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Meet Scott: Customer Experience Supervisor

When we sat down with Scott to get to know him better, we were also lucky enough to be granted an interview with his beautiful beard. Here's what that ginger masterpiece had to say:


What's your favorite food to capture? 

I'm a bit of a connoisseur of cookie crumbs.

Why is life hard for you? 

Sometimes other beards find me intimidating.

Why is life awesome for you? 

My whiskers bring all the girls to the yard.

What's the best part of your day?

When I get my daily shampooing and brushing.

Describe your ideal day.

A sunny afternoon with a cool breeze and an adult beverage.

What's your secret to staying healthy?

A steady diet of whiskey and a boar bristle brush.


Scott donned the most amazing costume for Halloween last year - he went as Alan from The Hangover. 

There was no better way to honor the beard! Now, here's what Scott had to say about himself: 

What are your interests? 

I like to listen to and play music. I play trombone in a local punk rock marching band. I also love hiking, backpacking and most anything in the outdoors.

What are you good at? 

I have a knack for remembering weird details and trivia.  I'd probably be a good Jeopardy! contestant except that I'd refuse to answer in the form of a question.

What is your worst quality? 

That ability to remember inconsequential details and trivia does not carry over into the actually important things I need to remember on a daily basis.  If I don't set reminders, I'll forget almost anything I'm supposed to do on a given day.

What is the biggest risk you've ever taken? 

Deciding that it's okay to work in a field completely outside of my academic background.

What's the most memorable request you've ever seen from a client? 

One client asked us to arrange for a custom-designed novelty cake of a body part. I'll leave it at that. 

Who is your spirit animal? 

Does my beard count?

What are you most proud of? 

I once played trombone in Afrika Bambaataa's dressing room.  I wish I could say he was impressed, but I think mainly he just wanted to go home.

What advice would you give to the 16 year old version of yourself? 

It's okay to not know who you are or what you're doing with your life.  Half of growing up is changing your mind about everything you thought you knew.

Meet Briana: Assistant

Briana's been working as a Fancy Hands assistant for a few months now, and we're happy to have her on the team. 

Here are some recent requests from clients that she's handled: 

  • I need to get a social security card the fastest way possible. Can you call the office closest to me and find out what that entails, and if there’s an application to fill out, please send it to me? 
  • Can you find a professional organizer to come into my home, downsize some items, and pack me up for a move? 
  • Please call my doctor’s office and give them my new insurance information below. Make sure that they accept that plan and if they do, schedule a check-up appointment for me next week. 
  • Please send me quotes for reputable swimming pool cleaners to come clean the algae from my saltwater pool. 

About Briana: 

What are your interests?

I started playing piano and flute when I was very young.  I picked up the guitar in high school and immediately felt like I met my soul mate.

What are you good at? 

I am great at changing my mind - excellent, really.  I’m also good with computers, creative writing, and working under pressure. 

What is your worst quality? 

My friends would tell you that my worst quality is my everlasting addiction to Harry Potter. 

What is the biggest risk you’ve ever taken? 

Packing up and moving to Pittsburgh, not knowing anyone in the city but my mom.  I pretty much just quit my life in Pensacola, decided I was going to get on a plane and see how it went (it went very well, by the way). 

What’s the most memorable request you’ve seen from a customer? 

The first one that comes to mind for me is when a client asked me to research whether or not drinking a glass of water before a cup of coffee would make the effects of the coffee last longer.  It was a unique question, and I learned a lot while researching it.  The answer is "no".

Who is your spirit animal? 

I took a test once that said I was a hawk.  That’s fine with me - I would like to be able to fly! 

What are you most proud of? 

My daughter, Melody.  

What are you normally doing on a Saturday night? 

If I’m not with Melody, I am usually singing with my uncle's band.

What advice would you give to the 16 year-old version of yourself? 

I would tell myself to stop it with the tunnel vision and look at the bigger picture.  Oh, and "GO TO CLASS!"

