Benchmark Happenings
Brought to you by, Jonathan Tipton & Steve Reed of Benchmark Home Loans, Benchmark Happenings is a podcast that is a biweekly discussion about living in and moving to Northeast Tennessee along with the local real estate market. Join your host Christine Reed as she interviews Jonathan & Steve, local business owners, sought-after industry experts, Veterans, Realtors, Benchmark clients, and more.
Benchmark Happenings focuses on discussing all things related to mortgages and Northeast Tennessee. Placing the spotlight on all the reasons you would want to live in and move to Northeast Tennessee, Benchmark Happenings highlights upcoming events, local businesses, things to do, and other aspects related to Northeast Tennessee. We will also be answering mortgage questions from buyers, sellers, and real estate agents as well as discussing everything going on in our local real estate market.
To help you to navigate the home buying and mortgage process, Jonathan & Steve are currently licensed in Tennessee, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, and Virginia, contact us today at 423-491-5405 or visit www.tiptonreedteam.com.
Benchmark Home Loans | NMLS # 2143
4138 Bristol Highway
Johnson City, TN 37601
Jonathan Tipton
Senior Mortgage Planner
NMLS # 1188088
jonathan.tipton@benchmark.us
Steve Reed
Branch Manager
NMLS # 173024
steve.reed@benchmark.us
Benchmark Happenings
Transforming Spaces and Lives: Kylie Wade on Visual Victories and the Future of Home Organization
Kylie Wade from Organizing for Life joins us to share her incredible journey from project management and marketing to transforming cluttered spaces into serene havens. Discover how her unique concept of "visual victories" empowers her clients to achieve remarkable organizational results in just six hours. Whether you're a busy parent or feeling overwhelmed by clutter, Kylie's insights will inspire you to rethink your approach to home organization and tap into the potential for immediate change.
The conversation takes an intriguing turn as we explore the influence of Amazon's delivery services on modern organization practices. Kylie provides a detailed look into her consultative process, which includes a no-cost discovery call and a personalized approach to decluttering and reorganizing spaces. Her commitment to creating a judgment-free zone ensures that clients receive tailored solutions that seamlessly integrate into their lives, resulting in functional and deeply satisfying environments.
As life changes and schedules become busier, maintaining an organized home can feel like a daunting task. Kylie shares her experiences in establishing a business that fills the gap for home maintenance services, offering solutions that ease the chaos of relocation through comprehensive concierge moving services. From choosing reliable movers to crafting personalized storage solutions, she highlights the importance of decluttering before a move and creating spaces that reflect personal style and needs. Connect with us on our Instagram and website to explore more organizing tips and stories that can transform your lifestyle.
To help you to navigate the home buying and mortgage process, Jonathan & Steve are currently licensed in Tennessee, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, and Virginia, contact us today at 423-491-5405 or visit www.jonathanandsteve.com.
This is Benchmark Happenings, brought to you by Jonathan and Steve from Benchmark Home Loans. Northeast Tennessee, johnson City, kingsport, bristol, the Tri-Cities One of the most beautiful places in the country to live. Tons of great things to do and awesome local businesses. And on this show you'll find out why people are dying to move to Northeast Tennessee. And on the way we'll have discussions about mortgages and we'll interview people in the real estate industry. It's what we do. This is Benchmark Happenings, brought to you by Benchmark Home Loans and now your host, christine Reed. And now your host, christine Reed.
Speaker 2:Welcome back everybody to another wonderful podcast here at Benchmark Happenings, and I'm so excited today to talk to the star of our show, Kylie Wade, with Organizing for Life. So, kylie, thank you for being on today.
Speaker 3:Yes, thank you so much for having me. I'm excited to be here.
Speaker 2:Well, I'm excited to have you here because after I've looked at your website and we've had a short conversation before this podcast, I'm like, oh my gosh, I mean, what a perfect company to have. You've got to be so busy and helping people get organized. I feel like life today is so chaotic.
Speaker 3:Yes, absolutely. I think that's so much of what it is. You know our clients. The first thing they always say to us is I'm so embarrassed to let you into our home, and the first thing I say is we all have too much to do and so I'm just here to help with the things that I can take off of your plate and get things under control. That way it can be maintained. Versus that, maybe, what you know, when I have a weekend off or I get that time, you know that time that just never comes because it's the next stomach bug. You know, kids, sports, whatever it may be that keeps us so busy and out of our homes for long enough to say what are some really great systems that'll work really well, and that's all we think about, of course.
