Protecting Your Matchmaking Business: Compliance, Contracts & Accreditation with Peter Nahmias

0:00 Welcome to the Matchmaker Mentor Podcast, the show where aspiring and experienced matchmakers come to sharpen their skills, grow their businesses, and elevate the matchmaking industry. Your host is Arlene Washburn, an award-winning ethical matchmaking advocate, mentor, and industry innovator. Let's dive in. Welcome back to the Matchmaker Mentor podcast, where we help aspiring and experienced matchmakers build thriving, ethical businesses and empower our industry to grow with integrity. And today's episode is a special one. We're talking about a topic that doesn't always come up in our industry events, and that's going to be solved today because we're talking about dispute resolution compliance and how to protect your matchmaking business before things go wrong.

0:49 And I'm thrilled to introduce to you our guest and a strategic partner in the International Matchmaking Compliance Board. Peter Namias, who is a American attorney, admitted to both the New York and the New Jersey bar and a Spanish Abuvaldo admitted to the Madrid bar. He also is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitration Arbitrators Rather and an international distinction recognized for excellence in arbitration. He holds a Juris Dr. from Fordham University School of Law and a master's degree in Legal Business Advisory from the Instituto de Empresa de Madrid.

1:31 Peter has published extensively on international commercial and investment laws, speaks regularly in seminars around the world, and teaches as an adjunct professor at both Saint Louis University in Madrid and EAE Business School. He's fluent in English and Spanish, as am I, and more importantly, he brings over 30 years of experience in highly regulated industry to the matchmaking space. So whether you're a solo matchmaker or running a growing agency, this episode will help you understand what what to put in place before client complaints ever reach your inbox and why this matters now more than ever.

2:14 Let's cover our bases with a brief disclaimer. The information shared in this episode is for educational and informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. The International Matchmaking Compliance Board is a self regulatory organization, not a law firm, and neither myself or Peter Namiaz is offering individualized legal guidance. Always consult with a qualified attorney in your particular jurisdiction. Peter, welcome to the show. I'm so glad to have you here. Wonderful. Well, thank you very much. I'm thrilled. This is this is really a treat. Yeah. So, Peter, I know you really didn't know much about the matchmaking world when I reached out to you. It feels like years ago, but it's, you know, this has been in the works for months now.

3:07 And I'm curious, what was it that changed your perspective to want to be involved in something like this? Well, I mean, you know, what can I say? I mean your your charm course, you know, I mean, how can anybody just say, Oh no, I'm not no, forget it, go away. You know, I mean, so I think that's really that really I think that was that's it in a nutshell. Good night, folks. Thanks. Thanks for coming. That's all folks. No, you know, I don't mean to make light of it. I mean, I think it's interesting. I mean, I've had a, you know, and thank you for that, that great introduction. Look, I mean, I, I started practicing in New Jersey actually 30 years ago, a little bit of things ago. And I've always worked in, in highly regulated industries and in different capacities.

3:59 And as a young lawyer, I was, I did environmental defense where I used to, you know, represent chemical companies. I, I worked in the alcohol industry, I worked in tobacco industry, you know, and so, you know, one of the things, and I guess maybe we'll talk about it over this hour is 1 of the things you learn as women work in industries like that is, you know, you think of regulation and how an industry is regulated. It's really, it's part of the operating environment. It conditions how you think, how you compete, how you find advantage. It's, you know, it's the road, right? And, and so I think in some way, you know, when you ask what, Gee, what, what you know what, why, why the matchmaking industry, I mean, you know, clearly it's, you know, it's certainly is not, you know, something as as controversial as, as industries that I have worked with.

4:55 But I think as I've, I've come to to to work, as you know, as you and I have been working, I've come to see and like, wow, how regulation really effects this industry, really creates an operating environment that is very challenging for for people. So that's so that's one right. So that I guess that's one thing kind of I think also too, I mean, it's cut to the face. It's wow, how nice to actually be working industry that is is so you know no, I mean addressing I'm.

5:39 Having a hard time hearing you. Oh boy, God, I was just saying something really touching and beautiful. Right there, right there. That's perfect. You know, I'm just saying that it's, it's, it's such a pleasure to, to, to be working in an industry that does good, you know, and, and, and, and so any controversies that are, are, are out there, you know, OK, we can deal with them. But ultimately the, the product that we're delivering is, is something really worth, worth the fight, worth the trouble. So you know. You know. Question. I don't know. No, I, I, I agree. And then The thing is, is I very similar to you, came from an industry that was highly regulated, right? I came from pharma.

