140 | Meet Professional Organizer Beth Nordby

Meet professional organizer Beth Nordby today! She was doing digital marketing for a big Fortune 500 company and she realized she wanted something more for her career. Organizing was it! She took a leap a year ago, becoming a professional organizer, started Custom Order Organizing, and hasn't looked back.

We love our Get Inspired series talking to the awesome organizers of our Inspired Organizer® community about becoming a professional organizer! We'd love to have you be a part of our program--email us for more info at hello@proorganizerstudio.com.

LINKS FOR LISTENERS

Custom Order Organizing in the Quad Cities

Connect with Beth on social media

Learn more about our Inspired Organizer® signature coaching program for professional organizers

Want to hear more from other professional organizers? Check out these podcast episodes:
Julie Aderhold of Healthy Home Organizing in Green Bay, Wisconsin
Hear about podcast co-host Melissa's organizing journey

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If you are interested in our Inspired Organizer® program, you can find us at www.inspiredorganizer.com and don't forget, we have a whole library of podcasts here, our YouTube channel, and  you can find us on Facebook and Instagram at Pro Organizer Studio.

Still not sure about starting your own Professional Organizing business or becoming a professional organizer? Cick here to read about the 5 things you need to know BEFORE starting your organizing business.

Feeling ready to start? Great! Check out this post on how to start your business stress-free!

FULL TRANSCRIPT

You're listening to the Pro Organizer Studio podcast with Melissa Klug and Jen Kilbourne Obermeier. 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.

[00:00:32] Melissa Klug: We are back on the Pro Organizer Studio podcast and we are continuing with our series where we interview some of the awesome organizers in our community. And today I am talking to my friend Beth. Beth. How are you? I'm great. 

[00:00:45] Beth Nordby: How are you? 

[00:00:46] Melissa Klug: Good. I am so, so happy to have you with us because I could talk, I say this all the time, I could talk to organizers all day, every day about like, Hey, tell me about your business and tell me about how you started and all that good stuff.

But why don't you give us kind of the lay of the land of how you started, how you're in this business, all that good stuff. 

[00:01:03] Beth Nordby: I officially started my business on paper anyway, at the end of last year. I've been in the corporate world for 20 plus years. Most recently in marketing, digital marketing, website strategy, things like that.

And I just, you know, the last few years had started to realize that I needed to change. I flirted with the idea of a different company, but I thought, you know, I. Yeah, why not change things up if I'm gonna do it, let's do it now. Knowing that I wanted to leave the job I was in. And so I actually started researching professional organizing as a business probably a year and a half, two years ago, maybe a little more than that, and signed up for the Pro Organizer, studio inspired organizer program.

 At least a year and a half ago, and started looking into it before I left my job. And my initial thought was I was gonna do it as a side hustle while I figured out do I actually wanna do this or not. And then I got to a point in my corporate world job that I just knew it was time I needed to go.

And so I pulled the plug and jumped into it. And decided not to really focus on a niche at all yet cuz I really wanted to see what was out there and try a bunch of different types of organizing jobs and see what kind of the ones that.

I enjoyed the most, the ones where I felt like I was making a biggest impact. And so, I'm still kind of in that vein of trying all the things and mostly enjoying myself. , right. 

[00:02:29] Melissa Klug: Mostly. Okay. So I wanna poke on that a little bit. Tell me a little bit about the things that you have said yes to and what have you discovered in that journey of what do I like, what do I not like? 

[00:02:38] Beth Nordby: The only thing I've said no to thus far was a hoarding job. And it was also right after I started, but I'm fairly certain that's one where I, I know I'm like beyond my depth. Yeah. For a true hoarding situation. So that's the only No, I've. Had thus far.

The, I've had kind of a, a range of, I've done a few packs and moves. I've done like a massive decluttering slash pack for a move. . And then I've also done kind of the, the pretty pantries. Mm-hmm. and some newly renovated homes like gorgeous, beautiful homes, which I love real estate, so being able to go into some of those fun homes is really cool for me.

And I think the decluttering, I find a lot of value. I feel like I'm making the biggest impact. For the individual, but I also am recognizing I can't, that can't be my only because it emotionally, physically you know, a lot of times there's emotional challenges for the client. And again, that's where the, I feel like I'm making a big impact cuz I'm really helping them on that journey. But it also takes a lot out of me. And so I'm finding that if I can balance those with those sort of like pretty pantry, you know, let's, let's crank this closet out type of thing. That's kind of my sweet spot is finding a.

