By Amy Andersen, Founder and CEO of Linx Dating
As a professional Matchmaker, you regularly get questions that few other jobs would prompt. Since the nature of matchmaking involves closer relationships and an understanding of a client's EQ, the day-to-day for a matchmaker will often look different than a standard office job. To celebrate National Matchmaker Day (August 31st), I have outlined the most commonly asked questions I receive as a Matchmaker and CEO of Linx Dating.
1. Have you always set people up?
I wasn’t one of those ones who was always setting people up but I have always loved people. I saw a great opportunity and went for it. Frankly, when I saw the opportunity in front of me, I could not believe no one had done it before.
2. How did you get into the field?
I saw a market opportunity (demand) that was consistent with my existing network (supply) and I built from there. I have also always been a people person so it was a natural fit to go into matchmaking as I work with an incredibly diverse group of clients.
3. What’s the hardest thing about being a matchmaker?
This is a very emotional business - so rewarding, at times, but also high pressure as people are depending on me. Someone who hasn’t been married and who wants a baby is a high pressure situation for me. This is also a service business which means that I can also get treated very poorly sometimes, which stinks.
4. What’s a typical day look like for a matchmaker?
I start my morning with a giant cup of hot coffee and make my son breakfast! After school drop off, I get on my email. If there are so many emails, it’s already stressing me out, it’s a good reason to go for a walk or a run. On my walks, I always catch up with clients. On my runs, I crank all sorts of music from Guns N Roses, Dua Lipa, Ariana Grande, Justin Bieber, Crash Test Dummies, Motley Crue, Chaka Khan, or Michael Jackson. Literally, my musical tastes are all across the board, LOL. I get home, prep a to go salad for the office, get ready. I always do myself up even if I am not meeting a client because when I put make-up on and wear something nice, I feel better no matter what. I head to the office, respond to emails ad then either do an in-person meeting with a client, or prospect, or meet on Zoom. I spend my afternoons working on match ideas for clients and often checking in with people in my database to see if they are presently single and good candidates for my clients. Come 5pm, I am heading home to prep dinner and spend quality time with my family. After my son is in bed, it’s work time again till 10pm or so. Normally I then take a bath to unwind, watch a show, and go to bed myself!
5. Do matchmakers use astrology?
Not really….I certainly do not. It’s fun to talk about but we’d better be using more than that if we want any kind of competitive edge.
6. Are some matchmakers generational matchmakers?
Sure. There are examples of this, just like there are in other family businesses. It can be as informal as shared dinner table talk over many years, or as formal as a child taking over the family business.
7. Are there niche specialty matchmakers?
Yep. It’s s function of market supply and demand. A matchmaker is only as good as his or her network, and that could be a niche - geographic, religious, ethnic, age, or whatever. I’d say the most common two niches would be matchmaking, focusing on a particular faith or heritage.
For instance, there are many matchmakers focusing solely on Jewish matches or matchmakers focusing solely on Indian matchmaking. I’ve been binging on Netflix’s Indian Matchmaker with “Sima from Mumbai.”
8. What’s the craziest thing anyone has ever told you they want in a match?
One of my former clients shared his musts include “all-natural body parts,” “love celebrating New Year’s Eve,” and “be okay with a shower with two heads on opposite walls.” On a sweeter note, he expected his dream girl to be “really close with at least one family member” (his own relationship with his two sisters is “one of my biggest areas of happiness,” he writes) and “be someone who constantly says ‘I believe in you’ to their children.” But she also has to “allow me to indulge in a luxury sports car filled with premium gasoline.”