"You can’t just depend on someone else to take care of your marketing or your finances" with April Davis
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In 2010, April Davis combined her educational credentials and her passion for helping people find “The One”, to develop LUMA - Luxury Matchmaking, a high-end Matchmaking firm. April Davis is the CEO & President of LUMA and also a Celebrity Matchmaker on BRAVO’s Hit TV show, The Real Housewives of Orange County. This year, LUMA celebrated its 10th Anniversary and has grown to a nationwide firm matching clients in 40+ states across the U.S and will be a 2020 INC. 5000 Fastest Growing Company. https://www.lumasearch.com/
Can you tell our readers about your background?
Originally, I am from Emily, a small town in Northern Minnesota. It was in this small town where I first developed my strong work ethic as a waitress and oftentimes the only Waitress in the local cafe. Also, it was here I learned to talk to almost anyone from the local Loggers to the city people who were at their second homes on the weekend. This work ethic pushed me to obtain my Master’s Degree by the age of 20. I worked in corporate America in various roles and companies in Finance and Process Improvement roles.
What inspired you to start your business?
While working in a cafe at age 16, I made my first match which led to marriage. Since then, I’ve been introducing people for friendships, business deals, and of course romantic relationships. In 2010, I combined my passion for helping people find “The One” and my process improvement background to develop LUMA, a Luxury matchmaking firm.
Where is your business based?
My team is spread across the country and we serve clients in 40+ states. Our headquarters is in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
How did you start your business? What were the first steps you took?
While working in a Fortune 500 Company, my well-regarded supervisor was let go after 30 years of service and at the age of 52. It was on this day, I was fueled to take the leap from Corporate America to Entrepreneurship. In terms of first steps, I just started doing it. I built the site and did the Marketing myself utilizing freelancers when necessary. Next, I focused on building up my database of potential matches and streamlining processes. The first year I didn’t charge anyone and just did it for fun because I wanted to just help people. This was an important growing and learning time.
What has been the most effective way of raising awareness for your business?
I have several methods of raising brand awareness. The first to note is social media. With millions of daily users, I view social media channels as a search engine. Comparing Google queries against Facebook, the numbers are astounding. Besides social media channels, I utilize the most desired content on the planet, video. Video content plays a large role in our blogs, email marketing, paid search and social ads, and media relations. Additionally, I’ve been lucky to have had several spots in the media, which has helped substantially.
What have been your biggest challenges and how did you overcome them?
One of my biggest challenges early on was building the business while still working full time. It was very difficult because I effectively had two jobs. Eventually, I was able to leave my corporate role and concentrate entirely on LUMA. Another challenge was attracting good employees whom I could trust. Several of the people who worked for me early on I would find didn’t have the best work ethics, which is usually discovered when it’s too late. What I’ve done to overcome this is to hire people who have experience in the industry and have demonstrated their work ethic. Additionally, we have metrics that everyone is measured by so it’s a results-oriented work environment.
How do you stay focused?
I’m constantly looking for ways to grow and evolve the business. I get excited about the competition. And not just direct competition. It’s competition with anyone who’s in business. I want our company to not only be the best in our industry but also one of the best service companies there is.
How do you differentiate your business from the competition?
Most of the people on my team are life long Matchmakers with 20+ years of experience. We’re all extremely passionate about helping people find love and we invest a ton of our time and resources into learning and growing our own toolkit. The Matchmakers all undergo extensive training as Life Coaches and have received specialized training from Dr. Brenda Schaefer, a world-class Therapist. Lastly, LUMA is a privately held company and not a franchise.
What has been your most effective marketing strategy to grow your business?
Probably investing in our vlogs. This gives us content for social media and it also helps our clients improve their dating skills.
What's your best piece of advice for aspiring and new entrepreneurs?
It’s going to be 10X harder than you think it will be. You need to get familiar with all parts of the business. You can’t just depend on someone else to take care of your Marketing or your finances. That’s when you get in trouble. It’s imperative to understand all of these areas to have a real pulse on your business.
What's your favorite app, blog, and book? Why?
My favorite app is definitely audible. I take in about 50 books a year.
My favorite blog is https://eventualmillionaire.com/ because she has real advice that’s actually applicable and very helpful.
My favorite book is Pitch Anything. I listened to this one twice because it’s so fascinating and applicable to anything we do.
What's your favorite business tool or resource? Why?
My favorite business tool is probably Asana right now because it gives me an easy way to see where we are on projects.
Who is your business role model? Why?
Rockefeller. The guy had major guts.
How do you balance work and life?
I make sure to schedule something fun into every day. I think working out is fun so that’s imperative. I also just don’t work as many hours as I used to. My body can’t physically handle it so I don’t allow myself to.
What’s your favorite way to decompress?
Working out or doing anything active.
What do you have planned for the next six months?
Since the weather will be nicer now, I’m planning on doing lots of motorcycle riding and spending time outdoors with friends and family.
How can our readers connect with you?
Visit our newly designed website at lumasearch.com. We are super excited about the new layout and user experience. And as previously mentioned, we are very active on social media. Feel free to follow us and share any content you feel relevant to yourself or a friend. Here’s a list of our social media channels:
https://www.facebook.com/LUMAsearch/
https://www.instagram.com/lumasearch/
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9gZ6mr929PSknoTM85jXrQ
https://twitter.com/LUMA_search