Between those, [00:04:00] 

[00:04:00] Melissa Klug: I think that's really important because if you did the same, first of all, if you did the same thing every day in any kind of a job, it would get really boring really fast. Right? Definitely. But especially for those things, and especially if you are one of those people who really take on that emotion of the client or even if you don't take on the emotion, You know, you're really affected by, this was an emotionally heavy day.

It is really nice to break that up with just to like, can you please just decant all my Cheerios, ? Yes 

[00:04:28] Beth Nordby: Exactly. 

[00:04:29] Melissa Klug: So I, I do wanna, I wanna go back, I wanna talk about organizing a second, but I really wanna go back to something too. So leaving your corporate job, this is something, this is a question that we get a lot.

How will I know that I'm ready to make the leap? And so there are a lot of paths. You might do it as a side hustle, you might do it part-time. You might go back to, you know, your day job is three days a week and organizing is two, whatever.

Can you give people kind of like what your thought process was on the, I'm just doing it. 

[00:04:55] Beth Nordby: Yeah. I, I wrote a lot of waves. I will say you know, so I could be really zen one day about it and the next day, like, what, what did I do? Oh my God, this is insanity. But for the most part, my kind of steady thought through that was I can always change my mind.

Yeah. I changed my mind about the job I was. And I can change my mind about this job. I can decide I don't like it. I can decide I don't like certain aspects of it and farm part of that out. I can decide that I only wanna do it part-time and I can get another part-time job. I can do. I don't have to. Do it the same way consistently.

I can learn what I like, I can learn what works. And so that's, I really rode some pretty heavy waves and I still do they're just maybe not as dramatic as they were at first, but, , you know, first of all, organizing is a pretty low barrier to entry. You know, it very low. Yes, you can take it different ways.

Obviously you can get certifications and things like that. But the upfront cost is pretty minimal at that point. File your L l C if that, I mean, you can get started without that. I, I guess officially. But really doesn't have to cost a lot. And so if I was two months in and I decided I wanted to walk away. There's no major harm there, you know? And so I just kept having to coach myself and I still do. I can change it, I can get a part-time job just to supplement and make that financial leap a little bit more comfortable for me.

And so I've been trying to coach myself in that and actually in all aspects of the business. I can do this for now. My website can look like this for now. Yes, my social media can look like this for now. And then I, and I can change. . And so, and I think that's one thing that the inspired organizer community has done for me is solidify that feeling for me because you hear it a lot in that group.

 Some people who just went away from organizing altogether and went into some niche, running courses. Or, a photography offering or things like that. And so I think that really opened up my eyes to the fact that I can go a lot of different 

[00:07:01] Melissa Klug: directions.

And that's a really important point because even if you want to just stay a, if you say, , if I wanna be an organizer, period. The end. I love organizing. You can still say yes to like you said, I also do packing and unpacking or I'm taking this path and I'm taking this path.

Or the great thing is, there are other things you can do. You can start an organizing course, we have people who have, like you said, started, we have someone that started a photography course cuz she's really into that. We have someone that is a C R M setup expert. She just loves the efficiency aspect of the behind the scenes in the business.

 There are a lot of different route you can take and there you do not have to say well, I'm only going to do this, but you can also say, yes, I only wanna do pantries for the rest of my life. Like I know someone whose entire business is legitimately just pantries. That's all she does. So it's kind of.

[00:07:52] Beth Nordby: Yeah, for sure. 

[00:07:53] Melissa Klug: What do you think you learned from your corporate life? You did a lot of digital stuff, digital strategy. What did [00:08:00] you learn that you have been able to bring to your entrepreneurship? 

[00:08:03] Beth Nordby: One thing that I realized pretty early on is that, so not even on the business side, but what I was doing, which was, digital content planning for websites and strategic planning a lot of what I did translates really easily into organiz.

Did a lot of workflows, did a lot of process setups. I put together, project management workflows, and I'm doing that again. They're just, right now it's just managing me. And hopefully, maybe down the road more people, but so I think that was really interesting to me. I'm like this.

