We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Daphney Poyser. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Daphney below.

Daphney , appreciate you joining us today. Alright, so we’d love to hear about how you got your first client or customer. What’s the story?

This question is perfect because around this time four years ago we kicked off our business on Instagram and that’s where we found our first clients. During that time we were all going through the initial waves of the pandemic and I had no idea how starting a business during that time would go or what would be coming our way in the future. Fortunately, it was always the plan to work with people nationwide so we started organizing virtual dates for individuals across the country; which is something we still offer to this day, alongside in-person dating. Plus, we still use some of the original virtual date ideas from when we first started in 2020. Some of them have been updated and made more robust than they could have been during the pandemic due to restrictions, but at the time we spent a good amount of time to come up with these fun, exciting and unique virtual dates that people still love to this day.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I started my matchmaking business, Fern Connections, because I was frustrated with the limitations within the matchmaking industry. Inspired by my own experiences and that of others close to me, it became clear to me that there weren’t great opportunities for QBIPOC within the world of matchmaking and I wanted to fix that. Cut to four years later I’m still focusing my energy on helping as many people as possible and being the change that I wanted to see for my community.

Our focus is still on matchmaking and making non-traditional matches, but we now offer date and relationship coaching and date planning to anyone across the country–including couples–not just to our internal matchmaking clients.We’ve also started hosting fun and exciting events within the DFW area for people in the LGBTQ+ community and their allies, like myself, to get out of the house, make connections, network and just have some good wholesome family, friendly fun. For example, we’re hosting a cutting board/charcuterie board designing class on July 13th where we’ll be using resin art to design our own unique creations!

How do you keep in touch with clients and foster brand loyalty?

We love to talk to our community, but more importantly we love to hear from them; get their insights and inputs into questions around dating and relationships, hear about their experiences and how they feel about today’s dating landscape. I would say that it’s one of the most fun parts of what we do for work, that at the same time really doesn’t feel like work. [laughs]

We have built such an inviting and safe community on Instagram and it’s the number one place where we hang out and engage with our people. From 2020 to now we have been lucky enough to have grown from a small community into a loyal and loving family on Instagram of LGBTQ+ individuals and allies that love to engage in the events that we host in the DFW area and online, and that are enthusiastic to learn about the new things we’re doing in regards to matchmaking, coaching, and more recently date planning and I wouldn’t change a thing about our community because of that (except to have more people in it with us [smiles]).

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

One of the biggest things that I am constantly working on, which I think is true for a lot of people too, is to not rush things and to give myself, my team, and our business space for natural growth and authenticity. I always have these ideas and sometimes I have to remind myself to not get too far ahead of myself, and that has been one of the main ways I’ve had to pivot my approach to both life and business. Matchmaking is an age-old profession and I think that sometimes people see it as something–because of its long standing history–should remain unchanged and untampered with, and I try everyday to work against that. I think that innovation truly is the way of the future, even if it’s not the future that the matchmaking industry and other professionals in it intended it to evolve into. I am not traditional and neither are my clients in many ways; the core principles of love may stay the same over the years, but the way we approach it, at Fern Connections, will not be.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.fernconnections.com/
• Instagram: http://instagram.com/fernconnections
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fernconnectionsmatchmaking
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/fernconnections
• Twitter: http://twitter.com/fernconnections
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@datingwithdaphney
• Other: TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@fernconnections?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc

Image Credits
Photos of Daphney by Alex J Martin