178 | 365 Days of Organizing: Rewind of My First Year in Business with Kim of Rustic Home Organizing
It's a little bit of a rewind week for a great reason. I started something a couple of years ago—there was someone in our Inspired Organizer® group who was brand new, and I interviewed her just as she was starting her business—you can listen to that HERE.
And then almost exactly a year later, I interviewed her again and learned about how her first year went—which is this epsiode.
Then I did the same a few days ago in January 2024 to hear about her second full year and her dreams as she starts her third.
But I wanted to rewind to the original podcast episodes so you can recall her journey. Here is the episode when I interviewed her after her first full year of professional organizing!
You can listen here, read the full transcript below, or find us on Apple, Spotify, or anywhere you love to listen to podcasts!
LINKS FOR LISTENERS
Connect with Kim at Rustic Home Organizing HERE
Connect with Melissa and Pro Organizer Studio: CLICK HERE
If you are interested in our Inspired Organizer® program, you can find us at www.inspiredorganizer.com and don't forget, we have a whole library of podcasts here, our YouTube channel, and you can find us on Facebook and Instagram at Pro Organizer Studio.
FULL TRANSCRIPT
Hey pro organizers. It's Melissa. And we are doing something that I rarely do, which is rewind episodes. But there's a great reason for it. So this is our second rewind. If you missed the first one, just go back one episode. There was an organizer that started in our Inspired Organizer® coaching group when she was a brand new organizer.
I interviewed her like two weeks after she had started her business, wanted to talk about what her hopes and dreams were and how she got into organizing in her first year. And then I interviewed her almost exactly a year later to figure out how year one went. And then I interviewed her the other day to see how year two went and to get her impressions and get all of her wisdom as she starts her third year in organizing.
I wanted to give you the rewind episode, so you didn't have to go back and listen to them. And here's the other thing. So I conducted these interviews, obviously I was there. And, when I went back and relisten to them, I'm like, oh my gosh, that's a gym, that's a gym, that's a gym. There are so many things in this conversation that even for me, who has been organizing for a long time, so much wisdom in these. Just had great conversations.
So I think no matter where you are in your organizing journey, You will be able to find something in these conversations and it will be a great reminder so that when you hear our brand new interview in a couple of days, you will be able to say like, oh, okay, I can get Kim's whole journey.
And here's what I've learned on my own journey. And how can I put those things together? So, I am going to give you our year one update. This is our second podcast with Kim, a little bit of a rewind.
Melissa Klug: Here's why I'm excited to talk to you today.
It was one year ago, almost exactly a year ago that we had you here, and you were at that time a baby organizer. You had just started your business. And the other day I was like, oh, I know, because I talked to you a lot how far you have come in that year. But I want everybody to hear how far you have come in this year, and I want you to talk about all the things you've learned.
And I'm thrilled that you agreed to be here with us today and do your year wrap up.
Kim Snodgrass: Absolutely. I'm excited to, this is very cool to be able to share everything that has gone on in the last year.
Melissa Klug: All right, let's just start out, let's give everyone a recap. When did you start your business? Where are you all that good stuff?
Kim Snodgrass: Technically started in November of 2021 but I launched in January of 2022. So my business is technically established in 2022. I went full board, jumped with both feet in and just started plugging away, listening to lots of podcasts coaching doing all the things to get myself a foundation to be able to start my very own organizing business. Then organizing, obviously my entire life as most organizers have, with the exception of you. I started late. You started a little late, but so it just became more of my journey to becoming a business owner.—not as much the organizing piece of it.
Melissa Klug: So what would you give yourself on a scale of one to 10 when you first started out? So a year ago at this time what would you rate yourself in terms of like, confidence, business, knowledge, all of that kind of stuff?
Kim Snodgrass: Oh boy. Confidence. I would say on a scale of one to 10, my confidence was about a two. On a good day, And then I think today I'm, I'm, I'm on the upper end and depending on how much sleep I get the night before, I'm anywhere between an eight and a 10.
Melissa Klug: Sleep is important,
Kim Snodgrass: Sleep is very important. But what people don't understand is unfortunately, organizing projects live in your brain, in your sleep, and so the Tetris game goes on while you're sleeping and that can sometimes interfere with the REM sleep. It does. But definitely confidence has played a huge part in my success.
Melissa Klug: So you and I have been working together for a while. And it was it at the beginning because we all, by the way, this is not just you, it's all of us. All of us struggle with confidence on sometimes a daily basis, sometimes an hourly basis, if I'm being honest.
Like what were some of the things that got you from a two to an 8 / 10?
Kim Snodgrass: I started to write down some notes today about things that would be important for me to share. And the very first thing I wrote down was being okay with mistakes. Yeah. And those mistakes can range from the back end of your business to being in the home and realizing when you left, oh, that was a really bad idea of what I just implemented. I really need to fix that. But being okay with those mistakes so you don't beat yourself up over it. And the biggest thing you take away from those mistakes is learning. You have learned what you're going to move forward in in your next job. I think that is going to be what I have learned.
The most this year is being okay with my mistakes and being excited when I make 'em, because they're getting me to a much better place.
Melissa Klug: This needs to be a t-shirt or a billboard, because I think that a lot of organizers struggle with perfectionism. And by the way, that's a great trait for an organizer, right? We want to give people beautiful homes, but that can also sometimes manifest as like, oh, I made a mistake. I'm going to beat myself up about it for the next 16 weeks. And being able to say, you know what? I did that I learned from it, and I'm not going do it in the future.
Kim Snodgrass: Yeah, definitely. Be okay with your mistakes. I made some mistakes right off the bat. I invested a lot of money, which you don't have to, to start an organizing business. We've all talked about that. But it was important to me to do that and I went a little overboard. And that's okay. I'm okay with going overboard because it's helping me in this next year.
But I do want to rewind just a little bit. So, at the beginning of 2022, I came up with a couple words. They were going to be my words for the year. And one of them was outsourcing. And I did that and I'm so happy I did that. But it also made me realize it's important to outsource when you're ready for that outsourcing.
