When Morgan Casey and Donnah Thomas were reconnected while planning their high school reunion, the pair had no idea their love story would inspire a diverse community of individuals around the world.
After they started dating, the St. Louis couple discovered not only did they share the exact same birthday but that they also had a shared love for having new experiences in their hometown. When a co-worker suggested Casey start a Facebook group to inform other people about the exciting events and activities happening around the city, their brand Date Ideas & Things To Do was born.
“I think that’s the most beautiful thing that I see in each city is that its an extremely diverse, melting pot of people that are coming together to just talk about how amazing their city is and the different things that they can do in it,” Casey said.
“I think that’s the most beautiful thing that I see in each city is that its an extremely diverse, melting pot of people that are coming together to just talk about how amazing their city is and the different things that they can do in it,” Casey said.
In less than two years, the Date Ideas & Things To Do brand has grown to include over 420 thousand members across the country and averages 12 thousand new members each month. Throughout the pandemic, the brand has been able to successfully direct its members to fun, quality activities in their respective cities, while also supporting small businesses that struggled to stay afloat.
“The coolest thing about it is that we were able to help so many businesses during the pandemic because we’re able to put something out there and if the content is good, we’ve had things reach a million people in 24 hours,” Casey said.
A former healthcare worker, Casey took a leap of faith and walked away from her career to pursue her entrepreneurial dreams and build the Date Ideas & Things To Do brand full time. She’d been going back and forth for a year before taking the step and, as the Facebook group continued to grow, she could no longer juggle the brand and her 9 to 5. Her partner Donnah supported her from the beginning.
“I walked away from a really good salary to pursue my dreams with this company and she supported me on her teacher’s salary,” she said. “She gave me the okay and gave me the love and the prayers I needed to fully make that transition and it’s been the best decision I could have made.”
Casey and Thomas are moving forward with moving their blossoming brand into the spaces it needs to continue to grow. Whereas, since its creation, the brand has lived on Facebook, the couple will soon be launching a website hub where activity directories will live based on each city. Members will be able to gain even more insight into fun things to do in their cities and read blog posts and reviews about activities and events before checking them out.
Casey and Thomas are moving forward with moving their blossoming brand into the spaces it needs to continue to grow. Whereas, since its creation, the brand has lived on Facebook, the couple will soon be launching a website hub where activity directories will live based on each city. Members will be able to gain even more insight into fun things to do in their cities and read blog posts and reviews about activities and events before checking them out.
“For me and Donnah, we’re black, we’re women and we represent the LGBTQ community,” Casey said. “So as individuals, we’re pretty diverse as far as being a minority. So we wanted to make sure every platform we have is a diverse space where everyone can take away something and be represented in some type of way.”
With expansion and growth happening fast for the Date Idea & Things To Do brand, Casey and Thomas are taking extra precautions to make sure they use their influence responsibly. They are in the process of trademarking the brand to protect it against copyright infringement and to ensure their members are being presented with quality and safe content to consume.
“We are so serious about our business and about the content we put in our group and making sure things are appropriate that we can’t take the risk of our reputation being ruined because of someone who has created something with the same name that has nothing to do with us and not following the same policies and guidelines as we do,” she said.
The couple is also very transparent about their lives behind the scenes and takes their personal influence just as seriously as the brands. Thomas suffers from Lupus and spent an entire month last summer on bedrest while Casey struggles with social anxiety and depression. Despite their personal tribulations, they believe in showing the world who they are and walking in their truth with pride.
“There are things we deal with that aren’t pretty and we want to be transparent about that because we are real people,” Casey said. “Since we are in the public eye we want to let people know that all of us influencers or people on the internet are real people and we all go through things.”
As the Date Ideas & Things To Do brand continues to flourish, Casey hopes to create more diverse communities where people of all backgrounds can come together to find fun and explore beyond their own backyards. And, although she’s seen darker days in the past, Casey is thankful that light shined through to guide her to a path of purpose.
“I literally went from days where I didn’t want to wake up to now reaching millions of people and inspiring them to love their city and visit our city,” she said. “Not only did I have a purpose, but I have a huge impact around the country…you never know what God has for you.”
