Look, I found my Soulmate!

HER business is now one year old and Dr Sandra Palmer has herself found that it’s the real deal. When she started Soulmates a year ago, the concept was to help people find true love, and that’s exactly what happened to her.

The company, a matchmaking business, was set up with the idea of meeting the growing demand among successful single individuals to find their perfect matches. The business is an exclusive “members only” club for those who don’t mind getting a bit of help in finding love.

“I didn’t know it was possible, but I found the ideal person I was looking for,” Dr Palmer told All Woman.

“For four years I walked around with a list of things saying this is what I want; I won’t settle, and I signed it. You have to say what you want and if it wasn’t for Soulmates we would have never met.”

Members are required to pay an annual US$500 application fee and in return are guaranteed 100 per cent confidentiality and privacy.

Soulmates does not publicise members’ profiles and photos in an online forum. Instead, a blueprint is created for each member and they are then matched against each other to determine compatibility.

With customers from as far as Russia, Canada and the US, Dr Palmer measures her success not on the number of matches she’s made, but the quality of them.

“The service started last year and it has been absolutely successful. Success is not measured by the number of matches, but the quality of the matches. There is no profile, just the blueprint, background checks and the matches. Most of our customers are outside of Jamaica and I find that these people are more open to the idea,” she said.

“Depending on the stage of life you’re at; if you’re in your 20s or 30s, do it the traditional way. But if you’re older and you have been unsuccessful at relationships or you lack love, then it will work. People treat love lightly and it shouldn’t be that way. You should get what you want,” she said.

One of Dr Palmer’s beliefs is that both men and women essentially want to find true love, no matter how successful they are.

“I’m glad our paths crossed and I’m getting married this year. I’m an example of successful people who have everything right, but I was empty and not enjoying a certain level of intimacy. But I have found my match,” she said.

She also shared a few requirements which her list encompassed.

“He had to be mature, his education had to be complete. The person had to have good communication skills and high morals. I also wanted someone who was available emotionally, physically and spiritually,” she said.

Dr Palmer and her soulmate recorded a 95 per cent match, which she said only occurred based on the age difference.

“I said I wanted someone five years older or younger. But the person was way above that boundary. But there are exceptions to the rule, and on getting to know the individual I was able to look past that,” she said.

To truly experience love, Dr Palmer said it’s not a 50/50 emotion, rather one that’s 100/100.

“In love you have to understand the other person, put your needs above others. In love it’s not 50/50, it’s 100/100 and it all comes down to your choice of partner. You give 100 and get it back,” she said.

With the business, her greatest challenge thus far has been making the introduction between two matches.

“Usually it’s something about the profile that causes one of the individuals to say no, and you think you’ve come this close and they say no. I do the blueprint and quality assurance and all is well, then I find someone else and I see two good matches. I talk to you and share the other person’s profile with you and you’re interested. But when I share the profile with the other person, there’s something about it that makes them say no and they’re not willing to shift,” Dr Palmer said.

A part of the service Soulmates offers — at exclusivesoulmates.com — is to provide people who aren’t confident about their first dates with a dating coach to help them relax. Dr Palmer said this option is mostly utilised by men to help them understand how to dress and the importance of chivalry. For women, she said it’s usually an issue of image and weight.

“A big catch can be overlooked because a person is lacking a few skills. The dating coach unleashes latent potential in you that you never thought you had. It provides guidance to be close to your ideal and it presents you with a better representation of yourself,” she said.

For the month of February, Dr Palmer said those who sign up will get a waiver of the membership fee for a year.

“You pay the application fee of US$500 and we waive your membership fee of US$4,000 for a year,” she said.

She maintained that love is one of the single greatest investments one can make, and it should not be treated lightly.

— Kimberley Hibbert