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

Allison, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Early in your career, how did you think through the decision of whether to start your own firm or join an established firm?

With a background as an Occupational Therapist for over a decade focused on client centered care and guiding others to create and reach their goals, I developed private coaching programs to share my successful decluttering methods with other Moms. I have always had a passion for helping those struggling with mental health in my career and personally. In 2019, I started decluttering spaces (in my home) and helping my family as well as sharing tips on social media.

In 2021, we downsized our home to half the square footage and got rid of half our belongings. (I also left my OT career in the acute care setting around the same time) I saw the benefits of living with less including decreased anxiety & overstimulation, less clean up, and more time. I wanted to help others experience these benefits too, so I created & launched Calm Cottage Coaching in May of 2022. I have a passion for helping Moms with neurodiversity (and their kids!) discover rhythm and balance in their homes through decluttering and mindset strategies.

I also have over 8 years of Network Marketing experience, which helped me gain skills in marketing, social media, copy, and more. I am also currently a member in two group coaching communities, which help me further develop my skills as a coach.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

Allison lives in York, SC with her husband and two children (6, 4). She enjoys working with her clients from her new “cloffice”, going to the beach, and spending time with her family exploring their town. Allison began her career as an Occupational Therapist and provided services that target activities of daily living and executive function for running your home smoothly. She has always enjoyed helping others with mental health struggles achieve their goals and discover positive results. Allison knew she could help others by sharing her own story of anxiety struggles and her daughter’s neurodiversity.

With a huge passion throughout her life for organization she decided to embark on a journey out of her career of 10 years to working for herself. With a history of over 8 years in network marketing she knew building a business was a challenge, but doable. In 2021, Allison left her job as an Occupational Therapist while downsizing their home to half the square footage and getting rid of half their belongings. She saw the benefits of living with less including decreased anxiety & overstimulation, less clean up, and more time. Allison wanted to help others experience these benefits too, so she created & launched Calm Cottage Coaching in May of 2022.

Allison is a Clutter Free Coach helping neurodivergent moms declutter, organize, and design spaces that create more rhythm, balance, and function in your home. So many people struggle with the overwhelm of clutter in their home and don’t know where to begin. That’s where Calm Cottage Coaching shines- teaching clients a simple system with small achievable steps that leads you to success in your home. Plus, 1:1 accountability and support!

Calm Cottage Coaching programs are 100% virtual giving anyone access to taking back control of their home. Currently Allison offers private coaching for 6 or 12 weeks as well as Room Makeovers upon request. She also offers free content around decluttering, organizing, mindset, and neurodiversity on her social media and email list. Free Group Challenges are offered quarterly as well as other free coaching opportunities.

Allison loves working with her clients and is SO proud when her systems help her clients achieve their goals. She loves to see and share her clients’ massive transformations in their before/after pictures and videos. Allison is kind, supportive, and nonjudgmental when working with clients as she understands what a huge step it is for many to ask for help in their homes. She is excited to continue reaching more homes across the globe!

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

I have been sharing on social media for a LONG time. With a history of 8 years in network marketing I learned how to share authentically about myself and my passions. When I started Calm Cottage Coaching I decided to “start over” on social media with a new page on Instagram. This allowed me to have a fresh start, brand my business, and discover what content I wanted to share.

The key to social media is consistency, building relationships authentically, and to keep going. Consistency doesn’t have to be daily. There have been many times throughout the past several years since starting Calm Cottage Coaching that I took a mental/social media break. And my following did not fall apart. This is because I am super consistent with sharing content and interacting with my audience.

Building relationships isn’t meant to be a copy/paste salesy interaction. I will admit in my network marketing days I was guilty of that kind of interaction because the “leaders” taught it to us. However, before starting my business I knew I didn’t want to show up like that because it was never “me”. Showing up authentically feels better and is easier. Plus, learning from on of my own coaches to “need nothing” from my audience and clients reminds me that it’s not about me- it’s about them.

And lastly, you have to keep going and not quit. Also, don’t spread yourself too thin. Start with ONE social media outlet that you’re most comfortable with and then branch out to doing more than one. If you start out with too many outlets it becomes overwhelming and hard to keep up thus not really serving your audience.

What’s been the best source of new clients for you?

Referrals and networking! Building awareness of my brand and business with other business women and friends has really helped get Calm Cottage Coaching out there into the world. I’ve seen my business tagged in Moms groups on Facebook. My clients refer me to their friends. I’m in several networking groups (mostly local to my area) and building connections with these business women has been encouraging and provided an opportunity to share about what I do.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.calmcottagecoaching.com
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/calmcottagecoaching?r=nametag
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/calmcottagecoaching/
• Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/calmcottagecoaching
• Other: Free Curiosity Call: https://calendar.app.google/NUZ2VhN4LC7imAh88