Last week, I had the pleasure of catching up with the brilliant and beautiful Lauren Francis-Sharma. In addition to being an Ivy League trained corporate attorney, she is the Founder and President of USquared Consultants, the nation’s premiere personal consulting firm for men and women of color. Through her company’s highly effective matchmaking service, Lauren is helping Black people make significant love connections.

In the first part of this exclusive interview, she talks about her company, her purpose, and the possibility of Black romance.

Can you tell me a little about USquared Consultants?

USquared is the premiere personal consulting firm for distinctive and attractive professional men and women of color who annually earn upwards of forty thousand dollars, and who live in the D.C., Baltimore and Philadelphia metro areas. We can be found at www.usquaredconsultants.com, but USquared is not an on-line dating service.

That’s an interesting distinction that you’re making. When I think of online dating, I think about social networking services that put a bunch of random, anonymous people in a “cyber room” and let them meet. You’re clearly doing something different.

Yes! Our goal is to find extremely qualified, pre-screened, personal dating options for attractive, professional men of
color seeking attractive, professional women of color and for attractive professional women of color seeking attractive, professional men of color.

So the process isn’t entirely web-based, then?

The only thing our prospective clients do at our website, www.usquaredconsultants.com, is create an account and complete a questionnaire. We review each questionnaire and then we schedule an interview with every prospective client. After the interview, we create a profile and we use this profile to help us find a good match. Once we’ve found a good match, we contact the client, help set up a first date and then talk to both clients the day after the date. It’s very personal, very
customized and specifically tailored to people who are really ready to find a healthy, long term relationship.

Why did you start USquared Consultants?

Because this is the type of service that I was looking for when I was single! I wanted someone to sit down with me, really listen and then help me to find the kind of person I knew was out there. Wealthy white men have been using matchmakers for years. And there was no service specifically geared toward successful people of color. I was a corporate lawyer in New
York, working long hours and I was too busy to “hang out,” but I wanted a relationship. I wasn’t desperate…I was tired. I was tired of dating the same wrong man. At USquared, we sit down with every client. We listen. And then we work to find the right fit. Putting two people together who are wrong for each other would kill our business. We’re in the business to find
“the right one” for each and every client!

How do you decide whom to accept as a client?

Well…first we have a minimum salary requirement of forty thousand dollars. It may seem a little low, but we didn’t want to exclude graduate students or people who have chosen careers that historically pay below market. However, we do require proof of income, which hopefully deters people from lying. Secondly, we conduct background screenings on every client. No screening is perfect, but we do try to get an accurate picture of someone’s past conduct. Lastly, we use our gut. There are times when we just know we’re not going to find a match for someone. It could be because we think they’re not really ready for a long-term commitment or it could be because our database just doesn’t have what they’re seeking. There’s no reason to move forward with someone who’s ultimately going to be disappointed, so in those cases, we’ll politely decline.

What have you learned about men and women since starting?

That we’re more alike than different. If you’re a well-adjusted human being, you want love and support in your life. You want companionship and real friendship. And the relationship you’re seeking may take different forms and it may take each of us some time to understand what we need, but ultimately, most human beings want to learn, love, grow and laugh…with someone.

To be continued…