We recently connected with Abigail Goodin and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Abigail, thanks for joining us today. So let’s jump to your mission – what’s the backstory behind how you developed the mission that drives your brand?

The mission behind Off My Hinge really came about by happenstance and curiosity before it was able to actually propel me into a vital and valuable social research mission.

In 2022, after my first experience with heartbreak at twenty-one years old, I had one of those gripping coming of age moments that I actually had no idea how to date, what I wanted from dating or what I valued from relationships- so I did what everyone else around me was doing: I made a Hinge profile.

Before I knew it, I’d been on sixty hinge dates in six months. I frantically kept a diary tracking all of the dates and people I’d met. I had a weird pin drop moment in 2023 when I rediscovered the journal: What was their perspective of me? Had they learned or observed, remembered or felt the same things from our interaction/s as I had?

Off My Hinge Podcast facilitates the conversations of reconnecting with past Hinge Dates over two years later to compare and contrast perspectives of the same interaction I’d written about in my journal two years prior. The aim of these conversations was to demystify the transactional and detached culture Gen Z and Millennials have constructed as a coping mechanism to the over saturation, gamification and burnout of online dating apps in a genuine mission of self-exploration and meaningful relationship building.

I uncovered in my research leading up to writing the podcast and developing the series the universal pain points of online dating as a young person today: the lack of experience with real life rejection (and the importance of real life rejection,) the pain of relationships starting and ending virtually no matter how long they lasted, the mental health crisis being perpetuated by coping behaviours like ghosting.

Off My Hinge serves as an accessible platform where Gen Z most primarily can collectively challenge the narrative of using dating apps to seek relationships and develop relationship skills,offering a platform where confrontational conversations can be had with humour and with necessary self-reflection and accountability.

Abigail, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

Abigail Goodin is New York City based Producer, Designer and Content Creator with global and bilingual experience across all areas of Entertainment, Media Management and Design. She holds a Bachelor of Business Administration in Strategic Design and Management from Parsons School of Design and Two Diplomas of Advanced French Language Translation accredited by the International Ministry of French Education.

Having grown up in the performing arts industry as an opera singer, Abigail entered the design space with the intention of implementing more cohesive and equitable system design and management processes for production companies and teams to best benefit performers and creative teams creatively and financially. After several years of experience in this space,Abigail had the impulse to create a platform to share her own stories and growth with the intention of cultivating community conversations directly trouble shooting the pain points of today’s culture of miscommunication and disconnection. She is most proud of her ability to problem solve uniquely and strategically to every story or storyteller’s needs.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

The beauty of venturing into something uniquely your creation is that it forces you to constantly pivot and respond- especially if you have excellent collaborators and mentors around you to hold you accountable. Simply putting myself out there to create this podcast about my very personal dating life was a massive, at the time unimaginable pivot for me! During my final year at Parsons, I was anxiously trying to bulk up my portfolio as many budding creatives do to prepare themselves for their impending trust fall into Full-Time. I kept gravitating towards others looking for new projects to manage, scrambling for internships to hone and validate my skills to expand my portfolio; doing anything except looking at the resources I already had to create a meaningful platform and portfolio. I had a calling to create something that came from my heart and not just my knowledge and expertise. It was terrifying realising that what was ‘safe’ and familiar to me was no longer in alignment with my true fulfilment and the career growth I knew I wanted for myself. So to look back on the trajectory of this project and platform and see that it has grown into a multidimensional and multidisciplinary exercise, even if an imperfect one, is a pivot I am deeply proud of.

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

My Social Media audience is still growing and developing itself, for which I’m so grateful ! Social Media is just an extension of your product, a feeder to your product: Intimately know your audience- know their interests, know their pain points, know their needs and wants, and continue to show up constantly and unapologetically to serve your audience content that that is an extension of you and your mission. Adjust when you need to, check in with how their behaviours are changing and approach your audience as your friends first and foremost. That is the most magnetizing way to reel them in and keep them hooked!

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @offmyhingepodcast
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/abigail-goodin-9b92b9213/

Image Credits

Eric Kavanaugh