146 | Goodbye Full-Time Job, Hello Organizing Business

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Written By Melissa Klug

Kris Hargrove, owner of Organized By Kris in Austin, Texas, is one of our members in our Inspired Organizer® program. She recently took the leap and said goodbye full time job, hello organizing business--moving from her job to devote all her time and energy to organizing. She is giving us all the scoop today on this transition, what led her to organizing in the first place, and lots of other gems!

You can listen here, read the full transcript below, or find us on Apple, Spotify, or anywhere you love to listen to podcasts!

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FULL TRANSCRIPT

You're listening to the Pro Organizer Studio podcast with Melissa Klug and Jen Kilbourne. Thank you so much for joining in our mission is to 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.


[00:00:00] . Hey, pro organizers. It's your podcast co-host Melissa. And before we get into our new episode, I just want to let everyone know we are open for enrollment of a new cohort of our course and community organizing essentials. And this course, you guys came directly from my heart. It comes from me genuinely loving organizing with clients.


And one of the first things that Jen asked me to do when I started working at Pro Organizer Studio was, Hey, we need. Course we need this community, and I absolutely love this group of women so, so much. this course is all about organizing with clients. What do you do when that client opens that door and then you go, oh, I'm in charge now.


I have to figure out what to do. And sometimes that's overwhelming. You walk into someone's house and you're like, oh my gosh, what do I do next? We teach you. That next is, so if you are feeling like, Hey, I need a little bit more confidence of how to deal with any client situation, whether it's there are boxes from floor to ceiling, or my client has a super hard time making decisions and letting things go.


What are the best bins to use in a kitchen? Or how do I shop for clients? All of those questions, anything that is about working with a client. We cover in Organizing Essentials. I have added some new modules. We are doing a live Zoom once a month for you to ask any organizing question that you have.


Everything is fair game in organizing essentials. Such a great community of women and we would love to have you join. This cohort is closing on March 31st, and if you join before then we have a couple of extra bonuses that we'll be throwing your way. One of them is a private Zoom with me,


just for people who have joined in March. So I would absolutely love to get to know you and love to know all about you and your clients and all of that good stuff. 


 Please head to the show notes for the link to join us, or you can go to our website, pro organizer studio.com and click courses. The course and the community, the Zooms, the Facebook group, all of that stuff. It's $249 and I promise you it will be some of the best money you spend in your business this year.


I super promise you, you will not regret it.


All right. One of the things that I have wanted to do is really focus on some of our community members. So we have two different courses, inspired Organizer and Organizing Essentials, and I love focusing on members of our groups. We have, hundreds of organizers from across the globe that are in our.


Horses and it's just such an amazing group of women and they have the best stories. So I would like to introduce you to my friend Kris she lives in Texas and she was doing organizing as a part-time gig, and now as of, very recently, she has left her full-time job.


She is organizing now as her full-time career and she tells us all about that transition and lots of other things. So I would really love to introduce you to my friend Chris Hargrove.


[00:02:58] Melissa Klug: We are back on the Pro Organizer Studio podcast where we are bringing you inspiration from real life organizers and hearing all about their businesses. What we're doing here in our series is we wanna interview people that are in our course community. So we have two different courses, inspired organizer and organizing essentials, and just wanna talk to people in our community about how they built their businesses and all things organizing because.


Is really just nice to be able to offer people the inspiration of, Hey, here's what my business looks like, baby. This is what you want to build. So can you tell us a little bit about your business, where you are, how you operate, all that good stuff?


[00:03:37] Kris Hargrove: Yes. So I got the itch to. Late 2020. Okay. Through doing my own home. Never in my life did I think I was going to go down a career path of being an organizer. Yeah. Probably a lot of others can relate to that. It just, something clicks in your brain while you're doing it [00:04:00] and. I found that I had connected with a strength that I didn't really know that was deep within me.


And it just came to light and it was so clear so, I started last year. I think my first client was in May. And did very well. And then this year I've grown a lot, a lot. But for those who you know are Doing this part-time and also working a full-time job.


That, cuz that's kind of where I've been. Just stick with it. It gets a little tricky, but just stick with it because there is light at the end of the tunnel. I will be retiring from my full-time job


[00:04:42] Melissa Klug: this year. That is really exciting. You are actually the second person that is doing that exact same thing.


The second person I've talked to today that you're both saying goodbye to your full-time day jobs to start organizing full-time. So congratulations. Thank you. I wanna go back to something you said. So you were talking about you were doing your own home, which is, that's how I got into organizing too.


And there was just something that, was really kind this call that you had to answer. So can you talk a little bit more about that? What did that look like for you? 


[00:05:10] Kris Hargrove: Yeah, I mean, I, I really struggled with three spaces in my home. So it was the fridge, the pantry, and my closet.


