An image saying Not just any old teams with photos of Ingrid's and Lesley's Organise your house and Clutter Fairy teams
Episode 337 – Not just any old teams – the Clutter Fairy and Organise Your House teams

It’s Ingrid and Lesley week and as part of our special week long of bonus episodes, we are delving into parts of our lives outside of the Declutter Hub that you might not know about. In this podcast, we are talking to the people we trust most whilst we mostly sit on our chairs talking about decluttering all day and they are out there doing the doing. Today we’re talking to the Clutter Fairy and Organise Your House Teams about their love of decluttering, their day to day work and, of course, whether they learnt anything new from their bosses in our new book.
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Transcript of this podcast episode
00:00
It's Ingrid and Lesley week, and as part of our special week long of bonus episodes, we are delving into parts of our lives outside of the declutter that you might not know about. Today, we are talking to the people we trust most, while we mostly sit on our backsides talking about decluttering all day long, and they are out there doing the doing. Today, we're talking to the clutter fairy and organize your house teams about their love of decluttering, their day to day work, and of course, whether they learnt anything new from their bosses. In our brand new book,

00:38
you're listening to the declutter book podcast, bringing you tried and tested no nonsense tips and advice from the leading experts in decluttering and organizing your home. Now here are your hosts Ingrid Jansen and Lesley Spellman.

01:01
Hello and welcome listeners. I'm Ingrid and I'm Lesley. If you're new to the declutter hub podcast, you're so welcome. What you'll find is that we try and find a fun factor in the serious business of decluttering, and if you've been here for a while, you know exactly what we mean. So thank you so much for listening. If you'd like to get involved in conversations relating to this podcast. It all takes place in our Facebook group. So come and join our lovely, warm, supportive community. To find the Facebook group, go to declutter hub.com, forward slash group to find out more, or you can search for the declutter hub community on Facebook. Hello. Hello, everybody. I am so delighted to welcome you to this special bonus episode. And today I am delighted to get started with my lovely Katie, head honcho at the clutter fairy, and she's going to explain everything that we do at clutter fairy and life admin, and then we're going to chat a little bit about the book. The way that it's going to work is that we're going to cycle through the clutter fairies and organize your house in this podcast, and just ask them, really, to pick out things after reading our lovely, brand new book that resonated most with them, because they were out there doing the day job all day. Now, Katie is a little bit different. She does do the doing, and she has done much doing in the past, but now she manages the team for me so that I can do the declutter hub. So I am eternally grateful for her. She runs a tight ship, and we have a wonderful, wonderful team of wonderful women that you're all going to meet. So, Katie, welcome to the podcast. Hi Lesley, and everyone watching and exactly so Katie, tell us a little bit about your evolution with the clutter fairy. So it is my 10 year anniversary next month, which is very exciting, so very nicely placed with the book launch as well. And I started off as a typical clutter fairy going out and helping people in their homes. And I did that for a good, sort of five or six years before I started to take over aspects of running the business view, which I'm really proud to be a part of. I still do have my odd own client as well, but I now take care of our team of six who are all over the North West, looking after all of our fabulous clients. So if you are to ring, if you were to ring, the number on the website, you're going to get through to me. I will help with the terms and conditions. I will help with feedback. I will help with invoice and the payments. All the payments, all the really exciting stuff, whilst the team are out there, grafting, taking care of our clients. So I'm first point of contact, but I'm also, and I always say this to everybody, I'm there to support our clients and our team ongoing throughout the process. I do miss doing a lot more of the face to face stuff, because I think we all absolutely adore working with clients. It's just a fantastic job to do. But I also I really love being a big part of moving things forward for everybody, and speaking to all the fantastic clients is fabulous. Love it. I think, you know, it's an interesting one, and it sounds like a really administrative job, and it is absolutely but I think it's a nice part of the job, because you're the person who, when that person is feeling their most vulnerable and picks the phone up to you for the first time. It's a big deal for a lot of people to call a professional organizer into their home. You're the one that goes, it's okay. We've got you here. It's all fine. Do you know what I mean? And puts their mind at rest. And I think those initial conversations, and obviously they used to be with me, now they're with you most of the time, are the things that make people go I've done the right thing by asking for help, because it's a huge deal, and so let's not underplay that. Yes, you do invoicing and all the boring stuff, but I think in that person's mind at rest and taking them through and assigning them to the right clutter fairy and all that kind of stuff is so important, and it's why our team, luckily, has grown so much over the past few years, mostly down to you, because I've been burying my head in the declutter hub. And Katie does more than she's saying at this moment. She runs the whole team. So Katie, you, obviously, what I've done is I've given a pretty an advanced copy of our lovely reset your home book to all. Michael.

05:00
Fairies, and so we're really interested today for you, you know, it's not just to go into the book, but what resonates most with you? Obviously, there's a lot of stuff that we the kind of things that we do at the clutter fairy, the kinds of things that we do we teach our clients all day long. What part of the book jumped out as the most resonant for you? It's an interesting one, actually, because you've got me as First up, but it's actually the latter half of the book that really, really resonated with me. One of the things I find really interesting about this process is these projects. When somebody's talking about decluttering their whole home, it's really exciting. Obviously, people are very nervous about it, and it is a big it's a big project. It can take time, and it's really important, obviously, to move through the process in the right way for them, but what is almost somehow more important, I think for me, is making sure that people realize at the end of the process that there is still ongoing maintenance, and it's those daily habits and those non negotiables and those mini resets, those little resets throughout the day and the week and the month. And also just thinking about how our lives change, the way we run, our lives change, which means, in turn, our home will change, and new stuff will come through the door as a consequence, or just generally, anyway, and so keeping the clutter at bay and having that focus past the full big reset, as we talk about, is so, so important to make sure that all that hard work that's been put in, all those wonderful things that have been achieved, can be sustained in the long term. It's almost a completely different part of the process, really, you know, the kind of, you know, we talk a lot right back in episode two. I think it was our second episode of the podcast. We talk about the difference between decluttering, organizing, tidying and cleaning, and the kinds of things that you're talking about and that we talk about in the in that chapter of the book is definitely about the kind of tiding and cleaning and reset side of things, because it's so vital, as you say, because it doesn't stop there with the decluttering and organizing. This is an endless cycle that you need to kind of work through and continue to kind of work out. And I think, you know, so I think it's important when people are working on their own, you know, people within the declutter that are trying to go it alone. I think it's also important for people who use a professional organizer in their homes to try as hard as they can to keep the clutter at bay, but also to realize that it's okay if something goes awry, to call help back in. And it's never as bad, is it? Katie, never as bad as it was. First time, absolutely not. We've got clients that we've worked with for the whole sort of 15 years that the business has been going. We might only see them once every few years, but it might be like you say, they've just had a difficult time, or they've had a change of circumstance, a new person sent to the home, or one of the family members has left and they need to change a room's purpose. So absolutely, yeah, and we love we love hearing from clients who've worked within the past. Because, to your point, if we've done a full reset with them, or they've done a full reset themselves, they will always find that secondary reset or that new reset that they need that much easier. But it's about being aware of that when it's needed. I think that's really key, as well as being focused on not just I've done the full reset we're done, but if something starts to go awry that they just use their decluttering muscle, their tips, the tricks that they've already learned, or help our help if they need face to face to get that reset done. So so important. So thank you so much, Katie for sharing that. And now, before we go and I'm landing this on you, because I never told you that we were going to talk about this. What's it like working with me? I love it absolutely.

