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Welcome, welcome to Sorting Through Life with Colleen Watterston on AM950, the progressive voice of Minnesota.
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This is Sorting Through Life brought to you by Space by Space Organizing, a twin cities-based home organizing business.
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And I am your host, Colleen Watterston, and also owner and lead organizer at Space by Space.
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So today, our episode is very special as we have my three right hands.
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Um, so that I think makes me if I have a right and a left hand from both of you, that makes me an official octopus.
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Okay.
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Love this.
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Just put that together right now.
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I get to be the left hand though.
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Okay.
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Because I always say Alicia's my right.
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I'm left-handed.
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So Okay, so Tiffany's the left hand.
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So Tiffany has been here before.
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We've got Tiffany, our branding, business development marketing gal.
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We've got Alicia, my right hand, who comes to pretty much every job that we go to, and since I think month three of this business.
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And we have Courtney, our brand new, literally first day on the job, is coming in to help make all of our lives better by following up after what we do and helping keep this ship sailing.
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And so Courtney, uh, I think, you know, we have this radio show, and I said, Courtney, you know, why don't you come along to the radio show and see what that's about?
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And then as I got to think about it, I said, why don't I put you in?
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And I just think it's a very true testament that she's gonna be a great member of the team because she's like, all right.
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And so here we are.
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So the format of today, we are gonna turn the table on me.
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We've done this before with Alicia asking questions.
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But the three of them are going to take us on a little past-present journey.
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And you lovely listeners are getting in on it at the same time as I am because I have no idea what's being asked of me, and we're just gonna let it go from there.
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So, Courtney.
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I guess I'll start.
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It's your moment to shine.
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She got off the bench really quick.
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I'm a star, I guess.
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Yes, well, TV D.
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We'll check my name after this.
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Um, I guess the first question I'll ask is what was the biggest challenge you faced when opening your business?
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Ooh, I would say, okay, when I first opened my business, I had come from working for somebody else and we were a three-person team.
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So when I started it, I was by myself and I took on a client that kind of fell in my lap.
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And then I, and then the next clients came from working with family and getting referrals, and then family referred people.
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And um, I think in the very beginning, doing it alone for me was a challenge because everything is on you.
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And there's a lot of people who do like that and do solopreneur and solo organizing businesses.
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I do think that when you're solo on the clock, you're only focused on what you're doing.
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So you know uh it's of high value, you know, the quality, you know, there's no, there's no need to micromanage or even manage any other thing.
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It's just I'm gonna do my best with the time that I have.
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But no one is there to pick up a trash bag, no one's there to install a shelf, no one's there to lighten your load.
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And so doing it on my own taught me a lot, but it was pretty early in a couple months that I was like, I need help.
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And and I did a a like an esthetician's office, like the cabinets of my esthetician's, um, and and it was in exchange for a facial.
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And my Estee, my facialist, put it on TikTok, and that connected to Alicia.
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So Alicia's boyfriend saw it and then was like, oh, Alicia's been wanting to organize.
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And so then my Estee just gave me Alicia's info.
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Very like, if you want to reach out to her, here it is.
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Are you saying my Estee?
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Yes, what we called this.
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You should hit up Julia.
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And I was like, oh my gosh, no way.
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And so contacted her and met with Colleen, and now here we are.
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Yeah.
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We got and she says SD.
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Yeah, SD school.
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So like SD slash home organizer.
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Okay.
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Yeah.
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Home UG.
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We should come up with something.
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Um we got together at like the Jerry's by my house, had a Starbucks and just chatted.
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And I said, kind of like what I do with with newbies, I say I'll put you on.
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Um, sometimes like I don't charge the client for a first, you know, I'm like, I'm make sure that they're they're good.
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Um and we've never, we we've been working with each other ever since.
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And so it was that was that was a game changer.
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But but specifically, I think, and I think what we do for clients is bring in a team because it's so hard to do all the things that we're asked to do as adults and humans these days in this fast-paced world where so much is coming in and out of a house, where you know, kids, if you have kids, best of luck ever staying organized, because I think they bring a hundred items in a day.
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And so we get to be that team to our clients.
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Like when they're feeling that sense of being alone and just how am I ever gonna finish this?
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And even if it's just taking a few drawers on in an afternoon that they have available, it can be hard when you're doing it all on your own.
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So I think that the team model that we have is is kind of what we offer to our clients as well.
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Okay.
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Um, what has been your proudest moment as a business owner?
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Oh, probably there's probably quite a few.
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Yeah.
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What do you think has been my proudest moment, Alicia?
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Um I would say I guess it kind of goes into like how I've seen you kind of grow as a business owner, but more so not necessarily always taking on like the emotional aspect of the job and being able to kind of separate that and then just sticking to the job and doing what needs to be done and being able to leave it at that kind of thing, if that makes sense.
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Yeah, but feel free to go into it because I do think that that's an interesting thing that happens for organizers.
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So, you know, we go into people's messes.
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I always say, you know, the the drawer, the room, the closet that they hope their friends don't see is what they show us and what we're in.
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So, and and early on, I was at a conference and they said, um, you can't care more about your client's life than they do.
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And that that hit, and I think has been something I've shared many times since, because you you see this potential, you come in to to bring someone to closer to their highest potential.
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And and a lot of times we every time we get in our own way in life.
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And so we come in to help people get out of their own way, but often the stuff is is the easiest way to get ourselves in our own way.
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We think if we take this on, if we take on this craft, it'll bring better stuff to our life, but then we never finish the craft.
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If we take on this, this task on behalf of our kids, it'll make us better parents, but then we don't manage the task well and it overwhelms us.
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You know, we we take on things, we take on stuff, and then that stuff is a constant reminder of what we're not capable of completing, of you know, how much we start, not finish.
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And so we get to come in and be kind of like these pragmatic detectives of what's getting in the way of somebody's life.
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And then we get to come and kind of do our best to excavate that out and leave behind what is helpful.
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And so it is, if you're and and most people who are organizers are pretty empathetic, helpful.
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They want the best for people across the board.
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I love being an organizer and in the company of other organizers.
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If someone's a professional organizer, they're it's kind of how I felt about my family's business as a funeral director.
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It's like people would say, Oh, that's so creepy.
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I'm like, have you met a funeral director?
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They're some of the most compassionate people you've ever met.
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You know, they're helping a family through the worst day of their life, you know, a dynamic and everything that's going on.
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So I was always surrounded by these really empathetic people with the funeral industry.
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And now our industry of professional organizers, I think, is just full of empathy.
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Well, you have to.
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Like you're getting so closely intimate with a client in a very short amount of time.
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We often we often hear things that probably only get said to a therapist and might not even get said to a therapist because a therapist is not in your home seeing everything.
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You're only doing your best to describe your life to them from the comfort of a couch, you know.
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But when you're in it and you're coming up against people's triggers, um, it is it is there the hugs that I've had with clients have been some of the deepest hugs, some of the longest hugs.
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Um just our client the other day said, like, I need one of these every day.
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And it's like, I'm so sorry that I can't be here to do that for you, but I'll give you a long one now to to ride out a little bit longer.
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But I do think when we first started, and this was a challenge, um, I would always apologize at the end of the day for where we didn't get instead of saying, Here's where we got with pride, you know, with look at what we got done for you today.
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And now I I I call people out when they say sorry, because I think, especially as women, we apologize too much for things that aren't.
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I have a very dear friend who's one of the kindest people I know, and she's always saying sorry.
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And I said, Um, you don't have ill intent, you know, like that's not in you.
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So stop apologizing, you know, like you you don't need to be sorry about this, you know, but we've we do that.
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I I think we take on this feeling of I should should say sorry, I should feel ashamed, I'm so sorry that it got this way, I'm sorry for and it's like you're doing your best, and I want to honor that, but I'm also doing my best and I'm going to honor that.
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And I'm doing a great job.
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And Alicia's doing a great job, and whoever else comes in on this business's behalf is doing a great job.
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And so in the beginning, it used to be, oh shoot, we still have this left, and you know, we're gonna we'll get back to this, okay.
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Oh, sorry about this.
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And it's like you I'd leave stressed instead of leaving proud of we got a lot done for you today.
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And also I've started to get a little bit more confident in if you couldn't get this done in five years, it's a little unrealistic that we can get it done in five hours.
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Yeah.
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So I'm gonna be a little bit more honest with ourselves and a client about how long something's gonna take.
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Yeah.
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And the consult can lead, you know, we were in a kitchen recently that ended up being three days, and I had thought it would take two, but maybe more.
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And it took three very solid days because as we were in there, the amount that was coming out, and then we found a whole new set of cabinets that were related to the kitchen, but we didn't even know about.
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Yeah.
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And they were under the island.
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And and so the client fully understood because she would come down and be like, Do you guys even take breaks?
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Like, this is amazing what you got done.
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She was t sending pictures to her friends saying, I'm telling them, look at what I didn't do today.
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You know, like look what she got done in her home that she didn't have to do.
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So, and I think that that increased confidence has changed the dynamic with clients.
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Yeah, I agree.
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Yeah.
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I've also done a lot of personal work over the last few years, and I am very confident now.
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I like myself a lot, and it I have been insecure and not liked myself a lot of life, and it is so much more fun to like yourself and to be confident.
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And and so I I tell people that regularly, and I want that for other people because you know, we're always talking about how you only get one life, you only get one shot at this life.
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And so you might as well feel good about yourself while you're here and and enjoy your life and get to know yourself and delight in being you and in keeping the home you keep and the relationships that you keep.
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So I think I want the best life possible for myself, for the people around me, and for our clients just as much as my best friends.
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Yeah.
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Um what are some mistakes that you've learned from the most?
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Or maybe not the word mistakes, but what have you learned from the most?
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I would get into that.
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Not mistakes.
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Yeah, not mistakes because it helps you learn.
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Yeah.
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ADHD is something that we talk about a lot in the world these days.
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And there are a lot of people who are getting diagnosed or identifying with the symptoms and the the description and being able to say, I have that, you know, and that's the way my brain functions.
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And one of the key characteristics of ADHD is time blindness or having an ambition with what time can accomplish.
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And so understanding what can actually get accomplished in a day, in a session, in an hour, and a lot can get accomplished.
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And I constantly say human hours.
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Like we might have one hour left, but if there's three of us, that's three human hours.
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So we actually have a ton of time left, but we have to use it well.
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I would say I've gotten a ton better at time management.
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I would agree.
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Are there any other mistakes?
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Did I make mistakes before?
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Oh, that's a trick question.
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Dun dun dun.
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I wouldn't say mistakes.
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How much do you like your job?
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I would agree with you on the time blind list, though, because I remember first starting out in a beginning towards like the end of the day, and you'd be like, okay, here, like let's unpack this area and like this space.
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And I'd be like, okay, we do only have like an hour and a half left.
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Should we be like doing this and just doing it and then kind of scrambling towards the end of trying to finish it up?
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And yeah, I would agree it's gotten a lot better where you're not wanting to necessarily leave a space completely like unpacked and everything pulled out for the next day, and more so just saying, like, okay, well, we didn't get to this today, but we'll get to it tomorrow.
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This is where we start.
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Yep.
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I was at a client recently and there was, it was just a two-hour session, a legacy lifting client.
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And there was kind of we had gotten through quite a bit, and then we still had about 15 minutes, and she was looking around and a little like, I don't know what what can be done in 15 minutes.
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I don't know, you know, like and what we accomplished was substantial.
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We got through a few boxes and and got stuff to go out the door and stuff to stay and and had had uh thoroughly tackled what we started.
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But I said, should we just start?
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Should we just stop?
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Should we just do 1.75 hours instead of two?
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And she was like, Yeah, that sounds great.
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No problem.
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So I just packed up, you know, left, went and got the donations done sooner than I had planned, and you know, got to my workout with a little bit of time to spare, and and that was fine.
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So knowing also to say, what if we just put a pin in it?
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You know, we can just stop today, we'll get back to this.
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Okay, you got it, you got a quick one, or should we should we call it?
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I feel like it could be quick.
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Okay.
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What's one of the coolest slash best transformations you've seen within a home?
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Ooh.
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That's a good one.
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Yeah.
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I was just curious because Yeah.
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Quick.
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Quick.
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Day one.
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She doesn't know how long I can talk.
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Um we can tell her all she.
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Uh let's see here.
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What's your favorite transformation?
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Um I love a whole home.
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Yeah.
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I love when when we get, and I I think my brain is especially designed to take a ton and make the best of something, like think in the systems way.
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I have an undergraduate graduate degree in psychology, specifically organizational psychology, which is about dynamics on a team, not organizing.
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But I have, you know, I'm able and I've studied like big global issues and kind of broken things down over the years, um, and and can take something big and sticky and try to find something tangible within it to move it forward.
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So I think that some of that past me and the way that my brain has been like studied, when I go into someone's house, I I am or home, apartment, condo, anywhere we go, it's like I'm seeing all of it, not just what they think they've hired us for.
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Because often what if they think they've hired us for one space, it's like, oh, oh no.
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Like the reason that this is is problematic is because the closet across the hall from this space is problematic.
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And because you've put things that belong downstairs up here.
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So now I need to see downstairs.
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Because if downstairs are not orderly, that's why you're not bringing it there because you know it's just gonna go to the abyss downstairs, and so it stays up here because that's easier than going into the crawl space or into um, you know, that storage unit that doesn't resemble a storage unit.
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You know, so it's like sometimes it's like, trust me, you need to do three spaces to tackle that one space because otherwise you're gonna have me back, or it won't, it won't stay.
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So I'm pretty like when I worked for someone else, we would often just keep our eye on the one space.
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And then we'd go back like a couple months later and do a different space.
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And I remember her saying, like, don't look in the garage, which is where we had been.
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And I'm like, that's I I didn't like that, you know.
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And when we go, like when we've done a touch-up after a couple of years or something, like we were just in our client Natalie's house last week, and we had done her entire house almost a year before.
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And then it only took a day to really touch up quite a bit of space.
00:18:13.839 --> 00:18:15.200
And it was a very casual day.
00:18:15.359 --> 00:18:18.160
It was a very, you know, we moved at a pace that felt good.
00:18:18.240 --> 00:18:22.079
It wasn't, you know, no talking because we have so much to do.
00:18:22.160 --> 00:18:25.440
It was able to be a lot, a lot lighter feeling.
00:18:25.839 --> 00:18:38.640
And so I think that when clients recognize that that the best case scenario is a little more than they thought they needed, and trust us, that's when the the real magic happens.
