Here’s how I got someone else to help me ask for off days from my boss

I’m quite sure that most, if not all of us, have faced the daunting task of sending an awkward or risky text to someone.

That someone could be a crush, a loved one, or even your boss.

That anxiety and worry can really be a bummer. Ever so often with “what ifs”, I have to admit that there were multiple times when I chickened out on such occasions.

So naturally, when I learned of a service – Gueststar – that can help get me out of those kinds of situations, I was eager to give it a try.

Asking for leave with a video message

For context, I graduated from university a few months back and started working my first job in July, and I have only taken two days of leave so far.

Additionally, border restrictions have also kept me from going home to visit my family and friends in Malaysia, until the recent Vaccinated Travel Lane (VTL) made things possible.

Hence, I had the idea of applying for a week of leave to go home for a quick visit and long overdue meetups.

I don’t know what it is with applying leaves, maybe because I’m a rookie, I just get a bit nervous when applying for it, and in this case, it was going to be one week long, which definitely did not make things easier.

This is exactly where Gueststar came in for me, as I could hire a talent on the platform to ask my boss for leave instead, with a customised video message.

How to use Gueststar

For the uninitiated, Gueststar is a platform that has a wide selection of talents who can craft a customised and dedicated video message at your request.

To name a few of their talents, there’s Tommy Kian, a magician with 15 years of experience, juggling performer Jimmy Juggler, and local pop artist Sasha M, who once performed at Ultra Music Festival.

Upon landing on their website, I was greeted by a simple and clean interface, with videos that showed emotional and excited responses of those who have received a video from them.

Then came the task of looking for a suitable talent to film the “asking for leave” message.

With the large number of talents available on Gueststar, the “filter” function definitely came in handy, as I could narrow down the search results in the interest of time.

Here, you can check out talents with different backgrounds and expertise, such as actors, comedians, content creators, etc.

You can also filter through the available talents by selecting their respective countries or selecting the “promotions” filter for a potential deal.

If you’d like to engage a talent who has supported charity in the past, simply add the “supported charity” filter to check them out.

If you already have a preferred talent in mind, a quick search on their website and you’ll be able to see the talent’s profile. Prices range from S$13 to S$1,000, depending on the talent who you opt for.

For those who are wondering whether a talent would be a good fit to the message that you’d like to deliver, Gueststar also displays some sample videos that the talents have done in their profile.

Simply click on the image of the talent that interests you, and you’ll be able to access the talent’s profile.

Once you click into their profile, you’ll find the sample videos at the bottom of it.

Personally, I found the videos to be very helpful in determining which talent to post this assignment to.

After some browsing around, I thought Jimmy Juggler would be a good fit to deliver my message, as he has experience with helping other people talk to their bosses, which was exactly what I needed.

His introduction also caught my eye, not only can he juggle, but he can also juggle with items such as fire, knives, raw eggs, and many more.

Requesting the video

After clicking on the “Request Now” button in Jimmy’s profile, I was prompted to give more details for the video request, so he could record the customised video to ask my boss for leave on my behalf.

I gave Jimmy some details of my situation, like my boss’s name and the excuses reasons behind asking for a week’s leave.

If you’re lost for words, you can also opt for Gueststar’s copywriting service for them to craft a message for you, and it costs S$5.

After filling in the required information, there will be a finalised price for the video request, which in my case, is S$30.

Then, I added the item to the “basket” and paid for it. And voila! Gueststar would send the customised video to me in five days’ time.

Moment of truth

Fast forward to five days later, I received the video message in my email and quickly checked it out.

I was fairly satisfied with the video as Jimmy managed to include all of the reasons I mentioned while also softening the message with some funny and dramatic elements.

What’s more amazing was that he did it while juggling a couple of balls with ease.

Then came the moment of truth, I was going to send the video to my boss.

The feeling of nervousness arose and I quickly put away my phone after sending her the video.

Not gonna lie, I started to worry when she didn’t reply after some time, and was almost ready to pray in every language I know.

However, the video appeared to have served its purpose, as I got a text from my boss moments later, saying that she would approve my leave.

With gratitude to my boss and Jimmy, I can now start packing and heading home.

Chinese New Year promotion

For those looking to add an element of fun to your seasonal greetings, you can consider Gueststar’s talents for a dedicated video message to your loved ones.

I liked how versatile the platform is, and you can be as creative as you would like to be with the talents available.

With Chinese New Year just around the corner, Gueststar is also running a Chinese New Year promotion, where you can get S$128 worth of credits when you spend S$88 on their platform before Jan. 21.

Remember to use the promo code “HUATHUAT2022” when you check out to get the credits.

Upon completion of the video purchase, the rewarded credits will be valid for 60 days from the date of crediting.

Top image via Gueststar & @convertkit/Unsplash

This sponsored article from Gueststar made the writer realise that he could outsource awkward or risky texts to someone else.