08:31
Well.

08:32
We joke about I had a complete I came from a completely different world. I did 15 years in banking, and I did lots of loved it wonderful time. And when I got major redundant or took redundancy, actually, I did the thing that everyone said. They said, do what you love, and it won't feel like work. So I googled, and at the time, our industry still is unknown to a lot of people, but it was much less known pre, you know, 2000 wasn't it? So when I contacted you. I think remember exact wording I use, but I just remember saying, I love the business. I love the idea of it. I've always really looked up to you, and I've absolutely always loved working with you. I love the fact that you take such good care of us. You trust us. You've given us such a good grounding to be fantastic clutter fairies and to carry that that forward. I love it. I do love it. I can't. Yeah,

09:22
I would do this. You. What do we say? Soon as you start loving this job, you have to stop doing it, and that's why I'm still here, because I love it exactly. And I think the good thing, the important thing for me, and it's the same with English and I as well. And a lot of people know know the relationship between England and more than they know the relationship between you and I, but it's kind of similar, because I'm kind of a little bit away with the fairies and coming up with ideas and going off on a tangent and things like that all the time. And both Katie and Ingrid are the people that keep me on track to make sure that we actually execute on all of the ideas. So it's important for me to have people that are much more grounded around me as well. So then, you know, and it just works together. It really gels. And so.

10:00
Katie, I'm eternally grateful for everything that you do for the clutter fairy team. You're going to hear from the rest of the clutter fairies in a moment, but for now, thank you so much for sharing your thoughts on the book Katie, and for being an incredible clutter fairy. My pleasure. Well, hello, there it is. Lady Victoria. Do you want to tell people Victoria? Why you actually called lady victoria before we get started? It was, it's just always, always been my nickname. I don't know why. I think some people thought I was posh. And then Anthony bought me my husband, so he bought me a title, and then I got a private reg on my car, says lady v. And then I'd go somewhere else, and someone who didn't know I was called Lady v would say, Oh, how's lady victoria? So it just seemed everyone just called me that. I don't know, but I like it, and I actually have a piece of land in Scotland, it's probably about that big.

10:50
Well, you're the only lady that I know, lady victoria. But as well as being lady victoria, you are one of my gorgeous clutter fairies. So thank you so much for coming on the podcast today to share your thoughts about a being a clutter fairy, and B, the lovely book that we have just written. So tell us about where you work, Victoria, and how long you've been a clutter fairy.

11:13
I've been a clutter fairy for about three and a half years, and I cover the North West and Liverpool. Nice, nice. Yeah, you can see that we can hear that little Liverpool sort of twang, although you're not quite in Liverpool, are you? She's at Anna. That's when you say that to somebody. She's like, it's not Liverpool. It kind of sounds like it to lots of other people, but, yeah, you've definitely got that twang, but you're outside of Liverpool. So Victoria. Let's get down to business the book. What did you think about it?

11:43
It was great. I love the way it started off. You could start from the very beginning. And it was a proper plan of

11:50
how you could declutter, go through what's best to Where's best to start. And it was written in such a way so it was room by room. It was broken down so that you can actually, if you have to go away and do something else, or something else happens and you have to stop, then you can just go back to where you were and pick it up, where you left off. Really, yeah, I think that's the nice thing, actually, about doing it the way that we've done it, really, is that it is definitely all of the individual chapters are standalone. And even within each chapter, there are standalone sections that you can refer back to, so it'll be really easy to find, and then, coupled with the index that we've got, you'll be able to go exactly back to that point. And so, yeah, it's really nice to be able to pick up and drop off, because we don't do our whole houses in one one go. Do we took a time. It's a long process, and you've got to do it a certain way to make it work. Yeah, the piece that resonated with me quite a lot was the section about neurodiversity, because a lot of our clients have ADHD or and I'm quite hyperactive myself, so we have to allow for that and look at the client's personality to see what works best for them, because each client is different. And then, obviously, if your life gets derailed and things go, you know, if you're a parent and you get unexpected things and you can that happen, then you can go back and you can pick the book up where you left off and start decluttering. Because otherwise, if you're not in the right frame of mind, you can make the wrong decisions, absolutely. So yeah, I think you saw right. And I think that's where the clutter personalities comes in. I think a little bit is kind of we need a name sometimes, don't we, for the way that we're feeling Victoria, and so we know that we well, we have a sense that we're not doing decluttering quite right, or managing our home quite right, and we feel, we need to feel some kind of validation. And I think there's a section in the book called What are your clutter personalities, and I think that gives people a bit of a name, almost, for what they feel that they are, or the kind of traits that they show in the decluttering world. Yeah, and there's a lot of clients who feel overwhelmed and who break down in tears and they're embarrassed because they're not running the home like they feel like they should. But there's they, they think they're the only people, but there's so many people. Otherwise we wouldn't have you wouldn't have this business, but there's so many people like that. And that's why there's TV programs and you've got written a book for that market. It's just, I love it when you're getting a system for somebody and making them happy and asking them what works for them, and then problem solving and pleasing the people that makes me happy. That's why I love this job. Yeah, because there's no one size fits all. There's lots and lots of different ways then different people are going to respond to different strategies and different ideas. Some people like to go fast and furious. Some people like to slow it down. Some people struggle with decisions. Some people find it easy. Some people are more emotional than others. And so there's different ways. And so in our job as clutter fairies, and certainly in the declutter hub and the work that we do here, you know we have to think of different ways.

15:00
Of doing things. So this book very much places people like you could do this or you could do that. So it's not a kind of prescriptive sort of, you have to do it this way. That's not what we're about, yeah, because you don't want anyone to make the wrong decisions. So it the book allows you to ask yourself, what personality are you? What's best for you? How will this work for you, so it's really good. I loved it. Oh, thank you. Well, Victoria lady, Victoria, I am going to let you go now and but thank you so much for contributing to this podcast. No doubt we'll see you at we're going out again in a couple of weeks, and Victoria is our Social Secretary for the clutter fair. She's always the one with the games and the fun, so that'll be fun in a couple of weeks when we meet up. So thank you so much, Victoria, and we will see you soon. Bye, bye, thank you.