And as an organizer new in the business. I outsource so many things right away, but what I didn't realize is for myself, I wasn't ready for all of that. I didn't have the bandwidth, you know, technology is not my strong suit. So I thought, okay, I have to outsource all of it.
Everybody will do it for me. But you still need to understand when you outsource, you still have to understand it. You might be able to pay somebody to do it and get it all set up for you, but unless you're paying somebody to work for you on a daily basis, which some organizers have you have to still learn how to maneuver within those programs or apps or whatever you invest your money in on.
And so I definitely took that away from my first year. The best advice I can give to new organizers getting into business is to focus on your SEO and Google.
Melissa Klug: Those are number one and number two. and they go together. So those things, those things are interlinked.
Kim Snodgrass: Whether we like it or not, Google runs us. We depend on Google and you have to figure out how to maneuver within Google and manipulate Google to have it work.
Melissa Klug: I want to go back because you've said a lot of important things—and this goes along with the SEO and the Google piece, but I want to go to what you said about, you still have to understand the things that you are using, right?
Even if you are not a super techy person, even if that's a struggle for you you still have to have an entrepreneurial understanding of the key things in your business. I know one of the things you're talking about is you went with Dubsado as a CRM and you had someone set that up for you, but you still struggled with implementing it because it is, it's pretty complex. And what you said that I want to really touch on is do the investment and the right thing at the right time. You may not have needed that to start out with. Is that fair?
Kim Snodgrass: Absolutely correct. We all need Google. One of the things I find in our Inspired Organizer group, a lot of questions from the newer organizers that join us. Where do you go get your clients? Where do you find your clients?
Well, you want your clients to find you. Yes, you do need to get yourself out there, but you also want your clients to find you as much as you want to be able to find your clients. And the only way to do that is through Google. You need to do it in your website.
Melissa Klug: Tell us a little bit about what you learned about those things this year and what you have done that has made you success. Yeah, absolutely.
Kim Snodgrass: So as far as to back up a little bit on the crm, and I don't wanna throw, do Soto under the bus. It's not Do Soto.
It's, it's not Do Soto's Fault, it's me. . Yeah. And the person that set it up for me did nothing wrong. I thought I needed it and I didn't need it. One thing I have learned in the last. Three months. So my business was a little slow the first six months and then it like grew by a thousand percent in the last half of this year.
So, what I realized is I would have been ready for a CRM this next year. I didn't need it this last year. That CRM caused me a lot of stress and a lot of frustration and a lot of money, and I didn't have enough business at the beginning to really be able to utilize it to the full potential. And
Melissa Klug: I also think it hurt your confidence too.
I think going back to Oh, absolutely. Thing. I think it made you believe that like, oh, I, I, I am not, I can't do this. Like, it was a confidence. Mm-hmm.
Kim Snodgrass: dropper. It, it really was. And, to know that I am great at texting, calling, emailing, I, I'm good at all of that and I should have leaned on that versus.
expecting a system that would do it all for me. I didn't need an CRM to be able to reach out to my clients. For me, I wanted to, I wanted to initiate it. I wanted to, whatever my mood was that day or how I was feeling.
If I was in a, in a really great mood, I wanted it to be able to shine through in that email or that text or that phone call, and I just gave me a sense of control. So I don't need the automated systems. I don't want the automated systems moving forward as of now. That might change for some reason if I grow, but for now I like it.
I like that personal touch, and I think that's very important for new organizers in business to figure out what their strengths are and lean on them. If you're a super techy person and sitting in front of that computer, getting those workflows going gives you that confidence, I say, go for it. If you are the person that wants to go out and talk to people or do a workshop, or go to a chamber meeting and talk about your business, go for it.
You need to work on your strengths.
Melissa Klug: Yes, and I also think that it's it's some of that timing is the amount of business you have and what your business looks like. And so it might be your first year you actually don't need that because you actually need to develop that muscle strength of like, Hey, I know what it's like to respond to a client and I can do all of that.
Or it may be I have enough business now that I'm starting to miss some things and man, I could really use some automated systems to make sure I'm not missing anything. It's, it's all about the season of business that you're in.
Kim Snodgrass: That’s a really good point. I think when you allow yourself to have some growing pains, you learn more effectively.
Yeah. So if I would've started my CRM now, I probably wouldn't have had such a mind block learning curve over it because it would've made more sense to me because I've had so many different situations and back and forth and different types of clients. I think it's important to allow yourself to grow before you start thinking that you need it all in place day one.
Yeah. Which is what I thought I needed, but I didn't.
Melissa Klug: And getting some of that learning process too. That can go for a lot of things. Like, one example I always think of is I do virtual consults now. I do consultations on FaceTime or Zoom, but I'm really glad that I had two plus years of doing them in person under my belt.
Before I switch to that, because I think that's really important to learn, what does the sales process look like? What is it like to talk to a client? What are the important things I need to ask? All those things. It's y it's some of that you kind of earn the right to need to absolutely things, if that makes sense.
Mm-hmm. .
Kim Snodgrass: Oh, I think so. That's a great way to put it. You know, you, unless you're in multiple spaces, other people's spaces, yeah. You're not gonna wanna, you're not gonna know how to, on a Zoom call, say, Hey, can you, you know, can you show me that corner one more time? Or wait, what's that up there? Right. You know?
Yeah. You need to be able to give yourself knowledge before you start diversifying what you're gonna use to control that knowledge.
Melissa Klug: I want to go back to it you touched on it, but I really wanna talk about SEO and Google. How did you learn about those things this year? And how did it impact your business?
Kim Snodgrass: Yes, definitely. First of all, in the Inspired Organizer group is where I was connected to Brie, and she does website design, but then she also had a team that did other aspects to setting up that website and that was where I was introduced. I didn't even know what SEO was, by the way. Yes. And that's where I was introduced to that.
I've had a few people reach out to me this last year wanting to know how to start an organizing business. And that is a huge question. And I always, that's always my response. That's a really big question. Yes. , my best advice is to start picking up the breadcrumbs, follow the breadcrumbs, and pick 'em up.