Once I started taking on a big project, I'm like, this works just like a digital project. I'd break it down into smaller pieces. I make sure everybody understands their part? So that was eye opening to me. I didn't. Coming in, even realized that connection there. The other piece, I think, you know, I, I do think it was a benefit to me to have some comfort and familiarity with social media and website marketing.

I, I'm not saying my website is the best in the world, but I feel like I, and in fact in some ways it might have harmed me cuz I probably went in. Oh, I'm gonna make this the best website. And you 

[00:09:14] Melissa Klug: probably overthought it a little bit. I 

[00:09:15] Beth Nordby: overthought it for sure. I've redone it. I'm not entirely redundant, but I've touched it up a few times, but I think that helped me feel like, okay, well at least I get this part down.

Yeah. Like, I know I can do this. The other thing that I think it's done is I'm used to asking difficult questions from an a. And like prove that this works standpoint. Yeah. And for me as a new business owner, you get inundated with a lot of pitches from a lot of different. Areas, whether it's, advertising companies that want to, wanna sell you on advertising or even people who wanna partner with you.

 I think it helped me have a critical view of, okay, well tell me your numbers. Like how many people are actually going to your website or, and how many of those people actually go on to do whatever the next thing is. And I've said no to some marketing opportunities because of that.

Yeah, because I w I realized that the amount of effort that I was gonna put in wasn't gonna be worth a return. So I think that helped a lot. 

[00:10:15] Melissa Klug: I have what I term a healthy level of cynicism. That's how I look at it and I think it's important what you just said about asking the questions and asking for some of that data, because I think it's very easy, especially in when we're all getting pitched things from the digital world to just go, it's very easy to reach out to us, right, and try to sell us things, but asking questions and one example.

I'm gonna try to be as nice as possible when I say this, but I had someone reach out to my organizing Instagram via dm, which is something that people do as a sales technique, but she was like, I'm an Instagram strategist and I really think that I can make your Instagram a lot better. 

It was like, it was kind of critical. And then I looked and I'm like, She has a third of the number of followers that I do. So someone who. Way, way less followers than I do is trying to tell me she's gonna give me a strategy that works better. And I'm like, pardon me, . But this is maybe not the person that I need to help me.

So, it's just having that healthy level of questioning and that questioning a good person will be able to answer, Hey, here are my bonafides, and here are here is what I can give you. So, 

[00:11:30] Beth Nordby: Yeah. The other thing I noticed too is I was able to, because in my old life I did a lot of different kinds of marketing and I worked on a marketing team, so I saw aspects of marketing that I wasn't even directly responsible for.

And especially starting out and especially, right now it's mostly just me. Doing all the things. I'm a, I'm doing the admin, I'm doing the marketing, I'm doing the organizing, I'm doing the networking, which is marketing. You know, I'm doing all those things. And I realized pretty quickly, I had to [00:12:00] choose what were gonna be the biggest impact.

Yes. Things that I could be doing, whether that's from an administrative or a marketing standpoint. Yes. And prioritize those things. Because at first I was like, oh, I need to go on the local TV show, which is not like, they're all good things for the most part, but I'm like, I gotta go on the local TV show.

I need my, my Instagram and I need to do reels every other day. And I had all these things and I was able to kind of like slow my rule a little bit and say, Casting of a net of like network local TV is probably not a terrible idea. And I have designs to do that at some point, but getting the word out on like Facebook and face-to-face networking, really, I realized it was gonna be a bigger impact than this broad whomever happens to be watching tv.

Local TV at 5:00 PM every day. Yeah. 

[00:12:56] Melissa Klug: Well, and I think that we, when we first started our businesses, at least this was true for me, is you have these ideas of these like, oh my gosh, it's gonna be so important for me to do X, Y, Z. And you actually realize that sometimes those big things. Which I got in a couple cases in my business, don't actually convert into clients.

Whereas the little tiny things that you think are like nothing are the things that actually make you money and figuring out what those things are. The other thing is, you totally said it, is you can't do all of the things. You, you just can't. And so concentrating on the things that are actually like have the data that bring you value and that are doable.

So, so, so smart. 

From a strategy standpoint, 

when you look at your clients, like what has been the biggest thing for you? . What, what has been successful for you? 

