Episode 104+105 | Amy Mayorga of Minimalista Organizing
When Amy Mayorga became a mom, she realized that the STUFF of being a mother was overwhelming her. She discovered organizing and minimalism, changed her own home life--and now changes the home life of her 26,000 Instagram followers and her in-home organizing clients in the Dallas-Ft. Worth, Texas metropolitan area.
LINKS FOR LISTENERS:
Amy's Instagram @minimalistamom
Amy's website minimalistaorganizing.com
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FULL TRANSCRIPT (episode 104)
Hello pro organizers, is it is your podcast co-host Melissa Klug. It is another wonderful week at Pro Organizer Studio. And I am excited to bring you a podcast today with a personal friend of mine who is also a great organizer and is in our Inspired Organizer program.
I wanted to start with a little story today. If you are on our mailing list, which we would absolutely love for you to be on, we try to send you really important updates about organizing and all sorts of other things. But in our email this week, we were talking about follow-up and how sometimes organizing.
Worry that they're bothering someone and they only follow up one time with a potential client. And then just say, well, I guess they never wanted to work with me or something happened or whatever. Jen had a phrase that she used one time that was make following up your religion and following up with your potential clients does not mean that you are pushy or aggressive or salesy. There are so many ways that you can do that. Follow-up in a way that is loving and kind and caring, but it often takes potential clients many times before they are ready to book with you.
I wanted to bring home a story that happened to me in my organizing business this week. In addition to working at Pro Organizer Studio, I still have active clients in my organizing business.
And this woman had contacted me for a consultation. And I, I went to her house and I said, oh, how did you find out about me? And she gives me the name of one of her friends who was a client of mine in 2019 in like early 2019. And she's like, oh yeah, Jen told me. Yeah. So many Jens, this is his client was named Jen.
She's like, Jen told me about you a really long time ago, and I just wasn't ready yet. But you know, Jen talked about you and all the work that you guys did together. And I always had it in the back of my mind. I always thought about it. And she said, I followed you on social media. And I saw some of the things you put out there.
And some of the things you put on social media were things that really resonated with me. There are things that I put on [00:02:00] my Home by Eleven social media that are really, first of all, my social media is it has no strategy. And we're going do we talking about social media a little bit more on the podcast in the upcoming weeks, but my social media on, on my Home by Eleven account is really just intended.
I gotta be honest with you to entertain me and to entertain my followers. I try to post funny things relevant to home organizing or, you know, being at home and I, but. I also make sure that I really do forward my personal philosophies about organizing and some of my personal philosophies about organizing or things like one of my favorite phrases is shop inside your own house.
I use that in my own house with my own children and my own. I really believe it for clients as much as possible. I really believe that clients often find exactly what they need to store their items inside their own house. There are things that I had put on my social media that apparently hit her, but again, it was almost three full years from the time she had heard about me and that her friend recommended me until the time that she contacted me. Well, this is perhaps not a common situation in my business. I have had people that it's been a year from the time they first contacted me until the time they were ready to book.
I had a client recently who reached out to me and said, oh, we corresponded in October. We're ready to start now. No recollection of this client, I had to go back and like recreate our messages. And I had to like spark my brain about what our conversation had been in a consultation, because I did not remember.
It had been months since I had spoken to her. Well, they were finally ready. It took them a while. So I just want to tell you be patient by the way, this isn't any stage of your organizing journey. It doesn't matter if you were brand new and waiting for your first client, it doesn't matter if you've been doing it for four years and you may be in a little bit of a valley right [00:04:00] now sometimes going back, going to those prior people that had contacted you, but never followed up.
You never ever know. One of our inspired organizer members had a story that she posted in our private Facebook group the other day, where we do coaching and support. And she posted a story about a client who had contacted her. And this organizer didn't have any openings in her schedule.
And in fact, it had to take a couple months off or something personal. And that client said, Nope, I have to get it done right away. I can't wait for. Well, long story, short guests who ended up waiting for that organizer. So after her leave was over that person contacted her and said, Hey, I don't want anyone else.
I want you. So please, please, please remember following up with those people that you think may be just gone forever and never want to organize with you. You absolutely never know. And just know somebody, some of these people are just waiting for the right time to hire you. Be patient. I swear.
And we're going to talk a lot in the upcoming weeks, not only about social media and I have many, many things we are going to talk about with social media, but we're also going to talk about other marketing tactics, like lead magnets and email lists and that type of thing. So stay tuned for good stuff coming up on the podcast.
Melissa Klug: Before we get going today with our podcast guests, I am giving you two weeks in a row of double the podcast. Love. I am breaking this up into two episodes because she has so much wisdom to share that I really wanted to break it up so that everybody could get the best of this episode and not feel overwhelmed by a really long one. I am so happy to introduce you to my friend, Amy Mayer.
She is the minimum least a mom on Instagram. And she is the owner of minimally still organizing in the Dallas Fort worth Texas area. She has built an amazing brand based on something that she was genuinely interested in in her own life and sharing that with people.
And I can't wait to have her tell you all about it.
Jen Obermeier: You're listening to the pro organizer studio podcast with Melissa Kluk and Jen Obermeier. Thank you so much for joining in our mission is to [00:06:00] broaden the horizons of savvy business women in the organizing industry by instilling confidence and inspiring authenticity. You'll gain new insight into strategies designed specifically for professional organizers.
So now let's get started.
Melissa Klug: We are continuing with a new series. We have where we introduce you to some of our awesome inspired organizers. And we have someone here today. I am very happy to say she's not only an inspired organizer, but she is also a friend of mine. We have gotten to know each other from the KonMari organizing world
and she is just a lovely human being. She has an incredibly successful business. She's a mom, she's a wife, she's a million things, but I would like to welcome my friend, Amy to the podcast. How are you?
Amy Mayorga: Great. How are you? Thank you so much for having me
Melissa Klug: no problems so happy that you are here. I always love talking to you.
