By Lara Fominoff @LaraFominoff on Twitter

Looking for a Crazy Little Thing Called Love? Lethbridge’s certified matchmaker could help

Feb 12, 2018 | 5:14 AM

LETHBRIDGE – If you want to “Know What Love Is”…. if you’re frustrated with online dating, and friends and family aren’t any help, perhaps Lethbridge’s only certified matchmaker can show you.

Sandra Juell is always on the lookout for potential matches for the clients of her Forever Love Agency, whether here, in other Canadian cities or even internationally. She has no problem simply walking up to people at parties or local events, and asking them if they’re married or in a relationship.

Juell, originally a teacher and a lawyer in Monterrey, Mexico, met her husband online eight years ago and moved to Lethbridge seven years ago.

“I worked as a teaching assistant with kids with special needs for four years. In 2016 I decided to change my job and I took a business course, a matchmaker course online that helped me to decide to do this. I saw the needs of this city, and when I meet people, I know they need help.”

Matchmaking is huge business, especially in the U.S. where there are about 1,500 independent matchmakers and sales reaching into the hundreds of millions of dollars every year. Clients don’t have to complete online profiles and don’t have to weed through dozens of others that may or may not be accurate. 

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“Some of my clients have had a very bad experience online,” she explains. “There are so many false profiles, and they’re in love with these profiles, these people that don’t exist.”

Juell understands that it can be a frustrating process, and she believes she has a knack for assessing clients’ needs, their personalities and their wants – then finding a suitable candidate for them. The first step, is an hour-long interview process.

“I know where they live, what they do. I can read or feel if they’re not telling me the truth. And if I don’t believe they’re telling me the truth about themselves, I say ‘thank you so much, I am not the person you are looking for….’ Because I prefer a good quality of clients and I want to have a good relationship with them.”

From there, clients fill out a questionnaire, with their wants and needs, what attributes they would like in a partner, and whether they’re willing to meet people in other Canadian cities, or even internationally. 

“I ask people, what is your preference? Many things like nationality, age, and religion.”

Juell then looks at her database, to see whether there are any matches. If there are, she approaches both parties and asks each one whether they’d like to meet one another, and telephone numbers are exchanged.

The clients then have one month to meet one another. If they don’t, it’s back to the database of at least 1,000 to see whether there’s another potential match. She’s hoping to get more women in their 30s and early 40s and more men in their 50s and 60s signed up.

Juell claims to have numerous successful relationships and even marriages to her name, although she won’t specify how many.

The registration for her service is $50, and clients also sign an agreement to pay another $250 if they agree to continue their relationship after they’ve met. The prices are in effect until the end of this month. 

To contact her, you can email forever.loveagency@gmail.com or 403-929-4844.

Now, if you haven’t found your “Endless Love”, the “Sunshine of Your Life” or the “Wind Beneath Your Wings”, here is Juell’s first date advice:

• Arrive on time
• Come dressed for an important moment 
• Be polite
• Be authentic
• Ask questions and listen to answers
• No cellphones

Then maybe…. just maybe, you’ll be “Amazed”, if you find your “Forever and Ever Amen.”