Speaker 3:So you're just bringing in the experts and bringing in that expertise and also bringing in you know we force multiply the efforts that you want to make. And so you're like I want to park my car in the garage and we say, okay, x, y and Z needs to happen to get you there and we can do it in a day, and so we love being able to do that. Historically in my career, I've done a lot of project management for tech companies and television companies, and so you know being able to have these, what I like to call visual victories- in a day where we transform a space.
Speaker 3:This morning I was just in a pantry, and so it's so cool because by the time you leave that space, it's it's entirely different, and the person you leave in that space is, at times, entirely different as well. They are changed for it, and and that's part of the beauty and what we love most about what we do- and and you talk about that that change.
Speaker 2:What I love about this is you actually see the results in a day. And you know, and I've been in capital sales for 20 years and so my projects move along at a snail's pace. It takes a long time to see the fruit of all of your effort and I know you were in project management and have just an amazing work history that you know. Feel free to share that. I think it's just very interesting all that you've done at such a young age, but just being able to see that accomplishment in a day, I mean that's awesome.
Speaker 3:Absolutely yes, it's. It's so amazing. We posted a reel, uh, recently too, and and I'm always trying to think about you know, I have a marketing PR background and I've I've strayed far from that.
Speaker 2:Most of my career Isn't that funny how a lot of times our degrees um, you know we stray from those and yeah.
Speaker 3:Yeah. So the foundations are still there and I'm digging them up, I'm dusting off the cobwebs and saying, okay, what? Um? What's my sales pitch Like? How do I really evoke emotion in the way that we sell our services, cause to us it's, it's so natural and it's what we do. But then you have to, like, put on all those different hats as a business owner and say, okay, well, well, how do I really convince someone?
Speaker 3:You know and and maybe they're in different states of mind, and so one way that I was thinking about that is you know, you're only six hours of our time away from an ideal transformation. Some days it's seven or eight, but a lot of times we're working six hour days. We love to cater to moms and say, hey, we're accommodating of that schedule with those that we hire. That's something that's important to us. But two, sometimes we're in the of that schedule with those that we hire. Um, that's something that's important to us. Um, but but two, sometimes we're in the thick of it and we go by those milestones in the project. You know, I want this hallway cleared. I want them to have this by the end of the day.
Speaker 3:Usually, we're looking for an early win for our clients, especially, too, if it's taken a little convincing to get in their door. We want to say look, look what this can look like and look how quickly this can look different for you, and so I love those things, and so so that six hours that one day you know from that transformation.
Speaker 3:I think that's a way that we've really hammered at home, cause, absolutely, you know, you know, I'll, I'll, I'll just quickly segue into you know the work experience I have and and how that has translated into the services we offer today and how I've built my business. Um, you know, I uh left college and I did get that marketing PR degree pre Instagram, so that tells you, uh, a little bit about my age.
Speaker 2:I mean, I'm telling you what would we do without social media. Oh my gosh, I don't even know.
Speaker 3:It's like what would we do without it and thinking about that from that business owner standpoint. But then like mentally, what would I do without it? Like probably so much more outdoor time.
Speaker 2:You know, it's like such a blessing, I think, with our business and having that marketing and that advertising for us, but then on the personal side of it, it's like we could use less of that time, right, yeah?
Speaker 3:And you know, even though it is a specialty of mine, I've hired it out because I have so many demons. You know about it. I want to provide so much value, I have so many grand ideas, but I'm also incredibly ADHD.
Speaker 3:You could ask anybody on my team, and so you know at times it's hard for me to get myself across that finish line where I don't have that accountability, like the clients where I'm promising transformations of their space, that 100% it's happening, but anything I promise myself I sort of come up short. But yeah, so these are just super important things where it's like I know I need to do this and what does it take to get there, so sort of maybe project management's going to be sort of our lens in this, so sort of taking like, what resources can I infuse into it? So you know, we, for our clients, are, of course, a resource, but I have to think about that the same way for my business, right Is, how do we get there faster? Is it more people? Is it, you know, more networking, more lead generation? You're always thinking about the right place to use your resources, your energy and your time.
Speaker 3:And, and definitely you know, throughout my experience, you know I started out of college I worked at tennis channel, did project management, did, um, you know anything I could do to keep my foot in the door. I love tennis. I was doing, you know what I loved out in LA and moved there from Alabama, so I am a Southerner. But what you know, what I found there is, you know there was this position. It was called a runner position, and so in that position it was. It was very supportive to the people with a lot of expertise within the.
