48. Declutter Your Home to Grow Your Business: Organizing Strategies with Meg Cocchiaro
Is your cluttered home holding back your business dreams? Do you find yourself distracted by the laundry pile, scattered toys, or that ever-growing stack of mail every single time to sit down to work? As the default house manager (like many of you), I've discovered that physical clutter directly impacts my mental clarity and business productivity.
That's why I'm thrilled to introduce you to Meg Cocchiaro, founder of Organized by Meg. After escaping corporate burnout, Meg transformed her natural organizing talent into a thriving business. She shares practical decluttering advice that can revolutionize not just your living space but your entrepreneurial journey too.
In our conversation, we explore how to delegate or delete energy-draining tasks, create systems that support busy mom life, and find the courage to bet on yourself. Whether you're in full spring cleaning mode or just contemplating that troublesome closet, this episode will show you how creating order at home can clear the path for business success.
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What You’ll Learn from this Episode:
How to achieve quick decluttering wins that make an immediate difference in your home environment.
Why you should apply the "delegate or delete" principle to tasks that constantly distract you from business goals.
The powerful connection between physical decluttering and mental clarity for entrepreneurs.
Why saying "yes" in the early stages of business helps you discover what to eventually say "no" to.
The importance of patience and persistence when building a business from scratch.
Listen to the Full Episode:
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Meg Cocchiaro: Website
34. Build Your Board of Directors: Strategic Support for Busy Moms
Full Episode Transcript:
Hello, mom friends. With the spring season in full bloom, I couldn't think of a better time for today's conversation. As many of us are getting that spring cleaning itch, I wanted to talk about how decluttering our spaces can actually help us declutter our business minds too.
I was talking with a client last week who told me something that might sound familiar to you. Every time she sits down to work on her business, she gets completely distracted by the pile of laundry in the corner, the toys scattered across the floor, or the stack of mail that keeps growing on the counter. She ends up prioritizing those house tasks over her business goals, and her dreams keep getting pushed onto tomorrow. And I know that sounds familiar because it sounds familiar for me too.
I know so many of you can relate to this because as moms, we're often the default house managers. And let's be honest, when our physical space is cluttered, our minds get cluttered too. It might not seem like organizing your junk drawer is directly connected to building your business, but trust me, it absolutely is.
That's why I'm thrilled to introduce you to today's guest, Meg Cocchiaro, founder of Organized by Meg. Meg was once drowning in corporate burnout before she turned her natural talent for organizing into a thriving business. In our conversation, she shares some really practical decluttering advice that can transform not just your home, but your entrepreneurial journey too.
We talk about how to delegate or just plain delete tasks that are draining your energy, creating systems that actually support your busy mom life, and finding the courage to bet on yourself. I love when Meg shares a story about almost going back to corporate during a slow period in her business. And instead of giving up, she doubled down on herself, and guess what? It led to her best year yet. That part of the conversation gave me goosebumps.
So whether you're already in full spring cleaning mode or just thinking about tackling that closet that's been bugging you, I want you to grab a cup of coffee and maybe even an empty donation box. Join us for this conversation about how creating order in your home can clear the path for your business success this spring and beyond. Let's dive in.
Welcome to How to Quit Your Job: A Mom’s Guide to Creating a Life and Business You Love. It’s a podcast that helps working moms just like you, optimize your time, manage your mind, and start a business that helps you create more freedom, flexibility, and, yes, fun. I’m business and mindset coach Jenna Rykiel. And I offer practical tips to help you ditch the nine-to-five. I have been exactly where you are and I know what it takes to make the transition without trading one form of burnout for another. So, let’s get started.
Jenna Rykiel: Thank you so much for being here today, Meg. I'm excited for this conversation.
Meg Cocchiaro: Thank you, Jenna. Thank you for having me.
Jenna: So, I would love to start off just by talking about a quick win that moms can have. I know that our houses are, you know, our safe spaces, and things can get unruly sometimes. So what's a quick win for moms to really organize their homes?
Meg: So I'd say a quick win to organize homes, especially those with kids in them, is going to be to go grab an Amazon box or a Costco delivery box, something that's coming incoming, and take that and turn it into your outgoing box. And then look around you and find three to five things to immediately put in the box.
So when we talk about getting organized in our homes, the first thing I think of is to declutter because you absolutely cannot organize without first decluttering. And once you do declutter, the organizing gets ten times easier. And with kids in the house, it's even more essential to declutter because they are constantly bringing things into our homes.
Jenna: Yeah, absolutely. It's interesting. I didn't even think about it, but maybe subconsciously, knowing we were having this conversation, my husband and I spent this entire weekend decluttering and preparing a donation bag. And I will say we only got to the kitchen. Like we only got through the kitchen this weekend, which is a win, but also I wish we could have done more because it's the whole house, for sure.
Meg: Yeah. That's definitely a win. The kitchen is a huge area. So the fact that you even did the whole kitchen is amazing. But I also recommend to my friends, family, and clients to declutter in small chunks. So don't think you're going to declutter your entire house in a weekend. It's just not going to happen. You just have to pick some really manageable areas.
Jenna: I've also heard like starting with the junk drawer and getting that into a good state before expanding out.
Meg: I once heard that if you organize your junk drawer, like you'll be ready to change careers. It's just the mindset of it. Like look at what I tackled. Yeah.
Jenna: Yeah. Well, that's a a beautiful segue actually because, of course, you know, this podcast is all about helping moms to have that really big life transition in their career and help them build a life and business that they love. And we have talked about what organizing the house and what organizing your life, how that positively impacts that journey. So what advice would you give to someone who is trying to start or grow their business but is constantly getting distracted and spending so much time on all the little house maintenance tasks?
