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Declutter Your Life: Sarah Mueller's Secrets to Less Stuff, More Life
Are you ready to unleash the incredible freedom of letting go of what's holding you back? In this episode of Seek Go Create, host Tim Winders is joined by Sarah Mueller, founder of the Decluttering Club, to explore how letting go of physical and mental clutter can transform your life. Discover Sarah's impactful strategies that have helped thousands simplify their lives, embrace what's truly important, and find peace without the overwhelm. Whether you're looking to tidy up your home or clear the mental fog, this conversation dives deep into achieving "less stuff and more life." Tune in and start decluttering your way to a more focused, joyful existence.
"Physical clutter is always intertwined with what's going on inside our heads." - Sarah Mueller
Access all show and episode resources HERE
About Our Guest:
Sarah Mueller is a dynamic entrepreneur and founder of the Decluttering Club, a thriving community dedicated to helping individuals transform their lives by simplifying their spaces. With a background in business from the prestigious Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and extensive experience in corporate and entrepreneurial ventures, Sarah has honed her expertise in decluttering, psychology, and marketing. She has successfully guided thousands in overcoming clutter-related challenges, empowering them to focus on what truly matters. Sarah's unique approach combines practical strategies with a deep understanding of mindset, making her a sought-after speaker and coach in the realm of decluttering and organization.
Reasons to Listen:
- Unique Business Evolution: Discover how Sarah Mueller transformed a simple decluttering blog into a thriving membership model business, serving thousands and generating significant revenue. Her journey is filled with insights that could inspire entrepreneurs looking to scale.
- Decluttering Beyond Stuff: Learn about the emotional and mindset aspects of clutter beyond the mere accumulation of physical items. Sarah explains how mental and emotional decluttering can lead to significant life improvements.
- Mindset Mastery: Sarah shares how embracing mistakes and shedding judgment can lead to freedom and success. Anyone struggling with being too hard on themselves will find her perspective refreshing and liberating.
Episode Resources & Action Steps:
Resources Mentioned:
- The Decluttering Club Website: Sarah Mueller's platform where she helps people declutter their lives and homes. You can find resources and training to help you get started on your decluttering journey. Visit thedeclutteringclub.com for more information.
- Social Media Channels: Sarah mentioned that she is quite active on social media and uses it as a primary way to engage with her audience. You can follow The Decluttering Club on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube to stay updated and find inspiration.
- Free Decluttering Challenges: Available through The Decluttering Club's website, these challenges are designed to help you start decluttering with just ten minutes a day. It's a practical way to dip your toes into the process and see real results.
Action Steps:
- Start with a Small Area: Implement the "kitchen zero" concept Sarah mentioned. Begin by choosing one or two tasks you can commit to doing every day in your kitchen. This consistent effort can make a significant difference over time.
- Dedicate Just Ten Minutes a Day: Sarah emphasizes the power of baby steps. Instead of overwhelming yourself with the idea of decluttering everything at once, commit to working for just ten minutes a day. This approach can help ease feelings of overwhelm and perfectionism.
- Join a Supportive Community: Consider joining a community like The Decluttering Club to find support and accountability. Engaging with others who are on a similar journey can provide encouragement and practical tips.
Key Lessons:
- Embrace Mistakes: Sarah emphasizes the incredible freedom that comes with being okay with being wrong. By letting go of the need to always be right, we open ourselves to learning and growing without fear of judgment.
- Defining Clutter: Clutter is more than just physical belongings; it's anything in your possession that isn't serving you. Whether it's physical items, mental clutter, or emotional baggage, identifying and releasing what's unnecessary is crucial for a balanced life.
- Start Small with Decluttering: Sarah introduces the concept of 'kitchen zero,' encouraging people to begin with manageable tasks. By focusing on small, daily habits, you can make significant progress without feeling overwhelmed.
- Mindset Matters: A clutter-free life is closely tied to mindset. Sarah discusses how mental clutter and limiting beliefs can manifest in physical spaces and how addressing these can lead to holistic improvements in one's environment and life.
- Finding Freedom Beyond Fear: The conversation touches on the importance of not letting fear dictate actions, whether it's the fear of letting go or the anxiety of facing what's beneath the clutter. By removing these fears, individuals can tackle clutter more effectively and live a more fulfilling life.
These lessons can guide listeners in decluttering not just their homes but also their minds, leading to a more peaceful and focused way of living.
Episode Highlights:
00:00 Embracing Mistakes: The Freedom of Being Wrong
00:32 Introduction to Sarah Mueller and the Decluttering Club
03:46 The Unique Challenges Women Face with Clutter
06:13 Understanding Clutter: Emotional and Psychological Aspects
25:47 Sarah's Journey: From Corporate to Decluttering Expert
31:53 The Business Journey: From Humble Beginnings
34:24 The Importance of Business Fundamentals
36:07 Guiding the Next Generation
39:02 Starting a Blog: The First Steps
41:10 Overcoming Fear and Embracing Failure
43:54 Recognizing Success and Staying Grounded
50:24 The Power of Community and Support
53:50 Decluttering Tips and Techniques
57:30 Managing Social Media and Final Thoughts
Resources for Leaders from Tim Winders & SGC:
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Transcript
I am such a huge fan of making mistakes.
Speaker:Like I talk about this all the time.
Speaker:what is so bad about being wrong, right?
Speaker:Like, what if you're wrong?
Speaker:Like, what if you were okay with being wrong?
Speaker:There is incredible freedom.
Speaker:Incredible freedom right now.
Speaker:We don't have to defend ourselves.
Speaker:We don't have to fight.
Speaker:We don't have to, we don't have to be right?
Speaker:How can decluttering not just your home, but your life, lead
Speaker:to greater peace and focus?
Speaker:Welcome to this episode of Seek Go Create, where we're joined by Sarah
Speaker:Mueller, founder of the Decluttering Club.
Speaker:Sarah has transformed the lives of hundreds of thousands by
Speaker:teaching them how to let go of clutter without the overwhelm.
Speaker:Today she's here to share her effective decluttering strategies
Speaker:and discuss how she leads and runs her successful business.
Speaker:Join us as we explore practical tips and inspiring insights on living a
Speaker:life with Less stuff and more life.
Speaker:Sarah, welcome to Seat Go Create.
Speaker:Thank you so much for that intro.
Speaker:Yeah, I think you think we could cover all that.
Speaker:Think we could get to that.
Speaker:Totally, absolutely.
Speaker:I love the decluttering conversation.
Speaker:When we first met a month or so back, we talked about it.
Speaker:We'll get to that.
Speaker:let me jump in on my first question here and, get things started.
Speaker:Either deep or light, depending on how we do.
Speaker:I'm gonna give you a choice.
Speaker:Answer the question, what do you do, kind of the standard
Speaker:icebreaker or slightly deeper.
Speaker:Who are you, which one do you want to answer?
Speaker:And go ahead and just answer it,
Speaker:pick it, and go.
Speaker:I think I'm gonna go.
Speaker:with the first question.
Speaker:what do I do?
Speaker:that's just such a, good at that question.
Speaker:and the answer is I help, one of the answers is that I help women
Speaker:with messy homes learn how to let go, So they have time to focus
Speaker:on what matters most to them,
Speaker:Our motto is less stuff and more life, right?
Speaker:we're not into minimalism.
Speaker:Although if you are, that's amazing.
Speaker:But, that's not what we're about.
Speaker:We are just about helping people to let go of the burdens they don't.
Speaker:Sometimes they don't even know they're caring, but they let go of the burdens
Speaker:and then life gets easier, and then they can do the things that they want
Speaker:to do that they are called to do.
Speaker:but you can't do that if you are drowning in clutter, whether that's
Speaker:like mental clutter, physical clutter, you know, like limiting beliefs.
Speaker:There's all kinds of directions we can take it, but that's what
Speaker:we do in a nutshell, right?
Speaker:we tackle the physical stuff, but also it's always intertwined with what's
Speaker:going on inside our heads because we cannot declutter our physical spaces
Speaker:if we do not clean up our minds.
Speaker:So those are both very important.
Speaker:That's cool.
Speaker:On my notes here, I wrote down mindset, we'll get to that in just a second,
Speaker:but you said this is one of the answers that you give for what you do.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:what might be another one or some of the answers that you
Speaker:would give for what you do.
Speaker:Well, you know, it depends on who I'm talking to really.
Speaker:sometimes I say I'm a life coach.
Speaker:Sometimes I say I'm a marketer, right?
Speaker:Because I love, why do people do the things that they do?
Speaker:Why do I do the things that I do?
Speaker:And that is all psychology and marketing.
Speaker:And if I can understand that, then I can help my customers, I can help
Speaker:them change and solve their problems.
Speaker:I can solve my problems, right?
Speaker:so marketing and psychology and neuroscience is also a
Speaker:really big passion of mine.
