Following Intuition, Finding Connection | Matchmaker Lynda Adams

Lisa Belisle: Hello, I'm Dr. Lisa Belisle and you are listening to or watching Radio Maine, our video podcast where we explore and celebrate creativity and the human spirit with individuals who have a connection to Maine. And today we are talking with Lynda Adams. She is a certified matchmaker and relationship coach and the founder of the Guided Love Connections. And I'm sure that the Portland Art Gallery, which sponsors our show, would love to know that you are out there connecting with us on this level because we're all about creativity, love, connections. I mean, this is the Portland Art Gallery. This is like what we like. So thanks for coming in today.

Lynda Adams: Well, thank you for inviting me. I'm excited to talk to you.

Lisa Belisle: You mentioned to me when you first reached out that you and I have this connection where we actually were connected sort of not at the same time, but sequentially to WLOB, which is a local radio station where I once had a show and then you had a show soon after.

Lynda Adams: Right after you, yes. Yeah.

Lisa Belisle: So tell me about your interest in radio. Let's talk about that.

Lynda Adams: Well, I actually was working for a local health and wellness magazine called Essential Living Maine, which isn't there now, but at the time I was the marketing director and I did advertising sales and I was interviewing these amazing integrative practitioners and I said, "How else can I help them get their voice out there?" And a friend of mine said, "Why don't you look at WMPG? They do free radio and maybe you could get a show." And so I called them, they had an open slot in a class. I said, "Okay." I jumped in and within a month and a half, I was on the air. It was just lined up meant to be. And I did that for about a year and then I said, "I need more than half an hour. I really want to get in depth with the people I'm interviewing and expand." And so I called a friend of mine, Ray Richardson at WLOB and he said, "Well, interestingly enough, we have an open slot, Dr. Lisa Belisle's leaving and you could have that slot." So I went in and within another month I was on their show. So I created a show called Successful Balanced Living First and then it became life with Linda because it was all about everyone always says, "Geez, you always do so much and you're always like living life to the fullest." So I said, "Okay, let's live life with Linda." And it became great. I interviewed people from across the country, some of them on the phone, some came here. It was really, really fun. So I did that for a couple of years.

Lisa Belisle: Well, Ray Richardson, I love that he's a mutual friend of ours because I think one of the things that I've noticed he's really good at is he's good at drawing out people's potential and giving them opportunities. So that's something that I was always really grateful to as a result. And it sounds like it was sort of meant to be that you and I were meant to have this conversation here today.

Lynda Adams: Absolutely. Yes.

Lisa Belisle: So you also have this background in integrative nutrition. So you've had a lot of kind of stopping points along your professional trajectory as have I, so I can relate to this very much. So talk to me about, you also have a city clerk and city government background. So is there sort of one thread that unites these things or maybe doesn't unite them, maybe realizations that cause you to go in a different direction?

Lynda Adams: I think the only thing that unites them is that I know when it's time to move on. I had a friend of mine one time say, Lynda just dives off the high dive and doesn't care if there's a pool underneath her because you're just going to land on your own two feet. And that's what I've always done. I just have always had this sense that I'm not supposed to be here anymore. I'm supposed to move on and I just take what next door is. And that's kind of what led me to having a matchmaking agency. And going from government, I just wasn't fulfilled anymore. I kind of reached the top of the ladder and I said, "I think it's time for me to leave." And I left a really good government paying steady job with full benefits, really good pay. And I said, "I don't know what I'm going to do, but I'm going to leave." And within a few months, my dad got diagnosed with colon cancer and I spent that whole next year with him. I really did not work. I spent the last year of his life with him and it was the best decision I ever could have made, financially not so, but personally, absolutely. And during that time, I came across the Essential Living Maine magazine and I opened up the front cover and I read this like it was an advertisement. They were looking for a local marketing director and I read it and I said, "That's me. She's talking about me. " And I called her, she was in Connecticut and I said, "This is going to sound really strange, I'm supposed to work for you. " And I drove down to Connecticut and she hired me on the spot and I became the marketing director and that was my dive into integrative wellness. I believe I was led to that because of my dad's illness. I had been questioning for years like, "What is going on with our healthcare system and the food that we're eating and why are so many people sick with heart disease and cancer and diabetes?" And it really led me down this journey of learning about integrative wellness. So that's what got me started in it. And then I decided to get my certification as an integrative nutrition health coach because I really wanted to understand it better and actually start helping other people.