Meg: Right. So the house maintenance tasks, I mean, we're all drowning in it, right? Moms, dads, but particularly women, we do take on the brunt of it. So as women and moms, we do bear the brunt of the home maintenance tasks and all the to-dos at home, the chores.
And if we are simultaneously trying to leave corporate, like this is a big deal. This is a project that we're undertaking. And so if you don't usually get help, we need to talk about getting help. I really like the Eisenhower Matrix and your listeners can look it up, but it has four Ds. It's the Do, Decide, Delegate, or Delete.
And to simplify it for this conversation, if you have these tasks that are constantly distracting you when you're trying to work on bigger things, I'd say delegate it or delete it. Like we'll just pick the two easy ones. If they are absolutely things that need to be done, we need to ask ourselves like who else can do this? Is it someone in my house? Or do I need to outsource it and pay for someone to help do it?
Oftentimes they're tasks like we think are very important and need to get done, and they're not, and maybe we can just delete them. So it's really taking things off of our plate so that we can focus on like the bigger picture things that we're working on. In this case, changing careers.
Jenna: Yeah. I'm curious if there are things that you work with clients on to delete in the work that you do.
Meg: I focus mostly on residential, like in-home organizing. And while I talk to a lot of my clients about their life and their schedules, I do focus more on the actual stuff. And so in terms of deleting, we are literally deleting things. We are removing things from the house, and we are creating systems and processes during our work together.
But half that battle is deleting things, which goes back to, you know, we mentioned before, decluttering before you organize. And my clients find that the more we minimize and declutter, the less they have to manage. So if it's not there, you're not moving it, you're not cleaning around it, you're not finding a place to store it, spending money on it, spending time and energy looking for it. A lot of this stuff is just taking up precious space physically, and then it's taking up space in our brains too.
Jenna: Yeah. I'm always talking with moms about energy because, of course, that is so important. And it's amazing how much energy we can get back from exactly what you said, not searching for things or not getting frustrated about, you know, the toy room being in disarray and those little things that make a a big difference in our day-to-day.
Meg: And you know, I find even when we organize, especially with kids, we're not looking for perfection. With kids, it's really managing the amount of stuff we have. It's constant. And the kids are changing year after year, the clothes that they're wearing, the toys that they're playing with, their interests, right? And so the more on top of that we are, the easier everything's going to be. It doesn't mean that everything has to be in the right container or the colored bin in order. It's really just about the stuff and having less stuff.
Jenna: Yeah. You talked about systems. What systems do you lean on or what systems help your clients to live a lighter life through organizing?
Meg: So no matter what space that we're working on in my client's home, I come in and I look at their life and their home from the whole home perspective. So even if I'm hired to organize, say the kitchen and the pantry, I need a tour of the entire house. I need to see every room, every closet, and then through questionnaires and conversations with my clients, I get to know their lifestyle.
So I know coming in how the house should flow to support their lifestyle, what their careers are, what their kids do for fun. And then I can easily look at their house and say this house is not set up to support that. How can we set it up so that it does support that? So then we look at each space individually and set up a system within that space.
So if you have a mudroom, we create a system in that mudroom that makes coming into the house and leaving the house as seamless as possible, whether that's moving kids' socks to where their sneakers are stored or adding a simple hook to the wall for the keys because you can never find your keys. It's really different for each individual family and it's customized to them, but it's a system at the end of the day.
Jenna: Yeah. Can you talk to me about, you know, and I know we touched on this, but more about the impact that organizing and decluttering have on moms in general?
Meg: Moms in particular, you know, we talked about how we bear the brunt of the housework, and a lot of the invisible workload, which I'm sure you talk about a lot. So any time that we can declutter and organize and get things streamlined frees up our time and energy to focus on other things.
So I hear moms complain a lot. I've done it where we want to be spending time with our kids or even a personal hobby, like something in our free time that is not doing laundry and decluttering the kids' clothes and tidying up the playroom. You know, we want to have fun too, and we want to spend time with our kids. And so any time that we can simplify any area of the house or our schedule is going to reap huge rewards.
Jenna: Yeah. Earlier you talked about one of the four D's being Delegate. And I know that that is something that I'm always talking about because it's sort of a version of asking for help when we, you know, decide that we are no longer going to, let's say, be in charge of cleaning the house. We are going to delegate that to a cleaning service or a cleaning team. What do you find are some of the best examples of delegating when it comes to home organization or even when it comes to kind of living a conscious and deliberate life?
Meg: Well, delegating, for example, I'm a home organizer. So I spend my days in the homes of my clients, and I put all my time and energy into decluttering and creating systems for them. And so I come home and I'm very tired. So I don't want to do that in my own house too. So I'm constantly minimizing on my side, and then I look at all the tasks in my house that are draining my energy and take away from what I want to be doing. And house cleaning is a perfect example. I'm an organizer. I am very tidy and efficient, and I don't like to clean, and I don't have the time to clean. And so I outsource the cleaning.
This same way we would outsource landscaping or really any of the other home chores that we just can't stay on top of or we don't have the time for. I think, you know, the organizing industry in particular has gotten really popular in recent years, more so during COVID. It was around well before that. But I think people are starting to see the value in organizers as a service. It's just another thing that can help you at home and keep you on top of things when you don't have time to do them.
