PRESS RELEASE 

Forget the chocolates and flowers. BC company says investing in our relationships is about more than one day a year.

February 14, 2025 

VANCOUVER, BC—Sure, roses are nice, and bubbly is lovely. 

But improving our relationships is about more than one heart-shaped date on the calendar when connections with partners, lovers, and friends have our attention.

That’s according to the founder of Real Love Ready, Robin Ducharme. 

“Listen, I love a Valentine’s Day bouquet as much as the next person. But regular skill building is needed if we’re truly going to move the needle on the quality of our relationships,” she says.

The local company is stepping into the breach to help people in Vancouver and beyond improve their relational skills.

“We don’t teach ‘Relationship 101’ in schools. And we don’t always learn how to connect from our parents or family unit,” says Ducharme. 

“So where do we go to find out how to be a better partner, how to make friends as adults, or how to communicate our own needs?” she says.

The local entrepreneur has been on a mission to answer these questions for years, first as a professional matchmaker, and now as the founder of a BC company all about relational skill building.

With rates of social disconnection on the rise, there’s never been a more important moment to build our social skills and community. It’s especially true in a city like Vancouver that has a reputation for chronic loneliness it can’t seem to shake.

Says Ducharme: “Post-pandemic, we’ve moved beyond notions of ‘single’, ‘dating’, and ‘searching’, and into the territory of how we can build and sustain relationships of all kinds.”

In April, the company is bringing global relationship thinkers to Vancouver, including Drs. John and Julie Gottman. The renowned love researchers have been at the forefront of relationship science for more than 50 years. 

The Gottmans will appear alongside other well-known relationship experts at a learning event to help Vancouverites boost their relationship know-how. In Bloom 2025: A Love & Relationships Summit runs April 4-6 at the Fairmont Waterfront Hotel, and online.

Real Love Ready is the same company that brought New York-based psychotherapist Esther Perel to the city in 2023, and Dr. Gabor Maté and Rae Maté to the stage last year.

—END—

Media Contact: 

Kate Muker
media@realloveready.com