Lisa Belisle: I think what you're saying is to me really powerful because it is interesting to meet people who I've committed to this education that I have. I've committed to this professional path that I've started upon and it's that sunk cost fallacy where like, "Well, I did this and I can't leave because I'm going to lose stuff." And you said it, you said, "Well, financially not so much the year I spent with my dad, but what did I gain? I gained this time with my dad." So I think it's all in what you value and all in what you're measuring. And there's probably not a wrong answer for some people maybe staying in a government job the way that you were describing yours would be the right path. But I love that you're also saying, "But there's a different way to do this.

Lynda Adams: Right. I followed my heart and in my gut intuition is a huge thing for me. I've learned to follow my intuition. I've learned about law of attraction and I deal with that a lot with my clients and my matchmaking agency. It's what you put out there is what you're going to get back and so I've just learned to follow that and trust it. Trust is a huge word for me. You have to trust that you're on the right journey and everything is going to work out okay.

Lisa Belisle: So I definitely want to talk about the matchmaking that you do because that's kind of the reason that you're here. Sure. However, I'm also interested ... So first of all, I just have to say as somebody who has been a doctor for a long time but also an integrative type doctor that I'm all about when somebody says, "Follow your gut." And then you told me also that your father had colon cancer. So for you, you're like, "Hmm, I'm working with a family person whose gut there was some dissension there and now you are saying, but you know what? We have to follow our guts."That's a literal part of the body and also it's a metaphorical part of the body. So why do you think it is so hard for us to trust our guts?

Lynda Adams: I think society has shaped us a lot and is the should word. I call that a swear word. Well, you should do this and you should do that. And I feel like everybody, it's really hard for them to just tune in to what really is best for themselves. I did that. I was married in my early 20s because I hung out with people that were older than me and they were all getting married. I said, "Well, I guess I should get married and have children. That's the path that I'm supposed to take." And it wasn't the path I was supposed to take, but I did it and it didn't last and I didn't have children with him and that was meant to happen. But I just think that really people, it's society, it's being shaped by it and people are really having a hard time trusting their own journey. I think more and more people are becoming open to it though, definitely.

Lisa Belisle: Why do you think people are becoming open to it?

Lynda Adams: Well, God, I hate to say this, but I really think COVID changed a lot. I do. I think that people being at home and not being able to get out, it really made them tune into what is important to me. And with me, COVID didn't slow me down at all. I traveled. I traveled during COVID. People thought I was nuts. I'm like, "Are you kidding me? I went to Maui for a round trip ticket of $350. Why would I not go? " But other people, it was a lot of introspection, like really thinking about, oh my gosh, so many people were passing away and what matters to us really and really making different decisions. And now today I really feel like people are stepping away from the, well, technology is still always going to be part of our lives, but people are craving personal connection. They're craving that getting together with other people and it just has made us, I don't know, just really take a second look at our lives.

Lisa Belisle: So I agree with you and I also agree that COVID, I mean as much as we're reluctant to say it because it seems overused, I suspect that's why you're being reluctant. But I also just agree that It changed something not only in people being more introspective, but also I think some things bubbled to the surface about like what information can we trust? What institutions can we trust? What people can we trust? And when you look around and everything seems like it's less trustworthy, things that you always believed in, then you do have to kind of come back to yourself and be like, "All right, well maybe I should be actually finding my own path, trusting my own gut as we say." Yes. So another thing that you said just a minute ago was you thought you were supposed to get married in your early 20s, didn't work out, didn't have children, but it seems like you're like, "Okay, but let go of that. " You've actually been in a longterm relationship for many, many years and part of that I understand is the reason why you thought, "Oh, I think matchmaking and relationships, I think that's the next thing." Because it's not that you don't know how to be in a relationship, it's like that was the relationship for that moment in your life and now you're in a different moment.

Lynda Adams: Exactly. Yeah.

Lisa Belisle: So talk to me about that.

Lynda Adams: About my husband?

Lisa Belisle: Well, I mean really about anything because I think a lot of, it's such an interesting thing for me that there's this wonderful mystique and my parents were married for more than half a century and God bless them and God bless anybody who is in a relationship that long, a happy relationship

Lynda Adams: That long.