00:18:38.799 --> 00:18:39.440
Yeah.
00:18:40.079 --> 00:18:40.559
All right.
00:18:40.640 --> 00:18:41.759
I think you crushed it.
00:18:41.920 --> 00:18:42.240
Really?
00:18:42.480 --> 00:18:43.839
I think you crushed it, Courtney.
00:18:44.079 --> 00:18:44.400
Okay.
00:18:44.559 --> 00:18:44.799
All right.
00:18:44.880 --> 00:18:47.200
Well, let's take a little break and we'll be right back.
00:18:47.279 --> 00:18:48.720
And then it's up for Tiffany's turn.
00:18:48.799 --> 00:18:52.559
This is Sorting Through Life with Colleen Watterston and this great team of mine.
00:18:57.920 --> 00:19:01.200
Welcome back to Sorting Through Life here on AM950.
00:19:01.279 --> 00:19:07.759
This is Colleen Watterston, host of Sorting Through Life, brought to you by Space by Space Organizing, our home organizing business.
00:19:07.920 --> 00:19:26.559
And today I'm surrounded by three very lovely individuals, Tiffany, Courtney, and Alicia, who all uh like we're kind of having a past, present, future episode, and we have like the OG right hand, the you know, next left hand, and then the extended hands of all.
00:19:26.640 --> 00:19:33.680
So we've got this the octopus is is fully formed now with our eight hands of tackling space by space for our clients.
00:19:33.920 --> 00:19:37.279
So, Tiffany, you're telling me this is a rapid fire.
00:19:37.359 --> 00:19:43.680
So the girls are all, they've all prepared questions for me, and I do not know any of them, which is fun.
00:19:44.480 --> 00:19:53.680
Yeah, so we were we had all kind of discussed what we were gonna talk about on here, and then we found out afterwards that, oh, maybe we'll do a past, present, future thing.
00:19:53.759 --> 00:19:56.640
But then our questions had all kind of naturally aligned with that anyway.
00:19:56.720 --> 00:19:57.759
So it ended up working okay.
00:19:57.839 --> 00:19:58.720
So I'm in the present.
00:19:59.039 --> 00:19:59.279
Okay.
00:19:59.519 --> 00:20:00.880
And I'm in the present.
00:20:01.039 --> 00:20:02.319
Yes, right here with you.
00:20:02.720 --> 00:20:07.759
Okay, so since I'm the marketing person, I am going rapid fire style.
00:20:07.920 --> 00:20:33.119
Um, so the first one is what's one thing almost everyone owns too much of one thing everyone owns too much of food they won't make, clothes they won't wear, books they won't read, activities they'll never do, crafts they won't do.
00:20:34.000 --> 00:20:37.039
And I feel like it's our aspirational selves.
00:20:37.519 --> 00:20:41.279
You know, we all buy things thinking of our best intention.
00:20:41.440 --> 00:20:50.319
We just cleared out a man's book collection, and it's very clear that that book collection represented everything he ever knew or hoped to know.
00:20:50.880 --> 00:20:53.759
And so it's not just let's get rid of it, let's get rid of it.
00:20:53.920 --> 00:21:04.960
There's something that goes into honoring his intellect and his desire to know everything, and also to pause along the way to appreciate everything he knows that's represented in those books.
00:21:05.039 --> 00:21:05.440
Yeah.
00:21:05.680 --> 00:21:17.279
And but we all we kind of, you know, you can see where someone's passion is and you can see where someone's aspirational passion is pretty quick when you're in your house.
00:21:17.599 --> 00:21:19.839
I feel like Alicia can probably chime in on some of these too.
00:21:19.920 --> 00:21:20.960
Um, what's the hardest item?
00:21:21.279 --> 00:21:21.839
What would you say?
00:21:22.000 --> 00:21:24.240
Go backward that everyone owns too much of.
00:21:24.720 --> 00:21:30.480
I would definitely say agree more with the food, especially with the best intentions.
00:21:30.640 --> 00:21:40.079
Like everyone always has the best intentions of wanting to make meals and cook when you get home from work, but we all know how that goes when you're just not feeling it when you're dooring.
00:21:40.240 --> 00:21:42.960
Yes, door dash or picking something up on the way home.
00:21:43.440 --> 00:21:59.200
That, or I would say, yeah, hanging on to the clothes that they either have like emotional attachment to and like, oh, maybe I'll potentially wear this at one point, or clothes that they're oh, one day I'm going to fit into this, or going to
00:22:00.160 --> 00:22:01.279
About aspirational selves.
00:22:01.599 --> 00:22:08.400
Let me talk about Home Goods, TJ Maxx, Marshalls, which prior to becoming a professional organizer were some of my happy places.
00:22:08.640 --> 00:22:10.480
I still can get lost in those aisles.
00:22:10.880 --> 00:22:16.160
But man oh man, do we see a lot of aspirational purchases from the aisles of home goods?
00:22:16.480 --> 00:22:23.519
And I would say I'd be interested in talking to a UK-based organizer because tea is an actual real part of their culture.
00:22:23.839 --> 00:22:36.480
To me, in America, we lean toward coffee, but it does feel like everybody that we organize for thinks that they're gonna be a tea person one day and has about 20 to 30 boxes of aspirational tea.
00:22:36.640 --> 00:22:36.880
Yeah.
00:22:37.039 --> 00:22:43.680
And when you go to organize it, they want to keep it because one day they're gonna be a tea person, myself included.
00:22:44.160 --> 00:22:47.279
Aspirational tea is like a really good podcast name or something.
00:22:47.599 --> 00:22:48.400
Aspirational tea.
00:22:49.519 --> 00:22:51.200
Let's spill the aspirational tea.
00:22:51.680 --> 00:22:52.000
I love that.
00:22:52.160 --> 00:22:52.319
Yeah.
00:22:52.640 --> 00:22:55.440
Okay, what's the hardest item for people to let go of?
00:22:57.920 --> 00:23:06.000
Sometimes it's it's clothes that don't fit them from a body that they they think they might get back into.
00:23:06.480 --> 00:23:11.839
Um that can be hard and will kind of put it in a box for a future go-through.
00:23:12.799 --> 00:23:13.599
I would say that.
00:23:13.759 --> 00:23:22.079
Yeah, I would say clothes or something that costs a lot of money and they're frustrated by the purchase, but they never use it.
00:23:22.400 --> 00:23:35.519
I'm always very impressed by people who will recognize something they got as a wedding gift that they haven't used in 20 years, and they're just willing to let it go because they know that there was there was a lot of money attached to it, but they'll say, I never use it.
00:23:35.680 --> 00:23:40.079
But I'm equally impressed by people who use the fancy pitcher on an everyday basis.
00:23:40.319 --> 00:23:41.440
I think I like that more.
00:23:41.680 --> 00:23:48.880
Like, who cares if it was a hundred dollar pitcher that somebody gave to you for the Thanksgiving and Christmas days that you host?
00:23:49.039 --> 00:23:51.119
You might not even host Thanksgiving and Christmas.
00:23:51.279 --> 00:23:52.079
Why not use it?
00:23:52.160 --> 00:23:56.480
And if you're just gonna give it away, if it breaks, oh well, one day you clean it up.
00:23:56.559 --> 00:23:57.759
It probably isn't gonna break.
00:23:57.920 --> 00:24:00.240
You know, I like when people use their nice things.
00:24:00.640 --> 00:24:02.319
Life, you only get one life.
00:24:02.480 --> 00:24:14.400
Use the nice things, use the fancy china, use the fancy picture, you know, and like I fold my underwear and my closet and a lot of my drawers are very aspirational drawers.
00:24:14.640 --> 00:24:18.000
I have parties and I tell people, feel free to look through any drawer.
00:24:18.160 --> 00:24:20.559
And I I launched this business and I had a party.
00:24:20.720 --> 00:24:29.440
Alicia made cookies in the basement, and and I said the party theme was I'll show you mine if you show me yours, launching a home organizing business.
00:24:29.519 --> 00:24:31.039
I want to come in and organize your stuff.
00:24:31.119 --> 00:24:33.359
So it's only right for you to be able to see mine.
00:24:33.839 --> 00:24:40.480
And when I get dressed in the morning, the way that my closet is set up, I feel good every morning.
00:24:40.640 --> 00:24:45.039
I just got a really comfy rug in my closet.
00:24:45.279 --> 00:24:47.200
And I want to live in that closet.
00:24:47.359 --> 00:24:53.839
I want to stand and get ready for at least 10 minutes because I so enjoy having my feet on that rug.
00:24:54.000 --> 00:25:01.119
So I am all about the little luxuries in life that can help you feel good about yourself and about your home.
00:25:01.359 --> 00:25:22.799
And in moments of chaos all around you and the overwhelm of the day that's going to come if you step into the world or turn on the TV or talk to another human, those little places in your home, little spaces that we can make you feel good about yourself and feel and take a breath of fresh air and just feel a really plush rug on your feet.
00:25:22.880 --> 00:25:27.680
Now, I'm not buying rugs for clients, but I would if someone's like, I heard you have a really good rug, can you get me one?
00:25:27.759 --> 00:25:28.880
I'd be like, on it.
00:25:29.119 --> 00:25:32.799
I will do what I can to make my clients' lives better.
00:25:33.039 --> 00:25:39.279
I I really do like want to bring the best to the clients that we serve.
00:25:41.119 --> 00:25:41.519
All right.
00:25:41.599 --> 00:25:44.880
What's one thing you never expected to organize so often?
00:25:47.519 --> 00:25:48.799
I would say underwear drawers.
00:25:48.960 --> 00:25:51.039
I almost thought underwear drawers.
00:25:51.440 --> 00:25:51.839
Yeah.
00:25:52.400 --> 00:25:59.440
There's even a client that told us that every time she goes in her underwear drawer, she thinks of me because I organize them.
00:26:00.079 --> 00:26:01.759
That's how could you not?
00:26:02.160 --> 00:26:14.799
There's clients, you know, and we've done so many now that I don't think about everybody every day, but I think about regularly how many people think about us every day because we made such a different system.
00:26:14.880 --> 00:26:15.920
They're moving things around.
00:26:16.079 --> 00:26:19.119
We had Maddie on a client that we just adore.
00:26:19.279 --> 00:26:22.640
We've been in her place uh so many times.
00:26:22.960 --> 00:26:25.839
And she says that they have a thing around their house.
00:26:25.920 --> 00:26:27.599
It's the Colleen Scapegoat.
00:26:27.759 --> 00:26:37.119
If they can't find something, they go, Colleen, oh Colleen, and it's because they have me to be like, we can't find it, oh, Colleen.
00:26:37.359 --> 00:26:48.000
You know, it's like a loving thing, but it's just a running joke that they have because when we move things around and they were looking for it originally, they'd kind of like laugh at that.
00:26:48.319 --> 00:26:54.799
But yeah, I think it's fun to think of how much we've touched in so many people's homes.
00:26:55.119 --> 00:27:00.319
And and I think that they want to keep it the way it looks when we leave.
00:27:00.480 --> 00:27:03.599
And so to think that as they're there, they're like, okay, I can do this.
00:27:04.000 --> 00:27:06.960
You know, I can I can fold my underwear like Colleen does.
00:27:07.279 --> 00:27:07.519
All right.
00:27:07.599 --> 00:27:09.920
What's well Maddie says she never will.
00:27:10.160 --> 00:27:13.680
Maddie is like, that was a cute idea.
00:27:14.000 --> 00:27:14.400
Yeah.
00:27:14.559 --> 00:27:14.720
Yeah.
00:27:14.960 --> 00:27:17.680
What's one thing you wish everyone would stop buying?
00:27:18.960 --> 00:27:21.279
More T, all the impulse purchases.
00:27:21.440 --> 00:27:22.319
I wish that.
00:27:22.480 --> 00:27:24.480
So I've talked about this before.
00:27:24.720 --> 00:27:28.319
Um, Amazon, I watched a show on Amazon.
00:27:28.400 --> 00:27:32.799
It was a documentary, and it had this conveyor belt.
00:27:32.880 --> 00:27:47.759
It had this animated the they it had this animation of a person lying in their bed ordering something, add Descartes, and a conveyor belt came in the middle of the night and dropped the box at the bottom of the bed.
00:27:48.000 --> 00:27:50.400
And I thought that's not far from true.
00:27:50.720 --> 00:28:09.200
But seeing it in this animation made it look so ridiculous, you know, and to think of everything that happened while that person was sleeping to get a pair of slippers, like something that was not important to come in the dark of the night, in the middle of the night, have some driver bring it to you by 5 to 7 a.m.
00:28:09.359 --> 00:28:15.119
You know, it was like it made me think, yeah, yeah, that's maybe not necessary.
00:28:15.440 --> 00:28:25.680
And then it talked about the Amazon add to cart and buy now buttons and how back when they first created the buy now button, they tested nine different colors.
00:28:25.839 --> 00:28:27.519
And one of them was the merigold button.
00:28:27.599 --> 00:28:37.680
And they had so many people on Amazon that they could just do the testing themselves within people on the site and see which color made people buy now most.
00:28:37.839 --> 00:28:41.519
And the merigold that we see on Amazon now is the color that won.
00:28:41.680 --> 00:28:56.480
And when I thought about how manipulated I had been by that and how researched had gone into, you know, the research that went into them tricking us in a way to like buy now, it made me be like, I I can wait.
00:28:56.640 --> 00:28:57.759
I can wait, Amazon.
00:28:57.920 --> 00:28:58.960
I got you, I see you.
00:28:59.279 --> 00:28:59.920
Just out of spite.
00:29:00.240 --> 00:29:00.640
Yeah.
00:29:00.880 --> 00:29:05.599
And so I'm a big buy now, or no, sorry, I am not a big buy now.
00:29:05.759 --> 00:29:08.319
I'm a big add to cart and save it for a few days.
00:29:08.640 --> 00:29:10.799
Come back to it, see if I really want it.
00:29:11.039 --> 00:29:28.319
I think that just what do I wish people didn't buy so much of is quick purchases and custom things um that that are only there, there's such a cheap quality produced that people aren't hanging on to things.
00:29:28.400 --> 00:29:41.759
You know, you go into an older person's home, you might have holiday decor from decades and decades ago that have been put up and taken down every year for all those decades, and they still look probably just as good as they did in the 1950s.