Speaker:It's really intertwined in my work.
Speaker:And what else?
Speaker:Business owner, right?
Speaker:I do like, that's a, really strong, identity for me as well.
Speaker:So again, kind of depends on who I'm talking to.
Speaker:I like that.
Speaker:Now, one of the things you mentioned in the previous, what you do is,
Speaker:you said that you work with the decluttering, but you were very
Speaker:specific that it was for women
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:e either tell me why or why is it important just for women?
Speaker:Are you excluding men?
Speaker:Do men not need it?
Speaker:Tell me more.
Speaker:my gosh.
Speaker:It's hilarious because people get really mad at me, right?
Speaker:They're like, what about the men?
Speaker:Is this only a women's thing?
Speaker:And I'm like, no, no, no, no.
Speaker:But my heart is for women.
Speaker:And this is, I feel like the, obviously, I mean, these are
Speaker:huge generalizations, right?
Speaker:But, in general, like we, women have different issues
Speaker:running clutter than men do.
Speaker:Do we exclude men?
Speaker:No, we don't.
Speaker:We do have some men in the decluttering Club.
Speaker:They are working hard.
Speaker:We love them.
Speaker:They are welcome.
Speaker:but I'm specifically talking to women because I feel like we, you know, we
Speaker:have been raised, we have different programming than men do in general, right?
Speaker:Like, we're generalizing here.
Speaker:So that's why we talk to women.
Speaker:that's why I say that, because I feel like the issues are a bit different.
Speaker:So that's why we go there.
Speaker:However, everybody's welcome.
Speaker:Well, I do think that there are, I mean, listen, the people that
Speaker:say there's no difference between men and women are going, come on.
Speaker:Really?
Speaker:but we do have to be careful generalizing because there's some.
Speaker:Variations.
Speaker:You know, people joke all the time about Oh yeah, you know, if you're in a
Speaker:household, I'm sure that the woman does the laundry and the woman does the dishes.
Speaker:No, I do all of that in our household.
Speaker:So, and my wife would tell you, this is kind of an interesting,
Speaker:kinda get started to a more deeper conversation about clutter.
Speaker:I am much more the neater, tidier, everything has a place.
Speaker:I love to get rid of stuff.
Speaker:We live in an rv, come on.
Speaker:my wife accumulates a little bit more than I do.
Speaker:And so there are some differences and all.
Speaker:of course.
Speaker:Right?
Speaker:I mean, you know, there's, there's some women who are incredibly neat and tidy and
Speaker:they are orderly and they don't need me.
Speaker:there are some men that are neat and tidy it just like I am talking to the subset of
Speaker:people who fit kind of that demographic.
Speaker:But,
Speaker:Right.
Speaker:never know where we end up.
Speaker:Sure.
Speaker:I think,
Speaker:you may have a decluttered house, but, your mind is a mess,
Speaker:you're really struggling there.
Speaker:So, we do have some, different topics that we do cover beyond just the kind of the
Speaker:initial, decluttering your stuff type of
Speaker:But before we kind of dive in and maybe start really doing some
Speaker:things with the decluttering, what would you say is your superpower?
Speaker:you mentioned a couple things earlier.
Speaker:Obviously you've got a club that's decluttering and I think that's
Speaker:something that we discussed.
Speaker:you're good at it, but you also just mentioned the marketing and all that.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:You actually spoke with a little bit of a different tone when you talked about that,
Speaker:hmm.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:but what is your superpower?
Speaker:what is that thing that you were really created for?
Speaker:Oh, I love that question.
Speaker:I think my superpower is listening to people without judgment, right?
Speaker:And so I think it's two things, and they're both super important.
Speaker:I can listen to people, people tell me their life stories all the time, right?
Speaker:So I can listen without judgment I'm able to explain things in new ways to people.
Speaker:You know, if you come with a problem, you think, well, this is just the problem.
Speaker:But if we can restate the problem, if I can explain a problem to you
Speaker:in a different way, then it's going to, uncover a solution to you.
Speaker:So I think that those two things have really allowed me to reach people and
Speaker:help them in a unique way, because I can give them steps, I can give
Speaker:them solutions that they can action on, and they don't feel judged.
Speaker:So I think it's those two things, hand in hand.
Speaker:I think that word without judgment, the two words I guess,
Speaker:I think it's so important, especially with your community.
Speaker:I think we talked about this the first time we met.
Speaker:I was intrigued, super intrigued.
Speaker:That's one of the reasons we continue to talk.
Speaker:'cause I just am so intrigued with all that you're doing.
Speaker:And I, being someone who is like, super into, not minimalism, but
Speaker:I just, I don't like accumulating stuff and all that kinda stuff.
Speaker:I, I could see how if I were trying to run that group, I'd be judging.
Speaker:I would be, so, I admire, I mean, it, it's.
Speaker:Because I'm guessing you probably don't have much of a life of clutter, do you?
Speaker:I used to though,
Speaker:Okay.
Speaker:I can
Speaker:relate.
Speaker:Hmm.
Speaker:yeah, I can relate
Speaker:I.
Speaker:to be overwhelmed, right?
Speaker:And I.
Speaker:mean, I still get over, like human beings get overwhelmed, right?
Speaker:So that's not, that's not unique to clutter.
Speaker:But um, yeah, I definitely, I can relate.
Speaker:And also again.
Speaker:One of the things that we teach in the decluttering club is
Speaker:that you're not your stuff.
Speaker:So maybe you do have a kitchen that you know has seen better days, right?
Speaker:And, you know, could use some work.
Speaker:I understand that doesn't mean that you are a horrible person.
Speaker:It doesn't mean you're a failure as a person, as a wife, as a mother,
Speaker:as a parent, whatever, right?
Speaker:Like it doesn't, and I think that gets a little bit back to, you know,
Speaker:seeing things differently I know, oh, it, isn't your failure, this
Speaker:is because of your A DHD or your perfectionism or your overwhelm, right?
Speaker:So it's a completely different cause like people attribute their
Speaker:struggles to the wrong things.
Speaker:And if you don't have the attribution right, then.
Speaker:not gonna be able to solve the problem.
Speaker:So I think that's kind of a nice way to look at it, right?
Speaker:I'm like, oh, I don't need to judge you because I know that, this isn't about you.
Speaker:I mean, it is, and it isn't,
Speaker:Now, it doesn't mean that I would wanna live in that house.
Speaker:Probably not.
Speaker:But I don't need to, like, I can help someone, you know, I can hold
Speaker:space for them without, judging them.
Speaker:And also have different standards for myself, right?
Speaker:Hmm.
Speaker:that's really important.
Speaker:Yeah, so one of the things that I convinced my wife of at one point in our
Speaker:lives was that the problem is drawers.
Speaker:That if we didn't have any drawers, we would be able to
Speaker:not accumulate and have clutter.
Speaker:I'm sure you know how that worked out.
Speaker:It worked out.
Speaker:We actually, we were in an apartment.
Speaker:We were at bible school.
Speaker:We were up in the mountains of Colorado.
Speaker:We were there for three years and we never had any drawers in our bedroom.
Speaker:We only had the fixed drawers that were in the kitchen
Speaker:out for you then?
Speaker:Did that solve, did
Speaker:Sarah, here's the deal.
Speaker:Maybe it eliminated clutter.
Speaker:Was it good for my relationship with my beautiful bride of 30 something years?
Speaker:I'm not so sure.
Speaker:You know, it might've been like I won the battle, but lost
Speaker:the bigger war or something.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:Well, one of the things that, people have heard this, and I
Speaker:think I shared this with you.
Speaker:we were at one point in a big old home, bunch of stuff, lost all of that,
Speaker:traveled around with just basically almost a backpack and a duffle bag.
Speaker:Went to Australia and New Zealand, and one of the things we did learn, this is kind
Speaker:of interesting, you think your stuff is so important, but there's stuff everywhere.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:We were never at a loss for clothing.
Speaker:Hmm.
Speaker:For furniture when we moved in places or, I mean, there was stuff.
Speaker:There's stuff everywhere.
Speaker:All over this world, right?
Speaker:Absolutely.
Speaker:I love that.
Speaker:That's so true.
Speaker:But we forget, we're like, oh no, I'm not gonna have anything to wear.
Speaker:Like, that's literally what our brains say when it's the most ridiculous thing,
Speaker:nobody, nobody's walking around naked, So I don't think that's actually gonna
Speaker:happen, but yet we're worried about it.
Speaker:I know we were, I remember one quick story then I want to, I want to define clutter.
Speaker:We're, we're about to define what clutter is.
Speaker:We were flying from Australia to New Zealand.
Speaker:it was warm in Australia.
Speaker:It was gonna be cold in New Zealand.
Speaker:I didn't have a coat.
Speaker:My wife had sort of a coat.
Speaker:I was talking to the gal in the airplane.