Lisa Belisle: I mean, everybody's got their own relationship journey And I still think that there's this interesting underlying shame around, well, I had one relationship that was very serious. It was a marriage relationship and it didn't work out. And a lot of times people won't talk about it, they don't want to explore it, but why? I mean, it is terrible to have a big relationship like that end. I've been in a big relationship that ended. I had three kids. I was with somebody for two decades. I am the only person in my very Catholic family of origin that has gotten divorced and it's such a big thing and yet it's so common And why stay with somebody if it's not the right thing? I mean, if you've tried everything and it is not the right thing to be with that person for whatever reason, is it better to stay miserable?

Lynda Adams: In my opinion, it's not. You're right. I mean, it was for me, and I hate to say this, but it actually was an easy decision for me to leave my husband and it came out of the blue and it was almost like a decision that I do in every other part of my life. I'm not supposed to be here anymore. And I woke up one morning and said, "I'm moving home to my parents' house." And he was like, "What are you talking about? " So for me, the divorce part of it was very difficult. It was long drawn out. He was very angry, but I think that especially now, I mean, I work with a lot of people that have been married 25, 30 years and all of a sudden they find themselves divorced, whether they left or the other person left and they don't know how to move on. They don't know how to date anymore. They don't even know what happened. They have these blocks and they're afraid of making a mistake again. And it can be really hard to move on from something that serious, right? Because you devoted. I mean, I look back at that now because I'm so much older now, but that was another life and that was a period of time in my life and that's how I think people really need to look at it. It's like we're all on this different journey. All kinds of different things are going to happen to us and you have to take it as it comes and I think you need to go with what is going to bring you happiness. And so many people stay because they should or there's obligations there. It's easier to stay than it is to go. If you look at especially financial things, children, everything. A lot of people just stay because it is easier. And for me, I really believe that it's what truly makes you happy. We're only here so much time on this earth and how do you want to spend the time that you have here? Do you want to spend it happy or do you want to spend it in a relationship where you're miserable? And again, everything will work out and it comes down to trust and belief. So it can be really difficult to move on, but there's ways to do it. There's support and mechanisms out there, friends, coaches, the whole nine yards. There's so many resources today versus decades ago that can really help you get through whatever it is that you need to. And I think that people need to trust that.

Lisa Belisle: I agree with that. And I think it is good to have resources. It's also good that at least we're talking about it a little bit more than people once did. And I do want to acknowledge that, I mean, when you make, particularly if you have any sort of religious inclinations when you make vows or even in a courthouse wedding when you're doing it in front of a governmental body, I mean, these are serious vows. You are getting married and you really believe in that moment that you will be with somebody forever. So this is not to take anything away from those vows, but my experience has taught me that if you're going to make those vows, but you're also not going to put the effort in to stay in that relationship and have it be an active, loving, living relationship, then it's really not a relationship anymore. And that's always what I'm struck by when I have patients who come to talk to me and they've been married for decades, but it's not really exactly a marriage. They're more like roommates that share a checking account. And I don't know that that's actually, if you think about what was intended when we make vows, I'm not sure that that's what was actually meant.

Lynda Adams: Yeah. No, I don't think so. I mean, maybe a long time ago that's what it was for, but I mean, because matchmaking has been a thing forever for centuries and people just, they do it now. I mean, people get married and the families come together and say, "You two are getting married." You don't even know each other, but you're getting married and hopefully it works out. But with my husband, we've been married for 23 years together for 31 and so it took us eight years to get married. And I always say if we had gotten married in the first eight, we never would've made it because we had a lot of growth to do ourselves. But over the 23 years, I can honestly say there's been two, definitely two, possibly three times where we almost threw the towel in. I was growing more personally and professionally than he was. We were just growing apart. We were more like roommates. We would fight and we had this serious conversation like, "What are we doing? Do we want to continue or not? " And every time we decided to stick it together, we're going to work on this, we grew stronger and we have the best relationship ever. And if I hadn't have stayed with that and really worked through the issues, we wouldn't have a beautiful relationship today. And so part of me is like, yeah, divorce can be easy. It can be easy to get it done. I know people that just walk in the courthouse together and they sign a piece of paper and they're done. And I think that because of that, I mean, we're such a disposable society that sometimes it's easier for people to just give up than it is to work on their marriage. So first and foremost, I mean, I believe that if you got married because you were in truly in love and wanted to be together and there's still love there, I've been there and we've worked through everything and so it can happen. It's just you have to put the effort in. And I think today a lot of people aren't really willing to put the effort in if there's still love there.

