We recently connected with AJ Jackson and have shared our conversation below.
AJ, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Are you happier as a business owner? Do you sometimes think about what it would be like to just have a regular job?
Being a one-person small business owner has its ups and downs, but overall, I would not trade sharing a passion and gift I have with others to help change lives. I was actually talking about my partner’s job with him last night, and he was complaining about some of the issues he encounters with coworkers, such as safety issues because someone left a trip hazard or a person hogging a machine everyone should have access to. These were just some of the frustrations my partner expressed to me. I then flashed back through all my previous jobs, reminiscing about the good and bad parts all at once. I remember my first job as a lifeguard, thinking it was all tanning and people-watching, but then realized the responsibility it came with was a daunting one with all the chemicals and life-saving requirements. I then flashed to my time in college delivering pizzas, coming home so greasy it wouldn’t come off, and realizing that was something I could never go back to and be okay with. I then remembered my first retail job and all the drama that came with it, quickly recapping all the drama from past jobs because office drama was real. I had co-workers who thought it was fun to scare me constantly, which was not a fun reminder of my childhood. I then thought about my most recent job, specifically when I was let go because the job was not a good fit for me, and I knew this after day 1 when the person who was to train me realized who and why I was there. This was the whole reason I took time, explored some things, and decided how I truly wanted to spend the rest of my professional career. With a calm mind, I focused on the present time and remembered I work with people who are ready and want the services and guidance I have to offer and are committed to making a difference in their situation because they have invested money, time, and energy to get it back on track with my help. Yes, I have to manage all the photos, feedback, marketing, social media, websites, payments, etc., but that is what keeps it going, and in time, if I need to pay for those services because there are professionals out there who can do it better than I can, I respect that. So, in conclusion, yes, it is tough to be a small business owner, but the payoff to practice my passion and help people is a rewarding venture for me. I am also very lucky to have the support of family and my partner while exploring and enjoying this option to further my happiness in life. A big shoutout of thanks to my family, and my partner Brian for helping me get Organizing by AJ off the ground.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
I started organizing very young and realized I had a natural talent for it in high school. While I have brains, I knew I was not going to college on an academic scholarship, so I had to explore other ways to pay for college, and swimming was it. I had competitively swam since I was 10, and I enjoyed it and was rather good at it. So, off to Arkansas from Atlanta, GA, I went. In a traditional four-year university, you need a focus, but I was all over the place with my interests. I started out in psychology, then moved to biology, and ended with fashion merchandising and textile construction. Pleasantly enough, all these disciplines help me in my career as an organizer. Every job I have had has helped me manage the back-end items or helped me relate and manage my clients and our time together.
I offer a variety of services: decluttering, packing/unpacking, organizing, installing closet inserts, and general shelf building, as well as a variety of packaged hours for ease of the entire process. My packages range from 12-36 hours, grouped together and paid for upfront to help relieve the stress of paying every session, removing donations, and measuring for any system with products. I like to solve problems of clutter and efficiency. I will often help my clients with furniture positioning and the flow of routines and habits around their homes. I think each organizer has a different set of talents to offer, as well as personality and personal insight into organizing. This is why it is important to do some research about organizers in your area and perhaps interview a few to ensure your personalities jive and you like the way they work. If you need help organizing in any way, I hope I have inspired you to reach out to professionals in your area, even if it is not me. I want to inspire others with the passion and talent to organize to see what it takes in your state and area to start your own thing or join someone who is hiring a staff. When we live with efficiency and systems, life can flourish, and other enjoyments (friends, family, hobbies, etc.) can become front and center of our lives.
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
As a small business owner just starting out, I was very excited to get clients, but I didn’t quite know how to vet them yet. Covid had been with us for about a year, and some people, including me, had lost touch with interpersonal skills. I had signed up for a free website that supported Professional Organizers like me, thinking this was a great way to help with SEO and visibility, and in time I got an inquiry. However, this inquiry felt weird initially, and I should have gone with my gut from the start. A “woman” had contacted me asking if she could hire me to help her move into town as her husband worked a lot, and they needed to hire a bunch of people to make things happen in a short amount of time, and I was one of them, specifically the one who would run the show as far as managing the movers placing furniture, installers of wall decor, cleaners, etc., I thought to myself this is a huge job, and I was so excited to have gotten an opportunity to showcase my project management talents. Well, as time went on, things didn’t sound or feel right, and I asked all the right questions and the person ghosted me. A few months later, I got the same sort of inquiry, but this time, the scenario got to the point where I checked out the address, and it checked out that the current tenants were moving out but didn’t know who was moving in. They gave me the name of the Management Company for this property, and I told them about the request I received. This new client also wanted to send me a cashier’s check so I could pay myself and the movers because the client could not be there on move-in day. With the experience feeling eerily similar to a previous one, I humored the scammer and made them feel comfortable enough to send me that cashier’s check, at which point I went to the bank and filed a fraud report with all the appropriate information. They confirmed my suspicions. This website is still out there touting to help Organizers find clients and pay for premium spots, however I tell everyone I meet about this situation because it proves that not everyone is out there to hire us legitimately. When something doesn’t feel right, it probably isn’t. Paying attention to little details and building your ability to listen to and follow your gut is important when you’re a small business owner. I am still on that website. However, I have not gotten any inquiries, and I do not pay for the premium spots. I have vetted other Service provider apps and found that for me Angi works the best at getting me clients and keeping me at the top of the search results.
What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?
When I first wanted to join the Professional Organizers in my area, it was long before I started my business. I called around and got a phone interview with a company. I was so excited to share my thoughts about my natural talent and what my friends and family had told me. I remember saying I could come work for free to show you what I can do. Unfortunately, that wasn’t enough for this company. So instead of following my dream and making my own thing happen, I sucked back down into myself and was sad I was rejected. When I started my own thing, I vowed never to be upset about someone wanting to do what I do. While I am naturally competitive (it’s the swimmer in me), I encourage and support anyone who wants to organize. I truly believe there is enough business out there for us all, and the number of personalities among us will inevitability fit with a niche or clientele of some kind within our field. There are more than just organizers in our field; there are teachers, large and small organizing businesses, business-only organizers, and digital or paper organizers, among many others. If you love organizing, you’ll find your niche doing it. A supportive, honest, and inspiring organizer is what I want my reputation to be.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.organizingbyaj.com
- Instagram: @organizedbyaj
- Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/aj-jackson-pro-organizer