Speaker:I said, you know, where's like a, y'all have like a Walmart ish or something like
Speaker:that, that I could go in New Zealand?
Speaker:He goes, eh, there's some places.
Speaker:I said, I, I really need to get a coat.
Speaker:And he just looked over at me, he says.
Speaker:I got one for you.
Speaker:And I knew where he was.
Speaker:He had already said where he was in New Zealand.
Speaker:I said, oh, okay.
Speaker:I said, yeah, we'll be there within a month or so.
Speaker:Maybe we can stop in and have dinner.
Speaker:He goes, no.
Speaker:He goes, I've got the coat now for you.
Speaker:I said, where is it?
Speaker:And he pointed to the bin up above in the airplane and we got up off
Speaker:the plane and he handed me a flight jacket that his son had just given him.
Speaker:So I'm walking around with like the Navy or something, flight jacket.
Speaker:People kept thinking I was in like the Air Force it kind of goes to my point
Speaker:that I believe stuff's out there for us
Speaker:when you needed It
Speaker:It did.
Speaker:It absolutely did.
Speaker:And we were, you know, listen, from a financial standpoint, we
Speaker:were less than broke at the time.
Speaker:So it was a real blessing in so many ways.
Speaker:But
Speaker:so cool.
Speaker:let's define what is clutter, because I think it might mean some
Speaker:different things to different people.
Speaker:Well, I love this.
Speaker:Absolutely, right?
Speaker:Like, I think you say clutter and people immediately feel judged.
Speaker:I imagine this happens for you.
Speaker:If you tell people you got rid of everything and you live in an rv, they,
Speaker:think, oh, you don't wanna see my house.
Speaker:they automatically feel judged.
Speaker:But, you know, my definition of clutter is just anything that is in your
Speaker:possession that isn't serving you.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:So if you love all that stuff in those drawers, right?
Speaker:And you know what's in there, right?
Speaker:That's the caveat.
Speaker:You can't just be like, I love all my stuff because you probably
Speaker:don't know what you have unless you've taken a look, right?
Speaker:But if, if you are on board with keeping it, then it's actually not
Speaker:clutter like, as far as I'm concerned.
Speaker:anything that is in your possession that isn't serving you right, and
Speaker:you get to decide what's serving you, it could be serving you because
Speaker:you know it's a special memory.
Speaker:or you, you know, you're keeping it for like, quote unquote insurance purposes.
Speaker:You might need it, right?
Speaker:Like, if you truly believe that, then it's actually not clutter, right?
Speaker:But those things that you're keeping because, you know, you're afraid to let
Speaker:them go, or you haven't looked in the box and you moved it 10 years ago and
Speaker:you know all of that, that is clutter.
Speaker:It's in your way.
Speaker:you keep cursing it when you trip over it.
Speaker:That's clutter.
Speaker:So
Speaker:my wife hates when I tell the story of helping her mother move multiple times.
Speaker:We helped her move and I moved boxes that had garage sale on them
Speaker:so many times they, they were a box that had garage sale, but we, we moved
Speaker:them and moved them and moved them.
Speaker:What are,
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:let's, I think it's important 'cause there is the physical of this, I
Speaker:mean, it's just the walking into a room or a place, a space and going,
Speaker:there's a lot here
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:but that's relative though.
Speaker:I mean, for some people it might.
Speaker:Be okay to have a lot there.
Speaker:And some people may not,
Speaker:may not want drawers.
Speaker:Um,
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:but what, talk about, I don't know if the emotional is what we should
Speaker:talk about first or the mindset,
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:I really do, and I have, this is kind of tough for me and I'm almost looking for
Speaker:you to educate me a little bit because I'm fairly harsh in this area and maybe judgy.
Speaker:And so I would love to understand more of the emotion and the
Speaker:mindset that people go through that are going through this process.
Speaker:That people that are holding onto things that aren't
Speaker:Yes,
Speaker:is that what
Speaker:yes.
Speaker:thinking?
Speaker:or they've accumulated them,
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:now they're going, okay, there's an issue
Speaker:that needs to be dealt with.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:I think it really, most of it, not all of it, but a big component is just fear.
Speaker:You know?
Speaker:it's fear.
Speaker:It's fear that I might need it.
Speaker:It is fear that I'm gonna miss it.
Speaker:fear that, you know, this belonged to somebody and they're gone.
Speaker:This is all I have left from them, I just can't bear to let that go.
Speaker:Even though I don't look at it and I can't find it, and you know, I have,
Speaker:you know, like it's just all fear.
Speaker:there's other reasons too, right?
Speaker:Like, so some people may have grown up, not having enough, or their
Speaker:parents or grandparents were in the depression, so they were taught,
Speaker:you know, we don't waste stuff.
Speaker:Like we keep this stuff, we're gonna like, we wanna be prepared.
Speaker:And so they are living in, you know, they're acting like it's 1945 or 19,
Speaker:you know, 29, but they live in 2025 where we can order with one click
Speaker:things are kind of cheap, right?
Speaker:Clothing is like fast fashion, like you can get whatever you want.
Speaker:So these two things create this perfect storm of a lot of stuff.
Speaker:which does is not conducive.
Speaker:So, so those are kind of some of the things that are going on.
Speaker:Um, those are like the main issues, right?
Speaker:And then you get, you add in, let's say overwhelm, you add in anxiety, which I
Speaker:believe is at an all time high right now.
Speaker:Uh, you add in a DHD, so people wanna clean up, right?
Speaker:They wanna let go of stuff, They have no idea where to start,
Speaker:and then they're kind of frozen.
Speaker:They're, you know, they're like, I don't wanna do this.
Speaker:Right?
Speaker:And they get distracted and, you know, the clutter is distracting,
Speaker:so it's like, it gets compounded.
Speaker:So that is a factor too.
Speaker:Um, and so all of these things together kind of make it really
Speaker:hard for someone to, um, you know, to reverse the, the trend.
Speaker:And, you know, with clutter, I believe that it's, you're either,
Speaker:either actively maintaining and decluttering, or you are or you're not.
Speaker:And if you are not, then you are accumulating, Which is only going
Speaker:to, you know, make things look worse.
Speaker:Yeah, I, that's actually, uh, exactly what I was about to ask.
Speaker:It was a theory that I have that, that most of our society culture, first world,
Speaker:especially marketing and all the business, they are pressing accumulation on us.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:And so
Speaker:of course.
Speaker:doing nothing or just staying static.
Speaker:Is probably not an option because if you're not working at pushing back some
Speaker:of that accumulation, it is going to
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:accumulating.
Speaker:Ha have you, so, so you could address that.
Speaker:But I also wanna ask, have you ever looked at the history of this?
Speaker:Is this a newer thing?
Speaker:Like the last a hundred, 150 years?
Speaker:It, has it been around, you know, 2000 years since Jesus was here?
Speaker:You know, did the, you know, did, uh, did the Nation of Israel, they
Speaker:carried a bunch of stuff out of Egypt.
Speaker:Maybe they, you know what I mean?
Speaker:What, what is this a, uh, is this a new thing?
Speaker:Is this, is this a modern culture thing?
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Um, so I, this is just my opinion, but I do believe this is
Speaker:probably the last a hundred, 120
Speaker:Hmm.
Speaker:right?
Speaker:Because
Speaker:a hundred years ago, 150 years ago, people would have just like, just a handful of.
Speaker:Outfits of clothing, right?
Speaker:Clothing was expensive.
Speaker:expensive.
Speaker:That, that much, you know, that, that much, that many years ago.
Speaker:Uh, and now things have, you know, technology makes things
Speaker:cheaper, TVs, computers, whatever.
Speaker:Like, like things.
Speaker:And I'm not saying that our budgets aren't stretched 'cause that's not,
Speaker:that's not what's going on here.
Speaker:But, but in general, you know, the, the, the, the item of the outfit
Speaker:of clothing that you buy today can cost a lot, like a fraction of what
Speaker:it would cost a hundred years ago.
Speaker:So I do believe that it's, it's more of a modern phenomenon.
Speaker:Um, there is an element of, like, as humans, we are programmed to,
Speaker:you know, to save for a rainy day.
Speaker:Right?
Speaker:That makes sense.
Speaker:Right?
Speaker:You don't, if you don't know when you're gonna be able to go hunting and, or you
Speaker:know, is your harvest gonna come in?
Speaker:You need to save some stuff up, right?
Speaker:We need that.
Speaker:There's that little, little bit of hoarding instinct that.
Speaker:Survival.
Speaker:Right.
Speaker:So that is, that's just innate.
Speaker:But I believe that just our current society has just exacerbated that
Speaker:tendency and, and made it so that it just became in extreme right.
Speaker:So
Speaker:Hmm.
Speaker:I, I do believe it's become a lot
Speaker:more of a problem in the last, probably 30, 40 years than,
Speaker:than it has been in the past.