Lisa Belisle: Well, thank you for being so honest about your own experiences because I think that's the other thing is that there's a lot of smoke and mirrors about somebody gets divorced and then people are like, "But why? Why did that happen?" And you're probably never going to know in most cases because most people sharing their divorce story is as difficult as it is to share a story about you and I both have been with fathers who passed, but that's a story you can share. It might be very emotional for each of us to describe that story, but that's a shareable story. Divorce stories, they still somewhere lurk in the shadows. So for you to be willing to talk about that. And I think for me, it is any relationship, any relationship at all when somebody says, "I'm here, aren't I? " It's like, "Nope, that's not enough. It is not enough for you to just show up in the world. You show up and you commit. And when you commit, you say, are you still wanting to do this? Do you still want to be in this situation that we're in? " And it could be a friend, it could be a husband, it could be any sort of working relationship. And so what I love about what you're describing about your life is like, okay, I knew when it was time to stop being married, stop being in this professional thing, and I'm going to commit to this next thing because I did everything I could to make it work in that moment, but now it's time to move on. So now talking about the moving on part, which for me is fascinating, because you're right, matchmaking, we sort of think about OkCupid, match.com, Tinder, like some of these other things that get people together, but I mean, this is not just a modern invention. I mean, you are absolutely right. Different cultures still have matchmaking, have always had matchmaking. It's been going on for like centuries. So what is it about matchmaking that drew you to it aside from the fact that you have, sounds like a wonderful marriage and you wanted other people to have this?

Lynda Adams: I never thought I'd be a matchmaker to be honest. When I got my certification as an integrative health coach, I actually started thinking about working with single people because I had a lot of friends and relatives who were single and I kept seeing them repeat patterns attracting the wrong person over and over again, like a needy, needy person over and over again. And it's like, okay, well, what's the common denominator here? You, okay, and why are you attracting these needy people over and over again? Or I would hear how some of my friends would talk about themselves. They'd be like, "Well, who would love me? " And be like, "Well, if that's your attitude, then I'm not surprised you're not in a relationship." So it's really about, I wanted to work with people on personal development, law of attraction, like all of that and really diving deep like, "Okay, are you happy with yourself? Because if you're not happy with yourself, how do you expect to attract a happy, healthy relationship?" So that was where my mindset was. And then fast forward about a year I no longer worked for a position that I had with a commercial developer. It was an abrupt ending. I was really surprised that it ended so quickly and I had been applying for jobs and I applied for jobs that I was so qualified for and I thought for sure I had, didn't hear back from them like, "What is going on? " And it became like I was almost in despair. It was looking for like a full-time job was looking for a job and I decided I went on Facebook and I recorded a video probably five different times and I'm like, "I don't know if I'm going to post this because it's uncomfortable being vulnerable to public and I decided I'm going to post it. " And I posted this video about how desperate, not desperate, but I was like in despair. I was depressed I was upset, I couldn't believe what happened. A lot of my friends were looking at retirement and I don't even have a job and that had never happened to me in my life and I started to lose that trust and belief like everything was going to work out. And the next day Noreen Rochester, she was the owner of Cara Matchmaking, she reached out to me. We had never seen each other's stuff on Facebook, but she happened to see my video and she reached out and she were friends of friends and she said, "I'm thinking of making a change in my own life. Do you want to talk about maybe partnering or taking over my business?" And I said, "I am open to any opportunity that comes my way." And I went and had a conversation with her and it clicked immediately. I was like, "Yep, I want to do this. " And she literally handed me the keys to her office and said, "Here you go. " And within two months I had taken over her business. So I've been doing that for a year and then I just decided to rebrand and start a new business name because as my coach, I have a coach and she said, "It's almost like you're wearing someone else's clothes because you're doing someone else's business with their name." And I did morph it a little bit into my own programs, but I'm a guide. So I said, "Okay, I'm going to call it guided love connections." And I really guide people to the connections and relationships they're looking for. And it just happened like literally like yesterday I launched my website. So just the whole pieces all kind of fell together. And again, I think it's knowing the beautiful relationship that my husband and I now have, knowing that talking to people about personal development. I've had people say to me that I've worked with before who they lost a job and they said, "I haven't found my love match yet, but I know because of what I've learned from you, I found my ideal dream job because I followed the law of attraction. I did personal development. I've done all these things that you've coached me on. " So all of that plays a part in finding a relationship. So that's what's attracted me to it. So it was offered to me and I took it.