00:29:41.920 --> 00:29:46.400
But you see some of the decor that comes out today, and it is designed to be thrown away.
00:29:46.640 --> 00:30:03.920
And so I do wish that people would, you know, be a little bit more mindful of the one-time consumptions because then they'll hang on to the extra of something and they'll never use it, and it just becomes the backstock has gotten a little too aggressive.
00:30:04.880 --> 00:30:07.759
Uh, what are the hottest resale items you're seeing right now?
00:30:07.920 --> 00:30:09.440
Maybe Alicia can speak to that too.
00:30:09.599 --> 00:30:11.279
I know you guys do a lot of reselling.
00:30:12.079 --> 00:30:12.880
What's going well?
00:30:13.119 --> 00:30:14.720
Kids' stuff goes great on resale.
00:30:14.880 --> 00:30:15.200
Yeah.
00:30:15.359 --> 00:30:20.559
Uh, kid stuff, if you price it right, um, you know, taking the right pictures for anything goes well.
00:30:20.720 --> 00:30:24.799
You know, but yesterday we listed a few things and Alicia was like, no way for these pillows.
00:30:24.960 --> 00:30:28.160
And sure enough, I've had eight offers and someone's picking them up while we're here.
00:30:28.720 --> 00:30:29.279
So yep.
00:30:29.759 --> 00:30:38.400
And so there's a lot of things that's kind of funny, like some things that you think won't sell quick, and some things that, you know, if I had 10 of, I could have sold.
00:30:38.480 --> 00:30:41.599
You know, so that's yeah, it's all about pricing it right.
00:30:41.839 --> 00:30:46.720
But I think things that people can use um seasonal.
00:30:46.799 --> 00:30:56.160
So if it's summer, the the stuff for outside, you know, lounge chairs and and summer furniture and you know, stuff that makes your space nice.
00:30:56.240 --> 00:30:58.319
If you're trying to sell that in winter, best of luck.
00:30:58.559 --> 00:31:02.079
You know, it's it's really about that seasonal element.
00:31:02.640 --> 00:31:07.839
Also just doing something one at a time, you know, instead of putting 20 things into a bundle.
00:31:08.000 --> 00:31:10.880
You know, people don't necessarily want all your puzzles, they just want that one.
00:31:10.960 --> 00:31:14.559
So taking the listing and just making the one at a time.
00:31:15.519 --> 00:31:16.079
All right.
00:31:16.319 --> 00:31:16.799
Yep.
00:31:17.039 --> 00:31:22.319
Um, okay, what what are your top three places to donate clothing in the Twin Cities?
00:31:22.720 --> 00:31:25.039
I always go to Sharing and Carrying Hands.
00:31:25.119 --> 00:31:26.640
They're downtown Minneapolis.
00:31:26.799 --> 00:31:32.079
From what I know, they serve 600 community members a night who don't have a home of their own currently.
00:31:32.160 --> 00:31:39.839
And so for when you bring stuff to sharing and carrying hands, which is connected to Mary's place, you know it's going to go direct to a person.
00:31:40.000 --> 00:31:41.119
Uh, so I love there.
00:31:41.200 --> 00:31:54.240
I've recently been going to Prop Shop in Eden Prairie because it's a uh, they have a thrift store, they have a and and so and all of it goes, all the profit goes to their mission, and they have a food shelf and they have social services arms.
00:31:54.319 --> 00:31:58.640
So even with clothes, I think all the kids go direct to clothes, all the men's go direct to clothes.
00:31:58.720 --> 00:32:01.759
They only sell some of the women's clothes.
00:32:01.920 --> 00:32:05.440
I haven't done dress for success, but I'd like to do that too.
00:32:05.680 --> 00:32:21.839
When we donate clothes, if we don't help a client put together a box for a thread up for a potential, you know, income earning from their clothes, we always try to bring clothes to a place that will go directly to a person to wear versus a purchase.
00:32:22.160 --> 00:32:22.480
Okay.
00:32:22.640 --> 00:32:24.799
We're pretty big about that as much as we can.
00:32:24.960 --> 00:32:25.359
Yeah.
00:32:25.680 --> 00:32:26.880
Do we have time for one more question?
00:32:27.039 --> 00:32:27.759
Yeah, we'll make time.
00:32:28.319 --> 00:32:28.559
Okay.
00:32:28.720 --> 00:32:32.799
What's the one room that both of you think people struggle with the most?
00:32:33.680 --> 00:32:35.200
Usually or spot.
00:32:35.359 --> 00:32:48.480
Yeah, the things that are multi-people, you know, so if and a lot of times there's different dynamics within a house where, you know, maybe a parent feels more like they can set the system and make the kids stick to it.
00:32:48.640 --> 00:32:56.559
Sometimes you see a lot of lenient parents that don't demand their kids to tidy up or, you know, follow a system.
00:32:56.640 --> 00:33:06.559
And so within that dynamic, wherever multiple people drop things or come and go from, you're going to get the best and worst habits of everybody.
00:33:06.720 --> 00:33:09.359
And then you can feel the tension of that space.
00:33:09.519 --> 00:33:16.880
So I'm always saying, like, rooms in a house, they either play well together or fight.
00:33:17.039 --> 00:33:18.160
You know, there's tension.
00:33:18.240 --> 00:33:20.960
So it's kind of like people and flow.
00:33:21.200 --> 00:33:24.720
And you know, when people get along, you just feel easier.
00:33:24.880 --> 00:33:26.079
You feel a flow.
00:33:26.240 --> 00:33:29.200
You know, when you're like, I don't really like this person.
00:33:29.359 --> 00:33:31.200
You feel, you know, you kind of tense up.
00:33:31.359 --> 00:33:33.039
You can feel that in a home.
00:33:33.200 --> 00:33:34.799
Oh, this makes a lot of sense.
00:33:34.960 --> 00:33:36.559
Or this is conflicting.
00:33:36.720 --> 00:33:38.799
This is, they're serving a different purpose.
00:33:38.960 --> 00:33:42.240
This one's supposed to do that for you, but then you're pushing it over here.
00:33:42.480 --> 00:33:46.000
But so sometimes that's where also hiring the outsiders.
00:33:46.240 --> 00:33:50.079
I call us an intervention, like an in-home intervention.
00:33:50.400 --> 00:33:53.279
And I was talking to my business advisor last night.
00:33:53.440 --> 00:33:55.359
She's like, I don't know about that word intervention.
00:33:55.440 --> 00:33:59.039
And I'm like, oh, this is an intervention.
00:33:59.200 --> 00:34:00.799
Like, we are interventionists.
00:34:00.880 --> 00:34:04.160
And what we do, like you hopefully will never need to do again.
00:34:04.400 --> 00:34:18.639
But part of what we bring is words around what we're seeing, you know, and calling something out and asking a question to call something out so that people can see and put words to themselves what is not working.
00:34:18.800 --> 00:34:20.559
My best friend Mary has been on this show.
00:34:20.639 --> 00:34:21.599
She's 88 years old.
00:34:21.760 --> 00:34:22.400
Shout out to her.
00:34:22.559 --> 00:34:23.119
Love her so much.
00:34:23.199 --> 00:34:24.159
She just broke her wrist.
00:34:24.239 --> 00:34:25.039
I have to go visit.
00:34:25.199 --> 00:34:25.679
Poor thing.
00:34:25.840 --> 00:34:27.760
But um, love her so much.
00:34:28.000 --> 00:34:32.559
And she's taught me some very good phrases, like, let's not big deal this, you know.
00:34:32.639 --> 00:34:39.119
And I love saying that because, especially from an 88-year-old, you know, and she started being my best friend when she was my 82-year-old best friend.
00:34:39.280 --> 00:34:42.719
So she's been in my 30s and her 80s, we've been best friends.
00:34:42.800 --> 00:34:45.920
But you take it seriously when somebody tells you, don't big deal it.
00:34:46.079 --> 00:34:53.519
Like you're gonna get through it, you know, like that thing I'm stressing about was five decades ago for her, you know, like get over it, Colleen.
00:34:53.679 --> 00:35:00.559
You know, let's not big deal this, but in the kindest way, but just how many times do we overinflate things in our lives and we stress out about something?
00:35:00.719 --> 00:35:02.239
Let's not big deal this.
00:35:02.480 --> 00:35:11.199
Like, I host Christmas for my extended family, and the first couple of years I put together a beautiful evite, and it was just lovely and all the things.
00:35:11.360 --> 00:35:14.639
This year it was like email, here's the date, save it.
00:35:14.800 --> 00:35:16.480
I'm not gonna big deal this, you know.
00:35:16.559 --> 00:35:18.079
Like you're either gonna come or you're not.
00:35:18.239 --> 00:35:19.679
This is the day, see you there.
00:35:19.840 --> 00:35:20.960
It'll be lovely when you get there.
00:35:21.039 --> 00:35:23.679
But I don't need the evite to remind you it's gonna be lovely.
00:35:23.760 --> 00:35:24.800
You know, it's not a big deal.
00:35:24.880 --> 00:35:27.760
This took me 20 minutes instead of two hours.
00:35:28.079 --> 00:35:33.360
And so that, but Mary also says it's important to hear your own thoughts.
00:35:33.599 --> 00:35:48.079
And so I think a lot of times when we're in our own homes, we don't necessarily have conversations about things that need to in order to be addressed, you know, admitting it is the first step, like being able to articulate what's happening and talk through.
00:35:48.159 --> 00:35:56.719
So I often view our role as shedding light, you know, being able to call something out and say, what's happening over here?
00:35:56.880 --> 00:36:01.360
You know, what who's responsible for this area or what's going on over here?
00:36:01.519 --> 00:36:10.320
And so just being able to speak to it, which when somebody brings it up with their family, might create tension, a fight, you know, spouses are arguing about some things.
00:36:10.400 --> 00:36:15.760
And I've been in a situation where I'm like, I'm not a marriage therapist, but I'm gonna fix this thing for you.
00:36:15.920 --> 00:36:27.519
Like, I totally understand why you can't solve it on your own, but it's just the lack of skills around spatial intelligence, you know, and around you don't know the products that you need to rework this space.
00:36:27.679 --> 00:36:28.800
I'm gonna fix that.
00:36:28.960 --> 00:36:39.760
But it's like tension comes and it gets put on the relationships within the home, but it's really just about the stuff and it's about people not being able to know how to manage all this stuff.
00:36:39.840 --> 00:36:49.440
You know, we have way too much stuff coming our way in life, way too much information, way too much expectations and demands on us.
00:36:49.760 --> 00:37:16.079
So I like to be, if it's like gonna pop and it's just, you know, so full of pressure pressure, like we can kind of come in and and let some air out of a out of a high pressure situation and we can move things around and and really make better order in a way that hopefully is very lasting, or something didn't work for some very specific reason, so we can come back and rework it.
00:37:16.159 --> 00:37:20.320
But I don't think we've gone back to someone's home because our solution didn't work.
00:37:20.480 --> 00:37:40.239
I think we speak things through so much with people that they really do get a very custom, personalized, specific solution that that helps everybody and then releases that tension and allows for the family and and if you live alone, for everything to just be a little easier.
00:37:42.639 --> 00:37:43.360
Is that all?
00:37:43.679 --> 00:37:44.559
No, there's a lot more.
00:37:45.199 --> 00:37:46.960
I feel our segment is over.
00:37:47.119 --> 00:37:47.519
The present.
00:37:47.760 --> 00:37:48.800
We gotta get out of the present.
00:37:49.119 --> 00:37:50.239
Oh goodness.
00:37:50.400 --> 00:37:53.760
Okay, well, we'll take a quick break and then we'll figure out where we're going from here.
00:38:02.480 --> 00:38:07.199
Welcome back to Sorting Through Life with Colleen Waterston on AM950.
00:38:07.440 --> 00:38:13.199
We are here brought to us by Space by Space Organizing, and today we are a full team meeting.
00:38:13.440 --> 00:38:17.679
We've got myself, Alicia, my right hand at organizing jobs.
00:38:17.840 --> 00:38:28.800
We've got Tiffany who makes us a brand and puts us out into the world with all of her work behind the scenes, and we have Courtney, our brand new gal on the team who's gonna help all this run better.
00:38:29.039 --> 00:38:30.079
And so here we are.
00:38:30.159 --> 00:38:34.320
We've gone past, present, and dun dun dun.
00:38:34.639 --> 00:38:35.280
Now future.
00:38:35.519 --> 00:38:35.840
Future.
00:38:36.000 --> 00:38:37.119
All right, Alicia.
00:38:37.679 --> 00:38:43.280
So obviously things have been getting busier for us, and our team has been growing little by little.
00:38:43.840 --> 00:38:47.679
What kind of team are you wanting to put together going forward?
00:38:47.840 --> 00:38:55.360
And maybe not necessarily just for like space by space, but also like the legacy lifting aspect of things too.
00:38:55.679 --> 00:39:01.920
So are you wanting like different kinds of team members for legacy lifting or space by space?
00:39:02.079 --> 00:39:04.400
Or what are your what are your thoughts and ideas?
00:39:04.880 --> 00:39:08.960
It's like you've been listening in on our meetings lately because we're always hiring.
00:39:09.280 --> 00:39:10.400
Yeah, we are.
00:39:10.559 --> 00:39:13.280
Um the first thing that came to me was empathetic.
00:39:13.519 --> 00:39:18.719
I want to be the the leader of the most empathetic group of people, largely women.
00:39:18.880 --> 00:39:21.360
You know, we only have women on our team.
00:39:21.440 --> 00:39:24.400
I think that's probably going to be the norm.
00:39:24.559 --> 00:39:24.800
Yeah.
00:39:25.039 --> 00:39:30.719
Um, but and and for, I mean, we'll take a guy, but but maybe not.
00:39:30.880 --> 00:39:36.079
You know, it's it's whoever comes across our way that's that serves a good role for the job.
00:39:36.159 --> 00:39:37.760
But I think we'll always be hiring.
00:39:37.840 --> 00:39:49.199
And we've been talking about this as we've been figuring out how we're going to expand the team because really the only way we can move faster and more efficiently is to have more hands, to be more, you know, octopuses every day.
00:39:49.360 --> 00:39:50.079
Octopi.
00:39:50.559 --> 00:39:52.159
Um, we'll have to look into that.
00:39:52.400 --> 00:39:57.360
But uh it's it's just, you know, many hands, lighter load.
00:39:57.920 --> 00:40:02.880
And I think that that's where the characteristics are empathy first.