(click to enlarge image) 

Meet Jon: Developer

Meet the star of our accidental office meme - Sad Jon. 


He and Sad Keanu are besties. 

And now, the questions: 

What are your interests? 

The typical nerdy suspects: scifi, gadgets, beer, etc.

What are you good at? 

Drinking for free via bar trivia.

What is your worst quality? 

I'm one of those people that never stops talking about how they adopted a dog from a shelter.

What's the biggest risk you've ever taken? 

I'm sure it wasn't actually risky, but taking a trapeze class sure as hell felt like it.

What's the most memorable request you've ever seen from a client?

A customer once had us call a whole bunch of places asking about her lost dog, and they were reunited.

What's your favorite request to outsource to your Fancy Hands assistants?

Scheduling appointments. I haven't personally arranged a meeting in months now.

What food do you hate? 

Most condiments. Specifically, mayo and sour cream.

What food do you love? 

Beer. If we're not counting liquids, pretty much anything breakfast related.

Favorite movies, books, TV shows? 

Scifi wins here again. Zombies, robots, various other apocalyptic scenarios.

Do you blog or Tweet or have any social media links you want to share? 

I know not of this "social media".

Who is your spirit animal? 

Does Donatello from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles count?

What are you normally doing on a Saturday night? 

Keeping 3rd Rock and Futurama fresh in my mind. You never know when you might need to know something from there.

What advice would you give to the 16 year old version of yourself? 

I'd stay far, far away from my 16 year old self, since anything I did would most likely result in a time paradox resulting in my death, global thermonuclear war, or some other such catastrophe.

In all seriousness, I (currently) have no regrets. I embrace my mistakes and try to learn from them. Not making a mistake early just means you won't be prepared for it when it inevitably happens. Anything I did at 16 almost certainly shaped my current self, and I'd much accept myself for what I am and focus on the future than dwell on the past and how my life could be different today.

This Is How I Work.

Check out Tessa Miller's full profile of Ted on Lifehacker here

Current gig: Founder/CEO, Fancy Hands

Location: New York, NY

Current mobile device: iPhone 4S

Current computer: 11" MacBook Air, occasionally plugged into the 27" Apple monitor

One word that best describes how you work: Slouching


What apps/software/tools can't you live without?

I spend most of my day in Emacs, which is the only text editor ever invented (it's also a Tetris client, operating system, and punchline). I use Alfred mostly for launching programs and finding files, but recently started using it to view and edit my clipboard history. That's been a game changer. I take a lot of screenshots for some reason and use Skitch for that (version 1—the new version is a totally different app). And of course: OmniFocus, Evernote, TextExpander, 1Password, and Chrome.

What's your workspace set up like?

At the office we have one 40-foot long table that we all sit around. I'll sit there part of the day, at the shared standing desk part of the day, and I'll spend some time on the couch. At my apartment I have this super old desk that I bought from a Goodwill in Portland. It doesn't really fit (space-wise) in our apartment, but I love it.

What's your best time-saving trick?

I try to never do anything twice. If I find myself doing something over and over, I figure out a way to automate it (via Fancy Hands, or Text Expander, or IFTTT). If I find myself thinking, "I should do that thing" more than once without actually doing it, it's pretty clear that I'm not going to do it. So I figure out a way to hand it off to someone else or realize it's not worth thinking about anymore. 

What's your favorite to-do list manager?

I put everything into OmniFocus, but I'm less consistent with working on things on the list. Occasionally I'll go through the list and purge almost everything.

Besides your phone and computer, what gadget can't you live without?

That would be my wife's camera. It's not that I use the camera itself, but she takes tons of pictures of our two kids and I'll check her flickr feed a few times a day or more often when I'm working longer hours. I get more enjoyment out of that gadget than almost any other. I'd probably give up my iPhone before her camera.

What everyday thing are you better at than anyone else?