Lisa Belisle: There's a sense that people have about what matchmaking means, but I've actually talked to different matchmakers in different ways and I've written about them before. I've interviewed them.

Lynda Adams: Oh, neat.

Lisa Belisle: And I don't think that they ... I mean, the thing that is similar is that you're trying to create matches and yet every person that I've talked to has a slightly different aproach. So what is your approach?

Lynda Adams: So I actually have a very new approach utilizing technology a lot more. I was led to working with a matchmaker mentor out of Portland, Oregon. She actually uses the same program that I use. It's called Smart Match and it has this way to match up people based on interest and likes and deal breakers and all of that. So it helps you with the percentages of a percentage match, but then because I know the people I've interviewed them, then I'll know really whether they're a match or not. But I was struggling about how to introduce them because the way I'd been taught by the former owner was, okay, send someone's profile to someone and say, "Hey, take a look. Let me know what you think. " And then I'd swap with the other person. If there was a mutual connection, then I would match them. I would just, "Okay, here's the contact information and let me know how it goes." And I was like, "It just feels like it's a little notch up from a dating app." And people would be so quick to judge by the person's picture or they said one word wrong in something they wrote up about themselves. I mean, not everybody is photogenic and not everybody has a good writer about themselves. So for me, I needed a different way, a different approach of how to introduce people. So this mentor has taught me a program that she has and it's virtual introductions. So I work with a couple different people. I work with people in my VIP database. So people will pay me for a consultation. I'll learn about them. They're in my database and they're there waiting to be selected to be matched with my higher end matchmaking clients. When my matchmaking clients over a 90-day period, I match them with many people as I can out of my database. So when I have a match, like I just did a few this week, I invite them onto a Zoom call and I'm there to help them break the ice. They don't know a thing about each other. They have never seen a picture of each other. It's literally a blind date and they trust me. Trust is another huge word. So I bring them onto the Zoom call and I introduce them to each other and I break the ice and I'll be like, "Hey, let's talk about something fun that we've done recently." And I get the conversation flowing and then I break them out into their own little room for 10 minutes and they have a conversation and then they come back and we talk a little bit more and I ask them to share a few things they've learned about the other person because that way they've been attentive, person who was talking can hear, "Oh, that's what they heard me talking about. That's interesting." So it becomes like a self-awareness tool. And then after the call, I ask them to just email me and let me know if they felt a connection or not. And if they do great, I will match them and then they will get together and go on a date. And if not, then I'm the one to let them know like, "Hey, they didn't really feel a connection so we're going to move on to the next person." So for me, it takes away some of the awkwardness of meeting someone for the first time and then it also helps me because I'm guiding them and I'm actually seeing them connect and I can see their facial reactions when they see each other or when they come back from the 10 minute call, whether there really was a connection or not. I just had one about a couple months ago that they're still dating and when they came back from the call, I could tell something was off from the breakout room and afterwards I spoke with my client and I said, "So what happened?" He's like, "Oh, I couldn't hang up fast enough." He told a joke and he's really a funny guy naturally. And I said, "What did you say?" And he told me and I laughed and he's like, "Yeah, no, stone face. She did not appreciate that at all. " And I said, "Oh, okay." I said, I'm really surprised. I go, "You know what? I think you should really check out her profile and really have a chance to talk to her again because I know her. She has a good sense of humor. She might've felt a little off with a Zoom call and she might be a little guarded because of some things that have happened in the past to her, so take a second look." And he did and now they've been dating. So that's again, part of the guiding. It's like, trust me, just take a second look. And if that had happened on their own, then he might not have ended up dating her. So that's what I do differently.