Speaker 3:You know the control rooms, and then you know the productions at large, and so this person is like what do I do? Can I get you coffee? Can I get you lunch? Let me just keep things moving. Well, I've now infused, you know, that role into our business as well. You know, in the early days I was out on my own. Margaret Porterfield and I came together and brought our businesses together, and when we did, we were both just like now. This is something that we can't do every single day, all day, you know, until we're we're retirement age, because it is very physical work. And so bringing in roles like that has been strategic for us, that we say let's bring someone in younger who can really, you know, help us haul things, get things out, because that's another thing that we like to do. I mentioned those, those victories for the clients.
Speaker 3:Sure, as soon as they make that decision, those items leave the house and they start to see that space open up and we say this is, this is a big part of it and a cost savings too, cause if we can save them a junk collar or something you know, we are able to do that because we're just like get it out Black trash bags. We don't want any second guessing of that decision.
Speaker 2:I was going to say you know what? The longer things stay, you start to say as the owner, you have the second guessing. Well, maybe I could use that and wow what a gift to have, you know an outsider, third party, come in, nope, you don't need it. So really, organizing for life is basically you guys come in, you sit down with your client, let's talk about all the amazing things that you offer your clients through organization.
Speaker 2:I mean, I feel better just talking to you because I'm thinking I'm going to definitely, I'm definitely going to use some organization, so I'll probably be calling you.
Speaker 3:Yes, that's fantastic. You know where to find me.
Speaker 2:Yes, I do.
Speaker 3:Yeah, so you know, we started with just basic home organization, which, of course, is inclusive of decluttering. That's the most important first step, because otherwise you're just organizing clutter, and so what you're finding is bins are already full when those shelves are beautiful, everything's in containers, but you don't have any room for life, and so what we like to do is go ahead and declutter and give you about 30% of room for growth, because Amazon's too easy. You know I joke.
Speaker 3:Amazon keeps us in business because it's so easy to send things to your home In California. They would come that day sometimes or the next day, so it was even faster. You didn't even have to think about it. You're like I'll have this tomorrow and you click that order button and so what we see is we're just like okay, we have a lot of boxes coming in and out of the house For me.
Speaker 3:I use it as a cheat I order my groceries on Amazon. They've got that whole, you know a whole foods 365 brands. You can get some organic things on there. So it is strategic in certain ways. But we need to make sure that we have systems in the house so we have a place to break down boxes and keep those until they leave the home. So things like that. We like to be able to think about that. When we sit down, we talk to those clients, you know, first they they fill out a lead form, they go to our website and then they'll receive a prompt and it'll say hey, let's go ahead and set up your free discovery call.
Speaker 3:So that discovery call is completely free because the client's filling us out as much as we're filling them out and two, we want to be as budget friendly as possible, but over the evolution of this past year and the growth of the business, we've definitely figured out our costs a lot better.
Speaker 3:And we were really donating a lot of time. We were not careful with product, and these are things that we've gotten better with. So we can be strategic and say we'd love to be in your budget. Like you know, what can we do? Can we help with the decluttering, can we give you homework? There's definitely things that we can think of. So we love to talk that through. But on that discovery call, it's our goal to say how can you work with us, in what capacity? And so then we say are you ready for a consult? Then we go into your home. We used to just go straight to homes, but it was a lot of hey, maybe we took the day off work to go do that consult and then that lead sort of died out on us. So these are the things that we've learned to say let's really feel that out and that's just this really safe place because they are getting to know us before they invite us into a home which is incredibly vulnerable.
Speaker 3:And we, we are the judgment free zone. You know I always tell our clients. You know I go into your home and I go. This belongs there, that's here. Okay, there, there are symptoms over here that there's something that's not working. Maybe it's all the kids' shoes are at the door and there's none in their closets, so maybe we need a better mudroom set up or or some sort of. You know, not everybody has a mudroom right and so everything looks different. So we're thinking through, client by client, for their lifestyle, what are these really great systems that would set them up for success? And so you know, we're talking through that in the consult we are. We are measuring things and making sure you know what's the inside color of the drawers so we can match those with drawer dividers, different things like that. And we're making all of those notes that way we can come back ready to go. We do.