So some of the organizing companies, myself included, will offer maintenance services. And so we'll come in and we'll do periodic resets. If you need seasonal changes, whether that's in your garage or your kids' closets. And just having somebody on the calendar booked periodically can hold people accountable, but also know that they've got those random tasks kind of taken care of, even if that they're at not so frequent intervals during the year. It's like part of the village.
Jenna: Yeah. Episode 34, I talk about a Board of Directors. And that's exactly what I'm talking about is, you know, sometimes the board is, you know, mentors or friends and our biggest cheerleaders, but sometimes it's hiring people to do something that they're an expert at and that, you know, we don't have time for.
And so I love the idea of potentially having organizing and staying organized as somebody who who falls into your Board of Directors, somebody that you can that can hold you accountable. Because we don't think about organization as something that we could get help with accountability, but you're so right. And it has just such a positive impact on mental health. Like we talked about earlier, you know, decluttering the outside is like decluttering the inside too. And so I love the idea of that being something that people lean on as a service and someone that they can put on their board of directors.
What I also love about you is that you quit your job to start this business. And so certainly the expertise you can give in organizing is fantastic, but I think there's also so much value that you can share with the audience about your story. So I'm curious what gave you the courage to leave your corporate job and start your organizing business?
Meg: So I wouldn't call it courage as much as I was I was afraid of not leaving. Like I was looking at it from the other perspective. Like if I don't do this, what's going to happen? In terms of staying at my job and then not, you know, like opportunity cost, like not knowing what I was missing or not giving it a try, and then years down the road saying, gosh, I like maybe I could have made that work. I maybe I should have tried it. So yeah, it was the scary thought of not leaving.
For me, in particular, you know, I was very overworked and overwhelmed in my corporate career. And it was a little bit of a slow burn, and then it was a crash and burn in the end. I was just so overwhelmed, and I got physically sick. And so I had actually planned a longer exit plan. Like it was supposed to be several months longer than it was. And I didn't even make it that long. I was so stressed out.
Jenna: What made you pick organizing? Like how did you know that that was the business for you?
Meg: So to my advantage, I had been organizing my whole life, and it just came naturally to me. And I was always helping family and friends growing up, and then even when I was in college, I would volunteer to go unpack people after they moved in. And they were like, really? You want to do that? I was like, please, I know everything should go. Like you're not going to do it right. And so I I guess I forced myself on some people.
But they say, you know, when you're looking at making a change, and I was. I knew that I needed some sort of change from corporate. And I didn't know quite what that was going to be. I said, let me stay home for a little while while I get my youngest son into kindergarten. So I kind of took the pressure off of myself, knowing like I had to go back to work, but was hoping that it didn't have to be the corporate situation I was in.
And so they say to look at the things that you've done in your life. Like you would do it all day for free if you could. And I was like, oh, that's what I do with organizing. And I also had some family and friends in my ear saying, you could do this, you know, for others, for a living. And I didn't think that I could until I looked into it.
Jenna: Yeah. It's amazing how many people, the moms that I'm exposed to and work with have such areas of expertise and zones of genius and don't realize it because, you know, when we are so good at something like that, we just think that it's something that everybody's good at, or it's how could I possibly have, you know, a business doing something that interests me and that I'm passionate about? But so often, it’s like I have to tell people that that’s not something that everybody’s good at.
Meg: Oh, okay.
Jenna: Yeah. I have to point out what's, you know, obvious to me, but not so obvious to them that not everybody's good at organizing. Like not everybody loves data. There are things that we love and that we're good at that really can offer value to others. And it's amazing that we're all so, so different in those interests and such.
Meg: I think it definitely takes some soul searching and yeah, just taking a good hard look at what are the things that you do and you like and you enjoy, whether or not you can see yourself making money at that or not. That might not be for you to decide, but yeah.
Jenna: Yeah. Are there ways that because I know you talked about being super burnt out in corporate, and I'm sure that that had a ripple effect into, you know, your daily interactions with family and how you were showing up as a mom. But are there ways that being an entrepreneur have allowed you to be a better version of yourself as a mom?
Meg: Definitely. I think, I mean, being an entrepreneur in general, I'm working almost just as much as I was in corporate, but it's all voluntary, right? So what I like about it is that I'm in control of it. And I chose this career, and I get to make my schedule, and I get to make that around my kids first and foremost. So I said, I want to be there, you know, when they get home from school. And so I'm the one who makes those hours so that that happens. And, you know, there's definitely some one-offs where that doesn't happen. But in general, I'm in control. And so I'm able to be there when I want to be or when I need to be.
So I think that has a huge impact. My husband says I'm a nicer person and I'm happier. So yeah, there's definitely a ripple effect when you're doing something that you like and you like you love it, and you're still able to handle everything else in my life.
Jenna: And it feels like your own. It's like this part of your identity that you created, and it allows you to tap into a sort of creative and energized version of yourself, I find.
Meg: 100%. I actually call it my third baby sometimes because it is, it's my thing. I created it. Very protective of it. I'm proud of it.
Jenna: The other thing you said about the working just as much, but that it feels better. That's one thing that I talk about all the time with clients is that we're not trading one form of burnout for another, right? Because it can be really hard when we start those businesses and we put so much pressure on ourselves and to continue getting better and growing year after year, to make sure that we are remembering why we're doing it, and we are remembering that piece that you said that we are in control.
So, you know, maybe it does mean that we don't get a client deliverable out on time, or maybe it does mean that we take fewer clients in 2025. But knowing that, and maybe it doesn't have to mean either of those things, right? Maybe we we are able to do it all because we're more energized. But remembering that piece of it as an entrepreneur that we are in control, which is a really powerful feeling and one that I know we don't often get in corporate. I'm curious if you don't mind sharing, how old were you when you left corporate?