Speaker:I, I, I think primarily I was glancing at your website here,
Speaker:primarily you are talking about stuff,
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:but clutter also involves other things.
Speaker:I think I saw a note, uh, about that somewhere.
Speaker:It's, you know, it's time, it's life, it's, it's other things.
Speaker:Talk about the things that are not stuff that can, that can get cluttered.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Well, it's like if you, you know, if you have a cluttered home, you
Speaker:may have a hard time saying no.
Speaker:Like, so people wanna give you their things, right?
Speaker:They're like, oh, I don't need this.
Speaker:Uh, you should take it.
Speaker:Right?
Speaker:Well, oh, well, oh, I don't know.
Speaker:Like we feel like we can't say no to these things 'cause it would be rude.
Speaker:Right?
Speaker:Someone wants to give you something, you have to say yes.
Speaker:Right?
Speaker:So, um, there's kind of that aspect of people pleasing that comes in.
Speaker:And then also, you know, like just.
Speaker:Good things come your way.
Speaker:So whether that's opportunities or, um, volunteer, you know,
Speaker:experiences or, or new hobbies.
Speaker:So time commitments.
Speaker:So we do find that people have just a lot they pack in their calendar, right?
Speaker:They're gonna pack in their, their garage.
Speaker:They're also gonna pack in their calendar and, you know, just have so much going on.
Speaker:and then wonder why they're feeling so stressed, right?
Speaker:I think sometimes actually we do it, um, we are gonna pack in our spaces and, or,
Speaker:you know, our, time or what's going on inside our heads because we don't wanna
Speaker:think, like, we don't wanna stop and think about what's actually going on, right?
Speaker:Like, if you cleared out your calendar and had a free day, then you might have
Speaker:to face yourself and you might not like what you see, You might realize that,
Speaker:you know, you wanna make some changes in your life and you're not happy.
Speaker:So a lot of these things, the physical clutter and then also the, the, um.
Speaker:I know.
Speaker:Theoretical clutter.
Speaker:The, the invisible clutter.
Speaker:It's a distraction from really going on in your life.
Speaker:Um, and you know, I understand
Speaker:why some people don't wanna face it 'cause it could be painful, you
Speaker:Well, and there's no doubt we have a very distracted society.
Speaker:I can't pick my phone up here because it's my camera, but we,
Speaker:we have so much coming at us
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:and I, I guess one thing I'm curious, your observation, I guess with, with people in
Speaker:the club, and I don't know if you have a gauge for this or not, but I, is it one of
Speaker:these things where if people are cluttered in one area, they are often cluttered
Speaker:in many areas, or is it very segmented?
Speaker:It's like, you know what, I got a hobby room that's just a mess.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:else, I'm fairly orderly.
Speaker:That might be a little bit of an exaggeration, but I, I guess one of
Speaker:the things I think about is time.
Speaker:I'm been working very diligently over the last handful of years
Speaker:just to keep my calendar very.
Speaker:Open, you know, I typically we're recording on a Friday,
Speaker:which is very unique for me.
Speaker:Usually Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday.
Speaker:That's the only time I do scheduled stuff.
Speaker:And uh, and it's usually just in the afternoons or mid,
Speaker:mid-morning to afternoon.
Speaker:So what, what do you, do you see people that are cluttered in a lot of areas or is
Speaker:it more segmented?
Speaker:Yeah, I think it's actually a combination.
Speaker:I think there are some people, and we have, uh, one of our coaches, she
Speaker:jokes that, you know, her house was like if you came over to her house,
Speaker:even before she started decluttering, wouldn't, you'd think, oh, you
Speaker:know, she's got it all together.
Speaker:She's super organized.
Speaker:But she always said, you know, well, don't open a closet.
Speaker:You know, don't open, you know, behind closed doors.
Speaker:It was a different story.
Speaker:So things are packed in.
Speaker:So we do have some people like that, right?
Speaker:They keep up their standards in, you know, maybe in their public areas of
Speaker:their home, but then, you know, don't go upstairs or don't go in the basement.
Speaker:Don't open the doors, don't look at my calendar.
Speaker:Right?
Speaker:So we have some of that.
Speaker:And then we have people that are, you know, it just kind of spills over and,
Speaker:and so like, it's like a ripple effect.
Speaker:So, you know, first the kitchen gets messy and then they're like,
Speaker:well, the kitchen is a mess.
Speaker:And then they, they start not keeping up with the laundry and,
Speaker:you know, and, and so on and so on.
Speaker:So we, we do have a mix.
Speaker:Um, I guess I would probably say that we have more people in
Speaker:that second bucket that, that struggle with a number of areas.
Speaker:And maybe they have, maybe they're great at work, right?
Speaker:They're like, work gives them structure, right?
Speaker:Because, you know, they need to be there on time.
Speaker:They've got, you know, they have a boss to report to.
Speaker:So, it's easier to fit in in that environment, whereas at home, you, you
Speaker:make it up, you create the structure.
Speaker:And that's really challenging.
Speaker:That's one of the things that we, we give people is here's how you can
Speaker:create your own structure, then you can operate more easily within that.
Speaker:And, um.
Speaker:You know, it's not just like figuring out every day you have to start over.
Speaker:Right.
Speaker:So
Speaker:Yeah, I,
Speaker:of what's going on there.
Speaker:I think what we'll do is, we'll, we'll come back towards the tail end of the
Speaker:conversation and try to give some tips and, um, some specific things that
Speaker:people might do that are kind of facing some clutter, uh, in their lives.
Speaker:But I would really, I, I, I, I love business journeys.
Speaker:I love talking about the journeys that people have been on.
Speaker:And I, I guess even before we get to the Declutter Decluttering Club, which
Speaker:I think has had a few iterations, if I, if I remember our conversation, what,
Speaker:what were you trained for to do college?
Speaker:Just gimme some of, uh, Sarah, the early years, whatever you think
Speaker:might, might be cool to share.
Speaker:Yeah, gladly.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:So this is my third business.
Speaker:Um, I have been, I had a corporate job.
Speaker:Uh, so I went to University of Pennsylvania, got a degree,
Speaker:undergrad with the Wharton School, so I have a business degree, right.
Speaker:and then I had a corporate job for six years, but then my oldest son
Speaker:was born, so I thought, you know, like, this commute is for the birds.
Speaker:I don't really like this anymore.
Speaker:So I left that job and, uh, went out as on my own as an IT consultant, right?
Speaker:So I did that for a few years.
Speaker:Um, and then.
Speaker:Decided, you know, this internet seems like a pretty cool thing.
Speaker:maybe, maybe I should start my own internet business.
Speaker:Um, and so I actually started a, an import business for German books, right?
Speaker:Because my, my now ex-husband and I were speaking German with our kids.
Speaker:And you know, I'm a book lover, so it's like we need books for these kids.
Speaker:And so we did that.
Speaker:I ran that for.
Speaker:guess probably 12, 12 years.
Speaker:Right?
Speaker:That was an online business.
Speaker:We had books, we had a bookstore in the basement.
Speaker:I would ship 'em out and I learned so much and I learned how to build websites.
Speaker:I learned like my first real taste of marketing and fulfillment and customer
Speaker:service and, you know, learned how to, how to create my own structure, right?
Speaker:Uh, from that business.
Speaker:And I sold that business needed something to do because I, you know,
Speaker:at that point I had four kids, uh, and I was homeschooling the kids,
Speaker:but I kind of have a lot of energy.
Speaker:So I thought, let's just start a, start a blog.
Speaker:'cause I like to give advice, right?
Speaker:I like to tell people how to do stuff.
Speaker:I think I have answers.
Speaker:And, um, the, the people that my friends at the time weren't really
Speaker:interested in my advice, you know, like, have you ever noticed that?
Speaker:Like your friends are like, yeah, that's great.
Speaker:Like, I didn't ask you,
Speaker:Family.
Speaker:Family's usually not interested either.
Speaker:It's usually strangers are more interested than people that are in your circle.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:So when you get people who say, oh my gosh, that's such a great idea.
Speaker:I did what you said, and it worked, you know, that's like the best feeling ever.
Speaker:that is what has now turned into the decluttering Club.
Speaker:Right.
Speaker:And that started, uh, I guess about eight years ago I started that business um,
Speaker:it's just grown and evolved and morphed, um, into, you know, where we are now with
Speaker:just an absolutely thriving community.
Speaker:So I, I'd love to know time.
Speaker:What was the timeframes of the book business online?
Speaker:I'm sitting here thinking Amazon, you're, you know, Sarah could
Speaker:have been Sarah, could have been Bezos, you know, she could have.
Speaker:But, um,
Speaker:not quite as big as, as Jeff.
Speaker:what, uh, what, what was, what was the timeframe of that?
Speaker:What that, of that business?
Speaker:The book business.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:That was, uh, 2003 to 2012.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Okay.