15:48
Well, hello Claire. Welcome to the podcast, and Claire is one of our newer clutter fairies. Aren't you? Clay? New kid on the block? I am. Yes, I am. Less than six months actually joined in October. I know, I can't believe that. I mean, I mean, it's less than four months, really, isn't it? You know? I mean, the thing is, when, when I talk to a potential classifier for the first time, I kind of say, once you're on board, you might have to just hit the ground running a little bit, because the works kind of keeps coming in, and that's definitely what's happened for you, isn't it? Claire, yeah, it's been amazing. It's been a fantastic journey. I've been meeting some great clients, and, yeah, lots of variety as well, which has been amazing. Yeah, loved it. I know exactly No, it is. We're so lucky to do the job that we do, to be fair. So tell people where you work, Claire, and what your background is, a little bit. Yeah. So the area that I cover is Warrington, Merseyside, Liverpool, Cheshire and some Greater Manchester as well. And so I actually live in Warrington, so it's I'm quite a good point for the essential for a lot of the areas that we cover, which is good, and my background is quite varied, really. I actually have an art degree and had my own business for a couple of years as a designer, and then ended up in property, and that sort of led me overseas to Dubai, and then ended up doing in house recruitment there, and then came back to the UK and did a combination of in house recruitment or sort of talent and then property. And I've also worked in fundraising as well, but this was something that I'd looked at for quite a while, and then obviously just found you guys on online and listened to your podcast for a while, and and then just approached you and said, Are you looking for anybody else? Because I'd love to join the team, if possible. And yeah, kind of all gone from there. Really. The other interesting thing about about your background, because a lot of people talk to us, a lot of potential professional organizers, talk about, you know, what skills do you need? And I've not had any training, and all this kind of stuff, and there really isn't any training. There is a little bit of training out there for professional organizers, but that's not going to be any good unless you're the right kind of person. And so it's all about those life skills that you've had, those moves overseas, you know, and the project management work you've done. But more than anything else, it's about your ability to interact with people. And so the people skills are there in the recruitment job and things like that that you've done. So so it is an absolutely wonderful job. And any professional organizer will wax lyrical all the time about how much they love it, because we can make such a big difference to people. Yeah. So I'm glad that you've settled in and you're doing a sterling job. Clients, the main thing. And so let's talk about the book which you've read. So number one, this is where I kind of get worried, like, did you like it? Oh, I loved it. I loved it. It was such an easy read. I just got straight into it. I just started reading those first few pages, and then it was just sort of, yeah, he was brilliant. It was really good. So yeah, you and Ingrid should be really proud of what you've done. And it's a fantastic book and a really good guide for anybody who's first time into decluttering and that whole journey side of things. And I think it's something that you can they can probably dip in and out of and refer back to at different times as well, and probably read a few different times. And it's definitely a guide as well as just a full read. So yeah, people who are doing different different rooms, they can come back to it and go through it, and then, you know, we know, we talk about the different phases and the different shifts of organizing. So people can, 100% come back again and go, just going to revisit that room. Let's read that chapter again and go through that. So, yeah, yeah, definitely. And I think it very much depends. So the way that the book is split down, of course, you know, if it's your emotional, if it's emotional difficulty, then you can refer back to the sort of, what we call the thinking section, which is all about the emotion, space, decluttering side of things. And then if it's like, well, I'm not quite sure what they said about how to actually organize this, then there's like, a do it section, and something is split down, you know, but on purpose, really into a really easy kind of thing that you can, as you say, you know, pick up and drop off when you need to, because that's the way life works. Clay like, who can two weeks declutter in the house, you know, back to back on and it's better for you to be able to kind of dip in and out of it and and do it when you're feeling as if you want to, really so we just had to have a little break there, Claire, didn't we? Because you've got, like, a little snoring.

20:00
Dog,

20:02
she's

20:03
like, my dog's snoring. Can you hear my dog snoring? We've had a snoring removal, and now we're back into the podcast. So Claire, let's get back what resonated most with you about the book?

20:16
I think it's the side of judgment. A lot of the clients that we deal with one of the things that they face is, is fear of being judged. So when we go into people's homes, they'll often apologize and and that makes me feel really sad, because actually, you know, there's usually a variety of reasons, whether that's a physical disability or neuro divergence or, you know, it could be multitude of different things, and it could just be a small blip in their life that they've just struggled with something. And you know, for us to be able to come in and support them with that, that's really vital, because it can help them to be free of all of that and have that weight lifted. And after each session, we really start to notice that the whole persona is completely different. They just look a lot lighter. And so for people to feel judged, or, you know, if people are sort of criticizing them, even having us around, sometimes, you know, what? Can you not do it for yourself? Or, you know, and that makes me feel so sad, because, you know,

21:13
they should be, people should be supported. And it's so much better if people can have support from families. But if people don't, then this book will really, really help them, because it will help to give them that guidance. And if people can't get somebody to support them within their own network, obviously we help people directly as well. And so yeah, it's that whole judgment side of thing for me that really resonates, because it can be very difficult for people to even start the process. And yeah, yeah. I think there's, there's a section of the book where we delve into people's clutter personalities, really, yeah. So kind of highlighted five different personalities that we think people have. And of course, there's a massive crossover in some of them as well. But I think that there's a validation required from people. And we've seen this in our work for many, many years. People need to see themselves in, you know, it written down like it's okay. Other people feel like this as well. And this is a common thing, because I think, you know, because of the way clutter is, and it's a little bit secretive, it's not something that people share quite often. And so you can be forgiven for thinking that you're the only one. So part of what we wanted to get across in the book, in our work, in the membership, whatever it, whatever it is that we're doing, is you're not alone, and actually like minded people around you is really freeing and empowering as well. Yeah, and being part of that, like you said, having a name for your personality type will just make you feel so much more relieved that actually there are other people and there are other people who are thinking the same way. And yeah, 100% it will make people feel less guilty about that, about what's happening and this, there should be no guilt. There should be no judgment around around the situation. And so, yeah, I think it's brilliant. Oh, well, thank you, Claire, thank you so much for coming on the podcast. Thank you so much for joining the wonderful clutter fairy team. Thank you a brilliant addition. And I'm really glad that you're around. And thank you the podcast today. Thank you, Lesley,

23:11
so here we are with the lovely Bev. How are you? Bev? Today? I'm very good, very good. Thank you, yes. Thank you for being on our podcast. And you've taken time out of your busy schedule, because Bev has kind of tailed down a little bit on a clutter fairy work this last couple of months, because she's been moving house and so, yeah, are you still alive after that process? Beth, it's been very busy. It has been a bit of what do you call? It a personal journey of decluttering. Again, we are finally. We've been in five days that door, so it's literally hot off the press, but we're there, and I feel like I have a place for everything. So I'm calm now. So we're doing. Okay, good. So when you're not moving house, you are, of course, one of my lovely clothes fairies tell us a little bit about where you work and how long you've been with us. So I'm South Manchester, so I'm sort of sail cheetle altering and simply Didsbury kind of area and around there. And oh, now, how long have I been with you? That's a good challenge, at least. What four are we four years now? I think so. Okay, I wonder whether it's like longer. I don't know. We might be. It's basically after lockdown, really started to work. Yeah, go this way. I think, yeah, time flies when you're having fun. And before that, I well for a chunk. Before that, I was at home, so I've got three children, but before that, I was project managing, so in retail installations of sort of marketing counters and all the pretty bits. You know, I was talking to Claire about this before as well. I think, you know, a lot of people ask the question about, what does it take to become a professional organizer, and ask about training and things like that. And, of course, it's important to furnish yourself with information if you can. But really the skill come.