If you are watching this on YouTube, Amy has the most beautiful background . Anytime we're on a zoom together, it's just, she has this beautiful background. So I was always like peaceful, calming, and minimalist, which is your thing. So why don't you give us a little bit before you get into kind of your branding and how you decided that.
Can you tell us a little bit about your story of how you got started in organizing.
Amy Mayorga: So a backstory, I am a trained bilingual speech and language pathologist. I went to grad school for that, and I started doing that. And then we got pregnant with our first child who is now seven, . And I don't know when I had him, I just felt like this big desire to just to spend some time at home, to like be there as a stay-at-home parent.
So I kind of did that on a whim. We didn't really plan that. It was just kind of. I'm not ready for him to go to school. I want more time and it just kind of evolved into like, okay, I guess I'm staying home. And then we had our second baby, and I just felt so overwhelmed.
Like I wanted to do all of the things. I wanted to have all of the things I just [00:08:00] wanted to do everything. Right. And, but I didn't know what I was doing. And I just felt so stressed and, I felt particularly stressed like inside our home. Like I felt like I was always picking up stuff. It was always so many things that I had to do and I could never get them all straight.
And I was just very stressed. I felt like I had to leave every single day to get out of the house to go do something. And I never wanted to like, hang out at home. I didn't really want to have friends over. I just, I was just like this ball of stress and I couldn't figure it out. And I remember. One day going to my very good friend's house.
And I opened up her closet and it was just nice and neat and calm. And I was like, wow, your closet looks beautiful. And she was like, oh, I just read this great book. The life changing magic of tidying up by Marie Kondo. And it was just serendipitous. Like it was the right timing. I went home, I downloaded the book on audible and I just listened to the whole thing.
And I followed her steps to a T it was, it was the right time, the right place. I was ready for a change. And I implemented it. And that being said, I had a baby, so I had my second child. I had a baby and a toddler who is like going to preschool two days a week. I took every pocket of time that I could for like six months to fully declutter our home.
I'm talking donations after donations and trunk fulls of things to just getting out of the house, and this sudden dramatic change in our home and in our lifestyle, it just changed everything for me, it was like a lightning bolt. I've, I felt awake. I felt alive and passionate and I just wanted to talk to everyone in every, anyone about going minimalist.
And so after her book, I listened to the minimalist podcast. I listened to read other books on minimalism. And then I started to get into like, sustainability, because when you start to like, become more aware of what you bring into your life, you become more aware of like how you're [00:10:00] letting it go.
And I didn't want to give off the message that , you just throw everything away. Cause that literally did not sit well, like in my gut and in my heart. And so I started to read up more on that and I just, just became super interested. I was probably like really annoying to all of my friends and family.
They're like, oh, Amy's on it. Gun another kicker. I heard it. Yeah. You read a book. We got it. Exactly. But it was like such this like huge change in me. so right around that time, I decided to. I wanted like a creative outlet. I wanted a way to connect with other people outside of my own circle of friends and family.
And so I decided to start an Instagram account and I did it without really thinking about it. I didn't even want to tell my husband, I didn't want to tell my best friends. I just kind of did it almost anonymously, but I put like, you know, my face out there and I started to connect to other moms in, particularly who were interested in minimalism and in just being thoughtful and conscious about the process as well.
And somehow very organically this Instagram account it's minimally step-mom. And it started to just grow really quickly. I feel like it was just timing and I'm not really sure, but somehow it grew. And within the first year I had 10,000 followers and , I was just doing it for fun.
It wasn't anything like, I didn't have any forethought of what this was going to be, but in doing that and in feeling like I had something to say on this topic, and there were some people who wanted to listen to me, miraculously that maybe I could help other people. In their own homes, not just talking about mine.
And so I took that sort of courage that the Instagram gave me and decided to sign up for two things at the same time. So I signed up for the Kamari training through Marie Kondo, where we went and it was as you know, I mean, it's a pretty in-depth training. It took me like six to nine months to finish the whole certification process.
But I signed up for her training and then I signed up [00:12:00] for inspired organizer because I got the recommendation from an Instagram friend. And so with those two, I just was like, all right, I'm going to try this. I don't feel like I want to go back to speech yet, but this is such a passion of mine.
I want to explore this and then right after I signed up for both of those, literally I found out surprise, you're pregnant with your third baby . And so I was like well, I'm still gonna do this. This isn't going to stop me.
I'm just gonna do it while I'm pregnant. And so I did both of those while I was pregnant and I finished the Kamari certification. I was like 39 weeks pregnant when I was like, I'm going to do this.. I'm going to get this done.
Melissa Klug: So you find yourself, you are 39 weeks pregnant, I guess your nesting instinct was I'm going to start a business. I'm going to like birth of business too.
Did you take some time off, I assume after you had the baby. And then when did you decide you were really making this a business.
Amy Mayorga: Okay. So, and right. So she was born B right before the pandemic and the pandemic hit when she was four months old. And at that point I had had pain clients and I had made a website, like I had done basically the baseline stuff that I, I learned in inspired organizer, which helped me give me like the framework of, this is how you do a website.
This is your basic contract. And I needed that stuff because I didn't know how to start a business. I didn't know anything about it. I felt like I, I know how to organize, but I don't know what else. And the other part that what else is the hardest part for me. So it was super helpful, but I started to take a couple of clients.
And I just really enjoyed working with them. When I'm working with the client, I feel like time stops. And I feel like I'm doing what I need to do. And suddenly like five hours has passed and, it's time for me to go. So it's like feeling this passion and then also feeling the reward of being compensated for something that I truly love that doesn't feel like work.
It gives me more motivation to put more energy [00:14:00] into this because that's such a great feeling to be getting paid for something that you really like to do that you would do for free. It's awesome. The baby was maybe six months old when I started to take more clients.
