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Episode 221 – Favourite moments of 2022

2022 is drawing to a close, so it’s always a time for reflection. Today we’re talking through our favourite moment of 2022 and how The Declutter Hub Community has gone from strength to strength.
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Transcript of this podcast episode
[00:00:00] Ingrid: 2022 is drawing to a close, so it's always a good time for a little bit of reflection. So today we're talking about our favorite moments of 2022 and how the Declutter Hub community has gone from strength to strength.

[00:00:17] Talking about decluttering and organising, and also hopefully bringing you some lighthearted laughter and fun because decluttering and organising can be quite serious. So we also hope we bring a little bit of fun and rainbow sunshine and everything like that into your life week 

[00:00:37] Lesley: baby. Eight week out.

[00:00:39] You might be going a bit farther Ingrid with wanting to be a rainbow, but that was classic Ingrid. But um, yeah, I've just got this vision of everybody sitting there nicely, you know, eating kind of mince pies and decorating their tree with like Christmas music on and our podcast on in the background. And so I've got this nice kind of romantic view of what's going on there.

[00:00:58] But what we wanted to do is we wanted to, as 2022 comes to a close, we really wanted to think about the year that's gone. So not about. What we did when we, you know, when we went on holiday and where we did. because that would be interesting, I'm sure, but not really adding value to you guys. And so it's important for us to talk about DE and organising, but I think it's fair to say there's been a, you know, I'm not saying this year's not been without its difficulties, but compared to previous years, it's been a little hard, more stable, I think.

[00:01:26] And so I think. People have been able to focus on their DE and organising journeys without the other things that came in 2020 and 2021. And so I think it's been a good year on reflection. And what we wanted to do is we wanted to talk about the most impactful things that have happened to us and within our communities within the DeLeT Hub.

[00:01:46] So let's get started. Ingrid, I wanted to talk about podcasts and we've done. 51 of them so far. There's another one coming next week. This year. There's quite a lot of podcasts to go at. We're super excited because we've hit a million downloads this year. We're firmly in the top 1% of podcasts, so people are listening and loving it.

[00:02:08] We love your reviews. We've had the most incredible reviews from you guys as well, which is so nice. And now it's hard for us to think about what our favorite podcasts are. Cause there's so many, aren't there language, but. What's the most impactful podcast? Let's go there, let's go there. We, you know, we listen to each other all the time, so they're not as impactful as perhaps when we've had our guests on.

[00:02:29] I think it's fair to say that for us, our guests are very, very impactful. And, um, so who's your favorite guest being this sharing? Ingrid? Oh, 

[00:02:36] Ingrid: that is a difficult question because of course I absolutely have loved recording each and every one of our podcasts and we've had so many amazing guests, but, If you're twisting my arm, Leslie, and you're forcing me to pick one, it, it has to be the Matt Baxton podcast.

[00:02:51] I, I absolutely. Loved recording that. I, I dunno, it was just really a fantastic moment. I mean, I've been following Matt for, uh, a long, long time. He's been on television in America, in in a show called Hoarders. For over a decade. He, he wrote a book that I really enjoyed as well, and it was just such an honor to be in contact with them and say, actually, Matt really wants to come onto your podcast.

[00:03:19] So I was like, oh my gosh. You know, I've, I've, I felt a little bit starstruck, but he was just such a nice, lovely, kind guy to talk to and, um, and really took all the time in the world and I think really enjoyed. Um, recording the, he really made me feel at ease. Yeah, it was just great and, and it, he talks about with so much integrity about working with people who've got a lot of problems with a lot of items in their homes.

[00:03:47] He's got a TV show now in America as well about called the Legacy List, where he really whittles down with people. Okay. What, what are the gems in your collection? If you had to pick five or 10 things that describe you down to a tee that are super important for you, what are those? And it just made such so much sense to me and I was completely on board with, with with his book and with his message.

[00:04:11] And like I said, super nice guy as well. 

[00:04:15] Lesley: I think it's really important to us, Ingrid as well, isn't it? When we, when people come onto the podcast who have been in the kind of TV or media world, because sometimes it's not exactly the way that we would do things. So sometimes for TV they probably do do things behind the scenes and exactly the same way that we do.

[00:04:32] But TV sometimes comes across in a very different way because TV is entertainment and it's not. It's got a slightly different purpose than what we do when we go out working one-to-one with. People. But the nice thing about Matt is he is what he says on the tin and he, he extends that kindness and that understanding of people's problems in the TV show.

[00:04:53] Yeah. And that's quite a novelty, isn't it? So you know, yes it is there for entertainment, but he brings the empathy and that's really important to us. because when we have a bit of a love hate relationship with TV programs sometimes about decluttering, because sometimes the sensationalism is. Detracts him from the emotional problems and turmoil that that person feels.

