Podcast
Behandelte Themen
- Gleichgesinnte zum Daten in der Schweiz finden
- Dating-Apps: lohnenswert oder Zeitverschwendung?
- Schritte zu einem erfolgreichen ersten Date
- Der Aufbau einer Beziehung
- Dating- und Beziehungskultur in der Schweiz
Mit wem wir sprechen
Trea Tijmens ist eine ehemalige Headhunterin, die 2005 ihr Unternehmen Success Match gründete. Trea ist eine internationale Partnervermittlerin und preisgekrönte Dating-Expertin und -Coach. Sie hilft leidenschaftlich gerne erfolgreichen Singles, Lebenspartner zu finden.
Dating in der Schweiz kann verwirrend sein, besonders für neue Expats.
Aber es gibt viele Singles, die sich niederlassen wollen. Man muss nur wissen, wo man sie findet.
Beim Dating in der Schweiz können verschiedene Hindernisse auftreten. Man muss:
- Menschen finden, mit denen man ausgehen kann
- Selbstbewusst auf Einheimische zugehen
- Kulturelle Unterschiede verstehen
- Lokale Dating-Fauxpas vermeiden
In dieser Folge hilft Ihnen Trea Tijmens von SuccessMatch zu verstehen, wo Sie Gleichgesinnte in der Schweiz finden, wie Sie sie ansprechen, was Sie beim ersten Date beachten sollten und wie Sie nachfassen können.
Über die Episode
Der erste Schritt zu einer erfüllenden Beziehung ist, ein Date zu finden. Hier sind Treas Vorschläge für Singles in der Schweiz:
- Führen Sie ein aktives Leben: Das bedeutet nicht nur, dass Sie Ihren Lieblingsaktivitäten nachgehen, denn dort werden Sie womöglich nicht viele potenzielle Dates treffen. Nehmen Sie an Veranstaltungen teil und schliessen Sie sich Gruppen an, bei denen die Wahrscheinlichkeit hoch ist, dass Sie jemanden treffen, mit dem Sie sich verabreden möchten.
- Nutzen Sie Apps: Mehr Dates führen nicht unbedingt zu einer guten Beziehung. Aber Sie können nicht einen geeigneten Partner finden, wenn Sie niemanden treffen. Apps sind in der Schweiz sehr beliebt und eine gute Möglichkeit, in kurzer Zeit viele Menschen kennenzulernen.
- Sagen Sie den Leuten, dass Sie auf der Suche sind: In der Schweiz ist es nicht so üblich wie in anderen Ländern, Freunde oder Familienmitglieder zu Blind Dates zu verabreden. Aber es lohnt sich trotzdem, den Leuten zu sagen, dass Sie auf der Suche nach einer Beziehung sind. Geben Sie ihnen einfache und allgemeine Kriterien für die Person, die Sie treffen möchten, z. B. „klug, lustig und sportlich“.
- Sprechen Sie mit Menschen: Gewöhnen Sie sich daran, mit Menschen zu plaudern, wenn Sie unterwegs sind. Gehen Sie aber nicht auf jemanden zu und fragen Sie ihn sofort nach einem Date. Beginnen Sie mit einem neutralen Thema oder einer neutralen Frage und finden Sie heraus, ob die Person offen für ein Gespräch mit Ihnen ist.
- Besuchen Sie Single-Events: Treas Unternehmen SuccessMatch veranstaltet regelmässig Events, bei denen Singles sich über relevante Themen informieren und miteinander vernetzen können.
Wenn Ihnen die Folge gefallen hat, teilen Sie diesen Podcast mit Ihren Freunden und hinterlassen Sie eine Bewertung auf Ihrer Lieblingsplattform. Sie können auch unseren Newsletter unter rigby.ch/newsletter abonnieren, um weitere grossartige Inhalte über das Leben in der Schweiz zu erhalten.
Ressourcen
SuccessMatch Group Dating, Coaching und Mentoring
Singles-Events von SuccessMatch
Warum erfolgreiche Singles mit einem Liebes-Coach zusammenarbeiten sollten
Nach der Scheidung wieder auf Partnersuche gehen
Erfolgreich als Single? Was ist Ihnen die Liebe wirklich wert?
