89 | Where It All Started - Celebrating 5 Years

I’m thrilled to celebrate a significant milestone—five years in business! In this special episode, I’m sharing my personal journey of starting a business from scratch, balancing family life, and the power of belief. 

This episode is a heartfelt reflection on the journey from a whisper of an idea to a thriving career, offering insights and inspiration for anyone considering a career change or looking to turn a side hustle into a full-time job.

Tune in to hear how embracing uncertainty and focusing on belief can lead to unexpected and rewarding outcomes.

And thank you for being part of this journey. Your support and feedback have been instrumental in shaping A Pleasant Solution. I look forward to what the future holds and hope to inspire you on your own path to an organized and fulfilling life.

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The Container Store
National Association of Productivity and Organizing Professionals (NAPO)

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Transcript

Intro: Welcome to A Pleasant Solution, Embracing An Organized Life. I'm your host, certified life coach, professional organizer, and home life expert, Amelia Pleasant Kennedy and I help folks permanently eliminate clutter in their homes and lives. On this podcast will go beyond the basics of home organization to talk about why a clutter-free mindset is essential to an aligned and sustainable lifestyle. If you're someone with a to-do list, if you're managing a household and if you're caring for others, this podcast is for you. Let's dive in.

Amelia: Welcome to Episode 89, “Where It All Started - Celebrating 5 Years.” Hey y’all! This milestone definitely snuck up on me. My attention has been turned elsewhere: traveling, speaking, and college application season for my eldest. It wasn’t until I was on our monthly Fair Play Facilitator call that I was reminded. It’s the 5th Anniversary of the Fair Play book, and when it was mentioned to keep an eye out for the fanfare that I realized my business anniversary was the same date and time. Whew! Glad that didn’t totally escape me!

Before I dive into sharing the personal arc of getting this business off the ground, I thought I’d share a few recent reviews. Podcasting is a one way medium, so I’m always thrilled when you take the time to share your opinions and topic requests back. Seh62894 writes, “Oh my goodness. This is unlistenable with how the host talks. She enunciates every single word to a point where it feels like nails on a chalkboard. I just can’t get past it.” Y’all! As always, I love it. Be honest. Unfortunately, there’s not much I can do to address this feedback. I know many of you speed up the playback, and that’s a perfectly acceptable solution. Wish I could offer more than a chuckle, Seh62894. Elise.Sweet.Momma writes, “Amelia shares her deep appreciation for organization in systematic and truly practical ways for many to get started – or even help guide their children to living a more organized life. I love how she shares her personal stories of implementing strategies with her family life. Every time I listen to an episode, I get inspired to sprinkle another concept or idea into my life. Thanks, Amelia.”

I’m here for y’all. I’m not recording for myself each week. If my topics or ideas aren’t quite landing or you’d like to hear more or less of something, I’d love to know. Your time is valuable, and these last 5 years have been fulfilling because of you. So, I thought today I’d share the story of my first year or so in business. If you’re listening and wondering if and how you’d ever return to the workforce, this episode is for you. If you’ve got a side hustle that you’d love to turn into a full-time job, this episode is for you. If you’re thinking of switching things up in your life and wonder if it’s worth it, I’d say if your heart is nudging you in a particular direction, listen to that voice. I’ll be sure to tie it back to you by the end of the episode.

I never considered entrepreneurship. I stumbled into it. No one in my family is an entrepreneur. Quite the opposite. I come from folks who’ve pursued secure jobs, those in education and those aligned with the government or public service. My minor in college was elementary education simply because I was encouraged to always have a backup. My husband once suggested I become a franchisee; he thought I’d be successful at managing people and keeping a strong sense of order at scale. Maybe in my next life.

I had put in a solid dozen years as a stay-at-home mom or unpaid working parent before I started thinking about doing something else. It started as a whisper in my brain. I’d planned not to work until my kids were much older but in 2018, when my kiddos were eleven, nine, and seven, I got curious about what would be possible. Folks had always commented about how organized I was, yet that didn’t translate in my mind to a career. I set off to answer two questions in my mind: first, how does one return to work after not ever really having had a career? Second, how does one turn a skill like organizing into an actual job?

These are both sizable questions. I approached answering them like I would an organizing project – by starting at the end and working backwards, breaking the potential pathway into reasonable sized steps I could see myself taking. I had no idea how to get from A to B. I did work on building my belief that if others could figure it out, so could I. I decided to start with something I was comfortable with, customer service. I didn’t want to disrupt the responsibilities I had in terms of caring for my children, so I looked right in front of me. My local barre exercise studio – which I regularly attended – had early morning classes, daytime classes, and evening classes. They were looking for folks to supervise the desk and open and close the studio. I wasn’t looking for a hefty paycheck as we’d decided to live off of one income. I was looking to test out how I could work part time and parent without much disruption. I was responsible for a majority of the before and after school driving which limited my availability. The studio owner had designed the class schedule to be family friendly, so it was a perfect fit.

I’m an early bird. I started by taking the 5:30 am shift. Oftentimes, I could be back home in time to take the kids to school. Occasionally, I’d pick up an afternoon shift or an evening shift, when my husband was available to drive. I thought strategically. It was about getting basic experience, a reference, a current line item on my resume, and low-stakes practice on navigating work and home. A small, achievable step to build my confidence and get my family used to me being unavailable.

