We recently connected with Gina Parrish and have shared our conversation below.

Gina, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. One deeply underappreciated facet of entrepreneurship is the kind of crazy stuff we have to deal with as business owners. Sometimes it’s crazy positive sometimes it’s crazy negative, but crazy experiences unite entrepreneurs regardless of industry. Can you share a crazy story with our readers?

Sometimes, even with all the work I put in, I have trouble comprehending the reach and scope of Make a Date of It, and how many people it feels relevant to. Occasionally people reach out to me to tell me how they’ve put one of my date, gift, or travel ideas into practice and I always feel a jolt of surprise. Some of these people live halfway around the world, and yet my business is still making an impact on them and their relationships.

It really hit home for me when I got an email from the Wall Street Journal requesting an interview. At first I thought it was a scam, since I get requests for collaborations and interviews often, some of them more legitimate than others, but I decided to research the journalist and his credentials online and sure enough, it was real. After I responded, he informed me he had been doing some research for a (hopefully, front page) article on niche dating trends, which is how he found my website, and he thought I might be able to offer unique insight into modern dating. I agreed to an interview and we talked over the phone for about a half hour, during the entirety of which I felt like I was suffering from imposter syndrome. He also interviewed one of my friends, who had tried several of my date night ideas and who I begged to make me sound important.

In the end, as far as I know, the article never made it to print, but I still feel amazed to have had the opportunity to talk about my business to such a distinguished professional, and to have felt like a real success, even for a short time.

Gina, 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?

My name is Gina Parrish and I am the founder and content creator of Make a Date of It, a blog that provides date, travel, and gift ideas to couples looking to strengthen their relationships. I started my business in 2018 after searching for fun date ideas for my husband and I and coming up short, either because the date ideas already out there were too simplistic, overdone, or lacking in creativity. Something that sets me apart is that I aim for authenticity in my work and I refuse to bow to social media algorithms. I hope to appeal to both women and men and to offer flexibility to those without much time, money, or energy. I don’t claim to be an expert who can fix everyone’s relationship problems or who has all the answers to everyone’s dating woes. I just think we could all use a little more fun in our lives and our relationships!

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

Make a Date of It was the product of a needed pivot in my life. My husband and I married in 2016 and both worked full time, living in employee housing in a ski resort town. After a year and a half of exhaustion, weight gain, and hardly spending any meaningful time together, we decided something needed to change. I knew for me it was my job. I’m a highly creative person who values lots of alone time. I struggled with the day to day monotony of my job. Once we were in a safe place financially, I decided to try working for myself and supplementing with side gigs, which has had its challenges but also its rewards.

Have any books or other resources had a big impact on you?

Advice on business and entrepreneurship is easy to come by and hard to follow. I find it more helpful to be reminded of reasons to keep moving forward. I had a professor in college who printed us a quote from a letter to Agnes de Mille from Martha Graham, two great modern dancers. She told us to pin it to the mirror and read it every time we felt lost. It goes:

“There is a vitality, a life force, a quickening that is translated through you into action,
 and because there is only one of you in all time, this expression is unique. 
If you block it, it will never exist through any other medium and be lost. 
The world will not have it. 
It is not your business to determine how good it is, nor how valuable it is, nor how it compares with other expressions. 
It is your business to keep it yours clearly and directly, to keep the channel open. 
You do not even have to believe in yourself or your work. 
You have to keep open and aware directly to the urges that motivate you. 
Keep the channel open. No artist is pleased. There is no satisfaction whatever at any time. There is only a queer, divine dissatisfaction, a blessed unrest that keeps us marching and makes us more alive than the others.”

Contact Info:

• Website: makeadateofit.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/makeadateofit
• Facebook: facebook.com/makeadateofit