We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Michelle Hobgood a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Michelle , thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. How did you come up with the idea for your business?

I started my career in the editorial & print sectors of the fashion industry. When it came time to organize our fashion closets I was always the person tasked to do the job because organization came naturally to me. In fact, people would always ask how did I come up with these intricate systems.

After transitioning to the fitness industry several years later, my organizational skills still would shine through. I remember walking into the staff fitness office on my first week at the YMCA and literally transforming all of the filing systems that had been left in disarray for years. That transformation and taking the initiative lead to a promotion to management a few months later. Since then, I’ve spent close to 20 years in this industry.

As a mother of an autistic son, my organizational skills were a necessity. When you’re taking care of someone with a disability there’s a lot you can’t control. We thrived when there was a routine and everything was in order. I’ve seen firsthand how much organization can create a space that promotes mental wellness and make an already stressful situation better.

I wanted to enrich the lives of other overwhelmed women by helping them do the same.

That’s where the vision for starting my business truly began. When It came to choosing the name “The Tidy Trainer” It felt like God whispered it in my ear somehow. I added the two components together and it just stuck. I’m a fitness trainer who happens to be “tidy” but I’ll also be “training” others on how to be tidy as well.

Michelle , before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I’m Michelle, The Tidy Trainer, a professional home organizer, personal trainer bestie & fashion industry drop-out who’s obsessed with french fries. Besides all that goodness, I’ve been an advocate for my autistic son for over 20 years. Despite living a pretty hectic life, I’ve developed a very “particular set of skills” on the importance of systems and organization.

And as a result, as wild as it might sound, it’s become my love language. I’ve seen firsthand how it contributes to making life just a tad bit easier and I’m here for it.

Creating calm in the midst of chaos is my superpower. While you might see endless amounts of clutter and impossible tasks, I’m envisioning solutions and doing the running man in my head!

Whether you’re a busy parent, caretaker, or an overwhelmed professional struggling to balance it all, you deserve a home that’s calming & functional. Using sustainable, real-life tidying systems that cater to your lifestyle, we’ll kick clutter to the curb and whip your space into shape so you feel good about coming home.

Whether it’s in-person here in NYC or virtually, I’ll be your organizing cheerleader! I’ll walk you through the home organizing process with all the pomp and circumstance I can muster. That’s my job as your tidy coach.

Together, we’ll create a personalized system that will allow you to manage and maintain a clutter-free home that compliments your life and your design style.

After all, it’s time for your home to become your place of zen.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

In 2020, I was laid off from my management position in corporate and residential wellness, I decided that I was going to become an entrepreneur instead of returning to the job market.

I started off full steam ahead! I did all my research, set up the company name, my logo, and brand photoshoot for my website. All the things!

Then I got Covid a month after my first vaccination shot. It felt like a bad cold and I was better within a few weeks. But what I wasn’t prepared for the massive brain fog, lack of concentration, fatigue, and depression that came afterward.

I lost all the motivation that I had put into my business. I had no motivation to do much of anything besides day to day tasks of taking care of my family and working with the few personal training clients I had at the time. As a result of this, the work I had poured into my business fell to the wayside.

It took about a year total for me to get back on track but I did not give up my dream. My vision was derailed but not gone! The day I launched my website was bittersweet because I remember where I came from!

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

I have two Instagram accounts.

The first one is my main account and it shares my journey as a wife, raising a son with autism, advocacy, fitness, and other lifestyle content. I’m proud of the community I’ve built over the years. I posted whatever kind of content that I wanted to inspire people to be their best selves. My son is really the star of the show.

When I launched my business page, although I was super proud of my branding and the overall visuals,
I really struggled with what to post. I wanted to share home organization projects and tips but I also wanted to share some fitness content (because fitness is a big part of my life). I hired someone to help me figure it all out. They set up content pillars and gave me a strategy.

Everything they did was helpful but I still struggled with “how” I wanted to show up. Should I post about that? Can I say this? Is this on brand? Is this value-driven?

One day I decided to just start sharing more realistic posts of what I was working on in my home. I spent the day just recording some projects in my bathroom. One of them in particular was of me using two shower curtains in my bathroom instead of one. It was 8 seconds. I 2nd guessed the video and didn’t post it for weeks.

When I finally posted that video it ended up getting 8.7 million views and went viral.

I never 2nd guessed myself again.

From that moment on I posted whatever felt right to me and whatever allowed me to show up as my true authentic self.

I’m not an expert but my best advice is to show up as you and the people who get it will be your tribe.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://thetidytrainer.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thetidytrainer/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thetidytrainer/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michellehobgood/
• Other: 2nd Instagram account: https://www.instagram.com/its.m.hobgood/?hl=en

Image Credits
Wini Lao Jinnifer Douglas