Speaker 3:You know first that we call it a sort and edit day where it's you know, seemingly chaotic, right, we pull everything out and we say, all right, let's look at everything together. And you know, in several projects we've had like, do you need four crockpots? And if it's not grandma who's entertaining everybody for every holiday, we say, maybe we can get rid of one or two, or big fan of those all-in-one appliances, the air fryer, instapot, crockpot combos. Those do really well, especially too if you're limited on space. So we say, what kind of solutions could we?
Speaker 2:Right.
Speaker 3:And so after that declutter day, we know what needs to remain in the space and then we move on to the organizing and and it's. It's such a tease because you see the space and it's it's sort of opening up and you're feeling really great, but that we call it the product install day. That's where we say, ok, this is where you know all of the crayons go, we need it, we need something there. That way, if the kids take it, you know there's something missing.
Speaker 3:Or you know, today pantries are top of mind, because I, you know, I'm working in a pantry and I also redid mine over the weekend and I brought back some old bins that I hadn't used in a while and one of them said protein and I sit it in my pantry and it's empty and I go that's my grocery shopping. Right there I go, I need some cans of tuna, I need some beef of tuna, I need some beef sticks. You know different things like that that fulfill that category of food that my family consistently enjoys. And so those labeled bins, they hold that space. That way it's not like, oh, the, the set of sheets that was there is gone, and now there's somebody put toys in there. You know something like that Everybody in the family can get on board with the system and then from there, you know, we get to do this grand reveal. We had a really fun one on Friday, where we um, you know took a space and reclaimed it for our clients.
Speaker 3:So it had been sort of the the catch all room. But we were able to really go through that, unpack some boxes from a move and just made this beautiful craft room set up and I was like I'm going to lock you out because I want that HGTV moment, I want you to walk in and just be wowed by the space. And it was so much fun, like all day long. She's like I'd ask her questions. She's like can I peek? And I'm like no, and so we had a ton of fun and, um, you know, I left there feeling so, so good about what we do, because some days it's a little hard. We can't quite get the decluttering where we need it to be to say you're really great and great value from us, but it is hard. We have different attachments to different items that can mean different things.
Speaker 3:It's a connection to a person a place, a different version of you, sometimes it's really hard to let go of. So we're very well versed in that. And then also, too, you know, we we try to be very meaningful with our donations and so we're organizing for life with well-placed donations, which is, you know, a nod to my business partner, margaret. She had well-placed organization and when we brought them together and we both have this, you know this mission about how we have these wonderful items a lot of times tags on unused things that it's just you know hey.
Speaker 3:I bought it and my life changed, or it was on sale you know, and so all of those things, we're able to take those and say, hey, we've got partner organizations in town, nonprofits, various charities that we work with, and we're able to take those donations and rehome them. This was a little bit hindered, of course, by Helene, because everybody started bringing out their donations. A lot of places got really tapped out. But it's also, too. I kept telling people throughout that I said what's hard is all these organizations can't, they don't have the capacity to sort in the way that they need to, and so a lot of times too, we try to pre-sort and say this is really great stuff, this needs to go here, or maybe some items are sort of tattered and they're meant for textile recycling at that point. So we try to be really mindful of those things. And especially, too, if we have great organizations like the River, for example, they make jewelry. So like my mind goes to them every time we come across jewelry, it's broken.
Speaker 2:I did not know that they make jewelry they do.
Speaker 3:Yeah, so they do, and then they sell them at a certain point. So I actually from a client a couple of weeks ago have a big box that we need to deliver to them, and so we love to do things like that, because then we say this is very meaningful and so we were able to package that up, but it does take a lot of burden on our own resources. So that's sort of just like our side hustle that we're able to put that energy and that time, but that's something that we're really looking to develop in this next year. That's more geared towards our philanthropic side. But as far as the growth of our business, you know a lot of the services that we're offering. Additionally, they're things that mean a lot to me, or, you know, in my life I've needed myself, so um you know, after when I was in LA, we we were not with family.
Speaker 3:You know, we families in Tennessee and Alabama, and so if they came out that's great, otherwise we didn't have help. I spent three hours a day in my car. Um, we were in a tiny apartment, so I like to say that's where I really built my organizing muscles, because I was constantly reworking our apartment to make things fit, as we had a toddler and all the things that come with a toddler that you are desperate to get to sleep. We had like three swings at one point in a 900 square foot loft.
Speaker 2:I was going to ask you. Your apartment was probably small. Being in California and trying to organize and I can't imagine all the things that go with having a child there's so much stuff.
