I was in that mode of where I was always moving onto the next thing as soon as I found a flaw, or as soon as things got uncomfortable, I would just drop and run. And the magical thing about what happened with Kate is that I like couldn’t do that. You know? She moved back from Switzerland for me, like, left a whole life. And I wasn’t just as soon as things got a little rough be like, “Uh, like never mind.”
And so I stuck it out. And what I found by sticking it out with someone, and learning how to share my needs and share my vulnerabilities and share my fears and listen to hers…And that’s what I’ve learned.
I think it’s very possible to have an amazing relationship with anyone if you have the right skills and if you approach it with the right attitude. And that’s, I think, the ethos that gets built into Hinge. And that’s been the journey that I’ve been on, and what I’ve learned.
“I think it’s very possible to have an amazing relationship with anyone if you have the right skills and if you approach it with the right attitude.”
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