them down before scurrying out of my office like a frightened mouse.
I cleared my throat and addressed the couple as they sipped their coffee. “Your product has been on my mind every day since Jon first mentioned it to me a few weeks ago. I think—no, I know—that you have a fantastic concept here. I don’t need to tell you what the statistics are for divorce in this day and age. And even if people aren’t getting divorced, that doesn’t mean by default they’re happy. People are disconnected from their partners everywhere you look. They sit across from each other at restaurants on their phones. They turn the TV on at home every night to avoid actually having to talk to each other. They buy big houses with enough rooms to properly avoid each other. It’s an epidemic.”
Sylvie nodded along. She was a beautiful woman with bright eyes and silver hair always pinned back in a gentle swirl. One strand hung free, and it was lighter than the rest. “You’re quite right, Mr. Collinder. What do you propose we do with our website?”
“Here’s the thing,” I said, clasping my hands and leaning forward on my desk. “I don’t think a website is the right way to go.”
Jon, sitting off to my right, stiffened.
It wasn’t common practice to tell a client that their product wasn’t going in the best direction. But my job was to serve them as best I could, and the world was changing. I knew it could be better.
“Oh?” Warren challenged.
Sylvie didn’t say a word, she just watched me, patient.
I sat up straighter. “I’ve been doing a lot of research to pin down who your target audience actually is. Your main demographic is going to be couples in their early thirties to their late forties theoretically. Those who have been together longer are unlikely to turn to a website to fix their problems. And couples who are older and wiser and want to seriously change their relationship for the better are more likely to do in-person counseling. So your main demographic, the middle of the road folks who are four or more years into their relationships and very tech savvy, are going to want something easy. Something right at their fingertips that they can turn to whenever the time requires.”
Sylvie’s silver brows drew together. “Are you talking about cell phones, Mr. Collinder?”
I grinned. “I am.”
“No,” Warren said, “cell phones are part of the problem. This society of always being connected and posting about your lunch or your new nail polish color—that’s the problem we’re trying to avoid.”
“I understand your concerns,” I said. “They were my concerns too when I first dove into this. But please, hear me out. Cell phones aren’t your problem. Not really.”
Jon tugged at the collar of his suit. “Where are you going with this, Ethan?”
I held up a hand. “Bear with me. Cell phones are a tool and a resource. The real problem is that people these days don’t know how to communicate because we’re so busy with our eyes glued to screens. We can text effortlessly, but when it comes to looking up from that device into the eyes of your person and telling them what’s in your heart? That’s where the problem lies. It’s the connection that’s failing people, not the distractions. So why not use said distractions as a tool to reinforce strategies that will bring people closer together rather than pull them apart?”
Warren rubbed his jaw with his thumb and glanced over at his wife, who hadn’t taken her eyes off me. He turned his gaze back to me. “Are you saying you want to make the product a phone app instead of a website?”
I nodded, pleased that he’d put two and two together on his own. “I do, yes.”
Sylvie shared a knowing little smile with me. “Well, we hadn’t considered it that way. What do you think, darling?”
Her husband continued stroking his jaw. “It’s not our original vision.”
“Sometimes, the original vision is just a blueprint,” I said. “It’s not worth sticking to it simply because it was the idea that came first, especially if a better option lies at your disposal. This is your better option. I assure you. People these days are seeking instant gratification in all facets of their lives. If we can give them real-life relationship coaching at their fingertips? Well, I can’t see a downside to that. All your same structures would remain in place. They’d be required to pay a membership fee. The same