6:25 I was in the Pharmaceutical industry for 20 years and I was surprised and also, I guess, you know, I was just surprised that there were no what quote UN quote regulations for this industry. But the, the, the bigger surprise is that there are regulations everywhere that it's just not, there's not an awareness of it. And for me, when I started down this path, it was just recognizing that, wow, I've been in this industry for well over a decade and never did it come up on at a conference or anywhere that, hey, these are regulations that impact you. And by the way, the regulations vary from state to state, country to country. I mean, it's so interesting.

7:10 And, and just also from an ethical perspective, making sure that there's, there's a conduct that is adhered to for protection of the clients and also for protection of the businesses, right? Because I, I think I mentioned to you, I was, I watched this movie The materialist. And I mean, I cringed halfway through the, you know, through that movie because there was a lot of behavior that was not typical of what true matchmaking is all about. There was not a certain care that was given in the particular case on a spoiler alert if you haven't seen the movie, but you know, one of her clients ends up in a situation where that might have been avoided perhaps if there was a little bit more due diligence, which is really what matchmaking is all about South.

8:03 Some of it is conduct, you know, a code of conduct and some of it is just understanding that they're already laws that apply to you in this industry. So I want to move to an area. The main reason I contact you initially was your expensive and amazing background in ADR alternative resolution and and then that began the conversation because I really wanted to get you involved in that. And then it just brought in, you know, became a bigger thing because you saw the value what we're doing here. And I just want you to talk a little bit about this because there are matchmakers, for example, who don't have ADR on in their contracts and that could be challenging. So I would love for you to share a little bit about the difference between having and not having, what is it, etcetera.

8:55 Well, I mean, while we can, we can do an hour or more, but I mean, it's ADR stands for alternative dispute resolution. And what that means just in plain English is, is resolving your disputes in, in outs out of court, you know, and so and so it encompasses various different modalities of, of how you would go about evolving. So it can go anything from just a simple negotiation. It can include conciliation, negotiation, mediation, arbitration, mixes of that.

9:36 I mean, it's really, it's really a mixed bag. Usually when lawyers, you know, identify themselves as ADR practitioners, they usually they're, they're referring to arbitration or mediation, which are much more to say organized the rule, you know, kind of a rule based approach to, to dealing with this boot resolution. So in a nutshell, that's possible. Arbitration looks and feels a lot like litigation. It's basically hiring an arbitrator or a panel of arbitrators. Depends on the size of the case to decide your case. And, and it's, you know, it's, it's almost, it's like a lawsuit.

10:23 But, but, but you know, and I made you know, to, to the lawyers out there to do this. I, I apologize if I'm, you know, light of it, but it's basically having private judges adjudicate your case. So instead of going to a courtroom, it's done in a hotel room someplace and the partings present their case, present their evidence. And it looks a lot like a, like a trial. It's the special, the speciality of arbitration is that it's, it can be tailored to the parties. And, but you, you select an arbitrator who really might really knows the, the case. And so you're not, you know, you're not, you don't spend your time trying to educate a judge. I think the real benefit of arbitration and particularly, you know, complex cases is the parties can really tailor the procedure and, you know, and get and get through it a lot faster, a lot more expeditiously than than a normal litigation. I, I think, you know, and, and again, there's so many other things, but I think one of the big benefits is confidentiality. It's the parties usually will stipulate that whatever happens in that proceeding and in and the outcome, it remains strictly between the parties and not public. So there's no published opinions. There's no, you know, it's, it's, it's a confidential thing. And, you know, depending on the the nature of the case that that in just that one quality really

11:55 sets it apart, makes it very interesting for certain dispute. Yeah. What's interesting about that is that often people who hire professional matchmakers are wanting to do it there. I mean, this is a reason, not the only reason, they want confidentiality. They don't want to have their photos on online spaces and things like that. They want someone who's, you know, doing all the vetting for them and verifying information, etcetera. And I think this this concept of having this private dispute resolution, it's still a neutral, professional, private, you know, function that is designed to protect all parties. So it's not for one side or the other, obviously. But what's nice about is the privacy so that it's not, you know, someone who might be famous may not want to be in the news if they have an issue that they want to resolve and it's resolved through a professional.

12:59 And I might add that it's a separate entity from the IMCB. So if anybody decides they want to use our service for that, they basically fill out, you know, a request and then that gets forwarded to your company, which is an arbitration company. So we're, you know, there's, there's a firewall there, but it's something that is private. It's, it's really designed to protect all parties. But also to your point, which I think is huge, it's just not having to educate the judge about something. Because as you have become more and more acclimated to what the matchmaking world is all about, you're understanding how it works so you can come in and actually do something that's a little bit quicker than someone who would need that kind of level of education.

