IAM2107 – Founder Leverages Her Skill of Intuition and Understanding to Help People Find Love

In this episode, April Davis, Founder of LUMA – Luxury Matchmaking, realized she needed to take her intuition and understanding of people to the next level. If there was one thing she knew more than anything – how to help people find love. April founded LUMA – Luxury Matchmaking in 2010 and took her background as a Certified Life Coach to help singles in over 22 states find the one they can spend the rest of their lives with.

The conversation highlights the importance of continuous learning and recommends using resources like Audible to stay informed and grow as a business owner.

Website: LUMA Luxury Matchmaking

Previous Episode: iam079-founder-leverages-her-skill-of-intuition-understanding-to-help-people-find-love

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Transcription:

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April Davis Teaser 00:00 

So it's going to be going on those first dates for our clients. And then we select who we're going to set our client up with. We plan the dates and everything too. So all they have to do is show up and have fun. And the dates are curated to the couple. So if there's some, a couple that are really into the outdoors and hiking, they can go on a hike or paddle boarding or doing something that's fun and active on repeat.

Intro 00:24

Do you want to learn effective ways to build relationships, generate sales and grow your business from successful entrepreneurs, startups and CEOs without listening to a long, long, long interview. If so, you've come to the right place. Gresham Harkless values your time and is ready to share with you precisely the information you're in search of. This is the I AM CEO Podcast.

Gresham Harkless 00:49

Hello, Hello, Hello. This is Gresh from the I AM CEO Podcast and I have a very special guest on the show today. I have April Davis of Luma Luxury Matchmaking. April, it's awesome to have you on the show.

April Davis 00:59

Thanks for having me today.

Gresham Harkless 01:00

No problem, I appreciate you for being here. What I want to do is just read a little bit more about April so you can learn about all the awesome things that she's doing. It all began when April Davis, founder of Luma Luxury Matchmaking, realized she needed to take her skill of intuition and understanding people to the next level. If there was 1 thing she knew more than anything, it was how to help people find love. April founded Luma Luxury Matchmaking in 2010 and takes her background as a certified life coach to help singles in over 22 states find the 1 they can spend the rest of their lives with. April, are you ready to speak to the I AM CEO Community?

April Davis 01:34

I am, thanks.

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Gresham Harkless 01:35

No problem, no problem. And the first question I have is just, if we could learn a little bit more about you, your background, and what led you to start your business, what's your CEO story?

April Davis 01:43

I have been a matchmaker for almost forever. My first couple I ever set up was when I was 16 years old. I was working in a little cafe and I helped put 2 people together. There was a patron that would come in all the time and 1 of the ladies I worked with, I knew that he was interested in her and vice versa. So I helped nudge them together. And then, yeah, several years later, I ended up getting my MBA in business and working in process improvement. And I had a lot of single friends that would tell me stories about how difficult it was for them to meet people.

And so I started looking around and looking into the different avenues that people had for meeting. Of course, there's online dating, which has its own set of issues and everything. There is, there are other types of services. So I met with all the services and I tried to grab the different pieces that I liked from all of them and created our model that we have today. And so we work essentially as an extension of our clients to help them to find that person who they're looking for. And the number 1 way to meet someone is still through someone else. And so I've made it into our business. Our clients are typically busy professionals and executives that don't have a lot of time to deal with online dating and they don't want to meet someone at a bar.

Some of them are young and just looking for their first marriage and to have kids and everything and then others are divorced after a lot of times people are divorced after 20 years, 30 years of marriage and they're looking for that next step and next phase in their life and they want to find that person to spend it with and so they'll use our services to find that kind of person. We and we're also certified life coaches as well so we use our coaching background to help our clients to put their best foot forward because it's not just about going out on a bunch of days about putting your best foot forward in order to attract the kind of person that you want ultimately.

Gresham Harkless 03:31

Yeah, that makes perfect system, especially with that life coach extension and having that background. I'm sure you're able to, of course, ask the right questions, but also to make sure that you're making the perfect match for those people that are looking for their special someone. So I wanted to drill down a little bit deeper and hear a little bit more about how you guys are helping serve the clients that you work with. Could you take us through like exactly how that goes?

April Davis 03:50

Yeah. So we'll meet with our clients and we interview them and we go through what are their hobbies, their interests, but most importantly, their values. And we want to really understand what's important to them because that's ultimately something that is never going to change. People can see around, we'll change our hair color or you can change your eye color. Women can change their height depending on the shoes that we wear. There's some things that are ultimately our values that are most important. So if your religion is very important to you, you want anyone of you, somebody else that is of the same religion, you're not probably not someone that's an atheist. That could be an issue, especially if you're looking at having kids together at some point.

