The Story Of Fourplay: The Double Dating App Where Friends Team Up To Match With Other Singles

Fourplay Co-founders Julie Griggs and Danielle Dietzek

By Danielle Dietzek and Julie Griggs – Fourplay founders

It isn’t every day that two healthcare professionals decide to shake up the ailing online dating industry. But, when it comes to Fourplay, that’s just what the [providers] ordered.

One year ago, on a Sunday in January 2019, we were sitting in bumper-to-bumper traffic (obviously) on New York City’s FDR Highway, belting out to the radio, excited for what the next six weeks had in store for us. You see, Danielle lived in Manhattan and Julie, who was in her final year as a PA student, was about to begin a six-week clinical rotation in the City that Never Sleeps. Being the excellent friend that she is, Danielle offered Julie a place to stay, and even picked Julie up from New Jersey to help her move into her apartment.

Julie was excited to take a bite of the Big Apple because, well, dating in NJ was getting old, and the idea of having to share her location one more time before meeting a stranger in a random suburb was eating away at her soul. Unbeknownst to her, dating in NYC wasn’t much easier…

Danielle, too, had been feeling drained from the “swipe right” dating world. She had been working as both an RN and a Family Nurse Practitioner and the thought of yet another awkward and boring one-on-one date at the end of a long day was taking way too much energy than what was healthy.

It was in this cynical and dark moment of us complaining about the dating world that the light switch turned on and we had a BRIGHT idea. Julie turned to Danielle and asked, “Should we make a joint dating profile and double date with other singles? That way we can still hang out together but also be social with other people?” There was only one right answer to the question and Danielle nailed it, “YES!”

That night with the help of Facebook’s “See Friendship” tab, we were two fearless females searching for new profile pics to use on our new and improved dating profile. Photos of the two of us came out of the woodwork left and right. Fond memories were rehashed, along with some buried arguments that had been swept under the carpet for years including “Why did you make us leave that Avicii concert after 3 minutes?” and, “Remember when you made us get to the airport four hours early for our DOMESTIC flight?” But that’s besides the point…

Finally, we uploaded six photos of ourselves and changed our description to, “Swipe right if you and your awesome friend want to go out with me and my awesome friend.” Any doubt of how the idea would be received was quickly put to rest, as in no time at all our now shared inbox was flooded with messages from suitors.

With such an overwhelmingly positive response we began to think our newly devised concept could be its own app! (Editor's note: this is what's commonly known as foreshadowing). With nearly triple the suitable responses flowing in than we had normally received individually, we decided to go out with one of our matches and his wingman friend, and thus marked the beginning of our quest to make dating 2x better.

Our experience “babe-a-testing” showed us that Fourplay was needed. Unlike most marathon first dates with no end in sight, we realized that when dating with your friend, an escape hatch was always readily available with a simple giving of the unspoken get-me-outta-here eyes. Joining forces also means never meeting a stranger alone, never feeling that you need to share your location when going to meet someone in an unfamiliar location, never wondering if he’s being creepy or if you’re just being dramatic, never having an awkward silence. It means never wasting your time, never wondering if your drink was spiked when you went to the bathroom, and never missing out on belly laughs with your friend who you don’t get to see as much anymore just because you have a date.

It seemed obvious: this way of dating, “the Fourplay way,” was SAFER, MORE FUN, AND SOCIAL, and it simply had to be shared with the world!

In ​less​ ​than one year​ we became Fourplay Social LLC, hired app developers, and launched Fourplay – the double dating app for singles.

Although we both have clear cut career paths as a Nurse Practitioner and Physician Assistant, we have become entrepreneurs quite unexpectedly. We have taken this experience as an opportunity to grow in a way that we both never thought possible. Unexpected hurdles have continued to make their way onto our paths; for one, app development language seems to need its own dictionary, and there should be an app for THAT (whoa, meta).

We have learned to navigate a relationship that holds space for both dear friends and professional business partners, even though it means creating boundaries (also a word from a language unknown to us). We have gotten less afraid of reaching out to people who we think could help us, and more willing to receive help from those who offer support. We have made mistakes of spending too much money or posting the wrong content, and have grown to tolerate the disappointment and turn it into planning. Most importantly, we have learned that women like us kick butt!

We genuinely hope that all you singles out there, tired of the one-on-one thing, give Fourplay a chance before you decide to retire from the dating game. We know you’ll be back for more once you see firsthand how much more fun dating is when you can do it with a friend! And, if that wasn’t enough, on Fourplay, we give you the opportunity to team up with an unlimited number of friends (you’re welcome).

The current dating scene is stale, and Fourplay gives it a fresh spin and makes dating 2x better. Check us out on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram at @fourplaysocial. To get (sc)rolling, download Fourplay in the App Store or Google Play. Let us know what you think!

Fourplay on iOs: ​https://apps.apple.com/us/app/fourplay-double-dating-app/id1463551449
Fourplay on Google: ​https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.fourplay
Fourplay website: ​www.fourplaysocial.com

Fourplay Co-founders Julie Griggs and Danielle Dietzik

Danielle Dietzek is a maternity nurse (RN) at one of New York City’s largest hospitals. She’s also a board certified Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP-BC). Julie Griggs is a board certified Physician Assistant (PA-C) working in a New York State Federally Qualified Health Center where she provides primary care to the medically underserved.

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