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

Hi Buffy, thanks for joining 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?

I love running my own business but sometimes it can get stressful and I find myself fantasizing about working for someone else. It seems the grass is greener for people that get to clock in and clock out. I know this isn’t true because I’ve had jobs that allowed this in the past and I was miserable. It’s easy to dream about what it is that I’m lacking instead of focusing on what I can do to change things. This thought comes up whenever our business is slow and I have to put in new effort to find clients. It’s when I have to become a little uncomfortable that it starts to feel more comfortable settling into the thought of something else. It’s normally a fleeting thought though because I love what I do and I know it really makes a difference in the lives of my employees, our clients and myself. I remember how much I love my business and it usually turns this thought around. I am grateful I found organizing and that it is such a need in the world.

Buffy, 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 have always loved to organizing. Since I was little I would always be the first person to volunteer to help my family clean out a closet or to help a friend rearrange their room. I am good at it and it brings me joy. I worked in customer service and in restaurants in my previous working life. I learned a lot from these environments that have I brought into my business. I earned a BA in Organizational Development and graduated with honors. It took 20 years before I realized that I had created my business around these principles. However, instead of bringing my love and skill to businesses I was bringing it to homes. We have branched back out to also include businesses but my true love is calming the home environment for clients. Helping bring peace and function to someones home allows them to unwind and recharge.

I believe that organization is the basis to everything. Home management, time management and finances are all based in organization. Without it, there is chaos. I love bringing the finesse to the mess. To help people see past the clutter and to bring about more clarity in their space. It’s a lot of hard work and there is a reason people get overwhelmed when it’s out of order. It’s fun to bring some stability to the disorder and help people onto a more organized and functional path. Of course this is a process and not normally accomplished over night (the mess wasn’t usually created in just one day). I am humbled by the amount of clients that have invited us into their homes and revaled their dirty little secrets so we could help them on a better path. It takes a lot of courage to admit you need help. I am grateful that people trust us enough to allow us to help them. This is why I would not want to work for someone else. It is truly an honor to be given that trust.

How’d you meet your business partner?

I have been lucky that others have seen my vision for my business since the beginning. I started this business 9 years ago. One of our first and largest jobs was found by my brother. It was his neighbor who had lost her husband about a year prior. Unfortunately he has left her with a hoarded home. We don’t specialize in hoarding but I knew that I could help this woman. I went in on my own to help her with her closet. It took us 6 hours to get it cleared and reorganized. The whole house was heavily cluttered, including half of her bed. I knew I needed help! I was talking to a friend of mine about the job and mentioned that it was bigger than I had expected. She offered to come and help me the next day. What a difference! We got so much done that day I knew that I needed more hands on deck. The friend that came to help is now one of my lead organizers and who now runs her own jobs.

After the first day I mentioned we might need more help. My lead suggested a neighbor of hers that loved to organize that wanted to help too. So she did. And wow what a difference a team can make. We got the whole home organized and cleaned out in just around 60 man hours. I am so grateful to the ladies that chose to help me and who stuck around to help me grow my business. The second woman become my business partner who deals with the website and the graphic design. She insistingly saw what I was doing and helped me set up the structure to the business. She encouraged me to think bigger and still does to this day. I knew I was onto something when all of this help just showed up.

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

I think what helped me build my reputation in my market is doing what I say I will do. I love to under promise and over deliver to my clients. We manage expectations with our clients to ensure they are not disappointed. It’s easy to imagine a perfectly unpacked house after a move. It’s a much different story in reality. It always takes more time and effort to make it all come together. I think that one of the biggest reputation building aspects is also my degree. I went to school to learn how to break down complex systems so that they are bite sized and teachable. It gives me the foundation to help people understand that one step at a time will add up to big wins. It helps me paint the picture for the processes we will follow to get our clients to their goals.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.borganizedtoday.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/borganizedtoday
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/borganizedtoday
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=b+organized+today