Metro Newspaper interviews Zena, an Executive Search Dating Professional Cupid, and learns how she goes about finding Vancouver’s most eligible singles.

Headhunting as a corporate 'cupid'

Dating service worker searches out hottest people in the Vancouver area

By Andrew King

Vancouver is a "tough" city for dating, say a "professional cupid" whose job is to approach the city's best-looking people to find out if they're single.

Zena Driver, a "cupid" for Vancouver's Executive Search Dating, headhunts successful singles in neighbourhoods that are filled with professionals who are too busy to date, such as the business district and Yaletown.

"I would say I am incredibly lucky." said Driver. "I get to go and talk to the most successful, attractive people, men and women, on the streets of Vancouver."

After finding the perfect single, she invites them back to the head office where matchmakers perform a thorough screening to make sure candidates meet the company's standards before they are set up with other clients.

Driver had no idea what she was getting herself into when she accepted an invitation to join the company.

"I replied to an ad I saw in the newspaper, and I met with the president of the company, Paddi Rice, who hired me directly, and from there it's just been running forward."

The job has given Driver the perfect opportunity to have fun making a living while she pursues her passion for action and her dream of making it to a Broadway stage.

"I basically was looking for a job that would allow me to audition during the day with very flexible hours. It's absolutely pefect. It was a godsend for sure," she said.

Driver said people are often flattered when they are approached on the street and asked if they're single.

"Sometimes we see somebody, and we just can't let them get away, and we'll say, 'Excuse me, you have been chosen as someone we would like to headhunt, you are so attractive and we would love to know more about you.'"

Recently, Driver headhunted a man who she could not believe was single.

"We saw this man, and there was just no way he was single," said Driver. "He was just incredibly attractive, he was absolutely gorgeous (and) he was completely single and just too busy to go out on dates."

So, would she ever use her job as a "cupid" to find her own dates?

"Absolutely never!" she said. "I would never find my own date."