That Time I Outsourced Authenticity

It sure seemed like a great idea.

After all, I thought writing thank you cards to advisors was a bit of a menial task.

So, in year two of my wholesaling career, I decided to employ an assistant to write the cards.

And who better than Stacy, a 15 year old whose brother was the manager of the local video store?

As I carefully explained the work that I did, and who the audience for the cards would be, she appeared to be following along nicely.

I explained that the cards needed to look like they came from me, so she needed to be mindful of the extra swirliness that accompanies most teenage girls’ penmanship.

On Monday she was outfitted with a stack of thank you cards, envelopes, and boilerplate language designed to express my appreciation for the advisor taking my meeting.

On Friday she returned to my office to proudly display her work.

Apparently my diligent explanations and careful instructions didn’t quite land.

This was evidenced by the cute little circles dotting the i’s and vertigo inducing swoops of her letters.

Lesson learned.

You can’t outsource authenticity.

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