[00:13:45] Beth Nordby: I've gotten the majority of my clients either through a direct referral one was a, an organizer who was retiring. Okay. , and Facebook. So I guess I should say it wasn't Facebook specifically, it was my friends on Facebook and then them, getting the word out there.

Find my organizer. I've actually gotten a few that way. Okay. And then just Google. I would say definitely Google is the biggest one. But probably the last. Five leads I've gotten. I asked how they found me and they said they were just, they were just doing a search cuz they were in a spot that they needed somebody.

[00:14:20] Melissa Klug: Just remember that Google is , Google is your, your business partner that works 24. Your website and Google are your employees that work 24 hours a day. 

Yep. I also wanna go back to something that you said, which I think is super important is you said, friends of mine have referred me and I never want people to forget, and I will repeat it as many times as it takes, but telling your personal network that you do this business. Is really important because I have had case after case where my friend hasn't hired me, but they have referred me to their friends and it's a really important way to go get clients and easy.

[00:15:00] Beth Nordby: Yes. Oh, the other one that I, I forgot. Probably because I almost did it offhandedly and awkwardly. Oh, that's the, like, everything's awkward, right? Networking is the worst. But I just have started to try to like pep talk myself. It's gonna, It's gonna suck and you're gonna go do it and it's gonna be fine.

And it almost always results in at least some, some connection. But yeah. The one that actually turned out to be really great, kind of outside of my primary service area, but there's a interior design and home decor provider, a little outside of my area that I love their stuff just.

Their decor. I love their designs and I had been following them personally on social media for a while. And when I was still thinking I might do a part-time job and this, and figure it out, I had reached out to them to see if they needed. People just like, I'm willing to learn, I wanna learn more about interior design, cuz I just like that in general.

And I knew it would benefit me in [00:16:00] my organizing work. And I had reached out to them initially just for a job, but then also said, I'm starting an organizing business. And they said, well, can you give us your information? And I did. And I've gotten two phenomenal referrals Interesting from them.

And big clients, beautiful homes and so that, . I went to them for a job, but ended up, yeah, I guess I still got a job from them, but in a different way. 

[00:16:22] Melissa Klug: It was just a different job. A lot of times I hear organizers that are like, oh, I really, really, really wanna work with real estate agents.

And what I actually think is a better way in interior designers are a great resource than I personally would go to an interior designer before I'd go to the real estate route, because I do think that interior designers tend to understand, What we do and what we can bring to a project. 

[00:16:46] Beth Nordby: Yeah. That said, I did, I was just talking with one of the local real estate companies at the end of last week, and they, they were talking to me about the, the shift in the market.

Yeah. Right now, you know, there was a, a period of time. and still is a little bit, but it's, it's dwindling of where agents didn't have to do a lot of work. , they didn't have 

[00:17:07] Melissa Klug: to do 

[00:17:08] Beth Nordby: anything. No. They didn't have to do anything. They just had to get the listing up there. And that's changing. Yeah. Because of the market changes and so they they're really sensitive to the idea that.

Having a home that's ready to show yeah. Is a big deal now is becoming a bigger deal. And so for those organizers who do like to do maybe some simple staging or decluttering, this could be a good time to really tap into 

[00:17:30] Melissa Klug: that. That's a really great point is looking at the real estate market and figuring out like you're exactly right at the height of the market when you could sell a house in two and a half minutes and people wouldn't even blink and there was no inspection, and whatever else they don't, maybe don't need your services.

Now you have to make the home look a little bit more attractive. . Yeah. My total side story that no one asked for, my teenage daughter works in a, in a real estate office. And on Sunday she was at work and she was texting me and I'm like, oh, I see that we're working hard. She was like, have you seen the real estate market?

Like, no, there's nothing to do. She goes, I have nothing to do today. And I was like, all right, I'm really great boy. I'm like, it's rough right now. For sure. Yes. Even my teenager knows about the real estate market. So what are kind of your favorite things to do with clients? What are your favorite projects to work on? 

[00:18:17] Beth Nordby: I do like kitchens a lot. Okay. I love it when I have a client. I say this now, but it does take a lot of time. But I really love it when I have a client who is interested and unique and. is really interested in the aesthetic.