And then when she had. A year. I hired someone to come to our house to watch her part-time so that I could use that time to work more on the business and then have that time to see clients. So it was basically when she turned a year that I was like, okay, This isn't just me working sporadically.
Like I, I'm going to schedule this time that no matter what I'm going to use that time to work either in my business or for my business. And that was a little over a year ago. So it really has only been one full year of me being very serious dedicating the time and energy towards this. But in that year I've seen huge growth and I see so much potential and I'm just really excited about where it's going.
Melissa Klug: The nice thing is that this is a job, like you said, it's amazing to get compensated for something that, you feel like no time at all has passed and you truly love doing it.
That's a huge thing about organizing. I think if you really, really love what you're doing it, it shines through also with your clients.
I feel
Amy Mayorga: like you have to love it, like in order to do this job, like you've kind of have to really like it. Otherwise I don't think it would be very fun, like
Melissa Klug: very true. Well, and I think that that's an important thing, too, something that you said is, I feel like that five hours passes like nothing.
I was actually thinking about a challenging client that I had where I, and this was the only time this has ever happened to me. I would check my watch. I swear every 15 minutes. And I remember that was how I knew this is not my ideal client. When it clicks and when you have that client where five hours has passed and you're like, oh my gosh, I can't believe that, all this time has passed.
And it feels like nothing that that's, when you know that it is all clicked into.
Amy Mayorga: Absolutely.
Melissa Klug: You essentially started a [00:16:00] business and in a pandemic and a lot of our organizers have done that, right? Absolutely. Yeah. We actually have a lot of people that were like, well, I started my business in February of 2020 and who knew.
Right. But you said that despite that you've been able to experience growth, especially a lot of growth in the last few months. So, can you tell people who are concerned about starting a business during this time? It still feels like it's an uncertain time. Tell us a little bit about how you feel about that.
Amy Mayorga: I just feel like there's so many different ways that you could go in this business. I was just talking to my husband about this. He's like, you need to be pandemic proof. Like you need to be able to pivot and have different revenue streams and. So
Then in terms of like being able to pivot. I am kind of looking at different revenue streams in terms of maybe making some affiliate marketing sales through Instagram, and then also doing talks and workshops. And another avenue is doing virtual lessons, which to be honest, I'm really new ads and it's not my favorite, but I could totally see that in being able to do that in case like, you know, God forbid another pandemic hits.
Melissa Klug: Well, I was about to say it, the nice thing about the pandemic. Let's just say none of us have been like throwing a party the last couple of years, right? Like, no, one's having a whole lot of fun, but I do think there are lessons that we can take from it.
And one of those lessons is that yeah. As a service-based business, we all had to realize, okay, is there an alternate way to do our job? And we found out that the answer is, yes, it may not be as enjoyable. It may not be the thing that really fills our cup as much. Like I would rather be in person with someone, but being able to think, Hey, how can I do this differently if I had to, and really thinking about what are the other ways that I can do this job, including courses or workshops or any number of things that now we have learned we can do via a computer screen.
I think that's the, that makes you a really, really good business.
Tell us a little bit about some of the [00:18:00] clients that you serve. Who do you work with?
Amy Mayorga: I work with all kinds of people. I tend to attract women in particular. I, I don't even think I've worked with a man.
I've had someone. You know, call and for his wife, but then I ended up working with the wife, but but yeah, it's, it tends to be just a women in a life transition who want to invest in themselves. And so I feel like my clients have shifted since I have built a team. And now it, I still attract those same kinds of people, but I might attract people who are more on the timeframe and might be more busy professionals or they like, I want to get this done quickly.
But they still want to invest in themselves. Does that make sense?
Melissa Klug: Yeah, absolutely. So tell me about your decision to build a team. That's been a big one this year. A lot of people have decided that really like going into the team is the way to go. So how'd you decide to do that
Amy Mayorga: honestly, I was feeling like tired, physically tired, and like I do yoga. I eat, well, I take care of myself, but I was feeling tired after sessions. I'm like, how am I going to do this for 10 plus years? This isn't going to work long-term I need help. And so I was, kind of playing around with the ideas.
We'll do I just charge a higher rate and always have an assistant, but I wasn't ready to have an employee. And it just made me nervous with benefits and Texas. I just didn't feel confident enough to have like an employee. So then I took K-12 those course that you guys offered. I just felt like I'm like, I'm on.
I want to see what this is about and. I was just my like draw dropped to the floor. When I, when I saw her pay structure, when I saw what potential you can have with just, having independent contractors work for you, and you can kind of put the cost on the clients and then also your profit margin just increases exponentially with each worker that you have.
And not only that, you can get so much more done, like you can handle the client relations. Like that's [00:20:00] what I mean, that's what we're good at. Right. We can be the ones to talk to the clients and kind of, you know, have the therapy session and just really help them make decisions and plan everything.
But what we need help with other sets of hands, you know, people. But the donations in the bag, people to, to empty the pantry, people have to check expiration dates. So all those little things that take our time and energy away from focusing on the client, it really has just been like this huge change where like, I am even more excited to see clients now, when I have a day when I have multiple organizers, because not only am I getting compensated better, but I am serving the client better.
And now I feel like I can say yes to more types of clients before I was kind of scared to take on someone. Who's like, Hey, listen, I'm moving in a month. I need to do my whole house. And I would be like I only have three sessions a week to offer. And I have other clients that I'm working with now.
I'm like, okay, well, let's just get in more hands to help. And we'll get done more in less time. It has been super helpful for my business and personally, because now I'm not. Alone all the time. And when I'm in a situation in, in a client's home, when I feel unsure, I have people that I can bounce ideas off of, and it's just kind of feels more like it's more fun, you know, it's not fun to work with other people.