Sind Sie Single und mit Ihrem Job verheiratet, um sich nicht einsam zu fühlen?
Dating-Websites und -Apps in der Schweiz
Nächste Schritte
Wenn Ihnen der Podcast gefallen hat, hinterlassen Sie bitte eine Bewertung auf Ihrer bevorzugten Plattform. Vielen Dank fürs Zuhören.
Informieren Sie sich über aktuelle Stellenangebote in der Schweiz
Senden Sie uns eine Initiativbewerbung
Melden Sie sich für unseren Newsletter an und erhalten Sie unseren Willkommens-E-Book-Leitfaden „Leben in der Schweiz“.
Transkript
Kathrin: Hello everybody and welcome to another episode of Living in Switzerland. The series is brought to you by Rigby. We are a staffing and project services company based in Zurich. If you or anyone you know of is looking for a new role in Switzerland, or if you're looking to hire, let us know. We'd be happy to help.
The best way to do that is by going to rigby.ch/apply and filling out the form. Then if we have anything that might be of interest, we'll gladly let you know.
Today, we are joined by the elite matchmaker and dating coach, Trea Tijmens. Trea is a former headhunter who founded her company, Success Match, in 2005. She's passionate about helping successful single professionals find life partners.
Trea, welcome to the show.
Trea: Thank you, Kathrin. It's a pleasure to be here.
Kathrin: Excellent. So, could you tell us just a little bit about yourself, maybe how you came to live in Switzerland and what your journey was like?
Trea: Super. Yeah, gladly. So, I'm originally Dutch, as you may be able to tell from my accent, but I left my country many, many years ago, 30 years ago, actually. And I lived, studied and worked in quite a few countries and then came to Switzerland, Geneva specifically, in 2000. And in the meantime, I think a long time, I actually got the citizenship.
So, I'm officially Swiss now.
Kathrin: Oh, nice. Yeah. And, so, you work as a matchmaker and a dating coach. Can you tell us a little bit about that and maybe how you got into that?
Trea: Yeah, of course. Well, I studied political science and international relations, but my professional background is in HR, and specifically in recruiting and headhunting. So after interviewing many single professionals, I realised that many of them were very successful in life, but not in their personal lives.
So, I saw there was a need. And just out of curiosity, I looked on the Swiss market, now over 20 years ago, to see what there was as an offer to help successful professionals also achieve their goals in their personal lives and find a really great partner. And I found that wasn't really a good offer. So I thought, well...
I came with a concept for my company Success Match. And before I started that, I had to do a market study. So I asked my target group of highly educated professionals, also quite international professionals, what it was they needed from me. And almost everybody said, well, the only thing we need is for you to introduce us and organise our dates. So that made total sense to me because they said they were too busy with work.
Made total sense. So, I launched my company in 2005 and for many years, what I did is interview interesting single professionals and introduce them to each other. So, I coordinated thousands of first dates. Some of those clients did get married. Some of those clients ended up in lasting relationships. But when I looked at the percentages of clients who were in a happy relationship, by the end of their membership term, the success rate was shockingly low.
It was only between three and five percent. So, I thought that's okay. It will get better and better every year. It will be a nice curve, you know, going up, except for it wasn't. It stayed a flat line over the years, and it stayed between three and five percent only. So then I understood that it actually takes a lot more to help people transition from where they are at when they contact me to a happy relationship with the right partner than just going on some dates.
So then I went to study everything I could about dating and relationships. So today I'm an award-winning dating expert and I'm also a science-based dating and relationship coach. And today I work with all my clients in what I call a more holistic way. And yeah, my methodology is based on three pillars: being the right partner, finding the right partner and choosing the right partner.
So yeah, the success rate, of course, has drastically improved with the different way of working with my clients. And so now all the clients that I actively work with, over 85 percent are actually in a relationship by the end I stopped working with them. So, my work is really fun, but also challenging.
But it's definitely meaningful and very rewarding. And actually, our clients are all over Switzerland.
Kathrin: Okay. Amazing. And it sounds really comprehensive that you help them with every step of the process.
Trea: Yeah. That's the fun part.
