A Washington, D.C. matchmaker has turned her attention from creating romance to fostering friendships with her new ‘BFF Matchmaking’ service.
Michelle Jacoby has spent a decade introducing couples through her company, DC Matchmaking, but she found that some of her clients were hoping to make more meaningful platonic connections in addition to finding love.
After setting a few of these people up and sparking some friendships, she launched BFF Matchmaking, where she matches people up on platonic friend ‘dates’ for packages that cost $900 to $2,100.
Find friends: A Washington, D.C.-area matchmaker has turned her attention from creating romance to fostering friendships with her new ‘BFF Matchmaking’ service (stock image)
Loneliness is a problem that affects many adults. A 2018 Kaiser Family Foundation survey found that two in ten Americans often or always feel lonely, and a 2018 study found that it peaks for people in their late 20s, mid-50s, and late-80s.
And many people find that it’s much more difficult to make new friendships as an adult than it was as a child, particularly with today’s unique challenges.
To that end, in recent years we’ve seen the emergence of apps that aim to set up and encourage friendships, including Bumble BFF, Friender, Hey! VINA, Peanut, and Meetup.
But just as there are dating apps for casual love-seekers and professional matchmakers for serious ones with a bit of cash to burn, so too now are professional matchmakers getting in on the friendship setup game.
Value: Michelle Jacoby launched BFF Matchmaking, where she matches people up on platonic friend ‘dates’ for packages that cost $900 to $2,100
‘In this modern age of social media and online connections, making “real” friends is harder than ever,’ BFF Matchmaking’s website reads. ‘We don’t want anyone to feel left out or lonely ever again.’
Jacoby said that while running DC Matchmaking, she occasionally connected clients who were looking for non-romantic companionship.
‘I’m a compulsive connecter,’ she told Bethesda Magazine. ‘I’ve always connected people romantically and just decided to make a living doing it, now we really see the need for a way to facilitate friendships.’
She decided to offer it as a service to her existing clients, and she quickly received more than 100 interested responses.
‘I was expecting crickets, and I opened up my email and it blew up,’ she said. ‘I realized this is something really necessary.’
She and her husband Rob Slattery, who run the business together, advertise the services to a range of people who want to make friends for different reasons, including being shy or introverted, being newly divorced or widowed, or simply being tired of an old friend group.
With each client, they conduct video interviews and try to meet them in person to understand what they want in a friend. They considers things like age, stage of life, shared values and interests, and personality traits.
Besties in the making: Each client is evaluated based on stage of life, values, and interests and then introduced to friend matches
They then offer four packages, which range in price from $900 to $2,100. (They are currently offering a 20 per cent off special knocking the price down to $720 to $1,680 for a limited time.)
For $900, they will introduce a client to three potential friends in three months, connecting them via email based on potential compatibility.
For $1,200, clients get those three introductions, plus the service will plan and set-up friend dates.
A $1,500 gets clients six introductions in six months, and $2,100 adds friend dates to those intros.
They have already successfully set up several friendships. Several have written testimonials for the website, saying Jacoby has set them up with close friends.
Jacoby says friend matchmaking is actually easier than romantic matchmaking, because there isn’t pressure to find ‘The One,’ just someone to get along with.
This summer, The Washington Post tagged along for a friend date between Noreen Butler, 46, and Rebekah Kelley, 51, two single entrepreneurs looking to make friends.
The women are both active, so Jacoby and Slattery set them up at an outdoor ropes course. While they appear to have gotten along and have kept in touch, they still haven’t reached best friend status.
The service is now just in the D.C. area, but they have plans to expand.
‘No one should ever live in a busy city and walk down the street feeling completely alone,’ Jacoby said.