Speaker:So right after the.com bubble had burst and people were
Speaker:picking up the, the pieces and
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:like that.
Speaker:Are you a, are you a tech person?
Speaker:Would you be, would you be pretty proficient at, you mentioned
Speaker:websites and things like that.
Speaker:'cause a lot of people get intimidated by that with these
Speaker:type businesses, but you seem,
Speaker:doesn't bother you one bit.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:I'm, I'm kind of a hack, right?
Speaker:Like, I can, I can find my way around.
Speaker:I actually think that is not always a good thing, you know?
Speaker:Like if you can, if you can do some of these things, then you may be reluctant
Speaker:to hire help, and maybe you're not quite as good as someone else would be.
Speaker:But it does, it does help when, you know, when I'm, when I'm hiring someone
Speaker:or when I need to do something, I'm like, I understand how this works.
Speaker:So I definitely have kind of that, that mentality, that mindset.
Speaker:I'm not at all trained in, you know, in tech, but, uh, I can
Speaker:kind of find my way around.
Speaker:I, I bet your light.
Speaker:My wife, Gloria.
Speaker:You figure things out.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:It's like if you've got something, you figure it out.
Speaker:There are so many, like it is stupid easy to, to use the tools we have today.
Speaker:I mean, I was coding, I was writing HTML in 2003, so you cannot tell
Speaker:me that the technology is hard.
Speaker:It's not, I mean, there's always, there's always things to work out, but, you know,
Speaker:if it were easy, everybody would do it.
Speaker:You know, if it, I, I heard this quote, I don't remember who said this, but,
Speaker:you know, if it, if it were easy, you know, you would've done it by now.
Speaker:Like, all the things that are worth doing are just not easy.
Speaker:And whether that's decluttering or building a business,
Speaker:um, you gotta be up for.
Speaker:Right now, when, when we talked we, we talked a little bit of
Speaker:details of your business, and I don't want us to go into that.
Speaker:However, there could be some people that are hearing Declutter Decluttering
Speaker:Club and think, oh, it's a nice little side business side hustle type deal.
Speaker:It it is not, this is a very nice size business.
Speaker:What, what can, or what are you willing to share maybe about the, um, the, the,
Speaker:the size and scope of it at this stage?
Speaker:What,
Speaker:what are you comfortable sharing?
Speaker:Because it's impressive.
Speaker:thank you.
Speaker:Thank you.
Speaker:Now it's, um, yeah, people, people are shocked actually that
Speaker:I make any money, you know, it's
Speaker:I know.
Speaker:It's like, oh, it's a little club.
Speaker:You, you teach people how to clean up the kitchen.
Speaker:And I, I, I tell my kids this, I'm like, listen, you guys get this for free.
Speaker:People pay me for this.
Speaker:You know, you should be grateful.
Speaker:You know, and they, they roll their eyes.
Speaker:But, um, no, I mean, we, serve thou, we have thousands of like, I guess
Speaker:maybe you can do the math, right?
Speaker:We serve thousands of members, um, at, you know, different price points
Speaker:between $37 a month and, and up.
Speaker:So, you know, you do the math there.
Speaker:Um, you know, we're, we're doing very well.
Speaker:Uh, we have a long ways to go, right?
Speaker:I have some really big goals, but, um, but it is abs like I'm
Speaker:taking this seriously, right?
Speaker:This is not just a little thing.
Speaker:we, we have all kinds of things in place.
Speaker:Um, of the things my co one of my coaches mentioned recently was that
Speaker:we, you know, whenever we run a call and we have multiple calls for our
Speaker:members, we have two people on that call.
Speaker:Like, there's so much that goes into just running.
Speaker:An every day, you know, run of the mill call, it costs us like hundreds
Speaker:of dollars just to put on one call.
Speaker:And we do numerous calls every single month.
Speaker:we have a whole team, you know, we've got, we've got lawyers, we've
Speaker:got trademarks, we've got payroll.
Speaker:There's, there's a lot going on.
Speaker:Um, and, um.
Speaker:I think it's just, it's important.
Speaker:This is a really important message.
Speaker:People keep coming to me and they say things like, you know, oh gosh,
Speaker:it's so cool that you have such a, such a, um, a unique business.
Speaker:Like think that this is like me, I don't know, like teaching people how
Speaker:to hamsters or something, you know?
Speaker:And I'm like, no, like everybody needs this.
Speaker:You know?
Speaker:And like, let's say 10% of the country is desperate for this knowledge.
Speaker:Like literally, like, that is who I am talking to.
Speaker:is not a little like thing that is a nice to have.
Speaker:No, this is like, this is ruining people's lives, like on a, a tremendous scale.
Speaker:that's the way I think about it.
Speaker:Yeah, the, the thing that was so impressive too, we were sitting around
Speaker:a table, we were chatting when we first met, and I think all of us had,
Speaker:you know, just kind of met each other.
Speaker:And
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:that anybody were none.
Speaker:It wasn't the type of room where people were sizing people up, but you were,
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:kinda curious about other people's business we're there
Speaker:to learn and hopefully help and different things like that.
Speaker:And, and, and, and I remember when it got to your turn, I was like, I,
Speaker:I was, I was literally blown away.
Speaker:You know, we were talking about memberships and things like that.
Speaker:So it was, yes.
Speaker:I mean, if anybody can do that math, they can, uh, they can come up with
Speaker:some very, very impressive numbers.
Speaker:I'm curious, you said you went to what many would consider one of the
Speaker:top business schools in the country.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:much of what you were trained on there?
Speaker:Would you say you are using and applying in this business?
Speaker:You know what, 15?
Speaker:I'm trying to do the math here.
Speaker:15 years later.
Speaker:20 years later or something like that.
Speaker:Let's try 30.
Speaker:Well, I was trying to be polite.
Speaker:I was trying.
Speaker:I, um, likehonestly, I really
Speaker:don't.
Speaker:Um, but I, I love that question because I really.
Speaker:I'm sure there are things, right?
Speaker:Like I, I did really enjoy my time in college, but, um, I mean, first
Speaker:of all, business and internet businesses, they just didn't exist.
Speaker:Like there was no
Speaker:okay.
Speaker:so couldn't have taught that.
Speaker:Um, I probably learned lot of things in terms like accounting
Speaker:fundamentals for sure,
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:right?
Speaker:So some,
Speaker:some solid business fundamentals came through that.
Speaker:Um, I didn't really take that many marketing courses.
Speaker:Uh, I have.
Speaker:Spent the last 30 years educating myself, you know, like one thing after another.
Speaker:So I would say that the, the majority of what I use, like my skills now
Speaker:is, is all on the job for sure.
Speaker:I'm, I'm sure that's, you know, it's not a hundred percent, but, um, I just, you,
Speaker:you can't compare to learning on the job.
Speaker:Like this is when you get creative, this is when you, have to figure things out.
Speaker:You know, there's no angry customers, there's no unhappy customers or
Speaker:broken tech in a college course.
Speaker:It just doesn't, you can't, you can't create that.
Speaker:So,
Speaker:So, so then what are you advising your children to do?
Speaker:I'm just curious about this.
Speaker:'cause see, I think you've got 'em in probably these ages where they're maybe
Speaker:starting their lives and all that.
Speaker:And you, I, I know you've got multiple kids, so you don't have to go through
Speaker:each one, but I'm just, I'm just curious 'cause I, I, I look around at times and
Speaker:I used to be, I'm very optimistic, but I'll look around and go, you know what?
Speaker:I don't know that I really know what to tell people to do right now.
Speaker:What, what are you telling your kids?
Speaker:well, so I have one kid who's gonna be an engineer, so he's in college.
Speaker:That makes perfect sense for him.
Speaker:I have one kid who's in computer science, uh, and then I have two that are, um,
Speaker:one's in eighth grade and one's just graduating, you know, and I mean, I
Speaker:have told them that they don't have to go to college if they don't want to.
Speaker:They do not believe me.
Speaker:They're like, it's easy for you to say that you have an Ivy League degree mom.
Speaker:And so they just really don't believe me.
Speaker:But, I sort of feel like it's all just gonna work out, you know,
Speaker:like I'm just not worried about it.
Speaker:Like.
Speaker:Really, I mean, I'm gonna, I'm gonna try and guide them.
Speaker:I'm gonna try and expose them to things that I think would be useful.
Speaker:I've taken all of my kids on business trips now because I want
Speaker:them to meet other entrepreneurs.
Speaker:I want them to see, you know, like the world is a really big place.
Speaker:People are doing some crazy stuff.
Speaker:Like, there are some amazing, amazing businesses out there.
Speaker:You know, they see me doing my work.
Speaker:So, uh, I think that's kind of my, my goal is to just expose them to as
Speaker:many ideas as I can and to the world and to travel and to try to make sure
Speaker:that they don't just kind of pigeonhole themselves into thinking this is,
Speaker:this is the what everybody does.