Kathrin: Yeah. Yeah, this is interesting. Dating in Switzerland is sometimes seen as a little bit maybe challenging. So, do you find that there are quite a lot of people interested in serious relationships in Switzerland? Is that easy to find?
Trea: Absolutely. Yes. I actually believe that Switzerland is not so much different from other countries in that sense that I believe that. You know, man was not created to go through life alone, and that to love and to be loved is actually a basic human need. So, ultimately people long to have a good partner, to build a happy, mutually fulfilling, committed and lasting relationship. So that is definitely the case here in Switzerland as well.
Kathrin: Amazing. And so the next step, now that we know that, is how to actually find these people. So, what are some of the best ways to put yourself out there if you're in Switzerland, maybe an expat, maybe a bit new, don't know so many people yet?
Trea: Yeah, so how can you find a life partner in Switzerland? Well, first of all, by taking conscious action. So, I, or, you know, at Success Match, we work with people that put really a lot of effort and time and invested a lot of energy in all areas of their lives. But then when it comes to finding love, they somehow often believe that that should just happen by chance.
But so, I always tell people, we have to give chance a chance. So, if you are looking for love and looking for a partner, you also, you first of all, have to ensure that love or your partner can find you. So that means, you know, very often clients that come to us, I tell them they're the best kept secret singles in all of Switzerland because nobody knows they exist.
So the first thing that I recommend is actually living an active life. Doing things that you enjoy, but not only doing things you enjoy, it should be things, if you want to meet a partner, that is, and if you are serious about wanting to find the right partner, then you should be living an active life doing things you enjoy and that provide opportunities to meet people of the opposite sex.
Kathrin: Right.
Trea: Very important point.
Often people come to me and say, Trea, I don't understand it. I live such an active life. And I never meet anyone. And then I ask, well, what do you do? And sometimes women say, well, I do yoga, I do Pilates, I do meditation. I'm part of a book club. I'm part of a women's professional networking.
And I think, okay, you know, we have to live an active life, but doing things that provide opportunities to meet people of the opposite sex. Also let other people know that you're actually interested in meeting someone nice. So, get some support from your network.
In Switzerland there's not so much the tradition like we have in some other countries that if you know someone is single that you think, Oh, I know some other people that are single. Let me introduce them to each other. That doesn't happen very often in Switzerland, because people think, well, that's your private life, you shouldn't meddle in that. But let people, let your network know that you would love to meet someone nice, and should they meet someone who is, X, Y, and Z, fun, interesting, and sporty, for example, make it very simple, broad criteria, you'd love to be introduced.
So, get support from your network.
Kathrin: Yeah. That's a good one.
Trea: Opportunities in real life, because the moment you leave your door, you could basically meet someone nice anywhere, anytime. So be approachable, or make sure, like be conscious and mindful about being approachable, and also approach.
Kathrin: That makes sense. And one thing I think that a lot of people wonder about is obviously the apps. So that's a bigger and bigger topic, isn't it? And I think some people struggle with that. So, are the apps worth it? Do you think it's better to find someone in real life, or is it also worth going on a dating app or two?
Trea: Yes. So, it's, I believe all about creating opportunities to meet someone because if you want to be in a happy, fulfilling, lasting relationship, you cannot be in that if you haven't found the right partner and you can't find the right partner if you're not dating at all. So, you have to create opportunities to date.
And yes, almost all the people that come to us, when they first come to us, they tell us they dread to go dating on apps, either because it's just not their thing, or it's, you know, they heard horror stories, or they've tried it and they were overwhelmed or burned out. And everybody tells me they so much prefer to meet people generically in real life, so I totally get that.
But then I always ask them, okay, how many people did you meet in real life in the past year that have resulted in a date? Because sometimes people say, oh I meet hundreds of people. Yeah, that's great. But, how many dates did that result in? And then very often they're like, zero or maybe one. So, yes, if you are able to create sufficient opportunities to date by meeting people in real life, by all means, you don't need to go on the apps, but if the answer is, you're not meeting any people and you're not dating, then do use modern-day technology as well to create opportunities. And I definitely know the apps are a jungle. It's really a jungle out there.