I'm really great at ignoring the badge numbers on my phone. I don't care how many app store updates there are or unread texts I've received.

What do you listen to while you work?

We have a company Sonos and everybody adds albums to that, but when it's time to put headphones on, I listen to Menomena almost exclusively. I'm a bit obsessed.  

What's your sleep routine like?

I go to bed between midnight and 2 AM most nights. I have two of the world's most amazing alarm clocks to ensure that I never sleep in. They wake me up between 5 and 6 AM to do things like "have juice," "play with trains," and "go to the playground."

What's the best advice you've ever received?

"Go that way, really fast. If something gets in your way... turn."

Ted's home phone screen

Meet Mandie: Assistant

If you're a Fancy Hands client, you've probably had Mandie as an assistant before. 

She's completed over twleve hundred requests for our members. 

She came to visit us for lunch at the Fancy Hands HQ office last month, and being from a small town, she was pretty excited to eat "actual Chinese food from Chinatown!"


WHERE DO YOU LIVE? 

Sumter, SC - Shaw AFB - I can see the flight line from my house. Any f-16 fans?

WHAT ARE YOU GOOD AT? 

Anything that I set my mind to. 

WHAT IS YOUR WORST QUALITY? 

I don't always think before I speak. I can be blunt and passive-aggressive. 

WHAT IS THE BIGGEST RISK YOU'VE EVER TAKEN? 

Quitting two jobs and packing up all my belongings into my little car and moving to Louisiana. It was the best mistake I ever made, and I'd do it again.

WHAT'S THE MOST MEMORABLE REQUEST YOU'VE SEEN FROM A CUSTOMER? 

I once worked on a very involved task where I found and purchased a specific stuffed animal for a hospital patient that wasn't available in the hospital's gift shop. Then I arranged for the gift shop to receive the purchase and deliver it to the patient's room. 

Another time, I contacted an international brewery that doesn't sell their product in the US and convinced them to ship their beer to NY for a client. I contacted the ABC Board of NY and US Customs to make sure the beer wouldn't get hung up by either agency. 

WHO IS YOUR SPIRIT ANIMAL?

According to the Almighty Google: an otter. 

According to my imagination: a green-polka-dotted alien.

WHAT'S YOUR FAVORITE SONG?

Angtoria - Six Feet Under is Not Enough

WHAT ARE YOU MOST PROUD OF?

Paying off about 20k in debt in 2 years by working my butt off; I'm ashamed I was so stupid to begin with. 

WHAT ARE YOU NORMALLY DOING ON A SATURDAY NIGHT?

I'm getting too old and have too many adult responsibilities to "celebrate" EVERY weekend, but I like going to the Art Bar for nightlife. 75% of the time I'm working. 

WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO THE 16 YEAR OLD VERSION OF YOURSELF?

Don't do it! I was really a stupid kid when I was 16. Luckily I was just smart enough to not get caught. 

Meet Kurt: VP of Engineering

What are your interests? 

Improv, Running, Code.

What is your worst quality? 


Sometimes, it can take a little while for me to find my groove when I'm working.  But once I get rolling I am generally unstoppable.  

What is the biggest risk you've ever taken? 

Leaving a comfy and cushy job to start an office in the Middle East.

What's the most memorable Fancy Hands request you've seen from a customer? 

I am a big user of the service myself - I was a customer for over a year before I started working here.  

The most memorable request I have is a tie between:

a) Fancy Hands found me a boat rental place near NYC that would actually let me sail the boat myself.  It took 26 calls for them to find a place, but they got it done.

b) I moved, and Fancy Hands got my cable set up on the first day without any signup fee and negotiated a rate (taxes included) lower than what was advertised on the web, which was already on sale.

What's your favorite request to give to our Fancy Hands assistants? 

I need to book a practice space every week, which requires calling an average of five places.  Fancy Hands does all these calls for me.

What food do you hate?

Suburbia Pizza.  This will probably ruffle some feathers, but 90% of America lives with bad pizza.  

