americasfavcouple.org\/2025\/akshay-and-melissa<\/a> as they vie for a spot in the contest\u2019s quarter finals.<\/p>\nHosted by actor Jeff Goldblum and his wife, the contest is is organized by Colossal, a nationally registered professional fundraiser that partners with DTCare, a registered Pennsylvania nonprofit that provides emergency relief to Ukraine and Lebanon.<\/p>\n
As such, while one vote for the couple is free, supporters can donate a dollar per additional vote in the couple\u2019s behalf.<\/p>\n
The winner gets $20,000 and a feature in Variety Magazine.<\/p>\n
The Nanavatis\u2019 story \u201ccombines bold life changes, perseverance, and mutual empowerment,\u201d a contest spokeswoman said.<\/p>\n
Indeed, it has a fairy tale element for the couple, who are both public speakers and authors on their respective specialties. They also are co-authoring a book, \u201cPeak Performance Love,\u201d that is aimed at high-performing personalities.<\/p>\n
Melissa moved from Oregon to Arizona in search of love on an \u201cintuition\u201d she\u2019d find it. After meeting Akshay, they married in six months.<\/p>\n
Akshay is a speaker, war veteran, adventurer and author of \u201cFearvana,\u201d which was endorsed by the Dalai Lama. \u201cHe has overcome drug addiction, PTSD from fighting in Iraq with the Marines, depression and alcoholism that pushed him to the brink of suicide,\u201d the contest spokeswoman said.<\/p>\n
To exorcise his personal demons, he lived for 17 days in pitch darkness, survived 100 days alone dragging heavy sleds through the polar regions, and most recently dragged a 420-pound sled for 500 miles alone in Antarctica for 60 days.<\/p>\n
Some experts have called his trek \u201cthe boldest Antarctic expedition in modern times.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAkshay now works with organizations to build resilience, lead effectively under pressure, and sustain high performance without burnout,\u201d the contest spokeswoman said. \u201cHis keynotes combine real-world lessons from the extremes of human endurance with cutting-edge science, designed to help teams thrive through uncertainty, adversity, and change.\u201d<\/p>\n
Melissa \u201chelps high performers master the skills of relationships so their love life thrives at the same level as their career,\u201d according to a release.<\/p>\n
As a speaker, author, and relationship architect, \u201cshe blends neuroscience, biology, and lived experience to teach high achievers how to apply the skills that make them successful in business to love.\u201d<\/p>\n
A textbook author and Fortune 100 consultant, she and her husband raised $1.1 million globally to fund his Antarctic expedition while they ran two businesses.<\/p>\n
\u00a0The couple said winning the contest would extend their efforts to help \u201cmore couples to seek out and nurture a healthy, loving, and intentional relationship that supports their foundation for success in every aspect of their lives.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIf we were to win the America\u2019s Favorite Couple Contest, we\u2019d invest the $20,000 prize money to grow our mission of guiding high performers to reach the heights of peak performance and the depths of romantic partnership\u201d said Melissa.<\/p>\n
\u201cThrough our speaking, books, and coaching, we teach actionable tools to thrive in both purpose and love. This funding would amplify our impact, helping more people create relationships that elevate ambition, strengthen connection, and become the foundation for a life of meaning, impact, and enduring love.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A Scottsdale \u201crelationship architect\u201d and author and her author-explorer husband are competing for $20,000 and other rewards in…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":160874,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5131],"tags":[5229,5643,1587,1589,7600,399,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-160873","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-phoenix","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-arizona","10":"tag-az","11":"tag-phoenix","12":"tag-scottsdale","13":"tag-television","14":"tag-united-states","15":"tag-united-states-of-america","16":"tag-unitedstates","17":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","18":"tag-us","19":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115060660260438614","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/160873","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=160873"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/160873\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/160874"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=160873"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=160873"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=160873"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}