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

Jodee, appreciate you joining us today. Let’s talk legacy – what sort of legacy do you hope to build?

If I think about my legacy, my first hope is that I’m around to hear or see it! I believe that your legacy doesn’t have to wait for you to be gone. I hope that people remember me (and Simple Organized Solutions) for making a positive impact on their lives. I hope they feel like I’ve helped them to regain control of their clutter and given them a sense of calm.

Jodee, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

My love of organization comes from teaching elementary school (mostly kindergarten). After 30 years I retired with a passion for helping people reach their full potential. During my career, I was challenged by limited time, limited resources, and an over-abundance of energy (mostly in the form of 5 year olds). Keeping our classroom orderly was a priority. I continually found that having systems and processes in place for how things are kept allowed us to focus on what was wildly important (i.e. reading, writing, and arithmetic 😉). This is what I hope to give to my clients.

Having a clutter-free and organized home or business allows for higher productivity, greater efficiency, and overall SANITY! As a leader in one of the most forward-thinking schools in the nation, I was trained in The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. This book and its philosophy of living your most effective life by Dr. Stephen R. Covey changed me. I learned that habits create patterns and patterns generate results.

As my client, I want you to ask yourself: What do I want my results to be? Then I hope we can work together to create an organizational system for you and your family (or your business) that not only makes sense to you and is easy to maintain, but one that allows you to be your very best self!

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

UNlearning is hard – especially for teachers! When I started organizing for my friends and family, I would go into their spaces with a plan – MY plan. I would start sorting and arranging according to what I thought was the “right” way. After all, I am the organizer. I am the one with the experience and the know-how. Right?! While I like to think that I know how a space should function, I needed to listen to my clients. I needed to know how the space would function most effectively FOR THEM. So I had to learn to pivot and to UNlearn my approach. I began to rely more on my training in The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People as I consulted with potential clients. We would Begin With The End In Mind as we talked through the needs of the space and how it would best function for them, their family, or their job. I also focused on Seeking First To Understand Then Being Understood. I began to listen first, then respond. What I learned from practicing these two habits was that even though I knew how to organize a space, I would better serve my clients with an organized space that supported THEIR goals, not mine.

UNlearning is often times as powerful as learning itself. If you give yourself the opportunity to step back and recalibrate, the lesson could make all the difference in your success. When clients approach me weeks or months after a project and say that they are “so happy with the space” or “It’s been so easy to maintain,” I know that I have been successful. If I had used only MY approach, rather than listening to THEIR needs, this may not be the case. And it feels great to know that I’ve made a difference for them!

What’s worked well for you in terms of a source for new clients?

New clients can be hard to find – especially as a new small business without an actual storefront. I launched my organizing business solely online – with a fresh website and all the typical social media accounts. And I fully expected to receive my first clients from those sources. WRONG! My very first client was a dear friend and my fitness trainer who wanted a more organized kitchen and pantry. From there, my next client was another dear friend who was moving into a new home. After that, a friend of a friend who had mentioned my name and business at a neighborhood barbecue. From those types of personal endorsements, S.O.S began to gain some traction. I still post regularly on social media, but I learned that clients (most often) come from other clients. I’m a little in awe and always honored when someone contacts me with a statement like “My neighbor told me that you do an great job with ______!” It just feels great knowing that a former client trusts me enough to refer me to someone else.

And while my new clients come mostly from existing ones, never underestimate the power of liking, following, or sharing accounts on social media. It makes such a difference for small businesses!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.thesosorganizer.com
• Instagram: @thesosorganizer
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thesosorganizer

Image Credits
Rachel Garrison