According to Roman mythology, two accidental arrows were all it took for Cupid and Psyche to fall in love. These days, most of us aren’t so lucky.

Meeting that special someone often requires more time and energy than most busy professionals have.

Enter Richmond’s very own Cupid, Carrie Daichman, who helps people maximize their chances of finding the Right One. Daichman is the owner of It Takes 2, a personalized introduction service for single, divorced and widowed professionals.

“I truly believe there’s someone for everyone, and it’s my job to find them,” says Daichman.

And find them, she does. It Takes 2 averages two to three marriages per month, with an 80 percent success rate for meeting clients’ relationship goals. Daichman jokes that her great success is the only downside of her business because she loses so many clients to new relationships that they have found through her.

Teri and Brent Lehmann are two such former clients. Happily married for almost five years, the Lehmann’s met through It Takes 2. Both were recently divorced, busy parents and working professionals who didn’t have a lot of time to socialize outside of work or take their chances on meeting the right person by happenstance.

“You can sit there forever and ever in a bar, and it’s a shot in the dark whether you’re ever going to meet this person who has the same interests,” says Brent Lehmann, owner of his own web design business, Webdzyner.com.

When they met, Brent and Teri knew they had a lot in common—issues as important as two sons the same age and interests as quirky as a shared love of reggae music—because Daichman had already matched their profiles.

“We matched on some really odd, really neat stuff,” says Terri Lehmann, who also works in the computer industry.

On their first anniversary, the Lehmann’s sent Daichman flowers of thanks for finding them the perfect match.

“She makes it easy,” says Brent Lehmann. “She does all the work and then says ‘Call the person up.’”

“Personalized Introduction Service” is what Daichman prefers people call It Takes 2, but she acknowledges that this type of business is usually known as a dating service. It Takes 2 is much more

than the old-fashioned ‘80s-style dating service, however, because it uses no Love Connection-style videos, no photos-only decisions.

Consider Daichman the perfect blend of Old World matchmaker combined with a 21st century lifestyle compatibility counselor. Daichman meets each client individually and uses a personality test created by a marriage counselor to make sure the partners she matches are compatible on many levels. She looks at photos and matches people by how they look as a couple along with how their personality profiles match.

“After all these years, you get a sense of who is going to make a cute couple,” says Daichman, looking at client files at her office suite at 4050 Innslake Drive.

As she holds up files and matches photos, indeed, cute couples begin to take form.

Even so, Daichman prefers that people meet each other personally rather than seeing a photo first. She said people who judge others by looks only are often blinded by appearance to obvious incompatibilities.

“I want them to consider values, goals, hobbies…and then I want that chemistry to be there,” she says.

After the match and the initial phone call, Daichman recommends lunch as a good first date, noting that lunchtime doesn’t include the pressure of a “good night kiss.” From there, clients send Daichman an evaluation of the date, on which they indicate whether they want to meet someone else or pursue another date with the same person.

Feedback from the client and Daichman’s constant evaluation helps fine-tune the meeting process until the client’s goal is met, whether that goal is a casual, long-term or marriage relationship.

The first step with It Takes Two for new clients is a personal meeting and evaluation. The evaluation is free and takes about 90 minutes. Then Daichman’s work begins. She’ll begin to recommend matches, and the client decides whether to call and set up a date.

Clearly, Daichman has a magic touch, having shot enough of Cupid’s arrows in the right direction to fill a book of testimonials:

“Thank you for introducing me to the love of my life,” writes one client.

“At first I felt awkward and somehow a little embarrassed,” writes a client named Shirley. “I found…Carrie to be extremely professional, understanding and reassuring. A very kind person.”

“You are a great friend,” writes another satisfied customer.

It Takes 2 opened in 1998, after Daichman left another national dating service. She said she keeps her business local and small so she can maintain a personal touch. Daichman said her clients range in ages from early 20s to well past retirement age.

“I never give up,” says Daichman, who is single herself. She says being single is an asset because she can truly empathize with her clients. “There’s someone out there for everyone.”