Consultant Doubles as Matchmaker

Hellen Chen has made a business out of love. The Porter Ranch resident, seminar speaker, webinar star and author of 25 self-help books is constantly lecturing and writing about the topic — in the context of white-collar professionals. Chen works as both a matchmaker and a business consultant, counseling couples and companies on how to make relationships work. She specializes in helping career-minded individuals pay attention to their loved ones rather than becoming too focused on their professional lives. “They don’t know how to communicate,” she said. Chen has been married to Helmut Flasch, chief executive of Flasch International, a Granada Hills-based consulting firm for more than 25 years. For more than 20 years, Chen, who specializes in workplace efficiency, has served as a management consultant with corporations, small businesses and government agencies, training in the areas of executive leadership skills, sales and marketing, and staff management. “Hellen believes that an educational training for dealing with relationships – whether at home or at the workplace – will make work and production much easier, less stressful, more enjoyable and, in the end, more take-home income for both owners and staff,” said Yin Chew, Chen’s assistant. Chen admits that she and her spouse may not share identical hobbies but there is nevertheless an important glue making their union work. “We have nothing in common, but the goals are very much the same,” she said. “I’m a very traditional woman – I never want to be a king, I’m a queen.” In terms of matchmaking advice, Chen believes that people who are too picky about their partners need to repair themselves. “The better you are, the better you are for others,” she said. “It’s not just about finding the right person, it’s about if you are right for others.” Further complicating modern romance is the internet, devices and social media, Chen believes. “We live in a world of iPhones, iPads, it is all I’s,’” she said. “In a marriage, if it is all about what ‘I’ like, what ‘I’ want, that marriage will have no chance whatsoever to survive.” One of her books, “Hellen Chen’s Love Seminar,” shares its name with her in-person lectures. In April, Chen conducted one of her seminars at the Hilton in the San Gabriel Valley. On June 30, she will do the same in her hometown, Taipei, Taiwan. – Michael Aushenker