Interview Times 
Parveen Brar is the founder of Defence Wards Matrimony a company established in 2015 and she has been responsible for managing and directing the company (www.defencewardsmatrimony.com) toward its primary goals and objectives of providing the best platform for matrimony for the defence personnel. She oversees employment decisions at all executive levels of the company. She leads a team of employees who make major decisions about the company including operations, design, launches, joint ventures, or large-scale expansion etc.
She completed her undergraduate studies at the esteemed institution Sacred Heart College and received her master’s in psychology from Panjab University. Brar served as Human Dimensions’ HR Director for five years.
Apart from professional career, Brar has always been passionate about making her bit of contribution to society by volunteering and contributing to AWWA(Army wife’s Welfare Association ) and other NGOs actively in the field of women empowerment etc .The NGO very specifically looks after the physical and emotional rehabilitation of widows of Army personnel killed in action.
In addition, Brar founded Defence Wards Matrimony to assist the military personnel(Serving and veterans and their wards ) PAN-India and abroad in finding prospective spouses as she married into the army family she understood that they come from a diverse yet unique
Q1: Describe your journey from schooling to establishing a business
I did my schooling at the prestigious institute Sacred Heart Dalhousie and a master’s degree in Psychology from Panjab University. Having spent five years as Human Dimensions’ HR Head gave me corporate exposure and dealt with clients in the corporate world. This was my first experience in the corporate sector which helped me start my organization. I am a passionate artist of repute.
From a young age, I had a zest for creativity and giving back to the community in ways that were not nonexistent.
To begin with, I schooled kids and adults on different techniques as an artist besides also turning it into a successful business. My ability to take on challenges head-on and not worry about the consequences is my biggest achievement. She is a born entrepreneur as can be seen in the various businesses she has been successful at. Being an army officer’s wife was the biggest learning of my life to achieve this adaptability. The exposure and interactions with various people from all walks of life and understanding of the nitty gritty of the army were the reason this idea was born. I understood how the Indian armed forces had a very unique culture of their own which is totally different from the civilian world. Only once I had settled down in one place post my husband’s retirement is when I got the idea for launching Defence Wards Matrimony and decided to go head-on and make it successful. My motto has always been, one step at a time!
Q2: How did you come up with the idea of creating a defence matrimonial site?
The idea was born when I was looking for suitable matches for my daughters. One of the main criteria was someone who had a defence background or an upbringing in the forces to match their own value system. I scouted all websites but there was nothing which really suited my needs, and thus came about defencewardsmatrimony.com.
Q3: What are the challenges did you face at the time of the beginning of your matrimonial site?
The challenges we faced were insurmountable, but if we really had to point out a few they are:
- Knowledge about the world of technology as I didn’t have a computer science background
- Lack of Financial Resources
- Balancing Professional and Personal
- Lack of Social and Business Networking as compared to men
- Learning about the strategy of marketing and advertisements
All these challenges were actually a very big learning curve which goes to prove where there is a will there is a way!
Q4: what marketing strategies did you use to reach your specific target audience?
To begin with, I reached out to all my old army contacts before the launch of the site. They collectively started a campaign named “Defence Wards Matrimony” where they distributed flyers, sent emails and put up posters on various notices boards throughout India to spread the word. The day we launched the site, in minutes we had registrations rolling in!
Q5: what support you provide to NGOs groups
Apart from my professional career, I have always been passionate about contributing to society. I have been volunteering and contributing to AWWA(Army wife’s Welfare Association ) and other NGOs active in the field of women empowerment etc. The NGO very specifically looks after the physical and emotional rehabilitation of widows of Army personnel killed in action. This cause is very sensitive to my heart as I am witness to countless incidents which the wives or the armed officers have to face. I come from a family which has served the Armed Forces for 3 generations. I have witnessed near and dear ones laying their lives in the service of this nation. Thus, I continue to tremendously contribute in this area.
In addition, we founded Defence Wards Matrimony to assist the military personnel(Serving and veterans and their wards ) PAN-India and abroad in finding prospective spouses as I married into the army family and understood that they come from a diverse yet unique background and are community by themself bonding them together.
Q6 : How did you build trust when many people are hesitant to matrimonial websites?
As can be seen with the overwhelming response and success of our site, building trust was one of the biggest focuses of our establishment. Our team scans each and every profile with a fine comb and verifies them, our motto always being quality over quantity. We do not entertain clients who are looking to date to make a strict demarcation between a matrimonial site vs. a dating site. Also, most of our profiles are usually managed by the parents making it a more secure and reliable place to find your partner. Our success stories are a testimonial to this! Our team is also primarily comprised of wards of the defence forces who understand the ethos of our website and the services we provide.
Q7: How did you compete in this market when larger companies with established reputation were present?
We do not compete with the market as we are a very exclusive and quality-based establishment. We cater to a very niche clientele who understand and trust our ethos which makes us stand apart from the rest of the various matrimonial sites. A class by ourselves!
Q8: what is your company vision for the next three to five year?
We appointed Ms Jawandha as COO in 2022 as we together shared a common vision on the next goals and milestones we aim to achieve for DWM.
Ms Keerat Jawandha is responsible for all the daily operations, automation, backend and front-end enhancements and overall customer experience for the company.
Together we are making some critical changes to the overall design, concept, and UI as well as a marketing strategy to take DWM to the next level. We aim to take DWM to an international scale and build a brand image leading to an increase in our reach. In the next five years, we see ourselves providing end-to-end marriage solutions to our clientele keeping in mind the changing times. We are aiming to soar higher and higher with every passing year and establish an international presence, as it’s only with small steps you can cover great distances.
