We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Emily B. Woolf. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Emily B. below.

Emily B., thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to have you retell us the story behind how you came up with the idea for your business, I think our audience would really enjoy hearing the backstory.

For nearly 7 years, I’ve been trying to figure out what that thing was. Even out of high school, I wasn’t really sure what I wanted to do, so I went into Communications, which turned into Public Relations and Advertising. Upon graduating, I landed a job at a super chic full-service advertising agency in the city as an Account person. Long story short, even moving agencies, transitioning positions, and learning new skills, there was always some void of wanting more and it just felt like I was settling. Settling for a corporate job, settling for 9-to-5 without being able to deviate, settling for 15 days of PTO, settling for validation from people who took my good, hard work ethic for granted. So, I’ve always been in search of finding “it”.

I finally pushed through self-doubt and insecurities and leaned into something that has always been a passion of mine and something I excel in… home organizing and interior design! This industry has gotten more saturated in recent years due to The Home Edit, but I’ve loved and have been organizing long before iPhones, The Container Store, and The Home Edit. I would help friends clean their rooms, design custom drawer organization solutions for my dad to build, and always bugged my mom to help decorate her living room.

To make this unique to me, I needed an identity and a brand that speaks to the industry, stands out, and is a reflection of me. Many organization companies have a lot of names that feature the actual person, ‘home’, or ‘organize’ in some shape or form. The inception of Brass & Bubbles is truly unique to me, and once this came to be on pen and paper I knew this was it. I love brass, but it’s also symbolic of the process of organizing and home projects. Before you make something great you need to research, make a plan, get a little messy, declutter, and purge – aka ‘buffering brass.’ Then once a space is all organized, decorated, and put together it’s time to pop some bubbles to celebrate a fresh start – literally or figuratively! The name and brand, Brass & Bubbles, encompasses the thoughtful work that goes into planning and organizing a space and the feeling you’ll have once it’s complete.

Emily B., 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 a small-town girl, who turned into a city girl. However, it’s the small-town laurels that I hold close to my heart and bring to my personal brand. I take pride in my work ethic, authenticity, honesty, problem-solving skills, and creative thinking to solve those problems. It’s a mix of all of those characteristics that I’m proud to be able to bring to my clients in the form of Brass & Bubbles home organizing. I can help transform a space into something beautiful, useable, and new again when those I’m supporting are often overwhelmed or don’t have time.

Brass & Bubbles includes a range of services including home organization, decluttering, moving support, interior design services, and home project support/planning, we certainly aren’t afraid to get our hands a little dirty! So far, Brass & Bubbles has had the privilege of organizing and transforming garage spaces, shoes for couples, and shoes for families of five, a mud room, laundry rooms, and kitchen pantries. We can make our client’s vision come to life, or bring vision to a space that is overwhelming and cluttered – no project is too big or overwhelming for us!

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

Learning how to pivot and identifying when you need to pivot has been a huge strength that I’ve learned and worked through, especially in these last 3-years. I hate to give the pandemic credit, but it definitely started that mindset, and I’m sure many others for the need to pivot. I’ll share two pivot stories.

This past fall, I finally shifted my mindset of pivoting careers. As a 33-year-old, there was some sense of needing to have life figured out, and ideally be making bigger moves, not pivoting into a completely different career/industry and saying good-bye to a salary, health insurance, 401k, PTO, and all those other securities that come with having a full-time job. But after reading and hearing other stories of people changing careers much older, I thought to myself – why wait? Another book I’ve been reading (The 4-Hour Work Week) talks about how we work during the best physical years of our lives, to retire when we’re older and potentially unable to physically do all the things we’ve been saving for and waiting to do. I had the biggest ah-ha moment, it was so obvious, but nothing I’d ever seen or heard before, and I couldn’t help but think… how messed up is that? Lastly, I knew in my heart of hearts that without big risks there is no reward and this career pivot was that big risk I needed to take. So, I made a plan, put things in place, and stuck to my timeline to leave my job in order to pursue becoming my own boss and working “full-time” to grow my home organization business, Brass & Bubbles. Financially, I wish I was in a better spot, with more money saved, and less debt on the credit cards… but I also knew this was what I needed to do and start finding my own happiness and cutting out the negativity I let become normal that was really unhealthy for so long.

Pivoting can also be on a smaller, daily scale. I was recently working on an install for Brass & Bubbles, and things weren’t exactly going as planned, such as life. I was starting to doubt myself and could feel the stress coming. I simply stopped what was frustrating me in that moment, and started working on something else that I knew could be accomplished, but also knew I would have to go back to that part that wasn’t working. By the time I got back to that frustrating point, I was a little more accomplished and calm and knew that was the next thing that needed to be finished. And I did it! Pivoting in these everyday moments by walking away, taking a moment, breathing, and resetting makes us stronger mentally, more confident, and better when we come back.

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

Fun fact, I left a full-time job in digital marketing and social media, but this time I get to focus on creating content that I especially love! Depending on your industry or focus, building an audience can take time. For me, I want to focus on an audience that is local and could potentially hire me! So defining your target audience is a crucial step, and may evolve over time. It’s great to find people in different markets, but for right now I’m working on growing a home base. I don’t just follow people to follow them. I support and follow local businesses, but not every single restaurant or trendy place. I also follow my clients, who often end up sharing their projects from my posts which usually ends up reaching a new network (aka theirs) and in turn a few new followers for the Brass & Bubbles brand.

So my first piece of advice is to be patient, Social takes time, and it takes consistency and engagement, which is my second piece of advice but with a caveat. Be consistent, BUT don’t post content just to post it, make sure it’s authentic, relevant, and embodies your brand. To summarize:

– Be consistent, BUT don’t create content just to create content
– Don’t try to keep up with every single trend or TikTok
– Be authentic to what works for you, your brand, and your audience
– Engage with relevant followers through likes and comments (comments are the real winner here!)
– Never underestimate the power of word of mouth/referrals
– Plan out content, but be ready to pivot

Contact Info:

• Website: https://brassnbubbles.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/brassnbubbles/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/brassnbubbles/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/emily-woolf-4061804b/

Image Credits
Michelle Loufman