And so just things like that we'll try to align on and we meet with everyone we see what they look like in person. It's not just you know whatever pictures and someone submits that can be really old or not even them. So we're like an executive recruiter, but for people's local lives. And then we, so we'll select, we'll interview on average about 48 or 50 people per client. So it's gonna, we're going on those first dates for our clients, and then we select who we're going to set our client up with. We plan the dates and everything too. So all they have to do is show up and have fun.

And the dates are curated to the couple. So if there's a couple that are really into the outdoors and hiking, they could go on a hike or paddle boarding or doing something that's fun and active on repeat, or if they just want something that's more casual. We've had clients just go for an ice cream cone and go for a walk. I've also had clients that have literally flown to New York City and gone to the Manopra. So it just really is around the type of people that we're matching.

Gresham Harkless 05:34

Nice, and that's pretty awesome. And like you mentioned, I know that you have those busy professionals that you touch on and they have so many things that they're doing that they don't necessarily have the time to do all those things that you guys can kick off their plate so they can continue doing the awesome things that they're doing with their job and their work and everything like that. So I wanted to ask you for what I call your secret sauce. And this is like your differentiator or what you feel makes you unique or your organization.

April Davis 05:55

There's a couple of things. We are a boutique agency, so it's very special and personalized. You're not just a number with us. Each matchmaker is limited to only taking on about 15 to 20 clients at a time. So you're, you're really, you're not a number. All of our match, all of their clients have their matchmaker's phone number. It's just highly personalized in that way. And then another thing is we have very high backgrounds and process improvements. So I'm all about the automation and using technology when it's like only that's helpful. And in some ways it is invest in that we have a huge database.

We have over 25,000 members in our network. It's a whole index that we have to choose from when we're looking for the right person for the clients. That's what gives our clients the ability to be in the driver's seat. They're the ones that are selecting who they would like to meet. Whereas with an online dating, you just are swiping, and hopefully that person that you want to meet will swipe back to you. When you're working with us, we, when somebody, when we call someone and we say, hey, we have a client that we think you should meet. Those people are really excited to hear that.

And they want to go out with our clients. So it just kind of gives their opportunities in that 1. Then I think the other third big differentiator with us is that we're all like coaches. So we're not just throwing people on a bunch of dates. We really help our clients. I've literally taken clients shopping, helped them pick up eyeglasses to buy or clothes or and then oftentimes though it's just different things. We're not therapists but we can help them with a lot of different areas so I've had clients or even just helping them and it could be just helping the date move along.

I just got a date that I had really good feedback about both people and they liked each other. She was worried that he made some kind of comment. She took it as he was not looking for marriage and that's what she's looking for. And it's just the opposite actually. That's why he hired us. He's definitely looking for a marriage. And I had to help nudge them back together and explain to her, no, actually, that was not what he meant. This is what he really meant. And then that way, now they're going on a second date where she wasn't, she wasn't sure that she wanted to go out with them again after, after that. So being that intermediary and whether it's being a coach or just helping nudge them to the finish line.

Gresham Harkless 08:14

Yeah. And that makes perfect sense. And those are all great differentiators or forms of secret sauce. And I like the aspect that you talked about in the very beginning, how it's like you're getting introduced by some of your best friends or somebody that actually knows you. You guys have that extension, having that boutique feel also sounds like it provides that opportunity for somebody, not just a random person to try to connect you with somebody else, but somebody that actually knows you wants to see the best for you.

April Davis 08:37

Yeah, when your friends are hooking you up with someone, they have great intentions and but oftentimes they'll set you up with somebody they think is great, maybe great for them, not necessarily. And the other thing is they just, a lot of times are like, okay, who do I know that's single? And they just, oh, the only other thing they just throw people together, it's not necessarily.

Gresham Harkless 08:58

That makes perfect sense. So it's great that you guys have that experience to be able to do that. So now I wanted to switch gears a little bit and ask you for what I call a CEO hack. And a CEO hack could be an app or a book or a habit that you have, but it's something that makes you more effective and efficient as a business owner.

April Davis 09:12

I think the biggest thing that, and the biggest realization that I've had in being a CEO was it's just the information that is out there if you want it. People ask me all the time, oh how did you do this? How did you do that? Google it, YouTube, whatever it is. And 1 concern, 1 major concern I had when I left corporate America and linked to this company on my own. I was worried about knowing what was going on in the world, that I'm going to be on this island, I'm not going to know what people are talking about. And with the help of the app Audible, I've been able to, I know, way more, like push myself way more, and I've learned so much more. Because I have a book, or a library in my phone with over 100 books in there.

