We recently connected with Tammy Shaklee and have shared our conversation below.

Tammy, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. How did you come up with the idea for your business?

I hired a matchmaker to meet my husband of 15 years. But 12 years ago, when trying to refer a gay friend to our matchmaker, I learned no one was really serving nationwide gay and lesbian singles in the certified matchmaking industry. Having worked in the community foundation world, and with a background in new, politics, and philanthropy, I started a feasibility study and focus group interviews. I felt a calling to help design a gay and lesbian matchmaking company, for them, by them, that would be straight owned and operated. As a former successful matchmaking client, I wanted to bring to the community a service they deserved but did not know how to start for themselves. Today, I have interviewed gay and lesbian singles in 23 countries, and matched thousands in the US. I helped the industry’s software for the first time match same sex singles. I have spoken at our industry conferences and help mentor new or younger matchmakers coming into the LGBTQ singles niche. I advocate that matching LGBTQ singles is not the same as hetero singles, and that there is much needed understanding and education to be appropriate, respectful, and to do a good job in introducing compatible singles in this niche. With objectivity, diplomacy, and a servant’s heart, I daily lead with love in interviewing and then introducing some of the most eligible singles in the US.

Tammy, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

Through this calling of a straight ally designing, owning, and operating a successful certified matchmaking business in a community I am not even a member of, I continue to learn a lot. I realized my first acts of straight allyship were in the 2nd grade, in protecting and caring for a classmate. I never even knew Straight Ally was a term until inviting myself to the first of many Gay Chamber of Commerce events statewide in Texas. I became a HRC (Human Rights Campaign) Federal Club Member leading up to the passage of Marriage Equality. I have often engaged in more LGBTQ advocacy and volunteerism than some of my clients, for example. My motto from the launch of my company in 2012 has been to “Lead with Love.” In aspects of my daily operations, I learn of and meet folks where they are, who they are, and specifically where they are in their journey. I hope to encourage all singles to believe they are going to meet their special someone, and that life is richer when you share it with someone else. I believe all humans deserve a caring person in their life, and are not meant to be alone. Sometimes, my H4M team and I are those caring persons until we introduce them to their compatible partner.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

When others learned to pivot with the global pandemic, I had already made the changes and transitioned seamlessly. Headquartered in Austin, Texas since 2012, I enjoyed the luxury of a large downtown office with satellite offices in Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio. When the tech boom started moving Californians to Austin, downtown office pricing and parking doubled overnight. My staff and I moved to a friend’s empty condo to continue to work together in an office setting each day, doing my singles interviews in person. Then when Texas’ growth outpriced the satellite offices, and my staffer moved to LA, I said we can maintain this personal service remotely, for staff, for my singles, and for me. I conducted all singles interviews virtually via Skype. I worked with staff live via audio, and I now had the luxury to run my full-time business from anywhere in the world with reliable internet. It also allowed us to fulfill the dream of living an expat life in Central America, while maintaining a US presence in a more affordable state. It streamlined my interviews, my daily and weekly work hours, and allowed my time with my retired husband who I met through my own matchmaker.

Can you talk to us about how your funded your business?

As a certified matchmaker, I was required to submit and get approved both my business model and proposed budget. As a lifelong serial entrepreneur, my husband both coached and mentored me on how to compile a pitch deck, and pitch to investors. And while I was confident in designing a high-end LGBTQ business and the 6 figures I thought it would require, that is not what happened at all. Surprisingly, I received a small inheritance from the sale of my mother’s house after she passed. So, when the initial launch costs well exceeded 100k, the cash in hand of 20k was shockingly all I needed when I knew it was secured. I could bootstrap, not take investors or business partners, and I did an extreme rewrite of the proformas. It was a lesson on you can start a business with what you have, if you are willing to work hard, cut corners, provide class and luxury to the brand you are launching with a lot of redesign and cost cutting measures. If only one check can launch and sustain a business until it starts making money, you can make it work by being as frugal as possible.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.H4M.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/h4mmatchmaking/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/H4MMatchmaking
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tammyshaklee/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/H4MMatchmaking