Lisa Belisle: So I think that what you're describing is something that I really have come to believe strongly in and that is that data is data and there's sort of this quantitative data and you can say, "Well, these people have the right age range, they have the right interests, they have the right..." Whatever the stuff that shows up on the page that's sort of more quantitative stuff. But then there's also just being able to read people and being able to know that whatever somebody put in their questionnaire, it may not reveal sort of the underlying story, exactly what you said, this person had something happened to her recently and that's sort of the qualitative. It's still data, but it's qualitative data. And I think it's that you're right, that interface between two people that you're providing for them I think is really valuable. And I'm hoping this is the direction we actually go in healthcare, if I'm being honest, because we were a very kind of mostly qualitative, some quantitative. Then we got electronic health records and everything was like data bits, databits, databits. I think it destroyed some trust with patients, but now I think we're more appropriately utilizing technology in exactly the way you're saying, which is, yes, you can put a lot of data into a field or a questionnaire, but really there's this other thing that happens. Sometimes people don't even know how to, they don't understand like, what is this thing that I'm getting off this person? What's the vibe here? And you're saying, "I can help you with this. I can be your guide. I can sort of help interface."

Lynda Adams: Exactly.

Lisa Belisle: Which is really, I think that's a very worthwhile element of what you're offering.

Lynda Adams: Thanks. Well, I've just always been a natural connector always my whole life. I'll meet you and after I get talking to you, it's like, "Oh, you've got to meet this person." Whether it's a business thing or just a friendship or whatever it is. And so this just to me seems like another natural element of that is I'm connecting people and I do events and stuff. I'll get people together. I love to bring the singles community together. I'm always telling people, they're like, "Well, how could I meet a person?" Well, first of all, get out of your house because a lot of people work remotely so they don't have the personal connection, going back to the beginning is like people are craving that connection again. So how can I bring people together and have fun? And I always tell everyone, just come because I'm not guaranteeing your match is there, but at least you get out for the night and you meet some other people and who knows who they know. And that's usually how connections happen is you just have to be willing to put yourself out there. So I just love bringing people together, whether it's in groups or matching.

Lisa Belisle: You're talking about matchmaking specifically. So you're talking about building one-on-one relationships. But I think we all know that this is actually a very significant contributor to or detriment to health. So social isolation, I mean we know that this, if you are isolated, then it is going to shorten your life. And at the very least, you might have a very long life, but it's going to make you very unhappy. Absolutely right. Even if you don't find your match at one of the events you're describing, if you have a pleasant conversation with somebody, you leave and you come back and you're like, "Hey, I feel much better,"

Lynda Adams: Generally. Exactly. Definitely. Last year I had a couple big events and one of my favorite moments at the event was when someone came up to me and said, "Thank you so much for having this because if you didn't have this, I would have sat home by myself Tonight." Perfect. That's great. I love bringing people together and making people happy. That's great. And so you're right about the connection. My mother, we actually just moved her into a facility because she has Alzheimer's and my dad passed 10 years ago and she's been living at home by herself and she's a people person. She's like me. So I'm like, "Mom, if nothing else, you have to go so you can socialize and be with other people. " And she absolutely loves it where she is. They have activities, they have their meals together, she's made friends. Yeah, you're right about social interaction is huge for our health, mental and physical.

Lisa Belisle: Obviously you're talking about this next level. Once you've moved to this place where you've got two people and you're going to really try to see if those two people work together, but even creating an event like you're describing, there's some safety even in that event because I do think that's the other piece of what I hear from people is dating and especially if you've been in a 20-year relationship, now you're divorced, you need to get back into a relationship. In addition to this idea that there's a lot of people, there's a lot of weird stuff going on in the world and like, do I really want to put myself out there? It's an investment of time, but it's an investment of trust to show up to go on a date with somebody. But you're like, no, here's a safe space. You don't have to date, just go see if there's anybody else, have some punch, have a conversation with somebody. And I think that I see that even with the Portland Art Gallery, we have monthly art openings and everybody shows up and there's some pretty art and we have delicious food and people have conversations. They come back in the next month and they, I mean, we're not trying to create love matches or anything. That's just to be very clear to people who are listening. If you want a love match, you go see Lynda. If you want an art match or a friend match, you go to the Portland Art Gallery. But I do think that that safety that you're creating in the space and the group environment and not everybody likes groups. So for you to be able to be like, "Hey, it's okay. Come do what feels comfortable to you, have one conversation."