And I'm invested in it, and I make my team listen to those books as well. So they're growing and learning more as well. And even my clients, I'll find different books that they can listen to and recommend to them that can help them. So I hear people say that all the time, listening to podcasts or books. They learn a lot from that. But I think that's to me, that's been the biggest. I wouldn't be where I am today if I didn't have audio books, whether, and then now I use audible. I used to go to the library and borrow them, But now, now I can just buy them through Ottawa. So I'm a huge fan.

Gresham Harkless 10:36

I think you're absolutely right where there's so much information and resources you can get at your fingertips. It's just a matter of you taking the effort in order to do that. So I think the 2 great CEO hacks. And now I wanted to ask you for what I call a CEO nugget. And this is like a word of wisdom or a piece of advice or something you might tell your younger business self. So do you have a CEO nugget that you provide to us?

April Davis 10:58

I understand why so many businesses fail. I forget what the stat is nowadays. It's because people don't understand their numbers and if you're not a numbers person you can't just say oh I'm just not a numbers person or rely too heavily on your accountant to figure that out for you. You have to figure it out. You have to learn about it. If you don't know, then go and learn. That's something that being in this role, I've become Jack Valtryek and I have had to learn a lot of different things. My background, I have a numbers background, so I was fortunate in being able to dig into the data and figure out things. I think reading EOS is a, it's an operating system for businesses and there's a lot of books around it.

So I would Google it, read all the books around EOS and learn as much as you can about it and then apply it to your company so you have metrics. Everybody has a number, everyone on your team, everything has a number and it should be measured. And then you should have reporting around that and scorecards and different things and have your financials. Because if you don't, if you don't know where you're going, you don't understand your numbers and you're not going to get there. So I think this bit of advice that just blows me away how some of these people that are trying to run businesses, they just, they don't have, they don't own their metrics and understand why so many businesses fail because if you don't know them, then you're lost.

Gresham Harkless 12:25

Yeah, it's huge. And I'm not knowing your numbers allows you the opportunity. When you know your numbers, you're given the opportunity to be able to forecast certain things to figure out what decisions you're going to make or don't make. But a lot of times when you don't have that data or information or you're not paying attention to it, which is even not it, which was even worse, you can definitely hit a lot of roadblocks and pitfalls. So now I wanted to ask you my absolute favorite question, which is the definition for what it means to be a CEO. So we're having a lot of different CEOs on this show. So I wanted to ask you, what does being a CEO mean to you?

April Davis 12:54

I think the biggest thing that comes to mind for me is responsibility. Because I'm so, because I've taken on this company and I've taken on these clients and employees and stuff, I have to be unresponsive. There's a lot of people that are counting on me to keep the balls rolling and keep things going and keep feel like I have a lot of plates that I'm spinning and I have to keep them all going along because they're literally families that are depending on me. There's kids depending on me because my kids have kids and and so these clients of ours so I think that's a big thing is being dependable and responsible for so much so that's right that's what I'm thinking about. I guess that's the first thing that comes around that comes to my mind is just having those, a lot of responsibilities.

Gresham Harkless 13:41

I love that, yeah. And especially if you have people that are depending on you to make sure that you're doing a lot of the things, make sure the ball is rolling, then that is definitely a great definition for what it means to be a CEO. So April, I appreciate you so much for taking some time out of your schedule. What I wanted to do was catch you the mic, so to speak, just to see if there's anything additional you want to let our readers and our listeners know and how best people can get a hold of you.

April Davis 14:03

Yeah, in order for people to get a hold of us, they are looking to just join our database and be considered as a match to 1 of our clients. Or if you want to be proactive and have us find your special person, you can just go to our website at lumasearch.com. It's L-U-M-A search, S-E-A-R-C-H.com. And that stands for luxury matchmaking. And you can just go onto that website, fill out the form, or you can give us a call and talk to 1 of the matchmakers and see if we can help you, see what we can do for you.

Gresham Harkless 14:34

Awesome, awesome, awesome. I truly appreciate you, April, for all the work that you're doing and helping your employees, but also all these people find love that's near and dear, obviously, to everybody's heart. So I appreciate you for time that you took, and I hope you have a phenomenal rest of the day.

April Davis 14:48

Of course, thank you. Thank you for your time. I appreciate the opportunity. All right, you take care.

Outro 14:52

Thank you for listening to the I AM CEO Podcast powered by CBNation and Blue16 Media. Tune in next time and visit us at iamceo.co. I AM CEO is not just a phrase, it's a community. Be sure to follow us on social media and subscribe to our podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, and everywhere you listen to podcasts. Subscribe and leave us a 5 star rating. This has been the I AM CEO Podcast with Gresham Harkness, Jr. Thank you.

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