If you’re single, you likely know this story all too well: You’re out with friends when someone catches your eye. You want to strike up a conversation, but you don’t know how to get the attractive stranger’s attention. Even if you conjure something clever to say, do you really want to give identifying information to someone you’ve just met?

Enter Cheek’d, a startup that set out to solve related problems: how to capitalize on a fleeting social encounter without exposing personally identifiable information.

Cheek’d targets singles who fall somewhere between extremely extroverted and intensely introverted. Rather than ruining a first impression or missing an opportunity, a Cheek’d subscriber might slip a clever card to a stranger without resorting to the creepiness of Craigslist’s “Missed Connections.” Each business-sized card is pre-printed with a witty icebreaker on one side and a unique code on the other directing the receiver to a subscriber’s online profile. Subscribers can’t be cyber-stalked in advance and unique codes for individual cards prevent creepy exes from prying. Since Cheek’d clients “shop in real life” and have very brief written profiles, they avoid both the bait-and-switch and lengthy back-and-forth common to many dating sites.

Evoking the verbal acuity in the company’s DNA, co-founder Locke Raper, when asked about the origin of the company’s name, replied, “Lori Cheek, my business partner, is founder and CEO. My last name is Raper and this is a dating site. It was an easy decision.”

As a startup that requires some behavioral change on the part of its users, strong brand ambassadorship has been vital to its growth. Lori Cheek—with her distinctive platinum hair, southern drawl, and fearless attitude—is a well-known fixture in the New York startup ecosystem, and is an exceptional brand ambassador. She’s garnered significant press attention in outlets, from The New York Times and Forbes, to the Italian editions of Glamour and Wired.

Ms. Cheek, and the signature cards she introduced to the dating world in May of 2010, can both be described as stylish, witty, and sure to make an impression.

This interview is sponsored by WePost Media