“Sometimes as we get older, we get burned out and we get bitter about dating and I tell people to take a break. You don’t have to be constantly on the hunt. You can take a nice little break. Dating should be fun and shouldn’t be like a chore and you shouldn’t be thinking, ‘I have to do this again.  I knew a guy who went on over one hundred dates, between the service that I worked for and (other dating services) and he only had two second dates out of all of those.  He was so bitter, burned out and angry. This was a young, successful guy and he was already burned out. He would go into the date expecting that it wasn’t going to work out. (His attitude was) why even try. Sometimes on the phone, he couldn’t even get on the date, because on the initial phone call the girls would be so turned off by his negative attitude, energy and comments. For him dating was hard and it was a drag,” says noted author, relationship guru and Beverly Hills matchmaker, Marla Martenson, who is set to release her third book in April, Diary of a Beverly Hills Matchmaker. Her earlier books Excuse Me Your Soulmate is Waiting and Good Date, Bad Date, thrust her into the national spotlight with appearances on The Today Show, the San Diego Living Morning Show, WGN Chicago Morning News and numerous radio programs.

 

If you are a shrinking violet then perhaps Diary of a Beverly Hills Matchmaker might be a little too candid for you, then again, it is more likely that it is just the wakeup call that you need!  One should approach this book with an open mind, remembering that while Martenson is not shy about stating her opinions, what she is doing, is sharing her experiences after years of acting as a matchmaker for men and women. At times, you may be shocked at what you perceive to be shallowness in terms of the expectations of both men and women, however Marla Martenson’s clientele consists of financially upscale men and women and in her words the women are “gorgeous.” If you do approach Diary of A Beverly Hills Matchmaker with an open mind you will have more than a few chuckles, because Martenson’s humor which relies on wit and measured sarcasm makes this an entertaining read.

 

Concerning her new book Marla Martenson says, “It is a memoir about my life as a Beverly Hills matchmaker, a behind the scenes look and it also talks about my life with my husband and my mom, as well as trips that I take. It is kind of a Chick Lit style comedy, but it has some sad moments in there too. The reason that I wrote it is I am a big fan of memoirs. Whenever I am at a gathering or a party, or when I am out and someone asks me what I do for a living, I tell them that I am a matchmaker and I am always a hit at the party. Everyone wants to talk to me, to find out what it is like to be a matchmaker and how I got into this business. They ask what kind of people I match up and how I do it. There are always a million questions. It is such a unique job that I thought it would be great to write a memoir and take people through my day to day dealings in the matchmaking business. I am excited about Diary of a Beverly Hills Matchmaker, because it is a story and it is the story of my life. It was so much fun to write and I think that people are really going to love it.”

 

Perhaps you are reading this and wondering what a day in the life of a matchmaker is like, so we asked Marla Martenson to share a little bit about her career, including how she first got started, before she owned her matchmaking business.

 

“Well for instance, I picked up one girl in the fruit section of the grocery store. I just said, ‘You are absolutely gorgeous. Do you happen to be single?’ When they said yes, I would say, ‘I know this may sound funny, but I’m a recruiter for a matchmaking company and the men are all upscale, handsome, commitment minded and it is free for ladies to join. If you are interested I would love to have you come into the office.’ I would start talking to the girl and compliment her. I would say if you are single you are going to love what I do for a living. I would tell her about it, we would exchange phone numbers and we would try to get her in. Sometimes they wouldn’t show up and sometimes they would come in. Not many people kept that job. We hired many, many recruiters over the years, because you have to be self motivating and you go out on your own time to recruit. You have to be able to walk up to people, to talk to them and to be tenacious. Some people think that it is an easy job, but it really isn’t. When I started to work in the office, there were two of us matchmakers. Eventually, the head matchmaker quit and I took over the head matchmaking position. I was matching guys from not only southern California, but all over the United States from our other satellite offices. They would come in and I would match them. I had a big job, with a lot of people who got married and a lot of people who were in relationships,” she says.