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Gilroy - They call her Dr. Hookup because that's what she does for a living.
But Rimppi Rai is not your traditional matchmaker.
Although she works out of her home and uses a computer, she involves a third party to help make matches.
The 34-year-old and mother of two daughters ages 4 and 6 starts her day by calling up her team of matchmakers that she manages on Engage.com, an online dating site where family and friends become the matchmakers to help one find that special someone.
"My team collaborates on issues that users are having as well as making sure all new users get the experience of being introduced to someone. We then encourage singles to start extending invitations to grow their online community, which in the end is going to be their ticket to meeting that special someone," said the Gilroy resident.
Rai grew up in a culture of matchmaking.
"My ethnicity is east Indian, and in the Indian culture, historically, arranged marriages are a common threat," she said. "We grew up watching people around us be introduced to each other. We were exposed to that, and that was the norm."
Having grown up in Canada, the tradition of arranged marriage was not something Rai's parents expected of her.
"In my case, they didn't really expect us to follow this tradition. I think they were pleasantly surprised that my husband and I have a very successful story. It's really neat that somebody whose special to us brought us together," said the matchmaker about her best friend who met Rai's husband at a wedding and later introduced Rai to her future soul mate.
They've been married nine years. "She said that he was everything that she thought that I would want. I wanted somebody who would respect me, who would consider me an equal, but who still kind of had some old fashioned quality."
That experience led Rai to see the importance of involving family and friends when seeking a serious relationship.
"There's not really a community that could do that. There's many different ways for people to come together, but at engage.com, friends are helping friends find love."
She pointed out the difference between Engage.com and other dating sites.
"People on this site are people who are looking for long-term serious daters, not just one night stands".
Other sites don't include the feature where your friends and family play the role of a matchmaker, and although the number of growing users on engage.com was not disclosed due to company policy, Rai asserted that they are growing rapidly.
"When there's a third party involved, it seems like singles are more responsive or sincere. I think their behavior is different," said Rai. "You create a community on the site that can back you up."
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