Anisa Hassan, 50, had a thriving background in journalism. She was headhunted by then-Tv Company of Singapore (TCS) — now Mediacorp — for the position of producer and host, and following that, she grew to become one of many 10 anchors to kickstart Channel NewsAsia.

Regardless of her success, 2003 was the yr she selected to step away from the “lights, digital camera, motion” at Channel NewsAsia.

She later dipped her toes within the matchmaking trade in 2004, bringing over American courting franchise ‘It’s Simply Lunch’ to Singapore.

When the model ended its tenure in 2017, she based Date Excessive Flyers Worldwide (DHF), which provides personalised matchmaking companies that served a distinct segment market: professionals, enterprise homeowners, and excessive internet price people (HNWIs) who’ve marriage in thoughts.

By no means imagining herself on this path, she dubs herself an unintended entrepreneur.

I used to be searching for development and a chance to stretch myself. Entrepreneurship was furthest from my thoughts. I didn’t come from a enterprise background, nor did I believe I’d have the enterprise acumen to create or begin a enterprise.

– Anisa Hassan, CEO and founding father of Date Excessive Flyers Worldwide

Personalised courting for the choose few

The proliferation of courting apps have many singles assuming that matchmakers are outdated, and an expense they’ll put off. 

Anisa acknowledges that courting independently has labored on many ranges. Nevertheless, she factors out that there are time-starved people who admire the worth of time, effort, and a focus matchmakers are in a position to present for them.

It may be daunting vetting profiles after profiles not realizing somebody’s background, actual intention, and goal. Matchmakers take away that guesswork. Plus, there are courting patterns that people could also be blindsided by if we don’t step in to attract consideration to or away from.

Paying high greenback for a luxurious matchmaking service means elevated transparency and a better stage of compatibility that may solely come about as a result of the center individual has each events’ pursuits at coronary heart.

– Anisa Hassan, CEO and founding father of Date Excessive Flyers Worldwide

She provides that she has no specific matchmaking spiel. As an alternative, all of it begins with a non-public dialog and the intention to serve if the necessities are inside her attain. She is adamant in offering a personalised service, thus solely extending her time and vitality to a choose group of people.

DHF has two classes: Luxe, and Black Label Memberships. Luxe is a neighborhood membership the place shoppers are matched with others based mostly in Singapore. The membership accounts listed here are run by Anisa’s crew of educated matchmakers.

In the meantime, Black Label is personally managed by Anisa and it’s restricted to 50 shoppers, often males of their 40s to 60s. This membership opens up matches from throughout the native and worldwide database. She additionally personally headhunts for different candidates for them and gives her shoppers with personalised teaching on how greatest to navigate the courting world.

Whereas coping with the prosperous entails dealing with a mess of privateness points, DHF ensures that each one private data stays throughout the non-public area. They by no means launch final names, residential addresses, locations of labor et cetera, guaranteeing its shoppers data will not be simply searchable.

Anisa’s clientele contains professionals, together with docs, attorneys, bankers, teachers, and senior administration company executives. Some 40 per cent are entrepreneurs and there are others who embody political and public figures, in addition to members of royal households.

Half of those shoppers are referred by different shoppers, enterprise associates, and buddies. 

In line with Anisa, she works on a retainer foundation, sometimes starting from six months to a yr, and costs range between S$1,000 and S$5,500 a month. 

A multi-step course of to discovering love

The choice course of is a rigorous one. As soon as an individual has registered with DHF, the crew arranges a pre-screening course of with the possible shopper over the cellphone or by way of Zoom.

We ask them a sequence of questions that will confirm their basic aims, educational backgrounds, and professions. We’ll additionally assessment their parameters with which they need us to work on.

If their necessities are affordable and we’re in a position to meet these necessities, solely then will we provide a face-to-face interview with the prospect. In the course of the interview, a prospect can anticipate a extra in-depth interview the place particulars akin to household historical past, relationship historical past, and supreme companion are mentioned absolutely.

– Anisa Hassan, CEO and founding father of Date Excessive Flyers Worldwide

Following that, the primary introduction is organized completely by DHF because it entails logistical preparations, pre-date teaching, and post-date suggestions. Subsequently, the {couples} can organize conferences on their very own. 

Complementing her companies with tech

For the previous virtually 20 years within the trade, Anisa and her crew have matched over 1,000 {couples} who’ve moved on to marry, or are nonetheless in lengthy dedicated relationships. The general success charge ranges between 60 and 85 per cent. 

Shifting ahead, Anisa says that DHF will proceed to stay a personalised matchmaking service as she sees it as filling a distinct segment hole within the trade. The human contact side of the enterprise additionally makes each success story extra significant and vital for her and the crew.

She has since entered the digital area together with her personal app, ‘Let’s Joompa’. It caters particularly to Muslim singles in Southeast Asia, and helps makes her enterprise extra “mass-market pleasant”. Since its gentle launch in Malaysia in 2019, the app has garnered greater than 15,000 downloads to this point.

As a matchmaker and an entrepreneur, I’ve to consistently develop and evolve with the occasions. I intend to codify what I’ve learnt as a matchmaker during the last 20 years and create an internet platform that’s protected, moral, and efficient. I intend to lean into this platform to assist obtain my lifelong mission of making 1,000,000 marriages worldwide.

– Anisa Hassan, CEO and founding father of Date Excessive Flyers Worldwide

Featured Picture Credit score: Date Excessive Flyers