#People:Meet Zelda Samuels - The Lady who's passion is "Connecting People".

Zelda Samuels - Relatinship Consultant

... By Biggy D.

I had just gotten home from an outing that Sunday afternoon when my phone rang with an unregistered number showing on the screen. Scanning through a billion possible people in my mind (also hoping I had won a lottery or something), I picked the call and said the customary “hello”, deciding by the answer from the other end on what manner of voice I would use. The voice that hit my eardrum was, for lack of words to use, WOW.  My mind raced a mile a minute “which kind fine girl be this?” I thought to myself (for a voice that beautiful, her face had to be in agreement too now). When my caller introduced herself and the need to meet to discuss certain issues, I knew I could not pass up on this opportunity to tell the world about such a person and her ideas.

For posterity sake, I can now categorically state that the stereotype of beautiful women being too lazy to exercise their brains for anything other than the latest fashion trend or smart phones is a crime. You will do the same too after meeting Zelda.

Seated with someone else in her office in a plaza in Jabi Abuja, she was kind enough to grant me an interview after we discussed what she wanted to see me for. Below for your reading pleasure are excerpts of the interview, exclusive to HakikaBlog.

Enjoy.

HB: Can we get to know you? What’s your name? Are you married? If yes, how many kids? If no, is there any hope for men out there? (had to ask the question, she’s fine die).

Zelda: (laughs) well, I’m married. My name is Griselda Samuels, short form is Zelda  I’ve been married for  eleven years, I have three boys, the first is ten, the second is seven, and the last is four.

HB: What is the name of your comany and what is it about?

Zelda: The company is called  EVERAFTERS. I'd tried matchmaking some other ways, but, I kept meeting road blocks. As a result, I went on a quest for what would appeal to the people to whom this service was being designed. I sent out a broadcast message asking if my contacts would go out for a speed dating party; 'a formal dating system where an individual gets to meet a large number of prospective partners in a short space of time without the pressure of being accepted or rejected outright'. We would serve as the third party buffer so that in a crowd of people, you won’t know who likes you or who can’t stand you, you’ll only get to know who really wants to meet you, although you’ll meet everybody. Once they got to understand what it was about, they said they were willing, I had cases of some single friends saying they would be shy, and there were some who said it sounded desperate. If I were single (she says as an afterthought), I would go for a speed dating party because for me, that would be an adventure. It’s a chance to meet people, and if you’re lucky, you might just meet someone you are really attracted to. It’s also for the fun of it, getting to experience something different, something foreign to our society.

Basically, we want to bring together busy people. For instance, the young lady working in a bank or the one who runs her business, or the young man who has to travel now and again on assignments. At the end of the day, all they think about is getting in bed because that’s all the energy left after a hard day. Over the weekend, they need to get personal stuff done and the cycle starts all over again.

Citing all of these, I wondered; what if there was a place, or an event that could bring these people together, just to have a great time as well as mingle , would they (her BB contacts and others) be willing to come, and most of them said yes, they would be willing to dress up for a party. Lo and behold, here we are (laughs), we had our first speed dating event.

The pilot of anything is so key to predict how a thing will improve or decline, so I carefully selected my guests. Some have received this with skepticism, others with excitement, and yet some others with total disbelief of its thriving here.

HB: I need you to talk about your event, the one that took place last weekend.

Zelda: EVERAFTERS is focused on speed dating events, relationship consulting, social etiquette training, and life coaching.

Believe it or not, there are gorgeous men out there who don’t know the first thing about approaching a woman they like (I raised my hand here in agreement and identification as chief high priest of these men). We have training sessions and we teach the men with tips we have gotten over time, so women don’t reject or shun them outright anymore. And we also teach women to be presentable (she used the word ‘packaged’) to be noticed. Some women have a projected image of themselves they think would attract men, but after a research I carried out, I found out different. When I showed some photos to a selected group of men, most of whom were turned off. I told those ladies, these images you portray are not what men are looking for.

We have designed this first event to be fun and classy, we are de-emphasizing the singleness and focusing on just having a great time, so people don’t feel under pressure to meet someone. But, everyone still gets to meet and talk with everyone else.

HB: When was the first speed dating party?

Zelda: The date May 4 2013; the red carpet started @ 3pm.

HB: When is the next speed dating party?

Zelda: 22nd of June 2013; red carpet will start @ 3pm.

HB: The venue?

Zelda: The Alexis hotel and conference centre in Jabi, opposite the Apostolic church, the hall on the first floor.

HB: How much is the fee for such an event?

Zelda: Participation fee is 5k per event at the moment. it may go higher depending on the venue we choose.

HB: How frequent do you expect this to be?

Zelda: The event is monthly, but the particular Saturday will vary. The first one was on the first Saturday in May. The next one is the third Saturday in June,that is the 22nd.

HB: You said something about working with a specific number of people for now, can you expatiate on that?

Zelda: For speed dating, it is important that you work with the number of people that will ensure everyone gets to meet and talk within the allotted time. the number of men must equal the number of women. so, for the next event, we will have 60 guests.

HB: On behalf of www.hakikablog.blogspot.com its crew and readers, I want to say good luck and congratulations on delving into new territories in Nigeria. Thank you.

Zelda: Thank you.

HBC: Who says passion can’t be turned into enterprise? A big thumbs up to Zelda and everyone out there who has taken the bull by the horns and have stuck it deep in the ground, keep being in charge, HakikaBlog and indeed 9ja celebrates you. One love.