However, with the right strategy and also with some support, you can really be very successful in finding amazing quality partners on dating apps here in Switzerland. And I would say, I work with also people that are based in other countries, and compared to other countries, Tinder is really a lot better in Switzerland than almost in any other country.
Yes. So, do give it a try.
Kathrin: And so now let's, let's imagine the person listening to this has already met someone that they would like to approach. What's the etiquette in Switzerland? Is there anything that people need to consider before they just sort of, approach someone and ask for a date?
Trea: Okay. Yes. So well, I always tell my clients that they shouldn't generalise, but let's go there. So in general, the Swiss are not so likely to approach someone as opposed to, other countries where that is done much easier. The Swiss are just more discreet and more private.
So if they don't approach and you approach, and if you use something like, Hey, you're cute. Can I have your number? That is not gonna work in Switzerland. That is just too, too direct and too, you know, would be perceived as too aggressive or coming on too strong. Not only in Switzerland, also in some other countries.
But so, what does work is what could be considered as sort of a normal, friendly greeting, followed by a small request. I always work with my clients, and we practice on those things, like how to approach people and how to start conversations. So, a simple, good morning, like if you're in the supermarket, like, Oh, good morning. Would you happen to know which wine goes with this fish well? Or, Oh, like, hello. Would you happen to know what time the store is closing, or, do you know a nice place for tapas and drinks around here? So, it's just all trying to see if you could open up a conversation and then yeah, it's always a little bit like improv because you don't know what's coming back.
Kathrin: That's right. Yeah.
Trea: But it’s seeing if a person is willing to engage in a conversation, first of all, and then take it from there.
Kathrin: That's right. Yeah. And I imagine that takes a little bit of practice if you're not used to doing that.
Trea: Absolutely.
Kathrin: Maybe have to just practice without, maybe, the intention of then asking for a date?
Trea: Oh, yes, absolutely. Yeah, get practice and get comfortable saying hello to people, asking how they are today, or just ask for a small question or a small favour and see how they respond. And learn how to read body language also. You know, and practice. And then, of course, also, if, on the other hand, you are approached, also be conscious that people are making an effort and that it's not easy.
So, be open, be playful and, and just go with it. So, if somebody comes up with a cliché opening and my clients tell me that, like, oh, this guy came up to me and he said, haven't I seen you somewhere before? And I thought like, oh, can he not think of something else, a little bit more original.
And I said, no, he couldn't. It was already a big step to come up to you and say, Hey, haven't I seen you somewhere before? So instead of saying, no, I don't think so, be a little bit playful and says, well, let me think. Could it have been at the rowing club, do you row? I go, Oh, do you row? No, it wasn't there. Okay. Now, do you go sometimes to Internations after work? No, it wasn't there. Well, you know, just be a little bit playful.
Kathrin: Yeah. You never know. Yeah.
Trea: Absolutely. See where it can lead.
Kathrin: Okay. Now let's say it went really well, and you've got a first date. What happens next? Talk us through preparing to go on that first date a little bit.
Trea: Well, first of all, a first date is a really special occasion. So, it's not a lunch with your colleague or a cup of tea with your aunt. It's a date, a potential for a romantic connection. So really make sure that you put your best foot forward. So, look your best, make an effort. Let your date also know the day before, that is also very important, to just make sure that everything's still on.
So, if you agreed on a time and a place to meet, stay in contact until the date, because sometimes clients say, well, I fixed the date for next week. And then they're not texting or calling the whole week because they think the date is fixed. So, we'll talk there. No, no. Stay in touch. And the day before, make sure that you let your date know that you're really looking forward to meeting them tomorrow at, 7 pm at that place.
Kathrin: Okay. Yeah.
Trea: Also, of course, know where you're going and make sure you are on time. That is very important.
Kathrin: There we go. Switzerland.
Trea: Yes, being on time and especially on a date is very important. So go to your date, hopeful and enthusiastic. And be prepared to give your 100 percent because if you give only 60%, don't expect your date to show up 100 percent either.
So, show up fully, be enthusiastic when you see your date first. So, and, sometimes people are a little bit nervous, but I always say, act enthusiastic, and you will be enthusiastic, and then also, yeah, have fun and be fun.