And not just you and the client. I think personally, And the thing
Melissa Klug: I've talked to, obviously I've talked to Kate a lot about this, you know, as she was developing the courses and I've interviewed her as well. And one of the things she pointed out is I was thinking to myself, oh, you have a team because you know, you have a huge space that you're working or whatever.
And she was saying, it doesn't matter the size of your space. No matter what house you're working in, and this is absolutely factual, you have a lot more things to do. You need more hands on any project. And like you said, it really allows you to concentrate on the client, which is absolutely the most important thing.
So you can give your full attention as the head of your business, you give that client your full [00:22:00] attention. You can talk through their issues. You can really work through, like you said, the therapy aspect of it, because that's pretty real with almost every single client.
Amy Mayorga: But if they're interested in Kamari, like I feel like in particularly is a lot of my clients hire me because of Marie Kondo, because they know of my association with her and using her method, it really is so much deeper than, Hey, let's get your cop closet organized. It's like a holistic method if you kind of use her framework.
Melissa Klug: Do you now take people on every job? Like have you started to just take a team everywhere or are there some places you still go by.
Amy Mayorga: My existing clients that I saw before I built a team, I still go by myself. I try to bring up the idea and the benefits of having more than one organizer.
But to be honest, a lot of them are hesitant because I don't know, it would just be different. They're used to just having me, but now when a new person calls, I really try and encourage them that multiple organizers, you can get more done. You can get more out of your money if you have more than one person there in terms of the hourly rate structures.
So not every job I still offer one organizer options. But the majority of people now who are new clients booking, they're booking two or three organizers to.
Melissa Klug: I think that this is an important point because some people, someone asked us this recently, well, how long do you have to be in business?
Or how long should you be in business before you think about building a team? And the answer is you can build a team immediately. If you want to, you decided pretty quickly into your business of starting to get busy that, Hey, I really, I need to build a team that makes sense to me. So there's no timeframe on, oh, I have to be in business for two years and then I can build a team that is, I think the most beautiful thing about this business is it can be absolutely anything you want it to be.
You can do two sessions a week. You can work seven days a week. If you want to, and you can have a team, you can not have a team. You can build it into literally whatever you want.
Amy Mayorga: Yes, absolutely. My husband tells me that all the time, when they come to him with questions, he's [00:24:00] like, you're in charge.
You get to decide what you want to do and who you want to take. Like, remember, you're the boss and so it's just like, there's so many benefits. It's amazing. I'm really excited.
Melissa Klug: I can see it in your face and I can hear it in your voice too.
I hope you enjoyed part one of my conversation with Amy and we're going to be talking a lot about social media on the podcast in the upcoming weeks, but Amy has built a wildly successful brand on Instagram. She is minimally sta mom, and she is going to be talking to us about building that brand.
And then also giving you some surprising insights about what it means for her actual organizing clients, looking for. To you. It's one of the reasons I wanted to break this up into two episodes because she has so many great things to say, if you have not yet joined our brand new free workshop, head to POroadmap.com, we have a new masterclass for you all about organizing three mistakes that I made in my organizing business.
I fess up to everything, all sorts of great things in there. We would love to have you join us over. P O roadmap.com looking forward to seeing you on next week's part to have a great day for our organizers.
Jen Obermeier: Thank you so much for listening into the pro organizer studio podcast. If you'd like to get our roadmap for success as a pro organizer, head straight to www.poroadmap.com.
FULL TRANSCRIPT (episode 105)
Melissa Klug: Hey pro organizers. It is Melissa. Back with you this week. It is finally starting to feel a little springy outside, and that for me, at least gives me some energy and some happiness and a little spark in my step. So I hope you feel the same.
I had a brand new client this week and it just, reminds me how great it is to start with someone new and just a few hours, take their house from chaos to a little bit of calm and bring some happiness and other life. So I hope that you had some great clients this week, too.
Before we get going. I just want to remind you that we have our brand new free workshop, the pro organizers profit plan. It is available to you 24/7 at poroadmap.com. Jen and I would absolutely love for you to join us for just an hour of your time. Really good stuff for your business and the cool thing too.
At least I hope he thinks this is cool, depending on when you watch it. It has this live chat feature. And if I am online, if I'm on my laptop, while you're watching, I will happily respond to you live and in person, I can answer any questions you have. Or just say hi and get a chance to get to know you a little bit.
It would be our honor to spend an hour with you working on your business today. We are bringing you the second part of our podcast with Amy Mayorga of minimalist to organizing. And if you haven't yet listened to the first part, Amy talked to me about how she got her started organizing and how she built her business up at the start of the pandemic with three small kids at home, which is pretty amazing in and of itself.
It's just so inspiring to be able to listen to women and hear how they got their start in their organizing businesses. Including the last two years, we have had a lot of people in our inspired organizer program that have joined us and started their business. So even that's a little bit of a tough time in the world, people are starting.
Very successful businesses and give that a listen, if you haven't, because she talks to us about a lot of things that people come to us to talk about, which includes starting a team and how she got her start at the beginning and how she got her inspiration. So we'd love for you to listen to that first part, but today we are moving into a different realm in our conversation.
And it's one that I want to give a little bit of context to, because we're going to talk a little bit more about this subject in the upcoming weeks. Here at pro organizer studio. We coach organizers in all stages of their business, but when someone is newer in their business or just getting their start, one of the most common questions, comments, misconceptions, whatever you want to call it about being an organization.
Starting and running an organizing business is that you have to do social media to get clients, or that you have to grow a huge amount of followers to be successful in your organizing business. We have many people that come to us and say, I want to start a business, but I really hate social media. It's just not my jam.
It's overwhelming or it's confusing, or I don't know how to do a real whatever. And so I haven't started my business because I know that I have to do social media in order to get clients. So I can't get over this block. I always tell those clients. And I believe this with my whole heart and soul, after working directly with organizers on multiple times.