[00:05:13] And so that's why it was so important for us to, to talk to Matt, because he has always done that. You know, he's been on TV for years, hasn't he? Yeah. So if anybody's in the, um, in the states and watches the tv Oh, is it just in the States or is can you, can, can you, no, 

[00:05:26] Ingrid: I think you can watch like lots of clips on YouTube, right?

[00:05:29] It can pop, pop into your, into your, um, videos and things like that. Little snippets, but also whole shows. But I think it's, And I think TV has changed a little bit over the years as well, Leslie? Yeah. I think compared to a decade, 15 years ago, the shows have gotten a lot more sensitive, which we completely are on board with.

[00:05:48] But I think for me, record the podcast, it really came through. That in real life. Matt is just such a nice guy as well. So I think it was just such a pleasure and an honor to, to be able to, uh, to record a podcast with him. So I really look back on that for 2022. I'm like, yeah, we had, and we've had such amazing guests, but that one really, really stood out for me.

[00:06:10] Lesley: And so, Ingrid, if people want to listen in to Matt's lovely podcast, what episode is it? 

[00:06:14] Ingrid: Uh, Well, oh, uh, thank you for putting me on the spot there, Leslie. Hold on. Let me look at that for a moment because I want our listeners to know this. Give me a second. 

[00:06:26] Lesley: It's okay. I'll just, I'll just um, talk while you're looking.

[00:06:29] She looking, she's looking, she's looking. You can see searching on YouTube. I know, I know. We should have organised ourselves a little bit more in 2022 in Britain. 

[00:06:37] Ingrid: Know what numbers the podcasts are. Hold on, hold on. Here I am. It's podcast 176, but I will put it in the show notes. So if you go to declutter hub.com/ 2 2 1.

[00:06:50] You will find it there as well. 

[00:06:52] Lesley: And that is of course our most listened to podcast this year as well. So do you think people will come in for you, Ingrid or Matt? 

[00:06:58] Ingrid: No, I think they were coming for Matt. I have no illusion of grander here, Leslie. 

[00:07:06] Lesley: Fair enough. Okay. So that's your favorite. No, and it, and it's really hard isn't it?

[00:07:10] To, yeah. To decide. Cause there's so many fantastic ones. But yeah, that was a, that was a highlight for you cause you were fangirling over. Um, yes. Matt Pikes. Basically, that's basically what it was. True. So I wanted to talk about the membership a little bit and what we've done within there. So we have a very close relationship to the people that we have in our membership.

[00:07:28] And the nice thing about 2022 is we. I'm not saying we completed it, but we, we got to a stage where we had done so many courses that take people around their whole house quite comprehensively that it was time to start to niche down a little bit, Ingrid, wasn't it? And so we've had the pleasure this year of having two fantastic guests in the membership and it's, people have absolutely loved it, so.

[00:07:54] We had the lovely, and she's a good friend of ours as well. We had the lovely Sarah Bickers come and do two sessions for us within the membership, all about ADHD. And so she talks about the basics of ADHD, how to know whether you've got ADHD, what kind of strategies that you can employ, but specifically in declutter the decluttering and organising world to combat the things that happen with ADHD.

[00:08:18] And then she did a q and a and so people could really drill down with their individual questions. And that was a real highlight, wasn't it, Ingrid? 

[00:08:24] Ingrid: Oh, absolutely. I mean, very well watched. Very well attended. Lots of members who actually were maybe even wondering if they had adhd. Thought, Hmm, that a couple of these things sound really familiar.

[00:08:36] Maybe I should have this checked out. Or several members saying, actually, I'm in the process of getting myself diagnosed. And I'm just feeling so much more secure in the road that's ahead of me now because Sarah explained it so well to members who actually have ADHD and go, that was really helpful. I'm going to try out several of the techniques and tips and things that she shared with us in my own home.

[00:09:00] So I think it was a fantastic win in our membership to have her come in. 

[00:09:04] Lesley: I think it's all about that validation really with ADHD, you know, sometimes, because you know, a lot of people with D H D feel as if they. Are judged a little bit and, and, and, and they need a, and, and getting an ADHD diagnosis or, or, or at least understanding, you know, what the kinds of things are that come along with ADHD can really help you to go, oh, right, okay.

[00:09:24] That's why, and it's not just me. I think we, we blame ourselves if we've got ADHD and say, you know, we're, we're just a bit, you know, Forgetful or thoughtless or disorganised or all of the things that we call ourselves. And actually there's a little bit of validation that comes with that and you can kind of breathe a little bit easier.

[00:09:42] So I think that's what resonated with our members for ADHD. So yeah, massive thanks to Sarah because everybody absolutely loved it. And. Later in the year, it was really, really fat because everybody has been chomping at the bit in our membership for years to get some photo organising. And very consciously we didn't put that in there because of course, organising photos is kind of the shiny thing that comes at the end of your decluttering journey.