Okay. Pretty minimalist person, just naturally organized person. But these areas, when the family had access, To those areas. It, you know, multiple people. It got a little messy. And I remember being in Costco, this was probably months and months before I even started organizing, and I saw they had a four piece fridge organizing set.


Okay. And, my brain went. Oh, I think I need that. And I said, you're coming to the home with me. And literally that's how, that's how it all started. It was, I did my fridge and I was like, Ooh, I see how this can work.


And then was like, okay, now my pantry. Okay, now this and, and I started doing my own house. I was so excited to organize that. I was getting up at six o'clock in the morning. Mm-hmm. , I mean, brush my teeth, not shower, get straight to doing whatever project I was working on. Then I couldn't wait to wake up and work on my project and that's when I realized this is like, I've never felt like this before.


Doing work like. 


[00:06:36] Melissa Klug: That is, that's a hundred percent. I mean, I'm like, I, I just totally resonate with everything you're saying cuz that's exactly how I was, I was like, I am excited to wake up and do this and I would like to do this in other people's houses because I feel so happy. Yes. . 


[00:06:52] Kris Hargrove: Yes. And, and that's why I, I just threw out the process of doing my home.


I kept telling my husband, I don't understand. This is bringing me so much joy and happiness and excitement that I've not felt before. And, I said, I think I need to make a career path. And he is over here going okay. I dunno what's happening to my wife. And, and I, we get to the garage and I said, So I'm gonna organize your tools.


Yeah. And he is like, no, you're not love and love it. And I said, but I am . He gained a to chest out of it. So when we, fabulous. I'm not gonna throw anything away. I just have a vision for this garage and your tools. We gotta do something with them. Yeah. And so, and that's why I said I, let me go. Okay.


Before I make a career change, let me go and see. Organize for others and see if I even like it, and if they even like it. Like if, if what I do, they like it and then they did, I did a garage in a pantry and I, I was sold and they were like, I just, [00:08:00] that's when I realized how impactful organizing can be for someone else.


Yep. Is when I saw and they told. , the stress that it relieved and the overwhelm that it relieved. And I was like, oh, well see. I knew what it did for me. But I didn't know if I could translate that to someone else. 


[00:08:21] Melissa Klug: And I love that you did that because I do think, you know, there is something about, you know, cause I, I had a very similar path, but there is something different about doing it in someone else's house and you have to decide.


 Do I know how to translate those skills? Is what I do in my own house, am I able to teach someone else how to do that? Am I able to do it with someone else? But if you can translate that, and by the way, you know, we will help teach you. We're happy to help teach you that too.


But if you're able to do that and then you find like, oh my gosh, yes, this is absolutely my jam and I can do this in someone else's house. It's so rewarding to be able to help people get that freedom. Yes. 


[00:09:01] Kris Hargrove: And the family that I chose to, to practice on, yeah, it was, it was the tough spaces. We had junk callers come for the garage.


 She has a D H D, we went. Squirrel a few times. Yeah, for sure. You know, and it just like, okay, gently bringing them back like I put myself in it, right? Yeah. In a tough job. And I was like, okay. Yep. 


[00:09:32] Melissa Klug: And if you can do the hard stuff, you're exactly right is you put yourself in a hard situation and you found out that you still loved it, which is awesome.


Yeah. Yeah. So what do you find are the things that, like, like a client like that where, you know, you have a garage space or a really, really hard space. Is that what you thrive on? Or like what, what do you like to work? I love 


[00:09:52] Kris Hargrove: pantries. Okay. Love pantries. I love all spaces, but I really like to be able to take a very cluttered space Yeah.


And help them declutter, but then turn it into a, a functional system that they are able to easily maintain. Like, let's say a pantry like I, I've gotten very good at pantries and when the clients come home and they're like, oh my gosh, it was so easy to put up my groceries.


Yeah, I didn't have to find space for it. I knew exactly where it went. And to hear that months and you know, even a year later, they're still using the system and it's still effective for them. That is, That's 


[00:10:37] Melissa Klug: awesome. Yeah. And they probably didn't rebuy groceries that they already had. Right. Cause now they know what they've got.


[00:10:44] Kris Hargrove: Right. And that's invaluable to them because I think part of the overwhelm is, oh, I need this coming home only to see five of those items. Yeah. And that kind of takes a toll on their mental health because they're, beating themself up for No, 


[00:11:00] Melissa Klug: why did they, they're frustrated.


Yeah. They're mad at themselves. They have wasted money. Mm-hmm. , they do self-recrimination of like, oh my gosh, why did I do that? Like, there's a lot of regret and shame and there are a lot of words that we deal with, but that's a super frustration point for people to buy multiples of things.


[00:11:17] Kris Hargrove: Yeah, but I think more for me it's about really giving them that feeling and of they're back in control. Yeah. 


[00:11:27] Melissa Klug: They're in control of their house. Their house is not in control of them. Yes, exactly. I know that especially with, like, I just think about some of the people that I work with, and when you walk into the house, you are just stressed out.