25:00
From what you've done before. So it is kind of, you know, having three kids and running a family home, if that's important to you, or those project management skills that you've gathered along the way, or just life's experiences. And it's really about, you know, we at the clutter fairy are very much into the emotional connection with the clients and the emotional connection to your stuff. And so everything kind of starts from there, and the stuff follows, doesn't it Bev so definitely so important. It's so important to have that, that those life skills, such as, I think it's something that you need to do. Once you've had a few of those, you need to be a little bit, I'm not going to say that we're old, but older experience under your belt. Yeah, and that's exactly how I went into this career change. So I did a bit of soul searching and Googling about the skills I had and where they might work, rather than looking for a specific kind of place to start. So yeah, definitely pulls on all my core skills. I'm naturally at home. I quite like to tinker and Potter, my natural personality, but you need

25:59
that too, tinkerer and the patron, I like being stuck. Yeah. So apart from being part of our lovely team, and we have such a great time, don't we, because we go out all the time and everything, we have such a laugh. It's We're all from different kind of well, we're from different backgrounds. We're quite similar, really, but we all have different experiences. But we just have such a laugh. We just gel over our love of decluttering, don't we? We connect a couple of times a year, don't we, because we're all over the Northwest, and so some of us are 5060, miles apart, really. So, so yeah, but Christmas and our summer, summer parties are always a lot of fun, and I know it's team job sometimes as well we do like

26:35
on those, I don't count those both, because

26:39
I'm not there. You're all having fun without me, right? Okay, so Bev, so we gave you an advanced copy of reset your home

26:48
and tell us. What did you think I really liked it. It actually wasn't exactly how I'd expected. It was not that I was expecting anything specific, but it was really focusing on all the thoughts and feelings and all that side of it, which is definitely the right way to look at your decluttering in my point of view. So I loved it. Yeah, fantastic. And so which bits of it resonated most with you as a professional organizer? So for me, I'm it was all the parts where, because obviously you'll know this, but a lot of the time that we spend organizing with people is more deep heart, heart, kind of conversations that we have, which isn't what you would expect, I guess, but we really have to sort of connect with people. And so for me, it was the part that talks about sort of aspirational items and how they hold us back and living with things that aren't representing our life now. So for example, with the wardrobe chapter with the bedroom, it was about making sure that you focus on what to keep and not what to throw away, and that it's all about your life that you're living now, and so you've got that wardrobe that fits you as you are right now, and not the you that you were before, or the you that you'd like to be, or, you know, all those things that might make you a bit sad as well because you're not quite living up to those lifestyles. So for me, that was a real key, key thought process. Yeah, I think you saw right there Bev, because I think, you know, because obviously, you know, I started out in my life doing exactly the same as you are, and going out with them, working with clients, and, you know, and that's why the clutter fairy, you know, in our opinion, is quite special, because it is all about those conversations. And I think a lot of people, really, when they think about a professional organizer, think about somebody to get rid of the stuff, and obviously that's the end goal. And it's the same with this book. And everything we do within the declutter hub, the end goal is to, is to let go of stuff and have less. Okay, fair enough. But it's getting to that point that's a difficult bit. You know, we can all chuck stuff in a bin bag, you know, I mean, but it's, how do you decide what's going to go into that bin bag? That's the important thing. And I'm feeling okay with it afterwards, and not Yeah, and whether that's the conversation with yourself, or whether that's a conversation with the professional organizer, involves that soul searching, and somebody needs to present those ideas in front of you, and that's what we do as professional organizers. And because we have learned so much over the years about the types of things that resonate with different people, you know, I was then able to put all that into the book, and you're able to put that into the conversations that you have with your clients and choose different strategies. So I'm really glad that that resonated with you, because that's really what the book is all about.

29:31
Yeah, so how do you think people can tackle this book, Bev, in one go? Or break it down? Well, I I actually read it in chapters, because I was reading it around my house move, so I had to kind of fit that in. But I think it works really nicely to slow people down a bit. It's really easy to take at a slow pace and digest each bit in its own right, and so you don't have to feel overwhelmed by a whole house or even a whole room. So I.

30:00
I just like the way it was really relatable and just gentle, really to guide you through that process. So yeah, it's really nice, supportive. But I think you know what? It's so interesting Ben, when you say that, because that's that has been said quite a lot recently, over the past couple, like, couple of years, to Ingrid and I that we're gentle, and it just makes me laugh with people, and I suppose that we actually are but gentle in a weird kind of way, really like the first thing that springs to mind. But I think our process is definitely gentle, and the empathy that we we have for the people, for our readers, for our podcast listeners, and certainly for our clients, is definitely gentle. So thank you so much Beth for being an incredible clutter fairy, as are all my clutter fairies, I'm so delighted to have such a wonderful team. Thank you for taking the time to read the book in your busy house. Moving schedule, and we will see you soon. I'll see you soon.

30:54
So hello, Karina. It's so lovely to see you here on the podcast. Your first outing on the podcast, Karina, is this your podcast? It is actually my first podcast. So yes, thank you for having me. Oh, you're welcome. It's only a little snippet, but no doubt we'll get you back at some point to do something a little bit more extensive. So Karina has been with us not even a year, just coming up to a year, it feels like forever, right? Tell us a little bit about your life as a clutter fairy. So, yeah, I've been with the clutter ferry for almost a year. It'll be a year next month, and I'm a professional organizer. I work in the Manchester area, and I absolutely love my job. I think it's my calling. I think it's the best job ever. I really love helping people, which is, I think, for me, the main kind of takeaway from the job, I just like helping people with their their clutter, with their concerns, where they struggle, and every day is a different day. It's really varied and satisfying. So I really enjoy it. And Karine is lovely and kind and calm and gentle, and a lot of people right across the world will be loving your lilting Scottish and Karina. So for anybody who's like, Oh, that's a little bit of a different accent, yeah, Karina is from Scotland originally, so, but she's moved down to Manchester, right? That's right, yes, I'm from the Highlands of Scotland, but I've been in Manchester for 25 years, so I think my accent has mellowed slightly. Oh, lovely, beautiful, beautiful part of the country. So let's get down to business. Then we're going to talk a little bit about the reset your home book. And I must admit, I under a little bit of pressure because karina's husband is a very accomplished author. So I was kind of like, oh, this is a bit scary. Sending it to an author's wife, but anyway, tell me, what did you think? Karina, don't be silly. I thought it was a fantastic book. I thoroughly enjoyed using it. I thought it was brilliant. So much of it resonated with me. I was just saying to you before that I was looking through and copying and pasting so many parts of it. I wanted to talk to you about, obviously, your main, your primary focus of understanding your habits and your emotions that can be tangled up with your belongings is such a fantastic starting point for this kind of journey. It really kind of allows you to start on the right foot and understand your your habits before you even embark on your decluttering journey. So that, I think, is the main takeaway for me, but other parts of it really resonated. One part that I thought was fantastic, and it was the reminder to to understand that decluttering isn't a one and done task. It's an ongoing process. I think I read somewhere that you can describe it as a journey, not a destination, so it's something that you're continually doing. And I think having that perspective for my clients, for myself, even when I'm decluttering, is really reassuring, because you can make decisions and know that you can come back to those that are more difficult, those that you struggled on. And having that second pass, that third pass, it builds your confidence, and it's more satisfying, I think, too, because the decisions that you're making are more considered. And for me, I find decluttering quite addictive now. So in my journey, personally, the more I do, the more I want to do. And that confidence builds that muscle, that decluttering muscle builds. And so for me, that idea of coming back over and over and over and your life changing as well different aspects of your life, different demands in your life, therefore have different demands on the stuff you have. So I think that was, yeah, yeah, definitely. I think that, I think we can be forgiven sometimes for thinking that we have to do it just all in one go. You know, people see before and afters and think that that's the way that it's done. Well, you and I both know Karina that it's not like that at all for many, many people, particularly those people that struggle.