[00:10:08] It's when everything else is done. So we very purposely held off. Put in a course in the membership about photo organising because we wanted people to have the opportunity to focus on the voluminous stuff, if that makes sense. The stuff that's going to have a real impact on making those mindset changes on getting yourself to a stage where you can shop intentionally.

[00:10:27] So getting the basics of decluttering right, and really focusing on your home, and then worrying about photographs later. But finally, they got their wish. Didn't they? Ingrid? Yeah. And we were, we were delighted to invite the Lovely milk or others from more organised into our membership to do two photo sessions for us.

[00:10:45] So we did live sessions that are, yeah, sitting there on replay permanently in the membership, one on sort of hard copy photos, so normal, uh, paper photos, and then one on digital. And people absolutely love that as well. In some ways I think they might have loved that more than they love us.

[00:11:03] Ingrid: Yeah, I think, I think Mel did a really good job in explaining where you need to get started. And I think that's one of the things that there are no from us now. We do, we do that really well as well. Like where do you start? What do you do? And I think sometimes photos, either both the hard copy ones or the digital ones can feel like such an incredible big mountain to climb.

[00:11:28] That people are like, oh, I'm just not going to do that. I'm not ready for that. Mentally, emotionally, you know, I don't have to space yet. So you do need to do lots of other rooms and areas in your house first before you can do the photos. But I think Mel gave such a clear step-by-step like process of this is what you need to do first.

[00:11:46] And that's what you, when you, and I think our members are like, oh, this is so nice. And. It. It connects really well with all the stuff that we have in the membership to kind of go, I feel mentally ready now to do this. 

[00:11:58] Lesley: Yeah. And I think that what, what we've learned now is that we'll do a little bit more of that.

[00:12:01] And so there are, there's a lot of things obviously that we know about declutter and organising, but we're not experts in everything. Yeah. And so there are certain things where we think that would be better delivered by a different person. So we're going to definitely be doing more of that in 2023, aren't we?

[00:12:14] And, and calling out to the experts that we've got in our circle. We're very lucky in the decluttering organising world that we. Know a lot of these experts and we can bring them into the membership to deliver those live sessions. And then we learn as well, which is really nice, isn't it? And so we can just sit back a little bit for a change and actually listen to somebody else.

[00:12:31] And we were writing frantically writing notes as well about what we should be doing as well. So that was, that was a real highlight for me, because I think it's taken the membership in. Into, you know, sort of not, not into a different direction, but adding this, this kind of ne these niche topics in there. Yeah.

[00:12:47] Which is something that we wanted to do for a while, but we needed to get the basics right. So, absolutely. I loved that. Yeah. So thank you so much, Sarah and Mel. Yeah, I think 

[00:12:55] Ingrid: it was absolutely great. Really, really enjoyed it too. And it's, it's just so lovely as well that we like what you say, Leslie, we have such a fantastic network of friends and colleagues.

[00:13:05] All over the world Yeah. That we can call upon, that we know personally that we've met before, that we've worked with together, either on a volunteer project or within the board, or we've seen them at other conferences speak or whatever. It's just so amazing. We're we're, I'm, I think I'm so grateful to all of our international professional organisers because I think professional organising is such an still, I think so undervalued.

[00:13:31] How much. Wonderful things we can bring to our clients' houses and, and with us in the membership to our members' houses and how they change their mindset and how they start to tackle their emotions about their stuff and how it opens up so many possibilities to a far more fulfilled and happier life to do the things that you want to do.

[00:13:55] And I think we're, I'm, I'm really grateful to all the connections that we both have, um, here in the UK and, and, and across the globe. 

[00:14:02] Lesley: I know exactly. We're very lucky. Aren't, we're very lucky. Yeah. And we've got some fantastic guests of course, on the podcast as well. So yeah, we definitely use that network.

[00:14:10] But we need, we, we have to make sure, and we always make sure that. That what the type of thing, because there are lots of different types of professional organisers that have got different ways of doing things. And so we need to make sure it's completely aligned with our thinking. That's really important as well.

[00:14:24] So it's, you know, sort of spinoff of the kind of things that we, you know, very emotions focused and people that really understand the, the, the core elements of decluttering. Yeah. And that it's not really about stuff. So, um, we do a lot of work to make sure that our guests are the right people to, to, um, help you guys.

[00:14:42] So I wanted to talk well, about my favorite podcast, and this is really hard as well because I, I always, I'm lucky cause I always get the lovely job of interviewing our members. I think I've done most of our member, member, um, podcast, haven't I? And so I get to do that and I'm so, I'm so grateful. And we've had some fantastic ones this year, but one of the ones that I think resonated more with you guys and.