13:48 I I think so well, but you know, I don't want to reiterate that, but I, I think that that's often big consideration why you might choose arbitration versus trying your luck. Yeah, there are other benefits as well in ordinary jurisdiction lose or when you could be facing an appeal and or more people various appeals and and your case may yeah drag on for, you know, a long time. Arbitration is usually A1 shot deal. It's there's no there are no appeals, there's no Locket touring. No, you know, it's an issue really of of case ends and and if there are irregularities challenge the ward.

14:40 No, right. So, you know, it has these benefits and but, you know, going to your point, yeah, I think that's that's really, I mean, look, if we were talking oil and gas arbitration or we were talking infrastructure, I mean, yeah, you would want somebody who knows something about the oil and gas industry sitting as the arbitrator rather than or judge who's has absolutely no idea anything about those contracts in that industry and what what delays are, you know what I mean? So it's it's really just a, you know, getting someone who, you know, resolves A dispute who understands those types of dispute, right. So, you know, well, yeah, I mean, so that's something that you and I working on MCV arbitration.

15:24 And yeah, and I want, again, I don't want to gobble up the whole hour talking about arbitration and mediation. But mediation is another modality which is normally an assisted negotiation, right? So where the mediator is not is not deciding the case. It's not there to decide who's right, who's wrong. The mediator is there to help the parties negotiate a settlement if it makes sense for the party. You know, so you're really trying to find help parties find common ground and, and put an end to those. And so again, depending on the nature of the controversy, that can be an incredibly optimal method to use. Oftentimes, you know, when you just think about like the disputes people get into, it starts as one thing And and ultimately, you know, when you get in, you realize it's about something else in an arbitration or in court, you don't have that flexibility to get into what complex is really about mediation.

16:28 You do. And so I think it's pretty cool. Yeah. That that's not a, that's not the the most technical term, but I think it's pretty cool that way that. Yeah. No. That's that's right. You do. It look, this is a very highly emotional industry, so having that option is ideal. And you know, I want to talk about a little bit of what happens if, if you're not protected through having this type of option in your contract. For example, you know, I, I've seen matchmakers get sued, people may get shut down, dragged online simply because they didn't have a contract or a process for resolution. And so an example of that, just this year, earlier this year in February, there was a lawsuit with a matchmaking company based out of California who was sued by an individual. I'm going to say I don't want to like bring it all fun and center.

17:36 This is, I mean, this is public information, but an individual based out of New York. Now, one of the things that the International Matchmaking Compliance Board brings to the table is bringing the awareness to anyone who goes through the accreditation process about the differences in the laws and the regulations and understanding that if you are a matchmaker matchmaking company in California, you need to follow the laws where your clients are, especially they're hiring you online. And so with this gentleman, he, first of all, this company did not give him a copy of the dating service Consumer Bill of Rights, which is a mandatory thing when you set up a contract.

18:22 They also had a very vague contract. They also did not abide by the rules of you have to, you know, you have a certain number of referrals that you that you must give when you're working within your client. And if you don't, then you cannot charge a certain amount because you've exceeded a, a certain quota or if you didn't need the quota, I should say. So whatever that's details that we'll get into. You are listening and you want to get accredited. We will help get you straightened out so that you understand what you're doing and where you're working. And when you go into a market that you take a care and understanding to follow, you know the regulations in that market.

19:07 But this, this, this individual sued this company. He paid maybe $20,000 and thereabouts. Now he's suing for almost $60,000. And this is the kind of thing that will happen and often it will happen. And you know, the, the, the customer ends up winning in many cases because there's a lack of understanding from the organization. And truthfully, I don't think that anybody's out to hurt anyone. I just do believe that there's a lack of awareness because I was part of that, you know, not knowing, not knowing, you know, about these laws nobody's talking about and nobody's training on this.

19:49 And, you know, certainly until I got into this rabbit hole, I didn't know anything about. And now I'm like entrenched in this whole thing because I want to protect these companies which are really setting out to do good work to help people because. Let's, I mean, I talk about this almost ad nauseam. There is a loneliness epidemic and there are a lot of people struggling online that's not working for them. So the, the option to use a matchmaker is a wonderful option. I just want the matchmakers to be fully aware of, you know, before they engage. This is what I need to know. Oh, I'm, I'm going to start working with clients in New York. OK, Let me get accredited.

20:30 Let me make sure I have all the things in place that I need to be able to operate in that market so that I'm not violating any laws and I'm not violating any, you know, regulations that are just common ethical practices. I don't mean to be be cheap or anything, but I mean, when you think about it, it, it's no, it's, it kind of makes a certain sense, doesn't it? Like, in other words, you're hiring a professional to that potential partner or not. And the very bit before doing that relationship, you're going to have a relationship with the matchmaker, right? So you need to kind of vet the matchmaker first.