Not me personally, but the client is stressed out and our houses should be the place that we feel the safest and happiest. Mm-hmm. and outside of maybe Disneyland, of course . But you should come home and you should open your door and. Immediately feel that [00:12:00] like, ugh, oh my gosh, there's stuff everywhere and there.


And giving someone that gift, I find is just, it's, it never gets, I never get tired of it. 


[00:12:08] Kris Hargrove: Yeah. The first garage I did, so the husband works very late at night, so, you know, all day and comes home late at night and all, stress from the day. He said, I would open the garage.


And I would, it would just add more stress and more anxiety. And so he would walk in, not a very happy person. Yep. And he told me, he goes, now I open the garage. And I'm like, oh. It just like he can relax. Yeah. And that was just the trigger of opening the garage. 


[00:12:42] Melissa Klug: And I feel that same way about like, if my kitchen is clear, like if I walk into my house and the kitchen has, if I haven't done a good job, clearing off the kitchen clutter.


I feel that too. But there are some houses where you, you know, that like just a few things would make them feel so much better when they open that door at the end of the day and not give them that anxiety feeling. So what kind of clients do you like working with? Like who's your ideal client? 


[00:13:12] Kris Hargrove: I have recently gotten very clear on who my ideal client is. Based on a few clients that I'm currently working with and I love working with them and we just jive. Yeah. And we have a great time together and so usually it's a mom.


 Sometimes it's a husband that is, the wife has threatened. If we don't, if this house under control, we 


[00:13:34] Melissa Klug: deal with a lot of marital problems in our work. , or like, I always joke about, I do a lot of marriage therapy, so. 


[00:13:42] Kris Hargrove: But the person, that, that is someone who is a nurturer.


And what I mean by that is, so if you take my current clients, we have a teacher, we have a nurse, we have a caregiver. 


[00:13:56] Melissa Klug: Okay. And for people who are in the helping professions. 


[00:14:00] Kris Hargrove: Yeah. And what has happened? They, they haven't taken care of themselves. Yeah. And so that kind of snowballs into what's going on in their home.


Yep. And they've gotten to the point where they've raised the white flag, I need help. And when they're at that point, we do some great work together because I'm a nurturer as. . Yep. And I can hold the space and, and help and make what seems completely unattainable. And overwhelming w together we can work through any clutter and tackle it and they end up just filling back in control.


And My teacher, client has told me is she's like, I no longer feel like the clutter's in control of me. I'm conquering it. . 


[00:14:54] Melissa Klug: I love that. Did it take you a while to arrive at that ideal client, or do you feel like you already knew you had that idea? Or did it just kind of come to you?


Oh, 


[00:15:03] Kris Hargrove: I'm doing some. personal growth work. Yeah. And understanding my personalities and, and I just went back and looked at who I've worked with mm-hmm. and I'm like, interesting that the, these three ladies I'm currently working with, we're having the best time. Yeah. And we're decluttering and sometimes it's emotional.


And sometimes it's fun and but we're really getting things done and I can just see. How much it's helping them because they need to be able to fill their cup so that they can go and help others. 


[00:15:45] Melissa Klug: Yes. We have, we've used this analogy and I know it's a, sometimes it's overused, but I think it's so right.


It's like you have to put your own oxygen mask on before you can help someone else. And I, I really, really believe that about so many people. I think any organizing [00:16:00] client we help, but particularly like you're saying, if someone is in a helping profession, teachers, nurses, doctors have had such a rough last couple of years and they probably are just so burned out that there's nothing they wanna do at the end of the day in their house. And so being able to help those people, it means they're gonna be able to help other people more effectively. I think that's awesome. 


[00:16:19] Kris Hargrove: Yeah, that fills my cup up too. I do love it when a husband calls and says, okay, my wife says if we don't get this house under control, there's gonna be a pick problem.


So I need help . I love 


[00:16:32] Melissa Klug: that. I appreciate when someone's vulnerable enough, like what I, I, you know, someone has to be vulnerable to ask us for help, and I love it when it's someone that might not be a quote traditional person that you would expect to be calling you. I think it's awesome. 


There's something that you said that I wanna talk about, like, because I believe in this very, very much.


I have fun when I work. Like not every client is gonna be, you know, a ball of laughs Right. , but Right, right. I like to laugh with people. I like to, have fun with people. So how do you kind of inject that into your work? 


Like, does it just flow naturally? Does it depend on the client?


It does. Yeah. Yeah, it 


[00:17:09] Kris Hargrove: does. Probably after the first session we start to get a really good feel for each other. Yeah. And then I know when I can like, crack a joke or Yeah. And then they, I always go into it very lightheart. And so I think that just makes them feel a little more comfortable to just be themselves.