Speaker:You know, you just go to college and then you go and get a job
Speaker:and you're there for 40 years.
Speaker:Like but not necessarily.
Speaker:Right?
Speaker:Like, I want them to know that they have options and I want them to be resourceful.
Speaker:And, you know, how that works out for them is, is really gonna be up to them.
Speaker:And I'm just gonna try and be available to them.
Speaker:What's interesting is, uh, it just came to mind that we will often
Speaker:clutter our lives with education.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:That's may not be needed or we think we're supposed to go to this
Speaker:school because mama wants me to go
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:I, I agree.
Speaker:If someone's gonna be an engineer, they need to go to engineering school.
Speaker:I went to Georgia Tech.
Speaker:I'm an engineer.
Speaker:I don't do a lot of engineering, but, um, I've got clients that are
Speaker:engineering companies and yeah, you need that engineering degree.
Speaker:Work towards getting your pe, all that kinda stuff.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:uh, I, I've come to realize that one of the struggles I still deal, deal with
Speaker:and my wife does also is information.
Speaker:We actually gather too much information.
Speaker:And I actually think education
Speaker:can be similar.
Speaker:That people just feel like they need all of this.
Speaker:And you know what?
Speaker:At some point you need to sit down.
Speaker:This is a transition right here.
Speaker:I'm gonna project it.
Speaker:You need to just sit down and start writing a blog,
Speaker:Huh?
Speaker:which it sort of sounds like that's what you did.
Speaker:And so the question I have is how intentional or purposeful
Speaker:or goal, what was around
Speaker:this timeframe when you said, I'm gonna start writing a blog and it's eventually
Speaker:going to be an extremely successful membership model business, or I just
Speaker:have some info and I just wanna type it out and get it out to the world?
Speaker:Yeah, it was really just one thing leading to the next I I, I could never
Speaker:have imagined what I. like I did want to have a successful business, right?
Speaker:Like I, I was following some different influencers, you
Speaker:know, probably 10 years ago.
Speaker:Um, so I kind of wanted to be a quote unquote success, but there is
Speaker:no way I could have predicted that it would look like this, right?
Speaker:And I think if I had known, I would, I'd have been like, I'm out.
Speaker:This is too hard.
Speaker:Like, no, we're like this.
Speaker:Like, no.
Speaker:But um, so it was really just like one step at a time, right?
Speaker:Like, okay, I'm gonna share some ideas.
Speaker:Oh, this is kind of cool, you know?
Speaker:And then maybe I learn, oh, you should start an email list.
Speaker:'cause that's a great way to communicate with people.
Speaker:I was like, oh, sounds good to me.
Speaker:I'll do that.
Speaker:Right?
Speaker:And then built that.
Speaker:And so really one thing led to another and I think that's been like.
Speaker:When I do things that way, it is the most effective I think sometimes, you
Speaker:know, like, I love thinking big and I think I, I'm not thinking big enough.
Speaker:Um, but sometimes thinking big can be paralyzing, know?
Speaker:So I think you have to be careful.
Speaker:And like you said, um, if you were just consuming.
Speaker:You know, and anything, whether it's food or information education, like that's,
Speaker:that's not gonna get you anywhere.
Speaker:It feels productive, know?
Speaker:It feels, it feels great.
Speaker:Oh, I got, you know, I know how to do these things, but you don't like, like,
Speaker:that doesn't count for anything until you've actually gone out and done it.
Speaker:So, I am a huge fan of let's just try stuff.
Speaker:Let's, let's launch it in a weekend.
Speaker:Like, what's the simplest way to do things?
Speaker:I think people sit around for way too long, way too long, um, instead
Speaker:of just trying things out, right?
Speaker:Because we're, we're just kind of afraid of rejection, right?
Speaker:That's why people don't, don't do things is 'cause they think they're gonna fail.
Speaker:And, uh, you know, they might, but then they learn something and
Speaker:then they can try again, right?
Speaker:If you could fail 10 times in the space of time that someone else is learning,
Speaker:you are, you are a million, steps ahead.
Speaker:Um, and that's okay, right?
Speaker:That is literally how you build a business despite figuring out what doesn't work.
Speaker:I, I think a lot of people also, when they start doing something like
Speaker:that, they're attempting to monetize as quickly as possible because, uh,
Speaker:you know, they need to put food on the table or something like that.
Speaker:Was there any of that for you?
Speaker:Did you have other income streams?
Speaker:What, what?
Speaker:Did you feel pressure to make it work and make it work quick, or
Speaker:were you able to be patient anyway?
Speaker:I, there's a lot of things there, but a, a lot of it might come down to how
Speaker:quickly did you feel pressure to monetize?
Speaker:Well, so I was probably making maybe $30,000 when I got divorced, and so I
Speaker:was like, oh, okay, well, so either this needs to start producing some money or I
Speaker:just didn't need to go get a job, Like,
Speaker:I
Speaker:I was like, that's cool.
Speaker:I could
Speaker:do that.
Speaker:You know, I can go get a job.
Speaker:Like that was never.
Speaker:That was never just gonna be like a, a disaster for me.
Speaker:Uh, I didn't want to Right.
Speaker:But I was like, if this doesn't work, no big deal.
Speaker:Right?
Speaker:It's cool.
Speaker:I will just, I will go work at Starbucks and then I'll figure out my life.
Speaker:So, so there was definitely some pressure, right?
Speaker:But it's not like I had to go make a million dollars the first year.
Speaker:I think sometimes people just, they compare themselves.
Speaker:They're like, Ooh, you know, they look at and they go, oh, Tony Robbins is
Speaker:doing this, so I should do that too.
Speaker:No, you shouldn't.
Speaker:Like, he's, he is, you can't compare where you are to where someone else is that
Speaker:has been doing this for that much longer.
Speaker:like, you're not gonna do the same things like at all.
Speaker:So I think, I think that it is important to give yourself time
Speaker:to, to figure things out, you know?
Speaker:And if that's six months, if that's a year, if that's three months, know, like.
Speaker:Maybe you can get by with, you know, a thousand dollars or $2,000.
Speaker:That's, it's not hard to make $2,000.
Speaker:Right.
Speaker:Making a hundred thousand dollars in your first year.
Speaker:That might be like way outta reach.
Speaker:But if you're like, okay, how can I make a couple thousand bucks?
Speaker:It's not hard to do.
Speaker:Hmm.
Speaker:At what point did you look at it and go, Hmm, I, I think we've got something here.
Speaker:This actually is, we're getting some traction.
Speaker:We've got some people that are, that are joining, joining us.
Speaker:What, what, when do you, you said eight years is kind of when you started, at
Speaker:what point did you go, this is working?
Speaker:I mean, you know, it's hilarious because I was probably making a lot of
Speaker:money way before I had that thought.
Speaker:In fact, I got coached on this, I think it was three years ago.
Speaker:Uh, because I wasn't hitting my goals right.
Speaker:And I, I didn't, I wasn't willing to see the success that we were having.
Speaker:So, you know, our customers were happy, things were working well, and I was
Speaker:still thinking, you know, it's just not working the way I want it to work.
Speaker:And, um, got coached on that and it turns out I, I realized, oh, actually,
Speaker:it, it's absolutely working right?
Speaker:It was kind of hilarious because it just really flipped my thinking
Speaker:and I thought, oh, everything Like, is it, is it neat and tidy?
Speaker:Is it all wrapped up in a bow?
Speaker:Like, no, not at all.
Speaker:But, but like, everything is going well.
Speaker:Customers are happy, you know, we're making money, we're profitable.
Speaker:You know, like, like those are all really important things.
Speaker:So I would say probably three years ago was when I started to feel that way.
Speaker:Um,
Speaker:it was a five.
Speaker:It was, it was a five year
Speaker:yeah.
Speaker:before you said, Hmm, this is, this is doing something.
Speaker:One of the things Sarah is.
Speaker:could have, I could have thought that two or three years before then,
Speaker:but I just didn't see it that way.
Speaker:You know?
Speaker:I was like real critical.
Speaker:Like we all have, I, I'm sure you do too, have high standards.
Speaker:Right?
Speaker:And we're just not happy.
Speaker:We're never, but that's not a good thing.
Speaker:It's not a good thing to not notice your success.
Speaker:Well, it, it is, but that really did, boy, you're, you're setting
Speaker:me up for my next question.
Speaker:This is
Speaker:Ooh.
Speaker:gonna be a home run.
Speaker:I think I, as I've been sitting here talking to you and I, and
Speaker:we've talked a couple other times, I notice how comfortable you are
Speaker:or you appear to be in being you.
Speaker:And, um, and I'm curious to what
Speaker:number one do you agree with, with that observation and number two,
Speaker:to, what do you attribute that to?
Speaker:I agree.
Speaker:I, I totally agree.
Speaker:I think it wasn't always way.