00:40:03.039 --> 00:40:05.039
You know, this is very non-judgmental.
00:40:05.199 --> 00:40:12.480
You can't come in and snicker or giggle at somebody because we are being invited in for people's biggest insecurities.
00:40:12.559 --> 00:40:18.800
And so there has to be a sensitivity to that and an honor to be let in to somebody's biggest insecurities.
00:40:18.880 --> 00:40:37.679
And I take that as a responsibility to navigate our role with with pragmatism and kindness and you know good ideas for what to do, be creative, but always be centered around we're doing this for a person and for people.
00:40:38.320 --> 00:40:44.559
And so, with our with our in-home interventions, like that's a pretty fast and furious day.
00:40:44.960 --> 00:40:51.039
There's heavy lifting, so you have to be able to move fast and do the updowns that we say, which is like the loads to the car.
00:40:51.119 --> 00:40:57.519
And sometimes it's a hot day, and you still have to do those, and sometimes it's raining, and sometimes it's freezing, and you still gotta do it.
00:40:57.599 --> 00:41:08.159
So people who are just able to kind of not be bothered by the the weather, you know, like rain or shine, we're gonna do a good job.
00:41:08.320 --> 00:41:19.840
Um, but also, you know, good at space and good at organizing, good at creativity, good at stepping back and seeing something from a bigger picture and then going meticulous.
00:41:20.000 --> 00:41:32.000
But within that, I'd love to have people who are kind of the designated heavy lifters, the designated meticulous, the designated hold space for the whole job, the lead organizer who's really the client communicator.
00:41:32.320 --> 00:41:39.440
And then on the legacy lifting side, which we'll be launching a lot more in the future and in the fall, it's it's probably it's a slower pace.
00:41:39.760 --> 00:41:47.519
So those clients sometimes I've had to say to them, like, are you sure you're are are we getting done what you wanted to?
00:41:47.599 --> 00:41:50.320
Like, does this feel like a good amount of work done?
00:41:50.400 --> 00:41:53.039
Because it's well, do you want to say who legacy lifting serves?
00:41:53.280 --> 00:41:57.360
Legacy lifting serves our our clients in the later years of life.
00:41:57.519 --> 00:41:59.599
So we say leave a legacy, not a burden.
00:41:59.840 --> 00:42:17.199
And legacy lifting is really designed for people from pre-retirement age, but thinking that retirement is coming on, and how can we start to work through your stuff so that when you are retired, you don't spend the next the first five years of retirement going through your stuff versus going on a vacation.
00:42:17.360 --> 00:42:30.000
You know, so it's like if you anticipate yourself wanting to be out of the house you're in, but all your kids' things are there, or you just have too much and you know that will be a barrier to a future change.
00:42:30.639 --> 00:42:36.800
Hire us before, well before retirement, so that you can have the retirement that you want.
00:42:37.119 --> 00:42:39.119
Uh, but then that's also retired.
00:42:39.199 --> 00:42:44.880
And now we've we've finished a career and now we can come back to our stuff differently than when we were in the career.
00:42:45.039 --> 00:42:50.480
Then it's okay, now I'm thinking about a senior living situation, but my house and my stuff is in the way of it.
00:42:50.559 --> 00:42:51.840
I don't want to bring it with me.
00:42:52.000 --> 00:42:54.239
Or hey, I'm in a senior living situation.
00:42:54.320 --> 00:42:59.280
I downsized all my stuff, but I don't, there's not much order to it, or there's too much stuff.
00:42:59.599 --> 00:43:08.400
Or, you know, the siblings in the sandwich generation who are looking ahead and thinking, you know, what am I gonna do with all my mom stuff?
00:43:08.480 --> 00:43:11.840
I'm taking care of my kids, I've got my own life, like there's so many things.
00:43:12.079 --> 00:43:19.679
So all of that, like serving with more of an end in mind, whether it's the end of a home, the end of a of a life, you know.
00:43:19.840 --> 00:43:24.559
So with that, there is an increased amount of empathy and patience.
00:43:24.639 --> 00:43:32.960
Uh, patience and kindness and um, you know, perhaps some skills to actually connect with people on a different cognitive level.
00:43:33.119 --> 00:43:36.480
Um, so yeah, but ultimately it's really fun.
00:43:36.719 --> 00:43:39.280
So the people and and we have been growing.
00:43:39.440 --> 00:43:45.840
It's been fun to feel the growth, the pace that we're moving at, the amount of things on my plate on a given day.
00:43:45.920 --> 00:43:49.199
And I just do my best and then we wake up and do more tomorrow.
00:43:49.360 --> 00:43:51.039
Uh, I'm having a lot of fun with it.
00:43:51.199 --> 00:43:55.440
I say I don't, I don't really get excited and I don't really get stressed.
00:43:55.599 --> 00:43:58.480
I've found a way to kind of maintain an equilibrium.
00:43:58.639 --> 00:43:59.760
So even with you, Courtney.
00:44:00.079 --> 00:44:01.599
Coming on, I'm like, I'm excited for her.
00:44:01.679 --> 00:44:04.480
But then I'm like, I'm just looking forward to it and I hope it goes well.
00:44:04.639 --> 00:44:08.639
But I'm not overly excited because if it doesn't, that's okay too.
00:44:08.800 --> 00:44:10.000
But I know it will.
00:44:10.239 --> 00:44:18.079
But you know, it's just that I don't like to, you know, over exert myself energetically because I need to, I need my energy.
00:44:18.239 --> 00:44:20.000
And so I kind of keep it even.
00:44:20.159 --> 00:44:22.960
But that's where like I don't get stressed much either.
00:44:23.119 --> 00:44:24.320
And I used to get stressed.
00:44:24.719 --> 00:44:29.280
There were ends of days that I'm like, I need to do a breathing exercise before I can get through this.
00:44:29.360 --> 00:44:30.639
You know, like what have I done to us?
00:44:30.719 --> 00:44:33.519
You know, oh my goodness, we've we have promised the world.
00:44:33.679 --> 00:44:36.639
We're just two organizers trying to do our best for these people, you know.
00:44:36.719 --> 00:44:38.159
And it's like, it's the end of the day.
00:44:38.320 --> 00:44:41.599
Oh my gosh, a ridiculous amount of pressure for what we were doing.
00:44:41.679 --> 00:44:44.400
You know, it's like, we're just trying to organize your kitchen drawers.
00:44:44.639 --> 00:45:04.320
Um but yeah, I I like life from a more, you know, chill, and and it's really, really fun, you know, to do what we do and to to to be and to be growing this team and to be, it's really fun to invite people to be part of something that you've built and to see their reaction to it from a new perspective.
00:45:04.480 --> 00:45:09.440
And to we have a gal who's gonna, JC, who's gonna help manage the legacy lifting.
00:45:09.519 --> 00:45:15.519
And she's like, I want to do what you're doing, but I don't wanna, I don't have that hustle that you have for this right now.
00:45:15.599 --> 00:45:20.400
You know, she's doing different things in her life and art and things that are taking up her time.
00:45:20.719 --> 00:45:26.320
And she's like, but I love what you're doing and showing her what we've built and the systems behind the scenes.
00:45:26.400 --> 00:45:34.320
And while we've been here recording this episode, Laura's been on a call with a consult, you know, the the intake call for someone that we're scheduling for next week.
00:45:34.400 --> 00:45:40.239
You know, I went on a walk the other day with a friend and I said, someone's working on the business right now.
00:45:40.400 --> 00:45:41.280
I don't know who.
00:45:41.440 --> 00:45:44.480
There might be two people doing things for the business right now.
00:45:44.639 --> 00:45:49.760
But while I'm on a leisure walk with you, my business, my business is growing.
00:45:49.920 --> 00:45:50.960
Things are being done.
00:45:51.119 --> 00:46:00.800
And that was a really cool feeling to know that I have people that share in the vision and the responsibility and are are moving it forward together.
00:46:01.280 --> 00:46:01.840
Yeah.
00:46:02.079 --> 00:46:10.880
Um, so actually kind of going with the legacy um aspect of things, what kind of legacy are you hoping to leave with space by space?
00:46:12.239 --> 00:46:13.039
Wow, Alice.
00:46:13.119 --> 00:46:15.679
That's a really deep question.
00:46:16.480 --> 00:46:17.119
Wow.
00:46:17.360 --> 00:46:20.559
Um but a beautiful one.
00:46:20.639 --> 00:46:34.960
And when you asked me questions before a couple episodes ago, um you got into some of the depth of my thought process and some of my travels and life experiences and how those show up in people's living rooms and kitchens and everything, because it's so much deeper.
00:46:35.280 --> 00:46:41.599
I want to help people live a good life and to love themselves and the lives that they live.
00:46:41.840 --> 00:46:53.199
I want them to feel I want them, I want people to feel as unburdened to be themselves to the fullest and to have homes.
00:46:53.440 --> 00:47:08.079
If we're lucky enough to have a home and to have space to grow into for ourselves, I want our service to help people live in a home that really serves them in a unique and special way.
00:47:08.400 --> 00:47:28.320
So my goal is that anybody who we serve feels like they got they got support in life to live their best life, to identify what that, you know, to be able to dream a little bit about what that might look like, and then for us to help them get a step closer to it.
00:47:28.800 --> 00:47:31.679
My we have a half a minute.
00:47:32.000 --> 00:47:33.280
So wow.
00:47:33.599 --> 00:47:50.000
Um, but yeah, I I I hope that we can serve our clients in a way that everybody feels like they got a really good custom, custom experience that has impact when we're there and well, well, well beyond.
00:47:50.239 --> 00:47:53.440
And for now, I'm just grateful to be here and to be among you all.
00:47:53.519 --> 00:47:56.800
And here at AM950, this is Sorting Through Life.
00:47:56.880 --> 00:47:59.840
Go to space by space organizing.com and be in touch.
00:00:02.399 --> 00:00:09.439
Welcome, welcome to Sorting Through Life with Colleen Watterston on AM950, the progressive voice of Minnesota.
00:00:09.759 --> 00:00:16.399
This is Sorting Through Life brought to you by Space by Space Organizing, a twin cities-based home organizing business.
00:00:16.480 --> 00:00:21.280
And I am your host, Colleen Watterston, and also owner and lead organizer at Space by Space.
00:00:21.519 --> 00:00:29.120
So today, our episode is very special as we have my three right hands.
00:00:29.199 --> 00:00:35.359
Um, so that I think makes me if I have a right and a left hand from both of you, that makes me an official octopus.
00:00:35.920 --> 00:00:36.240
Okay.
00:00:36.640 --> 00:00:37.200
Love this.
00:00:37.359 --> 00:00:38.479
Just put that together right now.
00:00:38.640 --> 00:00:40.000
I get to be the left hand though.
00:00:40.240 --> 00:00:40.560
Okay.
00:00:40.799 --> 00:00:42.560
Because I always say Alicia's my right.
00:00:43.039 --> 00:00:43.840
I'm left-handed.
00:00:43.920 --> 00:00:45.920
So Okay, so Tiffany's the left hand.
00:00:46.000 --> 00:00:47.520
So Tiffany has been here before.
00:00:47.679 --> 00:00:51.920
We've got Tiffany, our branding, business development marketing gal.
00:00:52.240 --> 00:00:59.039
We've got Alicia, my right hand, who comes to pretty much every job that we go to, and since I think month three of this business.
00:00:59.200 --> 00:01:11.760
And we have Courtney, our brand new, literally first day on the job, is coming in to help make all of our lives better by following up after what we do and helping keep this ship sailing.
00:01:12.000 --> 00:01:19.519
And so Courtney, uh, I think, you know, we have this radio show, and I said, Courtney, you know, why don't you come along to the radio show and see what that's about?
00:01:19.680 --> 00:01:22.799
And then as I got to think about it, I said, why don't I put you in?
00:01:23.040 --> 00:01:28.480
And I just think it's a very true testament that she's gonna be a great member of the team because she's like, all right.
00:01:28.640 --> 00:01:29.599
And so here we are.
00:01:29.760 --> 00:01:32.480
So the format of today, we are gonna turn the table on me.
00:01:32.560 --> 00:01:34.959
We've done this before with Alicia asking questions.
00:01:35.280 --> 00:01:38.959
But the three of them are going to take us on a little past-present journey.
00:01:39.120 --> 00:01:47.599
And you lovely listeners are getting in on it at the same time as I am because I have no idea what's being asked of me, and we're just gonna let it go from there.
00:01:47.840 --> 00:01:49.040
So, Courtney.
00:01:49.280 --> 00:01:50.400
I guess I'll start.
00:01:50.640 --> 00:01:51.920
It's your moment to shine.
00:01:52.159 --> 00:01:53.599
She got off the bench really quick.
00:01:54.879 --> 00:01:56.000
I'm a star, I guess.
00:01:56.239 --> 00:01:57.840
Yes, well, TV D.
00:01:58.719 --> 00:02:00.799
We'll check my name after this.
00:02:01.120 --> 00:02:07.760
Um, I guess the first question I'll ask is what was the biggest challenge you faced when opening your business?
00:02:08.159 --> 00:02:16.319
Ooh, I would say, okay, when I first opened my business, I had come from working for somebody else and we were a three-person team.
00:02:16.560 --> 00:02:22.319
So when I started it, I was by myself and I took on a client that kind of fell in my lap.
00:02:22.479 --> 00:02:29.280
And then I, and then the next clients came from working with family and getting referrals, and then family referred people.
00:02:29.439 --> 00:02:37.280
And um, I think in the very beginning, doing it alone for me was a challenge because everything is on you.
00:02:37.439 --> 00:02:44.080
And there's a lot of people who do like that and do solopreneur and solo organizing businesses.
00:02:44.400 --> 00:02:50.080
I do think that when you're solo on the clock, you're only focused on what you're doing.
00:02:50.159 --> 00:02:59.039
So you know uh it's of high value, you know, the quality, you know, there's no, there's no need to micromanage or even manage any other thing.
00:02:59.120 --> 00:03:01.919
It's just I'm gonna do my best with the time that I have.
00:03:02.319 --> 00:03:08.879
But no one is there to pick up a trash bag, no one's there to install a shelf, no one's there to lighten your load.
00:03:09.039 --> 00:03:16.879
And so doing it on my own taught me a lot, but it was pretty early in a couple months that I was like, I need help.
00:03:17.039 --> 00:03:27.680
And and I did a a like an esthetician's office, like the cabinets of my esthetician's, um, and and it was in exchange for a facial.
