As an attorney, Lauren Pena, 32, relishes in the serious and often formulaic practice of bankruptcy law. But for another side to her professional life, the 2007 Boyd Law School graduate taps into her intuitive skills in reading people.
In high school, Pe?a started pairing up friends for dates. It's something she continued to do as undergraduate at UNLV (she earned a BA in communication studies in 2004). A couple years ago, she and her longtime friend, Steven Peralta, decided to take Pe?a's hobby to the next level by creating DuoVegas.com, a matchmaking business.
"[Matchmaking] was completely for fun and a labor of love. But ... I realized there was a market for it. It just snowballed from there," she said.
Her Niche
To date, Duo Vegas has worked with 24 male clients, who pay for the service. The men are matched to women from a list that now tops 600, Pe?a says. The women join for free and are vetted before a date is made. "We're very hands on up until that first date. Then we let them decide if they want to take it further," she explained.
One matched couple will be getting married this May, a first for Project Duo. So far, Pe?a's surveys indicate a 90 percent satisfaction rate and 75 percent of the matches lead to multiple dates.
Pe?a doesn't compete with massive online dating outlets like Match.com. Her niche is affluent professionals who want to avoid the online grind. The initial consultation involves a one-and-a-half hour meeting, after which Pe?a and Peralta make the decision to work with the male client or not.
"Potential clients come in all the time and if we don't feel a good vibe, we know it's not going to work," she added.
Expectation Management
In April 2014, Pe?a gained certification from the Matchmaking Institute, an international organization. The process involved seminars with psychiatrists, experienced matchmakers, relationship writers, and others. She also studies relationship and personality type research by Helen Fisher, a Rutgers University professor, anthropologist and human behavior academic. Certain types match better with others, Pe?a explained, but she also explores a client's have secondary personality type, which may help them connect with someone who could seemingly be an opposite on first impression.
But all the relationship knowledge in the world can't help the unmatchable.
Pe?a's world comes with its share of seriously unrealistic expectations: wealthy but unhealthy males looking for a fit and active 24-year-olds; a woman who won't date a guy who drives a Ford; or the woman who won't go near a man shorter than 5 foot 11 inches tall.
"In the beginning, Steven and I were like 'Everybody wants love' ... We just wanted to help as many people not be lonely as possible," she admitted. "Now we are able to see a lot quicker who is really looking for a relationship and who is [not]."
Meeting the Matchmaker's Match
Pe?a said the matchmaking business experience has made her more reflective and self-aware.
"I've become more introspective, hearing how people view other people, and hearing all these different views ... I like to think I'm more compassionate toward myself and others," she added.
Pe?a also draws a distinct line between her legal career and the matchmaking business. She wakes up at 5 a.m. to work on DuoVegas for a couple hours, reaching out to clients, blogging, and maintaining the website. And then tends to it again in the evenings.
And in case you're wondering, for this single Las Vegas professional finding the right guy isn't a priority right now. "I'm building something right now and my schedule is a bit manic. ... But there will probably come a time when I seek out additional assistance [from a matchmaker] myself." After all, that's just what professional matchmaking is for: To help daters get out of their own way on the quest for the perfect partner.