[00:17:28] Melissa Klug: Yeah, and obviously you have to be careful, like it has to be the right client and it has to be the right situation. But you know, every once in a while when you can get to the point with a client where you're like, listen, you know, you already have 32 pairs of yoga pants. Like, do you really need this 33rd pair of yoga pants?


 When you can start making some of those jokes, like it just makes things, I don't know, I just think it makes things more fun. 


[00:17:50] Kris Hargrove: I have a client who we went through her pantry first, and then we did our home office and there were so many notepads and sticky notes. Yeah. And flash drives.


Yeah. And I said, I. They just kept coming and coming. We were finding them everywhere. And I said, okay, you've, you've won the award for my client with the most flash drives. And she's like, yes. 


[00:18:16] Melissa Klug: Congratulations. Yes, . With all of my. Clients. I, I always, you know, kind of the longer term people that are kind of doing the whole house, like I always will tell them, okay, every single client has something that I tell them they're not allowed to buy anymore of until everything has gone.


And every single client has something very unique. and I always fess up my own was Sharpies. I had, I had so many Sharpies at my house when I got organized and I said, I have not bought a Sharpie in literally five years. That's how many Sharpies I had. I've had people that they have an overage of scotch tape, or they have too much wrapping paper or whatever.


So I always do the like, okay, that's enough wrapping paper. No, no more wrapping paper. 


[00:18:57] Kris Hargrove: Yeah, I've had, a lot of gift wrap. A lot of bows, ribbons, . 


[00:19:02] Melissa Klug: Yes. So many bows. I also, my record, I have a couple of records that I share with clients. One of them was, I had someone that had 13 potato peelers.


So I always joke that like, as long as you don't have more than 13 potato peels, you're good . And then I also once found, some people are like, oh, what's this like? worst expired food that you've ever found, and I once found Vegemite that expired in 1984. Whoa. Yeah. So I always say, so if someone's like embarrassed because they have something like really expired in their pantry, I'm always like, no, no, no, you're okay.


Yeah. You haven't reached the, like, the most expired thing I've ever dealt with. 


[00:19:39] Kris Hargrove: So, yeah, and I'm sure you, you get this question a lot as well as like, okay, is am I the worst con. All the time, like no. No. Are you sure? No, you're not. . 


[00:19:54] Melissa Klug: Also, in my experience, the people that typically say [00:20:00] that are the people who are actually the least disorganized like it, right?


It's often the people that I'm like, your house is actually in really good shape, some people would love to have your house as they're after, like mm-hmm. . But it's, it's always the people that are already pretty okay that think that this must be the worst house that I have ever encountered.


And I'm like, no, sweet. So what are some of the things about running your actual business? Not just organizing with people, but talk a little bit about, you know, was it were, was there anything surprising to you when you started your own business? 


[00:20:30] Kris Hargrove: I think it's surprising to me and hopefully.


Things will change with the more organizers that our industry has. But not a lot of systems or software cater to organizers. Yeah. So you know, you go to pick your industry and it's just not there. 


[00:20:51] Melissa Klug: Yeah. We pick other a lot. I have to pick other as my industry, an awful lot . 


[00:20:56] Kris Hargrove: Yeah. So that was kind of surprising to me


so many organizing products to choose from. 


And thankfully with, you know, repetition and, you know, I've, I've got a pantry down. Yeah. Like, you know, we can tweak a few things, but I know exactly what works really well and I don't have to, to. everywhere. 


[00:21:21] Melissa Klug: There's a lot of math because especially when you're talking about products.


I have a space that's 16 inches wide and 14 inches deep and I need blah, blah, blah. Doing all the math to figure out what fits and how do I get something that's a satisfying per as precise a fit as possible. There's a lot of math. 


[00:21:40] Kris Hargrove: Yeah, and I think another thing that kind of throws me off sometimes is I know before and afters aren't the holy grail.


Of organizing. I like to do them, but I always kick myself when I forget to do a before. Yeah. And then I was like, okay, how am I gonna remind myself, oh, I'm gonna set a reminder before I go into that job, like five minutes in. My reminder's gonna go off to take a before picture.


Well, you have to remind yourself to remind yourself. . 


[00:22:14] Melissa Klug: That's, that's true. I like to do, I don't even like before and after pictures for social media or anything, like my website or anything.


Mm-hmm. , I like to make sure that I have especially a before picture for the client. Yes. Because when you get done with a space, they don't remember what it looked like before. Right. Yeah. And so then sometimes they'll be like, oh, I don't, I haven't been able to keep it up if you go back a few weeks later and they're like, oh, I haven't done a good job keeping it up.


I love being able to pull out a B before picture and be like, this is what it used to look like. Yeah. You're doing great. Yeah, 


[00:22:48] Kris Hargrove: absolutely. I love sending the clients the before and actors. Yeah. And and they're always like, wow. . Yeah. Exclamation. 