00:03:27.919 --> 00:03:33.599
And my Estee, my facialist, put it on TikTok, and that connected to Alicia.
00:03:33.759 --> 00:03:39.439
So Alicia's boyfriend saw it and then was like, oh, Alicia's been wanting to organize.
00:03:39.840 --> 00:03:42.800
And so then my Estee just gave me Alicia's info.
00:03:42.960 --> 00:03:45.919
Very like, if you want to reach out to her, here it is.
00:03:46.159 --> 00:03:47.360
Are you saying my Estee?
00:03:47.439 --> 00:03:49.120
Yes, what we called this.
00:03:59.759 --> 00:04:00.800
You should hit up Julia.
00:04:00.879 --> 00:04:02.240
And I was like, oh my gosh, no way.
00:04:02.319 --> 00:04:06.479
And so contacted her and met with Colleen, and now here we are.
00:04:06.800 --> 00:04:07.120
Yeah.
00:04:07.280 --> 00:04:09.039
We got and she says SD.
00:04:09.120 --> 00:04:10.000
Yeah, SD school.
00:04:10.080 --> 00:04:12.159
So like SD slash home organizer.
00:04:12.240 --> 00:04:12.319
Okay.
00:04:12.639 --> 00:04:12.719
Yeah.
00:04:13.039 --> 00:04:13.759
Home UG.
00:04:13.919 --> 00:04:15.199
We should come up with something.
00:04:15.840 --> 00:04:22.959
Um we got together at like the Jerry's by my house, had a Starbucks and just chatted.
00:04:23.040 --> 00:04:27.439
And I said, kind of like what I do with with newbies, I say I'll put you on.
00:04:27.600 --> 00:04:33.600
Um, sometimes like I don't charge the client for a first, you know, I'm like, I'm make sure that they're they're good.
00:04:34.000 --> 00:04:39.439
Um and we've never, we we've been working with each other ever since.
00:04:39.600 --> 00:04:43.279
And so it was that was that was a game changer.
00:04:43.519 --> 00:05:05.199
But but specifically, I think, and I think what we do for clients is bring in a team because it's so hard to do all the things that we're asked to do as adults and humans these days in this fast-paced world where so much is coming in and out of a house, where you know, kids, if you have kids, best of luck ever staying organized, because I think they bring a hundred items in a day.
00:05:05.439 --> 00:05:09.439
And so we get to be that team to our clients.
00:05:09.600 --> 00:05:14.480
Like when they're feeling that sense of being alone and just how am I ever gonna finish this?
00:05:14.639 --> 00:05:22.480
And even if it's just taking a few drawers on in an afternoon that they have available, it can be hard when you're doing it all on your own.
00:05:22.720 --> 00:05:29.519
So I think that the team model that we have is is kind of what we offer to our clients as well.
00:05:30.319 --> 00:05:30.639
Okay.
00:05:31.519 --> 00:05:35.439
Um, what has been your proudest moment as a business owner?
00:05:36.079 --> 00:05:38.399
Oh, probably there's probably quite a few.
00:05:38.639 --> 00:05:39.120
Yeah.
00:05:40.079 --> 00:05:42.319
What do you think has been my proudest moment, Alicia?
00:05:43.279 --> 00:06:14.319
Um I would say I guess it kind of goes into like how I've seen you kind of grow as a business owner, but more so not necessarily always taking on like the emotional aspect of the job and being able to kind of separate that and then just sticking to the job and doing what needs to be done and being able to leave it at that kind of thing, if that makes sense.
00:06:14.720 --> 00:06:20.959
Yeah, but feel free to go into it because I do think that that's an interesting thing that happens for organizers.
00:06:21.120 --> 00:06:23.199
So, you know, we go into people's messes.
00:06:23.360 --> 00:06:30.959
I always say, you know, the the drawer, the room, the closet that they hope their friends don't see is what they show us and what we're in.
00:06:31.199 --> 00:06:39.519
So, and and early on, I was at a conference and they said, um, you can't care more about your client's life than they do.
00:06:40.480 --> 00:06:54.879
And that that hit, and I think has been something I've shared many times since, because you you see this potential, you come in to to bring someone to closer to their highest potential.
00:06:55.199 --> 00:07:01.040
And and a lot of times we every time we get in our own way in life.
00:07:01.279 --> 00:07:10.959
And so we come in to help people get out of their own way, but often the stuff is is the easiest way to get ourselves in our own way.
00:07:11.120 --> 00:07:17.120
We think if we take this on, if we take on this craft, it'll bring better stuff to our life, but then we never finish the craft.
00:07:17.279 --> 00:07:25.519
If we take on this, this task on behalf of our kids, it'll make us better parents, but then we don't manage the task well and it overwhelms us.
00:07:25.600 --> 00:07:37.519
You know, we we take on things, we take on stuff, and then that stuff is a constant reminder of what we're not capable of completing, of you know, how much we start, not finish.
00:07:37.680 --> 00:07:44.959
And so we get to come in and be kind of like these pragmatic detectives of what's getting in the way of somebody's life.
00:07:45.199 --> 00:07:53.360
And then we get to come and kind of do our best to excavate that out and leave behind what is helpful.
00:07:53.600 --> 00:07:59.519
And so it is, if you're and and most people who are organizers are pretty empathetic, helpful.
00:07:59.680 --> 00:08:02.560
They want the best for people across the board.
00:08:02.639 --> 00:08:05.839
I love being an organizer and in the company of other organizers.
00:08:06.000 --> 00:08:11.439
If someone's a professional organizer, they're it's kind of how I felt about my family's business as a funeral director.
00:08:11.600 --> 00:08:13.600
It's like people would say, Oh, that's so creepy.
00:08:13.680 --> 00:08:15.120
I'm like, have you met a funeral director?
00:08:15.199 --> 00:08:17.600
They're some of the most compassionate people you've ever met.
00:08:17.680 --> 00:08:23.360
You know, they're helping a family through the worst day of their life, you know, a dynamic and everything that's going on.
00:08:23.519 --> 00:08:28.079
So I was always surrounded by these really empathetic people with the funeral industry.
00:08:28.240 --> 00:08:32.399
And now our industry of professional organizers, I think, is just full of empathy.
00:08:32.720 --> 00:08:33.440
Well, you have to.
00:08:33.600 --> 00:08:38.960
Like you're getting so closely intimate with a client in a very short amount of time.
00:08:39.759 --> 00:08:52.080
We often we often hear things that probably only get said to a therapist and might not even get said to a therapist because a therapist is not in your home seeing everything.
00:08:52.159 --> 00:08:56.639
You're only doing your best to describe your life to them from the comfort of a couch, you know.
00:08:56.720 --> 00:09:08.559
But when you're in it and you're coming up against people's triggers, um, it is it is there the hugs that I've had with clients have been some of the deepest hugs, some of the longest hugs.
00:09:08.799 --> 00:09:12.399
Um just our client the other day said, like, I need one of these every day.
00:09:12.480 --> 00:09:20.399
And it's like, I'm so sorry that I can't be here to do that for you, but I'll give you a long one now to to ride out a little bit longer.
00:09:20.480 --> 00:09:36.000
But I do think when we first started, and this was a challenge, um, I would always apologize at the end of the day for where we didn't get instead of saying, Here's where we got with pride, you know, with look at what we got done for you today.
00:09:36.320 --> 00:09:45.919
And now I I I call people out when they say sorry, because I think, especially as women, we apologize too much for things that aren't.
00:09:46.080 --> 00:09:50.559
I have a very dear friend who's one of the kindest people I know, and she's always saying sorry.
00:09:50.720 --> 00:09:55.039
And I said, Um, you don't have ill intent, you know, like that's not in you.
00:09:55.200 --> 00:10:02.000
So stop apologizing, you know, like you you don't need to be sorry about this, you know, but we've we do that.
00:10:02.240 --> 00:10:15.360
I I think we take on this feeling of I should should say sorry, I should feel ashamed, I'm so sorry that it got this way, I'm sorry for and it's like you're doing your best, and I want to honor that, but I'm also doing my best and I'm going to honor that.
00:10:15.440 --> 00:10:16.480
And I'm doing a great job.
00:10:16.559 --> 00:10:22.240
And Alicia's doing a great job, and whoever else comes in on this business's behalf is doing a great job.
00:10:22.480 --> 00:10:29.519
And so in the beginning, it used to be, oh shoot, we still have this left, and you know, we're gonna we'll get back to this, okay.
00:10:29.600 --> 00:10:30.399
Oh, sorry about this.
00:10:30.480 --> 00:10:36.240
And it's like you I'd leave stressed instead of leaving proud of we got a lot done for you today.
00:10:36.879 --> 00:10:46.639
And also I've started to get a little bit more confident in if you couldn't get this done in five years, it's a little unrealistic that we can get it done in five hours.
00:10:46.720 --> 00:10:46.879
Yeah.
00:10:47.120 --> 00:10:56.240
So I'm gonna be a little bit more honest with ourselves and a client about how long something's gonna take.
00:10:56.399 --> 00:10:56.720
Yeah.
00:10:57.039 --> 00:11:05.279
And the consult can lead, you know, we were in a kitchen recently that ended up being three days, and I had thought it would take two, but maybe more.
00:11:05.440 --> 00:11:16.159
And it took three very solid days because as we were in there, the amount that was coming out, and then we found a whole new set of cabinets that were related to the kitchen, but we didn't even know about.
00:11:16.320 --> 00:11:16.559
Yeah.
00:11:16.799 --> 00:11:18.399
And they were under the island.
00:11:18.559 --> 00:11:24.240
And and so the client fully understood because she would come down and be like, Do you guys even take breaks?
00:11:24.320 --> 00:11:26.080
Like, this is amazing what you got done.
00:11:26.159 --> 00:11:30.799
She was t sending pictures to her friends saying, I'm telling them, look at what I didn't do today.
00:11:30.960 --> 00:11:35.840
You know, like look what she got done in her home that she didn't have to do.
00:11:36.080 --> 00:11:41.519
So, and I think that that increased confidence has changed the dynamic with clients.
00:11:41.759 --> 00:11:42.559
Yeah, I agree.
00:11:43.679 --> 00:11:44.240
Yeah.
00:11:44.559 --> 00:11:51.519
I've also done a lot of personal work over the last few years, and I am very confident now.
00:11:51.679 --> 00:12:03.919
I like myself a lot, and it I have been insecure and not liked myself a lot of life, and it is so much more fun to like yourself and to be confident.
00:12:04.080 --> 00:12:15.279
And and so I I tell people that regularly, and I want that for other people because you know, we're always talking about how you only get one life, you only get one shot at this life.
00:12:15.519 --> 00:12:27.600
And so you might as well feel good about yourself while you're here and and enjoy your life and get to know yourself and delight in being you and in keeping the home you keep and the relationships that you keep.
00:12:27.840 --> 00:12:36.399
So I think I want the best life possible for myself, for the people around me, and for our clients just as much as my best friends.
00:12:36.559 --> 00:12:36.960
Yeah.
00:12:38.399 --> 00:12:43.919
Um what are some mistakes that you've learned from the most?
00:12:44.080 --> 00:12:48.960
Or maybe not the word mistakes, but what have you learned from the most?
00:12:49.679 --> 00:12:50.799
I would get into that.
00:12:50.960 --> 00:12:51.519
Not mistakes.
00:12:51.840 --> 00:12:53.919
Yeah, not mistakes because it helps you learn.
00:12:54.080 --> 00:12:54.240
Yeah.
00:12:54.559 --> 00:12:58.399
ADHD is something that we talk about a lot in the world these days.
00:12:58.559 --> 00:13:08.399
And there are a lot of people who are getting diagnosed or identifying with the symptoms and the the description and being able to say, I have that, you know, and that's the way my brain functions.
00:13:08.559 --> 00:13:17.919
And one of the key characteristics of ADHD is time blindness or having an ambition with what time can accomplish.
00:13:18.159 --> 00:13:28.559
And so understanding what can actually get accomplished in a day, in a session, in an hour, and a lot can get accomplished.
00:13:28.960 --> 00:13:31.360
And I constantly say human hours.
00:13:31.519 --> 00:13:35.360
Like we might have one hour left, but if there's three of us, that's three human hours.
00:13:35.519 --> 00:13:38.639
So we actually have a ton of time left, but we have to use it well.
00:13:38.799 --> 00:13:42.080
I would say I've gotten a ton better at time management.
00:13:44.240 --> 00:13:45.120
I would agree.
00:13:46.080 --> 00:13:47.919
Are there any other mistakes?
00:13:48.159 --> 00:13:49.440
Did I make mistakes before?
00:13:49.600 --> 00:13:50.480
Oh, that's a trick question.
00:13:50.639 --> 00:13:51.120
Dun dun dun.
00:13:51.360 --> 00:13:51.919
I wouldn't say mistakes.
00:13:52.320 --> 00:13:53.120
How much do you like your job?
00:13:55.440 --> 00:14:04.399
I would agree with you on the time blind list, though, because I remember first starting out in a beginning towards like the end of the day, and you'd be like, okay, here, like let's unpack this area and like this space.
00:14:04.559 --> 00:14:07.679
And I'd be like, okay, we do only have like an hour and a half left.
00:14:07.840 --> 00:14:15.120
Should we be like doing this and just doing it and then kind of scrambling towards the end of trying to finish it up?
00:14:15.279 --> 00:14:29.759
And yeah, I would agree it's gotten a lot better where you're not wanting to necessarily leave a space completely like unpacked and everything pulled out for the next day, and more so just saying, like, okay, well, we didn't get to this today, but we'll get to it tomorrow.
00:14:30.159 --> 00:14:30.960
This is where we start.
00:14:31.120 --> 00:14:31.360
Yep.
00:14:31.919 --> 00:14:37.200
I was at a client recently and there was, it was just a two-hour session, a legacy lifting client.
00:14:37.440 --> 00:14:49.279
And there was kind of we had gotten through quite a bit, and then we still had about 15 minutes, and she was looking around and a little like, I don't know what what can be done in 15 minutes.
00:14:49.360 --> 00:14:52.399
I don't know, you know, like and what we accomplished was substantial.
00:14:52.480 --> 00:15:01.840
We got through a few boxes and and got stuff to go out the door and stuff to stay and and had had uh thoroughly tackled what we started.
00:15:02.080 --> 00:15:03.840
But I said, should we just start?
