Atoms: This Holiday Season’s Most Comfortable Shoes

The love genie in a bottle—author of the popular Substack newsletter Guru Nandini Says and founder of New York’s newest dating app, Sitch NYC—Nandini Mullaji absolutely loves love. 

A true romantic at heart, Nandini has known she wanted to bring people together since her senior year of high school. She started a column in her high school magazine called “Guru Nandini Says” to give romantic advice to other students. Later in college, she started setting up her friends. 

250+ couples and three weddings later, she’s launched her very own dating app. We sat down with Nandini to chat about love, her app, and why she loves Atoms.

Love is the most important decision you make in life

When Nandini was in business school, she was inspired  by businesswoman and best-selling author Sheryl Sandberg who said, “Your life partner will have the highest correlation to your personal happiness, life, and professional success.” Sandberg’s advice begs a question: How do you find that person? Historically, the answer hasn’t been so simple. “We don’t have the resources, tools, and support to go about this,” says Nandini.

“We have career coaches, trainers, dietitians, and therapists,” Nandini says. “Why not have someone be your dating concierge?” 

She wanted to go beyond just introducing people, but to have an entire ecosystem around helping people be better at making this important decision. Then came Sitch NYC.

Can AI find love?

Unlike generic dating apps, Sitch uses AI to carefully curate the profiles you see based on your vibes and values and provides instant access to coaching throughout your conversations. Unlike hiring a matchmaker—which can cost thousands of dollars—Sitch costs only $150, with many users taking advantage of an additional discount via referral code. 

Innovating with AI

AI has been a helpful tool for Nandini as she grows her app. “I’ve been setting up people for ages, and I’ve set them up within my network. But now, at scale, it is difficult for one person to do that. So we're teaching AI to do what I did,” says Nandini. “The biggest challenge with AI” she says, “is that it is a new technology, and we know so little about it.”We are teaching it every day, and learning about it too,” Nandini adds. 

Love is the ultimate comfort

People feel the most comfortable when they can really be themselves and, according to Nandini, being yourself is her number one suggestion when looking for a life partner. Through her work, she’s found that when you’re your most authentic self, you will find people who love and respect you for who you are. “That way,” Nandini says, “you will eventually meet and end up with someone whose values are aligned with yours, and whose personality traits are complementary.”  

“You should also be open to finding love. Be public about telling your friends and letting people know. Putting yourself out there is a great way to attract that kind of energy and bring love into your life,” says Nandini.  

More than just a romantic connection

According to Nandini, romantic love is important, but people need all kinds of love, in different layers and flavors. While people often focus on romantic love, Nandini believes platonic love is equally important. 

“One person can’t sustain you. It’s a community that sustains you,” says Nandini. 

Nandini finds that people can be too focused on finding romantic love, without being intentional about what a healthy relationship requires. She believes that working on love is as important as finding love. Date nights, communication, working on yourself, showing your appreciation, and doing things together are all part of being in love. 

Why love Atoms?

People in New York don’t sleep—including Nandini. She is constantly on the move. Whether she’s jumping on a bike to meet a friend in Williamsburg or running away from cops after posting flyers on the street about her dating app, Nandini is always on her feet. She needs shoes that can keep up with her. That’s why Nandini loves her Atoms. 

“My favorite part about Atoms shoes is that they don’t feel like shoes,” says Nandini. “It is comfortable, like an extension of your feet, as though it’s molded to your feet.”

Shop the shoes that keep New York’s on-the-go Love Guru going.

Shop Atoms