Lynda Adams: Exactly. That's good. Actually, I have a gentleman who's part of my VIP program and he just put together his own little singles gathering at the Art and Bloom at the Art Museum. And he said to me, he's like, "Hey, would you help me spread the word about this? " Absolutely. So I just spread it out Word to all of my clients and I said, "Hey, go and have some fun." And again, it was just getting people together and socializing and looking at art with the flowers.

Lisa Belisle: So there you go. So even if you come to the art gallery, which we still encourage people to do. If you want that next level and you want some connection, you could actually pursue the art and bloom.

Lynda Adams: That's right.

Lisa Belisle: People are very creative in the way that they're approaching this.

Lynda Adams: Exactly. Yeah.

Lisa Belisle: So you've just, and I think it's very wonderful that you've just launched this yesterday. So by the time this show airs, it will have been a little while. Your website will be fully up and operational, but you've been doing this for the past year, feels like you're in the groove. So how do people find you?

Lynda Adams: So my website is guidedloveconnections.com and all of the information's on there, people can go on there and complete a profile and it goes right into my database and then I contact them and we have a conversation. They can actually schedule a call right from my website, 15 minute free call. I call it a chemistry chat because I want to say like, "Oh, do we have chemistry to work together?" Because there have been people I've talked to and it's like, I don't know that I'm your person to work with. So I don't accept everybody into my program. I'm looking for certain people that are really wanting long-term relationship. If somebody's going to text me, which just happened the other day, I need a date. I got a text out of the blue, no name, I need a date. Well, I'm not your person, but yeah, they can go on my website and schedule a call and we'll see if we have a chemistry and we can work together and hopefully I can match them.

Lisa Belisle: Well, I am just thrilled that I had the chance to talk with you today.

Lynda Adams: Thank you. I really enjoyed meeting you and talking with you.

Lisa Belisle: It feels like we were meant to have this conversation back when apparently we inhabited the same sort of space in the radio airwaves at different times sequentially, but I think there's a lot of wisdom that you've brought to the conversation, not just about matchmaking, but a lot of different things. Thank you. I hope that people who are listening, who might be intrigued by your work will actually go to your website to learn more about you. Maybe we can convince you to come to one of our art gallery openings.

Lynda Adams: Oh, I would love that. Yes.

Lisa Belisle: First Thursday of every month. A lot of really wonderful people there.

Lynda Adams: So I'm thinking I need to pull together a group then and put that out there and bring some people to that gathering.

Lisa Belisle: I think that's a great idea.

Lynda Adams: Okay.

Lisa Belisle: So maybe we would. We should even put some special stickers, like the little love sticker. You're looking for love. You got a sticker, that one might be your person.

Lynda Adams: I actually, at one point when I first started this, I was like, "I should have these special little pins that people would wear and if they're part of my group and that way they know it's like an exclusive kind of thing. So we might be onto something.

Lisa Belisle: Okay. Well, those of you who are listening to or watching Radio Maine, you heard it here first that Linda Adams might be doing a special thing. So I think you should start showing up at the Portland Art Gallery openings to see if she's actually gone through with this or not. It'll be fun to see if people start coming in with special pins, you'll know that this actually came true.

Lynda Adams: Okay. I love it. Let's do it.

Lisa Belisle: Very good.

Lynda Adams: Thank you.

Lisa Belisle: Well, Lynda, it's been great to talk with you today.

Lynda Adams: You too. Thank you so much.

Lisa Belisle: Thank you. I'm Dr. Lisa Belisle. You've been listening to or watching Radio Maine, our video podcast where we explore and celebrate creativity and the human spirit sponsored by the Portland Art Gallery, talking with wonderful Maine connected individuals such as Lynda Adams, a certified matchmaker and relationship coach and the founder of Guided Love Connections. So please do take the time to check her out if you're in the, I don't want to say in the market, that sounds crass, but if you're in a place in your life or a new relationship would make sense, or even if you just want to do a chemistry check, go find Lynda, come to one of our gallery openings. I guess I'll see you on the next first Thursday.

Lynda Adams: That sounds great.

Lisa Belisle: Thanks, Lynda.

Lynda Adams: Thank you.