00:15:04.000 --> 00:15:04.879
Should we just stop?
00:15:05.279 --> 00:15:08.320
Should we just do 1.75 hours instead of two?
00:15:08.639 --> 00:15:11.840
And she was like, Yeah, that sounds great.
00:15:12.159 --> 00:15:12.799
No problem.
00:15:13.039 --> 00:15:24.159
So I just packed up, you know, left, went and got the donations done sooner than I had planned, and you know, got to my workout with a little bit of time to spare, and and that was fine.
00:15:24.320 --> 00:15:28.000
So knowing also to say, what if we just put a pin in it?
00:15:28.240 --> 00:15:30.639
You know, we can just stop today, we'll get back to this.
00:15:31.759 --> 00:15:34.960
Okay, you got it, you got a quick one, or should we should we call it?
00:15:35.200 --> 00:15:36.480
I feel like it could be quick.
00:15:36.720 --> 00:15:36.879
Okay.
00:15:37.200 --> 00:15:41.840
What's one of the coolest slash best transformations you've seen within a home?
00:15:42.240 --> 00:15:42.639
Ooh.
00:15:42.879 --> 00:15:43.519
That's a good one.
00:15:43.600 --> 00:15:43.679
Yeah.
00:15:43.919 --> 00:15:46.080
I was just curious because Yeah.
00:15:46.639 --> 00:15:47.279
Quick.
00:15:47.679 --> 00:15:48.080
Quick.
00:15:48.399 --> 00:15:48.799
Day one.
00:15:48.879 --> 00:15:50.879
She doesn't know how long I can talk.
00:15:51.200 --> 00:15:53.360
Um we can tell her all she.
00:15:53.919 --> 00:15:55.200
Uh let's see here.
00:15:56.639 --> 00:15:58.639
What's your favorite transformation?
00:15:59.039 --> 00:16:02.960
Um I love a whole home.
00:16:03.039 --> 00:16:03.200
Yeah.
00:16:03.440 --> 00:16:14.720
I love when when we get, and I I think my brain is especially designed to take a ton and make the best of something, like think in the systems way.
00:16:14.879 --> 00:16:23.360
I have an undergraduate graduate degree in psychology, specifically organizational psychology, which is about dynamics on a team, not organizing.
00:16:23.679 --> 00:16:39.279
But I have, you know, I'm able and I've studied like big global issues and kind of broken things down over the years, um, and and can take something big and sticky and try to find something tangible within it to move it forward.
00:16:39.440 --> 00:16:55.120
So I think that some of that past me and the way that my brain has been like studied, when I go into someone's house, I I am or home, apartment, condo, anywhere we go, it's like I'm seeing all of it, not just what they think they've hired us for.
00:16:55.440 --> 00:17:01.120
Because often what if they think they've hired us for one space, it's like, oh, oh no.
00:17:01.360 --> 00:17:08.000
Like the reason that this is is problematic is because the closet across the hall from this space is problematic.
00:17:08.160 --> 00:17:11.359
And because you've put things that belong downstairs up here.
00:17:11.519 --> 00:17:13.279
So now I need to see downstairs.
00:17:13.519 --> 00:17:30.799
Because if downstairs are not orderly, that's why you're not bringing it there because you know it's just gonna go to the abyss downstairs, and so it stays up here because that's easier than going into the crawl space or into um, you know, that storage unit that doesn't resemble a storage unit.
00:17:30.880 --> 00:17:41.680
You know, so it's like sometimes it's like, trust me, you need to do three spaces to tackle that one space because otherwise you're gonna have me back, or it won't, it won't stay.
00:17:41.839 --> 00:17:47.359
So I'm pretty like when I worked for someone else, we would often just keep our eye on the one space.
00:17:47.440 --> 00:17:50.400
And then we'd go back like a couple months later and do a different space.
00:17:50.559 --> 00:17:54.319
And I remember her saying, like, don't look in the garage, which is where we had been.
00:17:54.559 --> 00:17:58.559
And I'm like, that's I I didn't like that, you know.
00:17:58.640 --> 00:18:09.519
And when we go, like when we've done a touch-up after a couple of years or something, like we were just in our client Natalie's house last week, and we had done her entire house almost a year before.
00:18:09.759 --> 00:18:13.759
And then it only took a day to really touch up quite a bit of space.
00:18:13.839 --> 00:18:15.200
And it was a very casual day.
00:18:15.359 --> 00:18:18.160
It was a very, you know, we moved at a pace that felt good.
00:18:18.240 --> 00:18:22.079
It wasn't, you know, no talking because we have so much to do.
00:18:22.160 --> 00:18:25.440
It was able to be a lot, a lot lighter feeling.
00:18:25.839 --> 00:18:38.640
And so I think that when clients recognize that that the best case scenario is a little more than they thought they needed, and trust us, that's when the the real magic happens.
00:18:38.799 --> 00:18:39.440
Yeah.
00:18:40.079 --> 00:18:40.559
All right.
00:18:40.640 --> 00:18:41.759
I think you crushed it.
00:18:41.920 --> 00:18:42.240
Really?
00:18:42.480 --> 00:18:43.839
I think you crushed it, Courtney.
00:18:44.079 --> 00:18:44.400
Okay.
00:18:44.559 --> 00:18:44.799
All right.
00:18:44.880 --> 00:18:47.200
Well, let's take a little break and we'll be right back.
00:18:47.279 --> 00:18:48.720
And then it's up for Tiffany's turn.
00:18:48.799 --> 00:18:52.559
This is Sorting Through Life with Colleen Watterston and this great team of mine.
00:18:57.920 --> 00:19:01.200
Welcome back to Sorting Through Life here on AM950.
00:19:01.279 --> 00:19:07.759
This is Colleen Watterston, host of Sorting Through Life, brought to you by Space by Space Organizing, our home organizing business.
00:19:07.920 --> 00:19:26.559
And today I'm surrounded by three very lovely individuals, Tiffany, Courtney, and Alicia, who all uh like we're kind of having a past, present, future episode, and we have like the OG right hand, the you know, next left hand, and then the extended hands of all.
00:19:26.640 --> 00:19:33.680
So we've got this the octopus is is fully formed now with our eight hands of tackling space by space for our clients.
00:19:33.920 --> 00:19:37.279
So, Tiffany, you're telling me this is a rapid fire.
00:19:37.359 --> 00:19:43.680
So the girls are all, they've all prepared questions for me, and I do not know any of them, which is fun.
00:19:44.480 --> 00:19:53.680
Yeah, so we were we had all kind of discussed what we were gonna talk about on here, and then we found out afterwards that, oh, maybe we'll do a past, present, future thing.
00:19:53.759 --> 00:19:56.640
But then our questions had all kind of naturally aligned with that anyway.
00:19:56.720 --> 00:19:57.759
So it ended up working okay.
00:19:57.839 --> 00:19:58.720
So I'm in the present.
00:19:59.039 --> 00:19:59.279
Okay.
00:19:59.519 --> 00:20:00.880
And I'm in the present.
00:20:01.039 --> 00:20:02.319
Yes, right here with you.
00:20:02.720 --> 00:20:07.759
Okay, so since I'm the marketing person, I am going rapid fire style.
00:20:07.920 --> 00:20:33.119
Um, so the first one is what's one thing almost everyone owns too much of one thing everyone owns too much of food they won't make, clothes they won't wear, books they won't read, activities they'll never do, crafts they won't do.
00:20:34.000 --> 00:20:37.039
And I feel like it's our aspirational selves.
00:20:37.519 --> 00:20:41.279
You know, we all buy things thinking of our best intention.
00:20:41.440 --> 00:20:50.319
We just cleared out a man's book collection, and it's very clear that that book collection represented everything he ever knew or hoped to know.
00:20:50.880 --> 00:20:53.759
And so it's not just let's get rid of it, let's get rid of it.
00:20:53.920 --> 00:21:04.960
There's something that goes into honoring his intellect and his desire to know everything, and also to pause along the way to appreciate everything he knows that's represented in those books.
00:21:05.039 --> 00:21:05.440
Yeah.
00:21:05.680 --> 00:21:17.279
And but we all we kind of, you know, you can see where someone's passion is and you can see where someone's aspirational passion is pretty quick when you're in your house.
00:21:17.599 --> 00:21:19.839
I feel like Alicia can probably chime in on some of these too.
00:21:19.920 --> 00:21:20.960
Um, what's the hardest item?
00:21:21.279 --> 00:21:21.839
What would you say?
00:21:22.000 --> 00:21:24.240
Go backward that everyone owns too much of.
00:21:24.720 --> 00:21:30.480
I would definitely say agree more with the food, especially with the best intentions.
00:21:30.640 --> 00:21:40.079
Like everyone always has the best intentions of wanting to make meals and cook when you get home from work, but we all know how that goes when you're just not feeling it when you're dooring.
00:21:40.240 --> 00:21:42.960
Yes, door dash or picking something up on the way home.
00:21:43.440 --> 00:21:59.200
That, or I would say, yeah, hanging on to the clothes that they either have like emotional attachment to and like, oh, maybe I'll potentially wear this at one point, or clothes that they're oh, one day I'm going to fit into this, or going to
00:22:00.160 --> 00:22:01.279
About aspirational selves.
00:22:01.599 --> 00:22:08.400
Let me talk about Home Goods, TJ Maxx, Marshalls, which prior to becoming a professional organizer were some of my happy places.
00:22:08.640 --> 00:22:10.480
I still can get lost in those aisles.
00:22:10.880 --> 00:22:16.160
But man oh man, do we see a lot of aspirational purchases from the aisles of home goods?
00:22:16.480 --> 00:22:23.519
And I would say I'd be interested in talking to a UK-based organizer because tea is an actual real part of their culture.
00:22:23.839 --> 00:22:36.480
To me, in America, we lean toward coffee, but it does feel like everybody that we organize for thinks that they're gonna be a tea person one day and has about 20 to 30 boxes of aspirational tea.
00:22:36.640 --> 00:22:36.880
Yeah.
00:22:37.039 --> 00:22:43.680
And when you go to organize it, they want to keep it because one day they're gonna be a tea person, myself included.
00:22:44.160 --> 00:22:47.279
Aspirational tea is like a really good podcast name or something.
00:22:47.599 --> 00:22:48.400
Aspirational tea.
00:22:49.519 --> 00:22:51.200
Let's spill the aspirational tea.
00:22:51.680 --> 00:22:52.000
I love that.
00:22:52.160 --> 00:22:52.319
Yeah.
00:22:52.640 --> 00:22:55.440
Okay, what's the hardest item for people to let go of?
00:22:57.920 --> 00:23:06.000
Sometimes it's it's clothes that don't fit them from a body that they they think they might get back into.
00:23:06.480 --> 00:23:11.839
Um that can be hard and will kind of put it in a box for a future go-through.
00:23:12.799 --> 00:23:13.599
I would say that.
00:23:13.759 --> 00:23:22.079
Yeah, I would say clothes or something that costs a lot of money and they're frustrated by the purchase, but they never use it.
00:23:22.400 --> 00:23:35.519
I'm always very impressed by people who will recognize something they got as a wedding gift that they haven't used in 20 years, and they're just willing to let it go because they know that there was there was a lot of money attached to it, but they'll say, I never use it.
00:23:35.680 --> 00:23:40.079
But I'm equally impressed by people who use the fancy pitcher on an everyday basis.
00:23:40.319 --> 00:23:41.440
I think I like that more.
00:23:41.680 --> 00:23:48.880
Like, who cares if it was a hundred dollar pitcher that somebody gave to you for the Thanksgiving and Christmas days that you host?
00:23:49.039 --> 00:23:51.119
You might not even host Thanksgiving and Christmas.
00:23:51.279 --> 00:23:52.079
Why not use it?
00:23:52.160 --> 00:23:56.480
And if you're just gonna give it away, if it breaks, oh well, one day you clean it up.
00:23:56.559 --> 00:23:57.759
It probably isn't gonna break.
00:23:57.920 --> 00:24:00.240
You know, I like when people use their nice things.
00:24:00.640 --> 00:24:02.319
Life, you only get one life.
00:24:02.480 --> 00:24:14.400
Use the nice things, use the fancy china, use the fancy picture, you know, and like I fold my underwear and my closet and a lot of my drawers are very aspirational drawers.
00:24:14.640 --> 00:24:18.000
I have parties and I tell people, feel free to look through any drawer.
00:24:18.160 --> 00:24:20.559
And I I launched this business and I had a party.
00:24:20.720 --> 00:24:29.440
Alicia made cookies in the basement, and and I said the party theme was I'll show you mine if you show me yours, launching a home organizing business.
00:24:29.519 --> 00:24:31.039
I want to come in and organize your stuff.
00:24:31.119 --> 00:24:33.359
So it's only right for you to be able to see mine.
00:24:33.839 --> 00:24:40.480
And when I get dressed in the morning, the way that my closet is set up, I feel good every morning.
00:24:40.640 --> 00:24:45.039
I just got a really comfy rug in my closet.
00:24:45.279 --> 00:24:47.200
And I want to live in that closet.
00:24:47.359 --> 00:24:53.839
I want to stand and get ready for at least 10 minutes because I so enjoy having my feet on that rug.
00:24:54.000 --> 00:25:01.119
So I am all about the little luxuries in life that can help you feel good about yourself and about your home.
00:25:01.359 --> 00:25:22.799
And in moments of chaos all around you and the overwhelm of the day that's going to come if you step into the world or turn on the TV or talk to another human, those little places in your home, little spaces that we can make you feel good about yourself and feel and take a breath of fresh air and just feel a really plush rug on your feet.
00:25:22.880 --> 00:25:27.680
Now, I'm not buying rugs for clients, but I would if someone's like, I heard you have a really good rug, can you get me one?
00:25:27.759 --> 00:25:28.880
I'd be like, on it.
00:25:29.119 --> 00:25:32.799
I will do what I can to make my clients' lives better.
00:25:33.039 --> 00:25:39.279
I I really do like want to bring the best to the clients that we serve.
00:25:41.119 --> 00:25:41.519
All right.
00:25:41.599 --> 00:25:44.880
What's one thing you never expected to organize so often?
00:25:47.519 --> 00:25:48.799
I would say underwear drawers.
00:25:48.960 --> 00:25:51.039
I almost thought underwear drawers.
00:25:51.440 --> 00:25:51.839
Yeah.
00:25:52.400 --> 00:25:59.440
There's even a client that told us that every time she goes in her underwear drawer, she thinks of me because I organize them.
