The MyImpact Project Featuring: Daniella Rudoff

Daniella Rudoff is a Jewish matchmaker, dating coach, and creator of Marriage Architect, a business that guides and coaches singles toward successful marriages. She is the proud mother to 7 children and one son in law (so far!), and wife living in Beit Shemesh, Israel. Marriage Architect’s 14th couple has just become engaged, Mazal Tov!

How did you get started with your Jewish community work?

After 10 years of being a Jewish educator in the US and then making aliyah, I decided to go back to school and become a marriage educator. I felt inspired to teach couples how to build a happy marriage with solid skills and foundations. Hence, the name, Marriage Architect, designing happy marriages with positive marriage education. I am not sure how or why people started asking me to set them up, but it just started happening. In thinking about doing this work, I realized that I really needed to get to know each person individually in order to know them well enough to set them up, so I invited each person to meet with me and see if I knew a match for them. I felt energized from these meetings and wanted to find ways to help, so I started “Networking for Singles”, a branch of Marriage Architect. Little did I know that this would develop into my full-time career. At a certain point, I had to decide if I was going to put my “all” into this and build this into a business or find a different job. I am grateful that I took the leap and have grown my network since 2013. My 14th couple has just gotten engaged and my happily married couples have 17 babies and counting! Read more here: https://marriagearchitect.com/origin-of-marriage-architect/

If you had a year off and an extra million dollars to tackle a big problem facing the Jewish community - what would it be and why?

If I had an extra million dollars, I would do everything I’m doing on a larger scale, by training a larger Marriage Architect team to help more people date effectively and marry right. I would market my Dating courses ‘Date Right. Marry Right’ and my ‘Dating Smarter Series’ so more people would have access to dating right earlier in their dating experience and also not waste precious dating time dating the wrong person. I would also have more eyes on my new DR Club and my free Dating Roundtable Events, so more people would have a unique opportunity to meet someone special on a new platform that I created and couples are dating as a result!
I would also create a Marriage Architect shadchanut scholarship fund for those in need.

Tell us about an epic failure or setback you’ve experienced in your work. What did you learn from that experience?

Something I have worked hard on in my ‘purpose driven’ business is understanding that as a marriage educator, dating coach and matchmaker with my personable approach, I offer a unique value to my clients, my “new friends”, who come to meet with me for my initial 1.5 hour meeting and of course to my VIP clients.

Hand in hand with my unique offer, is educating individuals who reach out to me about paying for this type of boutique style service. We are experiencing a “shidduch crisis”, and yet, some people still think that investing in dating properly and being matched professionally should be free. What we need to learn as a community is that investing in this type of personalized service which has proper dating coaching and a professional at your side, is essential for successful dating and to insure being in a successful marriage.

But through these challenges, I have learned that my wonderful niche clientele are the high caliber, positive individuals who value what I do and how I’m doing it. They appreciate my process. The individuals who come to meet with me love that when I’m able to set them up, it will be a ‘well thought out’ idea and they know that I really care to make sure that they will ultimately be in a mutually healthy, successful, and loving marriage. They love the idea that I care to suggest only relevant suggestions and when I have a good dating prospect for them that I am involved in their dating process for both the man and the woman. Ultimately, I care to see to it that they will be in a mutually healthy, successful, and loving relationship, as they date.

What person (or people) has had a particularly big influence on your Jewish communal work?

My husband. Thank God, we have a beautiful marriage and I want to teach couples and those currently dating how to create this type of happiness and effective communication with their spouse. Through my own personal experience, in addition to my work with hundreds of singles and couples, I’m able to identify what a happy couple looks like as they date. I look for signs of true adoration, learn each person’s uniqueness and see how they view the other person to help a couple take the next steps in moving forward in their relationship.

What advice would you give to other young people who want to make more of an impact on the Jewish community?

If you’re passionate about your cause and you know you are really helping people, then just keep working at it. In the early years, as over 100 people came my way and I was meeting with each person for 1.5 – 2 hrs each, I had approached many large Jewish organizations for support with my new shidduch initiatives and was turned down. As singles continued to approach me, I realized there was no choice, but to build this Marriage Architect business to be able to sustain what I do, in order to continue doing my amazing work for all the Jewish Singles who have come to meet with me and those who continue to come. I am looking to be successful for the Jewish People and therefore the need was to build on my own. What I’m saying is, if you have a dream, don’t be afraid to do it on your own. Since you are good at what you do, you are passionate about your cause and you have the experience to make an impact, then it WILL happen. Just do it! 🙂

If you had a MyTzedakah portfolio, what would be very important for you to include in it and why?

I support organizations that educate and empower young adults to be independent and live meaningful, happy lives and marry the right person for them who makes them happy. As a Marriage Architect, some of my highest values and priorities are helping people feel confident and empowered and to give them the tools to live the lives they want to live and to attract positivity in their life.