And so that's basically what I have done in this whole Google and SEO trail is, I just keep taking one piece at a time and moving forward. And so the gal who set up my seo, she also has an Instagram account that she throws out free SEO tips all the time. So I follow that. I read her newsletters.
I listen to other people. It's big, like, SEO to me is very complex. It's very big. And I don't understand all of it. I just know it's very, very important.
Melissa Klug: So, but you don't have to understand all of it as an organizer. I don't.
Kim Snodgrass: no. I don't have to understand all of it. And I think if I had the patience, I probably could have sat in front of my computer and figured out how to get that integration going, and I probably could have had some help within our Inspired Organizer group. Everybody's always so willing to help each other. But I don't have patience, I paid to have it done and I'm glad I did. Now, that's not to say I just do it one time and that's it.
It evolves and my website will become stagnant if I don't continually tweak it, add, take away, change pictures, and you just learn all of that along the road. But I, I will say all of this knowledge, most of my breadcrumbs come from our Inspired Organizer group.
Melissa Klug: There's so much knowledge there. People have so many things that they're able to throw out that I was so many I didn't know about that.
Kim Snodgrass: It allows you to go, oh, wait, I wasn't aware of that. I better go and do a little investigation on that. Again, more breadcrumbs, follow 'em and it will lead you in good places. As far as you know, the SEO piece has been for me.
Melissa Klug: I will say too about seo. When I said you don't have to know everything about SEO as an organizer, because the thing that I love about organizing is, , you can know that, like the teeniest tip of the iceberg about seo and it will help your website just Sure, sure.
A little, little bit like we are not running Facebook here, . We are not. No. You know, running a digital platform that is so complex that we have to pay someone a ton there are a few SEO things for organizers. There have been, we've done prior podcast episodes on it.
Definitely go back and listen to those. But it is so critical, to have that digital foundation of your business. And by the way, digital foundation does not include social media. It includes your website, SEO, Google Business Profile, that is your digital foundation, and that is where the bulk of your business is going to come in.
Kim Snodgrass: You are so right. We're trying to hit local. Yes. I mean, as an in-home organizer, I should say for myself, I'm trying to hit local, so your SEO is a little tighter and not quite as complex, so it's definitely doable.
Melissa Klug: Has there been anything that has surprised you about your own ability to handle things or how you've been able to handle your business this year?
Kim Snodgrass: You know, that is a really great question and that, that's a question I should really reflect on for 2023. I've had a few moments. I've had a few panic moments of I can't do this. Yeah, yeah. You know, Chad, my better half has met me for a beer close by many jobs to talk me off the ledge. And he's come in and saved me on a few jobs too, being my handyman. What I have learned from those situations is I just need to take a breath.
I need to take a step back and I need to take it one piece at a time. Yep. I had a garage that basically knocked me over. It was so intense. And it took me a little bit to wrap my head around it, but I surprised myself when I started to, to pick a way at it that, oh, I can do this. Yeah.
Sometimes in these larger projects, you gotta just look at one corner at a time. Yep. I'm a solo organizer. I don't have a team. I don't think anybody would wanna work with me, but except my daughter, she's the only one that can handle me
. But yeah, that I think for me problem solving this last year surprised me. I, I was able to problem solve.
Melissa Klug: That's a great one because I never really realized that when I started. Your job is essentially like an organizer is just a constant problem solver.
And the problems can come at you in a lot of different directions. And there might be new problems every five minutes.
Kim Snodgrass: And for ladies or gentlemen going into their business I think it's important to know you don't have to run into these places and you're not on a stopwatch. I like to refer to it as, you're not on the Price is Right. The clock isn't ticking. Take your time. Don't rush. They don't have anything to compare it to. And I did that in some of my beginning jobs—I literally felt like I was in that grocery store games or whatever it is where you just had to run and grab like certain items and get to the checkout.
That's how I felt. And yeah. And it's really important to take your time, give yourself some momentum buildup, because it comes after you've sat in that project for a couple hours.
Melissa Klug: I find my personality is I always want to have the answer and I want to have the answer like immediately. And one of the things I had to learn for myself is sometimes you have to stop and take a step back and say, I need to think about this for a minute. I need to stop and look at this room and figure out my plan. And I'll say it to clients sometimes, like, Hey, I just, I need a second to think about a couple things—I'm not ignoring you. I just need to think about this. And stopping and giving yourself a little bit of that space to figure something out. Nobody expects you to have every single answer at your fingertips perfectly. And that was something that I had to get over too.
Kim Snodgrass: Can I touch on one more thing? I want to throw out my social media.
Melissa Klug: Hot take. I'm ready,
Kim Snodgrass: Okay. I talked earlier about finding your strengths and using those to give yourself confidence within your business. And if your strength is social media, like it comes naturally to you, you love doing a Reel, and it's easy for you. I say go for it.
But what I think is important for new organizers and even ones that have been in business for a little bit, this is something I really have just finally had a light bulb go off. Social media is an extension of networking only locally though. Unless you have an online offering or you have an online course, that's a whole different ballgame.
I can't speak on that because that's not what I'm doing. But if you were just organizing in-home, I think it's important to understand that the bulk of your business is not going to come from Instagram or Facebook. Correct. It's an extension of your SEO on Google . Yeah. Because what they're gonna do is they're gonna find you and then they're gonna go head over onto your social media.
Now, your social media might seal the deal.
Melissa Klug: It might confirm what they're already thinking about you.
Kim Snodgrass: I've had a couple clients say they picked me because my social media was real. I showed my family, they could get an idea of who I was. And that's great. But they found me from Google. So I have decided moving forward into 2023, my social media is another extension of networking locally. So my social media falling for me is important to be local people so that I can promote other businesses and show support for them and hopefully in return, they'll think of me in the future. It's very dangerous to get stuck down into a rabbit hole of followers and links and postings and all of this stuff. And I do think you need to have some value to your social media for sure.
Definitely some value, but just be really careful not to put too much time into it. Put your time into your SEO integration into your website, and then have the social media be just a byproduct of you and your work.
