100. Do Professional Organizers Have Messy Homes? 100th Episode Roundtable

A candid 100th-episode chat on how professional organizers live at home, with simple organizing mindset shifts and easy systems that keep your house “guest-ready” fast.

100 episodes in, and I’m celebrating in the best way: I invited three brilliant pro organizers to share what really happens inside their own homes, and how they keep things functional without chasing perfection! We're talking about the stuff we don’t always show on Instagram.

You’ll hear my Organizing for Beautiful Living philosophy (the 5 pillars), plus real-life examples of how organizers choose what matters, skip what doesn’t, and build simple systems that make daily life feel calmer and easier.

• 🧦 Why “messy” can still be organized
• ✨ The 5 pillars of Organizing for Beautiful Living, and how to use them in real life
• ☺️ How to live light, especially with kids’ toys, pet gear, and sentimental family items
• 🏡 What makes a home feel good beyond how it looks
• ✅ “Mother-in-law ready in 5 minutes”, the confidence goal we all actually want
• 🔑 Simple maintenance habits that protect your time, your energy, and your relationships
• 💻 Work boundaries organizers actually use, including email rules and admin days
• 🧘🏽‍♀️ The underrated wellness “item” that costs zero dollars: clear space for calm

Please check out my brilliant guests' websites and Instagrams:

Blake Jones, The Organizing Boss

• Blake's Instagram: @theorganizingboss

Kim Mazewski, Consciously Cleared and Contained

• Kim's Instagram: @consciouslyclearedandcontained

Hadiyah Alexander, Neat with Ease

• Hadiya's Instagram: @neatwithease

THANK YOU for celebrating episode 100 with me!

Connect with me:

You can find me on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fireflybridgeorganizing
Here's my website: https://fireflybridge.com

Call or text me: 305-563-2292

Email me: zeenat@fireflybridge.com

Transcript

Welcome to Organizing for Beautiful Living. I’m Zee Siman, The Choosy Organizer.
This podcast is for women who are done organizing everything and ready to be choosy about what matters, what’s enough, and what can wait. Because beautiful living starts with a little less stress and a lot more intention.
Ready to get beautifully organized? Let’s make it happen.

You guys, this is Episode 100 of the podcast. It blows my mind a little bit that there are now 100 episodes of the show out there. And thanks to all of you, we’re going strong! The show is consistently in the top 100 or so shows in the Home & Garden category on Apple Podcasts. It’s listened to all over the world. I get the report of where people are listening, and we’ve got listeners from so many countries other than the US and Canada. If you’re one of those people listening in Australia, Denmark, Argentina, Finland, Germany and all the other countries you’re tuning in from, thank you for being a part of this Choosy Organizer community.

To all of you who are here each week, I’m happy that we’ve found each other. The fact that you listen to the podcast tells me that Organizing for Beautiful Living is something you’re striving for, just as I am, and I hope that you’ll pass on what you learn and gather from the show not only to your friends and neighbors, but also to your kids and grandkids, nieces and nephews. It’s our goal here to make sure, as much as possible, that our kids don’t struggle with possessions as much as maybe we have, and certainly to ensure that they can be Organized for Beautiful Living as a way of life, instead of an aspiration.

So with all my gratitude, this week I’m sharing with you a really fun episode. I invited 3 fellow professional organizers whose work align with mine and who are such geniuses at what they do. 

They are Blake Jones, The Organizing Boss, Kim Mazewski with Consciously Cleared and Contained, and Hidiyah Alexander with Neat with Ease. I want you to get to know them, and how they translate the Organizing for Beautiful Living principles, or pillars, in their own homes and with their clients. And of course, I’ve put all their information in the show notes. Please go there and find those links.

Throughout the episode you’ll hear them say that - spoiler alert - their homes aren’t perfect either, but they each have ways of not allowing perfection to keep them from being organized for beautiful living.

So enjoy episode 100! We’ll start with each of my guests introducing themselves.