Okay. Piece. Whether that be a pantry, a closet shelves because I enjoy that challenge. Okay. And I like to stretch those muscles a lot. Okay. So I will spend maybe a little bit more time researching product for them. I had one who we had a really specific look in mind for this space that was, the decor or the, the cabinets were redone.

and she and I both were on the same page about what would look nice and just could not find it. And I, I searched high and low and spent more time than I probably should have researching product, but eventually did find it and it looked phenomenal. And I didn't get it at the Container store I had to look out into some places that I wouldn't normally look, and that was really fun. Yeah. And it looked amazing. I also really, I, I love a good, you know, picking their brains. I, I really like to ask a, I like the learning about how they live their lives, like in another life I might have been like an anthropologist or okay, I don't really know, but I'm really intrigued by the way people structure their lives and the way they make decisions and things like that.

So I really like digging in on how they use their spaces, why they use 'em that way. , did you ever think about this I just think the sort of creative problem solving piece of that is, is really, really fun. 

[00:19:55] Melissa Klug: I totally agree with you and I think one of the most important things an [00:20:00] organizer can do is really learn how to ask their clients a lot of questions to get to the root of what is the best organizational solution for you.

Because the thing that works with. The client on Tuesday is the exact opposite of what might work for the client on Wednesday. And so having to ask those questions to be like, okay, cool. What happens when you come in? Where does your mail go? Like how many days a week do you look at your mail? Asking those questions to determine the best system for them is really, really helpful to give them something that they're actually gonna keep up with.

What is something that is and I know you said earlier, maybe sometimes the decluttering like heavy decluttering, but what are some projects that you're like, I could I could maybe not do this anymore for the rest of my life? 

[00:20:44] Beth Nordby: Yeah. Well, you know what's funny is I l I don't mind doing other people's kitchens Okay.

And pantries, but I know that it's a really difficult space to keep, to maintain. Yes. And in my own space. So I, I love to do it for somebody else, and I, I can tell them how to maintain it, but I understand. It's very difficult to maintain. And so my own kitchen and pantry I do not enjoy doing at all. But I, I love to do them for other people.

 Don't love.

Paper organizing. 

[00:21:13] Melissa Klug: Oh, see, you and I need to team up because I love paper. So I'll do all your paper and you'll do all my client kitchens. This would be perfect. 

[00:21:21] Beth Nordby: There you go. Wait, we'll just do a tra I'm, I'm into it, I think, and it's not like I feel like I can do it fine. But I don't understand the need for the paper

Yeah. It's one of those where sometimes I have a hard time putting my own personal. View out of the like, but why? But why? Why do you need this piece of paper? Yes. It makes no sense to me. And so sometimes that's a hard one for me to get over myself. Yes. And, but like I can set up a system. I can, but I'm always sitting there being like, but I don't, but you don't, shouldn't even need this.

Like, it just, I find 

[00:21:54] Melissa Klug: myself bargaining with clients sometimes when they're keeping things where I'm like, honey, you don't need this. Like, you do not need utility bills from 1973. And but what if I just need it? That would No, but you don't. And so then I'll bargain with them like, Could we agree that we're only gonna keep the bills from the last year?

 And then sometimes they'll go with, that's why it's like just negotiating with them on please, please, please say goodbye to these things. So

[00:22:20] Beth Nordby: one thing that I noticed, I'm learning a lot about, is doing better job with upfront questions. and understanding I'm and need a lot more practice at this, and this is another area where the community aspect of inspired organizer is so important because I feel like I learn a lot of this type of thing from there, or can compose this question, which is.

getting in faster to the nitty gritty of an individual client and not necessarily unlike an individual system, but like really understanding them. I've had a couple clients where as I got into working with them more and I realized, you can't screen for everything. Yeah. But I realized that they definitely had bigger needs.

Than I realized and that had I known certain things, I would've come at them from a different way. And the bargaining thing that you just said is what made me think about that. Because I had a client who I, and when I say they had receipts, they had receipts from the nineties. They had schoolwork from their own childhood, and they were in their seventies.