Meg: I was 35. I just turned 40.
Jenna: What advice would you give your 35-year-old self, the one that is leaving corporate to start her own business?
Meg: First I'd say you have no idea what you're getting into. But you don't know what you don't know. Like it's very exciting and scary, but so much better than you could imagine. And a lot of hard work, but it's totally worth it. So I guess that doesn't really constitute advice.
If I was doing it over again, I think I would say, I would realize that you have to say yes to a lot at first to find out, you know, like what you're eventually going to say no to? Because there's just there's so many things to learn, and we have no idea when we're starting out what we're going to learn and the people we're going to meet and the things that we're going to fall in love with doing and the things that we're going to end up hating, right? And so definitely say yes more than you say no, because eventually, you'll get to the point that you can say no. And that's a good place to be in. But it takes a while to get there.
And I'd say be patient. You know, like the money doesn't come on day one, but it'll come eventually. You know, because I know for a lot of women leaving corporate, that's one of the scariest things, you know. It's just one aspect of that transition. I mean, the whole thing is scary. A lot of things to think about, but it is worth it and to just be patient and confident. Like you can do it. You can figure it out.
Jenna: Yeah. The more you take action and figure out what doesn't work, the closer you get to what does work. But it's so hard to keep trying things out, keep saying yes to things, keep pushing to get to that place where the business is running more smoothly. And something that you said earlier, it made me think of a conversation I had with a client who said, I'm glad I didn't know how hard it was because I would have never done it if I knew how hard it was.
And it's interesting, right? Because then the very next thing she says is, and I'm so glad that I did it, right? So it's this sort of like understanding that we sort of go in not even knowing the depth or the difficulty or the challenges that we are going to come across. And thinking that our 35-year-old self, if they knew everything, they probably wouldn't think that they'd be capable of handling it. And then as we learn and grow and figure things out, it's like we blow our own mind in what we are capable of doing when we look back and we see how far we've come.
And I just love that experience that I see clients go through that sounds like you went through, I went through, getting to the place where you can look back and sort of celebrate all of the all of the growth and all of the challenges that you've overcome, everything you've had to figure out. It's such a privilege to be able to build these businesses.
Meg: Certainly. Absolutely. I definitely agree with you that it is a privilege. And I think the journey is half the fun. I mean, there's definitely lows, but there's definitely a lot of highs, right? Like it's life. You're it's going to be good and bad. And if you compare it to just staying where you are, like what's the joy in that? You're just going to be miserable and thinking about that thing that you never tried. Even if you fail, like you tried it. You could say that you did it.
Jenna: Yeah. And I honestly think for so many of us, success is built off of mini failures, right? It's like if we just keep going, we will get past the failure and get to a place where success lingers. But again, it's having or growing the thick skin to be able to keep showing up each day even though it doesn't always feel good.
So I know we mentioned there are lots of highs and lows in entrepreneurship. Do you have moments in your business that you've had particularly low points that you've overcome? And what were those experiences like?
Meg: Yes. So I actually have two major low points. I'm in my fifth year now. And so the two biggest ones were two years ago, I moved across the country. I moved from New Jersey to Colorado. And so I basically had to shut down this business that I had just built in New Jersey and rebuild it in Colorado, which was so much harder than I thought. And it essentially was like a startup all over again. And that was tough because I felt like I I lost my identity when I moved. Like I built this thing. It was my third baby, and then it was like poof, gone. And I had to start brand new with a new network.
So that was definitely a low. And then once I got started, I worked in Colorado probably about a year, and then the start of last year, it was crickets. It was so slow for such a prolonged period of time. It was like three months almost that I almost went back to corporate. And I think I just want to point that out to your listeners because we touched upon if you try something and you fail, like corporate's always going to be there.
Like you can always go find another job. You know, we're educated, smart women, or we wouldn't be trying these businesses in the first place. But if you fail, you can go back. I didn't fail. It was slow. And I said, I can either double down and keep going with what I'm trying to build here, or I can quit and and go find a job. And so I chose to double down because the thought of going back to corporate literally made me cry. And then I had like the best year ever for the rest of 2024. So it just shows like so much can change even in a month. Think about what you can do in a year. It's really crazy. And to look back on it, you can be really proud. But I'd say bet on yourself. Like you can do it. It just takes some time.
Jenna: Yeah. And just because you have periods of your business where there's crickets does not mean it's a bad idea or it's not going to work. That just happens sometimes in entrepreneurship. And it's something to adjust to certainly the fact that income fluctuates. I love that there was this question of do I double down, which is basically you saying do I believe in myself even more and believe in this business idea or this business even more, or do I go back to what is comfortable?
Meg: Comfortable. Exactly.
Jenna: What we actually know is actually not comfortable, but our brains like it better, right?
Meg: Yeah. The paycheck is comfortable. Yeah.
Jenna: Right. But you decided to believe in yourself and then have the best year that that your business had. So I love that. Such a powerful reminder of believing in ourselves and believing in what we're doing.
Meg: Yeah. And I hope that inspires others to keep going.
Jenna: How can people get in touch with you? And do you, I know you are in Colorado. Do you only work locally or can people work with you from anywhere in the world?
Meg: I work locally in homes in the Denver Metropolitan area, but I do do a lot of like do it yourself consultations online virtually. So you can go to my website. It’s OrganizedByMeg.com. That’s the best place to reach me. And we can always set up something virtually. I hope to be adding some digital options and courses to my business in the coming years. So I'd love to be able to reach more people that I can't physically help.