My name is Blake. I am The Organizing Boss based in DC, so service DC, Maryland, Virginia. I am coming up on six years of business. And I would say that mostly a lot of my clients tend to be in transition periods of their life. So a lot of young professional families, new kids, a lot of unpacking and moving into new homes. So it tends to be a lot with just kind of setting up systems rather than getting into the therapeutic aspects of how we got there. 


My name is Kim Mazewski. I am over here in Northern Wilmington, Delaware. Newcastle County serving the surrounding area. My business is Consciously Cleared and Contained. Doesn't quite roll off the tongue, but totally captures what I do. And I am also a licensed occupational therapist. So my approach, just like Hadiyah, is it's very holistic, client-centered, and therapeutic in a way. I say that my empathy is my superpower, but I'm also bringing in some tough love. And my passion is mindful decluttering and helping teach families and people that have chronic disorganization or situational disorganization systems. But also, again, why did they get here? How did this happen? What does backsliding look like and how do you reset before it gets to the place where you feel out of control? I'm also a queer mama who has had much therapy in her own life. And my own depression and anxiety really helps give a compassionate edge to what I'm doing. And I also have a specialty in working with people with brain-based conditions, kids, adults, seniors, ADHD, autism. And that is a passion of mine as well. So a lot of my clients are dealing with also grief, also trauma, and some heavy things. 
I'm Hadiyah Alexander, owner of Neat With Ease. My business is now four years old, very exciting. I started in this profession over a decade ago when I worked for the Container Store in Scottsdale, Arizona where many of our current chapter members shop still. And I tried to provide a more holistic approach for my clients, not just the clutter, but why the clutter started. A lot of times it's trauma-based. And since I personally have also experienced trauma, I can relate now on a more deeper level with my clients. 


Zee: This is the 100th episode of organizing your beautiful living. Yay! Yay! Yay! 100, we are 100. And to celebrate, I've invited these three amazing fellow organizers to join me on the show, these people who I admire so, so much. My guests are Blake Jones of The Organizing Boss, Kim Mazewski, of Consciously Cleared and Contained and Hadiyah Alexander of Neat With Ease. Welcome, you guys. 
Thank you. 
Thank you for having us. 
Blake: Congratulations. Woo! 
Zee: I am so glad you're here. OK, so for this 100th episode, I really wanted my listeners to hear what happens inside professional organizers' homes, because you know, I've got a bag of supplies here that haven't unpacked it put away. That was right on the table here from working at a client last week. So we want to hear the truth about what really happens in our homes. And the way I'd like to have our conversation today is I'm going to explain the Organizing for Beautiful Living philosophy. And then I'm going to ask you questions based on the pillars of that philosophy. Does that sound OK? 
Yeah, love it. 


Zee: OK. So Organizing for Beautiful Living means being choosy about what you're organizing in your house, in your space, your stuff. And also what you give your attention to so that you can live a calm, connected, and meaningful life. And I call myself The Choosy Organizer, because most of my clients don't actually want to organize. And I'm sure that's you guys too. They don't want organizing to become a hobby of theirs. They just want to be organized. They want to get in, get it done, and get out, and then have the simplest way possible of maintaining that. Does that sound right? 
Yeah, cool. 
Zee: So I think that's being choosy, because organizing is not the goal. Living is the goal. And over time, as we've lived this all out in my own home and with my clients, it became clear to me that this philosophy rests on five pillars. So pillar one is Live Light. Live Light is about having less on purpose. It means choosing quality over quantity, buying things thoughtfully, and setting limits so that your stuff and your schedule don't take over your life. So what is something that you've intentionally chosen to have less of, even if it felt uncomfortable at first? Kim, would you like to go first? 