Kathrin: So, we've already mentioned one thing. We've already mentioned punctuality, which is really important in Switzerland, but is there anything else in terms of sort of, cultural things to be aware of, any faux pas, anything you can think of?
Trea: Hmm. First date faux pas. Well, don't drink too much alcohol. That is never a good idea. So, limit the intake of alcohol on your dates. If you are meeting because you've met on a dating app, and that will very often be the case, it's really a faux pas to show up on your first date and not look like your photos.
That is really a faux pas, so it can be, something, of course, you know, sometimes people put very old photos, and they have, either gained weight or lost hair or, you know, look totally different. That's a faux pas, that's not right. But also simply, if you are a woman who has taken really good effort in her dating app profile photos and styled her hair nicely, has professional makeup and is wearing something really beautiful. And then you show up on your date with your hair unkempt, no makeup and any old thing, that’s also a faux pas.
What is also a faux pas is that it becomes clear that you've lied about something on your dating app profile. So, your age, or your height, for example. That's really a faux pas, and I think that applies actually to all countries, so I can't think of something culturally, like, that is typically a Swiss faux pas, but perhaps your listeners have ideas that they want to share with us.
Kathrin: Yeah. That would be great. Please do send us a message. We can add it to the show notes if anything else comes up.
Trea: Yeah, that would be great, because I can't think of anything off the top of my head, but if the listeners have ideas, let us know.
Kathrin: That sounds good.
Let's now say that the date went really well, and the person liked it and would like to follow up and maybe go on another date. So, I know on the internet you read all kinds of very strange things, like, don't follow up for exactly 36 hours or things like that.
And it's all a bit confusing. So, what can you tell us about that?
Trea: Yes, indeed, Kathrin. There's all sorts of advice available on the web and very often conflicting advice. And so, it is a little bit of a jungle also in terms of dating advice and information.
But I would say. If you like someone, make sure you express your interest right away. So already on the date, state that you really enjoyed your date and that you would love to meet again and get to know them better.
So that's really important. If you like someone. Don't let them have any doubt in their mind. It should be crystal clear that you enjoy the date and that you like them and that you want to get to know them better. So then after the date, as a lady, you can still send a little text after the date that you got home safe and that you enjoyed the date and yes, you are looking forward to meet again. Of course, only if that is the case.
And for the gentleman, the next day, follow up right away. The next day. So, if you like something or someone go for it and express your interest right away. So, follow up the next day and ask her out on a second date right away and schedule it right away. Don't leave things up in the air because the interesting thing with enthusiasm, if you have a great date and you're really enthusiastic...
Over time the level of enthusiasm decreases, and then there comes a point that people say, well, you know, never mind. So while the enthusiasm is still hot, schedule that date, don't leave it up in the air. That's really important. And especially so if you've met on the app, very likely your date will also have other dates. So, make sure that if you like someone that you stay on the ball, so to speak.
Kathrin: Yeah, that, that sounds good. So now let's talk about quite a fun one.
Your Swiss first date ideas. So where can people go for a first date in Switzerland? What are some great things to do?
Trea: Yes. So, of course, there's so many things you can do on a first date. Of course, there's the more traditional, you know, meeting face to face for a drink, or having a drink and some tapas, or having a dinner. I always say for a first date, don't go on a five-course dinner where you have to sit four hours and after half an hour, you already know, okay, this is not really a good fit.
So, just go for something small and simple. You know, a couple of hours for a first date is plenty. You don't have to stay, six hours and close the restaurant down. That's not necessary. Like, leave at a high and save more for the next date, for the second date. But so, in Switzerland, there's also plenty of opportunities to do other things.
Of course, we have wonderful outdoor opportunities. So, you can go for a walk You can decide on a nice place for a coffee and then walk there together. You can rent a bicycle. You can rent a kayak for a couple of hours. You can go for a picnic. There's so many nice places to go for a picnic to. You can visit the botanical garden. You, well, now the weather is, of course, getting colder. So all these outdoor activities, if you dress up well, you can still do some of them, but also indoor thing. Going to a gallery, going to an exhibition. Go ice skating together. That can be fun, rent ice skates for an hour and then have hot chocolate or a coffee afterwards. Play mini golf, and nowadays you can also do that indoor, I believe. So, it's all about spending an enjoyable moment whilst getting to know each other. And so, for the gentlemen there, just a note of advice that, very often in Switzerland, gentlemen are very into hiking in the mountains. So, if you decide to invite your first date for a hike on the first date, make sure that it’s just a small, five kilometres maximum hike.