[00:22:57] Melissa Klug: Even in my own house, like, you know, part of my story was I was super disorganized and then like learned to love organizing 


and so I occasionally I'll be doing a presentation and I always include in my presentation my own houses before pictures. And I, I lived here and I still don't remember always like, oh wow, oh my gosh, that was really bad, . And so I just, I think it's really good to remind yourself sometimes, like how far you have come and for a client in particular to make themselves feel better.


Oh, oh yeah, that's right. We have really come a long way. Yeah. 


What is your what is your favorite thing about working, directly with people? How do you feel about working with clients? 


[00:23:34] Kris Hargrove: Yeah, so I love it when they always start off like, oh, me. Well, some clients go in, they're like, I, I can get rid of things.


But I like it when there's a client and they're a little timid, but then they catch the bug. Yep. And they catch that motivation. So usually by round two they're like, yep. [00:24:00] Or towards the end of the session, , they're like, I don't wanna think about it anymore. I really don't need it. Throw, let's go. It either goes in the trash or goes to donation and.


I, I'm just like, all right, we've hit the sweet spot. Let's 


[00:24:17] Melissa Klug: go. What do you think is gonna be the biggest thing, when you retire, as you said from your day job, what do you think is gonna be the biggest change for you? What are you excited about being able to do this full-time?


To 


[00:24:28] Kris Hargrove: put so much of that energy that I am putting into my day job. Into my business. Because I can see other organizers in my area that aren't doing two jobs and how much they've grown and that gives me so much inspiration. Yeah. And I'm like, this is so possible. I can do this.


I'm at a really good point in my business and just being able to get out and network more often than I'm able to. Yeah. Being in control of my schedule and putting all of that energy into one thing. I can't, I mean, I really don't know where it's gonna go, but I feel like it's gonna go in a, a big.


In a big way. . 


[00:25:18] Melissa Klug: So talk a little bit about, cause we do have people that they go full bore and they're like, Nope, I'm doing this full-time. But we do have a lot of people that make the transition, sort of like you have, and you have that safety net of mm-hmm. , the, you know, someone just earlier today called it the W two safety net, right?


Like , you, you have that. But tell me a little bit about how you came to the decision of I'm gonna keep the day job. It grow. Are you happy that you made that decision? Yes. 


[00:25:44] Kris Hargrove: You know, I've talked to you earlier this year about the health challenges that I've had. Yeah. And so I didn't expect to have cancer.


Yeah.


But it happened. , my goal was to retire in June. Yeah. But life had different plans. Right? 


[00:26:09] Melissa Klug: So life is always gonna throw you curve balls, right? We don't expect the things that come our way sometimes, but also being able to say okay, I'm gonna pivot a little bit.


This was not what I, where I saw my plans going, but mm-hmm. , maybe my plans are just gonna be delayed a little bit. Or maybe I just need to go down a totally different path. 


[00:26:25] Kris Hargrove: Yeah. And I'm, I'm very blessed because my diagnosis could have been horrible. Yeah. Basically, They removed it and I'm done. Yeah.


You know, just back to back to working again. After recovering from surgery, so, you know, I, I, I also kind of pause and say, what do I need to learn from this? 


[00:26:48] Melissa Klug: And I think that something that I felt in my old corporate life, and I'm not attributing this to you, like you may love your current job and just be really excited to go to it every day.


But I didn't. I was never happy going to work really. I was just, it was something I had to do. Right. Mm-hmm. . I have learned that, you know, again, it's not like every day is perfect, right? Being a business owner, there are days when you're like, oh man, this is a really hard day. Or I don't know how to handle this, or whatever.


But being able to set your own path and being able to like what you do, My husband said at one point, you cannot put a price on your happiness. Mm-hmm. . And that is a really, really big thing. And being able to slow down a little bit and, you know, say my health is important, what do I need to do?


And it might not be working 14 hours a day at a job that I don't enjoy. It might be doing something where I'm on my own path and I may make less money, or I make, I may make the same amount of money, but you know, it's just a different. That's a big deal. 


[00:27:50] Kris Hargrove: Yeah. 


I can, I really make my own schedule and I know that's not the case for most. So that has, [00:28:00] It's been such a benefit or an advantage for me to, to really get out and grow.


But the busier I'm getting with organizing. Just juggling. Both is very stressful. Yeah. So I'm really excited to offload. I'm sure there will be a different kind of stress, but I'm ready to offload that. Yeah. 


[00:28:20] Melissa Klug: I think it'll be really nice when you can focus on one thing, you know? Yes. And like you said, it'll allow you to be able to do the work that you want to, to be able to build your business, but you can concentrate just on that versus going, I'd like dividing your brain basically.


[00:28:36] Kris Hargrove: Yes. And, before organizing. I was in sports nutrition, so that was, that was my baby that I wanted to go full-time in. Yeah. And so I've been wanting to do this since 2016. Yeah. I, I've learned that I'm a bit of a rebel and I don't like people telling me what to do with my life. . Yeah. 


