I was marketing a senior executive based in the Midwest who wanted to move to the Southeast. His accomplishments were outstanding, and he was earning $120,000 salary, so I was hoping for a nice fee. A family construction company down in north Florida invited him down for an interview. I told the candidate that the company was run by mostly family members, told him they were salt-of-the-earth types, plain-talking, blue collar, etc. He flew down to meet with them on a Wednesday afternoon, and then I didn't hear back from him on Thursday, nor Friday. When I finally got him on the phone the following Monday, I asked him how it went.
"Well, they gave me quite the tour," he said. "We went to a pig-picking on Wednesday evening, and I met all the brothers, and they showed me their coon dogs, and we drank some moonshine and talked about construction projects we had built. On Thursday, they picked me up at the motel at 6 am, and we drove around to job sites all day. That night, they invited me to the President's house for supper, and I met all the brother's wives and children. After dinner, the brothers and I got in their boat and went frog gigging on a big pond on their property. We drank a lot of whiskey, and talked some more about building work and their company, and how everybody who works there is family. They asked me all about my family and why I wanted to be down South. Friday morning, they picked me up at 6 am, and we drove out to their hunting camp, and hunted for quail all day. That night, we roasted birds over a big fire and drank more moonshine. At about midnight, the President stood up, pissed on the fire, and said "John, I believe you're going to fit in just fine down here. How does a $75,000 salary sound to you?"