It's not about the hike. It's about, spending an enjoyable moment together and getting to know each other. So less is more, so to speak. Don't go on an extremely like five hour, extremely strenuous hike to see if she can keep up. No, that's not the point.
Kathrin: Not yet.
Trea: Not yet. Not yet. Not on the first date.
Kathrin: Good. And so when I remember, because I grew up in Switzerland, and then I remember getting more exposed to American culture or other cultures where people do a lot, of sort, of multiple dating, they date two or three more people at once. What is the norm in Switzerland? Is it customary to date multiple people at once or not so much?
Trea: Well, actually in Switzerland, it's not customary to date multiple people at once. That's not the tradition here at all. However, at Success Match, we actually encourage our clients to date multiple people at the same time. So, our goal is to help our clients find the right partner sooner, rather than later.
And so, for that reason, they have to date multiple people. And then, when we say dating, it's really about getting to know each other better by, going for dinner, going for walks, doing activities, short visits. So physical intimacy is not included in that dating process. Our clients have to commit to get to know a person well enough that they know their date has the same relationship goals, that they have all the core key qualities that they need to be happy and fulfilled and none of their deal breakers before they start a relationship or before they become physically intimate. So, before they have sex.
Kathrin: Right. Yeah.
Trea: So that way they're allowed to date multiple people. But by the way, we recommend not dating more than three people at once, because then it's totally overwhelming and confusing.
Kathrin: Yeah. Then it’s too stressful. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. And what about relationship milestones in Switzerland? So, I know that in some cultures, maybe you get together and then very quickly you get engaged and you get married and in other countries, it's a much slower process. You might take a few years to get to know each other.
Is there any sort of norm in Switzerland?
Trea: Maybe I should mention that even though the Success Match clientele lives and works in Switzerland, they are not all Swiss. And if they are, they have likely either studied or worked abroad, and they have quite an international outlook.
But so, what I can say is Switzerland is definitely a more traditional, more family-oriented country. So, one important milestone when you're dating a Swiss person is actually to be introduced to their family, because that usually signifies that your partner is actually serious about you and actually has, you know, plans or aims for a future with you. And so even though it is said that in Switzerland, the general pace of dating to relationships and then living together or getting married is slower, I have to say that actually my Swiss clients have all been quite good at creating momentum and keeping momentum.
And I have quite a few Swiss clients that have been married within the year of working with me.
Kathrin: Oh, wow okay.
Trea: So it's not all true that they're all taking a lot of time. That's not necessarily true.
Kathrin: So if they're ready to take that step, if they're fully sort of, ready to make a commitment, they might not necessarily have the slower pace.
Trea: Yeah. So it also depends on the phase of life that they're in, of course, and how ready they are to settle down, so to speak. And then I always say it's not the quantity of time that you know a person, but it's the quality of time that you spend and also the quality of the conversations that you have.
So if you do everything right, it doesn't have to take years to get to know your partner well enough. If you do all that right, and you’re both invested in that process, it should be a two-way street, then that process can go relatively fast.
Kathrin: Okay, and another thing is living together as a couple. So as I, from my Swiss friends and the people I know in Switzerland, most people don't get married and then move in together. They live together as a couple and then get married. Is that a trend you've seen as well?
Trea: Yeah, living together as a couple or sometimes, people are in a registered partnership when they live together. So I don't have specific data on that. But for our clients, I would say it really depends on the persons. Sometimes the client has been married before and they want to find the right partner for a happy, lasting relationship.
But they don't necessarily want to get remarried at all, so they just live together, but there's no goal of getting remarried. And then yeah, I would say that most of my Swiss clients did, even if it wasn't officially living together, they were practically living together, like, you know, either at his place or at her place, before they got married.
So, I think in general people do want to be together and live together and experience everyday life with each other before they make that step. Yes, it's very important.
Kathrin: Then maybe one other thing is, so the family structure and each part of the couple's roles, is that still quite traditional in Switzerland compared to other countries? What do you think about that?
