In both work and love, Emma moves efficiently from project to project but is missing out on planting real roots. It doesn’t help that she works in a female dominated industry and has found herself in the app trap of good dates followed by ghosting. Get her on a one-on-one basis and she’s deep, romantic and open to making some bold changes.

The consultation

Friday, 2pm, House of St Barnabas 

According to fashion PR Emma, 27, her lack of experience with dating is due to losing her dad at a young age and not being comfortable to open herself up to new people.

My impression is she needs to ask more from the men she dates, since conversationally she gives a lot and is both a good sharer and hugely empathetic. This empathy means she has dated guys more on the introverted side, often with complex issues or who are unhappy with their careers.

They rarely end up having the personalities she projects on to them. Emma’s take on things is she also scares some away with enthusiasm. I think she hasn’t found (or picked) a secure and kind man worth her time. That’s fixable, but not without some work on herself, too.

The match

Adi, 29, is a US financier-turned-actor, who has the quasi-enlightened perspective of someone who has leapt out of the corporate world to the creative. Calm, kind, a great listener and handsome would be most first-date impressions. In the past, Emma has been drawn to creative types and East London lookers. Adi is comfortable connecting, challenging and taking the time to get to know people. They come from very different worlds but my hope is Emma can start to pick out blueprint characteristics for a good guy.

The date

8pm-late, Coppa Club, Tower Bridge

‘The restaurant had amazing views of Tower Bridge, the Shard and some of the Tower of London,’ says Emma. ‘My first impressions of Adi: a really smart, sophisticated looking guy. He’d texted me the day before to break the ice, which was really sweet. Unfortunately, the date didn’t click. Other than our jobs, there wasn’t much to talk about. which was a shame because Adi was very eligible. On the plus side, it’s not every day you get the chance to dine by the river with a handsome New Yorker!’

The verdict

Adi says: 

Spending time with Emma was really nice; she was very sweet and softly-spoken, with a soothing energy. Emma is a very deep person with more wisdom than most. I sadly do not think we’d be very compatible as a couple, due to different interests, but it was a really enjoyable date. 7.5/10

Emma says:

Adi is a lovely guy, very well-travelled, well-mannered and easy to get on with. He’s a perfect 10 for the right girl, but we’re polar opposites so, for me, the
search continues. We’re definitely from different planets, and wouldn’t cross paths normally, but I’m glad I gave it go. 6/10

Nana says… 

This was a major flipping on type but I was so keen to just get a different sort of man in front of Emma. Conversationally it seemed to go well up to a point, but they failed to find enough common ground to create a spark. What I do hope is Emma was at least reminded there are gentlemen out there. He just wasn’t hers.

The dating expert

Nana Wereko-Brobby runs dating events club Social Concierge, for people who prefer to date offline…

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Read more: Dateover — When Sam met Sam