Melissa Klug: I think that so many, especially newer organizers, they just think they have to do it and they think they have to have tons of followers and by the way, Instagram is a hamster wheel, so the faster you go on that wheel, it's gonna keep speeding up and then they're gonna go, oh, oh, you learned how to do Reels?
Cool. Now you have to learn how to do this other thing over here. Oh, you learned how to do that other thing over here? Oh, we actually now we're reprioritizing still pictures. You are constantly going to be chasing something.
The other thing that I look at on my own social media, because I enjoy doing social media, but I do it, you can check any of my feeds. I do it haphazardly. There's no strategy whatsoever to it. What I find too is, and by the way, I love, love connecting with other organizers. Most of the people that like and comment on my posts are other organizers. And I love that because I love community and I love working with organizers and meeting other organizers.
But those people are not hiring me for organizing jobs. They're not coming to Home By Eleven because they really want me to organize their house. And so that, I just wanna make sure that you're careful about, you know, it's a little bit of an echo chamber. And then I think this will lead us to something else too, which is comparing yourself against what other organizers are doing.
Because if another organizer is doing seven reels a day, then you go, oh crud, maybe I need to be doing seven reels a day. And you start on a different hamster wheel.
Kim Snodgrass: Yes, absolutely. And speaking of community there really is a great community out there of organizers. Not just in our Inspired Organizer.
And last year when I did the podcast, one of the things I said was, reach out to people. Tell them if they've inspired you. I shy against asking organizers how to start your business, but let them know you inspired me. I listened to you. Thank you. I appreciate that. And I still believe in that wholeheartedly.
I still do it to this day. Other organizers in your area, reach out to them. Say hi. It's not as cutthroat as you think. I hurt my leg a week ago and I had two organizers locally ready to jump in and take care of my clients.
I fortunately was able to adjust them enough that I didn't have to utilize that, but they were doing that out of the kindness of their heart. And it is so important to connect to other organizers locally and globally. There's quite a few that I go back and forth with on a regular basis.
Melissa Klug: One of the things that I personally had a hard time adjusting to, and I mean this in the nicest way possible, is, I came from businesses where it was cutthroat. Like you hated your competitors, you didn't talk to them. First of all, it was illegal to talk to them in some cases, but but also you would see them at a trade show and be like, oh, it's that guy from blah, blah, blah. I'm gonna give him a dirty look. Whatever.
Organizers are so nice. I have local organizers that I have helped build their businesses. I have local organizers that, I mean, theoretically they're my competition, but I send people to them. I'll say, Hey, I'm not taking new clients right now, but I would love to send you to these two or three people.
Developing that local network of other organizers is a beautiful thing and we really don't compete. There is enough business out there for all of us.
Kim Snodgrass: Yes, yes, there absolutely is. I haven't overlapped with anybody. Not even close.
Melissa Klug: Let's talk a little bit about one of my favorite subjects, comparisonitis, because I don't think you'll mind me saying, I know this was something that you struggled with at the beginning was well, that organizer is doing that, and that organizer's doing that
Tell us a little bit about your journey on comparison.
Kim Snodgrass: Absolutely. Yeah. Very easy to do. At the beginning you see all of these warehouses and their garages are their inventory and you see vans and you see, teams and you see, mock speed reels of them organizing, thinking you have to be that fast or cool.
T-shirts, cool hats. I do have cool hats by the
Melissa Klug: way. Fantastic. I'll be looking forward to mine coming in the mail.
Kim Snodgrass: I love my hats. But. There's so much that can be wrapped up into that. Yeah. That could be years of experience. It could be simply a show. You just don't, you do not know. That person that has the van and maybe storage in their garage or their own storage facility, maybe they started their business five years ago, but were they doing it on the side prior to that? You don't know what the lead up was to get to that point. And I, for the first time in about 10 months and at peace with that, and this year, I'm so happy to be where I'm in steady growth. I don't have to parade it.
I do like to show before and afters. I know quite a few of my local people like that. They enjoy seeing before and afters and mine aren't always glamorous. But those are important to me to show. Sometimes the, you know, inaction during an organizing job that's fun to show.
But being okay with where you are, the pace you're going and what you're doing behind the scenes. It's just the most important part. And if you're following those accounts that tend to get you into a spiral, unfollow 'em, just unfollow 'em for a period of time. It's nothing personal against them.
It's a you problem. And, and also, if it doesn't bother you, glean off of what they're doing. Take some ideas. Use some of the product. Oh, I haven't seen that product before. You know, use it for good, not evil. Don't let it get you down.
Melissa Klug: For sure. Use it to energize yourself. And then if you see something where you're like, oh my gosh, that is an amazing idea.
I wanna go implement that. Cool. Then you go, how do I do that? What does that look like for my business? How can I tweak it for my own clients, my own area. But yeah, if you have something, I love that advice. If you have someone that you are just judging yourself against so hard, , and it's making you feel bad about yourself, by the way, that goes for personal social media too.
If there is someone in your personal social media that you're like, this is really draining me. This is an energy suck for me. Just gratefully say thank you so much. I just need to take a little bit of a break.
Kim Snodgrass: Yeah, just like Marie Kondo, thank, give it, thank it for giving you the joy for its service and send it on its way.
Melissa Klug: For some people I have advocated, I'm thinking about one person that I love in my life specifically, I advocated, get off all social media. Do not look at Instagram. Do not post on Instagram. Do not post on Facebook. Don't do it because it's so detrimental to how you feel about yourself and your business.
You can just take a break. It doesn't have to be forever, but you can just take a break. . Yeah. It can definitely be toxic. I know an organizer who said she was shutting off all of her social media for this entire year, and she has stayed off.
And by the way, she's not suffering one bit from it business-wise. There's nothing that says you have to be on it and looking at it all the time.
Kim Snodgrass: And another, you know, another point on that too, and, and looking at some of these organizers doing really big, amazing things, you have to decide, is that what you want?
