The Love Assist team visited 14 towns and cities across New Zealand last year, giving a free educational three-hour seminar (valued at $395 per person) on how to be relationship ready and successfully navigate the world of online dating. NZ’s Netsafe data showed almost 8,000 New Zealanders reported an online scam, losing more than $24.7 million – five times higher than last year. Seminars gave insights from the latest relationship research and neuroscience and attendees learned how to write an authentic profile that gets you noticed, how to spot potential scammers, and at each event, one lucky attendee won a Golden Ticket for 3-months with their own Love Coach.
Cheerful Cathy, Golden Ticket Winner at Breaker Bay with Dr Jordan.
“Opportunity knocked and I received it willingly. Even though life is difficult sometimes,
I have learned to accept … and plan ahead for a bright future.”
Cathy shares her story [abridged]…
“When opportunity knocks, seize the opportunity. Last month I attended a half-day seminar ‘Women Supporting Women’, led by a group of authors who had written self-help books on starting businesses, dealing with children who are fussy eaters, and learning about being relationship ready. I felt as though I could easily identify with all of the guest speakers, but the topic which piqued my interest was ‘Love Assist’ – a self-help agency specializing in assisting people to find ‘their perfect match’. The guest speaker gave me an official invitation to her event, “How to Become Relationship Ready & Succeed at Online Dating”. Although I felt online dating wasn’t really for me, I thought I would attend just for a laugh. It might even give me insights on why things hadn’t worked in my marriage, or how I could best move on.
“Hershey kisses chocolates and a love heart pen were placed on every seat.
It was a very welcoming environment.”
On a sunny Wellington day, I parked my Toyota at Breaker Bay Community Hall for the Love Assist event. The event facilitator greeted me with a hug, introducing me to her partner of eighteen-months. She told me that they had met online. Because I was the first guest, she ushered me to my seat and said, “Cathy, this seat has your name written all over it!”
The keynote speaker and author, Dr Jordan Alexander, is a highly educated and successful businesswoman. Her book, “I Love You, Send Money” is a true account of her quest to find love online, albeit getting scammed out of thousands of dollars in the process by a man who tricked her into wanting financial help. Although she fell victim to a romance scam, Jordan decided to re-invent herself by writing a book about her experiences of finding online love and teaching others how to be internet-safe and protecting themselves from similar misfortunes. Jordan set up a company called, ‘Love Assist’ to help one million people find authentic love connections through online and real-life dating. People attend her seminars for ideas of how to pursue love or improve their romantic relationships.
“The most important message in the seminar was to set realistic goals and boundaries to help keep you safe when looking for love.”
The gist of the seminar was to learn about my love journey and to gain clarification on what I seek in a relationship. Throughout the seminar, the three speakers gave me a lot of eye contact and smiles. There were a lot of laughs, helpful tips and worksheet exercises. I discovered about Love Languages – this was easy. My primary love language is ‘words’ – no surprises there! My secondary love language is acts of service. I enjoy cooking creative meals, decorating my home for my children’s birthday parties, and designing my own invitations.
Towards the end of the seminar we were instructed to “look under your seats to find a golden ticket”. My fingers touched a laminated sign. I tugged at it in surprise until it fell into my hand. I glanced at the laminated note which read:
“Imagine what this Golden Ticket will do for you!”
I felt elated, overwhelmed, and excited all at the same time. I was there just for a laugh and to bide my time, yet clearly this was meant to be. Some might call it Divine intervention – I like to think this is true. There was no way any of those woman could have known my situation. I had less than thirty dollars in the bank. After winning the ticket, I told the Love Assist team about my story – my marriage separation and having to re-build my life. Jordan said, “Cathy, this day is all about you. It could not have gone to a better person. Please get in touch and let us know when you would like to start your Love Assist coaching!”
I skipped to the car without a care in the world. For a fleeting moment my problems disappeared. I felt liberated even though I knew there was a long way to go. For years I had been a stay-at-home-mother, yet somewhere along the way I had forgotten how to look after myself.”
Thank you for sharing your story Cathy!
You can hear more about Cathy’s experience with her Love Assist Coach here:
UPDATE: Cathy’s been keeping in touch as part of Love Assist’s Community. We are thrilled she just released a book about her life’s journey, a memoire: Life’s Not All Roses: A Mother’s Journey With Twins, Disability, And Adapting To Change. You can contact Cathy at her book link.
Congratulations Cathy!
One heart, one story, one step closer to our vision: To Love Assist one million hearts by 2025.
Will your heart be next ?
If you are ready to begin your own self-love journey, or want to get relationship ready, get in contact with our Love Assist team. We know that love takes two, but it definitely STARTS with YOU!