We recently connected with Becky Avery and have shared our conversation below.
Becky, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to go back in time and hear the story of how you came up with the name of your brand?
That’s an easy one. When I founded my home organization company, I knew I wanted to change the way someone might think of hiring home organizational help. I wanted to create a space where anyone needing help could feel free from judgement. And, I knew it was important for me to be someone they could lean on. Those words struck me and I wondered: how can I be someone others can “lean on?
Sometime after I had decided to launch, I was asked to help organize a garage for a sweet family with little kids. There was a wild assortment of strollers, shoes, wagons, helmets, school bags, and bikes in the garage – each needing to find its place. One particular day, I turned my attention to untangling the pile of bikes. As I moved them apart, I realized that they all seemed to be leaning against one bike using its kickstand to remain upright.
I’m a kickstand, I thought, as I stood there in the garage.
Kickstand Services. Lean on Us.
Becky, 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 not a resolutions kind of girl, but in January 2024, I declared I was going to work on discovering what I wanted for my future. I knew I had it in me to do this intimidating self-discovery work, but I wasn’t sure where to start. After a few weeks of getting nowhere, I realized I had to tackle this like one of my organizational projects: pull everything out, examine it, assign value, let go of what isn’t working, and restructure what is left. That gave me a ton of courage because I know I am really, really good at organizing!
Months later, I realized that the work I was most proud of in my career was work I did as a Project Manager – whether that project was a sort and declutter for friends, a coordinated relocation, a special event, or even an online estate sale. I LOVE a project and I am great at breaking those projects into small pieces and tackling them one at a time.
With encouragement from those who know me best, at the age of 58, I walked (quite wobbly, I’ll say) away from my job believing that my skills could be more beneficial in other ways. I founded Kickstand Services, a home organization company that helps others dig through their messes, organize their projects and create a less chaotic and more peaceful life.
Can you talk to us about how your side-hustle turned into something more.
For the most part, I have held terrific jobs and worked successfully within my field. Still, there were slow periods when I would hunt for other things I could take on. (If I’m not moving around doing fourteen things at once, I get fidgety.)
I volunteered to do all kinds of things while also maintaining my full-time career. I wrote 90 pages of content for my church website. I built a non-profit when my family needed a service dog. I coordinated home remodel projects, fundraisers, and special events for family and friends. I organized mission trips. I bought and sold things on Facebook Marketplace for other people. I solved technology problems for seniors in my life. I planned trips and built detailed itineraries. And I cleaned out closets. I love a good closet cleanout!
Eventually, I realized, these were all the things I really loved to do. When life circumstances presented me with an opportunity to either a) keep doing the SOS or b) take a leap of faith, I decided to leap. To bet on myself.
Every month, I saved as much as I could. I reduced my spending, took odd jobs on weekends, and built up my reserves. I dreamed of how I would lay it out. I imagined how I could help others and wrote down all my questions, details, ideas, worries, etc. until I realized I had so much more to offer than my employers realized.
Here’s the thing: my friends and family have been telling me what I am good at for years. I didn’t believe them. I didn’t even believe myself! Don’t listen to those who aren’t truly for you. Trust yourself. Trust your people. And, never forget: your side-hustle may not be “side” anymore but it never stops being a hustle.
Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?
Oh my goodness, my life is nothing if it’s not been a PIVOT. But those are stories for another day.
When I started, I wanted to remain open to whatever came my way. I am a person of faith; I trusted that if I worked very hard, stayed focused, and was willing to receive, the “right” clients would come at the “right” times.
At first, I thought I would probably be focused on home organization. Then I got a call from a friend who asked me if I’d be willing to look after her senior mom. Of course, I said. I realized after a few weeks that I really enjoyed this type of support work – serving as her personal assistant, as it were. And I thought: well, let’s do more of this. I developed a few pieces of collateral and started searching for more seniors to support. But instead, I got a client who wanted me to host an estate sale. Yes, I said. I poured all my experience selling on FB Marketplace, yard sales, coordinating neighborhood yard sales, and moving 9 times, into developing a strategy for an estate sale. Then, someone reached out and asked if I’d be willing to organize their move. Yes, I said, realizing this was not turning out the way I had imagined, at all! So far, I had two senior clients, three closet organization clients, an estate sale, and a move. Pivot, pivot, pivot!
Interestingly, each one of these clients needed something different and, true to my mission, I aimed to be someone they could lean on – whatever their needs. My advice: say yes, as often as you can. And, trust that there is more to the purpose of your business than even you can see/vision/imagine.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.kickstandservices.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kickstandservices/?next=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.instagram.com%2Foauth%2Fauthorize%2Fthird_party%2F%3Fclient_id%3D2491247394473102%26redirect_uri%3Dhttps%253A%252F%252Foauth.squarespace.com%252Fauth%252FExternalAuthenticationCallback%26response_type%3Dcode%26scope%3Duser_profile%252Cuser_media%26state%3DGhw1ByXbvCN929yx9wBq8x9J46yvOTqQBxkaDZye%26logger_id%3Dd64c82e9-e96c-4bd0-a0f6-b9434749c5e4
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61564423410269
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rebecca-drew-avery/