Trea: Yeah. So actually, no. It's, surprisingly enough, recent research shows that men in Switzerland are increasingly involved in household chores, more so... Yes, I was really surprised at this, but it's, you know, actually, I'm not making it up. It's research.
Kathrin: Okay. Good.
Trea: More so than in other countries. So, Switzerland actually comes in in third place, just after Norway and Sweden, which is really surprising because we would think, Switzerland is really much more traditional in that sense.
So of course, still men don't nearly do as much as women do in the house. And as soon as there are children, so as soon as a couple has children, then that gap even widens more with women taking on the main roles as carers also.
Kathrin: Right. Mhm.
Trea: And what I also find very interesting, because I looked at some studies of that, and that was quite shocking to me, because I was just saying that men, you know, are surprisingly enough, they're doing better compared to other European countries.
Kathrin: Okay. So let's talk a little bit more about your work now.
Trea: Yes.
Kathrin: Who works with a dating coach? So who are, sort of, the people that you help? Who are they?
Trea: Yeah. So, our particular clientele is highly educated, smart, strong, interesting, successful, and quite international single professionals. That's our clientele. But who works with a dating coach? Well, basically singles who understand how important choosing the right life partner is and the importance of a relationship as it really affects all the other areas of your life.
So singles who consciously want to do this part, this relationship part, this big part in their lives, well, or better than in the past. So singles who are, are really open to learn, to grow, to become aware, to know better so that they can do better.
And who also understand that sometimes the quick fix, which for many people think, Oh, just set me up on a date, but that's all I need. That's the quick fix, but it's not the solution. And that transformation is really a process, but that the return on investment is really worth it.
Everybody has blind spots. And so what makes my work so fascinating is that each person is unique, and there's not really a one size fits all type of advice. So what one person needs more of, the other person needs less of.
Kathrin: That's right. So very variable as well?
Trea: Absolutely. Everybody is unique.
Kathrin: So if you've got so many, sort, of unique, different people, you must offer several types of services. So, what kinds of services do you offer?
Trea: Success Match offers elite matchmaking services. We offer private coaching services, we offer group coaching and mentoring services. We have an online learning program and we also do live workshops and single events.
Kathrin: Okay.
Trea: So quite a large offer.
Kathrin: The single events are quite interesting because that presumably is also a place where people can start to meet someone. What happens during an event like that?
Trea: Yeah, so we have different types of events. So a few times a year, we actually offer full-day live events. They're usually in Neuchatel, which is sort of nicely central in Switzerland. And they always have a theme, like a central theme. So it could be the art of playful flirting and text flirting or rocking your first date.
So it's a day of learning, but it's also a day of getting together, spending quality time together and having some fun. And then, for example, coming up on Tuesday the 26th of November, we have a live evening for singles in Geneva. It starts at 18.30 at Hotel Warwick. And so, it's right across the street from the Cornavin train station.
And so, for example, there we start with a welcome drink, because people are usually coming straight from work. So a welcome drink. And then we have a fun, insightful workshop. This time it's on the five reasons you're not successful on dating apps, which is then followed by a singles networking event. So basically a drink, singles networking drink. So if listeners would be interested in that or in any other upcoming single events, they can either contact me or they can go to our website successmatch.ch, look under the tab services, go to single events and you'll find whatever we have scheduled there.
Kathrin: And then that's obviously all going to be in the show notes as well, so. Yeah, that kind of starts to answer my last question which is how can listeners get in touch with you? And so you mentioned your website. Is that the best way or is there another better way for them to reach you if they're interested in any of... maybe your coaching or matchmaking or anything like that?
Trea: Yeah, so people can indeed either contact me through our website successmatch.ch or they can just send an email directly to me which is trea@successmatch.ch
Kathrin: Perfect.. All right, that's it for today.
So thanks once again to our guest Trea for joining us.
Trea: Thank you, Kathrin. It was a pleasure to be here.
Kathrin: And thanks to you for listening. We'll include links in the show notes to our guest and to further materials about some of the topics that we've spoken about today. If you enjoyed the episode, please leave a review on your favourite podcast platform.
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So, thanks. And until the next time.