Partly because she was a newlywed and partly because she was a wealth of information, friends called on Robin constantly for dating advice. "I felt like I had a second job," she says. "I was a clearinghouse for information for all my single friends. I wished there was a single source to draw from ? like a Consumer Reports of dating."

Robin cuddles with son Seth outside their home in Great Neck, New York.

When an article she wrote about men and women meeting at Manhattan dog runs was published in New York magazine, Robin took that as her cue to turn her notes about dating into a published guide. How to Meet a Mensch in New York was published in 1994, with a second, expanded edition in 1996. It was around that same time that she lost her job at KCS&A due to some health setbacks. However, "getting fired was the best thing that ever happened to me," she said. "It allowed me to become my own publicist for the book." Pretty soon, Robin was on almost every major television and radio network extolling advice for the dating-challenged.

As the "Love Coach," Robin also became active on the lecture circuit and started to meet and counsel singles privately. To date, she has conducted close to 500 consultations, pointing people in the right direction in their quest for a mate. She has a Web site, www.LoveCoach.com, designed to motivate people and get them thinking more strategically about dating.

Along with her Love Coach business, Robin continued to freelance as a publicist and founded RGN communications. But after working from home for a number of years, Robin says, "I began to feel isolated. I missed the camaraderie of other business women and the inspiration and stimulation I got from being around people." Most of the groups Robin looked into were more about job hunting and networking than about making friends and sharing advice.

Again taking the initiative, Robin founded The Independent Business Women's Circle (www.ibwc.org) six years ago. Keeping the group vibrant and active was initially a great challenge. "At the first meeting 15 women showed up. Some meetings there was only a handful of people. It was hard to keep it going at first." Robin was not sure her fledgling group would make it through its first year, but as word spread, more women joined. Today IBWC has more than 100 paid members and a variety of programs and speakers, for the established female entrepreneur, those who are embarking on their own business and even those who work in the corporate sector but have an enterprising spirit.

IBWC is in fact so successful that Robin is stepping down as executive director so she can spend more time on other projects. "It's bittersweet," she says. "but IBWC is a true testament to making a dream become reality. I refused to believe that my need for the group was unique."

Among her other ventures: Robin is working on a national advice book sequel to How to Meet a Mensch and hopes to write a baby book. She is also intent on finishing the script for a semi-autobiographical play she has been working on for a number of years. In addition, she founded a Long Island playwriting workshop where writers can discuss their work, bring in actors to play out written scenes and provide motivation for one another.

Robin's focus now is definitely on projects more personal in nature. After she and Marc adopted baby Seth in 2003, she founded "Motherhood: Later Than Sooner," a support group for mothers over the age of 35. The need, she found out, was so great for a discussion group of this sort that a second chapter is in the works. The Newmans are also very involved with the Adoption Annex on Long Island, which provides information and support for all things relating to adoption, for couples with and without children and adoptees themselves. Though she remains open to other opportunities, the Adoption Annex is currently Robin's single client, to which she devotes all her PR and programming expertise.

IBWC, Playwrights Circle and "Motherhood: Later Than Sooner" all operate out of a non-profit organization/venue called WomanSpace in Great Neck, New York. For more information on these groups and the Adoption Annex, visit Robin?s Web site at lovecoach.com.