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Susie Lee Sculpts Dating With Siren

Siren co-founder, Susie Lee

After divorcing her partner, Susie Lee found herself once again on the dating scene. But she discovered romance had a new dimension, and it was a big one – the internet. Rather than be simply discouraged by the aspects of online dating she found dehumanizing, she created her own dating app, called Siren, together with co-founder Katrina Hess.

With Siren, Lee strives to create a space for vulnerability. “That’s how we connect,” Lee tells Sound Effect senior producer Arwen Nicks. Sometimes we find partners, and sometimes we’re rejected. “You learn how to self comfort and get yourself back up again.

Much like dating in real life where people determine compatibility through age, appearance, and conversation, Siren encourages potential partners to banter online by responding to the Question of the Day.

Credit provided by Susie Lee
community question on Siren

For example:

“Where does rain sound best?”

“What needs to be experienced in real life and not just on the screen?”

“What’s the worst song you’ve ever heard?”

“If you could grant life to one inanimate object in your home, which would you choose? Why?”

Online dating apps weren’t always Susie Lee’s passion. She had been on track to become a doctor and broke away, then was a chemistry teacher, and then became an artist. It was through ceramics that she gained familiarity with uncertainty. “I’m an expert at the I-don’t-know kind of space.”

Finding her own path as an amateur, she says, prepared her to learn from her mistakes. After being knocked down so many times over the past twenty years, she made a practice out of trying over and over again. Now, she says, she solves problems the way that she eats: “with gusto, it’s gonna be damn good, and I’m gonna eat the whole thing.”

You can learn more about Susie Lee and the app at their website, www.siren.mobi