21:11 In other words, the same process that they're using and vetting your potential mates, you should kind of apply to your matchmaker, right? So you know what I'm trying to say? I mean, it's kind of like a, you know, there's a criteria for selection, right? And which which would apply not just to your romantic honor, but also to your matchmaker. And so if your matchmaker is unprofessional or not as professional, it should be all and you're careless about what laws need to apply. Well, you really start to wonder, well, how serious are they about whatever matches they're looking for, right?

21:55 I mean it, you start to wonder, right? I don't know. I mean, I, I don't think it's necessarily one thing leads from the other, but but it comes down to credibility, doesn't it? You know, So how credible are you saying you don't even take your, you don't even take your own self seriously out really. You're going to be serious about the matches you're you're going out. So, you know, it goes together. I don't know, like I said, I don't need to be cute with this idea here, but I mean I think it would just kind of goes together. I honestly think, I mean, look what prompted all of this was in November of last year, I spoke at a conference for like 10 minutes and everyone, the people were coming up to me after that conversation, which was all about ethics and compliance and they were asking me questions. So I do genuinely believe that most of the people, especially the ones that are at these conferences, because these are avid learners who want to be learning and improving and what they do, they just didn't know because there's, you know, there's something that they say out there, there's, oh, you know, the matchmaking industry is unregulated, but it's not. It's just that nobody has unified these regulations to bring them and, you know, serve them up in a way that it's like, oh, here you go, oh, you're doing business here. Here's what you need to be aware of until now. And I feel bad that I was.

23:16 I've been in this industry for so long based out of New Jersey. There were a lot of things that I'm finding out now that I was like, oh, I didn't know that that was the case. And I want to protect people who go, especially the, I mean, a lot of these folks go into it with a genuine desire to help people find love, which honestly, in my opinion is the most important thing when you know the biggest choice you're going to make in your life is your partner. And if you're working with an organization that's helping you, they need to be aware of what's appropriate, what's not. But also, again, I think it's such an important area. So I, I, you know, I'm an avid believer in the matchmaking industry. I train people on it.

24:01 And I also am now, you know, working on this organization with you because I want to protect, I want to protect the consumer and I want to protect the matchmaker so that everybody's on the same page. And we are all aware. And you know, as an example, you know, we have a matchmaker's code of conduct on our website, which is the imcboard.org. That's like 17 pages alone of guidance, OK. This is a code of conduct and guidance that is largely based on regulations that exist in globally, right? I've seen codes of conduct in other places. There are three pages. You know, that's not going to give you what you need to really understand what you're doing.

24:47 And, and the you know, and, and I don't blame them, right, Because you're a lawyer. I mean, how many people are, are digging into the laws of what they're doing? They, they have no clue when that the time comes that they have to deal with something, they go to their lawyer. I'm trying to avoid people having to end up and that's the truth. You know, it's, it's God. There's so much to unpack there. I mean, where to begin, right? You know, I mean, you know, before I forget, I mean that is something else that I've, I've been working on is this idea of a disciplinary proceed. So you know what one of the, I mean what we've done so far with IMCB and what we'll launch soon will be our own arbitration rules, right.

25:29 So in the event there's a dispute that that parties want to do arbitration, we have our own that are tailored to, to our industry, the same thing. We have our own mediation rules, again, that are tailored just to, to us. And, and then independent of all that, we've developed a disciplinary procedure, right? So, so for those people who have, you know, are, are following our ethical code, there's T right, There's consequences, right? So where you violated the code and where you are or you're where it's you're alleged to have violated the code more there's complaints about your behavior right now.

26:13 We're going to have a, a, a procedure in place to deal with those complaints. You know, now you know all of this. You know, one thing I don't get, I don't want to go down a rabbit that these things are all fine and good when it comes to a disciplinary ethical complaint members. These things are fine with the dispute between a client and the magic of where again, where they chosen to to, you know, to have ADR deal with the dispute. All of these things are fine to do it, but none of them will protect you from getting prosecuted by a state attorney general or by a consumer fraud office.

26:58 Like in other words, one thing is a private litigation or private disputes between people and another thing is a criminal investigation, prosecution by, you know, like I say, attorney General, for example, right? And so that's where compliance and and compliance training, really, that's where that becomes much more relevant, meaning the and again, and I don't mean to get ahead of myself, but but that's, you know, the fact that you have an arbitration procedure is not going to protect you from a prosecution from attorney general. What what may be relevant is the fact that you have, you know, that you've been following an ethical plan, that you've trained, that you know that that you that you, you're in like that main serve as a defense in case of a prosecution, stuff like that.