35:00
More with clutter. For some people, it's fine, and you can have the kind of messy room into the tidy room in one go. But for most people, it's more of a struggle. And as you say, just allowing yourself the opportunity to think, I'm not ready to make that decision yet, I'm going to park that. You know, we there's a big phrase that we use. Most people said, If in doubt, throw it out where, if in doubt, don't throw it out, because we want everybody to make the decisions that feel right for them at the time. Because if you don't do that, then you start to second guess yourself. Do you start to have regrets? And so it's important to only make decisions about the things that you're comfortable with. Having said that, you do need to push yourself slightly out of your comfort zone. Otherwise, sometimes you might not make any decisions to let go. So it's finding that balance and knowing, as you said, that you can go back to the second process. I even had it in sessions with clients. They've made a decision on something and said, Oh yeah, keep that. I'll keep that. And then within the same session, they've come back to that, that pile, and thought, actually, I don't need that. And it's just, it's just with the get like like, with like gathering, having it all together, seeing what you've got, and that really helps you make your decision and building your muscle. So it's, it's about that consistency as well.

36:11
Yeah, because it's, it's hard to just go in strong and make a decision. Right off the bat, you need to, as you say, it's a process. You need to gather the information that you need to be able to make that decision together. And that takes longer than just looking at one item that just comes your way and going, do I want it or do I not want it? You need to see the full picture. So, really, really important. So, you know, that is definitely a thread that goes through the book. You know, we talk about it right at the beginning of the book, we return to it at the end of the book, because it's so important, I think because of the narrative that is out there for a lot of people, and that's what we wanted to kind of debunk, really a little bit in this book, and say you don't need to do it all at once. You don't need to do it fast and furious, take your time, break it down, and that way you're going to have a more successful decluttering journey long term, and hopefully change your mindset along alongside that. So I'm really glad that you picked that bit out, Karina. Thank you so much for being here here. Thank you so much for being a wonderful clutter fairy as always, and part of our wonderful team. I've spoken to the other girls as well about our our iconic nights out, and we've got another one in a couple of weeks where we're all getting together, so that will be exciting. So thank you so much, Karina, for being on the podcast today. You're welcome. Thank you. See you soon. See you soon.

37:24
So hello, Karen, my lovely clutter fairy, in her gorgeous, brand new dressing room. Look how good anybody that's watching on YouTube, you'll be able to see Karen has got the dressing room beyond dressing room, which you've waited how long for Karen, I've been saving up Yes, about Yeah, two years. She's like, this is what I'm spending my money on. It's absolutely gorgeous. And we were all, yeah, massively jealous. It's absolutely beautiful. We can see a small part of it. So Karen, you are one of the clutter fairy team. How long have you been with us? I've been with you now for five years, nearly six, so it means you must be enjoying it, right? I am, yeah, I always, I love the job. Yeah. What's your favorite part of the job? Then Karen, the people, yeah, the people, it's always the stories that you're privileged to hear from them. That's my favorite bit.

38:18
I do love to get the room sorted.

38:22
You are a doer as well, but you know, you got to, you know, spend your time like foot in between doing the doing and doing the chatting. And honestly, I could have spent all most of my time chatting, but I did get round to doing the doing as well at certain points. But yeah, now we're really privileged to be able to work with so many different people from so many walks of life, and we get to hear about different jobs and all of that kind of stuff. So yeah, absolutely love that part of the job. So you've been out there working today, doing a playroom. I believe I have, yes, we it was a house move. Lovely to see the family again, and they unpacked. We unpacked all the boxes today that were left in the playroom, so the children have got the all the Legos sorted. It's all in drawers. All the PlayStation set up. It's all good to go. My least favorite room in the entire decluttering process, I absolutely loathe, with a passion, doing playrooms. But anyway, that's not what we're here to talk about. We're here to talk about reset your home, our brand new book, and you and the other girls had an advanced copy. So Karen, tell us, what did you think? I loved it. I loved the jargon busters. Lesley, you made a chuckle about about the sherry schooners,

39:37
because we find all sorts, don't we? Yeah, we do. Never a dull moment you don't know what you're going to find, and again, what you're going to on earth. You know during the decluttering process, absolutely. So I think the jargon busters just to explain is kind of because there was a little bit of jargon related to the declutter, cluttering journey. We try to kind of debunk those a little bit and but in that we just kind of go this.

40:00
Is what that actually means, just so that it's a little bit easier for you to navigate your way through the book, yeah, so you'll find jag and Busters dotted around, and also revisiting. It's like the head client I've been to today. You know, we've done like, what I like to call wave one today, and we'll revisit the room again next month. And you know, you've highlighted that, that it's not always a quick fix. And of course, all our clients are individual, aren't they? You know, I think, I think it's fair to say, Karen, that that that part of it has really resonated with everybody. And I think, you know, particularly as professionals, sometimes if people get a professional organizer in, you would think that it would be done in one go. You know, if you were doing it for yourself, you might think it would take a little bit longer. But if you pay somebody to come in and help you, you might think you've got this big transformation overnight. But even with a professional on board, you know, we would urge the client then to take their time and only make decisions when it feels right for them. So I think that's that's kind of an important part, and it's certainly something that a lot of people have picked up on about the book, which is a good thing, right? Because I think that's one of our key messages, is just take your time with that. So I know there was another bit of the book that you really liked as well, Karen, do you want to tell us about it? Yeah, it's about not keeping things for best, right? About living your life and using what you've got. And lovely lady, she'd lived in her house, I had the privilege to go and see her. She'd her family had owned the house since the 1930s

41:32
so

41:34
loads of history from different generations, but she'd not had a family. She'd lived there with her husband. So sadly, he passed away. So I went to help her

41:46
get ready for the next chapter. So she was going to downsize and leave the family home.

41:52
So we were in the cupboards in one of the rooms, and it became apparent there were things that her and husband had brought together. So this box came out, and in it were these beautiful crystal glasses. And the story came that she'd been with her husband, and they bought them together, and they'd had such a lovely holiday, and she had lots of happy memories with him with those glasses, but they've never been used.

42:24
So I said to her, I think we'll put them in your new section for when you move and we take them out. She wanted to keep them, and she's going to enjoy them when she moves. But I think sometimes people they put things away thinking they're too precious to be used. And that's not the case. I know exactly. I think it's so it's such an important message, really, to use these things, whether it's a face cream that you think's a little bit fancy for every day, or whether it's a glasses set or a set of crockery that you've inherited, you know better to use that stuff and just to leave it in a cupboard, you know. And you run the risk, of course, you do with breaking something. But better to have, you know, if you've got a set of six classes, but better to be left with four at the end of it, and to have had good use for all of them. It's so important, it's and it's a real light bulb. Karen, for a lot of people as well, whether that's us telling them when they're clients, or whether that's people that we work with in the declutter hub. It's like, oh, yeah, what am I doing that for? And so it's simple, but it's effective, right? It is. And also, they were handmade, right? That made her tentative about it and thinking, can't use them. They're too precious, you know? But, and they were beautiful. They weren't of the mail glasses. They were beautiful. Yeah. And that's what decluttering is all about. You know, it's all about finding the gems on amongst the other stuff, really. You know, it's about uncovering things like that, whether it's that, or finding things that you would lost, or whatever. That's what it's all about. It's about wiping the slate clean a little bit to allow you to enjoy the things that really going to bring you joy. And so I think that's what's it and that, and again, that's the message, hopefully, that shines bright in the book. So yeah, and we honestly, Karen, couldn't we tell like, 100 stories every single day from clients that are so special? And as we said right at the beginning, we know we're very privileged as well to work with people telling us these stories. We're lucky, really, but there are so many things, and it's just being able to, as we say, move people forwards with their decluttering that makes things so special. So thank you so much, Karen for being on the podcast and sharing your wonderful client story and for reading the book. I'm glad you enjoyed it. It's all always a lot of pressure when you put it out there amongst your peers, amongst your colleagues, to see what they're going to say about it. So thank you so much, Karen for being on the podcast, and we'll see you soon. Lovely. Thank you, Lesley,

44:48
well, hello, hello. This is the lovely Lucy. One of Michael to Fauci is here. Welcome to the podcast. Thank you for having me. You're welcome. You're welcome. So Lucy, give us the scoop to.