You absolutely do not have to use social media to have a successful organizing business. I will shout that from the mountain tops. One of the most successful organizers that I know who is busy with clients constantly recently just quit social media altogether on January 1st, she said, bye. I'm done with social media and it has made.
To her business at all. We talk about the subject a lot in our private inspired organizer group. And we teach you that you can have a successful business without relying on social media. So I want to say all of this to start out because in part two today, talking to Amy, we are going to be talking to her about how she built her minimalist, a brand, particularly on Instagram, what she has done very successful.
Her minimalist, a mom, Instagram has grown exponentially and it is a big part of what she does in her business. She does collaborations with brands. She does a lot of great things on her Instagram, but what I want you to do is really hear what Amy talks about in this episode, because the key part of her social media.
Is that this was a true personal passion for her to share her views on minimalism and intentionality and how she really was able to transform her life and her family's life by getting organized. It wasn't her goal to start out, to build a huge social media presence. That was not her goal. And in fact, at the beginning, she talks about how she really didn't tell anyone she had an Instagram, even she built something based on her true personal passion and her true, authentic point of view. She gives us advice on finding what sparks your creativity. It does not have to be Instagram, but finding something that sparks your creativity and your business.
So as you listen today, if you are one of those people where social media is a huge frustration point for you. And you're listening to this and going, well, there we go. Here's an example of someone who, you know, built this huge Instagram. I can tell you for a fact, neither Amy, nor I want you to take from this, that you have to have a huge Instagram presence to be successful.
It's about what your goals are for your business. And stay tuned in the upcoming weeks for more on the subject, because one of my personal goals. As to make sure that women can feel comfortable building their business in the way that it works for them.
So with all of that, I am absolutely thrilled to bring you part two of my conversation. An absolutely inspirational organizer.
And my friend, Amy Mayorga.
Something that I want to go back to cause you, as you started talking about it, but I really want to talk a little bit about your Instagram experience because there are people, you know, a lot of people in our business really, really, really want to get into social media.
And then they determine that, Hey, it's actually really hard. You don't just like wake up one day and like, and, throw an Instagram together and magically, it all comes together. But you set up a few things that I want to touch on. The first one is that, you really latched onto something that you felt personally strong about, and it was a personal journey for you.
This idea of minimalism and you didn't have a calculated plan for your Instagram. You just said I'm posting things. I'm learning about, or I feel good about, can you talk a little bit about your lack of strategy, which is also a strategy?
Amy Mayorga: Yeah, so when I started it, I, I mean, I wasn't working.
I was at home with my kids. I didn't have an outlet, so I kind of saw Instagram. It was just this creative place where I could write. And at that point, just post pictures. It was just kind of like a diary in a way. And I was just observing other people and how they were growing. And I kind of just copied some of their methods and decided the more people I connect can connect with the more like this message, which I think is so valuable and can really serve and help.
A lot of people can get out there and it wasn't like I was trying to, oh yeah, I didn't really have a mission or a goal. I was just playing around. And, but in doing that in kind of pursuing something that felt fun, I found a new career. So it's crazy. I feel like if you can. Listen to your intuition, it can lead you and I'm getting kind of deep, but it can really lead you in the right direction.
If you really truly follow what lights you up and what brings you to.
Melissa Klug: And that's really what I wanted to get to is that I think that there are people that want to constantly, they want to be really good at it, which I totally understand. But then it's almost like you're working too hard versus just saying, who am I authentically?
And that's what I love about your story is you were just authentically very much, this was something you were interested in genuinely and you were really searching for that. And that is where the audience came from. It wasn't because you were trying too hard, basically.
Amy Mayorga: Yeah. And I think you can kind of see that when people start to be, I dunno, start to post, like multiple times a day, all of these now reels that are now popular, it just kind of becomes overwhelming and you almost want to unfollow them because you're being inundated.
But I don't know, like I said, I've just kind of lean into it. I post a couple times a week and I don't really have a schedule. I kind of have a format where I do two posts, like personal posts or business posts where they're either a picture or now a real. And then I do a quote and I kind of just have this framework where I don't really have to think about it.
Melissa Klug: You found something that it turned into your brand, but it was because it wasn't because you said I've done my research and minimalism, I think is really the brand I want to go with it's because you were genuinely personally interested in it.
And that is critical to find something that it's not just because you're following the rules of, this is what I think Instagram is supposed to be. It's you were following, your intuition, your heart, your, your personal interests. And that is what created an authentic place for people.
Amy Mayorga: Absolutely. And I feel like that it doesn't have to be on Instagram. If you were someone who you want to express yourself about, let's say organizing or building your business or whatever it is, it doesn't have to be on a specific platform. It can be anywhere. Like if I were to start a podcast, probably I would have zero listeners, but but because I chose a platform that spoke to my strengths, like I liked to take pictures, I kind of like to take or write quotes.
And it's just kind of, like I said, like a diary, it, it kind of unfolded in a way where it connected with other people because it was coming from my true self. It wasn't coming from me trying to be systematic about it. I don't let it consume, consume my life. Like there have been points in the journey where I find myself like hours and hours on Instagram.
And then I realized that, wow, this is really time consuming. And it's taking away from being in the present moment. So I stepped back and there have been times where I'm like, I don't post for weeks or like, I just like all day this past Sunday, I was like, I'm just not even going to open any social media.
And it just, it feels so good to be. In control in the driver's seat where I'm not mindlessly scrolling and trying to compare myself to others where I hop on there, I express myself. Maybe I check out a couple people who, you know, I look up to and and that's it. And I hop out. So I'm kinda looking at it with like this.
I need to be just, as I am intentional about what stays in my home. I need to be intentional about what is takes up my time and is in my life. It's just like anything, try to be intentional about the food I put in, in my body. Try to be intentional about the time I'm spending and the trips I take and et cetera, et cetera.