Speaker:you
Speaker:Hmm.
Speaker:a lot of opportunities, even like, what,
Speaker:five or six, six years ago?
Speaker:Was it 20, 20 19?
Speaker:I was one of, um, a small number of people that, that was flown to
Speaker:at the Facebook Community Summit.
Speaker:Like Facebook had this huge event, and, and I was actually one of
Speaker:like 10 people that was honored.
Speaker:Uh, you know, they had picked us to, to, to, to test out some new features.
Speaker:And I was, had all this press and I was still like, I can't, like stop
Speaker:looking at me, like, don't, like, I, I don't know what to do with this.
Speaker:This is, this is very uncomfortable.
Speaker:But I think over time I've just like started to accept that like, this is
Speaker:who I am and I do have a big mission.
Speaker:So, um, I think over time it has gotten easier.
Speaker:What was, what was the question?
Speaker:Is that mean?
Speaker:What was the second question?
Speaker:Why,
Speaker:of thought.
Speaker:Why, why, What do you attribute it to?
Speaker:Just being comfortable.
Speaker:I mean, I don't, you don't seem like you're striving.
Speaker:You don't seem like you're I'm, and that is in no way saying
Speaker:there's not stuff going on.
Speaker:Okay.
Speaker:I am not in any way saying everything's perfect in your life.
Speaker:What I'm saying is you just.
Speaker:Seem, this is a spiritual term for me.
Speaker:You seem at peace and you seem at rest.
Speaker:You, uh, you, you've got stuff going on, but you're just, you're,
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:I was just wondering what you might attribute that to.
Speaker:Is there any practices?
Speaker:Is there anything that you do?
Speaker:Are you aware of it?
Speaker:Um, anyway,
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Um, well, I have just done, I have done so much work, so much work on, you know,
Speaker:on myself, on mindset, um, and, you know, I mean, maybe it gets a little
Speaker:bit back to what I said about my kids.
Speaker:I'm like, everything is gonna work out fine.
Speaker:I'm just, I
Speaker:I.
Speaker:just not worried about like, a lot of
Speaker:things anymore.
Speaker:and I think that just lets me show up like with truth and honesty you know,
Speaker:about who I am, about what's going on, about what I can do, you know, about
Speaker:what, what, what's going on in the world.
Speaker:It lets me again be non-judgmental.
Speaker:so I think, I think there's that, I think, I just think that we worry so needlessly,
Speaker:you know, like there's just so much worrying going on in the world and worry
Speaker:is a natural human emotion, you know?
Speaker:um.
Speaker:I think if you just have faith, like, like we're just, we're just specs
Speaker:floating on, on a, a ball of rock.
Speaker:You know?
Speaker:Like, like, you know, if you, if you have faith, then like,
Speaker:what's there to worry about?
Speaker:You know, God has it all sorted out.
Speaker:Like, like, why am I worried?
Speaker:It's, it's kind of comical, you know, when you think about it.
Speaker:It, it it,
Speaker:done all of that work.
Speaker:that's good.
Speaker:And.
Speaker:It's so, it's so interesting how when I get a question that pop in
Speaker:my mind and then you'll answer it before I actually get to the question.
Speaker:'cause I was about to ask, I sometimes define faith at its root as believing
Speaker:that everything's gonna be okay.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:then you, you went there, so that's awesome.
Speaker:So, uh,
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:any, any,
Speaker:it's not okay.
Speaker:Like
Speaker:sometimes it's not okay and it's still like, it's still okay.
Speaker:it is still okay, especially when we look at timeframes.
Speaker:You, it's like, yeah, some things are short term, like, you know, when we got
Speaker:on the call here, I said, you know what?
Speaker:I'm dealing with some of this crud.
Speaker:I'm gonna power through.
Speaker:My eyes are glassy, my voice sounds a little bit blah.
Speaker:But, you know, and my wife and I are real important when we do this,
Speaker:we, we don't make decisions while we're not feeling well or we're
Speaker:fatigued because we know it'll pass.
Speaker:I mean, and we were talking this morning, how long have we been sick?
Speaker:She goes, it's only been a couple days.
Speaker:I'm going, good.
Speaker:Gosh.
Speaker:It seems like it's been a long time, but
Speaker:Been months.
Speaker:yeah.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Anything else?
Speaker:Anything else you wanna share
Speaker:about your business
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:to maybe people that might be listening in that might be business owners or
Speaker:anything before I finish up with a few questions about specifically decluttering.
Speaker:Hmm.
Speaker:Yeah, I think I think people are just so reluctant to, uh, to try things, you know?
Speaker:I think that's one of the things that I do really well and I always have,
Speaker:you know, like, what's the worst that can, if people are like, oh, I remember
Speaker:I coached someone at one point, they were like, I'm just really worried
Speaker:about like starting my Facebook group.
Speaker:And I was like, dude, no one is listening you.
Speaker:You're fine.
Speaker:Like, I promise you no one is even noticing.
Speaker:So just do your thing, it out.
Speaker:You know, start with one person.
Speaker:Like, we just, we just put all this pressure on ourselves to,
Speaker:to be perfect and to do it right.
Speaker:And, you know, nobody's watching at the beginning.
Speaker:And then when they are watching, like, you know, I mean, I am, I am
Speaker:such a huge fan of making mistakes.
Speaker:Like I talk about this all the time.
Speaker:Maybe this is the, maybe this is the thing.
Speaker:Okay.
Speaker:Like, what is so bad about being wrong, right?
Speaker:Like, what if you're wrong?
Speaker:Like, what if you were okay with being wrong?
Speaker:There is incredible freedom.
Speaker:Incredible freedom right now.
Speaker:We don't have to defend ourselves.
Speaker:We don't have to fight.
Speaker:We don't have to, we don't have to be right?
Speaker:You know?
Speaker:And doesn't mean we don't wanna be right?
Speaker:Of course we wanna be right.
Speaker:Of course we wanna do things well, like, of course I do.
Speaker:But also, just like, be okay if you screw up, right?
Speaker:If you're not afraid of screwing up, making a mistake, making someone
Speaker:unhappy, you're gonna do, do a million times more than someone who
Speaker:is like, trying to do it all right?
Speaker:Like, it's just, it's, it's, it's impossible.
Speaker:So just like be willing to screw up and make mistakes.
Speaker:And this is a probably a message that I need to remember
Speaker:because, I struggle with it too.
Speaker:But, um, I think there's so much freedom and, and like being okay with being wrong.
Speaker:Why not?
Speaker:Yeah, I think that's good.
Speaker:It goes back to what we talked about, faith, everything's gonna be okay.
Speaker:And I've had some conversations on recent podcasts about the word risk and how we
Speaker:have become a society, a culture that we don't, we can't really evaluate risk.
Speaker:Well, and I mean one of, one of the things, and I'm sure you probably are
Speaker:able to think about this, is like, what's the worst thing that can happen?
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:What is the worst thing that can happen if you write a few blog posts and
Speaker:what's the worst thing that can happen?
Speaker:You know, what is anyone,
Speaker:your
Speaker:is anyone going to.
Speaker:Someone laughs at you, the internet trolls show up and, and you know, and
Speaker:I'm always like, well, they're just bots.
Speaker:Like, they're not actually not even real people.
Speaker:Like that's my always my thought, you know, some people are afraid
Speaker:of going viral, and I'm like, why?
Speaker:That's hilarious.
Speaker:You know, like these, these people, it's just all engagement.
Speaker:I mean, there's so much I could say there.
Speaker:Um, yeah.
Speaker:What's the worst that can happen?
Speaker:People yell at you like, okay, you're not dead.
Speaker:Like,
Speaker:and and
Speaker:you're not gonna care anyways.
Speaker:So,
Speaker:that's right.
Speaker:I mean, so I, I don't, I don't think anyone's lost, you know, limbs or
Speaker:their life or anything like that, but yeah, I mean, it's just, come on.
Speaker:Um, what are, what are, when someone comes into the decluttering club,
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:and, and what I'd love to do is maybe walk through how they come in
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:and what are some things they could expect early on, and we can talk about
Speaker:where they need to go to find all that.
Speaker:What, what are some things they could expect when they come into the club?
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:So the first thing that we teach everybody, our very first lesson is
Speaker:what we call kitchen zero, right?
Speaker:Because the kitchen is, you know, where you spend most of your time,
Speaker:a lot of your time, uh, and any work that you're gonna do in your
Speaker:kitchen is gonna pay off, right?
Speaker:It's gonna have this ripple effect.
Speaker:So we teach our members how to do what we call kitchen zero, which really just
Speaker:means like, what is the one, or what are the one or two things that you're
Speaker:willing to do in your kitchen every day?
Speaker:And that is the emphasis every day, right?
Speaker:And everybody comes back and they're like, oh, there's 20 things that I have to do.
Speaker:And I'm like, no, no, no, no, no.