Oh my. And like a lot of stuff and. I came in with a lot of bargaining and like, let's take five of these things. And in reality, once I worked with them for quite a bit longer, I realized you were dealing with maybe something a little bit more intensive Yeah. Than your standard. A bargain bargaining wasn't gonna work.

and I beat my head against that wall a lot longer than I needed to, had I really understood where they were coming from earlier. And those are hard because I feel like I'm probably pretty hard on myself about that [00:24:00] learning curve that I have. But yeah, I think the community really helps in that regard of, hearing how other people's experiences with that and how do you lead people out or how do you really help understand and, Get a feel for if somebody is in your wheelhouse.

Yeah. And your level of ability. 

[00:24:17] Melissa Klug: Well, something else that came up in our coaching group the other day. I don't think it was you, it was someone else, but they were talking about how do you tell a client. That you're actually not the person for them, that they actually need an interior designer. This particular client, wow.

After she explained the situation, it was clear this person needed a personal assistant and also an interior designer. She didn't need an organizer, and I actually believe that one of the strongest, most powerful things you can do in your business is say, I'm actually not the person for you, versus constantly trying to be the right person.

and I have had to learn that in my own business of I can't be everything to everyone no matter how hard I try. And you could actually do that person a huge favor by saying, I actually think you need a specialist. You know the description that you just had. That person needs a, a very specific person and it, it's not you.

Yeah. And that's okay. Yeah. . And that also doesn't mean that you're not a good organizer. It means you can't also be like a brain surgeon , and you can't be 22 different things. So, yeah. Yeah. If you could go back to, think back to when you were just starting your business, like, if you could start over again, what would you tell yourself or what would current U tell past you?

[00:25:32] Beth Nordby: I think. It's kind of funny. I think current me would tell past me the same things past me, told me, but I'd be like, but for real this time. Yeah. But honestly, no, seriously, listen to me seriously stop spending quite so much time on, figuring out your social media or Getting your website perfect or whatever it happens to be. 

That's a hard one because I feel like there's certain things that you just don't believe until you have experienced it. Sure. It doesn't have to be perfect. You can change it. You can change your mind.

You can pivot. I've changed my, I. I just changed my pricing, I guess I would call it more by pricing structure. I didn't like vastly change my prices, but the way I explained my pricing, I just changed that even though I've been in business less than a year. I think if there were a way I could really convince old me that it's gonna be okay and just.

Plow ahead. Do it a little faster. Yeah. You know, get in there, it's gonna be okay. I think that, I think the other thing is, and again, this is one where, I know this, I've always known this, but it's a thing I continue to struggle with, which is you are going to make mistakes. Yes. And it's okay.

And you're still doing a service for people, even if you're not doing. perfectly. Yeah. And that's, that's a really tough one for me. Especially going into a new industry, you automatically have a little bit of that, you know, imposter syndrome. Yeah. And then add in where I'm like, I can't believe I did that, or Yeah.

Said that, or whatever it is. And you're gonna do it. And there's just, you just have to move. . 

[00:27:09] Melissa Klug: Yeah. Well, and there are a lot of concepts wrapped up in that. But also, first of all, you are going to make mistakes. They are really not going to be the end of the world. You're gonna feel like they are, but they're absolutely not.

You have said it multiple times already, but it's really important. You can change things. You do not, nothing is written in stone. You could change your, you can change your logo two weeks after you do your logo if you want to. It will be okay. But also there's a concept of failing. Which is do something, put it out there, see how it works, and then say this works or it doesn't work.

And, don't commit to something so deeply and never change it if it's not working. It's really something that, being flexible I think is the best thing about being an entrepreneur. . Yeah. I also heard something really great. I actually have a post-it note on my, on my [00:28:00] computer because it said the only people who don't have imposter syndrome are actual imposters.

Like con men are the only people that don't have imposter syndrome cuz they are imposter. And I was like, oh my gosh, I've never thought about it that way. And that is genius. We all have it. 

[00:28:18] Beth Nordby: Yeah. Yeah. Otherwise you're completely delusional. Yeah. Correct. . 

[00:28:22] Melissa Klug: You have a husband who's also an entrepreneur. So what is it like to live in a two entrepreneur household? , like do you guys bounce ideas off of each other or 

[00:28:30] Beth Nordby: how does that work? Some, yeah, some. It may be just our dynamic, there are certain things that I just, I'm not gonna go to him with and it's less the fact that I don't think he would know the answer or be able. Give some helpful information, but the dynamic is different, you know? And also, and this is purely me, I think, because I'm just starting out and I left.