Kim: Sure, I'm happy to. I was a new mom in the pandemic. And of course, got sucked into social media, comparisons, feeling like I had to have this Pinterest perfect nursery and playroom, and really caught myself slipping away, far, far away from the minimalist that I am and have always been, and just wanted to have everything. And we live in a small home, and we're looking around like, you can't even see the floor. There's so much stuff. Why are there three things for the baby to sit in who's not even born yet? Why are there like three little bouncers? Why are there like four of this thing and really having to get intentional with pairing way down, recognizing that a baby needs so little, and then also translating that to the grandparents who are very well-intentioned, of course, but we're very generous with their gift giving and also how that plays out with birthday parties and things that we're accumulating for our child, right? So it's very easy to have excess when it comes to kids’ stuff. And so in our small home, we said, this is gonna be our play space. We're not gonna have a play space in our bedroom. We're not gonna also have a play space over here. This is our play space. And obviously things will migrate, but we will bring them back and we're teaching our son about homes and where things live. And oh my gosh, I have it on video. The first time he said organize. He was taking a car downstairs that was in his bedroom. And my wife said, where are you going with that? And he goes, it doesn't live up here. I have to organize. 
Oh my gosh. 
Kim: So we also set up a really solid toy rotation system. And so we have extra toys in the basement that are visible to him, but they're like protected in clear bins. And so he knows that when he wants to switch out to the Mario Kart, he'll bring down a train track, you know? And just, yup, makes it so seamless. 