45:00
Me a little bit about your career as a clutter fairy. So I have been a member of the clutter fairy for the last three years. Side stepped into it through nannying, and ever since, I've been on the team. I covered Manchester, Cheshire, Merseyside, Lancashire, anywhere you will send me. I will go

45:20
Lucy. Lucy is our traveler, so she just goes everywhere. So, so, yeah, so your nanny the skills that you had as a nanny, really, you know, you still do some nannying now, but you do a little bit more clutter fairy stuff now, and so it, it really gave you the skills that you need for clutter fairy and so you're absolutely brilliant with playrooms and families and stuff like that as well. Is that your favorite part of the job than families? Or do you like anything? I I think it's hard to answer, because there's so much variety in any house that you go to.

45:53
It all kind of, oh, right, okay. I'm losing myself here.

45:58
There's so many different perks of the job and any house you go to, no two days are the same. So playrooms and things are nice, but also going into a lot, going into a garage, going into a garden shed, you couldn't uncover all sorts. You're coming across people's memories. And it's really nice. There's so much variety with it. I know it's all about the people, really, isn't it? Lucy, it's all about the memories of the things that are there, even a garden shed and things like that still got stuff in it, right? That brings memories and difficulties in letting go. So no, it's a real privilege. It's really it's real privilege, and it's we're so lucky to be able to have such diversity, really, in terms of the types of people and the type of stuff that we come across. So you've read the reset your home book. And so what did you think about really, really good, informative, personal. I feel like anyone could read it and relate to it. It's, yeah, highly recommend it.

46:58
I could say I'm not paying you to say that, but I kind of am,

47:03
in a roundabout way. But No, I'm joking, but yeah, no, there's a lot of and it just covers all the different, like you said, the different cluster personalities. I don't think anyone would read it. I think they wouldn't see themselves in there. Even me as an as obviously, hopefully, a really organized person. There's still things in there that I can learn, that other people can learn. You can be a really organized person, but things cancel it. Things do change. Life changes. It's important that, you know the methods to go forward with it that's work best for you and your household. Yeah, I think, you know, it's definitely written in terms of, it can be for somebody that's got a little bit of clutter, and it can be for somebody that feels completely overwhelmed with clutter. There's definitely things to learn in there for everybody, because ultimately, it's mostly based around the emotional side of things and so, and that's we're complex people, right, with lots and lots of different types of emotions. So what? What specific part of the book resonated with you most. Lucy, so for me it was probably number one. Would be the tackling transitions section, similar to what I've just said as someone who, like I lived in the same house for 15 years and then moved house so many times in such a short space of time. And for me, it really brought home. You can't take your whole life with you. Your life changes in any way shape or form. Your house can get bigger. Your house can get smaller, as long as you're working in a way that works for your household. It really resonated with me. Bear with me on set while I read my notes. I'm

48:41
just trying to think what I've got here. Um, yeah, and about going on to the next chapter of your life. Fair enough, the clothes that you wore when you're a size eight were lovely, and you might keep them thinking, I might fit into them in five years time, but in five years time is the style the same. Are you still going to enjoy wearing them? Are you going to be wearing them thinking, Oh, I've had these for like, 15 years, and they're a bit slack, whatever it might be. So I think it's really good to look at like the now of your life and just go with what what works for you at that moment, not what has worked for you, or what might work in a future that you actually don't know the answers to yet. Absolutely, absolutely so important to live for the now. And obviously there are, there are always going to be little bits and pieces that we keep from our past and for the future, but it's really important to focus on the now and to create space for the now. And think so many of us get stuck in the kind of past and future, and I think that's definitely a message that comes through throughout the book. Now I know you loved the section on sentimental items as well. So what? What was it that resonated most with you about that?

49:49
I think, as someone who has lost family members and you suddenly are then in charge of their savings, I think we all have this thing of going, Oh, well, they really liked.

50:00
It, so I should keep it. But can I keep all of these things that a family member had for all of these years that actually, realistically were in a box in their cupboard that they weren't enjoying? I don't think we necessarily need to see everything of someone's belongings as sentimental, and like you say, it's quality over quantity. And as a result of me following that ethos, the sentimental things that I have are like they're in my house, they're on shelves, they're they're by my bedside table. There's all of these different ways that you can enjoy them without them just being sat in a box up in your loft that you only ever see when you have a loft clear out, you get your Christmas checks out. So I think being being specific with what means a lot to you makes such a difference. And also, I see clients who they will keep pieces of artwork from their child's, you know, school, but they don't know which child it is, and they're just keeping it because it's just something that a family member has done once. But it doesn't necessarily mean that it's sentimental. And if you were to show it to any of the kids, they wouldn't be that fussed about it either. I know it's nice to be able to, you know. And the thing about the sentimental chapter, which I know is one of many people that we've spoken to, his favorite chapter, because it's very, very in depth, and we go into all of the different types of sentimental items that you might have and the different emotions relating to those things, and they're all very different. You know, child's artwork is very different to, you know, you were talking about a late parent's stuff. It's a very different type of emotion that we feel, and we have to tackle in a different way. And I think to go down to that granular level in the book, is what people have really been appreciating so I'm glad that you picked up that, picked up on that as well, Lucy, as a fellow professional organizer, so thank you so much for taking the time to be on the podcast today. Thank you so much for being a wonderful clutter fairy. As always, we're off out in a couple of weeks for another one of us. So we always love so thank you so much, Lucy, and we'll see you soon. Thank you very much. Thank you for having me. You're welcome. Well, listeners, I'm so excited because it's finally my turn. You've heard all of Lesley's team now, and it's finally my turn to introduce my lovely, lovely team members, Catherine and Judah to you, and we're starting off with Catherine. So thank you, Catherine, for being on the show. It's so lovely to have you here. So tell us a little bit about yourself. How long have you been, my lovely it's every time it's longer than I think it is right. Let me think, oh, it's been a couple of years, and you're like, No, it's been. How long have you been working for me stint. I looked it up earlier today. It's May 2017 so eight coming up for eight year, eight year anniversary that I've been working for you. Yeah, oh, my God. So how came that about Catherine? Because it was kind of a almost like faith, wasn't it? Really? It was I my youngest son was getting ready to leave primary school, so I was looking for something to do. Didn't want to go back up to commuting into London. We have a mutual friend who and she knew that you were looking for maybe some help, that your business was busy, and she put us in touch with each other. We met, and I think having a coffee in grocers, in welling, and then off we met, and I worked with you a few times, and then off I went on my own. And yeah, the rest is history. Eight years later, I can't believe, honestly, that has been eight years. If you would have said to me, like five or six, I would have believed it as well. But I think, you know, it's just flown by, and it's just so lovely, isn't it? And I think for me, what was really handy, because I was growing my business, but I couldn't say, Well, I'm going to take, like, a full time person on board, because I didn't know how the work was going to go. And you were not looking for something full time either. So I think at the time, it really, really worked well for both of us. You kind of wanted to have every once in a while doing a little job, and I kind of was like, every once in a while, need an extra pair of hands. So it kind of was like, the perfect match, wasn't it? It was. It has worked really well. As you say, I didn't want to commit to definitely not full time. And, yeah, the way it's worked, it's been very, very good, and obviously lovely when we can work together as well. Yeah. So that's great, definitely. And of course, now you actually have another part time job, so you work less for me than you did before, but also because that kind of then, because Judith came to work for me. So it's actually really kind of worked out for all of us, hasn't it? It has, yes, it has. And my part time job now is only two days a week, but they are thankfully very flexible as well. So I.