27:51 So again, I'm just sorry, I don't mean to be going down a detour here, but I it's just to kind of just conceptually so clear what we're talking. About, yeah, I mean, if I, if I heard you correctly, what you're saying is if if it's you were to be prosecuted by an attorney general or consumer or consumer fraud or anything like that. The fact that you're even taking steps to learn to follow an ethical and compliance training and process, and you're for the, you know, for the most part trying to follow that that will serve you in a situation like that because it shows the intent of wanting to be, you know, compliant. Is that kind of what you're saying? Yeah, it it, it could be the difference between a, you know, a nominal fine and a company destroying fine, right. I just to just to be really blunt, often times the existence of a genuine compliance plan in place with real training and and, you know, and it's audited, you know, like a real thing that real sentencing guidelines, for example. Yeah, that, that is that that's, that's a nice to have. It's not a get out of jail free card, right. But it's it's not bad to have.

29:08 And to your point, just recently the Federal Trade Commission published a press release about a lawsuit that cost the match group. Now that's an online service, but they were doing something deceptive marketing, which is not uncommon in the matchmaking world. And I think often, truthfully, I really think that the deceptive marketing is not really intentional, if you will. I know that sounds crazy, but anyway, it cost them over $14 million. Now that's a big company obviously, but for a small company, you can be put out of business. So it is good to just be proactive and do the right thing as much as you can.

29:51 But let's let's take a quick break. I don't. Need to go, I'm sorry. No, please go ahead. No, but you know, on the the match case, keep in mind there, and this is kind of a point I wanted to touch before, but like we kind of went off in a different direction because you know, a lot of the litigation in in that happens in this industry is class action. A lot of the online outfits like match with a class action. So it's not meaning that it's not one complaint. It's, you know, it's, it's, it's a couple 100 and and that is something that, you know, that risk, right, of class action litigation. That's, that's that that's what that's what drives those types of numbers.

30:34 That's what makes for a $24 million case before the moon dollar came where the lawyers take a big chunk and the actual complainants get like, you know, 40 bucks apiece. Lawyers go for this massive, you know, So yeah, it's it's pretty not yet another selling point for ADR. Yeah, it kind of ain't that risk. True. All right, well, let's let's take a quick break. We're going to continue, we're going to continue in this conversation and talk a little bit more about some of the things that people need to know about how to become accredited and some of the steps involved. But before we do that, let's take a quick break. Have you ever felt called to help others find love? You might have the heart for matchmaking, but without the right training, turning that passion into a thriving business can feel impossible.

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32:14 With over a decade of experience, we don't just train matchmakers, we create leaders in the industry. Are you ready to become a LPMA Certified matchmaker and build a business that changes lives? Apply today at lovepromastermind.com. So we were talking about the accreditation process and some of the things that, you know, are entailed in terms of this accreditation. And those things are, you know, the contracts are a big deal, right? Because one thing that I've noticed in all the years in the industry and as a trainer, I think people think that when they have really vague contracts that it's actually better for them if they end up in a situation and actually it works in the opposite direction.

33:06 So with the accreditation process, and I'll let you elaborate on this, our goal is to ensure that there's certain things that are in there that are very important, cancellation, refund policies, information about data protection, confidentiality, etcetera. So what part of the accreditation process is really a service for these companies because there are submitting information that is getting reviewed to some extent. It's not legal advice, but it's just making sure that they have certain things in place. For example, standard operating procedures for how they can dispute, how they do their vetting, how they choose matches.

33:51 Because in the materialist, one of the things that if I had been the client and I would have asked, hey, how do you vet the matches that are you that you're going to introduce to me? She probably didn't have anything in that movie because clearly the woman that ended up meeting this guy was spoiler alert, attacked or something. They don't really go into the details, but there wasn't a proper vetting process. She just basically walked around with a little book, you know, taking notes. That's just not enough, right? And so it's really important for companies to know that they need to have standard operating procedures that are consistent, that if they say they do background checks, that they do those background checks that, you know, whatever, if they're checking, by the way, they all should be checking identification. But I know not everybody does that because they don't think it's it's important or necessary. So these are the things that with this accreditation process, they're, they're getting credibility because we're putting them through a rigorous process that shores up their operations so that we're protecting the clients and we're protecting the business.

35:00 But what are your thoughts on them? I haven't seen them yet and literally just came out here, you know, in Spain. I don't know where to go with this. I mean, you know, there's a couple of things, you know, just building on a point you had made before. I'm hoping to keep in mind. It's an interesting thing like when we talk about regulation like this industry is, it's not that it's, you know, yes, there is some kind of like scattering of regulation, most of which is directed at contract. And and again, we're not talking about 15 separate states, we're talking a handful of states that have created contract requirements.

