I’ve never been a quitter, but I almost gave up on dating.
I am someone who pretty much always reaches my goals. I’ve earned several degrees, launched successful businesses and traveled the world, but love has always been a challenge for me. I also live in Atlanta, a city infamous for its lopsided male-to-female ratio. I’ve been on so many dates and have even been proposed to a couple of times, but I have yet to find the love of my life.
I know I am not alone in this. Dating for business owners is already tough, but for Black women, finding a suitable match seems near impossible. Statistically, due to socio-economic factors that impact the availability of Black men, Black women are the least likely group to get married.
While I am an eternal optimist and don’t buy into the “there are no good Black men out there” mentality, I have to admit that this dating journey can be discouraging. Recently, I was in a room of 23 Black women business owners from around the country. We were all being celebrated for our success as entrepreneurs. As we were casually getting to know each other, we discovered that all of us were unmarried and only one of us was in a relationship.
This is exactly why I created EnrichHER nLove. Black business owners don’t have a desirability problem; we have a compatibility problem when it comes to available dating options. Making time to navigate the dating pool of singles only to end up matching with people who don’t understand why you “work so much” feels like a waste.
One evening this summer, after yet another disappointing date, the problem-solver in me got to thinking: what if there was a way to connect with people who are in the same entrepreneurship boat as me? People who were vetted using criteria set by fellow business owners. At EnrichHER, we connect people to funding and capital. Maybe we can connect them to love?
EnrichHER nLove is a matchmaking service that provides the coaching, connecting and curated experiences you need to create the best opportunities to meet your soulmate. We do the legwork. You show up with an open mind.
One thing business ownership has taught me is that success doesn’t come from perfection. Success, for me, has always been the end result of a series of mistakes, setbacks and dead ends. I have to remind myself of this during moments when I’m feeling particularly doubtful about my love life. I don’t have to be perfect to find love. I just have to believe in love and trust that I am always right where I need to be.