Meet Abby Rosenblum – CanvasRebel Magazine

We recently connected with Abby Rosenblum and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Abby, thanks for joining us today. What’s the backstory behind how you came up with the idea for your business?

I didn’t come up with the concept of matchmaking, but I did come up with my own and unique spin on the age-old practice. I was a serial dater, meaning I was on multiple dating apps and going on multiple dates a week! I hate to say, I was pretty good at it, and I was having fun too. I went on about 75 dates in a 6 month period, and one of those dates did turn out to be my husband! I was also making every mistake in the book along the way about dating mindfully, intentionally etc. I was just dating to have fun and meet new people. Many of my single friends were doing the same thing, and not having as much fun or luck dating online. That’s the hard part — it’s a lot about luck and timing!

Looking at my circle of friends, I thought I could help and I started chatting with them and putting their information in a spreadsheet of what they were looking for. I remember doing these interviews in my car with the A/C blasting during a lunch break at my day job! One night out with friends, I came up with the name and the idea, and decided to put up the website. Things started off slowly, I was going out a lot and talking to people to see if I could meet anyone good for my new single friends and clients.

I knew I loved talking to people and meeting new people, but I had no idea if I could actually start charging for something like this. I knew about matchmaking from “Fiddler on the Roof” but that was about it! I knew my unique approach was because of my experience with dating and perspective as a millennial, when many matchmakers come from a different generation.

I was excited about this idea, because I wanted to really make a difference and to leave the world a better place. At my day job at the time, I wasn’t getting that kind of fulfillment. I wanted to do something to help people and to also utilize my people skills, intuitive skills and listening skills. I really felt like there was something bigger calling me to help others, and at the time I wasn’t sure if this would be it. I started matchmaking on the side, while I was still working another job to see what might come of it. I had no idea (even two years ago) that this would be my full-time job by 2022!

 

Abby, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

What really propelled me into matchmaking was the pandemic — when my side passion project got the momentum it needed to become a real, viable business. During that time, we all realized how much we truly value human connection and that’s what I needed to take the leap into full-time entrepreneurship. At The Social: Modern Matchmaking, we work with singles in Colorado who are ready for a committed relationship, have stable careers, stable financial situations and passions in their life! Ideally, they’re growth-oriented, open-minded and a complete person already who is wanting to find someone to make life just that much sweeter.

We set up blind dates, host singles events, help singles with their dating apps through photoshoot and profile creation and ultimately give people the tools to help them be successful on their own!

People come to us with all different dating experiences — from dating after divorce to never having dated at all! Each person works with us in a different way. Some might go on 2 dates some might go on 20 dates! All our clients get access to our community of confidence builders that include: dating coaches, stylists, astrologist, make-up, barbers and tailors.

I’m most proud of adding to my team this year! Kendall O’Donnell joined The Social: Modern Matchmaking at the beginning of 2022 and it has been amazing to see our small yet mighty team grow. His insights are invaluable and he has a very different background when it comes to dating. He’s never been on a dating app and met his person in real life!

Our goal at The Social: Modern Matchmaking is to be your conduit for connection — whether that’s through a date, an event or a mutual connection. We want to help singles have fun dating and we want to have fun working together! If we can show someone that they can find love in a hopeless place (shoutout to my girl Rihanna!) then we’ve done our job 🙂

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

I can’t say I’ve completed checked this one off the list yet, it’s still a work in progress. A big lesson for me is knowing that I’m not responsible for anyone else’s happiness. When it comes to matchmaking, it can be hard to not feel responsible for how clients feel, whether that’s happiness, sadness, frustration or excitement. If someone goes on a bad date or a relationship doesn’t work out, it’s very difficult for me to not feel responsible for what is going on. I have to remind myself, that all I can do is give people the tools to be successful, introduce them to great people that meet their preferences and the rest is up to them!

This definitely applies outside of business as well. I’m sure many people reading this can relate, that sometimes we feel responsible for other people — whether it’s in business, friendship or love. Knowing that we’re only responsible for our own happiness is a hard lesson to learn. I always want to help people feel better or more optimistic about a certain situation, but in the end it’s always up to them to shift their perspective.

I hope, instead, I can be the conduit not just for connection but also for change as people want to approaching dating differently and change how they see it — from a fresh and positive mindset!

Can you talk to us about how your side-hustle turned into something more.

The moment I turned my side hustle into my full-time business was one of the scariest moments for me. It was a huge risk that I contemplated over and over again. There were years that I had really wanted to jump all into matchmaking, and I was always very torn. I was never sure if it was the right time. I started saving money from my day job and saving money from the business to start to feel comfortable. Financially, I’m not a huge risk taker so I wanted to make sure I had a good cushion in case things didn’t go well. The pandemic was really what pushed me to take the leap. Seeing how much connection mattered and how much people were truly seeking a romantic connection, made me realize that I had a big opportunity to make a difference while also paying the bills.

Of course, I took many close looks at the numbers, but there’s only so much you can predict. At a certain point, I decided I would just go for it, knowing that if I needed to my day job would take me back. I made sure to leave in a positive way, just in case! Before I quit, I was working 12-16 hour days of both jobs, and I knew that wasn’t sustainable. That’s also an element that pushed me to jump in.

When I was full-time in matchmaking, it was terrifying and exciting at the same time. It was a total mindset shift to creating my own schedule and not having to report to a boss or manager. There were many sleepless nights wondering how I would make it work financially, but despite all my worrying, things always came together. I could not have made it through taking this big leap without my husband, friends, family and fellow entrepreneurs that I could talk to. Bouncing ideas and problems off the people in my community helped immensely to help me gain perspective and learn about business.

I’m fortunate to have a circle of super intelligent and talented people in finance, law, business, therapy, coaching — all within my family and friends. Community was a vital part of my success. I also hired a business coach — which was so important to also have that unbiased 3rd party.

There have definitely been times when business has been slow and when I’ve wondering if I’ve made the right decision. It’s natural to wonder if I picked the right path. What I always remind myself of is that I never could have predicted this is where I would be a year ago, two years ago or five years ago! I definitely think you need goals in business and in life, but sometimes you just have no idea that you might become a matchmaker and create a whole successful business around it.

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