Mary Spio Engineers Love
By Linda Mooney
Mary Spio worked as an engineer for Boeing in El Segundo, Calif., designing, building and launching communications satellites.
Although dedicated to her 10-year space technology career, she rarely found time to do the things she loved including gardening, in-line skating and meeting new people. In fact, Spio had not been on a date in a year and a half.
Two years ago, Spio, then 28, was watching a news program when she learned that she wasn't the only young single person who had put her career ahead of her love life. The show discussed a dramatic shift in the country's dynamic — more and more people were married to their jobs. And single households now outnumbered married households for the first time in history.
Fascinated by the statistics, Spio dug up more information and learned that 82 million Americans, or 40 percent of adults, were single and that 89 percent of those singles had dated fewer than five times in the past year. In other words, nine out of 10 singles were sitting at home.
Spio, an extrovert and a matchmaker among friends, realized that her part time passion had potential as a side business. She decided to create an online matchmaking service to help lead others down a more social path. In her free time, she developed a Web site where lonely singles talked online, gearing it specifically to young professionals too busy to date. She loved the challenge and creativity of designing graphics and setting up her Web site, One2OneMag.Com, a national on-line dating service.
A year after starting her home-based Web site Spio took a huge gamble. She left her six-figure income to run her dating service full-time. In the process, she lost everything. She sold her house and car and depleted her savings account. She even had to take out a loan.
But the risk paid off. In six months, she was out of the red and running an international matchmaking service from her L.A. area headquarters. And her company was so successful that she launched a complementary magazine called One-2-One, in August 2002, reaching more than 100,000 young singles.
One-2-One is a resource of information for singles and offers the scoop on the best careers, vacation spots and places to live for singles, as well as dating tips and monthly profiles on eligible men and women. Spio oversees every aspect of the magazine's production, from helping to write and assign articles to coordinating photo shoots and selecting the shots.
While Spio's old job felt "like pushing something uphill," her new career doesn't even feel like work. "Steering One-2-One feels effortless," she says.
But perhaps the best news is that Spio, now 30, not only engineered a match for other couples, but she also found a love of her own. She is happily involved with Mike Hatlestad, who she met through her company. Now that's a true labor of love.
Spio's advice for people pondering a change, "Let your heart jump and your feet will follow."
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