For me, this year came to a decision. I'm a grandmother for the first time. My last daughter is a sophomore at University of Oregon. All my kids are out. I I wanna enjoy some time. Yeah. I don't wanna be tied to an, an inventory list. I don't wanna be tied to employees. I don't wanna be tied to a whole bunch of stuff.
And so for me, I'm keeping it very simple and I'm still doing very well. I, you know, I just have super low overhead.
Melissa Klug: Like, it's simple, but it's complex, right? It's about what do you need to get, so what does your business need to provide for you, whether that's financial, social, whatever. And then it's about how do you get there? And then it's about what are your stretch goals. You need this, but man, it would make me really happy if I got this, like example, I have a child going to college next year, so I'm like, Hey, where are all those organizing jobs?
I need all of them, right? . But exactly, you know, four years from now, I might be in more in your neck of the woods where I'm like, you know what? I wanna slow down a little bit. I don't need to to do that. It's about the season of your life and where does your business fit into there? And you don't have to say, oh yeah, I would like a team of seven, unless you want a team of seven, and then go do it.
But the comparisonitis goes for a lot of different things, and it's gotta be about what you want and what you need.
Kim Snodgrass: And what's your bandwidth? This, you know, a team of seven means a lot of backend business stuff that will probably put me into a tailspin. So why would I even wanna put myself through that.
Melissa Klug: Versus there are people reading this that are like, oh my gosh, that sounds exciting and I want that. Awesome. Love it. Yep. Love that journey for you, .
Well, I want tol go back to something you just said, which is, really getting out and talking about your business. I've said it a million times before, I'll continue to say it. I have never had a job in my entire life that people wanted to talk about more than professional organizing. There is not a person who is not like, wait, tell me more about that.
Wait, what do you do? What, even if it, by the way, there are, I'm just going to say it. There are some men in my life that are like, wait, you get paid for that? Yes, I do. Actually quite well. I am telling you, if you just tell people, Hey, I'm a professional organizer, oh my gosh, you are gonna have, you actually might have to cut off the conversations.
So telling people what you do in your personal network, making sure that everybody knows what you do for a living. I'm telling you that is the best weapon you have in your arsenal.
Kim Snodgrass: Absolutely. I love going out and talking, and you're right, you do have to cut people off.
Yeah. And I'll give some advice to new organizers. The first question you're gonna get asked is, what's the craziest thing you've ever found? Hundred percent. And I won't tell you what I have found, but even if you haven't found something, make something up because it just, they think it's the coolest thing in the entire world.
Melissa Klug: The second question you're going to be asked is, so how many hoarders do you work with? Everybody loves the H word. Yeah.
Yeah. That's that's a whole ‘nother podcast I just tell people, you know what, I think it's what, what you're missing is, like, that's a very small part of the population.
And I know it's been popularized on television, but it's not really who we work with. I work with just normal people every day that need a little bit of help. But yeah, you start to get like scripts that you can say to, to all the questions that you get.
What are you happy that you learned in the last year about yourself?
Kim Snodgrass: I am so happy that I confidently can walk into a home and know that I can solve the problem. There truly isn't a problem I can't solve. I'm not saying that I can do it all on my own, but there literally hasn't been, and I don't feel like there's going to be a problem, an area that I can't solve. And I think my biggest challenge this year was doing my camper van.
You know, like a, a sprinter van style. That was my biggest challenge.
Melissa Klug: That was sometimes the smallest challenge. The smallest spaces are the biggest problem.
Kim Snodgrass: that one packed a big punch. But definitely being able to walk in and know that I can help anybody that wants my help.
Not saying I want to help everybody. There are some clients that I don't want to help. They're not your favorites. But the, no, for the most part though everybody is so wonderful that I've
Melissa Klug: worked with. , I will tell you there's a line, I think I've talked about it on the podcast before. There's a line from the show Seinfeld, which was one of my favorite shows when it was on, but they're talking about how you can't really ever do a charitable act because you get something from it too.
You know, you can't just selflessly do something cuz you're like, oh, I feel good that I helped someone. And so I feel that way about my work at Pro Organizer Studio, like I love doing it because I love seeing people grow and change. So I feel like selfish that I get a lot out of seeing people, but I mean this so sincerely, from the first time that I met you.
Versus just one year later, you are a, you were a great person to start out with, but you're even greater now. You have grown so much, you have changed so much in terms of your mindset and you have done the work and it's so rewarding to be able to see like what one year can do to someone.
So I just, I love it.
Kim Snodgrass: Well, thank you. That is so
Melissa Klug: sweet. I mean it so sincerely and I feel it about so many people that we get to work with, but one of the reasons I wanted to have you on the podcast is because people heard from you a year ago and just being able to see like what you have learned in the space of one year, 365 days, you could do a ton of stuff in one year. you
Kim Snodgrass: can and you can grow so much. And yes, I thank you for that reminder because I am very excited this year to see where I go and, and see what I learn. Yeah. I just can't believe how much I've learned,? Never stop learning. You can't learn enough.
Melissa Klug: Just fill her up. Absolutely.
What have you taken from that kind of learning to help you moving forward as you start into your second year and hopefully third and fifth and 10th year?
Kim Snodgrass: Oh, I'll be there. For me, so my new word, I would like to share my new word.
Melissa Klug: I'm excited. Drum roll.
Kim Snodgrass: Are you ready? My new word is intentional. This year is all about being intentional in my actions. I will be thoughtful in what I'm doing. I'm giving myself time to process. I'm not making quick decisions.
I'm gonna allow myself to think for myself until I feel like I need to bring in another opinion which will bring me to another subject of other organizers around the country. But I'm gonna be intentional about my time. I'm gonna be intentional about my shopping when I do it.
This last year was really difficult for me to go shopping for like, two projects at a time. Okay. But this year I've figured out a process about how am I gonna shop for two projects at a time when I'm at the store or at, I'm online. So just being very intentional about my actions.
And that goes for anything that I'm gonna put my money or my time or my brain into as far as apps, programs, whatever it might be. Any sort of groups. Anything that I'm going to give my time to. Why am I doing it and what am I hoping to get out of it? And that I think is very important for anybody looking into resources within the business to figure out why am I doing it and what am I hoping to get from it?