A job that had of steady paycheck and there's a little bit of guilt there. And there's a part of me that, even though I know this is really dumb, it's completely dumb. I don't want to necessarily be that vulnerable in front of him sometimes where I'm like, I don't know what I do

I want him to feel like I'm gonna nail this. Right. And I don't want him to worry. Because I'm already worrying enough for the both of us, you know, and then also just, you know, how it is. And it, when you're in a long term relationship with somebody, like, it, it, it's different coming from that person than it would be coming from somebody else.

And so there are certain things I absolutely will talk with them about. There's certain things that I, I'm like, eh, I'm not, I'm not doing that. We're not gonna broach that topic. It's kind of funny. One thing that has actually been beneficial I have started to do some marketing for. Oh, nice. In fact, I did when he first started, but then I was way too busy with my other job and I just was like, I'm not, you gotta find somebody else to do this.

And it languished for a while. And so I've started to do that. And some of the things that I'm putting in place now for my business I feel like I can now approach him in a different way and say, Hey, I'm doing this for my business. You know, what if , we did this for yours. And so that's actually been kind of interesting.

I think he's starting to see how I'm setting things up for myself. Whereas if I'm coming from the Fortune 500 company I was at and saying, , I think you should do it this way. He's like, you don't understand, you know, this is not that type of business or whatever. And there's still probably a little bit of that, but, so that's been interesting.

Yeah, I think they're different enough businesses that there's not a ton of overlap. We have shared. It was really nice to already know who to go to for my, I. Right. Already know who to go to for our accounting and legal advice. I kind of had that already taken care of and that was very, very nice.

Yeah, 

[00:30:48] Melissa Klug: One of the things that I love about, you know, our community is you can go and you don't have to over explain like, Okay, so I have this client today and when I go to a client, blah, blah, blah, like you can get, you can cut to the chase of your story and everybody's like, yep, I get it.

 Yeah. Versus sometimes if you go to someone else, like my husband would not be interested in the fact that I had a really hard time finding the exact right size bin for a pantry, right? But I come to you and you'd be like, dude, I get it. I totally understand. That's a silly example, but.

But, so it's nice to have people that understand without you having to explain like your exact industry. But I also like what you said about when you find someone that's in a totally different industry, you might find out like, oh my gosh, that is a really good idea. And like, I've never thought about that for organizing, but how could I adapt that to the organizing world and make that work?

So I, I think it's really smart to have all those people. So where do you see yourself going? What does the next year look like for you? 

[00:31:43] Beth Nordby: I think the next year my thought is really just focusing on growth. Yeah. I, and also I want to explore bringing in. Additional employees in whatever form that takes.

So bringing in an assistant for me, but then [00:32:00] potentially testing the waters with having, having someone, represent me but but not be me out on the job. I'm curious about it. It kind of freaks me out. But I also, for one thing, I'm 45. I'm almost 46 years old. Mm-hmm. , this is a very physical job.

It's and I need an end. I need to know where I'm gonna go with that. And ideally po possibly selling the business one day down the road. I reserve the right to change my mind, but the thing being, I need to know where I'm gonna go and I see both growing, the clients that I'm taking on but also possibly growing into other communities or additional teams. Make sense to me. And so if that's something I wanna explore definitely some more intensive and extensive network. To move me towards that for sure. I love it. I also, I wanna explore some different ways to package my services. Okay. Cuz I've been seeing some really, creative ideas, you know, like a welcome home baby package or, I really love that.

I mean, it's still doing what we're doing, but I like the idea of marketing it in a different way or, or creative way. And so really looking into some of those things I think would be really. 

[00:33:09] Melissa Klug: I was talking to someone today about I called it organizing adjacent things, , where it's, organizing ish, right?

Yeah. But it's still like, it allows you to do something different. So like you said, we have some variety in our work, but it also is still in the. Category of organizing is making your daily life better. Right? And that there are a lot of parts of that. So it might be a maintenance package, it might be setting up Christmas decorations.

Someone was talking about that on our Zoom call earlier today. Like they're gonna do Christmas decorating for people. I have done Christmas takedown for people. Mm-hmm. where I say like, I'll just come in because who wants to do Christmas take down? It's the least fun. It's terrible. It's a zero out of. But I come in, I take your stuff down, I organize it really well For the next year, we weed out what you don't need anymore.