Jenna: Mhm. Love that. Well, everything we've referenced, as always, will be in the show notes. And thank you so much for being here. I'm so glad we had this conversation. And I know that living a more organized and less cluttered life is energy giving and life giving. So hopefully, this has inspired people to not only declutter, but also to take action in their business.
Meg: I certainly hope so. Thank you for having me, Jenna. I love not just talking about organizing, but I really do love to encourage women to make a change and start their own businesses because I just think it's fantastic, and why not?
Jenna: Thank you.
Thanks for listening to this week’s episode of How to Quit Your Job: A Mom’s Guide to Creating a Life and Business You Love. If you want to learn more about how I can help you stop making excuses and start making moves, head on over to www.jenna.coach. I’ll see you next week.
I was talking with a client last week who told me something that might sound familiar to you. Every time she sits down to work on her business, she gets completely distracted by the pile of laundry in the corner, the toys scattered across the floor, or the stack of mail that keeps growing on the counter. She ends up prioritizing those house tasks over her business goals, and her dreams keep getting pushed onto tomorrow. And I know that sounds familiar because it sounds familiar for me too.
I know so many of you can relate to this because as moms, we're often the default house managers. And let's be honest, when our physical space is cluttered, our minds get cluttered too. It might not seem like organizing your junk drawer is directly connected to building your business, but trust me, it absolutely is.
That's why I'm thrilled to introduce you to today's guest, Meg Cocchiaro, founder of Organized by Meg. Meg was once drowning in corporate burnout before she turned her natural talent for organizing into a thriving business. In our conversation, she shares some really practical decluttering advice that can transform not just your home, but your entrepreneurial journey too.
We talk about how to delegate or just plain delete tasks that are draining your energy, creating systems that actually support your busy mom life, and finding the courage to bet on yourself. I love when Meg shares a story about almost going back to corporate during a slow period in her business. And instead of giving up, she doubled down on herself, and guess what? It led to her best year yet. That part of the conversation gave me goosebumps.
So whether you're already in full spring cleaning mode or just thinking about tackling that closet that's been bugging you, I want you to grab a cup of coffee and maybe even an empty donation box. Join us for this conversation about how creating order in your home can clear the path for your business success this spring and beyond. Let's dive in.
Welcome to How to Quit Your Job: A Mom’s Guide to Creating a Life and Business You Love. It’s a podcast that helps working moms just like you, optimize your time, manage your mind, and start a business that helps you create more freedom, flexibility, and, yes, fun. I’m business and mindset coach Jenna Rykiel. And I offer practical tips to help you ditch the nine-to-five. I have been exactly where you are and I know what it takes to make the transition without trading one form of burnout for another. So, let’s get started.
Jenna Rykiel: Thank you so much for being here today, Meg. I'm excited for this conversation.
Meg Cocchiaro: Thank you, Jenna. Thank you for having me.
Jenna: So, I would love to start off just by talking about a quick win that moms can have. I know that our houses are, you know, our safe spaces, and things can get unruly sometimes. So what's a quick win for moms to really organize their homes?
Meg: So I'd say a quick win to organize homes, especially those with kids in them, is going to be to go grab an Amazon box or a Costco delivery box, something that's coming incoming, and take that and turn it into your outgoing box. And then look around you and find three to five things to immediately put in the box.
So when we talk about getting organized in our homes, the first thing I think of is to declutter because you absolutely cannot organize without first decluttering. And once you do declutter, the organizing gets ten times easier. And with kids in the house, it's even more essential to declutter because they are constantly bringing things into our homes.
Jenna: Yeah, absolutely. It's interesting. I didn't even think about it, but maybe subconsciously, knowing we were having this conversation, my husband and I spent this entire weekend decluttering and preparing a donation bag. And I will say we only got to the kitchen. Like we only got through the kitchen this weekend, which is a win, but also I wish we could have done more because it's the whole house, for sure.
Meg: Yeah. That's definitely a win. The kitchen is a huge area. So the fact that you even did the whole kitchen is amazing. But I also recommend to my friends, family, and clients to declutter in small chunks. So don't think you're going to declutter your entire house in a weekend. It's just not going to happen. You just have to pick some really manageable areas.
Jenna: I've also heard like starting with the junk drawer and getting that into a good state before expanding out.
Meg: I once heard that if you organize your junk drawer, like you'll be ready to change careers. It's just the mindset of it. Like look at what I tackled. Yeah.
Jenna: Yeah. Well, that's a a beautiful segue actually because, of course, you know, this podcast is all about helping moms to have that really big life transition in their career and help them build a life and business that they love. And we have talked about what organizing the house and what organizing your life, how that positively impacts that journey. So what advice would you give to someone who is trying to start or grow their business but is constantly getting distracted and spending so much time on all the little house maintenance tasks?
Meg: Right. So the house maintenance tasks, I mean, we're all drowning in it, right? Moms, dads, but particularly women, we do take on the brunt of it. So as women and moms, we do bear the brunt of the home maintenance tasks and all the to-dos at home, the chores.
And if we are simultaneously trying to leave corporate, like this is a big deal. This is a project that we're undertaking. And so if you don't usually get help, we need to talk about getting help. I really like the Eisenhower Matrix and your listeners can look it up, but it has four Ds. It's the Do, Decide, Delegate, or Delete.