35:49 In other words, provisions that must exist in your contract. Now, in some of those states, I think maybe in eight of them, the absence of one of these obligatory pauses may render the entire contract unenforceable. Like wow. And then I can go, well, what does that mean? What means all the other protections that you have in there, licenses and, you know, confidentiality, everything else just is it's as though it just went, what are the only good consequences? Wow magic, right? So, you know, you know, New Jersey, for example, that is one of the one, the only legislation that actually doesn't, I don't think it actually regulates the contracts.

36:34 And it's the only one that actually it's totally, you know, very different from you are in New Jersey. Actually, they're the ones that say, well, if you're going to do vetting, if you're if you're not doing vetting, you have to explicitly say that you're not vetting. You have to actually put that in the contract or you have to actually or somehow municate that too. The only one that actually says anything has anything about credit. So one of the pro, I guess where I'm going at wrong. One good thing of mine is just that the regulation that's out there is so disparate. It's so different that you're going to have a contract that's valid under California law, but just totally invalid under New York law. New York has this obligation for this, you know, client Bill of Rights.

37:22 It does. New Jersey doesn't, you know what I'm saying. So, you know, you can have your boilerplate contract your lawyer wrote for you in Delaware and it works in Delaware, but it may be completely invalid in New York or in Connecticut or in North Carolina because, you know, you didn't comply with with mandatory. And so this is a, a thing that, you know, say, all right, well, and again, you know, I don't want to, I don't want to dive into this next point, but it really, I mean, I've been counseling businesses for over 30 years. And there are businesses who, you know, particularly startups who really don't have the time or energy to start digging through every state statute that might apply to their contracts.

38:12 I mean, they're, you're moving fast and, and, and you know, and you're lucky to actually just get a contract. You've got so much other stuff to do it right. And you kind of go into businesses. You know, there are a situation where people will go, go, go into the business without doing that homework and get caught. Now, some folks are totally OK with that, you know, and, and others aren't. Some folks can afford that and others really can't. You know, Uber that was it was a different model Uber, but what what they knew that they were going to be violating statutes left and right.

38:53 They knew they budgeted litigation. People budgeted for all the funds they were going to have. They spend money lobbying change a lot. I mean, so you know, that's that was their model that but you know, it said it wasn't any accident. They knew very well that was going to happen. I think we're in a different situation. I don't think that. I don't think that's really our dynamic here, right? No, absolutely. And you know, this idea of, oh, you started a matchmaking company and you said it and forget it, That's just not the way anything works because rules are constantly changing, regulations are changing. And every time you enter a market, you need to be mindful of what what is involved in entering a market. And I think often that's just something that people do Willy nilly.

39:44 And regulations about data protection are getting stronger and stronger. We had the GDPR that launched a few years back in Europe, and that is, you know, now the CCPA in California is spreading through the US. If you're a matchmaker, you're not tracking any of this and you're not going for continuing education about ethics and compliance, which would be the requirement. And with IMCB, you're not going to know when it hits your state that you're supposed to be doing something that you're not doing. And so that's that's the issue here. It's just really, you know, providing a service where people are. Understanding what they're doing, what their regulations are that they need to follow and and just really protecting yourself.

40:31 I mean, if you look at, you know, there are things have become very international, if you will, right, because people work off of an Internet connection and so they can be anywhere, all the nomads, etcetera. And if you take, if you're AUS matchmaker and you take a client in Europe, well they have a 14 day rescission period. And not only is it a rescission period, you cannot work in that 14 day without explicit permission from that client to begin work because they can back out of that contract. So if you start working and they say, you know what, I'm not going to go forward with this. They get all their money back and you put all that energy and effort in for doing something that if you had known would have done it.

41:15 And this happens a lot. And I mean, not that that happens, but that we have matchmakers in the States working with clients in, in the UK or, you know, and vice versa. I mean, there's a lot of regulations for companies that are not in the US working with, you know, no. Raised that that you know, that's that's such an important point. You know, when I you know, I many instances I really feel you're a much better lawyer. I wonder, you know, I want to be as good a lawyer as you. You're much very good. You know, you really do raise a lot. So such a pleasure working with her. But you such a good point. I mean that one thing is matchmaker regulation.