[00:28:57] Melissa Klug: I love being my own boss. We make a lot of jokes in our house about like, man, your boss is being really mean today. And I'm like, I know she's making me work like really hard. Or then I'll make jokes about like my boss is like really lenient today.


She's just letting me sit on the couch. But it is nice to be able to be in charge of your own stuff, right. And be able to say today I'm gonna work really hard, but tomorrow I'm gonna give myself a day to go spend my time with my friends, or whatever that looks like for you. 


[00:29:23] Kris Hargrove: Great point because I'm also learning to really focus on those self care foundations. 


[00:29:29] Melissa Klug: What kind of things do you like to do for self-care? I, cuz I believe in it deeply. 


[00:29:33] Kris Hargrove: Yes. So what I've learned that really sets me up for a great day is I wake up and I stretch. I do some stretching exercises.


I'll start. I love 


[00:29:46] Melissa Klug: meditating. 


[00:29:47] Kris Hargrove: Wow. Does it bring you to your center? Yes. And get focused. Because I think, especially me with two jobs, I get so busy. Yeah. And I don't stop to really think about what, what do I need? What, what is my intuition saying? Yep. You know, what, what direction do I wanna go in? So that has been profoundly helpful for me.


And then going for a walk or organiz or not organizing, working out. Yeah. And then, you know, going about your day. So those are kind of like the morning things that really set me up. Yeah. And then the evening, Going to bed early. turning. 


[00:30:28] Melissa Klug: Listen, I go to bed sometimes at eight o'clock and I'm not sure. I'm like, I'm going to bed at toddler time.


Bye. Goodnight. Yeah. 


[00:30:34] Kris Hargrove: Yes. Yeah. And, and making sure your phone is like automatically being turned off of notifications and Yep. I'll, I'll go to bed and then I'll, I have about three books I'm rotating through. Yep. And then I fall asleep. I found these, these warm eye mask. Thing called starry something, I don't remember.


But they're self warming. So you open the pack and they warm up by themselves. Oh, I love that. Oh, it, it just, Puts me right out. 


[00:31:05] Melissa Klug: I highly recommend sleep masks. Mm-hmm. . Cause I used to actually sleep with a lot of lights on. I would always have to have the TV on I liked a lot of light in my room.


Now I'm like, no, please pitch black and I a sleep mask makes me sleep so much better. And there are actually studies that like, even a tiny bit of light can really mess up your sleep. Yes, 


[00:31:30] Kris Hargrove: that is, that is very true. I love the book. Sleep Smarter. It talks about 


[00:31:33] Melissa Klug: that. Okay, good. Mm-hmm. , I what Meditation. Do you use an app for meditation or do you YouTube or what do you do?


So 


[00:31:40] Kris Hargrove: right now it's a self meditation that I'm doing and I'm following one. It's from the book called Creating Money. What's that? So it's, it's about manifesting what you want in your life. Okay? And so it just talks about, first how do you wanna feel? So you're just manifesting that feeling [00:32:00] magnetizing it, attracting it, and then you, from there you go to a person that you want to attract into your life.


 And then you many people, Or a, or an amount of money that you want. You're really in tune to yourself and it talks about a coil for them. It's like generating a coil, okay. Out to that person. For me, I automatically thought of my heart opening and that big ray of sunshine going out to attract


I 


[00:32:33] Melissa Klug: love that. That's awesome. 


[00:32:34] Kris Hargrove: I 


[00:32:35] Melissa Klug: find that first of all, there are, so if you guys are listening to this and you're like, oh, I've never meditated before, I'd like to start. Or if you're skeptical, which I totally understand cuz I always was skeptical too. Meditating, it helps. Calm your brain. Like if you have an overactive brain like I do mm-hmm.


my brain is going a hundred miles an hour at all times. And I am like, I'm doing the squirrel thing all the time in my brain and it really helps me just calm down . And I use the calm app usually, but the great thing, I love the Calm app because they also have these things called soundscapes. And you can, by the way, you can find these on YouTube for free anywhere, but.


sometimes, especially if I'm working on something on my computer, my brain will just be going too far and I put these soundscapes in. Sometimes they're just like birds in a forest, . Mm-hmm. or like a babbling broke or whatever. And it calms me down. Yeah. So fast. It's really amazing how your brain works.


Yeah, 


[00:33:32] Kris Hargrove: it is. I learned a new breathing technique yesterday. It's called hot cocoa breaths. Oh, 


[00:33:39] Melissa Klug: okay. , tell us more. . 


[00:33:41] Kris Hargrove: So you take a deep belly. Okay. And then you put your hand, on your heart, and you take a deep belly breath. But when you blow out, you pretend like you're, you have a straw in your mouth.


