We recently connected with Sarah Dunn and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Sarah, thanks for joining us today. Parents play a huge role in our development as youngsters and sometimes that impact follows us into adulthood and into our lives and careers. Looking back, what’s something you think you parents did right?
My parents did a lot of things right but one of the most impactful things they did was build a business out of their garage. Not only did they show me what’s possible, they also taught me about work-life balance. My parents rarely missed one of my swim meets or other important events growing up. I took it for granted then, but now as an adult, I realize just how lucky I was that my parents started their own business which afforded them the ability to be present in my life. Their presence and support was and continues to be a huge motivator of my success.
Sarah, 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?
My name is Sarah Dunn and I got my professional start working as an event planner in San Francisco. I planned hundreds of fun holiday parties for companies like Google, Task Rabbit, Imgur, Redfin, and more, as well as product launch parties, happy hour events, food & beverage festivals, birthdays and weddings. While I was working for the venue in SF, I loved going down to our basement storage area and organizing all of our supplies. Organizing, reorganizing, and decluttering has something I’ve always been good at, loved doing, and something my friends came to me for.
I had never really thought of starting a business around it until I was gifted Marie Kondo’s book, The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up. I read it and thought: someone is speaking my language! Reading this book reignited my love for the organizing process and got me thinking about starting an organizing business. So when COVID shattered the live events industry in March of 2020, I began making steps towards launching the business I have today.
It took me about a year before I took the leap and left the corporate world… and a year after that, I had worked with just shy of 100 clients. That’s what I’m most proud of– working with as many clients as I did in a year. I couldn’t have predicted it, but with drive and perseverance, I think I launched the business at the perfect time.
Do you have any insights you can share related to maintaining high team morale?
I have to say I’m really lucky in that my team doesn’t need a ton of managing. My team is made up of rockstars, each with their own strengths. They’re great at what they do and I trust them to do it. From one business owner to the next: it’s important to find your people. My employees know that they can come to me with questions if they have them, but for the most part I trust them to do the best work possible. They know that each client we get is a potential new customer in the future (because of referrals)… and that motivates all of us.
Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?
I don’t have a massive following on social media, but I do have an engaged following and I think that’s important to note. I used to be hyper focused on growing my audience until I realized one day that the majority of my clients are coming from avenues other than social media. Now I think of my social media more as a portfolio of the work we’ve done. Clients will find me online first and most likely, they’ll check me out on social media second. As long as I’m posting the work I do regularly and sharing valuable tips with my audience, I feel good about it.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.getitdunn.co
- Instagram: getitdunn.co
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/getitdunn.co
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/positive-outlook/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/getitdunnco
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/get-it-dunn-solana-beach
Image Credits
Kristin Bradford Photography