Some call BYU Marriott alum Cooper Boice the president of Mutual. Others call him Cupid. But instead of owning a bow and arrow, Boice developed an app to help LDS singles meet others and have the opportunity to find their diamond in the rough.
While Mutual is the leading app for LDS digital dating, Boice didn’t always aspire to become a matchmaker. At BYU Marriott, Boice studied finance, and as graduation approached in April 2014, he looked into prospective finance jobs in Salt Lake City.
“I didn’t have any plans to become an entrepreneur or start a business,” Boice says. “I was more focused on beginning a career in finance.”
After graduating, Boice attended a five-month military training to wrap up the BYU ROTC program and begin his part-time position in the Army National Guard. While there, Boice had the thought pop into his head that he should move to Phoenix, Arizona.
“The thought was one of those that you’re not sure is a random thought or a spiritual prompting,” he says. “I was reminded of a time on my mission that I thought to knock on a door out in the distance and then ignored it. I’ll never forget that moment because I always wondered what could have happened had I knocked. I didn’t want to make the same mistake twice and end up wondering what could have happened had I moved to Arizona.”
So Boice packed up his belongings and moved to the Grand Canyon State without a plan or a job. Being an LDS single himself, he quickly realized the difficulties of dating outside of Provo.
“It’s pretty easy to date at BYU,” he says. “Though there is a large population of LDS members in Arizona, it’s nothing like Provo, and the dating game is different.”
Tinder, another digital dating platform, gives people the opportunity to meet digitally. However, Boice believed that Tinder was not the best platform for LDS singles searching for others with similar values to their own.
After casually talking about creating a dating app with some of his friends, Boice and others got serious and went to work in search of funding. The app has had considerable success, and Boice finds joy in helping others meet their future spouses.
“I love hearing people’s success stories through Mutual,” he says. “Hearing about people getting married who wouldn’t have met otherwise is 100 percent the best part of the job.”
Though Boice didn’t find his match by swiping up, he too found love while opening the door for others to find romance.
“I met my wife while still working on Mutual,” he says. “She tells people that I’m the only guy who’s embarrassed to have met his wife in real life instead of on a dating app.”
Boice may not have planned on becoming a liaison of love, but his time at BYU Marriott taught him valuable lessons that set him up for success in his unplanned venture.
“BYU Marriott teaches students how to make an idea become a reality and run businesses that affect the world for good,” he says. “The school also teaches the right perspective about what’s truly important in life. The purpose of business isn’t about the money, it’s about creating value for the world and improving the lives of others.”
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Writer: Sydney Zenger