[00:15:05] Certainly I love doing it as well. I love all of them because I feel connected to each and every one of our members of course. And so it's hard to choose. It's like choosing your favorite child. Really. Yeah. Not possible. But if I had to choose, like you had to choose Matt Paxton, I'm going to choose the podcast that that I did with Penelope, because I think it resonated with so many people.

[00:15:25] So if you've not listened to Penelope's podcast and Ingrid is look frantically looking at what number that was. Now you can tell. Penelope is a kind of mom of two young boys. She lives in the Isles ofs, which is off the, um, coast of Cornwall. So it's remote, let's call it remote in the uk. So she has a additional things that she has to, uh, has to worry about.

[00:15:46] Um, and she's gone through quite a transition, so, In terms of her journey, and she shares a lot about how she went through the process. So she has been, she's done a fantastic decluttering journey. She's been very committed to it, but she's fitted it in around her other commitments, her part-time job looking after her family, all of the things, you know, she, she visited her dad, all of those things.

[00:16:08] And she talks a lot as well about her mental health and wellbeing, and she's very, very open about that. And so that's what I look, cause it resonated with so many people, had so many comments about that podcast, didn't we? Ingrid and I, you know, I. We are like, and it was about choosing your favorite child, but within the membership, because we get so close to people, we are like proud parents sometimes, and we're very proud of the journey that Penelope has gone on.

[00:16:31] And so it's so nice to be able to share that with other people. So I think that was a bit of a moment for me in 2022 interviewing from interviewing Penelope in the first instance, and then seeing all the fantastic comments that came after the podcast. Yeah. 

[00:16:45] Ingrid: I think as well, I think what we've seen with, uh, with, with Penelope, but also other members, but Penelope as well, is that she's really followed our system.

[00:16:55] Yeah. She's taken, so we have, in our membership, we have a roadmap and where we say, okay, this is where you start and this is what you do next. And she's really embraced our roadmap and gone Okay. I've been kind of playing around and feeling overwhelmed for years Now I'm going to listen to Leslie Ingrid and I'm going to tell, do what they tell me I need to do, and she's completely has seen, she's put in all the hard work.

[00:17:20] She's put in the hours, she's scheduled times and dates in her diary to do decluttering, but now you can see it all. It's like a puzzle that's coming together and it's like, oh wow. I'm feeling. So much more organised for Christmas. I feel I'm not in a frantic state of mind all the time. If there's a party coming up because I know my house is decent and just a daily or weekly reset will will help me.

[00:17:46] I don't have to scramble around and hide things all the time. I'm thinking through what I'm buying and she, she, for example, she did, she's still now. Uh, working on her she project, which is not an easy project to do. She had a place with lots of stuff, uh, you know, bikes and wood and tools and everything, and it was chaotic and it's taken time to think it through, but she's really taking it one step at a time.

[00:18:12] And that's project is now finally coming to a close. And of course you have the weather to content with as well. But she's doing that. She's done a lot on her paperwork. She streamlined her information. She, um, has saved money. She's completely, she's feeling, I mean, it's just so fantastic and, and other members have that too, but I think she could articulate that really, really well.

[00:18:36] And she's been logging her journey in our membership with pictures, with updates so she can see the progress that she's making herself. 

[00:18:46] Lesley: Definitely, definitely. So that was definitely one of my highlights of the year, Ingrid. So, um, but there are so many, you know, it's hard. I know it's hard. I'm finding like, oh, but I can know, I could talk about this 

[00:18:55] Ingrid: person, I could talk about this person.

[00:18:58] Lesley: Emails, no talking about all these fantastic transformational journeys that people have gone on, but that is absolutely one that stuck out. So let's go for a break now, Ingrid, and let's come back and talk about some more moments of 2022 that we loved.

[00:19:11] Ingrid: Hello everyone. Welcome back. Thank you for being here two days before Christmas, listening into our podcast, or maybe you're listening to this in March, 2023.

[00:19:20] Very, very 

[00:19:21] Lesley: possible, hopefully, August, 2027. Yeah. In the podcast, if we're still around, Ingrid. Yeah, exactly. It might not be two days before Christmas, but if you're watching us on, you will see that we have sort of. Not really dressed up for the occasion, but we've got different backgrounds that are quite Christmasy.

[00:19:40] Ingrid is like super traditional. You have to check us out on um, YouTube. Ingrid is super traditional with the stockings and everything and mine's quite scandy and minimalist. Ingrid's put the red jumper on as well. I'm in black, so I didn't really dress up for the whole vibe, did it? I've gone. I've gone scanned, minimalist.

[00:19:56] And you've gone full on 

[00:19:57] Ingrid: traditional. Yes, yes. That's me. Full on traditional. 