Someone should do something.

What food do you love? 

Mexican food.  I want to live at Dos Toros.

Movies, books, TV, video games? What do you like? 

I don't really dig on video games.  I have become an old man.

God, I need to read more books.  Please don't let people know I'm basically illiterate.

I love Breaking Bad and Mad Men.  I wish I could just subscribe to AMC.

Blog/Twitter? Any social media links you want to share? 

I guess my Tumblr.  The theme is pretty tight. 

Who is your spirit animal? 

A rabid dog.

What are you most proud of? 

I ran a marathon last year without training at all.

What are you normally doing on a Saturday night? 

At an improv show - watching or performing.

What advice would you give to the 16-year old version of yourself? 

Work harder.  Keep working harder.

Meet Orry: Front End Developer

Orry not only makes things work on our website, he combines his technical knowledge with a flair for design, creativity, and a sense of humor.

Find the “USA” at the bottom of our homepage and click on it a few different times for a variety of patriotic video entertainment, thanks to Orry. 

He also created a genius Chrome extension that he named “Netflix Rottenizer”, which lays Rotten Tomatoes' ratings over your Netflix page so that you can see movie ratings as you make your selections. Get it for free here


WHAT ARE YOUR INTERESTS? 

Drumming, guitaring, skee-balling, building things, world domination.

WHAT ARE YOU GOOD AT? 

Everything above except for skeeball... and world domination. 

WHAT IS YOUR WORST QUALITY? 

(This field intentionally left blank.)

WHAT'S YOUR FAVORITE REQUEST TO GIVE TO OUR FANCY HANDS ASSISTANTS?

My favorite requests involve asking random bits of information. For example: how far underwater is the L train buried in the East River? (47 feet, according to Jennifer D).

I also like using FH to make phone calls for me. They've made me haircut appointments, found ticket availability at venues, found me a flight school, and even cleared up some legal issues.

MOVIES, BOOKS, TV, VIDEO GAMES - WHAT'S YOUR FAVORITE?

Back to the Future, Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Arrested Development, and Monkey Island, in respective order.

WHO IS YOUR SPIRIT ANIMAL?

The owl. 

WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO THE 16 YEAR OLD VERSION OF YOURSELF?

Don't take the Explorer off-roading in a construction zone, trust me, it's not worth it. Also, you're not gonna impress anyone by chugging that bottle of Svedka at AK's house senior year. Not worth the cleanup, dude.

Meet Lena Service: Assistant

It must be fate that Lena’s last name is Service. She’s one of our most beloved assistants, well known for her attention to detail and her desire to go above and beyond for our clients. She consistently receives a “thumbs up” feedback. Here are some tasks she’s recently received high praise for: 

“Find a specific pair of jeans for my girlfriend that I’ve not been able to locate.“

Lena tracked down this highly desired denim for a customer by calling multiple stores across the country. When they were located, she worked with the client to get the jeans ordered and shipped in time for them to be wrapped and waiting under the Christmas tree for one lucky lady. 

“Set a lunch with Mr. Williams somewhere that works for both of our locations and schedules.”

Did you know that your Fancy Hands assistant can set appointments and put them in your calendar for you? This is one of those requests that sounds simple but can actually take a lot of work and time to complete. 

The above request, for example, ended up with Lena sending 27 emails. She found openings in our client’s calendar, worked with Mr. Williams to find a coordinating opening in his calendar, found a restaurant that was well reviewed and convenient for both men, confirmed the appointment with Mr. Williams, and put it in our client’s calendar. 

…then our client had a conflict come up and asked her to reschedule the lunch. Lena started the whole process over, happily. 

“I want some juices from the organic juice place in my town delivered to me. Here are the flavors I want, can you figure that out for tomorrow?”

Turns out the eco-friendly folks at the organic juice place deliver by bicycle only, and the client lived out of their delivery range. Lena arranged for overnight shipping, so the juices were on the client’s doorstep the next morning, just in time for a blueberry flax-seed, hemp-oil, tofu-infused breakfast treat. 