Speaker:You won't do those every day, right?
Speaker:I need you to tell me one or two things.
Speaker:So, so we teach 'em how to do that, and then they do it every
Speaker:day and we coach them through that.
Speaker:And then over time, they literally basically have a brand new kitchen because
Speaker:they start taking care of it regularly.
Speaker:And then, you know, it's, it's just awesome.
Speaker:So that's the first thing that we do.
Speaker:But we're really big on, you know, on what we call baby steps and, you
Speaker:know, on working 10 minutes at a time.
Speaker:Because again, if you're showing up and you're overwhelmed,
Speaker:you have a lot of work to do.
Speaker:You think you need to clear your schedule for the next, you know,
Speaker:three months and just like.
Speaker:Torture yourself by getting the shovel in the dumpster.
Speaker:And nobody wants to do that.
Speaker:That's, no, nobody's signing up for that.
Speaker:So we, we really work hard on and convincing people, 10 minutes, give
Speaker:me 10 minutes, 10 minutes today, 10 minutes tomorrow, 10 minutes later.
Speaker:Right?
Speaker:It will add up over time.
Speaker:and that helps people to overcome their perfectionism, their A DHD,
Speaker:you know, they're overwhelmed, right?
Speaker:So those are kind of the two, two, like really, uh,
Speaker:introductory types of things we do.
Speaker:We have a really strong community.
Speaker:We match people up with buddies.
Speaker:so they feel, they feel like they're not alone, right?
Speaker:They feel, oh, other people have these problems, right?
Speaker:We can talk about them.
Speaker:okay to, it's okay to be real, right?
Speaker:Like, we're all about real, real talk.
Speaker:Um, we.
Speaker:celebrate the wins, but we're also there.
Speaker:You know, someone loses a husband, loses a child, loses their
Speaker:job, they're sick, whatever.
Speaker:We're there for that.
Speaker:You know, like that's, that's a really important thing.
Speaker:And so that's what we're all about.
Speaker:Um, and I think, I think people realize it.
Speaker:And so it's, it's real powerful.
Speaker:You at the beginning you talked about how you don't really judge people.
Speaker:I, I think the community seems like it's adopted.
Speaker:That seems like a safe space.
Speaker:Would that be accurate?
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Absolutely.
Speaker:A hundred percent.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:So where can people find it?
Speaker:Tell people I've got it pulled up here, but go ahead and you tell 'em.
Speaker:We'll, we'll include all that in the notes and I've got one more question.
Speaker:That'll be a
Speaker:Okay.
Speaker:nice one we can wrap up with.
Speaker:Yeah, so you can find us on social.
Speaker:We're on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube.
Speaker:Um, handle is the, the Decluttering Club.
Speaker:Uh, you can just search us up, um, or you can go to our blog or our
Speaker:website, the decluttering club.com.
Speaker:Um, we do have a free training that you can sign up for some
Speaker:free decluttering challenges.
Speaker:10 minutes is all you need.
Speaker:Um, it's a really great way to get started, but social is really my jam.
Speaker:I'm, I am, it's all me on social media, at least right now.
Speaker:and I love, it's just so much fun for me.
Speaker:So that is where I hang out.
Speaker:That actually calls me to think of another question to ask that I wasn't gonna ask.
Speaker:How do you keep social media from cluttering up your life?
Speaker:Is that a hard, I said, you know that 'cause social media
Speaker:clutters a lot of our lives,
Speaker:It really does.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Well, I mean, I do not let my phone ding.
Speaker:My phone does not like, does not call the shots.
Speaker:I
Speaker:so no notifica, no notifications.
Speaker:I don't have any notifications either.
Speaker:like, you know, texts.
Speaker:But, um, yeah, no no notifications.
Speaker:I turn up all those badges, right.
Speaker:So like none of that happens 'cause I do not want my phone
Speaker:to dictate when I look at it.
Speaker:Um, but, um, I. I if some great stuff going on in your life, then, then social
Speaker:media is not as much of a poll right now.
Speaker:I, I probably, I think I would appreciate like, using social media less than I do.
Speaker:you know, and it's like, oh, it's for business, right?
Speaker:So it's kind of a convenient excuse, but um, at some point you kind of get
Speaker:over it, you know, it, it's boring over time, like it kind of loses its thrill.
Speaker:And I've done a lot of research and a lot of work on, on dopamine and,
Speaker:and kind of the effect that has.
Speaker:So I'm very aware of it and I don't want it to, to have that impact on me.
Speaker:so I think that's, that's kind of it.
Speaker:Like, you know, there was a time when, you know, I was going viral a lot, reach,
Speaker:I was reaching like millions of people.
Speaker:I still am.
Speaker:But um, that really pulled me in.
Speaker:And then I realized, you know, like I. what, like, who cares?
Speaker:You know, I, I don't want this to be like all I think about, right?
Speaker:Because you can reach lots of people and still not have an impact.
Speaker:So what gets that?
Speaker:Like, that's, that's no fun either.
Speaker:So
Speaker:Hmm.
Speaker:just keeping it in perspective is the most important thing.
Speaker:But
Speaker:turn off those notifications.
Speaker:They are their vile, they have to go, they're the devil.
Speaker:I know my wife really wishes I would have sounds on.
Speaker:I don't have any sounds.
Speaker:I don't have, my phone doesn't ring texts, no notifications,
Speaker:Uh
Speaker:I go to my phone when I want to go to it.
Speaker:It doesn't call me in, but I do go to it often, which is an issue.
Speaker:Sarah, let's, um, someone, let's just say someone's been drawn into.
Speaker:This episode with the title that probably has something about
Speaker:decluttering in it, I'm guessing.
Speaker:And they've hung with us this whole time, but they still are a bit
Speaker:overwhelmed and, and they are really hopeful or wanting to, to get better.
Speaker:I'm gonna give you just, you know, whatever, 30 seconds, a
Speaker:minute, whatever you'd like.
Speaker:I would like for you to speak directly to that person that still feels as
Speaker:if they may not be able to do it.
Speaker:So my last thing, if you could just speak to them and help someone
Speaker:who believes that they can't
Speaker:hmm.
Speaker:declutter their life.
Speaker:Hmm.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Well, I mean, I, I sometimes it is hard to believe that you could do it right.
Speaker:But I, and, and in that case, you could just borrow my belief because I have seen
Speaker:people who identify as hoarders, right?
Speaker:We had one woman who, um, she had her room, her bedroom was like
Speaker:full of boxes, uh, and she was.
Speaker:As overwhelmed as you could get.
Speaker:Really?
Speaker:She went through and she would just do like an inch at a time, you know, take
Speaker:a box, do an in, like, sort through an inch, and she got through all of
Speaker:the boxes, the bedroom was cleared, and, then she went onto the kitchen.
Speaker:She learned kitchen zero, right?
Speaker:So, I mean, of course it's overwhelming, right?
Speaker:I think sometimes we feel like I shouldn't be overwhelmed, you know?
Speaker:But of course you're overwhelmed, right?
Speaker:If your house is full of stuff, you're gonna be overwhelmed.
Speaker:That makes perfect sense.
Speaker:It's not a surprise, right?
Speaker:When, when we realize, oh, this is, this is a normal
Speaker:reaction, uh, to the situation.
Speaker:Like, we can relax, right?
Speaker:And, um, you know, if you are dealing with a lot of clutter.
Speaker:You don't, if you knew how to fix it, you would've done it right?
Speaker:Like, so of course you don't know how to fix it, but I do.
Speaker:Right?
Speaker:I do.
Speaker:And I have thousands of people are success stories.
Speaker:So just come on and let us help you.
Speaker:we will show you the way, we will give to you step by step.
Speaker:Right?
Speaker:You cannot, you can't imagine like the whole journey.
Speaker:And also you don't have to, all you have to do is get started, right?
Speaker:I mean, we've, that's kind of been a little bit of the theme today is, you
Speaker:know, just, just do one thing and then do the next, and then do the next,
Speaker:and eventually you will get there.
Speaker:Like you will as long as you don't stop.
Speaker:That's the only prerequisite.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Excellent.
Speaker:Thank you Sarah.
Speaker:What a great conversation.
Speaker:I've enjoyed it.
Speaker:Go check out the Decluttering Club, especially if you believe it fits you.
Speaker:I think, I think some people should go take a peek just at what
Speaker:you're doing there business, even if they're a business person and
Speaker:wanna see some cool stuff going on.
Speaker:definitely if they believe they fit into that group that needs to
Speaker:declutter, check it out@thedeclutteringclub.com.
Speaker:We here, we're Seek Go create.
Speaker:We've got new episodes every Monday.
Speaker:Thankful for people that are watching commenting over on YouTube and
Speaker:listening in on all the platforms.
Speaker:Thank you for all that you are doing.
Speaker:We appreciate it will see everyone next week.