 There are just a lot of things that you can do that, fill your cup, do something a little different. It's not the same thing you do every day, and then you might find a whole other avenue that you haven't even thought about. Yeah. 

[00:34:09] Beth Nordby: Yeah. I think another I've. Thought about that. I, I think another thing that I would really like to do is explore more in the realm of interior design.

Yeah. Not necessarily doing it, but learning more about it. Yeah. I just really love it. I like setting up. Decor in my own house. Yep. And I know it would just benefit me in my work and I think since I do really enjoy those types of jobs with clients who are open to some really unique and beautiful solutions, I think that would be something that I really wanna educate my myself more on that, both on a personal level and then also for the business.

The 

[00:34:48] Melissa Klug: super cool thing is between Instagram, TikTok, all those things, there are so many resources where you can just go gain inspiration, get ideas. It's so cool. I love doing stuff like that. And by the way, this isn't for everyone, but you know, some people are like, oh my gosh, that sounds like a nightmare.

I've. Picked paint colors for clients. I picked a floor for a client the other day. She just didn't have time. And she's like, W can you just find something that you know the handyman can install? Yes, I can. Cuz I think that sounds fun. . It's stuff that I enjoy and so yeah, you're gonna pay me to go to Home Depot and pick a floor?

Heck yeah, I'll do it. Like, yes. That's why I say, you know, the organizing adjacent that interior design piece is, you are taking. So organizing is making something functional and then the interior design pieces functional can also turn into beautiful and really give you that whole solution. So yeah.

Yeah, it's really just a matter of opening your mind to what the possibilities are is if I would paraphrase what you're saying. Oh yeah, for 

[00:35:45] Beth Nordby: sure. 

[00:35:46] Melissa Klug: So what what are you looking forward to as we go into the the year? What do you see going on for yourself?

[00:35:53] Beth Nordby: I have a goal to get really wrap my head around being able to speak to my business in [00:36:00] detail, like my cost margins, or profit margins costs for her job in general. I think that's really important before I do the growth that I want to do so that I can really speak more intelligently about that and make better decisions about what's worth, my time and what's not.

And. Thus far. I've kind of been skating if I'm being totally honest. You know, obviously I know if I'm making money or not, but I, I haven't really gotten really precise with that. And so, that's a, that's a big one for me. And I, I know that sounds weird to when you ask me what I'm looking forward to, that's, doesn't sound like that, but I feel it will gimme, I think a sense of confidence moving into the year where I'm really like, I've got my foundation, I'm ready to grow.

 I also just am excited about the aspect of a new. Yeah. For working, I'll be a year in business, but also I think it's such a nice kickstart for organizing. Yeah. And for me as a business owner as well as kind of a, okay, here we go, fresh start. Let's do this. 

[00:36:57] Melissa Klug: Yeah. Well, and I just think that there are so many opportunities for what we do, and there are so many more people who know, you know, every year that goes by, there are more people that know about professional organizing and there are less people that we have to explain, or less people that you have to hear.

You do. Wait, what? What do you do for a job? ? There's a lot less of that, which is always good. So I feel every year that goes by, it's going to be easier for us to get our names out there and for people to know what we do, 

well we appreciate you spending your time with us today. Like I said, I can listen to people tell their stories all day long, and what I love about this industry is whether you have been doing it for a year or 10 years, there is always wisdom that people have to give.

So I really appreciate you spending your time with us today, and I'm excited to see what happens next in your business. Because Thank you. I remember when you first decided to join us in our group and in our community, and I just have loved seeing you be able to throw out your success stories and I just, I can't wait to see what comes next.

So thank 

[00:38:05] Beth Nordby: you. Thank you. Thanks. I really appreciate 

[00:38:07] Melissa Klug: it. Where can people find you on the internet or in the world? 

[00:38:13] Beth Nordby: Sure. My website is custom order organizing.com. And on the socials I'm at custom order. 

[00:38:20] Melissa Klug: All right. We will see you on the interweb, so thank you. Thank you. 

[00:38:26] Beth Nordby: Take care. 

Thank you so much for listening in to the Pro Organizer Studio podcast. If you'd like to get our roadmap for success as a pro organizer, head straight to www dot po roadmap dot.

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.