We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Winter Hankins and Candice Batman a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Winter and Candice, thanks for joining us today. Can you tell us about a time where you or your team really helped a customer get an amazing result?
We have a client (now dear friend) who shared this beautiful and honest testimonial of her experience and the process of working with our team at Swan Simplicity. She was an absolute joy to work with and we are so very proud of her continued growth and ongoing desire to simplify her personal space. Her and stories like hers, is why we are driven to do the work we do.
“As a single mom, working and ‘Covid-schooling’ my daughter, I was drowning in clutter and mess. I was in way too deep to dig myself out alone. Friends tried to assist, family offered advice, my mom clipped articles about simplifying my life and organizing my home. I bought countless organizers – bins, baskets, shelves – you name it. And I tried, again and again but, I could not dig myself out. The mess just moved from room to room. One step forward and two steps back. I’m not exaggerating when I say that Candice and Winter – Swan Simplicity – are the heroines of my story.
I was nervous and in tears before they came for the first session, because who wants to display their mess? Not me. I hid the pile of unwashed pots and pans in the oven; I stuffed the dirty laundry piles in the washer and the unfolded clean ones in the dryer. None of that was necessary, which I knew the moment they walked in. They get it. That’s why they do what they do. And why they are so very good at it.
My organizational vision went through several iterations as we cleared the mess and decluttered spaces. My goals shifted when my daughter went back to school, and I got a new job. Candice and Winter were there through it all.
For me, the process took some time – as I could afford it, as my busy schedule allowed, they came back for several sessions until we got it all handled. I had significant barriers along the way – from financial challenges to a mold problem that required my daughter’s room to be completely remodeled – but they came back each time I called with a new project or organizing need.
You don’t have to be in as deep as me to call Swan Simplicity. They customized my experience for me as an individual, which I’m confident they do with all their other clients, as well. Whether it’s a garage or a junk room or kitchen cabinets bursting at the seams, they can help!
The first time they said they wanted to share the before and after pics of my home, I was way too embarrassed to even consider it. And they didn’t pressure me to do so. However, as the process unfolded and when we arrived at a place that I feel proud to call my home, I changed that view. Not because I’m any less embarrassed by the “before” mess, but… because it was absolutely life changing and others may find hope in seeing my journey. If you are like me, or less so, there is a solution. It’s Swan Simplicity.” – Shanna
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
Our professional organizing business, Swan Simplicity was named with both in mind; our shared loved of community and the beauty of Lakeland (known since the 1950s for its ties to royal swans, gifted from Queen Elizabeth) and the practice of simplifying one’s life and personal space.
We officially launched our business in October of 2019 after an exciting summer of working part-time (evenings and weekends) with family and friends, studying decluttering and organization methods, building a portfolio of before and after photos and tapping into the knowledge of all our most valued mentors. In January of 2020, we left our full-time corporate jobs (15 and 19 years of service) and set out to pursue small business ownership in central Florida with the intention to touch as many lives as possible by bringing peace to personal spaces, big and small.
As professional organizers, we offer clients a way to live simply, functionally, and intentionally. We work to determine what a space is desired to be used for, what is needed in the area to be efficient and then we assist with decision making to help clients declutter the items that have taken over the area. Once items that do not belong elsewhere in the home are identified as donate or discard, we plan to have all unwanted items removed real time. Items that are donated, are repurposed in the community quickly and clients find peace of mind knowing they are helping others.
From there, with the remaining needed items – storage solutions are provided, current organizing product can be repurposed or, we offer our shopping services to get lasting solutions in place. All items being kept are then placed in a way that makes sense for day-to-day life use. This process is successful and often life changing because of the following factors: there is ZERO judgement on our end, there is loads of support and accountability and, there is a comfortable and interpersonal connection that allows for in-depth work to occur in such personal spaces.
In addition to residential and business in-person decluttering and organizing, we offer virtual organizing (for those DIY types that are hands on and need our assistance, direction, and support to complete a project), downsizing, pre-move preparation and packing, home unpacking and organization.
Any thoughts, advice, or strategies you can share for fostering brand loyalty?
Our clients become friends and often like family. When you are side by side with a person, reviewing family keepsakes and decades of personal belongings and purchases- you form a special type of bond. Throughout the process there is support and assistance in all decision making. Sometimes the support looks like asking a thoughtful question like “Have you been able to use that item like you intended when it was purchased or gifted?” and sometimes, it is having a donation box or a trash bag open and silently holding space as someone decides to part with an item that is no longer serving them or, their space. Many of our sessions end in hugs and sometimes tears. Clients are changed and at peace in their new spaces. They have a renewed energy and sense of being. We keep in touch often by texts and calls. We are excited to occasionally receive updates and photos of other areas they tackled with their newly acquired knowledge of organizing. We are routinely invited back to work in other areas in the home. For many clients, we schedule maintenance visits to keep areas orderly over time and changes in the different seasons of life.
Where do you think you get most of your clients from?
Just shy of three years in business and our most successful source of obtaining new clientele… is word of mouth. To date, we have not paid for advertisement. Though we look forward to the day, our scale and reach permits advertising our services, we have been able to rely solely on ecstatic customers telling others about their experiences with our team. Before and after photos are wonderful tools to show the work that is completed and images of the number of items being donated to locals in need, help others understand our drive to give back.
As incredible as pictures are, they are not as impactful and a person telling how a session with us, changed the way they are able to live within their home and within their minds. It is now clearly understood that clutter impacts mental and physical health. When people’s spaces are changed for the better, they are changed for the better. When they tell others, people that feel unreachable begin to realize they can have peace in their personal spaces too.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.swansimplicity.com
- Instagram: swan_simplicity
- Facebook: @swansimplicity
- Yelp: Swan Simplicity
- Other: Google – Swan Simplicity TikTok – @swansimplicity *Owners* – Candice Batman and Winter Hankins