“My credit card keeps getting charged a monthly fee for something that I don’t think I ever signed up for – can you sort this out and have it stopped?”

When our clients need things handled with their private accounts, our assistants can patch them in briefly so that customer service can verify their identity and confirm that the assistant is authorized to speak on their behalf. 

Lena was successful in getting this client ‘s recurring charges canceled, and she scored them a $330 refund for 8 months of inaccurate fees. Lena made 5 phone calls for this task, and spent a total of 54 minutes on the phone.

A little background info about Lena: 

WHERE DO YOU LIVE?

Yacolt, WA ... Really the middle of nowhere!

WHAT ARE YOUR INTERESTS?

Reading, writing, art, computers, languages, law, accounting and FASHION!

WHAT ARE YOU GOOD AT?

Hunting someone down on the internet. My skills are lethal!

WHAT'S THE MOST MEMORABLE REQUEST YOU'VE SEEN FROM A CUSTOMER?

We get fashion related requests from a client, asking for inspiration. I love that!

WHO IS YOUR SPIRIT ANIMAL?

A cat...Taco, the wonder cat...

WHAT ARE YOU MOST PROUD OF?

My two children - how smart and amazing they both are! Followed by my ability to retain and recite information. 

WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO THE 16 YEAR OLD VERSION OF YOURSELF?

Enjoy school - you'll miss the socializing during lunch times. The real world is harder than you think. And take the lapidary course that you were offered!

Take note: don’t pass out around Lena. She will…play poker on you!?!

Meet Dave: Art Director

Dave makes everything pretty at Fancy Hands. He not only designed the website, but he played a major role in making our offices feel inviting and fun. 
 
He rarely arrives at work empty handed. He loves to bring art and cheap beer in to share with the team. He's on a mission to find the worst, cheapest beer in all the land.
 
WHAT IS YOUR WORST QUALITY? 

My A.D.D. Sometimes it's hard for me to approach things linearly. That can be both good and bad in my line of work.
 
WHAT IS THE BIGGEST RISK YOU'VE EVER TAKEN? 
I quit my corporate job and went to work at CollegeHumor. It was a great time in my life. I grew a lot, CollegeHumor took off, and it set me on the track to work in tech (and startups). The risk paid off tenfold and I couldn't be happier or more thankful for it.
 
WHAT'S THE MOST MEMORABLE REQUEST YOU'VE SEEN FROM A CUSTOMER?
The request itself was fairly common - "Shoes that I ordered have been lost in transit. Please help me find them." The amount of communication that it took to find the shoes and get them delivered to the correct address was incredible.  The assistant made numerous calls to different call centers and warehouses, and the assistant even negotiated some free credit towards our customer’s next order for all of the trouble.
 
WHAT'S YOUR FAVORITE REQUEST TO GIVE TO OUR FANCY HANDS ASSISTANTS?
New York's got a lot of great restaurants but I hate calling around to get reservations.  I like to have our assistants hash out the details, and I just show up when it's time. 
 
WHAT FOOD DO YOU HATE? 
Seafood.  Puke.
 
WHO IS YOUR SPIRIT ANIMAL?
Skittles, my dead cat.  He ruled in life, and I'm sure he'd rule in spirit.  
 
WHAT ARE YOU MOST PROUD OF?
I'm proud to work at Fancy Hands. I've been fortunate in my career and it's all led me here. Work environment is a huge factor in my happiness, since we all spend so much time working. Everyone here is great, the atmosphere is laid back, the work is collaborative, and we're so engaged in making something that love. I think it shows in what we've accomplished so far, and I'm really proud of that.
 
Other than that….I'm proud to own an 80lb bronze bust – it’s just hanging out in the living room of my apartment.  It was a cool find. 
 
WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO THE 16 YEAR OLD VERSION OF YOURSELF?
-Life is a lot bigger then the world you currently live in.  There's so much more to experience.
-You have choices. Lots of choices. There will always be things out of your control, but don't underestimate the amount of choices have in front of you.
-Stop being an idiot.
 
Here’s Dave dressed as Tobias Fünke, Arrested Development’s “Never Nude”.
 

The Request Hall of Fame

Your Fancy Hands assistants are an amazing group of people. Based all over the United States, they’re a wide variety of moms, dads, students, artists, and geeks.
(We're big geek fans here at FH!)
We asked some of our assistants to share the most memorable request they’ve ever completed for a Fancy Hands customer and, together, we took a trip down memory lane.
We had a customer who lost a dog.  We worked on a number of requests related to finding him, and guess what…we did! - Allen L. 
I found destinations in Europe for an awesome bachelor party that involved guests from all over the world. - Caroline R. 
Someone asked me to calculate the circumference of the earth in centimeters. – Reuben P. 
I researched a vasectomy for an interested client…there was a video involved…I’ve never forgotten that one! - Mandie S.
I looked for carpet cleaners in New York. It brought me back to the time when I lived there. –Evangelina R.
I once answered a request to call a gentleman's mother (who was a volunteer summer school teacher) and encourage her to continue because her contribution was invaluable. In looking for quotes to use, I found nothing that conveyed his description of her service, so I chose to write her a poem just for her. He later sent me a thank you telling me that she called him crying because she loved it so much, and she wanted to know who the author was. I emailed him a copy to which he replied, “your kindness had no measure today. Thank you for all you did.” I will always remember that task. - Tina C. 
We have a designer client who asks us to pull images with different themes for his mood boards. I love that.   - Lena S. 
I was asked to call a girl's mother at work and deliver a 'singing telegram.' I created an original, pretty wacky rendition of the “Happy Birthday” song and sang my heart out. It was fun! - Tasha S.
I negotiated a press pass for a client to go to the Running of the Bulls in Spain.  - Shauna L. 

Meet Lindsay: Community Support Manager




WHAT ARE YOUR INTERESTS? 
Music (playing & listening), running, eating.


WHAT ARE YOU GOOD AT? 
Singing (mostly karaoke) and bustin' a sweet dance move. Laughing at inappropriate times.

WHAT IS YOUR WORST QUALITY? 
I like referring to a group of people as "Y'all" even though I'm from New Jersey, not the South. Also, I call people out when they should have used "well" instead of "good". It's a pet peeve of mine. And it's annoying. 

WHAT IS THE BIGGEST RISK YOU'VE EVER TAKEN? 
I went skydiving once. I guess that was a pretty big risk. 

WHAT'S THE MOST MEMORABLE REQUEST YOU'VE SEEN FROM A CUSTOMER?
A lot of wedding requests, in particular where to plan a cheap mani-pedi party for bridal party, and groomsmen gift ideas. 

WHAT'S YOUR FAVORITE REQUEST TO GIVE TO OUR FANCY HANDS ASSISTANTS?
Where's the closest place that will deliver a certain type of food to me? 

WHAT FOOD DO YOU HATE? 
Anchovies. 

WHAT FOOD DO YOU LOVE? 
Cheese. Lox Specials. Thai.  

SOCIAL MEDIA?
Twitter: @lindsayraefish

WHO IS YOUR SPIRIT ANIMAL?
According to the quiz on Ke$ha's website, I'm a wolf. 

WHAT'S YOUR FAVORITE SONG ON THE COMPANY SONOS?
"Macho Man"- The Village People

WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO THE 16 YEAR OLD VERSION OF YOURSELF?
You're pretty awesome as you are, so even though that belly chain seems like a good idea, don't do it. Only Christina Aguilera can pull that off. 

Here's Lindsay as Daryl Hall, AKA 1/2 of Hall & Oates, Halloween 2012. 



Cool story, bro.