And to simplify it for this conversation, if you have these tasks that are constantly distracting you when you're trying to work on bigger things, I'd say delegate it or delete it. Like we'll just pick the two easy ones. If they are absolutely things that need to be done, we need to ask ourselves like who else can do this? Is it someone in my house? Or do I need to outsource it and pay for someone to help do it?
Oftentimes they're tasks like we think are very important and need to get done, and they're not, and maybe we can just delete them. So it's really taking things off of our plate so that we can focus on like the bigger picture things that we're working on. In this case, changing careers.
Jenna: Yeah. I'm curious if there are things that you work with clients on to delete in the work that you do.
Meg: I focus mostly on residential, like in-home organizing. And while I talk to a lot of my clients about their life and their schedules, I do focus more on the actual stuff. And so in terms of deleting, we are literally deleting things. We are removing things from the house, and we are creating systems and processes during our work together.
But half that battle is deleting things, which goes back to, you know, we mentioned before, decluttering before you organize. And my clients find that the more we minimize and declutter, the less they have to manage. So if it's not there, you're not moving it, you're not cleaning around it, you're not finding a place to store it, spending money on it, spending time and energy looking for it. A lot of this stuff is just taking up precious space physically, and then it's taking up space in our brains too.
Jenna: Yeah. I'm always talking with moms about energy because, of course, that is so important. And it's amazing how much energy we can get back from exactly what you said, not searching for things or not getting frustrated about, you know, the toy room being in disarray and those little things that make a a big difference in our day-to-day.
Meg: And you know, I find even when we organize, especially with kids, we're not looking for perfection. With kids, it's really managing the amount of stuff we have. It's constant. And the kids are changing year after year, the clothes that they're wearing, the toys that they're playing with, their interests, right? And so the more on top of that we are, the easier everything's going to be. It doesn't mean that everything has to be in the right container or the colored bin in order. It's really just about the stuff and having less stuff.
Jenna: Yeah. You talked about systems. What systems do you lean on or what systems help your clients to live a lighter life through organizing?
Meg: So no matter what space that we're working on in my client's home, I come in and I look at their life and their home from the whole home perspective. So even if I'm hired to organize, say the kitchen and the pantry, I need a tour of the entire house. I need to see every room, every closet, and then through questionnaires and conversations with my clients, I get to know their lifestyle.
So I know coming in how the house should flow to support their lifestyle, what their careers are, what their kids do for fun. And then I can easily look at their house and say this house is not set up to support that. How can we set it up so that it does support that? So then we look at each space individually and set up a system within that space.
So if you have a mudroom, we create a system in that mudroom that makes coming into the house and leaving the house as seamless as possible, whether that's moving kids' socks to where their sneakers are stored or adding a simple hook to the wall for the keys because you can never find your keys. It's really different for each individual family and it's customized to them, but it's a system at the end of the day.
Jenna: Yeah. Can you talk to me about, you know, and I know we touched on this, but more about the impact that organizing and decluttering have on moms in general?
Meg: Moms in particular, you know, we talked about how we bear the brunt of the housework, and a lot of the invisible workload, which I'm sure you talk about a lot. So any time that we can declutter and organize and get things streamlined frees up our time and energy to focus on other things.
So I hear moms complain a lot. I've done it where we want to be spending time with our kids or even a personal hobby, like something in our free time that is not doing laundry and decluttering the kids' clothes and tidying up the playroom. You know, we want to have fun too, and we want to spend time with our kids. And so any time that we can simplify any area of the house or our schedule is going to reap huge rewards.
Jenna: Yeah. Earlier you talked about one of the four D's being Delegate. And I know that that is something that I'm always talking about because it's sort of a version of asking for help when we, you know, decide that we are no longer going to, let's say, be in charge of cleaning the house. We are going to delegate that to a cleaning service or a cleaning team. What do you find are some of the best examples of delegating when it comes to home organization or even when it comes to kind of living a conscious and deliberate life?
Meg: Well, delegating, for example, I'm a home organizer. So I spend my days in the homes of my clients, and I put all my time and energy into decluttering and creating systems for them. And so I come home and I'm very tired. So I don't want to do that in my own house too. So I'm constantly minimizing on my side, and then I look at all the tasks in my house that are draining my energy and take away from what I want to be doing. And house cleaning is a perfect example. I'm an organizer. I am very tidy and efficient, and I don't like to clean, and I don't have the time to clean. And so I outsource the cleaning.
This same way we would outsource landscaping or really any of the other home chores that we just can't stay on top of or we don't have the time for. I think, you know, the organizing industry in particular has gotten really popular in recent years, more so during COVID. It was around well before that. But I think people are starting to see the value in organizers as a service. It's just another thing that can help you at home and keep you on top of things when you don't have time to do them.
So some of the organizing companies, myself included, will offer maintenance services. And so we'll come in and we'll do periodic resets. If you need seasonal changes, whether that's in your garage or your kids' closets. And just having somebody on the calendar booked periodically can hold people accountable, but also know that they've got those random tasks kind of taken care of, even if that they're at not so frequent intervals during the year. It's like part of the village.
Jenna: Yeah. Episode 34, I talk about a Board of Directors. And that's exactly what I'm talking about is, you know, sometimes the board is, you know, mentors or friends and our biggest cheerleaders, but sometimes it's hiring people to do something that they're an expert at and that, you know, we don't have time for.
And so I love the idea of potentially having organizing and staying organized as somebody who who falls into your Board of Directors, somebody that you can that can hold you accountable. Because we don't think about organization as something that we could get help with accountability, but you're so right. And it has just such a positive impact on mental health. Like we talked about earlier, you know, decluttering the outside is like decluttering the inside too. And so I love the idea of that being something that people lean on as a service and someone that they can put on their board of directors.
