Today we’d like to introduce you to Daphney Poyser.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Daphney. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I have had an affinity for the gay community since I was a teenager. I met my first openly gay couple when I was 16. They lived in this cute little house with a white picket fence and all I could remember thinking was that these guys are just like my own family; which at the time was not a thought many black people felt they were allowed to have. From there, I was pretty much hooked. As I got older, some of my most important friendships were rooted in this community, and so in 2020 when I was deciding that it was time for me to leave Corporate America, I asked some of my friends and family members in this space how I could start to search for a more meaningful career.
I was also newly single, and it was around this time that I had employed a matchmaking service to help myself find lasting love with little success. As I went through the program more, I realized that even as a cis-straight black woman finding love was more challenging for people who were considered “different.” And so after having a conversation with my daughter, who pushed me to focus more on the gay community because of ties I had to it growing up, I decided to open my own matchmaking business that serves the LGBTQ+ community.
Has it been a smooth road?
The biggest challenge of course is starting something new. Being a black woman of a certain age in America is hard enough, and adding the stress of a new business on top of that was not easy. I could have waited, but I started this business during the pandemic with the intention of testing just how sustainable the business could be in the long run. However, I am grateful for all the people who have been pouring knowledge into me about the subject, and who have been here to help the business get up and going. It has really been them, not to mention my 20+ years working in project management that has allowed me to leverage my verbal and written skills, communication skills, and my organizational knowledge, which has kept me going.
Please tell us about Fern Connections.
I own Fern Connections LLC, which is a matchmaking business that makes non-traditional connections for people within the LGBTQ+ community. I believe everyone deserves to find love and happiness, and I wanted to help the LGBTQ+ community on their journey to love.
My team also includes my daughter, Danielle Poyser. Danielle is the Content Project Manager at Fernconnections.com. In this role, she is responsible for creating new advertisements for the company, advising on and creating content for our social media pages, and taking some of the photos for our social media presence and website. In addition to this, Danielle also runs a sex and relationship blog on the site called The Dating Dispatch. Which is a weekly run, opinion blog on everything sex and safety within the world of queer dating. Danielle has also recently started working as a Community Evaluations Consultant and has become our primary advisor over all of the philanthropic endeavors, events, and community impact initiatives at Fern Connections LLC.
How do you think the industry will change over the next decade?
I see the matchmaking industry changing to reflect the real diversity of people across the nation. I am hopeful that this will be the shift that the industry makes within the next 5 to 10 years.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.fernconnections.com
- Phone: 469-785-6136
- Email: fernconnections@yahoo.com
- Instagram: @fernconnections
- Other: https://www.linkedin.com/in/daphney-poyser-80b22bb0/
Image Credit:
Photos shot by Danielle Poyser
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