Our founder, Ted Roden, was just named the 51st Coolest Person in Silicon Alley. 
When asked to comment, George Clooney said "it's clear that Brad Pitt and I will soon have to share the spotlight with Ted and battle for the title of Sexiest Man Alive. Until then, I'll just be chillin' in my snorkeling gear and bathrobe that Fancy Hands found me at a 20% discount."

Making The Big Move.

Meet Nick Mercer. He’s living the dream. 
Well…okay, he’s not living the dream just yet. But he’s working towards it. 
Last month, Nick strapped his worldly possessions to the back of his motorcycle 
and drove five hours from his hometown of Syracuse to NYC.
Nick is a developer here at Fancy Hands. He began his first day twelve hours after he moved to the city. He was a couch surfer by night and a coder by day. 
 
After his first week, he came into the office with a sad face and said, “People are sick of me crashing at their place. I gotta find an apartment.”
How lucky he is to work at Fancy Hands! We put our assistants on the case, and here’s what they did: 
TASK #1: FIND AVAILABLE APARTMENTS IN BROOKLYN. 
We gave the assistants Nick’s budget and a few neighborhoods that he was interested in. They sent back a list of 25 available apartments,  links to pictures for each one, and the contact information of the leasing companies. 
TASK#2: MAKE APPOINTMENTS TO VIEW APARTMENTS. 
Nick reviewed his choices, picked 8 that he liked the looks of, and the Fancy Hands assistants set appointments for him to check them out. Once the appointments were set, the assistants entered them into Nick’s Google calendar along with all of the pertinent information. Easy breezy.
TASK #3: FIND A MATTRESS STORE WITH LOW PRICES.
Nick signed his lease. Yay! Next, he needed a bed, because, although his box maze was a lot of fun, it wasn’t very soft. 
The assistants sent Nick a list of 5 of the most reputable, affordable mattress companies that would deliver a queen-sized mattress to him on a weekend. Boom.
TASK #4: ORDER MATTRESS AND SET UP DELIVERY FOR SATURDAY.
(NOT TOO EARLY. NICK LIKES TO SLEEP IN.) 
Once Nick decided which mattress he wanted, he gave that information to an assistant and they took care of the rest. 
TASK #5: ORDER GROCERIES TO BE DELIVERED AROUND THE SAME TIME AS THE MATTRESS. 
Nick needed toilet paper, paper towels, cereal, milk, a broom, a sponge, shampoo, conditioner, soap, potato chips, and of course, beer. A Fancy Hands assistant placed the order for him and scheduled a Saturday delivery. 
TASK #6: RESEARCH ROUTES TO WORK FROM NEW APARTMENT. 
Sometimes, Nick will power into work on his bike like a modern James Dean. 
But he also needs to know how to take a bus and a subway to Fancy Hands HQ. The assistants sent him step-by-step instructions for all three modes of transport. 
TASK #7: RESEARCH RESTAURANTS IN THE NEW ‘HOOD, SUPA-CHEAP & MEDIUM-PRICED.
The assistants sent Nick a list of ten local dives and ten local date spots. 
Which leads us to…
TASK #8: FIND AND BOOK A CHEAP HOUSEKEEPER TO CLEAN THE APARTMENT ONCE A MONTH. 
Because every girlfriend likes nice restaurants, and roach-free apartments. 
Nick is now happily settled in his new home, thanks to the assistants at Fancy Hands, and we’re glad to have him on our team. 
I did try to convince him that the locals say “Bapple” – short for Big Apple, hoping that he’d start saying that a lot, like “Yeah, I’m just chillin’ in the Bapple, what’s up with you?” but he didn’t take the bait. 
Already skeptical of what people tell him…he’ll do well in New York. 

My New Assistants Rock, and They Can Be Yours, Too.

Am I busy? Duh. These days, we all are.

Don’t let that cute smile on my face fool ya, I’m stressed out.