Organizing and just being conscious about what you do in your life can unfold into every single
Melissa Klug: I really want to, to touch on what you just said, which is the aspect of being intentional. So really choosing what fits in your life and that fits, like you said, for organizing, it fits for your own house, it fits for what works for you and your business, whether that is building a team.
Or, and this is really important because I think that there are people who feel especially about social media, that they're required to do it and that they have to do it, or they're never going to get a client. And that is not the case. Like you said, find the format and find the forum that speaks to you.
And if that's Instagram great. But if you are. Staying up late at night, stressed out about it. It may not be your forum the same way as someone who hates writing probably shouldn't start a blog that they have to add two, three times a week. That may not be your gym, but guess what? If you love speaking, maybe you need a YouTube, finding that outlet and being intentional about it.
And that's how we go back to your thought processes. When I go to a client's house, it doesn't feel like work. The rest of your business. Shouldn't feel like a slog either. And if that's how you
Amy Mayorga: feel about it, I mean, there's going to be portions of it that I think for sure, like I'm like a county. No, thank you.
But
Melissa Klug: counting is never going to spark joy. Okay. I don't care how
Amy Mayorga: you want to know. What's funny. My brother is an accountant and I'm like, I'm like, I did not get those genes.
Melissa Klug: That's funny. Cause my brother also does something that I could never do and vice versa by the way. But I, I, I think about that sometimes.
And I'm like, I'm really glad that we all have different skills. Cause yeah, I can never be an accountant because I don't like doing it. So it's not to say that there aren't parts of your business that you're not going to be like, okay, I just have to go do this. But if there is something that you feel like this is absolute drudgery for me, sit back and examine.
Is it something. That I need to do because,
Amy Mayorga: and speaking to that to be completely honest, I don't think that I have gotten. And this is going to shock you, or maybe it's not going to shock you because I know that you're like, I know what
Melissa Klug: you're going to say, and I'm glad you're going to say it.
Amy Mayorga: I don't think I have gotten one client specifically from Instagram, but what I do think for me personally, it serves as it's kind of like a reference.
So people find me, however they find me and then they see, oh, she's got an Instagram, she's got a following. I want to look at her before. And after pictures look, she's like respected by other people. Or it will give me opportunities. Like, I was on like NBC DFW. I was on like a little segment or I've done, a handful of podcasts or I've been featured on a different blogger too.
So it's given me opportunities and it's given me confidence and it gives me kind of a portfolio, but it does not give me paying clients specifically to organize. I don't think, I don't think it's. Yeah.
Melissa Klug: One of the things that Kate says that I like is social media is proof of life. So it's, so someone can, like you said, someone discovers you and then they say, oh, I want to do this deep dive on Amy.
Oh, look at this. She, you know, she talks about minimalism. It helps reinforce their decision helps reinforce their like, oh yes, this is someone that I vibe with. This is someone that I feel good about because organizing is all about, you want someone to say that is someone that I envision welcoming into my home.
Into my underwear drawer. That's the true. Yes.
Amy Mayorga: Yeah. And it takes, there's like a lot of trust. You have to have it in that person. I mean, it's just like, if you hire, like, when you hire like an OB GYN, you want to do a little bit of research or a therapist or whatever it is people who you are seeking for advice and their expertise, you want to feel like good about it.
Melissa Klug: Yes. And so whatever format feels good to you to establish that credibility. So for Amy it's Instagram for you, the people listening, it might be YouTube, it might be a blog. It might be none of the above. It. You can go a lot of different directions to inspire that confidence in a potential client to reach out to you, but do it in a way that feels good to you, I think is what you're trying to say.
Amy Mayorga: Yeah, absolutely.
Melissa Klug: Let's talk a little bit. So just on the Instagram thing, you and I were talking before, we started a little bit about and this is shocking to me about myself is I kind of forced myself. So I was like, all right, I have to learn how to do a real and I was like, I'm going to hate every bit of this.
I don't want to do this about, I actually really enjoy it now. And I know you've gotten into reels. You mind talking a little bit about your process, like how, how you determine what you're going to do and like what your strategy is on that.
Amy Mayorga: So reels took me awhile to jump in because I get anxious, putting my face out there.
I don't know why it's just something like, I get nervous. I've never been one into public speaking. It's outside of my comfort zone, but I still do it. When I finally had just ripped off the bandaid and I was like, oh, I didn't get thousands of unfollows. Like, like I thought it was going to in my head.
I don't know why just cause we always, you know, we talk negatively in our own heads, but yeah, once I rip the bandaid off, I I'm kind of enjoying it. It's just another creative outlet. What I try to do is do some before and after reels of my work. So I'll just do some quick videos like before, during and after a session and just pick like some, you know, trendy music, or some music that I really like to go along with that.
And and then I'll try and do one where I show my face and I kind of answer questions or say something, but basically I just, I try and put my face out there and then I try and do some of spaces. And for me, the ones where my face is out there are harder for me. So what I'm a new thing I'm doing is that like on a day where I actually like get myself presentable, I'm like, I'm going to record at least two of these and I can edit it later, but I'm just going to like record it and just have it in my drafts.
And when I feel like inspired and ready to edit it, then I'll edit it.
Melissa Klug: So like batching them and then editing.
Amy Mayorga: Yeah, batching them and editing them and I'm personally working on just trying to not take myself so seriously.
And if a reel that I've post doesn't go as well as I think it's going to like, that's okay. I can just, what I've done is I can just take it off my feed and just leave it in my real section. And so for me, I'm like, okay, this is kind of pushing me to just get myself out there, stop being nervous about it and just put some content out there.
And you know, what, if it flops it flops, who cares? It doesn't really matter,
Melissa Klug: The other thing about that is I try to think about, cause it is hard to put yourself out there, right. And it's hard to be like, well, this is my face and this is what, you know, sometimes people are made on the internet and whatever, and yeah, but the thing I try to remember too, is when I am watching something.
