Day: July 26, 2025

• Jennifer Donnelly is a Dallas-based matchmaker who’s set up hundreds of couples.
• She works with ultra-high net worth individuals, charging rates from $150,000 to $500,000.
• Part of the job, she says, is pushing back when what a client wants isn’t what they need.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Jennifer Donnelly, a Dallas-based matchmaker for wealthy individuals. It’s been edited for length and clarity.

I work with some of the world’s most influential people to help them find that compatible partner. My sorority sister is married through me, and the person who lived across the street from me when I was eight years old is married through me. It’s such a rewarding career.

Out of college, I worked for a company that matched people for dating. It was a really high volume of people, like thousands, at a lower price point, and we were only matching people inside that service.

But I wanted to be able to meet the client, get to know them, and search all over for the right fit. So I said, if I do this again, it should be for fewer clients at a higher price point to deliver exceptional results.

I’ve been matchmaking specifically for wealthier clients for the past 10 years. Usually, around 30 to 40% of my month is spent traveling for work. I’m able to go search and hop on a plane to meet with a candidate and screen them. I can do things now that I never was able to do in the previous company.

My network and reputation built my clientele. One of my first clients was a well-known billionaire, and then he started referring other people directly to me.

My clients have incredibly high expectations, but I do too. My clients often say, “Jennifer, I think you might be even more selective than I am.”

For clients, my rates are for a 1-year period. They start at $150,000, which is generally for a search within a certain city. Then $250,000 is typically for a whole state, and at $500,000, we do a nationwide search. We gauge the rate based on the market and size. The candidates never pay.

When I initially meet a prospective client, we go through at least two interviews, if not three. My clients are understandably very private, so I have to get them comfortable being vulnerable because I can only be as good as they allow me to be. I’ll be a lot more effective the more information I have.

Often, wealthy men are used to people telling them what they want to hear. I don’t do that. This is about being effective and having a successful outcome. And oftentimes that requires a level of honesty that somebody hasn’t presented to them before.

Sometimes what people want and what they need is different. “Well, I want her to have an incredible career, to be a great mom, to be able to travel at a moment’s notice because I’ve got a plane.” And how can all of those things fit? Let’s talk about what really matters in the relationship.

When we start, I explain it might take up to six weeks. But if we’re at six weeks, and I have not found the person, I’m not going to just put somebody in front of them. I’ll just keep looking.

We create strategy plans for each client. We create a profile of what we envision for that client, and then we’ll say, “Okay, how are we going to find people like this?” and then we’ll start working through our network.

The good thing is we’re incredibly well-connected. It would be highly unusual if there was a candidate we wanted that I couldn’t get through somebody I know.

It’s important that they truly want a relationship. I always ask candidates, “Are you dating anybody? Does anybody think they’re dating you? You could end up married; are you ready for that?” There’s other matchmakers that can create dates. I’m really trying to create relationships.

We’ll conduct sometimes over 100 interviews before a client goes on one date. We want to make sure this isn’t a waste of time for the client or the candidate; we would like to think we’re matching for both people.

As far as dates go, it can be as simple as dinner to something much more elaborate. The client can decide if they’d like to help plan it, or leave it to us or have their assistants plan it.

I love attending the weddings of couples I’ve matched. That’s the prize for me. It’s like, OK, I did it, this is why I’m in this profession.

But oftentimes the couple will tell me at their wedding, “Hey, please don’t mention you’re a matchmaker. Just say you’re a ‘consultant.'”

• I joined an AI training session for KPMG interns at the firm’s training center in Florida.
• The Big Four firm recommended their interns try out five prompting techniques.
• The session showed me that learning to use AI is more about using language well than tech skills.

On a sweaty Monday morning in June, I joined 90 KPMG tax interns in an air-conditioned classroom in Florida.

We were there for one reason: to learn how to use AI.

We gathered at Lakehouse, KPMG’s gleaming training facility in Lake Nona, Florida. I had been invited to spend two days at the facility as part of my ongoing reporting about AI and the consulting industry, and as the class had already started, I slipped in quietly and took a seat.

