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Reemma Dalal, Co-founder of Mix & Mingle, tells us how and why she started an events series purely to help older singles connect.
Reemma Dalal and Jemma Antia, residents of South Mumbai, love to network but saw the dire need for a platform for singles, especially for people aged 35 and above. They found it hard to meet like-minded people beyond a professional work environment and also wanted to expand their social network.
That’s how they started up Mix and Mingle – as a platform which organizes events, talks, and workshops for different age groups. It is intended for those who are new to the city and are busy in their demanding jobs, or feel shy to meet new people. Through a series of offline events, they help connect eligible singles in a comfortable and friendly setting.
The varied range of age groups (starting from 25 and going to over 50) is they feel, a differentiating factor. Reemma Dalal says, “Most attendees (at other events), we would see on a Friday or Saturday night were in their 20’s; only a small percentage were in their 30’s and older. It is rare to find events for singles who are 35-50 years and 50 years and up, markets that are often overlooked by other matchmaking platforms. ”
In June 2013, Reemma and Jemma organised their first event in Mumbai for the age group 35-50 that turned out to be a huge success. Speaking of overcoming the initial challenges, Reemma says, “A lot of single people still are intimated by the idea of attending a singles event. Some of them find it daunting to be in a room full of strangers. We try to break these barriers by doing a round of introductions at the start of event. We also host ice-breaking activities to get the mingling going and sometimes we try to provide a value add by organizing theme based events like wine tasting or mixology event so the focus is divided between making new connections and learning something new. ”
The satisfaction of connecting people with each other, makes it all worth it. Reemma adds, “A lot of couples have met through our events and are happily married; we are happy that we help bring people together. A lot of people who attend our events on a regular basis are friends and meet for coffee or a movie outside of our events.”
Reemma also explains the amount of work that goes behind their events, right from deciding the venue for the event, to then promoting them. New clients are screened and interviewed to ensure that they join for the right reasons and meet their specified criteria.
The key takeaway for Reemma from starting her own business, is patience and perseverance. She has learnt to be patient and never to give up, even if things go awry. Taking pride in her venture baby, she reveals, “Mix and Mingle is our baby which both Jemmaa and I created together in June 2013. We are proud to see our company growing. We started with one event for the 35-50 age group and then slowly increased it to two events a month. We also started a match making service for members who find it daunting to attend our events.”
Currently operating successfully only in Mumbai, Reemma also plans to expand the business into other major cities like Delhi, Pune and Bangalore.
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A software professional by education, and a stay-at-home mom by choice. You would often find me scouting around on social media , tweeting or posting photos on Instagram when I am not writing for read more...
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