You Miss 100% Of The Shots You Don't Take
You miss 100% of the shots you don't take, and as we continue to share our journey for the first time so publicly, we decided to be super vulnerable and take another shot together as we celebrate 9 years of us.
We are excited to announce that we are officially in the running for 'America's Favorite Couple' where the winning couple gets $20,000 and has their love story celebrated in a Variety advertorial!
We'd wholeheartedly appreciate if you could:
📲 Share this post to amplify our story
💫 Follow us on your favorite social media to support us on this journey & our small business publicly
On our profile, or below, you can read our story, what we would do if we won, and our journey in taking this shot. Please don’t hesitate to let us know if you have any questions!
The first cut is on July 10th at 9 am CT. Win or not, we’re excited to bring our A-Game to give ourselves the best shot, and even more proud to finally share our love story with the world.
With love and gratitude,
Adam & Anusha
Adam & Anusha
We blend our intercultural backgrounds, creativity, and passions to build a life, business, and community rooted in love and purpose.
How did your love story begin?
Anusha was about to embark on a long trip abroad when we met through a mutual friend. We instantly had conversations about anything and everything, and our friendship blossomed naturally. The night before Anusha left, despite the timing, Adam asked her to be his girlfriend. She said yes & we stayed connected daily through messages. Even from afar, our friendship quickly grew into love. Anusha eventually made her way back to Adam, and we began building our beautiful intercultural life together.
What is your favorite memory you’ve shared as a couple?
Our favorite memory is from February 7, 2023, because it’s the day we finally achieved our goal of becoming small business owners. It was a validating day of joy, celebration, and togetherness after years of risk, leaving our jobs, and sacrificing financial comfort for our long-term vision. We chose a path few would dare to take, rooted in purpose, not guarantees, trusting that with heart and resilience, it would all be worth it. There aren't enough words to describe how that day felt.
What would you do with $20,000?
Despite the love we share, some family members on both sides still struggle to accept us due to our different cultures & religions. If we win, we could afford to take a short work break and travel to India so Adam & his mom can finally meet Anusha’s mom in person for the first time. After 9 years, we could finally get married in an intimate intercultural ceremony with the 2 women who mean the most to us by our side. Win or not, we're proud to share our story & are determined to make it happen.
More About ‘America’s Favorite Couple’ Competition
America’s Favorite Couple is a national fundraising contest run by professional fundraiser Colossal Management in partnership with DTCare. The contest is hosted by Jeff & Emilie Goldblum, and aims to spotlight couples with compelling, heartfelt, or inspiring relationships. Couples can share their love story for a chance to win $20,000 and a featured advertorial in Variety magazine.
As it is a fundraising contest, a portion of these proceeds from this particular competition supports two nonprofits: the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank to help with hunger relief and Oceana, which focuses on ocean conservation.
Entry is free, and people can cast one free vote for a couple of their choice every 24 hours, but additional votes require donations. While the proceeds support two great causes, we know it’s been a tough year for many in our community and beyond, so we’re hoping we can go far on free votes alone.
June 30th, 2025 - first official day of the competition!
It began as an email we almost dismissed as a scam that led us to take a bold leap, entering a very public competition far outside our comfort zone. We’re feeling a mix of nerves about sharing our story so openly, but also a spark of excitement for what might come.
Ultimately, putting ourselves out there and entering this competition has been a powerful mid-year catalyst, pushing us to embrace vulnerability and finally start publicly marketing ourselves and our small business.
Up until this point, we’ve only shared that we entered this contest with 2 people, but today’s the day we’re finally starting this post on our website and sharing our first video about our relationship publicly.
We’ve started an Instagram Story Highlight sharing updates and plan to post our reflections below on this page as we progress through this journey, too.
July 7th, 2025 - It’s been one week since the competition started, and it’s been quite interesting. Some initial thoughts:
We didn’t realize voting would happen through Facebook. Both of us deactivated our profiles back in 2019 and have only used the platform since then to support our clients’ social media needs. Most of our friends and community don’t use FB either, so we knew we were starting at a disadvantage. We reactivated our accounts for this competition, but we don’t plan to be active. Still, logging back in felt like opening a time capsule others kept adding to, even after we stepped away.