Almost every night, just before I fall asleep, a nagging thought leaps through my brain. You forgot to make that important appointment. Again.  Something has always fallen through the cracks.

Enter: Fancy Hands. Not only a solution for the problem, but my new employer, as well.


 

I’m the Director of Communications, which means that I’m in charge of these here words. 

You can read about how I joined Fancy Hands right here. The media made the transition sound scandalous, but it really wasn't. Ted didn't even get to hang out with Tyra. And that's a shame, because he has a fabulous runway walk. 

The best thing about my new job is that I get to try Fancy Hands out as a customer. Hot damn!

Fancy Hands is an assistant service, and Ted is the founder. Here he is with his favorite friend, Rasta Banana, at The Feast of San Genarro in Little Italy. Hi, Ted! 

Ted was so busy writing a book, working a day job, and being a dad that his to-do list became an impossible mountain of tasks. So he built a software program and hired a team of assistants to handle it.

(Most people would have just turned to drinking. Lucky for us, Ted is more ambitious than that.)

And now here I am, one year later, joining the company and happily turning my to-do list over to his team.

I signed up for an account with my personal email address so I wouldn’t get any special treatment, and started assigning jobs to the assistants.

TASK #1: CONFIRM A CREDIT.

My apartment building had to be exterminated a few weeks ago, which meant that my grumpy cat took a trip to the kennel.

I had emailed the receipt to my building management for a rental credit but hadn’t heard back.

My Fancy Hands assistant called and spoke with the management company and confirmed that a credit was being processed to my account.

As an added bonus, my landlord probably thinks that my standing in the world has somehow risen, since I suddenly have an assistant handling these types of things for me.

TASK #2: TELL THE NY SUPREME COURT THAT THEY’RE WRONG.

I served on a grand jury for a month in July. That’s right, every day, from 1-5pm, for a month, people. I have paid my dues as a citizen, and was told at the conclusion of my service that I’m excused from serving on a jury for the next eight years. 

Imagine my less-than-overjoyed reaction when I received a notice in the mail last week that I am DELINQUENT FOR SERVICE.

Um…say what?

My Fancy Hands assistant held patiently on the phone and cleared this matter up with the court system. Thank God.

These are the types of mind-numbing calls that can throw your whole day off. It made me feel so light and happy to know that I didn’t have to deal with this. I skipped down the street. I sang show tunes. I hugged strangers.

TASK #3: GET AN AVERAGE NUMBER OF A LIST.

As I settled in during my first week at Fancy Hands, I wanted to learn more about our customers. I had a list of our clients’ birthdates in front of me, but…

I have a photography degree. That means I can take pretty pictures, but I don’t know how to get an average from thousands of birthdates.

I started Googling things like

How can I get an average age from a list of birthdates since I’m dumb?

and I even made a foolish attempt at entering an equation of sum averages into an Excel sheet,

and then I thought – wait, I don’t have to be good at math, I have a Fancy Hands assistant!

In your face, Mrs. Williams (my 9th grade algebra teacher who insisted that I “would never make it without math in the real world”)!

I shot the birthdates over to my Fancy Hands assistant and received a reply in lightning fast time.

The average age of our customers is 33. Good to know!

TASK #4: SCHEDULE A TOUR WITH MY FRIEND & BOOK IT WITH THE COMPANY.

A while ago, I bought two tickets for a walking food tour of Greenwich Village. I don’t really know what that is, but it sounds fun. The tickets have been sitting on my counter for months, in “gotta-schedule-that-soon” purgatory.

I knew this was a perfect task for my Fancy Hands assistant. I scanned the tickets over to her and gave her my friend’s contact information. She gathered available dates from the tour company, confirmed what would work with my friend, and booked the tour.

Four tasks in my first week - all completed to my great satisfaction by a Fancy Hands assistant.

Using Fancy Hands saved me time, frustration, and it made me feel good.  

Simplify your life today with 

and let me know how it goes over on Twitter!

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