55:00
And always switch around my days with them when it suits us, when we need to work together or with me and Judith or on my own. Yeah. Yeah, exactly. So what is your favorite room to to declutter when you're working with clients? I think probably children's rooms. I really enjoy having, or have my own children. They're 18 and 20, so very grown up now, but having gone through the toys, the board games, the figures, the cars, I think I like to do children's rooms, children's clothes, children's toys, setting up systems. Yeah, you know, not too complicated that children can manage. Children can tidy up after themselves, can't they? So, yeah, with the right encouragement. So come clean, then Catherine, because you're now sitting, of course, in a very nice and tiny room with little beautiful flowers behind you. Are you a very tiny person, or are you just somebody who really loves kind of working in other people's houses? I love working in other people's houses. I absolutely do, but i Anyone who knows me will know I'm tidy. But you know I I'm just forever I live with three other people who are not so tidy, so I am picking up after them. I teach them to pick up after themselves, but no one does it as well as me.

56:30
So I am tidy. But it's, it's just habits. It's what you You wash up every night, you do the dishwasher. Every morning, you do washing every day, you make your bed every morning. It's just, it's just the habit. I try and keep my dining table clear, my island clear, my hall clear. Yeah, I am, there's no denying, yeah, I am a tidy person. Yeah, yeah. And, you know, and the luck thing is, you always also love helping other people as well, yes, to kind of get to that habit stage, isn't it? I think, yes, you know, because we know the maintenance it takes, right? Once you've got, once there's a lot of clutter, it's very tricky to, you know, have these habits, but when the clutter goes down a little bit, you can start to put those habits in place, and then you really see it helping long term, right? Yes, because there's no point in going in, decluttering, tidying, and then leaving the house and saying, that's it. You're all done. You need to try and help them learn the benefits of having the good habits of the reset of the make your bed every day, do your dishes every morning, and every little helps, and then you're just tidying up for minutes at a time. You're not doing massive declutters every day. Yeah, yeah, lovely. Now you've known me for a very long time. You've actually, I think you've already said to be ages ago. So when you were literally going to write a book, and we were like, yeah, it's on the list. It's on the list. We are finally there. You, of course, have been lucky enough to read a word originally really coming out, because we're getting really close to publication date now. So overall, what did you think about our book?

58:21
I love it. I love your book, but I love it's, it's gentle and kind. It's, it's, there's a process that you go through. It makes sense. We start in an easy room. We start in the kitchen. We decluttering. Muscle develops and it gets stronger, and we work through the process, and we end up doing sentimentals and photographs, but there's, there's no right or wrong way. You It's, everyone is different. You're not telling everyone to throw everything away. You're, you're. It's all about the the emotions attached to the things, the stuff they're you know, every it's different for everyone, and everyone will find their way, but your book just guides you gently and kindly through that process. That's what I love. Yeah, yeah. And I think that's, I think, the thing that makes it really different from from other decluttering books. And I think hopefully why it will resonate with so many people. Because

59:28
I think most people would agree that actually putting something in a bin bag, you know, you got a bin back, and you can put something in, but why is it so hard to do, right? Why do so many people struggle with this, and what do you need to know to to move forwards and and help yourself with that process and and so I really appreciate that. And I think, of course, you know, kindness is everything for us, and which is so important. So I really appreciate you know, you mentioning that because we really, really wanted that to come across in our.

1:00:00
In the book that that we've written, anything else stand out from the book Catherine lots. But, I mean, there's some, some of the things that you say, I think you say it on your podcast as well. If in doubt, don't throw it out. I mean, that's, it's just to us, that's obvious. But for some people, would would say quite the opposite, and which, it breaks my heart, because, you know, if there's any doubt what, I don't know whether to keep this mug or this shirt, but then so you keep it. If you're in doubt, then you must, surely, you must keep it till you're ready to make a decision. So that's I like that, but taking the before and after pictures as well. I mean, we, we do. I do that a lot in the jobs, you know, the clients that I help. And I think you, you do too, but, and not that you have to show anyone, but just for yourself and show, show your friends and your family if, if you want to show you know, say, Look what I've done, but you don't have to show anyone. But then you can also refer back to them when, when you're feeling, Oh, I haven't achieved so much. Yes, you have just, just look at these pictures. Look at the before, look at the after. Look how much you have achieved. So that you know, it's just a simple, simple thing, but that's what your your book mentions, I mean, and comes back to, I think, in probably each each section you say, right now, you're reminding and reminding us. Take the picture, take the after, take the before. So that's lovely, really, like that simple but such clever idea, good. Well, I'm really, really glad anything else that you're like, Yes, I wanted, that's what I want to share. Because this is your opportunity,

1:01:50
don't know, putting me on the spot. Now, what did I I mean, I just love it all. I love that the books in plain English, and I love that, you know, I'm not stopping to look up complicated words, even the war the wardrobe decluttering. When you actually say, take everything out of the wardrobe. We do that with people. And I know it works, but I'm not sure people understand why it works. Because they they just look, they like, Oh no, I want, I know I've done that recently. I want all that. I know I want to keep it. And I would say, well, let's, let's just get it out and we'll have a look and and what, what you then got to make the decision to put it back, haven't you? You've got to, it's got to earn its place. And that's, that's what I people don't realize that as well. And I thought it's such a simple thing, and it's so take it out, first look at each individual item, put it back. So I love that brilliant Yeah. Well, thank you so much, Catherine. Thank you for your lovely comments and your lovely feedback. It's, of course, you know, I'm really happy that my team, you know, loved the book, because otherwise I would be in trouble, obviously. But no, I really appreciate that. And thank you for reading it. Thank you for giving your honest opinion about it. And, yeah, thank you for continuing to being such a, a lovely member of the organizer House team. So which area do you cover Catherine?

1:03:23
Well, I live in Sid Cup, which is South East London or North West Kent So, and anywhere, sort of an hour's drive away from me. I'm happy to go to but also up in London, I fortunately live very near station. I can get the train into central London with, like, no trouble at all. So that that's my my patch. Yeah, lovely. Well, I hope you and I will stay together for a very long time coming and yeah, thank you so much for being on the show. And, yeah, next up is Judith, so coming soon. Well, now it's a turn for my other lovely team member, Judith, to tell you about how it is to be an organizer, House team member, and how it is what her thoughts were about the book. So we've just heard from Catherine. Now it's your turn, Judith. Thank you so much for coming on the show. Thank you so much for being here. So how long have you been part of the organizer House team? Think it's coming up for six years,

1:04:31
which I can't believe either. I mean, Catherine, literally just said to me, I've been with you for eight years. And I went, Oh my gosh. If you would have said five or six years, I would have believed it as well. So, but it makes sense, doesn't it? I think COVID has kind of the time that we were off. It kind of all messed up a little bit without our timelines. But yes, six years sounds about right. Yeah. So where do you work and kind of cover for for the team?

