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In Today’s Issue:
Intro to the Guest and Topic
Core Takeaway
Episode References
Select Quotes
Key Moments
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Today’s Topic & Guest:
Taylor O’Brien | Candid Dating
Today’s guest has a really awesome story (you probably already knew that though; otherwise we wouldn’t have her on). Our guest is Taylor O’Brien, Co-Founder of Candid Dating. A Catholic speed dating app. They are getting people away from the swiping culture and into face to face meetings, and are having a lot of success.
But Taylor’s journey to build Candid started out rough. She ended up having to break off an engagement. This led her back to the dating market. An experience that was less than desirable.
Through the struggle, she ended up starting what is now Candid Dating. All of which started by sneaking into the computer room of a school and hosting an online speed dating session.
It’s fascinating that, had she not gone through those challenges, she would not have had the impetus to start Candid. But here she is, helping many others solve a huge challenge.
Maybe this is your sign to embrace that challenge you have in front of you. Maybe it’s preparing you for something that is to come.
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Core Lesson:
Challenges are gifts that help us trust in God… if we see them that way.
From her own experience of breaking off her engagement just before the wedding, to the challenges of the dating market, to the offshore developer team issues… all of these challenges led her somewhere.
The first, to founding the company. The latter to trusting in God more.
This is what all challenges are. A moment for us to realize that God is there with us, giving us this challenge. To prepare us, to humble us, to strengthen us, and especially, to bring us back to Him… often on our knees.
Let’s start embracing these challenges to come closer to God — they are all intentional gifts.
God Bless & Happy Building!
~Silas Mähner
Hire Catholic Overseas Talent
In LatAm and the Philippines, there are millions of Catholic remote workers (across all domains) who want to work for ethical bosses.
Often, they’re treated as second-class citizens or work for organizations that ask them to do questionable things. They reach out to us in search of a Catholic boss.
So, we started ParacleteVA (website coming soon).
With ParacleteVA, we’ll find you vetted, Catholic overseas talent who will help you move your business forward.
How it works: Pay a $500 finders fee when the candidate starts and $500 if you’re still happy with them after 30 days.
To get started, reach out to catholicfounders@gmail.com with what you’re looking for, and we’ll get started.
Key Episode References:
Select Quotes:
“After talking to hundreds of users in Catholic singles, it comes from a very good place. It comes from a place of not wanting to use the other, which is a good noble thing we need to make sure that we're not using each other.” - Taylor O'Brien
“Women, like you don't need, to say decade of the rosary before you decide if you can say yes to a coffee date.” - Taylor O'Brien
“The swiping apps allow you to ghost very easily with no guilt, right? And so, bottom line, I just saw an opportunity to help see if I could solve a problem and it worked.” - Taylor O'Brien
“We recognize that the end of this comes the sacrament of marriage, but we miss the very normal human necessary part in the middle that is being in communion with one another, getting to know one another allows us to date better.” - Taylor O'Brien
“Lord, why did you ask me to do all of this? Why did you ask me to spend these hours if I was never going to hear from these people again? And it was going to be all a waste.” - Taylor O'Brien
“our entire product is pushing you to stop being so in your own world online Virtually and get face-to-face with someone and have a real conversation and then from there we ask that you please go in person into the wild and experience each other in real life” - Taylor O'Brien
“Once you're face to face with someone, I think it's very hard for you to not realize that there's someone on the other side of the line because literally you're there.” - Taylor O'Brien
“You don't have to get on these swiping apps to find them. They're actually right here. We're existing. We just don't see each other. We can't recognize each other.” - Taylor O'Brien
Key Moments: (outline)
(00:00) - Opening Anecdote: Taylor tackles modern dating fatigue and the trap of over-spiritualizing a simple coffee date.
(00:46) - Intro: Silas introduces the podcast mission, options for show sponsorship, and sets up the conversation with Taylor O’Brien.
(03:09) - Meet Taylor O’Brien : Taylor introduces her background in Dallas-Fort Worth and details the swipe-free speed-dating vision of Candid Dating.
(04:37) - The Origin Story : An organic spark born from a broken engagement, an Instagram community page, and hosting a hidden speed-dating experiment from a school computer lab.
(08:31) - Early Iterations : Utilizing a corporate networking tool called Wonder to establish authentic face-to-face communication for several hundred early testers.
(11:01) - Flaws of the Swipe Culture : How unlimited profiles turn us into relationship shoppers and kill conversational discipline.
(18:19) - The Paralysis of Over-Spiritualization : Addressing the mental traps in the Catholic dating community and encouraging casual, healthy encounters.
(24:31) - Startup Setbacks & Offshore Teams : Facing real entrepreneurial gridlock while managing a distant tech team across opposing time zones.
(26:38) - The Ranch Miracle : A providential encounter with Brent Phillips at Milk and Honey Ranch that provided the company with its first stable CTO.
(35:20) - Guerrilla Marketing & Breaking Records : Stuffer cards left near confessionals, direct validation calls with parishes, and hosting a record-breaking speed dating of 2,500 singles at Seek.
(46:55) - The Current Platform Workflow : A breakdown of Candid Dating’s onboarding algorithm and the final push into real-life encounters.
(49:00) - Long-Term Business Models : Moving upstream into coaching, tracking user lifetimes past marriage, and creating positive demographic impacts.
(50:40) - Rapid Fire Round : Taylor details her reliance on John 6, her fascination with brand disruptor Mike Repole, and her deep appreciation for Mother Angelica
(53:30) - Outro : Silas shares critical concluding thoughts on weeding out utilitarian habits and anchors the final call to join the Catholic Founders Guild.
Hire Catholic Overseas Talent
In LatAm and the Philippines, there are millions of Catholic remote workers (across all domains) who want to work for ethical bosses.
Often, they’re treated as second-class citizens or work for organizations that ask them to do questionable things. They reach out to us in search of a Catholic boss.
So, we started ParacleteVA (website coming soon).
With ParacleteVA, we’ll find you vetted, Catholic overseas talent who will help you move your business forward.
How it works: Pay a $500 finders fee when the candidate starts, and $500 if you’re still happy with them after 30 days.
To get started, reach out to catholicfounders@gmail.com with what you’re looking for, and we’ll get started.