41:58 We want to call it that. And another thing is all the other regulation of it, like data protection, like, you know, I don't know. Well, no, I was thinking, God, you and I remember recently we're talking about money laundering and, and know your customer requirements. I mean, you know, there's a huge crackdown I was reading about in China on matchmaking outfits in China. You know, again, it's not really a model to fall, but you know, it's like 1900 companies got rounded up because it turned out that after investigation, they were a lot of them were being used as fronts or or you know, they're moving money and legally for fraud, you know, basically to get access to people asset about. I mean, so wow, so there's a lot going on. You know, I guess the point is love that you mentioned is like, you know, first we could kind of get your head around what's, you know, what are the regulations here in the state, which again, match making regulation.

43:07 And then there's others regulation as well. There's consumer fraud regulations, there's there's intellectual property, there's there's privacy, as you said. I mean, privacy regulation, although, you know, initially a European thing, it as I said, it's popping up all over the state now. And yeah, we're dealing with very, you know, you're, you know, make no mistake about it. I mean, as a matchmaker, you are enabling sensitive personal information. Yeah. Especially as a matchmaker, because you have these forms and you know you have a website and if you don't have an HTTPS where you have that security, that's a first step. And then you're using a compliant form to capture information. And then if you're not following the regulations to be able to delete the information or you're sharing contact information and things over unsecured platforms, you know, those are all the things that people need to know and understand and. Or what what are the legal consequences of getting hacked and somebody accessing your your, your all that your client for me, which is what are the most legal? Wow, yeah, that's not I'll tell you. I mean practicing in in you.

44:22 I mean, I've seen genuine horror stories. Yeah, it is, it is a lot to to deal with and I think you know or it might have flows in there. OK, you're back. So, yeah, so the point is, is that this international matchmaking compliance board is really designed to help both the the customer and the organizations to conduct business in the most ethical and, and best way for you to stay out of trouble. Really, we can't guarantee it, but we're going to do our damnedest to give you all the information that we can to help you be compliant in in the business. I do because there's there's no, I mean, unless you want to do the research and figure this stuff out on your own. Trust me, I was, I've been in this industry for well over a decade and I'm never heard this anywhere. I mean, it's, it's it's bonkers.

45:24 And because the mass making industry is more mainstream now, it's becoming more of a thing. People understand the value. I mean, it's like we're working with a realtor. Yeah, you can go find your own house or you can work with a realtor, but you know, you, you have to pay for that, obviously. And those fees are pretty significant too, which is the other reason why this is so important. On average, you're paying upwards of $10,000. That takes you right out of claims court, small claims court. So now you're operating in a different area. So, yeah, you want to be compliant. And also people are are making a major investment. They want to know that you are following the regulations and doing the right thing by them.

46:07 So it's it's a lot and it's it's. An off 1, you know, because a lot of the regulations that it has you check like the for example, I mean, it's old. It was drafted before anybody thought there was an Internet. Now it was it was really written at a time when people were selling inserted door to door. It was really a legislation designed to protect people from aggressive door to door cell. And that that's basically the, the, the back. And here it is today, you know, applying to a completely different and completely different dynamic.

46:49 And, and so, you know, it's, so it's very, it's, it's tricky to navigate because it's, it's not adapted to. So you've got that level of complication as well. So yeah, it's, I think it's it And you know, I, I don't want to, you know, I, I just before we went, we went live, it was like, oh, we shouldn't do a disclaimer, you know, are we giving legal advice? You know, and I think it's, it's, it is important to understand that, that, that, that IMCB is not, I think it's, I want to speak for, for long, but I mean, I don't, I think it's fair to say that IMCB is not like a, it's not legal sign off. It's not, it's not a thing that says, OK, you know, according to IMCB, everything we're doing here is, you know, that's, that's what we don't as your lawyers.

47:37 I think what, what IMCB accreditation is about is, well, yeah, what contracts will be audited. Your, your, your operating procedure will be audited to see what what you're doing. I mean, go that far, But what if you can't? You can't be mistake that for Oh yes, it has the you know, Good Housekeeping seal of approval, all the all the contracts are all legal and everything you know, that's that that would be providing legal advice and then I agree not doing. Yeah. And it's it's basically a self regulatory organization that doesn't exist today. There's nobody else out there doing this and it's not just for all of the reasons that we discussed, but there's also some benefits to becoming accredited because we're working towards bringing in healthcare.

48:30 For example, when I, when I became a matchmaker, I left the corporate world. I had my COBRA and I was good for a year and then I started a business and a year into it I was uninsured health insurance, right? So one of the things we want to bring into this IMCB is to offer services for a bigger group as an organization where they can get health insurance because entrepreneurs, you know, we can buy in bulk and it's a bigger thing. Or for example, a lot of matchmakers get thrown off of platforms. The minute that the platform finds out that it's a matchmaker, what I would hope is that we're going to, we're going to advocate for them so that these businesses start to look at matchmaking as this is a legitimate business. They are consultants essentially and they should be entitled to have a bank account with you or have a merchant account with you.