Zee: But I have to think, I have kids myself. And so I struggled with that too, especially when they were young. That's part of the reason why I became an organizer when I fell into organizing, I say it's because we had kids and yet so much stuff. There's this feeling of guilt about is my kid going to be developed enough. There's new, there's new scientific evidence that they need to have this kind of functioning thing and this kind of functioning thing. So I need to buy that apparatus and this toy and this piece of gear. But then also feeling like you're drowning in all of that stuff. 
Kim: And that's where I started, right? I started with all of these ideas that I'm supposed to have. And then recognizing that my own background as an occupational therapist and our family's philosophy kind of leaning toward Montessori, that's very child-led, we follow his lead. He's not deprived of anything. He's currently his favorite toy right now is those little McDonald's Transformers that are so awful and ugly and cheap and plastic and dumb. But man, he'll play with that for like 20 minutes at a time and he's just so engaged. And so that's where he is. You have to meet them where they are. And also we know as professional organizers in this industry, there's tons of research that say the fewer toys they have, the better. And that allows them to be more creative and more focused than have less stress. And when parents are overwhelmed by the clutter, we know that the kids are too, but they don't have the words for it. 
Zee: Yeah, yeah. 
Zee: How about you, Hadiyah? What have you thoughtfully chosen to have less of? 
Hadiyah: Yeah, so recently I went from two fur babies to three, two cats to now a puppy that is barely three months old and almost five pounds. Very quickly in the last month, I have inherited quite a bit of free pet things from car seats to beds to play pens. I quickly realized I don't need this much. It is one dog. He is this big. And I know many people that maybe can't afford stuff like that. I live right down the street from a pet shelter. So I'm like, they can benefit from these things. I don't need 20 dog beds. I don't need 20 pet pee pads. He does very well outside now. So he's doing very minimal pee and pooping in the house, thankfully. And I don't have carpet. So I'm very thankful for that because back then, I'll hold another issue. But just having that mindset of the same process I put my clients through, you know, these things that you're not utilizing or you're just kind of storing in a box and just saying they're taking up space and emotional space, there are people out there that can really benefit from these things. And so I was like, you know what? I'm not going to bring it into my house because if I bring it into my house, it might stay here a while, just like how our clients experience. I'm going to keep it in my car and drive it right over to the animal shelter. So that is a very, very recent thing as I've inherited my mother's house. And so I've realized quickly that there's things I have that I didn't realize I had. And so that is keeping me from doing a lot of retail shopping. I'm going through the inventory of what's currently here and making better systems, especially in the garage. That was a very emotional space for me. And a lot of it was my mother's, my grandparents, had just sat in boxes for over a decade. I called on a colleague to help me organize that. And I'm like, now I have a section for my pet stuff. It's going to stay here in this cabinet in the garage until it gets too hot here because it does. Once it hits 115, I'll have to bring it in. But I'm going to make space for that inside the home and not collect too much because again, it is just one dog and two cats. So I don't need a hundred of different things or hundred toys. He plays with the simplest things anyway. So I'm not going to waste my money or time on it. So collect more. 
Zee: I love the idea of not even bringing it into your house. As soon as I bring something in my house, ooh, yeah, getting rid of it again takes way too long for me. 
Kim: So I love the idea that you actually hired another professional because of course you know what to do and you could do it yourself. But getting that objective third party, that's really smart. 
Hadiyah: Yeah. I recognize it was a emotional block for me. And unfortunately with how the houses are structured, a lot of them, they put the washer and dryer out in the garage. So I was reminded of this clutter of this stuff every single day I was doing laundry, every other day I was doing laundry. And I realized, you know what? No, I do need help and I can't possibly manage this space myself. We knocked it out in two hours but I was still just the emotion behind the stuff for me. And it's like now I realize what my clients go through every single day of their house, you know, being in their household and when they have children and going through the different chapters of life. Sometimes you just need help and it's hard to ask for help which I've noticed as well. 
Zee: Yeah. What about you Blake? 
Blake: So I would say I actually really love getting rid of things like personally. So your question earlier about like what have you thoughtfully downsized even if it's uncomfortable? I rarely have the discomfort. Yeah. Yeah. Like it's actually really nice because I've gone through a lot of change personally like in my personal life over the past, I'd say three and a half years and it has really taught me that I can get by with basically like a suitcase. And you know, like it's not that minimal. It when you realize and you're forced into these situations in which you know you may be staying with a friend for a little while or you may be renting a bedroom and from a friend's house or something like whatever, you can get by with very little. And I think it's just kind of shown me that I don't really need a lot of stuff. And personally I actually moved in with a significant other about a month and a half ago. And so I had been in an apartment for about a year and a half prior and really took the opportunity to kind of go through all of my stuff that had still been been up, you know, from like, when, three and a half years ago and like my world kind of blew up and I was like figuring out all this other stuff, there are things that hadn't unpacked and that was so telling to me that is like, I don't need this. It's been three and a half years, everything is boxed up. Why am I holding onto it? And I actually gave away a lot of stuff on Buy Nothing on Facebook and donated a bunch of stuff that I've never tried before. So I actually really like that. I don't, like I said, I don't really have a lot of discomfort with giving things away. 
Zee: Oh my God, no, that's great. I like the idea of if I could just have every, like if I could just one day decide I'm leaving going on a trip or something, all my important stuff just fits in one suitcase. I'm good. And honestly, when we go on vacation, that's what we do, right? We take just this little subset of stuff and we go along just fine for a week, two weeks, three weeks. But then we come home and we think that we need all of this stuff. It's a real, really makes you think. So maybe that's what we need to do. We only need to go on vacation for like three weeks at a time. And then we'll come back home and see. 
