When people find out that I am a matchmaker either they want to become my best friend or they immediately run the other direction. I can not say that I blame them. I have the ability to change their life for better or for worse. Not to mention that some matchmakers out there have given some of us a bad rap.

I have heard horror stories of people going to matchmakers and as soon as money exchanges hands it is difficult to get the matchmaker to speak to them again. Long before I became a “yenta” myself, I had come in contact with some local matchmakers who all lacked personality. It always felt as if they were trying to sell me on their services versus really having a personal connection with me. That is enough to make anyone say “oy vey” and steer clear of a matchmaker.

When I was a life coach for women, I helped women bring their dreams into reality. Working with people as they dig deep into their souls can be a revealing process. The core to a majority of the problems with my clients was the lack of love in their lives. That is when I had an “ah” moment and made a decision that I wanted to help bring more love into the world. It is now my intention on a daily basis.

One of my personal missions as a matchmaker is to change the way that people see matchmakers. When most people think of a “yenta” they image an old white Jewish lady. I am reinventing “yenta” due to the fact that I am a young hot black Jewess. I want to take the art of making matches back to the roots of it being a mitzvah. I want to make the thought of the possibilities in love more fun, help people bring the spark back into their relationships, or find them a life partner. I see endless possibilities of what I can do for my clients, because I love making my client’s love life my business.

I do matchmaking the old fashioned way. I make introductions by having people meet face to face. There is no exchanging of photos and no online back and forth. As the matchmaker, I take the time to get to know people, their wants, desires, fears, and anything that you can image so that I can set them up with a potential mate.

The hardest thing about being a matchmaker is that when people meet me they assume that I have a magic wand that can magically bring them the person of their dreams. If only I could, I would be richer than Oprah! Until I find a magic wand, I shall continue to work intimately with people. There is a process in finding that special someone to spend the rest of your life with. I work with people to make the process a pure joy.

What I know for sure is that love requires cultivation. When you plant the seeds of love in your life only then can it can blossom.

Yolanda Shoshana, “The Love Stylist”, is not only a yenta who produces love matches, but writes, performs, and produces one woman shows about social issues. She is based in New York City, but travels around the world sprinkling love. www.thelovestylist.com