What I also love about you is that you quit your job to start this business. And so certainly the expertise you can give in organizing is fantastic, but I think there's also so much value that you can share with the audience about your story. So I'm curious what gave you the courage to leave your corporate job and start your organizing business?
Meg: So I wouldn't call it courage as much as I was I was afraid of not leaving. Like I was looking at it from the other perspective. Like if I don't do this, what's going to happen? In terms of staying at my job and then not, you know, like opportunity cost, like not knowing what I was missing or not giving it a try, and then years down the road saying, gosh, I like maybe I could have made that work. I maybe I should have tried it. So yeah, it was the scary thought of not leaving.
For me, in particular, you know, I was very overworked and overwhelmed in my corporate career. And it was a little bit of a slow burn, and then it was a crash and burn in the end. I was just so overwhelmed, and I got physically sick. And so I had actually planned a longer exit plan. Like it was supposed to be several months longer than it was. And I didn't even make it that long. I was so stressed out.
Jenna: What made you pick organizing? Like how did you know that that was the business for you?
Meg: So to my advantage, I had been organizing my whole life, and it just came naturally to me. And I was always helping family and friends growing up, and then even when I was in college, I would volunteer to go unpack people after they moved in. And they were like, really? You want to do that? I was like, please, I know everything should go. Like you're not going to do it right. And so I I guess I forced myself on some people.
But they say, you know, when you're looking at making a change, and I was. I knew that I needed some sort of change from corporate. And I didn't know quite what that was going to be. I said, let me stay home for a little while while I get my youngest son into kindergarten. So I kind of took the pressure off of myself, knowing like I had to go back to work, but was hoping that it didn't have to be the corporate situation I was in.
And so they say to look at the things that you've done in your life. Like you would do it all day for free if you could. And I was like, oh, that's what I do with organizing. And I also had some family and friends in my ear saying, you could do this, you know, for others, for a living. And I didn't think that I could until I looked into it.
Jenna: Yeah. It's amazing how many people, the moms that I'm exposed to and work with have such areas of expertise and zones of genius and don't realize it because, you know, when we are so good at something like that, we just think that it's something that everybody's good at, or it's how could I possibly have, you know, a business doing something that interests me and that I'm passionate about? But so often, it’s like I have to tell people that that’s not something that everybody’s good at.
Meg: Oh, okay.
Jenna: Yeah. I have to point out what's, you know, obvious to me, but not so obvious to them that not everybody's good at organizing. Like not everybody loves data. There are things that we love and that we're good at that really can offer value to others. And it's amazing that we're all so, so different in those interests and such.
Meg: I think it definitely takes some soul searching and yeah, just taking a good hard look at what are the things that you do and you like and you enjoy, whether or not you can see yourself making money at that or not. That might not be for you to decide, but yeah.
Jenna: Yeah. Are there ways that because I know you talked about being super burnt out in corporate, and I'm sure that that had a ripple effect into, you know, your daily interactions with family and how you were showing up as a mom. But are there ways that being an entrepreneur have allowed you to be a better version of yourself as a mom?
Meg: Definitely. I think, I mean, being an entrepreneur in general, I'm working almost just as much as I was in corporate, but it's all voluntary, right? So what I like about it is that I'm in control of it. And I chose this career, and I get to make my schedule, and I get to make that around my kids first and foremost. So I said, I want to be there, you know, when they get home from school. And so I'm the one who makes those hours so that that happens. And, you know, there's definitely some one-offs where that doesn't happen. But in general, I'm in control. And so I'm able to be there when I want to be or when I need to be.
So I think that has a huge impact. My husband says I'm a nicer person and I'm happier. So yeah, there's definitely a ripple effect when you're doing something that you like and you like you love it, and you're still able to handle everything else in my life.
Jenna: And it feels like your own. It's like this part of your identity that you created, and it allows you to tap into a sort of creative and energized version of yourself, I find.
Meg: 100%. I actually call it my third baby sometimes because it is, it's my thing. I created it. Very protective of it. I'm proud of it.
Jenna: The other thing you said about the working just as much, but that it feels better. That's one thing that I talk about all the time with clients is that we're not trading one form of burnout for another, right? Because it can be really hard when we start those businesses and we put so much pressure on ourselves and to continue getting better and growing year after year, to make sure that we are remembering why we're doing it, and we are remembering that piece that you said that we are in control.
So, you know, maybe it does mean that we don't get a client deliverable out on time, or maybe it does mean that we take fewer clients in 2025. But knowing that, and maybe it doesn't have to mean either of those things, right? Maybe we we are able to do it all because we're more energized. But remembering that piece of it as an entrepreneur that we are in control, which is a really powerful feeling and one that I know we don't often get in corporate. I'm curious if you don't mind sharing, how old were you when you left corporate?
Meg: I was 35. I just turned 40.
Jenna: What advice would you give your 35-year-old self, the one that is leaving corporate to start her own business?
Meg: First I'd say you have no idea what you're getting into. But you don't know what you don't know. Like it's very exciting and scary, but so much better than you could imagine. And a lot of hard work, but it's totally worth it. So I guess that doesn't really constitute advice.
If I was doing it over again, I think I would say, I would realize that you have to say yes to a lot at first to find out, you know, like what you're eventually going to say no to? Because there's just there's so many things to learn, and we have no idea when we're starting out what we're going to learn and the people we're going to meet and the things that we're going to fall in love with doing and the things that we're going to end up hating, right? And so definitely say yes more than you say no, because eventually, you'll get to the point that you can say no. And that's a good place to be in. But it takes a while to get there.