So if I'm watching tic-tac, if I'm watching reels, I look at them and I'm just like, look at that person having fun and like, look at that person smiling and not taking themselves too seriously. And , I love that. Those are the videos that I connect with the most. And it's because. People are really being themselves.
And I, I think that then I go, well, that's how people are seeing me too. We are our own worst critics
Amy Mayorga: and oh 110%. Like when I started doing this
Melissa Klug: podcast and had to listen to myself, like fled, I was like, who would want to listen to this voice? Right. Well, it's
Amy Mayorga: all do that to, I do. I love listening to these podcasts, but we're
Melissa Klug: our own worst critics.
And so, if you just let that go and say like, you know what, people are going to love what I'm talking about. If you are connected with it and you have something you want to say and you have fun with it and you enjoy it, that shines through you can totally. Yeah.
Amy Mayorga: And not only that I have noticed that since I've started to post reels, the growth on the account, if you look on the analytics page, it like goes away up and it's shocking it again, is another motivation to keep doing it because, I mean, I'm sure, I'm sure you've heard, but Instagram is trying to move to a more towards video content
and so that, along with the fact that, your engagement goes way up, you get more followers. It's like, it's like, why not just try it? Who cares? Yes, people might unfollow you, but it doesn't really matter. Like, it doesn't matter. They're not going to be the people who hire you anyways. So it doesn't matter.
Yes.
Melissa Klug: That's a great point. Not, everyone's going to be your client. Not everyone is going to be into what you're posting. It's not a personal assessment of you. It is a vanity metric. And so like getting too tied up in that, have fun be authentic. It really makes a huge difference.
But I, I have just been shocked. I really enjoy doing them. And I didn't think that I would, and that is the key that I have found is, it's kept me motivated. I'm like, oh, I can do something fun. And then it makes me more interested in posting and being a little bit more connected. So
Amy Mayorga: absolutely.
Melissa Klug: I do the same thing as you though. I if I am having a good hair day, I'm like, cool. We need to, we need to find a couple of reels to do because then same thing, you just put them in drafts. And then on a day when I had a friend who was like, oh, I saw your really your hair looks amazing. And I'm like, well, this is what it actually looks like today.
This is what
Amy Mayorga: filters filters are like your best friend. Do you use filters? Because it's like, suddenly, like I'm not wearing makeup and I put a filter on it. I'm like, oh, well, I like, okay,
Melissa Klug: I'm beautiful. Yeah. I every once in a while, if you scroll through, I do crack up at some of the effects that they have where I'm like, oh my gosh, we don't need 17 of me on the other screen.
But some of the filters like, oh yeah. Oh yeah. I don't look like I'm at the age that I am, which is, you know, an advanced age for me. Just have fun with it. One of the things that I do is, I don't know if you do this, but in order to find like things that I want to, to do, I will just go through reels.
And then if there's one where I'm like, oh, I like that music. Or I like that, you know, the other day it was an office quote that made me laugh. And then you save that audio and then go in and say, what are my saved audio? And then I get my creativity gets sparked of what thing could I do with this video that I saved?
Or this audio wrapper? Yeah. Yeah. I
Amy Mayorga: have the notes app open. Like I pull it open I'll, I'll save the audio. I'll pull my notes up open, and I'll just do a little title of what the saved audio is. The name of the song, and then I'll put like I need to have eight bullet points for this.
So you can be like it, how to organize a space and do eight bullet points or , whatever it is, and just like your initial reaction to it and just write it down. So that on the day where you feel like recording yourself, you can kind of open that up and be like, okay, which one do I want to do today?
And you don't even have to think about it. It's another system. Just like we teach our clients, like, this is what you do with your mail. This is what, you know, you can do with your laundry to help you. Or this is, you know, how you declutter and maintain it. It's just, another system to implement.
So you don't have to use that space in your brain to overthink everything and waste your time.
Melissa Klug: Or organizers. Good at overthinking. I just kidding. We all do it. So don't overthink it, just do it and just throw some out there and see how they feel. And I promise you, I I'm, I'm telling you, I was the last person on earth that was going to do this.
And now I'm like, this is. I'm going to keep doing it.
Amy Mayorga: Yes. And one thing that sometimes I remind myself of is like, no one really knows what they're doing. Like, just try it.
Melissa Klug: That's literally a sound on tic-tac that I found that no one knows what they're doing. None of us know what we're doing. We're all just making our way through life.
Like that's okay. Nobody has it right now. I promise you. Yeah, exactly. So you said something earlier about comparisonitis and that's another good one where, there are probably people that could open up your Instagram and be like, oh my gosh, looking at her, she's got all these followers. She has this huge account.
She is brilliant at this. She's doing all this hard work. You're you are just like everyone else. We're all just making our way through and trying to figure it out as we go along.
Amy Mayorga: Absolutely. And then you opened my basic page and I've got like 10 followers guys. So it just, it doesn't matter what platform you use.
You don't have to do any of them if you don't want to, but if you want to, have fun with it and it shouldn't feel like another responsibility, it should feel something like I get to do this because I get to talk about something that I really like to talk about. And people will maybe listen to me here because my own family won't listen to me.
Melissa Klug: Let's it, none of our families want to listen to us. My daughter one day said I had posted an episode of the podcast and I was just randomly talking to my husband about it. And he goes, oh, I'll have to listen to that one because he doesn't listen to everyone. Cause you know, they're, some of them are not, not his thing, but he says, I'll have to listen to that one in my, my older daughter who is a Savage in the best way it goes, why would you want to listen to her more than you have to?
And I'm like for our own families do not always appreciate what we have to offer. And that's okay because random
Amy Mayorga: that's when you that's, when you know, it's time to start a business is when you, can't help your family anymore because they don't want your help. That's great.
Melissa Klug: You know what random strangers on the internet want to hear what I have to say?