[00:20:02] Lesley: I'm quite traditional as well, to be fair. Yeah. But just not in my Zoom background. Yeah, 

[00:20:06] Ingrid: that's okay. I'm, I'm, I'm like, I'm liking our vibe, Leslie. I'm liking our vibe, so definitely have a look on YouTube if you're wondering what we're talking about.

[00:20:14] I think we need to continue with our, um, favorite moments of 2022. And of course, of course we have to mention the Clean and Tidy Home show that we did back in October. 

[00:20:27] Lesley: Yes. So first things first. It was exciting for us to hear from the founder Penny, um, that there was going to be a clean and tidy home show.

[00:20:36] So this is a first for the uk and it's. If you haven't listened to us talking about it before, it's basically a, it was a trade show, so a show with speakers, with stands, with events all devoted to cleaning, declutter, and organising. And so it was a very targeted show, so it was really nice. It wasn't about shopping and buying loads of stuff, it was about the organising and cleaning industries.

[00:21:01] And how they can help people. So when Penny approached us, we were so excited weren't we to get involved in it. And it kind of evolved into something she asked to, to speak on the main stage. So we got her to stand there. And so in October this year, we went to our first ever clean and entirely home show.

[00:21:18] And how did it go, 

[00:21:19] Ingrid: Greg? Well, it was just fantastic. We super enjoyed it. Actually, I was lucky because it's actually right just about half an hour from my house. You had to travel up from Manchester all the way up to London, but I just could take the dealer half, half 

[00:21:34] Lesley: hour. You do know that it's down. You do know that it's 

[00:21:36] Ingrid: down from, oh, sorry.

[00:21:37] Oh yeah, yeah. Yeah. Down to London. Yeah. Just so you know. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And um, we really enjoyed it. So we went up on the Friday, set up our stud. We're all a bit giddy, like, okay, we don't know what we can expect and what we can do. Unfortunately, there were trade strikes and of course the queen passed the week before, so it was a bit like, we don't even know how many people are going to show up, but it was just so much fun.

[00:22:06] And indeed on the Saturday we had a slot on the main stage. We had a packed, absolutely packed audience. We're like, oh yeah, maybe a couple of people would turn up to listeners talk, but we did not expect this to be all the seats to be full and standing remotely at the back. So I think a lot of people came in to listening to us.

[00:22:25] Um, of course we did a fantastic competition at the time, and our listeners, if you remember, uh, could win, uh, um, uh, tickets for, uh, because we had our. 200th podcast. So, uh, penny from the Clean and Tide Show gave us 200 tickets to give away, and that led to lots of members and listeners coming to the London Excel to meet us in person.

[00:22:48] Leslie, that was like, wonderful, wasn't it? 

[00:22:52] Lesley: Oh no, it was so cool. It was so cool because I mean, obviously we see people, I mean a lot of times we stream out and so we don't see people at the other side. It's just, I just look at English, he just looks at me and that's the way that it goes. So it was so nice, wasn't it, to meet people and to hear about how people are listening to the podcast every week and feeling inspired how to, you know, meet in our members that we've got a little bit more of a close relationship with.

[00:23:15] But it was just, it was just so lovely. So it was lovely to be able to speak because Ingrid and I. Although we, we both speak regularly, do public speaking, we don't do that much together. We do obviously online. Um, but we haven't done much on a stage. And so it was us, the two of us. We've done it, uh, earlier in the year as well.

[00:23:32] But trying to work out our kind of how we interact together on the stage was really cool. And so I did, at the beginning of it, we did have, um, a kind of broad, not a script, but we had kind of got bulleted what we were going to say and stuff. And I. Went completely off track as is my want within the first 90 seconds, which freak finger out.

[00:23:53] She was like, oh, we were going to talk about this in the middle. I was like, yes, we were. So that was quite funny as well. But no, it was lovely. The Clean, the TI Hub show. It was a great vibe. It was so lovely to meet all of our members. We enjoyed it immensely. Um, it was enhanced on the Sunday afternoon. We were right opposite Stacey, Solomon's sister.

[00:24:12] So if you, um, if you're in the UK you'll totally know Stacey Solomon is. So, she's a big celebrity that is kind of immersing herself in the declutter organising world a little bit more now, which is really nice. But her sister makes. Um, containers and labels and we were opposite her. And then Stacy and Mrs.

[00:24:29] Hinch, who's a big cleaning, kind of clean flu, popped in on the, um, Sunday and everyone went crazy and there was like photos and, you know, so it was a, a bit of a celebrity moment. So that was quite cool as well, to be a part of that. Wasn't Ingrid, but yeah, lots of fun. And, but most importantly, what we loved was.

[00:24:47] The opportunity to be able to speak on the main stage and share our knowledge in terms of the cycle of success is what we spoke about. The opportunity to meet our members in person, which was is, is longer overdue and we absolutely loved and the opportunity to be together and have a nice time. Yeah, 

[00:25:03] Ingrid: yeah, yeah, definitely.