And, and knowing that you've gotta, they need, you need to put the energy and the time into it. Things aren't gonna be done for you.
Melissa Klug: It's very important. And that's an important thing because I found myself last night scrolling, for whatever reason, I don't know if it's the end of the year and everybody's selling a billion things.
I was scrolling through Instagram and I kept getting fed all these ads about courses and, and education and do this, you know, try this funnel and that, I mean, things that are more relevant to my work at Pro Organizer Studio. And I found myself feeling a little bit of fomo, like, oh, maybe that's magic.
Oh maybe that's magic . And then I'm like, no, no, no, no, no, no. I need to step back. And I love what you said about, how would I use this? When would I use it? Am I going to use it? There are a million things out there and, you can buy, you can buy a thousand things. But if you're gonna spend that money, then how are you going to use that thing?
How are you going to implement it in your business? What are you gonna learn from it? And then what gaps does it fill in your knowledge and your education, whatever that looks like for you.
Kim Snodgrass: you know that. I'm so glad you brought that up. I was thinking about that. I almost wanna say social media newsletters, whatever emails you might be signed up for is like a feeding ground.
And you have to be careful. You have to be really careful on what you decide is gonna be your magic potion to get your business, because the energy that you're putting into all of the things could be put into a YouTube seo tutorial that you could just zip over to your website and make it sound so simple.
I wouldn't even know how to do that right now, . But you could be putting your time and energy into learning the seo to get your website more exposure. And I was told at the beginning how important that was.
Melissa Klug: and who told you that? Just asking!
Kim Snodgrass: this lady, this one lady, this one lady that wears red glasses.
I think it's so easy to get sucked into so many different rabbit holes. So easy. Yes. And, and to try and avoid those at all costs is really, really important. I think we have to be careful on what advice we throw to newer organizers on how to find their business. What one organizer did at the beginning of her business versus what she's doing right now on year four, five, or 10, is going to be so different than that new organizer is gonna be doing on, you know, in year one. So what happened four years ago is different, and what's happening for that organizer right now is very different.
And I, I find this trap of newer organizers feeling like they have to depend on third party people to get them their business. Mm-hmm. , oh, I need to go visit this real estate office. I need to go visit this real estate agent. Oh, I found this designer and they're gonna, it's not, it's that, that really truly is.
Going to be where you're going to find your clients. First of all, there are so many real estate agents out there, and they're all clawing for business. Especially right now.
Putting all your eggs in a, in a basket with, with a, an agent that might only have exposure to 10 different people, you aren't most likely going to get business off of that.
Now, that isn't to say that it's not somebody you should keep connected with. Sure. I think they, you need to change your thinking and that these third party professionals are gonna bring you your business. And I just, I just don't think that is where you should put your energy at the beginning of your business. .
Melissa Klug: Referrals are such a huge part of so many organizers businesses, but when we say referrals, what we mean is a very happy client refers you to all their friends.
I fell into the real estate trap at the beginning too, and one of the reasons we're talking about this is because it, it comes up in, our Inspired Organizer Facebook group a lot. And newer organizers naturally, becaise I did it. I thought, oh my gosh, realtors, what is the most natural place?
Who's in homes all the time? Oh, it's realtors. Right? And you, by the way, full disclosure, used to be a realtor, so I, I was a realtor. , you know, you know better than everyone. But you know, it, it seems like it's a natural fit, but it's not in actuality. And does that make sense?
Absolutely not. But relying on that or putting all, like you said, all of your eggs in that marketing basket and that networking basket is not going to yield you the client base that you often think it would or should.
Kim Snodgrass: When you interviewed Cori from Meat and Potatoes recently, she talked about her BNI group her chamber and, I do think that there is something for putting energy into those smaller local groups where you’re cross referring.
Melissa Klug: I know I talked about this recently, my clients, I cannot believe the number of times I'm called upon to provide referrals for people like handyman and you know, all of these things. And so, I have a handyman that I adore. If you're in the Minneapolis area, hit me up because he's amazing. But like really that local referral group because it's not just one type of people, it's not just one type of business person. It's many different types of business people in a chamber or a b and i group.
And so we have a lot of people in our group that are really, really big on in-person local networking. And if that is something that is your jam, absolutely do that.
Kim Snodgrass: Yes. Yeah, definitely. That was one of my notes I wrote down is being an organizer, you're a resource manager. Yes. And so you need to be that one, figure out how you can be that person that is that reference person.
You're gonna get so much more business in the long run being that person than you waiting for somebody to be that for you. And that that's kind of been my mission.
Melissa Klug: I will give you my hot tip on that too. The reason that I was able to find all the resources that I recommended people to is also because I said yes to clients who asked me to do things that weren't specifically organizing.
So for instance, I have an amazing painter. He just did the exterior of my house. It looks amazing. I got this painter because I had a client that said, I don't really like to pick paint colors. Do you like to pick paint colors? I'm like, heck yes I do. . I picked all the paint colors for his house and found him a painter, and then I got connected with him.
I found the handyman because I had a client that's like, man, I really need a handyman. Do you have someone good? I reached out to my network, found a guy, tried him out on a few things, tried him out on my own home. He's amazing. So sometimes I get these people because I have said, yeah, sure, I'll try that for you client.
And I get paid for something that is organizing adjacent. I call it , but it really helps improve my business too. It makes me a resource to my clients also.
Kim Snodgrass: Being resourceful is a great tool to have in your pocket.
Melissa Klug: I always say too that that resourcefulness, I think translates also into the in-home experience.
I pride myself on being able to pick something weird up and have the client go, what is that? And then I'm like, oh, I know what that is. It's the screw to the blah, blah, blah. Yes, that we organized in this room the other day,
Kim Snodgrass: I love doing that. It's so amazing how the inventory that I have in my brain of my client's homes.
Melissa Klug: It’s kinda scary. I did a kitchen recently and the, the guy was like, what? What is that? Even like, he had a bunch of stuff that he didn't know what it was. I'm like, it's an Apple corer. And he's like, well, what would I use that for?