Speaker 3:So so much. And then you know, even with my kids, now four and six, we're building those habits too with them. And so you know, my four-year-old would be like mommy. I'm organizing, and it's so cute.
Speaker 3:Yes and last night, I was telling, um, you know, I was telling one of our girls today. I was like, oh my gosh, my, my son, you know, my six-year-old was making I'm trying to get him in the kitchen with me and so he was making a fruit plate and I was like, oh my gosh, he was like color coordinating it and it was like so cute, and I was just like it was such a proud mom moment, absolutely. So I love that and you know, and it's really great because it helps me. You know, like today, and you know, in the project that we were working on, I'm just like, oh, moms, you know, I got you. Okay, the snacks do not need to be in a visible container, otherwise that ruins every meal. You know all the things we know and we've got got you. You know, and so we, we have such a diverse range of experience and then, um, and a diverse range of needs and understanding of different situations, and so it's really wonderful and and that you know, I'm constantly, my wheels are always turning, you know.
Speaker 3:I'm always thinking about what are really great systems. And as a mom, a working mom and you know I had a couple hours a night with my son I was like how do I maximize this time with my son? And so, you know, when we moved here during the pandemic of course we hid in our homes for a couple of years, slowly started getting out sort of building this business and I was showing the organization of my own home which was really impactful and that that started my growth and started my path towards this business. Um, but it was really fun.
Speaker 3:You know, just saying I'd love to look at spaces holistically and design for the holistic space versus you go to TJ Maxx and you love this, and then you know there's something at target oh gosh, don't even get me started on target Right, uh, or home goods. How fun it could be to go in and just curate these pieces and you're like I love this. How fun it could be to go in and just curate these pieces and you're like I love this. Nothing matches it right now. At some point you know I'll find something and you know you dream. But then we have this like mishmash of things that don't quite go together in a space. And so you know we love when we come in to say let's look at the space holistically. Is it okay if we swap some bins? We'll reuse anything we can, but I'd love to say let me design it. You know, just just looking at this one area. And so it's just been so fun to do that and I I just thoroughly enjoyed it in my home after the mashup.
Speaker 3:That was my LA apartment, and so, as that grew, I'd go back to work. You know, cause I was on maternity leave when I first started this. Go back to work, and you know I'm crazy busy, so. So I said there's a gap in the market. I spent four hours cleaning for my cleaner coming. You know I want them to have access to every surface. I was like we need something to be able to clean and not.
Speaker 2:Uh, my sister-in-law talks, says that it's like she has to mow the house, yeah, before her housekeeper comes over, because there's so much clutter it's so true.
Speaker 3:And then you're like, well, they move things and you're getting to know them and you know new new services you're hiring or new cleaners that come and, and so you know I would do that, and so I was like I need a clean for the cleaners person. So we set up a maintenance service in the business that was modeled after you know, I'd bring girls into my home and I was like, okay, my husband does the laundry, which is fantastic, right.
Speaker 3:But then, he'll do like two weeks of laundry, and I have eight loads to put away.
Speaker 3:So that's my job or I just farm it out. So I'd bring my girls over and I'd say, hey, here's how the closets are set up. You're basically resetting the closets, you're resetting rooms, so we have some structure in place. You can see how things are labeled, how they're organized. Everything has a home. It just needs to go back in time for the cleaner coming. Of course, I try to get my kids to clean their rooms before bedtime and practice good habits like that, especially now that we've adopted a dog. However, you know, there's just the looming threat. I was like she'll eat it. You know, don't leave it on the floor, which has been great, great ammunition for mom and keeping the house clean and keeping things off my, my uh living room floor. Um, but they, you know, if, if it's just a chaotic week, it's crazy. I'm like, oh my gosh, cleaner comes tomorrow.
Speaker 3:Like we've just got to like hustle and get things you know buckled up, so she has all the access that she needs to to all the spaces and corners and cobwebs, and so, um, I modeled, modeled that into our maintenance services and that's something that we're offering. We're like everything has a place to go. We've organized your home before. We just need to reset those rooms for you and help you keep it maintained.
Speaker 2:Yes. That's the key is keeping it you know, and do you find that most people start with when they contact you, like, hey, I just want to work on my closet or my pantry, and then you work on that project, finish it and they're like well, how about we do the?
Speaker 3:next project, I would.
