We recently connected with Dara Zycherman and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Dara thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Let’s start with a story that highlights an important way in which your brand diverges from the industry standard.
While I wanted to help people downsize and organize their homes, I didn’t want to simply create Instagram-ready before and after pictures. I knew it was easy to help people let go of a few items and make a space look organized. But I didn’t want to be that type of professional organizer. I wanted to help people gain a more precise understanding of their challenges and how they ended up in this disorganized state. There is a lot of shame and embarrassment underpinning disorganization. I wanted to elevate people’s lives and their confidence.
I also wanted to change the practice of purchasing more stuff in the form of organizing tools. Instead, I help people be more environmentally conscious and educated about how to keep stuff out of the landfill and zero waste strategies.
Using mindfulness, I turned client organizing sessions into self-discovery sessions. In the end, clients not only have a much more downsized and organized space, but they’ve worked through many roadblocks. They have a deeper understanding of minimalism and how it applies to their personal situation.
As my professional organizing sessions included a lot of coaching, I expanded my services to include minimalist lifestyle coaching. I can now reach more clients, even when I can’t physically be in their space.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
Always organized as a child, I realized friends and family around me didn’t find it as fun as I did. In fact, they didn’t like it at all. And they actually wanted my help. By helping them, I learned about the challenges other people face and solutions I could offer to make their lives easier. I also learned about sustainability while earning my degree in environmental science and working at the U.S. Green Building Council, and so I became determined to bring minimalism to the masses.
I wanted to be a business owner. I wanted to help others. I loved downsizing, organizing, and creating systems. I practiced mindfulness. I relished simplicity. I wanted to promote sustainability. And so, Less Equals More was born.
While I first began by offering professional organizing services and blogging, I expanded the business to offer workshops, the Minimalist Lifestyle Masterclass (online course + group coaching), speak (including TEDx), and teaching sessions for places like Capital One and Freelancers Hub. I then began offering standalone Minimalist Lifestyle Coaching services.
My role is to work with clients to undo the complicated nature of their homes and lifestyles, helping them find greater peace and productivity. I craft unique strategies for each client because there are no one-size-fits-all solutions. Encouraging my clients to work from a deeper level of understanding through the process of downsizing and simplifying, I also incorporate components of sustainability, personal finance, minimalism, and mindfulness.
My mission is to inspire a million minimalists. But it’s also to inspire you to create the life you desire, let go of the past, and recognize the full agency that you have in your life. Plus, be able to find your keys :).
Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?
When COVID hit, over 90% of my revenue came from in-person client sessions and talks. So I decided to use the newfound time to work on projects I’d been eager to develop. I first created and launched my Minimalist Lifestyle Masterclass online course and group coaching program from scratch, followed by my Minimalist Lifestyle Coaching program. Both online and allowing me to reach a wider audience, I saw the potential that would expand far beyond the height of the pandemic.
I used the extra time as a gift while keeping my expenses low to get me through this challenging time. Now my business is where I want it to be … and I have time to dedicate to writing my book!
We’d love to hear the story of how you turned a side-hustle into a something much bigger.
Working at the U.S. Green Building Council was my dream job in the environmental nonprofit field. But I knew there’d be a time when I’d want to switch careers. So in considering my love of organizing and minimalism, I learned about the professional organizing industry. Then I did something that, at the time, was very uncharacteristic of me. Without a lot of planning or creating a business name, I sent a message to my neighborhood listserv saying that I was a burgeoning professional organizer and would anyone be interested in my services at the low price of $50/hr? I couldn’t believe it when someone responded. That client introduced me to several clients, too, showing me the impact of referrals. After side hustling for two years, I took a break as my career took up more space in my life. But when I was ready to leave my job and start my own business, I realized that I could build a business around my successful side hustle.
Contact Info:
- Website: whylessequalsmore.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/whylessequalsmore/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/whylessequalsmore
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/darazycherman/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCs_c5qBLIImInW2fLwx_vFg
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/less-equals-more-austin