Next, I got hired by The Container Store. I wasn’t ready to launch my own business. I subsequently learned that because The Container Store partners with organizers, it was a conflict of interest to run an organizing business while working for TCS. Looks like I did things in the right order! Working at The Container Store was the smallest, achievable step towards answering the second question of turning organizing into a career. I saw it as research. Y’all know – it is THE place to go to solve your organizing conundrums. Day in and out I was chatting with folks who were looking to solve problems in their homes. I heard what they were struggling with and their thought process behind the solution they’d decided upon. I was able to spend hands-on time with products geared towards every area of the home. Lots of time, y’all. So again, customer service work is often scheduled flexibly. Except for truck delivery days, which are Thursday mornings. I got to indulge my desire for active work at 5:30am every week and learn what 4am felt like. Seriously, I’d work until 2pm and be available to pick up my kids from school. My husband would drop them off. We learned to communicate even more effectively around schedules and daily responsibilities, as I stepped one step further from always being the default parent.

The other benefit of working for The Container Store before I launched my business was getting the opportunity to design and install closets. I loved learning the process of space optimization, what obstructions to look for, and how to bring a client’s dream to life. It also taught me that seeing potential in a space is a learned skill. I have even greater empathy for folks who feel overwhelmed and unable to see the possibilities in a space due to clutter. It’s not easy, nor is it straightforward. Because standard shelving and closets are not designed with the user in mind, I now better understand your frustrations around space management. Working with what’s currently in your space can create a bigger headache than hiring someone to redesign it effectively for you.

During this “research” year of 2018, I joined the National Association of Productivity and Organizing Professionals, or NAPO. If I had to guess, and this is pure speculation, those who go into the professional organizing business lean towards perfectionism, and I was no exception. I engaged heavily in the pre work or preparation for my business before getting my first clients. I wanted to do it “right.” I took online courses on best practices, ethics, organizing strategies, and client management. I joined my local chapter and spoke with veteran organizers who’d built their businesses over the last decade. I also connected with new organizers who seemed as lost as I was. I listed out dozens of potential business names, all of which were terrible.

I began to lean on my resources and asked questions: my brother was familiar with website design and management, my close friend had filed for an LLC before, and the husband of another friend was a strong graphic designer. A few of my other friends were willing listeners as I babbled through all the ideas under the sun. My point is, I held the belief that I could figure the next step out by being willing to share my ignorance of the process with others. I had no idea how to get a business off the ground. I was willing to put in the time and be vulnerable enough to discover the next part of the process that I didn’t yet know the answer to. I settled upon “A Pleasant Solution” for a few reasons. One, I wanted a name broad enough to encompass any types of services I might offer. Two, Pleasant is my maiden name, and I knew that I’d be less likely to encounter competition by using my name. Three, I deeply believe that there’s always a solution.

Then, I received the phone call from my mom’s friend indicating concern about my mother’s dementia. Downsizing and moving her was one of the first large projects I took on. I’d worked with a few clients in home and partnered with other organizers on larger projects at this point. Orchestrating her move was the project that showed me I was built for this profession. It involved multiple moving parts: decluttering, disposal, donations, paperwork, large furniture, sentimental items, photos, household hazardous waste, and of course a strict timeline. Plus, it was out of state. Plus, it was emotional. For quite a number of months following, I thought about focusing my business solely on working with seniors and helping families navigate the dementia journey.

The more that I worked with clients in their homes, the more I found myself thinking about the reasons why we accumulate clutter in the first place. I was fascinated by why it’s harder for some folks to let go than others. I was intrigued by the systems and structures in place that led to clutter, disorganization, and resounding self-judgment being a (more often than not) female issue. I discovered that I loved listening to clients’ stories and getting curious about what was going on in their minds way more than I did decluttering and organizing their belongings. That appeared to be a surface solution or a band aid. Once my friend recommended coach training, the pieces of the puzzle started fitting together for me.

To reiterate, this was all happening one step at a time. I think one of the most valuable things that we can do is look and listen in to our own internal workings. You’re more organized than you think. You hold so much wisdom inside of you, including the answers to the questions and conundrums you find yourself facing. It’s always going to be a bit scary. It’s always going to hold an element of discomfort. The future is always going to be unknown. What’s important is to flesh out for yourself the ideal final product in your mind in as much detail as possible. You don’t have to know how you’ll process the multitude of piles of paperwork. You don’t have to know how you’ll get your partner on board for sharing the chores at home so you can return to work or have more time for yourself outside of your other roles. You don’t have to know how you’ll move to that ideal locale with more sunshine.

First, you simply work on believing that it’s possible. You start by working on the belief that you’re someone who can make their ADHD work to their advantage when keeping track of time or belongings. You work on the belief that you’re someone who can push pause on letting excess items into your home or look past your dislike of big box donation stores in order to make space for your own happiness. Belief is such a big component that few people talk about. It’s what made me try a bunch of things and ask a bunch of questions. Launching A Pleasant Solution was about believing I could help a few people and that I didn’t need to know everything in order to start. What you imagine the process to be like is probably not what the process will end up being. You’ll grow in surprising ways. You’ll get frustrated and have setbacks and repeat the same mistakes a few times. AND you’ll build confidence and experience satisfaction and a sense of accomplishment in both tiny and sizable doses. You’ll get unhelpful feedback that you’ll realize has more to do with the person sharing it than it does about the work and process you’ve dedicated yourself to.

Thanks for listening. Thanks for being part of my story. I can’t wait to see what you decide to create next. Don’t worry about the how. Start with the belief that it’s possible. Talk to y’all soon.

Outro: Hey y'all, let's connect and chat on socials. You can find me on Instagram and Facebook @apleasantsolution. I'm also on LinkedIn at Amelia Pleasant Kennedy. Feel free to send me a quick note and let me know what you'd like to hear more about, or what home life organizational challenges are top of mind for you. Talk to y'all soon.