We started texting some of our closest friends, sharing the competition and asking for their free daily vote. While a few responded with excitement and encouragement, most didn’t follow through despite saying they would. The funny thing is, they don’t realize we can see exactly who votes for us. What’s disheartening isn’t the lack of votes, but the dishonesty. It’s been a surprisingly eye-opening experience.
Most of our votes came from family members and Adam’s mom sharing it with her active Facebook network. One of her friends even made a generous $10 donation that helped boost us early on. While we’re grateful and happy that the donations support great causes, we’re also mindful of the state of the world. We’d much rather people give to causes they truly care about, because they want to and can, not just to support us in a contest.
July 11th, 2025 - Over 75% of the entire competition was cut, but thanks to all who voted for us, we made it through and we’re officially in the Top 20 of our group.
We’ve noticed that some of the top-ranked couples in our group of 90 (including the current 1st-ranked couple who haven’t budged since the start) didn’t even answer the profile questions to share their love story and have only uploaded a few photos. The competition is starting to feel more like a pay-to-win competition, even though couples can’t donate to vote for themselves. The gamified marketing tactics we’ve observed feel quite icky, and honestly, that’s made us less inclined to keep promoting ourselves.
As a creative marketing consulting company, we initially planned a full organic social media campaign for July, but after seeing how the competition operates firsthand these past couple of weeks, we realized we didn’t feel right bringing our full A-Game to something that no longer aligns with the spirit we thought we were signing up for.
The gamification of something that should support good causes and share love stories has left us feeling dissonant, but we’re still so immensely thankful to everyone who has been continuously voting for us daily despite our current feelings surrounding it all.
July 18th, 2025 - We survived another cut, and we’re officially in the Top 15 of our group.
It’s been quite meaningful connecting with other couples in the competition, reading so many heartfelt love stories, and seeing how the prize money could impact their lives. So many would truly benefit from the prize money and the Variety feature. While sharing our story was the biggest draw for us, we trust there will be future opportunities that align more authentically with who we are and what we stand for.
July 25th, 2025 - Last night, we officially placed 12th out of 90 couples in our group and were cut from the competition.
Although it was always going to be a long shot for us to win from the get-go, we didn’t expect to see so much support to get us as far as we did, and we’re so immensely grateful to everyone who has taken time out of their day to vote for us daily. We’re proud to say we got this far with primarily free votes and one $10 donation from Adam’s mom’s friend.
It’s difficult to find the words to begin describing how sharing our love story so publicly for the first time has felt, but we’re glad we’ve been documenting all our reflections here.
Ultimately, putting ourselves out there and doing this has been a powerful mid-year catalyst, pushing us to embrace vulnerability and further push the boundaries of publicly marketing ourselves, our small business, and sharing our story for the first time in our journey.
Going through this competition reminded us that yes, you miss 100% of the shots you don’t take. But just as important is which shots you choose to take, and knowing it’s okay to pivot if something no longer feels right. Always lead with authenticity, bring your A-Game, and remember that life is full of all kinds of opportunities. Don’t be afraid to be vulnerable, to get uncomfortable, and go for it (whatever “it” may be for you).
While a contest like this is a creative way to raise awareness and funds for important causes, we’d like to believe that there are people who support what they care about simply because it matters to them, not for recognition or reward. That kind of selfless giving, as well as speaking up, is what truly restores our faith in humanity. We encourage everyone to keep showing up for themselves, but also for the causes that move you.
Remember that every story (whether a love story, a personal journey, or a quiet moment of growth) is worth sharing and celebrating if you choose to do so. Your voice matters, and the way you’ve lived, loved, and learned can inspire more than you know. Don’t wait for someone else to tell your story. Own it, express it authentically, and let it be seen.
If you have any questions about our experience, feel free to reach out. We’re always happy to share what we’ve learned from our lived experiences, and thank you again for supporting us!