And I'd say be patient. You know, like the money doesn't come on day one, but it'll come eventually. You know, because I know for a lot of women leaving corporate, that's one of the scariest things, you know. It's just one aspect of that transition. I mean, the whole thing is scary. A lot of things to think about, but it is worth it and to just be patient and confident. Like you can do it. You can figure it out.
Jenna: Yeah. The more you take action and figure out what doesn't work, the closer you get to what does work. But it's so hard to keep trying things out, keep saying yes to things, keep pushing to get to that place where the business is running more smoothly. And something that you said earlier, it made me think of a conversation I had with a client who said, I'm glad I didn't know how hard it was because I would have never done it if I knew how hard it was.
And it's interesting, right? Because then the very next thing she says is, and I'm so glad that I did it, right? So it's this sort of like understanding that we sort of go in not even knowing the depth or the difficulty or the challenges that we are going to come across. And thinking that our 35-year-old self, if they knew everything, they probably wouldn't think that they'd be capable of handling it. And then as we learn and grow and figure things out, it's like we blow our own mind in what we are capable of doing when we look back and we see how far we've come.
And I just love that experience that I see clients go through that sounds like you went through, I went through, getting to the place where you can look back and sort of celebrate all of the all of the growth and all of the challenges that you've overcome, everything you've had to figure out. It's such a privilege to be able to build these businesses.
Meg: Certainly. Absolutely. I definitely agree with you that it is a privilege. And I think the journey is half the fun. I mean, there's definitely lows, but there's definitely a lot of highs, right? Like it's life. You're it's going to be good and bad. And if you compare it to just staying where you are, like what's the joy in that? You're just going to be miserable and thinking about that thing that you never tried. Even if you fail, like you tried it. You could say that you did it.
Jenna: Yeah. And I honestly think for so many of us, success is built off of mini failures, right? It's like if we just keep going, we will get past the failure and get to a place where success lingers. But again, it's having or growing the thick skin to be able to keep showing up each day even though it doesn't always feel good.
So I know we mentioned there are lots of highs and lows in entrepreneurship. Do you have moments in your business that you've had particularly low points that you've overcome? And what were those experiences like?
Meg: Yes. So I actually have two major low points. I'm in my fifth year now. And so the two biggest ones were two years ago, I moved across the country. I moved from New Jersey to Colorado. And so I basically had to shut down this business that I had just built in New Jersey and rebuild it in Colorado, which was so much harder than I thought. And it essentially was like a startup all over again. And that was tough because I felt like I I lost my identity when I moved. Like I built this thing. It was my third baby, and then it was like poof, gone. And I had to start brand new with a new network.
So that was definitely a low. And then once I got started, I worked in Colorado probably about a year, and then the start of last year, it was crickets. It was so slow for such a prolonged period of time. It was like three months almost that I almost went back to corporate. And I think I just want to point that out to your listeners because we touched upon if you try something and you fail, like corporate's always going to be there.
Like you can always go find another job. You know, we're educated, smart women, or we wouldn't be trying these businesses in the first place. But if you fail, you can go back. I didn't fail. It was slow. And I said, I can either double down and keep going with what I'm trying to build here, or I can quit and and go find a job. And so I chose to double down because the thought of going back to corporate literally made me cry. And then I had like the best year ever for the rest of 2024. So it just shows like so much can change even in a month. Think about what you can do in a year. It's really crazy. And to look back on it, you can be really proud. But I'd say bet on yourself. Like you can do it. It just takes some time.
Jenna: Yeah. And just because you have periods of your business where there's crickets does not mean it's a bad idea or it's not going to work. That just happens sometimes in entrepreneurship. And it's something to adjust to certainly the fact that income fluctuates. I love that there was this question of do I double down, which is basically you saying do I believe in myself even more and believe in this business idea or this business even more, or do I go back to what is comfortable?
Meg: Comfortable. Exactly.
Jenna: What we actually know is actually not comfortable, but our brains like it better, right?
Meg: Yeah. The paycheck is comfortable. Yeah.
Jenna: Right. But you decided to believe in yourself and then have the best year that that your business had. So I love that. Such a powerful reminder of believing in ourselves and believing in what we're doing.
Meg: Yeah. And I hope that inspires others to keep going.
Jenna: How can people get in touch with you? And do you, I know you are in Colorado. Do you only work locally or can people work with you from anywhere in the world?
Meg: I work locally in homes in the Denver Metropolitan area, but I do do a lot of like do it yourself consultations online virtually. So you can go to my website. It’s OrganizedByMeg.com. That’s the best place to reach me. And we can always set up something virtually. I hope to be adding some digital options and courses to my business in the coming years. So I'd love to be able to reach more people that I can't physically help.
Jenna: Mhm. Love that. Well, everything we've referenced, as always, will be in the show notes. And thank you so much for being here. I'm so glad we had this conversation. And I know that living a more organized and less cluttered life is energy giving and life giving. So hopefully, this has inspired people to not only declutter, but also to take action in their business.
Meg: I certainly hope so. Thank you for having me, Jenna. I love not just talking about organizing, but I really do love to encourage women to make a change and start their own businesses because I just think it's fantastic, and why not?
Jenna: Thank you.
Thanks for listening to this week’s episode of How to Quit Your Job: A Mom’s Guide to Creating a Life and Business You Love. If you want to learn more about how I can help you stop making excuses and start making moves, head on over to www.jenna.coach. I’ll see you next week.
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