“Dating resumes” are a TikTok sensation thanks to @CrazyAuntEmily

Emily Zgoda, aka @crazyauntemily on TikTok, hunting for love. Since settling in San Diego, California, he’s taken his search from apps to the wild and documented his unique strategy online. For almost a year, the 27-year-old has been handing out “dating resumes” to men she meets at Costco, Home Depot and the Apple Store, among other places. Like an online dating profile, physical cards include your name, photo, contact information, and a few fun prompts about your hobbies and interests. one of his “special abilities” singing every line of ‘Hawaiian Roller Coaster Ride’.

THE first TikTok Over 600,000 views of her card loaded at Costco in August 2022 – and the second brought in more than 2.4 million. Since then, she has posted more than 15 videos of herself shooting dating resumes. In this narrative, Zgoda shares how he came up with the idea, his strategy for overcoming nerves, and whether his brave attitude led to love.

I’ve been on and off dating apps for years. I’m not anti-app, but I’ve never liked them feeling like fake profiles. You only create this image of yourself. That’s why I stepped back from them for the past year and this idea came to me without really thinking about it.

On my 27th birthday, my roommate printed out hundreds of silly photos of me in my natural element. When the day was over, he took them all off and I just stared at them. I thought, “Well, I don’t really want to make a shrine out of myself. I should use them to try to find love.” So I decided to make these dating resumes and hand them out wherever or at the grocery store wherever I go.

I didn’t even know I’d be hired when I first posted a dating resume. My roommate’s little sister, Cece, shot the video very quickly. He and I went to a Costco to get gas on the way to a concert and I had some dating resumes to hand out at the show. I immediately saw a cute surfer guy and went up to him. I was nervous, but I thought, “It’s funny. Who cares?” She loved it and thought it was really cool. She was smiling from ear to ear.

When Cece posted the first video on what would later become my TikTok account (it was Cece’s account at first), it went viral. A week later, the guy hacked me and texted me. She thought he was hysterical, but he never took her out on a date. A lot of times guys see the videos afterwards and think it was all a joke, but it’s not all fun and games. It’s fun, but I’m also ready to find my husband. My goal is to find love.

On the plus side, online engagement has made me much more excited to date. People seem to admire the courage it takes to approach someone in person. My followers love the idea, and I’ve even seen other TikTokers create their own dating resumes. They tagged people who go to baseball games in some posts and gave them away, and that was really cool. I don’t know if it worked for them, but I hope so.

Since then I have dealt 15-20 cards. I’ve been getting texts from the guy all the time, but I haven’t really met anyone or gone on dates, so I’m planning to change my strategy a bit. Before, I just walked up to them and said, “Hey, you’re cute. Here is my dating resume.” But then I got upset and left. I’d like it to be more conversational – hand them the card and ask what they’re doing, or invite them to something my friends are doing later.

I took a little break from dating, but now that work has calmed down a bit, I’ll be back soon. I’m locked and loaded. I have a new stack of resumes ready to go. And allocating them has become much easier. I remind myself that it’s either going to be a “heck yes” or a “no.” And sex is good because it leads to Mr. Right. I think if it doesn’t matter five years from now, don’t even care about it for five minutes. Shoot the shot.

Of course I still get nervous, but I try to remember that nervousness and excitement are similar emotions. I say to myself, “I’m just excited to do it.” In general, my main takeaway from this experiment was to not be afraid of rejection. Everyone gets rejected at some point and it’s not personal. It is usually about what the other person is going through or what life experiences they are going through. So I find the concept lighthearted and fun and I always tie it to the cards when I see a really cute guy.

This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.