This email was sent to CEO Anthony Maley by now CSO Scarlet Dame after their first meeting. It got Scarlet the job and ultimately rebranded the company.

I think about product and branding primarily through narrative and metaphor, so I hope you’ll bear with me while I tell you a story.

There’s a sandwich shop in red hook, Court St Grocers Hero Shop, where I go maybe three times a week. For the longest time the same guy would answer the phone and we had a cadence worked out where I’d order the same way every time - Vegitalian Combo for pickup for Scarlet. He’d tell me it’ll be 10 minutes, and then I’d show up and he’d recognize me without a word and pass me my sandwich without me having to do anything other than pay and smile. It felt natural, easy, like I was a part of the place.

A few months ago someone new started. Perfectly nice lady, but every time I’d call ready to give my order she’d ask me to please hold! It felt like hitting a brick wall. I'm Scarlet! I order all the time! I have a slick ordering system! This could be so easy for everyone! Eventually I’d order and then I’d show up and walk to the counter and she’d look at me expectantly. Suddenly it was my job to tell her who I was to get my sandwich. Not only did I have to verify my identity to get my sandwich, I didn't get treated like a regular because she didn't recognize me. 

I don’t want to prove my credentials, I just want to be recognized and treated as the regular I am.

Fast forward a few months to a day last week. I call and I said no more than two words and immediately she said “oh hey Scarlet! What can I get you?” And when I walked in, she passed me my sandwich without a word. I felt like me again. I felt seen. I felt recognized.

Every time I log into my email and it asks me for my password, it’s like someone new was hired at the deli. If I loose my keys and have to call a locksmith, it’s like my home and even my life doesn’t recognize me anymore. Every time I walk up to my motorcycle, like she doesn't know that my heart is already fluttering until I fumble to fish the key out of my pocket and coax her back to life. 

I don’t want to prove my credentials to be myself. Whether it’s with a password, a key, or an SMS. I want to be recognized for who I am and welcomed joyfully into the spaces and communities where I find and make a home for myself. I want to move from place to place, from public to private, between brands and across states. I want to share with the people I trust, and have them welcomed on my behalf.

Can we move away from metaphors of power, control. and security towards respect, comfort, and invitation? Can we move away from models of penetration and access into inclusion and reception? Away from proof of trust towards recognition and belief in who we are and what we need? 

The technology is a means to an end. Towards the kind of silent, a priori recognition that happens the moment I walk through the door of the deli.

Vouch, be recognized.