I'm like, do you plan on making a lot of apple pies from scratch? If no, then we can say goodbye to this .
So if you could go back to a year ago at this time, what, I mean, I think you've gone over a little bit like, what would you say? Hey girl, don't do this.
Kim Snodgrass: I know, right? Okay. So first of all, don't assume you know what you like to do as far as organizing.
Melissa Klug: Oh, I like this. Yes. Oh, so talk to us about this.
Kim Snodgrass: I know you have to. In my first podcast a year ago, I was all about garages and shops. Yes. You and I, I do, I really still love them on my own property, not somebody else's property. Yeah. Going through somebody else's garage stuff is really draining. It's very draining. It's very physical. And it's not what I thought I was gonna enjoy.
What I enjoy I love pantries and laundry rooms. Mm-hmm. , Airbnbs all day long. My top three, those are my top three. And I didn't know what. Yeah. So don't assume at the beginning, do not assume, do not limit yourself. Don't limit yourself to what you think you want to organize or who you wanna organize for.
I really think it's important to give yourself an opportunity to test the waters in lots of area.
Melissa Klug: I think this goes back to what we were talking about earlier in terms of you've gotta try a few things out. Mm-hmm. , and you gotta determine for yourself what works and what doesn't.
Because you might surprise yourself either direction, whether it's, Hey, I love doing this, by the way, I love garages, . But you have to figure out for yourself what you want to say yes or no to going forward.
Kim Snodgrass: that also empowers you to be able to love your job even more. Yes it reminds you that I'm in this because I'm doing something I love.
So when we work in a corporate atmosphere or we work for somebody else, we are, we continually have to do things we don't want to do and it gets us into this place of, I'm so unhappy, I don't like my job. When you work for yourself and you're an organizer, you can go in and do a job you don't like, but guess what?
You get to not ever go back and do that if you choose not to. Yeah. And I love that. I think that is fantastic.
Melissa Klug: I love being able to pick and choose. what works for me. And even if it's something that, you know, I don't love doing X, Y, z, I also know, I only have to do it for five more hours and then I'm done.
I don't have to do it for infinity. I don't have to be here for two more years. But I also, I love what you're saying about, you can say, this works for me, this doesn't work for me. Or you could say, it doesn't work for me for the next three months, but it might work for me again in the summer.
I don't know. You get to change the rules as much as you want to.
Kim Snodgrass: Yeah, absolutely. And that's gonna help you along with your processes.
Melissa Klug: What has surprised you about yourself? Like in terms of like organizing in someone's house? What has surprised you this year?
Kim Snodgrass: I think what has surprised me is how at least for me, my clients it, they become friend is a strong word.
It's a different relationship. I mean, you are in these people's business and it has surprised me at how important I have become in their life. Yep. And it's an, it's really an honor. And how I've impacted children, children at very young ages that ask if Ms. Kim is gonna come and do my room.
Yeah. Is Ms. Kim gonna come put my stuffed animals in a pretty row? You know? Yeah. That is, that has surprised me, honestly, the most at what we mean to people. It's not just about getting their functional systems. It's about peace of mind and, and what that means to them.
Melissa Klug: The amount of trust that people place in you. I mean, it's kind of amazing when you think about, it's like your house is your most valuable resource and people just open their houses for us and, and all of the things in house.
Kim Snodgrass: All kinds of surprises. Yes. But it's fine. it adds an element of excitement to it.
Melissa Klug: So you said earlier that your word of the year is intentional. What else? Yes. What does the landscape of 2023 look like for you? Landscape of
Kim Snodgrass: 2023 is being very intentional with my time, so I am going to be a little more Thoughtful in when I'm scheduling which days and which times I'm gonna be a little bit more thoughtful in my shopping days and times.
I'm gonna try and do more online versus in person. That first year it was really great to get hands on, see things, yeah. Understand things, touch and feel and all of that. And now it's become a little bit more about measurements and I think that is really great. Next in line after in-home organizing is gonna be workshops for me.
Okay. I tell my first, yeah. I did my first workshop in October and it was a huge success. I had an amazing turnout. It was exhilarating. and I absolutely loved it. So I will be doing quarterly workshops this year to be able to get into the community a little bit more personal, so that those that cannot or don't want to invest into my services in home can still connect with me, email me, go back and forth after they've been to one of my workshops, to troubleshoot any areas that they have in their home.
You know, it's not gonna be in-depth d i y plans, but just as a resource to them Yeah. To come to me if they so choose. .
Melissa Klug: I love that. Just a quick word on workshops too. Just a little plug. I have done a bunch of seminars at our workshops at local libraries and you get paid for it. Libraries actually have budgets.
So if you go to a library event coordinator and be like, Hey, I'm a professional organizer. I'd love to talk to people about blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. You might be surprised, you can get paid pretty decently to do a little workshop. I love talking to people, so it makes me really happy. But I love your local workshop idea too.
It's awesome.
Kim Snodgrass: I had somebody reach out to me and ask if I would do a workshop in their home to their friends. Kinda like a Tupperware party for organizing. So I'm wrapping my head around that and trying to figure out the logistics and that.
So that's just another avenue that I wanna take my job. And when I hurt my leg recently, it made me realize that I, I need to have maybe a little something else Yeah. To fall back on other than my legs, . .
Melissa Klug: I, we might need to do a whole like, separate episode on workshops and things like that because I really believe in them.
They are really good and you can get paid for them. And there are lots of different ideas like doing one in someone's home for a mom's group, for instance, and then, you get exposure to a bunch of moms in one place that then all want to hire you. I have done them for a few groups around Minnesota, I've just done a Zoom presentation and then it turns into business.
So there, I think there are lots of really great workshop ideas that are out there.
Kim Snodgrass: And I found a lot of my, my workshop attendees were not social media followers, but then became social media followers, but said that they really enjoyed following me. Yes. So that is where I finally came to what I figured out social media was, for me, it was an extension to my local community.
Melissa Klug: I love that.