[00:25:05] I mean, you know, because we work remotely, we are always behind our desks and although we know. A lot from each other because we see each other every day. It's just always nice to hang out. And we had a couple of opportunities this year, including the Clean Inside Show. So yeah, it was, it was really fantastic and we really, really enjoyed it.

[00:25:23] So thank you to everyone who came out and, uh, to see us who, who traveled up to London through lots of adversity and the alarm's not working. We really, really appreciated it. And you know, it's just so funny when you're standing there going, Oh, hi. I can't believe it's you. I mean, I recognize your voices from like elicit you every week, but now I can't believe I'm meeting you.

[00:25:47] And it's like, oh, I, I felt a bit like who we are getting recognized now, Leslie. 

[00:25:53] Lesley: Yeah, quite thanks. 

[00:25:55] Ingrid: Exactly. That was really great. So thank you everyone for your support. 

[00:26:00] Lesley: Definitely. So I. As well, something that we learned this year ourselves about the way people need to declutter, if that makes sense. And so what we've tried to do in the membership really is we try to give lots of different types of tools, don't we?

[00:26:18] Ingrid? Yeah. So we have our. Library courses if people want to dip in and out. So if people go, I want to do my bedroom today, they can do a bedroom course. We have our roadmap where people go, I don't know whether I want to do my bedroom today. I'm not really sure. I've got to do my bedroom, my kitchen, my bathroom.

[00:26:31] Where do I start? I have no idea. So we have a roadmap which guides people, but this is all self-study. So we have a kind of self-study element to the membership where you sit down, not necessarily because you can listen as well. So people listen on the go in the same way they do to the podcast. But a lot of people like to watch and sit down and sort of study in that way.

[00:26:48] We have that. We then have live q and As, which is a little bit more in depth where people can ask us specifically their questions about their homes, their storage, their woes, their motivation, all of those kind of things. We do those every two weeks and we have a challenge of the week. We have a forum where people can.

[00:27:07] Chat to their fellow members and get inspiration from them. So we have loads of different tools designed, all designed to kind of fit together for people to pick and choose what's going to work for them, because not everybody learns in the same way. That's really important. There's not a kind of one size fits all there.

[00:27:23] It's like, That, you know, bite-sized snippets work for me, or I learn by watching or I learn by listening and doing at the same time or so we've learned more about how people learn and how people take action. But one of the things that was missing that we've wanted to do for a long time is really drill down on action taking, isn't it, Ingrid?

[00:27:44] Yeah. And so this year was the time that we did that, and it's been a huge. Success. Ingrid? Yes. Talk about why it's been a success. 

[00:27:52] Ingrid: Well, first of all, Leslie, they're called the success sessions. I mean, can there be a better tone twister ever than Success sessions? But what happens during these success sessions is we actually get together on Zoom with our members twice a week, either on, on different days of the week, different times of the day, and we work together for an hour.

[00:28:16] And it actually means just. For me, I welcome everybody in or, or, um, whoever is running the session let's the per let every, let's everybody in. We then put a timer on for 50 minutes and we all work on something in our own houses. But that accountability, just this, this, this being there motivates you to get something done.

[00:28:38] And we've said from the start, it doesn't matter what you do, whether it is. I need to, uh, I'm going to watch a, a video in, in the, in the library, or I'm going to do some decluttering or. I'm going to open my post. I'm going to sort some paperwork, I'm going to do a phone call, I'm going to do the washing up. It doesn't matter what you do, as long as you do something and we log it in the chat, I come back at the end of the 50 minutes, we all come back and I'll go, how did you get on?

[00:29:07] What did you do? And the people, the members who've been showing up to these success sessions really say, It is just wonderful because it makes me accountable of logging that time and actually doing something. And I think that's been the big success of the success sessions. 

[00:29:25] Lesley: Definitely. I think it's that accountability, isn't it?

[00:29:27] And so all the things that led to accountability, that's very specific, isn't it? And that's what, and so we started out with one a week and now we're doing two a week. Yeah. You know, potentially we might do more depending on what people want. We do them at different times of the day and, um, Different days of the week so we people can, uh, turn up wherever they are in the world.

[00:29:45] Yeah. And then we also have, we realize that not everybody can get there in, in our UK working day. Um, and so we have a solo success session, which loads of people love that as well. And so, yeah, we don't work together on Zoom, but you still put a timer and you still commit to that 50 minutes of work. And so it's breaking it down and it's, it is having that accountability and so, Once we had the success sessions in place this year, we feel that we've got all of the tools that you need to have decluttering success generally, don't we?

[00:30:13] Yeah. So that was a real, so we are really happy with the way that's going. It's, it's, it was a simple chain, well, it wasn't a simple change cause it involves work and effort together off the ground. But it's something that, you know, It's so important and people love it. And of course you've got that sense of community.

