Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Kimberly Cheeseman. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Kimberly, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today So, let’s start with a hypothetical – what would you change about the educational system?

As freshman we’re told to pick a major in college, and that will become our career. Kudos to those who knew exactly what they wanted to do for the rest of their life when they were 18, but my former self was wildly wrong when I decided (with no real reasoning) to peruse physical therapy. After four years of undergrad education, I shadowed in a PT office and quickly realized I was bored out of my skull. How could I have gone through four whole years of schooling to realize it actually wasn’t what I wanted to do? Furthermore, most of those for years were “setting me up” for PT school, which would be another incredible financial endeavor once undergrad was done. Now I’m massively in student loan debt, don’t have a job, and have no clue where to go next.

I believe the education system could do a much better job at guiding us to our futures, instead of asking us to throw very expensive spaghetti at the wall and see what sticks. We need to experience life, develop skills, and fully understand the financial, physical and emotional impacts these decisions will have on our futures. As a society, we also need to drop the idea that right out of high school we know where we want to go and who we want to be. The education system tells us to pick one path, and that is who we will be from now on. But that is just not true!

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

My name is Kimberly Cheeseman, owner of Orderly at the Shore, a professional home organizing business located at the Jersey Shore. I’ve always been a very organized, Type A personality, but I never even imagined I would one day be doing this for a living. In college I thought I wanted to become a physical therapist. I didn’t have this burning passion or drive to become a PT, it just seemed like a smart, safe career to have. Out of undergrad I was denied or waitlisted to every PT school I applied to, and it didn’t really even bother me. That was when I realized I actually didn’t want to go to PT school, and I truly had no clue what I wanted to do with my life.

I’ve always gravitated towards health care, but I couldn’t put my finger on exactly what part. A Google search led me to Nuclear Medicine Technology, and after some more school I landed a job I truly enjoyed. I loved helping people and being apart of their health journey – this was it. Until… it wasn’t anymore. I started Orderly at the Shore as a side business to make some extra money and share something I loved doing with people. This slowly opened my eyes to how much I actually disliked the corporate healthcare system, and how different I was now than when I started almost a decade ago.

A year later, I left my job in the hospital to pursue Orderly full time. It’s been almost three months since I left and it’s been a terrifying, yet amazing change that I didn’t realize I desperately needed. I am forever grateful for my years in healthcare and all the life lessons I’ve learned, but i’m just not the person I was when I started. It’s taken a lot of self reflection to realize we all go through seasons in life and that it’s okay to change your path as many times as needed.

Orderly at the Shore has become way more than organizing for me, which is something I didn’t expect when I started. We’re not all meant to be on the same path our entire lives, and that is something I hope to open discussions about with my clients and audience.

What’s been the most effective strategy for growing your clientele?

When I first started Orderly, I was overwhelmed with all the information out there about marketing and business growth. I believed I needed to do ALL the things or I would never get any clients. I bought all the trainings and templates, dabbled in advertising, and came out just confused and defeated. Over time I’ve learned every business succeeds in their own way, even different businesses within the same niche. We all have different goals an expectations, so following ALL the advice of those experts really isn’t helping. Learning to pick lessons out that apply specifically to my personal business goals produced a major shift. I put way more effort into personal client connections, and have benefited greatly from it. Client referrals and word of mouth has by far been the largest way I’ve grown my clientele, which has come from building relationships (not buying all the courses).

We’d love to hear the story of how you turned a side-hustle into a something much bigger.

My side hustle turned full time business evolved from one main thing: confidence. The more confidence I gained in my process, my decisions and my abilities, the more I was able to grow. Taking the leap from healthcare to entrepreneurship was absolutely terrifying, but once I actually did it my confidence skyrocketed. If I was confident enough to realize I needed to make and change and actually DO it, then the ceiling on where I could go was limitless. Every day I am learning and growing, and my confidence ebbs and flows with that. But learning to lean into my own intuition and unique abilities Is what keeps driving me forward.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.orderlyattheshore.com
• Instagram: Orderly_atthe_shore
• Facebook: Orderly_atthe_shore

Image Credits
Little Island Media