Do you have any big goals for 2023 that you wanna reach or you just letting it roll?
Kim Snodgrass: no, I'm not letting it roll. I have financial goals that I want to reach and I have narrowed those down to weekly goals, hourly goals and how I'm going to achieve those. And that's a big one. That puts a lot of weight on my shoulders. But if I'm intentional about my actions, I wasted quite a bit of time in 2022, chasing my own tail.
But 2023 is, is gonna be, is gonna be different for sure.
Melissa Klug: Well, you've got it locked in. And then the other thing that you can do is say like, okay, once you back into what you know, you say, this is what I need, then you back into it. Then you can say, oh, I need to pump the brakes a little bit, or I need to press the gas.
And it allows you to figure out, you know, if you know your numbers, there's no mystery to it, right? It's just a number is just a piece of data and it's not about your self worth or anything else, but it helps you guide what are my efforts gonna look like?
Kim Snodgrass: Yeah. I'm definitely gonna spend more time out in front of people introducing myself. And I, I'm excited for that. That's what excites me. I pretty much this last month started trimming back all the fat Yeah.
And discontinuing a lot of apps that I had, a lot of programs that I had, I even got rid of. You're all gonna think I'm nuts, but I'm not even doing QuickBooks. Ok. My good old notepad. That's, there you go. That's how my brain, how my brain works. And I'm really happy with all my decisions and where I'm at.
Dubs Auto is still gonna stay on my plate because I've invested so much money. Yeah. And I figured out enough that it would be difficult for me to go backwards Yep. And not have those, those things, but,
Melissa Klug: But you learned how to use it in the right way.
Kim Snodgrass: I, I can maneuver slightly, I can make an invoice.
Alright. .
Melissa Klug: I was trying to give you a little bit on it.
Kim Snodgrass: Thank you. I appreciate that. But I do have a handful of organizers that I have reached out to where they're ready to jump in. Just kind of help me with some love that pain points that I have. So that is, that's good. I'm not willing to spend any more money on it.
Melissa Klug: I love it. While you said you have a daughter who's a sophomore in college, you're a sophomore in your business now, so you're ready to go?
Kim Snodgrass: yes, I am. Freshman year is over. Yes. I, I do wanna give a shout out to all three of my girls. They all are so patient with me and my needs.
They still don't help me very much, but they're so patient with me. And I just wanna, just a quick reminder, you know, my oldest one is a finance major, university of Georgia. She came over to try and help me and gave up. Courtney, my middle daughter is she's a social media manager for a big social media firm in New York City, and I get zero.
I get a good job. Mom, you grew 20 followers. And then Caitlin is my gifted writer. She actually just got props from her college professor that she truly is a gifted writer. Aw. She is going into get her teaching degree for special education, but I get no help in newsletters or blog. So I have three amazing girls that really, truly do not help me.
My biggest helper is my Chad. He's great. My she hanger. He's, he's been awesome. So that's another thing people need is their support system. Find your cheerleaders.
Melissa Klug: Yep. And I know we've talked about, you know, social media isn't, isn't the the be all end all, but I will say you did have a very funny reel recently with your daughter , so I know like I'm not gonna spoil it. Just gonna look at it. It's hilarious.
Kim Snodgrass: He threw me a bone and that wasn't even the social media daughter. That was the, the writing daughter.
Melissa Klug: So, no, it is all joking aside, even though you know, you have these very talented daughters who might not, you know, give you daily help on your business, it is like to have people behind you who believe in you.
And one of the things I have said about my husband is like, he believes in me more than I believe in myself sometimes. And so being able to find those people, it might not be your family, cuz I know sometimes families can also be a little bit challenging or questioning, but finding whomever that is, that has your.
and believes in you and can prop you up when you're having those bad days and take you out for a beer and tell you not to quit your business just cuz you had one bad day. Whatever that looks like for you. Those are good people to have.
Well your podcast, the one we did a year ago was one of our most downloaded episodes and so I, people just loved it. I think they're gonna love this one too. So what you have to put on your calendar is, I'm gonna be checking in with you again. You're gonna be That's great. Back on in 365 days so we can hear about your sophomore year of organizing.
Kim Snodgrass: I love it. So if anybody goes back to listen to my first one. I, I wanna touch on a couple things. Yeah. I don't wanna do shops. . Yeah. Even though I said, and our shop still isn't completed, Mueller Construction is way behind still. I did have t-shirts made. Yes. They do not have crass sayings on the back.
They just say, you don't need that. And I forgot about that. Yes. I always wear it to places like TJ Maxx, Marshalls Target. I have more people comment on my t-shirts that say, I don't need that. And they, I'll hear somebody go, you're right, I don't, and I'll turn around like, what are you talking about? I love that.
And they're on my t-shirt. I get so many conversations on my t-shirts. Yes.
Melissa Klug: Love that. We may have to add that. I may have to give you a commission and we'll have to add that to the to the pro organizer studio shirt shop.
Kim Snodgrass: Yeah, you don't need that.
Melissa Klug: There are so many, so many houses I go in because by the way, I used to be this person like Amazon packages on the doorstep 200 times a day.
And you don't need it. You really don't. Yeah. It's really stressful. Yes. Okay, where can people find you? Rustichomeorganizing.com. I know that one. Yes.
Kim Snodgrass: Or rhorganizing.com either gets you there. Instagram is @rustic_home_organizing and then Facebook is just Rustic Home Organizing.
I'm always happy to answer direct messages. I love it. I just had somebody listen to the podcast from a year ago and reach out and say hi. I just love it. I think it's great.
Melissa Klug: Kim is a giver. You guys like, for real. I'm not just saying this. She loves talking to people because she loved reaching out to people and she knows how important it is that, you know, you pay it forward in terms of helping people.
So she really loves to hear from people, genuinely. And I love that. And I will say check out her website because it is gorgeous. It's so, it's genuinely, I often send it to people looking for website inspiration. So check Kim out. Reach out to her, say hi. Tell her you listen to all of her podcasts. She'll be on the podcast 55 more times before she retires . So, all right. Thank you so much, friend.
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