00:26:00.079 --> 00:26:01.759
That's how could you not?
00:26:02.160 --> 00:26:14.799
There's clients, you know, and we've done so many now that I don't think about everybody every day, but I think about regularly how many people think about us every day because we made such a different system.
00:26:14.880 --> 00:26:15.920
They're moving things around.
00:26:16.079 --> 00:26:19.119
We had Maddie on a client that we just adore.
00:26:19.279 --> 00:26:22.640
We've been in her place uh so many times.
00:26:22.960 --> 00:26:25.839
And she says that they have a thing around their house.
00:26:25.920 --> 00:26:27.599
It's the Colleen Scapegoat.
00:26:27.759 --> 00:26:37.119
If they can't find something, they go, Colleen, oh Colleen, and it's because they have me to be like, we can't find it, oh, Colleen.
00:26:37.359 --> 00:26:48.000
You know, it's like a loving thing, but it's just a running joke that they have because when we move things around and they were looking for it originally, they'd kind of like laugh at that.
00:26:48.319 --> 00:26:54.799
But yeah, I think it's fun to think of how much we've touched in so many people's homes.
00:26:55.119 --> 00:27:00.319
And and I think that they want to keep it the way it looks when we leave.
00:27:00.480 --> 00:27:03.599
And so to think that as they're there, they're like, okay, I can do this.
00:27:04.000 --> 00:27:06.960
You know, I can I can fold my underwear like Colleen does.
00:27:07.279 --> 00:27:07.519
All right.
00:27:07.599 --> 00:27:09.920
What's well Maddie says she never will.
00:27:10.160 --> 00:27:13.680
Maddie is like, that was a cute idea.
00:27:14.000 --> 00:27:14.400
Yeah.
00:27:14.559 --> 00:27:14.720
Yeah.
00:27:14.960 --> 00:27:17.680
What's one thing you wish everyone would stop buying?
00:27:18.960 --> 00:27:21.279
More T, all the impulse purchases.
00:27:21.440 --> 00:27:22.319
I wish that.
00:27:22.480 --> 00:27:24.480
So I've talked about this before.
00:27:24.720 --> 00:27:28.319
Um, Amazon, I watched a show on Amazon.
00:27:28.400 --> 00:27:32.799
It was a documentary, and it had this conveyor belt.
00:27:32.880 --> 00:27:47.759
It had this animated the they it had this animation of a person lying in their bed ordering something, add Descartes, and a conveyor belt came in the middle of the night and dropped the box at the bottom of the bed.
00:27:48.000 --> 00:27:50.400
And I thought that's not far from true.
00:27:50.720 --> 00:28:09.200
But seeing it in this animation made it look so ridiculous, you know, and to think of everything that happened while that person was sleeping to get a pair of slippers, like something that was not important to come in the dark of the night, in the middle of the night, have some driver bring it to you by 5 to 7 a.m.
00:28:09.359 --> 00:28:15.119
You know, it was like it made me think, yeah, yeah, that's maybe not necessary.
00:28:15.440 --> 00:28:25.680
And then it talked about the Amazon add to cart and buy now buttons and how back when they first created the buy now button, they tested nine different colors.
00:28:25.839 --> 00:28:27.519
And one of them was the merigold button.
00:28:27.599 --> 00:28:37.680
And they had so many people on Amazon that they could just do the testing themselves within people on the site and see which color made people buy now most.
00:28:37.839 --> 00:28:41.519
And the merigold that we see on Amazon now is the color that won.
00:28:41.680 --> 00:28:56.480
And when I thought about how manipulated I had been by that and how researched had gone into, you know, the research that went into them tricking us in a way to like buy now, it made me be like, I I can wait.
00:28:56.640 --> 00:28:57.759
I can wait, Amazon.
00:28:57.920 --> 00:28:58.960
I got you, I see you.
00:28:59.279 --> 00:28:59.920
Just out of spite.
00:29:00.240 --> 00:29:00.640
Yeah.
00:29:00.880 --> 00:29:05.599
And so I'm a big buy now, or no, sorry, I am not a big buy now.
00:29:05.759 --> 00:29:08.319
I'm a big add to cart and save it for a few days.
00:29:08.640 --> 00:29:10.799
Come back to it, see if I really want it.
00:29:11.039 --> 00:29:28.319
I think that just what do I wish people didn't buy so much of is quick purchases and custom things um that that are only there, there's such a cheap quality produced that people aren't hanging on to things.
00:29:28.400 --> 00:29:41.759
You know, you go into an older person's home, you might have holiday decor from decades and decades ago that have been put up and taken down every year for all those decades, and they still look probably just as good as they did in the 1950s.
00:29:41.920 --> 00:29:46.400
But you see some of the decor that comes out today, and it is designed to be thrown away.
00:29:46.640 --> 00:30:03.920
And so I do wish that people would, you know, be a little bit more mindful of the one-time consumptions because then they'll hang on to the extra of something and they'll never use it, and it just becomes the backstock has gotten a little too aggressive.
00:30:04.880 --> 00:30:07.759
Uh, what are the hottest resale items you're seeing right now?
00:30:07.920 --> 00:30:09.440
Maybe Alicia can speak to that too.
00:30:09.599 --> 00:30:11.279
I know you guys do a lot of reselling.
00:30:12.079 --> 00:30:12.880
What's going well?
00:30:13.119 --> 00:30:14.720
Kids' stuff goes great on resale.
00:30:14.880 --> 00:30:15.200
Yeah.
00:30:15.359 --> 00:30:20.559
Uh, kid stuff, if you price it right, um, you know, taking the right pictures for anything goes well.
00:30:20.720 --> 00:30:24.799
You know, but yesterday we listed a few things and Alicia was like, no way for these pillows.
00:30:24.960 --> 00:30:28.160
And sure enough, I've had eight offers and someone's picking them up while we're here.
00:30:28.720 --> 00:30:29.279
So yep.
00:30:29.759 --> 00:30:38.400
And so there's a lot of things that's kind of funny, like some things that you think won't sell quick, and some things that, you know, if I had 10 of, I could have sold.
00:30:38.480 --> 00:30:41.599
You know, so that's yeah, it's all about pricing it right.
00:30:41.839 --> 00:30:46.720
But I think things that people can use um seasonal.
00:30:46.799 --> 00:30:56.160
So if it's summer, the the stuff for outside, you know, lounge chairs and and summer furniture and you know, stuff that makes your space nice.
00:30:56.240 --> 00:30:58.319
If you're trying to sell that in winter, best of luck.
00:30:58.559 --> 00:31:02.079
You know, it's it's really about that seasonal element.
00:31:02.640 --> 00:31:07.839
Also just doing something one at a time, you know, instead of putting 20 things into a bundle.
00:31:08.000 --> 00:31:10.880
You know, people don't necessarily want all your puzzles, they just want that one.
00:31:10.960 --> 00:31:14.559
So taking the listing and just making the one at a time.
00:31:15.519 --> 00:31:16.079
All right.
00:31:16.319 --> 00:31:16.799
Yep.
00:31:17.039 --> 00:31:22.319
Um, okay, what what are your top three places to donate clothing in the Twin Cities?
00:31:22.720 --> 00:31:25.039
I always go to Sharing and Carrying Hands.
00:31:25.119 --> 00:31:26.640
They're downtown Minneapolis.
00:31:26.799 --> 00:31:32.079
From what I know, they serve 600 community members a night who don't have a home of their own currently.
00:31:32.160 --> 00:31:39.839
And so for when you bring stuff to sharing and carrying hands, which is connected to Mary's place, you know it's going to go direct to a person.
00:31:40.000 --> 00:31:41.119
Uh, so I love there.
00:31:41.200 --> 00:31:54.240
I've recently been going to Prop Shop in Eden Prairie because it's a uh, they have a thrift store, they have a and and so and all of it goes, all the profit goes to their mission, and they have a food shelf and they have social services arms.
00:31:54.319 --> 00:31:58.640
So even with clothes, I think all the kids go direct to clothes, all the men's go direct to clothes.
00:31:58.720 --> 00:32:01.759
They only sell some of the women's clothes.
00:32:01.920 --> 00:32:05.440
I haven't done dress for success, but I'd like to do that too.
00:32:05.680 --> 00:32:21.839
When we donate clothes, if we don't help a client put together a box for a thread up for a potential, you know, income earning from their clothes, we always try to bring clothes to a place that will go directly to a person to wear versus a purchase.
00:32:22.160 --> 00:32:22.480
Okay.
00:32:22.640 --> 00:32:24.799
We're pretty big about that as much as we can.
00:32:24.960 --> 00:32:25.359
Yeah.
00:32:25.680 --> 00:32:26.880
Do we have time for one more question?
00:32:27.039 --> 00:32:27.759
Yeah, we'll make time.
00:32:28.319 --> 00:32:28.559
Okay.
00:32:28.720 --> 00:32:32.799
What's the one room that both of you think people struggle with the most?
00:32:33.680 --> 00:32:35.200
Usually or spot.
00:32:35.359 --> 00:32:48.480
Yeah, the things that are multi-people, you know, so if and a lot of times there's different dynamics within a house where, you know, maybe a parent feels more like they can set the system and make the kids stick to it.
00:32:48.640 --> 00:32:56.559
Sometimes you see a lot of lenient parents that don't demand their kids to tidy up or, you know, follow a system.
00:32:56.640 --> 00:33:06.559
And so within that dynamic, wherever multiple people drop things or come and go from, you're going to get the best and worst habits of everybody.
00:33:06.720 --> 00:33:09.359
And then you can feel the tension of that space.
00:33:09.519 --> 00:33:16.880
So I'm always saying, like, rooms in a house, they either play well together or fight.
00:33:17.039 --> 00:33:18.160
You know, there's tension.
00:33:18.240 --> 00:33:20.960
So it's kind of like people and flow.
00:33:21.200 --> 00:33:24.720
And you know, when people get along, you just feel easier.
00:33:24.880 --> 00:33:26.079
You feel a flow.
00:33:26.240 --> 00:33:29.200
You know, when you're like, I don't really like this person.
00:33:29.359 --> 00:33:31.200
You feel, you know, you kind of tense up.
00:33:31.359 --> 00:33:33.039
You can feel that in a home.
00:33:33.200 --> 00:33:34.799
Oh, this makes a lot of sense.
00:33:34.960 --> 00:33:36.559
Or this is conflicting.
00:33:36.720 --> 00:33:38.799
This is, they're serving a different purpose.
00:33:38.960 --> 00:33:42.240
This one's supposed to do that for you, but then you're pushing it over here.
00:33:42.480 --> 00:33:46.000
But so sometimes that's where also hiring the outsiders.
00:33:46.240 --> 00:33:50.079
I call us an intervention, like an in-home intervention.
00:33:50.400 --> 00:33:53.279
And I was talking to my business advisor last night.
00:33:53.440 --> 00:33:55.359
She's like, I don't know about that word intervention.
00:33:55.440 --> 00:33:59.039
And I'm like, oh, this is an intervention.
00:33:59.200 --> 00:34:00.799
Like, we are interventionists.
00:34:00.880 --> 00:34:04.160
And what we do, like you hopefully will never need to do again.
00:34:04.400 --> 00:34:18.639
But part of what we bring is words around what we're seeing, you know, and calling something out and asking a question to call something out so that people can see and put words to themselves what is not working.
00:34:18.800 --> 00:34:20.559
My best friend Mary has been on this show.
00:34:20.639 --> 00:34:21.599
She's 88 years old.
00:34:21.760 --> 00:34:22.400
Shout out to her.
00:34:22.559 --> 00:34:23.119
Love her so much.
00:34:23.199 --> 00:34:24.159
She just broke her wrist.
00:34:24.239 --> 00:34:25.039
I have to go visit.
00:34:25.199 --> 00:34:25.679
Poor thing.
00:34:25.840 --> 00:34:27.760
But um, love her so much.
00:34:28.000 --> 00:34:32.559
And she's taught me some very good phrases, like, let's not big deal this, you know.
00:34:32.639 --> 00:34:39.119
And I love saying that because, especially from an 88-year-old, you know, and she started being my best friend when she was my 82-year-old best friend.
00:34:39.280 --> 00:34:42.719
So she's been in my 30s and her 80s, we've been best friends.
00:34:42.800 --> 00:34:45.920
But you take it seriously when somebody tells you, don't big deal it.
00:34:46.079 --> 00:34:53.519
Like you're gonna get through it, you know, like that thing I'm stressing about was five decades ago for her, you know, like get over it, Colleen.
00:34:53.679 --> 00:35:00.559
You know, let's not big deal this, but in the kindest way, but just how many times do we overinflate things in our lives and we stress out about something?
00:35:00.719 --> 00:35:02.239
Let's not big deal this.
00:35:02.480 --> 00:35:11.199
Like, I host Christmas for my extended family, and the first couple of years I put together a beautiful evite, and it was just lovely and all the things.
00:35:11.360 --> 00:35:14.639
This year it was like email, here's the date, save it.
00:35:14.800 --> 00:35:16.480
I'm not gonna big deal this, you know.
00:35:16.559 --> 00:35:18.079
Like you're either gonna come or you're not.
00:35:18.239 --> 00:35:19.679
This is the day, see you there.
00:35:19.840 --> 00:35:20.960
It'll be lovely when you get there.
00:35:21.039 --> 00:35:23.679
But I don't need the evite to remind you it's gonna be lovely.
00:35:23.760 --> 00:35:24.800
You know, it's not a big deal.
00:35:24.880 --> 00:35:27.760
This took me 20 minutes instead of two hours.
00:35:28.079 --> 00:35:33.360
And so that, but Mary also says it's important to hear your own thoughts.
00:35:33.599 --> 00:35:48.079
And so I think a lot of times when we're in our own homes, we don't necessarily have conversations about things that need to in order to be addressed, you know, admitting it is the first step, like being able to articulate what's happening and talk through.
00:35:48.159 --> 00:35:56.719
So I often view our role as shedding light, you know, being able to call something out and say, what's happening over here?
00:35:56.880 --> 00:36:01.360
You know, what who's responsible for this area or what's going on over here?
00:36:01.519 --> 00:36:10.320
And so just being able to speak to it, which when somebody brings it up with their family, might create tension, a fight, you know, spouses are arguing about some things.
00:36:10.400 --> 00:36:15.760
And I've been in a situation where I'm like, I'm not a marriage therapist, but I'm gonna fix this thing for you.