Okay. So you do that? Yeah. That, and then you slowly blow it out as if you're not to disturb the marshmallows. Okay. And then you go, you go as far out of the breath as you can and, and then that just relaxes the nervous system. 


[00:34:12] Melissa Klug: So the other day I came home and my kids are really into different kind of relaxation techniques and I came home and there was a, a big mixing bowl full of ice water.


And I'm like, who was dipping their face in ice water? I knew immediately what it was. That's another big one that people do. They just shove their face into ice water. Wow. Something about Vegas would be so shocking to me. , like something about the vagus nerve. It like calms down the vagus nerve or something.


And cause sometimes also people put ice on their chest, which is also apparently helpful. And I'm just like, we've all gotta find what works for us. I'm not putting my face in ice water. That's, I'm just not gonna do that. . I don't, I 


[00:34:49] Kris Hargrove: would not enjoy that at all. , 


[00:34:51] Melissa Klug: we've gotta find our own things. So what is your ideal, like, are you more of a morning person?


Mm-hmm. . Are you an, are you, what kind of a. When do you get your best work done? 


[00:35:02] Kris Hargrove: In the morning? For sure. Okay. Yes. I've never been one to, like, I love to work out in the morning. I don't necessarily like to have conversations in the morning. I do not either. So not a morning person on that aspect, but to be able to, I'm very, my brain, once I've walked and I've done all my things, I'm, yeah, I'm ready to go.


So I can, I can do my best work in the morning for. , 


[00:35:28] Melissa Klug: I'll tell you there, the, the power of a simple walk, and by the way mm-hmm. , it doesn't have to be doesn't have to be an hour long walk. You can do a 10 minute walk sometimes. And I remind myself, I'm just like, cause I do not like to exercise. It is not my jam.


Mm-hmm. . I will remind myself sometimes, like 10 minutes of endorphins can keep me going for like a really long. Yes, it does. It does. Or even at a client, if you're at a long client session, just every once in a while, this was awesome. Mostly when we were wearing masks all the time, I would, I would say I need a [00:36:00] breathing break and I would go outside and just breathe fresh air.


But if you can just go to a client and be like, you know what? I'm gonna take just like a five minute, five minute break, just walk up and down, you know, their neighborhood. It makes a huge difference to clearing your. Yes. 


[00:36:14] Kris Hargrove: And I need to get better about that because I will find, like if I'm doing a six hour session, I really need to stop probably in that three hour mark.


Yeah. And take a break and just eat and drink and use the restroom. Yeah. , 


[00:36:29] Melissa Klug: I'm really, I'm bad at it. I'm, I'm like, I tend to be the kind of person that's just like, I just keep working and working and working and working, but every once in a while I will have to remind myself like, I'll actually be better and I'll be more efficient if I.


A 10 minute just chill out 


[00:36:43] Kris Hargrove: break. Yes. Bec I, I've noticed that because towards the end of those six hours, you're not, you're not as effective as you were in the first four hours. Yeah. And so, I definitely, if I'm working with other organizers on my team, I will make sure that they are taking their breaks and they're getting their water and I just keep going and I'm like, okay.


Let's reevaluate this. Yeah. Cause you're really not getting more done . 


[00:37:14] Melissa Klug: No, and I always make sure I do the same thing with clients. I'll be like, you know what? You need to go eat a sandwich and go get some water. I'll just, I'll be here in your closet reorganizing you go do that. But you're exactly right is you need to make sure you're doing that for yourself as.


[00:37:29] Kris Hargrove: Yeah, so I do have one organizer that works with me more than the others and she'll say, yeah, have you drank water? And I'm like, thank you. No, thank you. , 


[00:37:39] Melissa Klug: there are things I'm not good at. I am excellent at drinking water. And I have realized like the power of drinking water is really it. It's significant.


For real. Mm-hmm. . Yeah, it really is with electrolytes too. Add electrolytes. Mm-hmm. , that is really important, especially if you're hot and like if you're doing a sweaty summer job, especially in a garage or a basement or whatever. Because it is. Physical work that we do. 


 It's, it's emotionally demanding with some clients, you know, some clients you really have to work on some deep emotional stuff, but then it is physically demanding 


so like you have to make sure you build in recovery time for yourself too. 


[00:38:12] Kris Hargrove: Organizers. Once you start organizing, you quickly learn, well, oh, I better get in shape. . Yeah, . 


[00:38:19] Melissa Klug: Oh, here's what happened to me. You know, during the dark days of the pandemic when I wasn't going anywhere, I was on my couch a lot.


And then when I started going back into people's houses, you know, I was like, oh, I'm really tired. And you realize oh, every single day I was getting a lot of exercise and then I stopped exercising for. Nine months . Yeah. You build up your skills and you can lose them if you're not careful.


[00:38:43] Kris Hargrove: That is true. That is very 


[00:38:45] Melissa Klug: true. So where do you think if I talk to you in a year, what do you think? Tell me a little bit about what you imagine your business life is gonna be. 