49:26 I mean, there is high risk. As you know, a consultant is high risk, right? So especially if they've gone through this rigorous process and have a genuine intent and desire to really comply with regulations and so forth, and they're really putting the effort in there. So that is the hope that we're going to advocate for the industry and really bring services that are not typically available to matchmakers so that they can have thriving businesses and more people will meet their significant other through them. I mean, it's, it's, it's a lot. I, I mean, I, I'm a big fan of the advocacy, right? I mean, I think that that that's like kind of the destination.

50:11 Exactly you. Can actually, you know, as I, as I alluded to before, a lot of hard to say, a lot of the legislation regulation that affects match label is outdated, outmoded, not really designed for today's industry applies indiscriminately between, you know, online dating platforms as well as matchment, right. So, so it's a mess. And so it you know it, it's time to sit with lawmakers and to to help them draft appropriate legislation. Yeah, yeah. Especially New York.

50:51 I mean, I mean, I think that's what you and I come, you know, from pharma and from other regulators, what we learned in regulated mysteries that, you know, that that, you know, lobbying is not why, you know, taking people to dinner. Lobbying is the literally helping lawmakers draft appropriate legislation and actually that actually helps their stakehold. I mean, so that's kind of what what, what I think that's what the legal is about. And that's what good law is all about, absolutely. Hopefully we'll get there. I mean, we're, we got to start here first, you know, but I think that's, that's where I'd like to, I'd, I'd love to see us heading there, but but we've got a lot of work to do now in getting, getting this off the ground and getting, you know, getting the getting to work right. So.

51:46 So let's do that. I don't know. The good news is that right now we're in the process of putting together the advisory committee and I, I put out a request for nomination. So if you're a matchmaker and you're listening, you didn't get that request, you can DM me on social media at Arlene Washburn. But we have sent it out to anyone who's on our secret matchmaker newsletter. It's a newsletter that only matchmakers are allowed to receive. And anyone who's on that list would have gotten this. So if you are a matchmaker who's been in the business two to three years anywhere in the world, because we do want representation from all over the world. This is a global initiative.

52:33 You can nominate someone who a colleague that you feel is trustworthy and someone that would be great at representing the industry, or you can nominate yourself. So if you didn't get that invitation, please set me up on social media at Arlene Washburn and I'm happy to send that to you because we want buy in from the industry. This is a collaboration of really creating something amazing that is going to support everyone involved. And it's a win win for the for the clients and it's a win for the matchmakers and and the lawmakers for that matter, you know, because people. You know, I mean, I think you know, and I think God knows that you may as well just end it there, because that's that's really the goal of the action.

53:18 And I think, you know, even nuts. I mean, where I come, but I but you know, to really answer your first question, what what brought water track with this? I really, and it's probably, you know, feels also to my, my side as a teacher, you know, I really, I'm very much drawn to this idea of that of, of, of raising the bar profession in raising the professional level, right, professionalizing, raising the bar in terms of, of ethics and, and ethical, you know, ethical business behavior and, and profession, which to me equates it really as professional.

54:06 And, and you know, and that, that is just wonderful to be involved that, that, that, and I think really what's what drives me. And so everything is great. Yeah, absolutely. Peter, I am so grateful to have you be a part of this. You have been amazing. And I'm so glad that you were open to the idea because sometimes when you reach out to professionals and you start talking about matchmaking, they just kind of tune you out. Like it's like, oh, especially if they're married. You know, you and I are both married, but like, if, if you're a single person, maybe you have a little one year old, but I mean, this is serious business. I can't think of anything more important in life than the partner that you choose.

54:58 And your first match is your matchmaker and your matchmaking company. And we just want to facilitate this and really professionalize this business in in a way where it's going to help everyone involved. So again, Peter, thank you so much and thank you for everyone tuning in. We had over 1000 people tuning in today on the Master Mentor Podcast. And if you're a matchmaker committed to growing an ethical, thriving business, be sure to subscribe, leave a review, and visit theimcboard.org. We currently have a waiting list so you can sign up to learn more about the accreditation process. Believe me, you're going to want this and all the daters out there. You're going to want to know who's accredited so that you know you're doing good business with the right person. Thank you so much.

55:48 Thank you. Thank you for tuning in to the Matchmaker Mentor Podcast. If you enjoyed this episode, don't forget to subscribe, leave a review, and share it with fellow matchmakers and friends. For more resources, training, and inspiration, visit lovepromastermind.com and follow us on social media. Remember, matchmaking isn't just a career, it's a calling. Let's keep building connections, changing lives, and growing together. Until next time, stay inspired and keep matching.