Speaker 2:If you come to my house, we'll do one thing, and then I know we're going to start Because my closet's a wreck. I love closets. Okay, well, I need to and I actually want to redo my closet. My pantry's a wreck as well. All my storage spaces are basically a wreck. I mean, it's like I've just thrown stuff here and there, I've tried to organize and yeah.
Speaker 3:It's hard, but when there's structure and there's a place for everything to go, it's such a game changer. Like even when we're coming into a space for the first time, we bring sorting bins and that's huge. And at home you could recreate that with like keep your Amazon boxes, do different things, and you know, I always have a donation box ready to go in my home because I'm making that more of a habit. I put this shirt on. I don't like it, it needs to go. So things like that, especially that way my husband can't be like you have plenty of clothes. I'm like no, I don't. You know, I've been decluttering and so you know it's. It's great to be mindful of those things in day to day life. Or like there's a really noisy toy that comes home and you're like oh where did that go?
Speaker 3:the toy rotation that way? It's just out of sight, out of mind. For a little bit before I completely like a guilty mom, just take it off and just let that guilt eat me alive. When they ask where it is. But yeah, there's, the maintenance is key and, and you know, there's so many things too where it's just just moms have too much to do. It's just, it's crazy maintaining a home, or maybe you live alone and all that burdens on you the inside of the house. The outside of the house, it's just too much. We have people who have had injuries, surgeries, different things. That has stopped them from being able to really function in their place.
Speaker 1:And us.
Speaker 3:Giving them a reset says everything's back to normal, it's manageable again, and that's such a gift to be able to give that to our clients. And then from there, additional services we're branching into concierge moves, which is fantastic.
Speaker 2:So tell me about that, because I think what's great about that is with us having this mortgage business and concierge moves and things like that, because we have a lot of times we'll give clients, families, a moving package and it's got a little book. If they have children, it has a little book in it, the Bernstein Bears Moving Day, and it's all about moving. And then we have the tape and the labels and just all kinds of really neat things.
Speaker 3:So I think that would be awesome.
Speaker 2:So tell us a little bit about that concierge moving.
Speaker 3:Moving is oh gosh. I have a presentation for realtors that has so many great stats. I should have scribbled a few down, but I think one of them that stands out is like moving is, like such a like a huge life event. It's almost worse than a divorce.
Speaker 3:And so it's, it can be so disruptive, especially if you're moving across the country. So not only are you trying to pack up everything that you maybe haven't, you know, you haven't thought about in a very long time, like for us we moved from Los Angeles, we had a storage unit, my husband had a music studio and then we had our apartments. We had things in three different places. We had come out here for a couple months and we had to like go back just to pack up. Took us three weeks to pack up, while also working remotely, but we were away from our son Luke at the time and it was really hard. So thinking about that and like giving these items our time over like just missing.
Speaker 3:You know him like crazy. We also had a bad experience with the movers too, because as soon as they put everything on the truck, they doubled the price and I was like that is crazy. And so that's something I still think about to this day and, you know, just like all of our other services, I'm like I don't want anybody to feel like that. So you know, here, you know, in the Tri-Cities, we're trying to partner with movers.
Speaker 3:We had a really great moving company who would recommend us to their clients and it was such a great partnership and so we had a great relationship with the movers and we could say, hey, you know what time will you guys be here? We want to make sure we're here. You know, and ready and and they knew we were going to they're like things are going to be in much better state. You know when we pack things up versus you know if, if they come and they just have to wrangle it all, similarly to they're under a time crunch, so they'll. You know, a lot of times too, we'll unpack clients and we would find, like shampoo bottles with heirlooms.
Speaker 2:I've had the experience. Yes, I understand what you're saying so that's, that's, that's a great service um to offer. And you know, I think, just partnering with not only realtors but a lender and just you know that business and making those recommendations. So how can we, how can our clients and those listening find you? What do they? Where do they?
Speaker 3:need to go, yeah, so we always say find us on Instagram because that's our resume and so you're going to go and you're going to be inspired, or maybe, if it's not the right time, for you know we stay top of mind, so we're organizing for life on Instagram and you know we like to post tips and tricks like here's your declutter prompts, so we send people there first, but also our website. I love that you were able to look it over.
Speaker 3:We do need to add you know, like our concierge moves on there, that the decluttering that we do um which saves so much money by the time you've moved, cause you're, we're guaranteeing you're not moving clutter and you're starting exactly, and that's what I did. I packed it all up from California and then that that cost doubled, and so these are the things that I want to say. I want a better experience for you. You know we've, we've done one day moves where, literally on moving day, they're in their bed that night. There are photos on the wall like all that like we've.