Given that KPMG helps some of the world’s biggest companies figure out how to use AI, I was curious to see how the consulting giant was teaching its own employees to use the technology.

My biggest takeaway? Upskilling for the AI era can be surprisingly basic.

The five ways of asking AI a question

Four large screens — two on each wall— hung down from the ceiling in the classroom, and the 90 interns sat around circular tables in groups of six.

Sherry Magee, a senior director at KPMG, told me during a tour of the property that the space was designed so there was no “front row of the classroom,” which she said encourages participation.

The training session was run by two KPMG employees. They opened with a question about the interns’ use of AI: “Who just generally goes straight to it and just starts typing?”

Pretty much everyone in the room raised a hand.

One of the instructors explained that instead of chatting with AI, there were five prompting techniques they could use to adjust the model’s response to get the “best, most relevant, and accurate output.”

The techniques are:

1. Chunking: dividing a large prompt into smaller, more manageable requests
2. Few-shot prompting: giving the AI a few examples to guide its response
3. Iterative question refinement: repeatedly rephrasing or refining your questions to lead the AI to a more precise response
4. Chain of thought prompting: asking AI to include a breakdown of how it has reached an answer
5. Flipped interaction prompting: requesting that the AI ask you questions to prompt new thoughts

They work best for different tasks, the instructors explained. For example, a “chain of thought” prompt can be useful to get AI to show its work. This “thinking aloud” approach is more transparent and can be useful for tax professionals who need to check the results for inaccuracies.

“Flipped interaction” prompts could be used in a tax setting to prepare a client profile or to tailor advice.

The instructor told the interns that asking AI to prompt them with questions can be helpful for “making you think of things you don’t often think of yourself.”

Echoes from my journalism degree

The two-hour training session covered the foundations of KPMG’s AI tool for tax, the Digital Gateway. It also explained the concept of AI personas, introduced techniques to reduce hallucinations, and taught the interns KPMG’s key ethical principles to apply when using AI.

The interns were also taught how to provide AI tools with the right detail and tone for their target audience.

I’m no tax expert, but I am a journalist — and what struck me during the session is how much these teachings echoed the ones I was taught in journalism school. The success of an interview hinges on the quality of the questions I ask the other person. As KPMG stressed in its training sessions, by thinking about how you communicate information to an AI, you can also get the most helpful outcome from said AI.

“The more detail you give it, the more likely it is to predict the next thing correctly,” explained the instructor.

The intern training focused on admin-related examples of using AI, like drafting emails or creating slide decks. It wasn’t the most complicated or advanced stuff, but the session I attended was for summer interns in the tax division, so I wasn’t seeing how the firm’s leading technicians tackle AI.

More senior employees are using AI for industry research and preliminary audit memos, Becky Sproul, a KPMG audit partner, told me during an interview later that day.

They’re presenting AI with client documentation, auditing, and accounting standards, and asking it to write “a memo going through all the various attributes of the accounting standard,” she said.

That preliminary work can help get tax professionals “80% of the way there,” Sproul said.

The firm is also building AI agents where the “agent almost becomes like a team member,” and is using engagement metrics to encourage employees to use AI, she said.

The other Big Four firms — Deloitte, EY, and PwC — have also deployed agentic AI platforms this year, which they all present as being transformative for the workforce and productivity.

Teaching methods

The simple teaching methods used in the session were another reminder that while AI is complicated, learning how to use it doesn’t have to be.

The interns were learning about technology that is transforming workplaces, but they were still using large cardboard flipboards to share their ideas.

The session had one extra reminder for workers in the AI age: Take a break from your screen.

At one point, an employee from the Lakehouse’s “stretch” team, its on-site gym, ran into the center of the room and announced he was there to lead them through a “wellness break,” which entailed five minutes of stretching and breathwork accompanied by relaxing music.

The interns stood up with bemused expressions, but soon the whole class was loosening up, which the instructor told them would help them stay focused.

