We all grieve our loss of Carmen. But, she is resting in the brighter world. I am getting old and ready to do some resting too, but there is much to be done — as they say in the movies.

But, will there ever be another Carmen? Nobody will ever be like her. But, perhaps there will be someone who will do her work. I get so far behind on emails and phone calls, renewals and more. It is hard to keep up.

I wanted to spend 2021 doing quality control, and I brushed up 1000’s of people’s notes sections and quizzed thousands as well. It took forever, but I did a good job refining my procedures and getting my listings straightened out. There are just so many of them.

I need to be at peace with myself and done with whatever projects I am working on to have time to incubate someone else to help me with my work.

I met several people who sounded promising who wanted to help me work. But, I never followed through. Most of them quit the notary industry after a year anyway. Do I want to work with a quitter? Carmen lasted 17 years and has the emotional scars to prove it. I want someone who will last.

But, the other day a nice lady from Florida called me. She said she wanted to work for me. She wasn’t at all like Carmen, but she was charismatic, great with people, had a customer service background, and was black. I was thinking — will she be the next Carmen? I started having that feeling. You know that feeling when you meet that person and you wonder — is she the one?

I had that feeling when I looked under the sofa and found true love. I said hello and she said “meao.” We became instant lifelong friends and I have the claw marks to prove it. Every time I look under that sofa, many years after Mrs. Meao’s demise, I wonder — will I find true love again under a sofa? Of all the unlikely places. But, I don’t think I will find a new and perfect assistant under a sofa. But, perhaps from a referral or unexpected phone call.

An old contact from 2005 or 2008 surfaced with me. She referred someone to me and that person mentioned her name. Nicole Mickel. She was in the settlement industry and then moved to Real Estate and sells houses in Florida to people moving down from New York. Quite a business. I forgot her exact name, I knew it had an N and an M in it. So, I asked for the contact information for Nicole’s number and called her. She was her charismatic old self. She gave me great hiring advice. She taught me how to hire based on personality type and how to decipher what a person’s personality type is. Mrs. Meao’s personality type was that she liked to snooze and claw people, but I don’t know how this applies to humans.

In any case I feel more emotionally ready to deal with this. When Carmen died, I knew she was sick and I knew she was slowing down. I thought she still had a few more years. Her death was not only traumatic, but just left me there high and dry and emotionally unready.

I think when people die, they should give their friends, family and contacts two years notice. I am slow dealing with stuff.

In any case, to sum it up, I am getting more ready to find a replacement. I will be strategic and try to find a great personality who is disciplined about this type of work and good with people. No promises. whomever it is will not have the technical saavy of Carmen, but might be very helpful and have a great personality. Keep your paws crossed… or fingers.

It is a sad state of affairs when I make this comparison, but yet there are many parallels.

The new signing agent who is on solid ground studies from the best, passes tests, writes nice notes sections on his/her/their listing, and never misrepresents themselves. There are people like this who come across as very professional even though they have no experience to speak of.

Then there are the phony sounding Notaries who try to hype themselves up. They say words about themselves that make them look like they are — all that, but the way they come across is as an amateur and a phony. It is a shame. I deal with people like this all day and I am tired of it. Keep it real please.

Here is what the new signing agents say and what the wannabe players say.

I have a zero percent error rate
Baby, I got what it takes. I could satisfy you.

But, if I do make a mistake — in that unlikely event, I will fix it right away.
Baby, I’ll love you forever, but if something happens, I know how to deal with it. I’ll figure it out.

I have signed every type of loan
Baby, I’m down with all the flavors, and I’ve had them all. Every description, every type, girl.

But, in real life the ones who claim they have signed every type of loan have only signed every type of loan that THEY have heard of which is very far from the ones on my list. I have 40 financial package types on my list. The ones who said they do all average only about 35% of the loans. But, one of 5000 notaries on the site got almost all of them, so when you say all, there is a sliver of chance you might be telling the truth.

But, why come across as phony when you can be helpful and factual with the information you give to others? Facts impress. People who deal with notaries all day long not only see through the fluff, they are a lot less likely to deal with a fluffer, in fact. Is there such thing as a fluffer?

If you are new, just answer questions, and don’t try to impress people. The minute you try to impress, you blow it. Just be helpful, without trying to help.If someone asks if you are still in business — don’t ask when the job is, and don’t tell them you are on vacation – just say yes or no. Being factual is easy – just stick to the facts. Answer numerical questions with numbers, yes no questions with yesses and no’s, and keep it real. Don’t tell people about your zero percent error rate — nobody believes you and nobody has time for that.

We had a signer in the Northeast named James who has several listings with us. He told me that he would never have gotten his business off the ground ten years ago if it weren’t for 123notary.com. He had just retired from Mortgage and wanted a fresh start. Several other Notaries told me similar stories as well.

This makes me see 123notary in a new way. We are not only useful to Notaries, but indispensable to many. All the grueling hard work I do has a purpose, and a higher meaning.

123notary really works for the seasoned notaries who have experience, reviews, and well filled in notes sections. It doesn’t work consistently well for newer Notaries who leave their notes blank, have no experience, aren’t really trying and have no reviews.

So, who am I really working for? In my opinion, I am working for Notaries who really are trying — I will give them a lot more of my time. And I am also working for title companies who I never get to speak with. I want them to get the best Notaries in town.

But, it makes me feel good to know that some people’s lives have been very powerfully and positively impacted by my hard work. Because I used to get a lot of complaining and not as many compliments.

Come to think of it, even on the blog, the comments are a lot more polite. I feel that people are being more polite and appreciative to me this year than in previous years. That is good for my health.