Speaker 3:We've hung art done all the things and it's been just so magical to do that. You know, that's on the smaller scale. Are are you know moves that we've done for senior citizens who were downsizing and moving into assisted living? We just did a huge move beginning of December where we did a whole home and she's like I want all the pretty things. And we're like, oh yes, you are speaking our language and I shopped in three different states. I got so excited and so it was so much fun being able to say you love baking, we made this beautiful baking drawer and thinking about special surprises for the kids. We try to get to know the family. One daughter was a Swifty and so we're like we really need to display you know the things where she went to the Arrows tour in her closet, and so we made that very special and so we love these things that we can do. And then also, you know I said here's your fridge, here's a structure for the way they had two fridges like how dreamy. Two fridges like how dreamy, and so.
Speaker 3:I was like okay, treat one fridge like things food that's been made, you know, ready to go, ready to eat, and others. Ingredients are quick, you know quick snacks ready to go.
Speaker 3:And so that way too, it's just two very different looks and two very different functions and the way that you're thinking about those things, the client, would, you know, text us for a week saying, okay, what do you think about this? And we're like, all right, here's a new hamper recommendation or this or that, and so we're always happy to do that too. But they were like we want to be in our home by Christmas and we had them moved in. You know, we worked four long days, like four and a half long days, and so we had beginning of December. They were in their home, and so it was really magical, but we didn't get to fully pack them. So when we do get to fully pack, we're even faster on the unpack because we know everything we've we've been able to plan for it.
Speaker 3:And so it's really wonderful. So, to know more about us, our services, you can certainly go to our website, but Instagram as well. I need to do better on stories and, and you know, sort of showing up and saying this is where we are today, but we get so in the thick of it, or sometimes too, for the client's privacy. You know we're just making sure that we're being very discreet. We do ask permission and sometimes we're like super playful and fun with it, cause I mean you've got to have fun right.
Speaker 3:You, just you know like you know we we Margaret's great at it. She, she knows how to like really tease the clients and be like you know you don't really need that, do you? And like, I'm just like, do you want to donate it? But then there's other areas where you know we, we pass the baton and I'm, like, you know, the mad scientist when it comes to installing the product and and so we just have so much fun. And our team, you know, even last week we did a retreat with our team. We did this full day of training and it just really feels like a family, and so it's been really special building that team and finding those people that are like our core people. And there's still people that you just want to hang out with or, you know, you invite their family over to your kids' birthday parties.
Speaker 3:And so it's been just so much fun just building that after working for corporate America for so long and you know the volatility. That was the tech, or is you know? The tech industry, and so I got to say, let me, let me step out of that and do something that I'm incredibly passionate about and that I have full control of, but also with you know, the mindfulness of everything I've learned there about you know, scalable workflows and and how to really, um you know, build a business.
Speaker 3:I was always very organized, so you know that was something that was a strong point at work. And so that definitely helps as far as like creating all the things that you need to do in business, and so it's been a fun ride so far, and I've just so enjoyed getting to know Johnson City. You know, my husband grew up here, but now I know more people than he does.
Speaker 2:It's a great place. We love East Tennessee, but we were born and raised here. But, kylie, thank you so much for being here today. Organizing for life and it's all about cleaning out the clutter, getting organized, de-stressing your life, everything having a place and having those right systems in place, and I know that you and Margaret have really put together a very special company. Thank you, and looking forward to getting to know you more and also having you come to my house.
Speaker 3:Yes, sign me up.
Speaker 2:Well, Kelly, thank you so much and I hope you'll come back.
Speaker 3:Oh, certainly Thank you for having me. This has been such a blessing.
Speaker 2:It has been. Thank you for having me. This has been such a blessing. It has been. Thank you.
Speaker 1:This has been Benchmark Happenings, brought to you by Jonathan Tipton and Steve Reed from Benchmark Home Loans. Jonathan and Steve are residential mortgage lenders. They do home loans in Northeast Tennessee and they're not only licensed in Tennessee but Florida, georgia, south Carolina and Virginia. We hope you've enjoyed the show. If you did make sure to like rate and review. Our passion is Northeast Tennessee, so if you have questions about mortgages, call us at 423-491-5405 and the website is wwwjonathanandstevecom. Thanks for being with us and we'll see you next time on Benchmark Happenings.