“This is what we signed up for, right?” I heard one intern joke as he lunged forward.

Choosing to prioritize my reporting over a relaxing stretch, I didn’t join in.

Have a tip? Contact this reporter via email at pthompson@businessinsider.com or Signal at Polly_Thompson.89. Use a personal email address and a nonwork device; here’s our guide to sharing information securely.

• Sarah Moliski is a prolific villain in Chinese-style mini-dramas.
• Her characters have stolen sperm and arranged drunken abortions.
• She said that overcompensating on set, so people know she’s a good person, can be exhausting.

This as-told-to essay is based on a transcribed conversation with 32-year-old Sarah Moliski, based in Los Angeles. It has been edited for length and clarity.

As an actor on the digital circuit, I usually get cast as the villain. In YouTube giant Dhar Mann‘s videos, I was always the mean girl — the evil babysitter, the mean cheerleader, the lesson to be had.

I think it’s due to having blonde hair and a strong personality.

Today, I’ve made a name as a villain in the vertical mini-drama space, an explosively popular format born in China. At this point, it really does come naturally to me. At ReelShort, I’ve won awards and have dedicated fan pages, and I’m proud of that.

In a lot of verticals, the female lead is sweet and innocent, almost like a Disney princess. But if the villain’s not there, there’s no story. We bring the spice, the stunts, and the drama.

Some of the stories are crazy. In “Hillbilly Girlie Marries a Billionaire,” I take a man’s sperm and get myself pregnant with it to prove we had sex. Then, it turns out it was the maid’s husband’s sperm. In “His One and Only Love,” I hire a drunk doctor to give someone an abortion.

There’s a lot of food stuff where I’ll throw food at people.

Being a villain is fun because there are a lot of different layers to them. They’re not just mean-spirited — there’s always a reason. I like adding precursor stories about what hurt me, like having an unrequited crush on my enemies, or that my parents didn’t love me. The mannerisms and physical comedy are like the fun little frosting on top.

But there are so many times when I feel bad — especially if it’s with a greener actor or someone I’m not already friends with — because I’m an emotional person and it’s hard for me to be mean to people.

I’ve also gotten hate online for years, especially when I was on YouTube, but nowadays, most people understand that these are soap operas, and I’ve gotten better about not paying attention to it.

Sometimes, I also feel like I have to overcompensate and be everyone’s best friend on set.

Sometimes I feel drained because there’s already so much prep and memorization — we do 17 to 18 pages a day — and then you also want to be really cool and likeable. That can be exhausting — trying to prove that you aren’t a villain. When I get home, I need to rot on the couch. I have absolutely no energy to socialize.

Pushing for more powerful lead roles for women

Being an aspiring actor in New York, you have to have a subway rat mentality. You have to make money to eat. It’s a kind of grit and determination unique to the city.

I’ve had other jobs in addition to acting, including as a red carpet host, standup comic, and personal assistant to celebrities.

When I let go of achieving superstardom and comparative thinking and embraced the goal of simply making enough money to exist — and having fun while doing it — that’s when I fell into verticals, and it changed everything for me.

I shot my first vertical two years ago after submitting a self-tape online and booking the role of an 18-year-old bully in “Ms. Swan, Teach Me Love.” I wasn’t familiar with mini-dramas at the time, but after seeing new casting opportunities continue to be posted and others achieving success, I decided I wanted to try to become a staple in the space.

Every actor’s biggest dream is consistency. Even today, I’m astonished by the view counts. Even the ones that aren’t doing as well are still getting 20 million views. And the fans are so invested.

Today, myself and others are pushing for stronger female lead roles. I just wrapped my first lead, the best vertical script I’ve ever read. It’s about a twin avenging her sister’s murder. I’d describe the character as a mix of Angelina Jolie in “Tomb Raider” and Rosamund Pike in “Gone Girl.” She’s really fun and complex.

In the future, I would love to help the vertical industry continue to grow. In addition to acting, I work in casting for ReelShort and also created a podcast. I like witnessing how this space is changing so many people’s lives.