ONE YEAR OF WAYWARD HEARTS: WHAT I PLANNED AND WHAT ISLANDERS TAUGHT ME

This time last year Wayward Hearts Matchmaking came to life with a dream, a plan, a website launch and an ad in The Buzz.

I had a plan. Events. Speed dating. Group gatherings. Gentle on-ramps for people who might not be ready to go straight to a one-on-one introduction. I thought that was what Islanders would want.

I was wrong. So wrong.

And I am so glad I listened to what they actually wanted instead.

One year later I have welcomed more than a hundred and fifty members, more introductions than I imagined possible this quickly, and a referral program that grew organically because people trusted the experience enough to send someone they cared about through the same door.

I might have had a pretty solid business plan but I always knew that I needed to listen to what Islanders wanted in a matchmaking business. So, I listened and adapted.

I focused on the personal matchmaking that Islanders wanted. Instead of spending time and money on planning events that only a certain age demographic wants, I instead spend quality time with paying and non-paying members of the Date-a-Base.

I listen. I support. I get goose bumps when I am video chatting with a new member and I realize that I have the right person already in my Date-a-Base to introduce them to. When I am sending out the match document before an introductory date, sometimes I am giddy with excitement because I know that this one is exceptionally good.

Are there hard days? Absolutely.

Starting and running a new business is a full-time job in and of itself. Unless you have been a small business owner you might not understand how time consuming all the administrative and marketing tasks can be.

Doing matchmaking is also labour intensive. Those 40 minute video chats actually take more than 90 minutes of my time to prepare for, conduct and then input notes. I easily spend two to three hours sometimes in the matching process just vetting whether the match is actually right or not. Setting up the introductory date and writing up the match documents literally takes 3 or 4 hours for each single one. Then there is getting the feedback and starting all over again.

I am so glad that Islanders see the potential in both themselves and Wayward Hearts. It is why I am here a year later matchmaking anyone who wants to try a new way on PEI.

I am excited to keep listening and matching. That is what I did for the past year, and it is exactly what Wayward Hearts and I will keep doing over the coming year for everyone who is part of the Date-a-Base.

If you have been thinking about joining, know that year one's success means Wayward Hearts is just getting started. Come be part of it.