00:36:15.920 --> 00:36:27.519
Like, I totally understand why you can't solve it on your own, but it's just the lack of skills around spatial intelligence, you know, and around you don't know the products that you need to rework this space.
00:36:27.679 --> 00:36:28.800
I'm gonna fix that.
00:36:28.960 --> 00:36:39.760
But it's like tension comes and it gets put on the relationships within the home, but it's really just about the stuff and it's about people not being able to know how to manage all this stuff.
00:36:39.840 --> 00:36:49.440
You know, we have way too much stuff coming our way in life, way too much information, way too much expectations and demands on us.
00:36:49.760 --> 00:37:16.079
So I like to be, if it's like gonna pop and it's just, you know, so full of pressure pressure, like we can kind of come in and and let some air out of a out of a high pressure situation and we can move things around and and really make better order in a way that hopefully is very lasting, or something didn't work for some very specific reason, so we can come back and rework it.
00:37:16.159 --> 00:37:20.320
But I don't think we've gone back to someone's home because our solution didn't work.
00:37:20.480 --> 00:37:40.239
I think we speak things through so much with people that they really do get a very custom, personalized, specific solution that that helps everybody and then releases that tension and allows for the family and and if you live alone, for everything to just be a little easier.
00:37:42.639 --> 00:37:43.360
Is that all?
00:37:43.679 --> 00:37:44.559
No, there's a lot more.
00:37:45.199 --> 00:37:46.960
I feel our segment is over.
00:37:47.119 --> 00:37:47.519
The present.
00:37:47.760 --> 00:37:48.800
We gotta get out of the present.
00:37:49.119 --> 00:37:50.239
Oh goodness.
00:37:50.400 --> 00:37:53.760
Okay, well, we'll take a quick break and then we'll figure out where we're going from here.
00:38:02.480 --> 00:38:07.199
Welcome back to Sorting Through Life with Colleen Waterston on AM950.
00:38:07.440 --> 00:38:13.199
We are here brought to us by Space by Space Organizing, and today we are a full team meeting.
00:38:13.440 --> 00:38:17.679
We've got myself, Alicia, my right hand at organizing jobs.
00:38:17.840 --> 00:38:28.800
We've got Tiffany who makes us a brand and puts us out into the world with all of her work behind the scenes, and we have Courtney, our brand new gal on the team who's gonna help all this run better.
00:38:29.039 --> 00:38:30.079
And so here we are.
00:38:30.159 --> 00:38:34.320
We've gone past, present, and dun dun dun.
00:38:34.639 --> 00:38:35.280
Now future.
00:38:35.519 --> 00:38:35.840
Future.
00:38:36.000 --> 00:38:37.119
All right, Alicia.
00:38:37.679 --> 00:38:43.280
So obviously things have been getting busier for us, and our team has been growing little by little.
00:38:43.840 --> 00:38:47.679
What kind of team are you wanting to put together going forward?
00:38:47.840 --> 00:38:55.360
And maybe not necessarily just for like space by space, but also like the legacy lifting aspect of things too.
00:38:55.679 --> 00:39:01.920
So are you wanting like different kinds of team members for legacy lifting or space by space?
00:39:02.079 --> 00:39:04.400
Or what are your what are your thoughts and ideas?
00:39:04.880 --> 00:39:08.960
It's like you've been listening in on our meetings lately because we're always hiring.
00:39:09.280 --> 00:39:10.400
Yeah, we are.
00:39:10.559 --> 00:39:13.280
Um the first thing that came to me was empathetic.
00:39:13.519 --> 00:39:18.719
I want to be the the leader of the most empathetic group of people, largely women.
00:39:18.880 --> 00:39:21.360
You know, we only have women on our team.
00:39:21.440 --> 00:39:24.400
I think that's probably going to be the norm.
00:39:24.559 --> 00:39:24.800
Yeah.
00:39:25.039 --> 00:39:30.719
Um, but and and for, I mean, we'll take a guy, but but maybe not.
00:39:30.880 --> 00:39:36.079
You know, it's it's whoever comes across our way that's that serves a good role for the job.
00:39:36.159 --> 00:39:37.760
But I think we'll always be hiring.
00:39:37.840 --> 00:39:49.199
And we've been talking about this as we've been figuring out how we're going to expand the team because really the only way we can move faster and more efficiently is to have more hands, to be more, you know, octopuses every day.
00:39:49.360 --> 00:39:50.079
Octopi.
00:39:50.559 --> 00:39:52.159
Um, we'll have to look into that.
00:39:52.400 --> 00:39:57.360
But uh it's it's just, you know, many hands, lighter load.
00:39:57.920 --> 00:40:02.880
And I think that that's where the characteristics are empathy first.
00:40:03.039 --> 00:40:05.039
You know, this is very non-judgmental.
00:40:05.199 --> 00:40:12.480
You can't come in and snicker or giggle at somebody because we are being invited in for people's biggest insecurities.
00:40:12.559 --> 00:40:18.800
And so there has to be a sensitivity to that and an honor to be let in to somebody's biggest insecurities.
00:40:18.880 --> 00:40:37.679
And I take that as a responsibility to navigate our role with with pragmatism and kindness and you know good ideas for what to do, be creative, but always be centered around we're doing this for a person and for people.
00:40:38.320 --> 00:40:44.559
And so, with our with our in-home interventions, like that's a pretty fast and furious day.
00:40:44.960 --> 00:40:51.039
There's heavy lifting, so you have to be able to move fast and do the updowns that we say, which is like the loads to the car.
00:40:51.119 --> 00:40:57.519
And sometimes it's a hot day, and you still have to do those, and sometimes it's raining, and sometimes it's freezing, and you still gotta do it.
00:40:57.599 --> 00:41:08.159
So people who are just able to kind of not be bothered by the the weather, you know, like rain or shine, we're gonna do a good job.
00:41:08.320 --> 00:41:19.840
Um, but also, you know, good at space and good at organizing, good at creativity, good at stepping back and seeing something from a bigger picture and then going meticulous.
00:41:20.000 --> 00:41:32.000
But within that, I'd love to have people who are kind of the designated heavy lifters, the designated meticulous, the designated hold space for the whole job, the lead organizer who's really the client communicator.
00:41:32.320 --> 00:41:39.440
And then on the legacy lifting side, which we'll be launching a lot more in the future and in the fall, it's it's probably it's a slower pace.
00:41:39.760 --> 00:41:47.519
So those clients sometimes I've had to say to them, like, are you sure you're are are we getting done what you wanted to?
00:41:47.599 --> 00:41:50.320
Like, does this feel like a good amount of work done?
00:41:50.400 --> 00:41:53.039
Because it's well, do you want to say who legacy lifting serves?
00:41:53.280 --> 00:41:57.360
Legacy lifting serves our our clients in the later years of life.
00:41:57.519 --> 00:41:59.599
So we say leave a legacy, not a burden.
00:41:59.840 --> 00:42:17.199
And legacy lifting is really designed for people from pre-retirement age, but thinking that retirement is coming on, and how can we start to work through your stuff so that when you are retired, you don't spend the next the first five years of retirement going through your stuff versus going on a vacation.
00:42:17.360 --> 00:42:30.000
You know, so it's like if you anticipate yourself wanting to be out of the house you're in, but all your kids' things are there, or you just have too much and you know that will be a barrier to a future change.
00:42:30.639 --> 00:42:36.800
Hire us before, well before retirement, so that you can have the retirement that you want.
00:42:37.119 --> 00:42:39.119
Uh, but then that's also retired.
00:42:39.199 --> 00:42:44.880
And now we've we've finished a career and now we can come back to our stuff differently than when we were in the career.
00:42:45.039 --> 00:42:50.480
Then it's okay, now I'm thinking about a senior living situation, but my house and my stuff is in the way of it.
00:42:50.559 --> 00:42:51.840
I don't want to bring it with me.
00:42:52.000 --> 00:42:54.239
Or hey, I'm in a senior living situation.
00:42:54.320 --> 00:42:59.280
I downsized all my stuff, but I don't, there's not much order to it, or there's too much stuff.
00:42:59.599 --> 00:43:08.400
Or, you know, the siblings in the sandwich generation who are looking ahead and thinking, you know, what am I gonna do with all my mom stuff?
00:43:08.480 --> 00:43:11.840
I'm taking care of my kids, I've got my own life, like there's so many things.
00:43:12.079 --> 00:43:19.679
So all of that, like serving with more of an end in mind, whether it's the end of a home, the end of a of a life, you know.
00:43:19.840 --> 00:43:24.559
So with that, there is an increased amount of empathy and patience.
00:43:24.639 --> 00:43:32.960
Uh, patience and kindness and um, you know, perhaps some skills to actually connect with people on a different cognitive level.
00:43:33.119 --> 00:43:36.480
Um, so yeah, but ultimately it's really fun.
00:43:36.719 --> 00:43:39.280
So the people and and we have been growing.
00:43:39.440 --> 00:43:45.840
It's been fun to feel the growth, the pace that we're moving at, the amount of things on my plate on a given day.
00:43:45.920 --> 00:43:49.199
And I just do my best and then we wake up and do more tomorrow.
00:43:49.360 --> 00:43:51.039
Uh, I'm having a lot of fun with it.
00:43:51.199 --> 00:43:55.440
I say I don't, I don't really get excited and I don't really get stressed.
00:43:55.599 --> 00:43:58.480
I've found a way to kind of maintain an equilibrium.
00:43:58.639 --> 00:43:59.760
So even with you, Courtney.
00:44:00.079 --> 00:44:01.599
Coming on, I'm like, I'm excited for her.
00:44:01.679 --> 00:44:04.480
But then I'm like, I'm just looking forward to it and I hope it goes well.
00:44:04.639 --> 00:44:08.639
But I'm not overly excited because if it doesn't, that's okay too.
00:44:08.800 --> 00:44:10.000
But I know it will.
00:44:10.239 --> 00:44:18.079
But you know, it's just that I don't like to, you know, over exert myself energetically because I need to, I need my energy.
00:44:18.239 --> 00:44:20.000
And so I kind of keep it even.
00:44:20.159 --> 00:44:22.960
But that's where like I don't get stressed much either.
00:44:23.119 --> 00:44:24.320
And I used to get stressed.
00:44:24.719 --> 00:44:29.280
There were ends of days that I'm like, I need to do a breathing exercise before I can get through this.
00:44:29.360 --> 00:44:30.639
You know, like what have I done to us?
00:44:30.719 --> 00:44:33.519
You know, oh my goodness, we've we have promised the world.
00:44:33.679 --> 00:44:36.639
We're just two organizers trying to do our best for these people, you know.
00:44:36.719 --> 00:44:38.159
And it's like, it's the end of the day.
00:44:38.320 --> 00:44:41.599
Oh my gosh, a ridiculous amount of pressure for what we were doing.
00:44:41.679 --> 00:44:44.400
You know, it's like, we're just trying to organize your kitchen drawers.
00:44:44.639 --> 00:45:04.320
Um but yeah, I I like life from a more, you know, chill, and and it's really, really fun, you know, to do what we do and to to to be and to be growing this team and to be, it's really fun to invite people to be part of something that you've built and to see their reaction to it from a new perspective.
00:45:04.480 --> 00:45:09.440
And to we have a gal who's gonna, JC, who's gonna help manage the legacy lifting.
00:45:09.519 --> 00:45:15.519
And she's like, I want to do what you're doing, but I don't wanna, I don't have that hustle that you have for this right now.
00:45:15.599 --> 00:45:20.400
You know, she's doing different things in her life and art and things that are taking up her time.
00:45:20.719 --> 00:45:26.320
And she's like, but I love what you're doing and showing her what we've built and the systems behind the scenes.
00:45:26.400 --> 00:45:34.320
And while we've been here recording this episode, Laura's been on a call with a consult, you know, the the intake call for someone that we're scheduling for next week.
00:45:34.400 --> 00:45:40.239
You know, I went on a walk the other day with a friend and I said, someone's working on the business right now.
00:45:40.400 --> 00:45:41.280
I don't know who.
00:45:41.440 --> 00:45:44.480
There might be two people doing things for the business right now.
00:45:44.639 --> 00:45:49.760
But while I'm on a leisure walk with you, my business, my business is growing.
00:45:49.920 --> 00:45:50.960
Things are being done.
00:45:51.119 --> 00:46:00.800
And that was a really cool feeling to know that I have people that share in the vision and the responsibility and are are moving it forward together.
00:46:01.280 --> 00:46:01.840
Yeah.
00:46:02.079 --> 00:46:10.880
Um, so actually kind of going with the legacy um aspect of things, what kind of legacy are you hoping to leave with space by space?
00:46:12.239 --> 00:46:13.039
Wow, Alice.
00:46:13.119 --> 00:46:15.679
That's a really deep question.
00:46:16.480 --> 00:46:17.119
Wow.
00:46:17.360 --> 00:46:20.559
Um but a beautiful one.
00:46:20.639 --> 00:46:34.960
And when you asked me questions before a couple episodes ago, um you got into some of the depth of my thought process and some of my travels and life experiences and how those show up in people's living rooms and kitchens and everything, because it's so much deeper.
00:46:35.280 --> 00:46:41.599
I want to help people live a good life and to love themselves and the lives that they live.
00:46:41.840 --> 00:46:53.199
I want them to feel I want them, I want people to feel as unburdened to be themselves to the fullest and to have homes.
00:46:53.440 --> 00:47:08.079
If we're lucky enough to have a home and to have space to grow into for ourselves, I want our service to help people live in a home that really serves them in a unique and special way.
00:47:08.400 --> 00:47:28.320
So my goal is that anybody who we serve feels like they got they got support in life to live their best life, to identify what that, you know, to be able to dream a little bit about what that might look like, and then for us to help them get a step closer to it.
00:47:28.800 --> 00:47:31.679
My we have a half a minute.
00:47:32.000 --> 00:47:33.280
So wow.
00:47:33.599 --> 00:47:50.000
Um, but yeah, I I I hope that we can serve our clients in a way that everybody feels like they got a really good custom, custom experience that has impact when we're there and well, well, well beyond.
00:47:50.239 --> 00:47:53.440
And for now, I'm just grateful to be here and to be among you all.
00:47:53.519 --> 00:47:56.800
And here at AM950, this is Sorting Through Life.
00:47:56.880 --> 00:47:59.840
Go to space by space organizing.com and be in touch.