[00:30:28] Yeah. Which is really, really important. So the success sessions have been pivotal to us this year, haven't they? In terms of people getting the job done and people loving that sense of community. Yeah. Uh, 

[00:30:39] Ingrid: and, and, and I enjoy it too. I mean, um, when I'm there, I also do work myself. So I'm not just sitting there watching everybody work.

[00:30:47] It, it is also like, okay, yeah, I'm here now. What is on my list to, to do today? Or what would I like to finish up or what can I do in my 50 minutes? And of course I monitor the group and I have a, a look and I let people in and I look at the chat and all of that. But I also try to, to, to make use of that time and I really, really enjoy it.

[00:31:05] Yeah, definitely. 

[00:31:06] Lesley: Because you're not allowed to speak, are you? So we have to put a ban on Ingrid speaking for 50 minutes. She's not allowed. 

[00:31:14] Ingrid: I know, I know. I just love chatting. So I think I'm like, I'm, I've become much better. I'm like, Five minutes. We're going to get started at the end. Okay. Only five minutes and not just chat.

[00:31:23] Like, I love hanging out with our members. 

[00:31:27] Lesley: I know. Yeah. We have to make sure you are successful as well in the success sessions. But 

[00:31:31] Ingrid: anyway, yes, yes. 

[00:31:32] Lesley: No, I wanted to talk a little bit about. It seems as if it's all work, work, work. So our moments of 2022 seem like we did this and we did a success session. We did the podcast and oh, blah, blah, blah, blah.

[00:31:44] We did. So these are all things that involve, um, you know, was working and delivering content to our members and our listeners. But we did actually have some fun at one point this year, didn't we? I mean, not that that's not fun, that's a lot of fun. But we had. Kind of social fun, didn't we? Ingrid? Yeah. I think it 

[00:32:01] Ingrid: made me think, you know, because we did actually get together several times this year.

[00:32:06] Of course we did. We went to the, the conference of, of, of Abdo back in, um, April or May. It was, and of course I came up to Manchester, which was great. We, we went to a conference in, in, uh, Newcastle, only recently in November. But yes, there was some fun as well where we actually didn't work and only to celebrate it.

[00:32:26] Did we back in, when was it Leslie? I can't even remember. Well, you 

[00:32:29] Lesley: should know because it was our anniversary. 

[00:32:31] Ingrid: Oh yeah, it was at the end of August, beginning of September, wasn't it? Yeah. 

[00:32:35] Lesley: So we were three years, three years of the Declutter Hub. We've done the podcast for four years. We've done the Declutter Hub membership for three years, and we thought it was time to go out and celebrate, didn't we?

[00:32:44] Ingrid? Yeah. So we celebrated hard. We met at like 11 o'clock in the morning. Ingrid had a hair or curl. We dressed up for the occasion. We went for afternoon tea to a place called Sketch in London, which is very fancy. Fancy sch fancy, isn't it? Yeah. Yeah. And then we carried on after that. So we spent a fortune there and then we carried on.

[00:33:03] Yeah, so it's all good fun. 

[00:33:05] Ingrid: So we had a long day day cause why would you stop if the night's still young? I mean, sensible people go on an afternoon tea and, and of course we then have to go to three other bars to celebrate even longer 

[00:33:16] Lesley: because we were a bit disappointed when, when we first went in. So we went this afternoon till it's a really.

[00:33:20] It's kind of like a cool venue, isn't it? It's quite quirky, and so it's quite an individual place to go. If anybody is ever coming to London, it's a cool place to check out, but when we went in, It was actually afternoon tea with tea, wasn't it? And oh, we thought we were going to be drinking champagne, didn't we?

[00:33:37] And then we saw, it was just like the bottom of the, I think it's designed for tea and not for champagne, but we were going all, all in, weren't we? So yeah, at first I was like, oh, we have two hours to just drink tea. That's not what we had in mind really. So that one. But once we started, we didn't stop for a while, did we?

[00:33:54] Made a lovely, lovely 

[00:33:55] Ingrid: day. Yes, it was fab. And you know what? It's just so nice because let's be honest here, Leslie, we work quite hard to keep all the declutter hub balls into the air with weekly podcasts, with all the live sessions that we do for our membership, all the innovations, we do our own learning and development all the time as well.

[00:34:16] We never sit still, and I think it's really important to celebrate your own success as well and to go actually, Yes, we do know we have still so much to do. Um, but let's look at all the things we have achieved. And that's the message as well that we constantly, and not only to our members, but hopefully also to in our podcast, in our Facebook group, is the message like, celebrate your wins.