1:04:56
Well, anywhere from sort of south of.

1:05:00
London down through Kent Yeah, let's go through to the countryside sometimes. Yeah, nice, yeah. And you love to drive as well, right? You're, like, super flexible. You love driving around, going everywhere. You really enjoy visiting lots of different clients, right? I mean, variety is a spice of life. They're all just exactly. So have you always been a professional organizer Judith? Or how did it come about that you started working for me? Well, I used to have an interior design business. I'm an interior designer, and when my mother became elderly, I had to downsize her twice. Yeah, I rather enjoyed the whole process, and we had fun doing it. And I thought maybe I could help older people downsize, you know, with a bit of empathy and compassion. Yeah,

1:05:54
that's how it started, really, yeah. And then you basically rang me one day and said, Hi Ingrid. I'm Judith, and I really, I'm going to work for you. Well, not quite,

1:06:07
but we got together. We had a lovely chat, we had a coffee, and we were like, well, this is like, brilliant, wasn't it? Because you were like, I want to work, but I don't want to work, like five days a week all the time, but I do want to, kind of, I love helping people with their decluttering, their downsizing, and you've been helping friends and, indeed, your mom at the time as well. So you really, kind of, you knew what you got into, right? Oh, absolutely yes. I really wanted to help people. Yeah, I think in when I've had a job that was rather superficial. You know, helping people who've got money, it's quite nice to do something where you're helping people mentally. Really, it's perfect, yes,

1:06:51
for sure. So are there rooms in the house that you really enjoy doing that you're like, yeah, really, that's like, my favorite thing to do. Or are you like, basically like everything. Yes, I like, I like the variety. And we have done cellars and lofts and outhouses and clothing. I don't mind any of those. I prefer that to doing children's rooms, to be honest. Yeah, which makes me laugh so much because Catherine was just on, and she's like, that's her favorite thing to do, and she sent me off microphone later, Judith is going to tell you that that's her least favorite thing to do. That's why you make such a good team as well, right? We work well together. Actually, yes, we did, yes, yeah, yeah, because you the two of you love working together, and you especially work together a lot when you're doing unpacks, right? So we don't pack for house moves. But we do regularly get phone calls of people saying, right, I've moved house. Now I'm looking at 5081,

1:07:49
20 boxes. And where do I start? And then I'm like, right? I'm going to send my team in. And you girls love that, don't you? We like working together. Actually, it's really good fun. You know, we work we you know, we each have our strengths. Yeah, of course, yeah. I think so too. So the book is now here. Catherine said way back when already to me, you know, Ingrid, when are you a Lesley going to write a book? We finally did it. I had the opportunity to send it to you both so you can have a read through. What do you think? Yes, I think it's a very good tool for people who are starting out

1:08:25
with the idea to declutter and reorganize. I think very good things that they can, you know, use is a good tool, I think, you know, and some good ideas, you know. And I think you could take it room by room, which is, it was good, and that's how it's, you know, it's presented, yeah, good. Is there anything for you that stood out that you thought, Oh, I really like that.

1:08:53
Well, I like the fact I think I said to you that

1:08:57
Done is better than perfect. So you, you you declutter, but it's not, it can't always be perfect, you know. It's not the perfect solution. But you, you know, once you've decluttered and organized as best you can, you say, right, I've done that, and you can go back to it at a later date. So that's, you know, and do some more, you know, yeah, yeah. And I think that's really important. I think our message really is, when you declutter your home, you don't have to stick in the same room until it's 100% perfect, because things happen along the way. You're better off getting most of it you know, kind of where you want it, and then go, You know what I'm going to move on to the next thing, because it's never, decluttering is not a project. It's a process. You're never done decluttering, you know, we will always have to, yeah, always starting again. I mean, I always people say your house must be perfect. And I said, No, it's not. There are always places, you know, like the bureau, like one particular, you know, the drawer of doom. Yeah.

1:10:00
You have to go back to it every couple of months. And, yeah,

1:10:05
you know, I mean, unfortunately, in this day and age, we over buy

1:10:10
products and and don't get rid of the ones we don't like. You know, sometimes it's better not to hang on to something you don't like, the smell of. Or, you know,

1:10:20
the same thing with, you know, bathroom products. We all come away from hotels with the freebies, you know, or the airline stuff, you know. Do you want it really the samples so they're taking up space in the bathroom. We Yeah, none of us have that much space in the bathroom unless, yeah, we're very lucky. Yeah, yeah, yeah, no, it's absolutely true. And,

1:10:44
well, I'm really glad you know that you're saying all these things, because, of course, it's all that we talk about in in the book as well, just to also to use up some of this stuff, you know, I mean, if you don't like it, donate it, put it on a a giveaway site, or if there's a tiny little bit left in one of the bottles, just use it up, clear that space. And we talk about all of that as well. So the book is, is mainly, you know, it's, on one hand, the emotions that sit behind the clutter, and on the other hand, the practical tips, exactly like this. Think about what you're buying. Think about where you're going to store it. Do you want to take away the sample from the from the hotel? Or can you just leave them behind so you don't have to kind of find a place with when you come back, or put it in a basket beside the bath and use them up, you know, double bath or shower gel, or just use them, yeah, exactly like you can't leave them behind, used exactly, exactly, yeah, and it's the carrier bag thing as well. You know, everybody to cull their carrier bags.

1:11:49
Seen whole, whole cupboards full of carrier bags. Yeah,

1:11:54
I know. I know. Well, thank you, Judith. I really appreciate your comments about the book, and I'm glad you liked it. Um, you've not seen the hard copy yet, but it's just behind me here, and the official publication date is tomorrow, Thursday, the 27th of February. We are super excited. We hope that you are enjoying Ingrid and Lesley week here on the podcast. And yeah, we've never had our teams on of course, Lesley has a very, very big team. I've got my two lovely ladies that help me here in in southeast London. And we absolutely, you know, love still being able to really do on the ground decluttering, uh, while, of course, Lesley work, and I work so much online in the declutter hub, but now having the opportunity to to share our shared in, you know, compassion about decluttering and organized in this book is absolutely amazing. So pre order today, real publication date tomorrow. If you want to know more about actually working with a professional. If you're like, Yes, I'm going to get this book. I'm going to read up. But I also need some help, actually, in my house. If you're in Manchester, check out Lesley. If you're in the northwest of England, check out Lesley on clutter fairy, dot, COVID UK. If you are in southeast London, definitely go to organize your house.co.uk.

1:13:24
We'll put all of those links in the show notes so you can find them. Thank you to all of our wonderful team members, also the Lesley's team and to my team for being here on the show and and sharing their thoughts about our book that we are so, so super proud of. So thank you so much, and we'll see you tomorrow for a podcast, 10 things you did not know about Ingrid and Lesley, see you soon.

1:13:57
Thanks so much for listening to the declutter hub podcast. Don't forget to subscribe to us in your podcast player so you don't miss an episode and we'll see you next week.
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Episode 392 – The clutter advice I’d give my 30-year-old self

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