[00:38:53] Kris Hargrove: I'm going to have a full-time team. Love it. And we are going to be able to service multiple clients in a day. , I may or may not.


I kind of toy with the idea of being fully in it. Or not, or maybe picking and choosing my jobs . Yeah. But because I really do love the work. Yeah. And I do love connecting with my clients and so I don't know that I will be full-time in it, but I wanna be in it. I also, I feel kind of drawn to a franchise type Okay.


Of business. I don't know if it's a franchise or having teams in different locations. But I ultimately, Would love to end up at the, at the beach. That's, that's, yeah. My soul's calling . I love it. What, in a year I would love to have a full-time team. 


[00:39:51] Melissa Klug: Love it. Where would you beach?


Where's your, where's your ideal beach? 


[00:39:57] Kris Hargrove: So, I'm in Texas. Right. [00:40:00] And so my, my ideal beach in Texas is South Padre. Okay. That I think is, would be a great Opportunity to have a rental property. Mm-hmm. and be able to come visit. I don't know that that will be my full-time because I'm like, there's so many beaches out there.


[00:40:18] Melissa Klug: I personally believe that you could just change your mind every four minutes too and change your mind to what your dream is.


So I'm, I'm excited for you to have time to explore every beach that you can find, . There's a lot of miles of coastline in this country that you can go explore, so that's exciting. 


[00:40:34] Kris Hargrove: Yeah. I'm, I'm ready. , 


[00:40:37] Melissa Klug: If you were to give advice to people let's say it's you at the beginning of your business and you're kind of scared about Hey, what comes next?


What advice would you give to people about starting in this industry? 


[00:40:51] Kris Hargrove: You have the skills, you have everything in you that you need, so, Just do it. That's one. Just do it. It doesn't have to be perfect. And you wanna 


[00:41:05] Melissa Klug: say that? Can you say that again please? 


[00:41:06] Kris Hargrove: It does not have to be perfect. It does not. I will share with you, there is an organizer in my area and she barely has a website bar, but, but she's been in business for five years.


I think she just won the best organizer of Austin. Yeah. She barely has a website and she is rocking it. Yeah. 


[00:41:31] Melissa Klug: So there are a lot of ways to do this business. 


[00:41:34] Kris Hargrove: Yeah. So it doesn't have to be perfect. And while you're, having some downtime, use that as an opportunity to really think about how you want your business to work, how you want your customer journey to go and start building those systems now.


Mm-hmm. , That's what I did. You know, I, I got my business up and running, but it was a little slow at first, and, and I'm so, so, so thankful that I got my c r m up first. Yeah. It just gave that customer experience from the get-go. It was just such a positive customer experience and that was what was really important to me.


[00:42:15] Melissa Klug: What you are saying I think is really important and it's advice that I offer people a lot because if you are building your business and maybe it's a little slow, you know, maybe you're, you're trying to figure out how you get clients, that type of thing. Pretend like you have a client session.


Pretend you have a three hour session. Spend that three hours working on something in your business. Yeah. So like you're saying, map out your customer experience map out a website, map out how you might wanna do a session. Pretend like you have a three hour client session and you can't be on your phone and you can't be watching Netflix, and you can't be chatting and, making dinner, whatever.


You have to devote your time to that, to your business and building that ahead of time. You will be so happy with yourself when then you suddenly get really 


[00:43:00] Kris Hargrove: busy. Yes. So what I, what I just heard from you is your actions have to match your goals. 


[00:43:06] Melissa Klug: I love that. Absolutely. Yeah. Well, we are honored to know you and I am very, very happy that you are going to be organizing full-time and that your health is good and that you are just a wonderful member of our community, and we are very glad to have your expertise and glad to have your time.


So thank you for 


[00:43:26] Kris Hargrove: joining. Thank you so much, and I am honored to be a part of the community. 


[00:43:31] Melissa Klug: The women that we work with in our community are so welcoming and just, it's, it's a really, really great group of people and we are lucky to have each other to be able to lean on.


[00:43:43] Kris Hargrove: Well thank you and thank you for leading us . I love it. It 


[00:43:47] Melissa Klug: is totally, and I mean this sincerely. It is my pleasure. I absolutely love doing it, and I love seeing people thrive, and I am always happy to see your smiling face. So thank you for being with us today. 


[00:43:58] Kris Hargrove: Absolutely. I appreciate it.[00:44:00] 


[00:44:00] Melissa Klug: Awesome. Thank you so much. 


Thank you so much to listening to my interview with Kris. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did. If you would like to spend another hour with me, I would love to spend an hour with you. Please head over to our free workshop, the Pro Organizers Profit Plan. It is up 2/7 at poroadmap.com. I would love to spend some more time with you and talk about how to make this business a reality.


Have a great week, organizers.


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.

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