[00:34:44] Celebrate what you have achieved. Don't think all the time of all the things you haven't done yet. You have to take a pause and go actually, Well done, job well done. And I think that anniversary and, and just spending the day and, and, and not chatting about work, but chatting about everything else really kind of was just such a fantastic market to go, wow.

[00:35:09] Three years and all these people that were helping. And we loved the fact that so many people are on board in our system and in, in our, in our membership and listen to the. Podcast and come to our group and that we help with our challenges and what an impact hopefully we are making in a very positive way on so many people and so many lives.

[00:35:31] And I think celebrating that and being proud of ourselves is, well, I think, yeah, it is important. Yes, 

[00:35:40] Lesley: but you wouldn't stop with that. Pick pool de pin or whatever it's called. Would you English? 

[00:35:45] Ingrid: It's one of our favorite wines. And they headed on the, and they headed on the list. So we're like, yeah, and 

[00:35:50] Lesley: we, we really, we really went for it with the funds.

[00:35:52] We ended up in it. So we went, we went to sketch, then we went, then we passed by the bar after we'd had afternoon tea, and then there was a really cool bar. Then we went back into that bar and stayed there. That was cool, wasn't it? It had like a. We, it's really quirky, isn't it? Yeah. I know some, a couple of people have said that they've been to it.

[00:36:08] It's really cool. The toilets are amazing, all that kind of stuff. I know. 

[00:36:11] Ingrid: Yeah. Took toilets. I know. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. You have to go there just to see the toilets. I kid you not. Exactly. 

[00:36:19] Lesley: Exactly. So you can check it out. And then we went, where did we go there? And then we went to the, um, What was that nice place on thingy that we went to with the beautiful, with the wines coven, which was gorgeous in there.

[00:36:31] Then we found Ingrid's favorite wine, not pickleball. Dipp, what is it called? Pickle Bull Dep. Yeah, pickle Bull. P, well, I don't even know what it's called. Um, there's some kind of white something AKA white, aka was that. 

[00:36:43] Ingrid: It's a French. It's a French wine. 

[00:36:45] Lesley: Yes. Then we went there and then we ended up going to like a club.

[00:36:48] Ingrid: Yeah. So 

[00:36:50] Lesley: was like, yeah. And we're still standing at the end of the day. Some all good fun. So we definitely celebrated our three year anniversary in 

[00:36:57] Ingrid: style. And then, and then Leslie, the, you forget it was, we done, we, we, we actually had to leg it. Leg it to to the tube because I think we're like, because we kind of completely underestimated how long traveling takes in London thinking.

[00:37:12] Yeah, yeah, yeah. We can make, I think we like I was on like the last train going back home. I know. Which 

[00:37:18] Lesley: is fair. Which is good going when we started at 11 o'clock in the morning and your curls were still intact at the end of the day. Ingrid. Yeah. So anyway, let's reminiscent about our night out. The whole idea of this is to talk, as Ingrid says about celebrating your wins.

[00:37:30] And we celebrated hard on that day, and no doubt we will celebrate again hard on day with more, more, um, fantastic things that happening in 2023, so couple of days to go to Christmas. For those who celebrate Christmas, if you're celebrating. Some something else as well. We hope you have a fantastic festive period.

[00:37:49] We have loved everything that we have done, that you guys have done everything we've loved having and building this fantastic community around us, and it doesn't go unnoticed. All the lovely things that you said to us, the emails that you sent to us. Yeah. Reviews that you leave us. You know, we're very, very grateful for all those and for the positivity that you bring into our lives as well.

[00:38:08] That's really important to us. because you wouldn't still be here doing it if it wasn't for you guys. Yeah. You know, kind of interacting with us. It's really, really important. So keep that coming. You know, keep those reviews coming. Keep those emails coming. Yeah. because we would love to know more about your decla journeys and to Yeah.

[00:38:24] To know that the kinds of things that we're saying are making a difference to you. Yeah. Yes. 

[00:38:29] Ingrid: So Christmas. I know. 

[00:38:31] Lesley: Happy Christmas to you, Ingrid. 

[00:38:33] Ingrid: Thank you, Leslie, also to you and yours. Have a wonderful time celebrating, and of course if you want to keep listening to our podcast, hit that follow button in your podcast player because once you hit your follow button, other people are going to go, Hey, okay, this is a good podcast to listen to and we would love even more people to listen in.

[00:38:55] So thank you. Ever so much to all of you listening in week in, week out. Have a wonderful time celebrating, and of course we'll be back next week. Next week. 

[00:39:07] Lesley: Next week. It's funny, isn't it? Once you've done Christmas, you're kind of then very focused on New Year coming, aren't you? And so next week's podcast is all going to be about setting yourself up for 2023.

[00:39:19] So we're going to come back and talk about 2023. We talk about 2022 this week, 2023 next week. And that's what we're going to be doing. Yes, 

[00:39:26] Ingrid: it is. So see you next week.
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