So I'm going to go help them. That's right. That's awesome. So what, what comes next for you? What are you looking forward to as we are heading into 2022.
Amy Mayorga: I'm just going to lean more into nurturing this idea of having a team and try and put my energy into things that maybe will help me gain more of those clients that want that, like maybe put more energy.
Into my website, maybe. I just signed up for some Google ads. I, yeah, I use Google my business and so kind of putting my energy towards the things that are going to help me grow versus kind of wasting my energy on things that, won't really help me reach my goals. And also setting limits.
Like I know for me personally, I don't want to work more than three sessions a week. And so just being kind of clear on my boundaries, when I look at my calendar and someone wants a session, they want to be the fourth one that week. I just have to say, I'm sorry, I'm booked and be okay with that. Because when I spread myself too thin, then I can't meet my other obligations that I need to meet.
I've got three little kids I'm running a house I like to go to yoga classes. I need to grocery shop and get food on the table. All the things that we all have to do, like we can only be. A percentage of that into our work and kind of being clear and setting those boundaries and then using that percentage of time very efficiently and effectively.
So kind of like trying to make my work life and personal life just more effortless in a way that, you know, reduces the stress. It makes everything just run more easily.
Melissa Klug: Well, and that is such a great point because you are allowed to build the life that you want and you don't have to make an excuse for it.
If you say, go into yoga is what am I non-negotiables like, I made a deal with myself that this year I was going to go to the gym four times a week and I have to adjust my schedule in order to do that. And that yesterday great example, I had a boatload of work to do, but I said, Nope, I have to go to the gym at 4:00 PM.
Period. The end, you're allowed to have those non-negotiables and you are allowed to say, I only am willing and able to do three client sessions a week. The end. And by the way, if you tell the client you're fully booked, it sometimes makes them want you more.
Amy Mayorga: Yes. Yes. I've noticed that as well, where I'm like on a week where I have like one session, I feel like I, no one's calling me.
And then on a week, when, when someone talks to me and I'm booked and I'd say, I'm sorry, I can't see you then. They're like, well, when's your next opening? It's kind of like that scarcity mentality. Absolutely. Yes. So
Melissa Klug: it is okay for you to set those boundaries. I talked about that in another podcast. That's Sarah Brent.
And we were talking about the value of sometimes saying, sorry, I'm fully booked. And she has decided to take a week off per month. And that all she says is, I'm sorry, I'm fully booked until next month. And it's, it's totally fine. I did the same thing. I didn't take organizing clients in January. Every single person that came was like, cool.
I'll wait until February. It's fine. So
Amy Mayorga: nice. That's amazing. Don't be afraid
Melissa Klug: to set those boundaries.
Amy Mayorga: Yes. Oh, and something else that I am trying to do in my own life is work on my habits. Do you, have you read atomic habits or any of the other books that are habits
Melissa Klug: multiple times? It is what I love it.
Buzzcocks.
Amy Mayorga: And then I just finished I'm Gretchen Rubin's book better than before. Where she have you read that one? Yeah, she talks about habits just mainly like on our own personal level, kind of like a case study. And I'm just trying to do more of that. And I've implemented like a meditation practice early in the morning and just like these tiny little habits once they become automatized, you're like.
It's so easy to just continue them. So I kind of want to focus that on my business. Cause I haven't gotten there with my business where my habits, because it's kind of inconsistent, you know, this business, it can fluctuate. You can be busy one week and not busy, but I kind of want to have a system on a day.
I don't have a client that's a work day. I want to have these specific habits that I do to just continue trucking along.
Melissa Klug: I love that because first of all, Tomic habits cannot recommend more highly. And a couple of things. If you start to implement the habits in your own life, it's amazing to watch you be able to teach those habits to your clients because that's how people maintain organization, right?
I always tell my clients a magic fairy is not going to come in at night and, make everything go back to where it is. This is not Cinderella. This is not snow white, where like, doors are gonna come and it'd been clean up your stuff. You have to develop the habits in order to keep it up.
But that's the exact same thing for a business. What I tell people sometimes is if you don't have a client on a day, pretend like you do so pretend like you have taken a three hour block and you were going to be at a client because if you were to do that, you wouldn't be checking your Instagram. You wouldn't be taking phone calls.
You wouldn't be taking a nap, reading a book. We're use that client. Pretend that client time is work time and spend three solid hours working on your website, your SEO, Google my business, any of those things. And you're going to see huge dividends.
Amy Mayorga: Absolutely. And take advantage of those weeks where you have your sessions, because pretty soon you're going to be busy again and you won't be able to get to that stuff, you know?
So it kind of ebbs and flows for good. The reason.
Melissa Klug: Yeah. It's just as important to cultivate your business in the busy times as it is in the slow times. And that's what people, and it's easy to lose that because you're so busy. You're like, well, I don't have time to do those other things. It's still, you've got to keep that funnel going.
So anything you can do in your business is worthwhile.
Amy Mayorga: Absolutely. Well,
Melissa Klug: I'm excited to see whatever you do in 2022. I am along for the ride and I am vice versa. I am excited for everything you have going on. Where can people find you on the internet?
Amy Mayorga: So my website is minimalistaorganizing.com and my Instagram is www.instagram.com/minimalistamom .
Just like minimalist and then an a or minimally stuff, mom. Those are really the two only two places that I am active and update.
Melissa Klug: Okay, perfect. It's not a million places. That's great. It's a manageable number of places to find you. So, yeah.
Thank you so much for joining us. I have learned so many things today, as I always do. I, every time on this podcast, I always get like amazing tips and tricks.
So I just appreciate you very much. Thanks for being here.
Amy Mayorga: Thank you so much for having me. This is so much fun.
Jen Obermeier: Thank you so much for listening into the pro organizer studio podcast. If you'd like to get our roadmap for success as a pro organizer, head straight to www.poroadmap.com.