Global Love Report – February 5th, 2025
English summary by Margaret Wuwur
In an interview with an Indonesian news portal, Zola Yoana, a Global Love Institute-certified matchmaker from Jakarta and founder of Heart-inc, shared valuable insights into her matchmaking service, evolving client demographics, and the changes in the dating world.
Zola described being a matchmaker as both fun and tough work, particularly because it involves handling people’s emotions. She emphasized that intuition is a key component of her matchmaking process, noting that her intuitive abilities are a natural gift. In fact, she has been matching her friends since high school.
Understanding human behavior and psychology is critical when matching individuals, which is why Zola prefers to meet with her clients in person. This allows her to gain a deeper understanding of who they are, ensuring a more personalized approach to matchmaking.
Her service is highly customized, as she believes every client has different needs. For a six-month package, she charges $3,700, while a one-year package costs $6,500.
Discussing the shifting demographics of her clients, Zola explained that there has been a noticeable change over the years. From 2013 to 2017, most of her clients were in their early 40s. However, today, her youngest client is just 25 years old. Zola said that younger clients set their love lives as a priority.
While this client demographic shifting has surprised her, Zola believes that it is part of a broader trend in the international matchmaking community.
She also emphasized that true love can be found anywhere—whether online or through mutual connections—but each approach requires careful consideration.
Zola has clear criteria for clients she wants to work with, as not everyone can become her client. She prefers clients who are seeking monogamous relationships and does not accept individuals who are in the process of divorce or those looking for another partner while still in a relationship.
Additionally, in this interview, she shared her observations based on her clients, noting that singles who are fixated on their “type” and tend to judge those who don’t match their criteria often remain single. Conversely, those who are open-minded, and willing to get to know others after being matched are more likely to find their loved ones.
She pointed out that compatibility requires effort from both people. Both individuals must be willing to adapt to each other in order to build a strong connection.
A unique aspect of Zola’s approach is her “hunting screening” practice. If she has difficulty finding matches for her clients, she can even find potential clients, even if she is at the airport, meaning her clientele isn’t limited to just members but can include anyone she feels would be a good match. She added that this is what happens when you work with passion as a matchmaker.
Although changing clients’ mindsets can be difficult, Zola finds it incredibly rewarding when her clients trust her process. Her clientele is diverse, including celebrities, bankers, doctors, introverts, extroverts, political figures, and even individuals with bipolar disorder. Zola takes the time to understand her client’s mental health histories to better tailor her matchmaking approach.
However, she draws the line at clients with Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD), as their lack of empathy would interfere with successful matchmaking.
In terms of how people are meeting potential partners, Zola shared that dating apps are seeing a decline due to scams and other factors. On the other hand, the use of social media to find love is on the rise, offering a more authentic, though not entirely reliable. This trend, she noted, has led to a growing interest in professional matchmakers.
Originally published by: InsertLive