Blake: Or just become a nomad. 
Zee: Or just become a nomad. Go live with friends and for a while. Why not? I can do that. Okay, thank you. 
Zee: So pillar number two is Love Your Home. Love Your Home means creating spaces that feel good for you to walk into. Not perfect spaces, but just rooms and spaces that are functional and easy to tidy up so that your home supports you instead of stressing you out. So I want to ask each of you what actually makes your home feel good to you beyond how it looks, right? Because we all want a beautiful home, a pretty home. But beyond how it looks, what makes your home feel good? Blake, can we start with you? 
Blake: Sure. So I'm all about being very intentional with how you use space. So one of the things that I work with a lot of my clients on is space planning, right? So it's like, they may have a room and it's just being used as storage space, like an extra bedroom, whatever. But really like during the kind of letting go and editing down and pairing down process, thinking about like how do you want to use this space, right? So you're working towards something. You have this vision in your head of like, this is kind of what this room is going to be. And so I think the thing that like intentionally like makes me happy here in this new space in which I'm living is I'm kind of in it right now and you commented earlier on the art, which again, I can't take credit for. But I'm actually in our kitchen and behind me over my right shoulder is a fireplace. And again, you can't see, but over the other way is to very comfortable chairs that we spend I would say 85% of our time in this room because it's comfortable, you know, I have a fire going right now because it's been cold in DC and it just like you're in the kitchen, you can like grab a snack, you can we have a TV, you know, so I am all about just being very intentional about how you want to use this space and making sure that it's a space that is comfortable for you. 
Zee: And I think we all, I mean, have walked into clients homes where there's the formal dining room, the one that never gets used or the formal living room. That looks beautiful, but, you know, a cup has never made it into that room kind of thing. So yes, I'm with you. Every room in our house should feel like that. I love that. What about you, Hadiyah? 
Hadiyah: Yeah, I'm actually glad you asked. So I'm in transition of revamping my house. So it feels like my house and not my mothers. But by honoring her at the same time. And so I'm working on revamping our living room which is currently very comfortable, but I wanted to make it more comfortable and more warm feeling. I'm finally going to get my grandmother's China and Crystal out of the boxes and going to buy a China cabinet. So they're beautifully displayed. My mother was cremated. So I'll have her ults right at the very top because my cats love to knock stuff over and break it. So it'll be for testing that as well. But my intention is to use the China and the Crystal. Unfortunately, many people in my generation just don't entertain the way they used to back in the 50s and the 60s, but I want to be able to use those things. And so they're not just sitting and collecting dust anymore. And I'll be getting a new couch because me and my boyfriend are very tall. So I want to be able to lounge comfortably and all of our pets can kind of cuddle around us. So it's something I'm in the process of doing right now actually. 
Zee: What about not even entertaining? But, you know, just using the dishes yourselves, right? 
Yeah. Yeah, okay. Getting use out of them. Yeah. Yeah. 
Zee: Every day dishes. 
Hadiyah: They're going to be for my everyday dishes. Yes, but they're very beautiful. Unfortunately, they're not worth much dollar value but the history and obviously memory behind it is very valuable to me. So I want to honor my relatives in that way. 
Zee: So do you have a fear of like breaking a piece or something in the set? 
Hadiyah: Yes, absolutely. There's actually, it's not even a complete set which is funny. There's one mug missing. So it probably broke and just being transported from house to house to storage to storage. But yeah, honestly, if it breaks, it's okay. 
Zee: Yeah. You're using it. I thought that's wonderful. 
Hadiyah: Yeah, absolutely. 
Zee: How about you, Kim? 
Kim: I'm really big on ambiance, right? Like, this is our home. We're here every day all the time. But what are ways to indulge your senses in every room of the house? Kind of tying into what Blake said about intention and making sure that each room is really purposeful, moving away from these rigid ideas that we have of like, this has to be the formal dining room which people don't use. And then it does become that catch all space. So let's clear it out. Let's make this your reading room. Let's make this filled with books that you love in your comfortable chair and how can we make it really cozy and how can we elevate the vibe that you're going for with touch and smell and all of our senses. And so in my own home, I'm really big on that. Also just letting the light in, right? Like making sure our windows are clean, making sure that we're opening up our shades during the day to let that natural light in. And that feels really, really good. And I'm also in a home that I did not choose and I did not buy myself. My wife was already living here when we got married. And so really taking the time to work with her to figure out how can I make this feel like mine? What do I need to feel like this is my home as well? And then showing up in it and being present instead of just auto pilot walking around doing what I have to do, saying like, I really love the morning light in this room or wow, I really love the brick in on this kitchen behind me that it's exposed or I really love the hardwoods in this floor and paying attention and noticing and being grateful for it when I feel that. 
Zee: My husband and I have been married living together for over 25, over 25 years, 26 years. So by now we kind of have this rhythm. We kind of know what we each like and that kind of thing. When you and for all of you, when you first live with someone full time, it's not about, there's always something about this space that you don't like, right? Like the physical stuff. I don't like that this room only has one window. I don't like your ugly chair here. I don't like your whatever. Does that, so just tell me about that a little bit. Like how did that affect you? 
Kim: Oh my gosh. My wife is an electrician. She's brilliant. She redid the entire kitchen here. She added an addition in the back, the kitchen is huge and gorgeous and functional. But then there was this smaller part of the kitchen that was the original kitchen and it wasn’t done and I'm talking like there wasn't drywall. The floors were stripped. There was nothing and there was a bucket of tools in that space. I said, hi, I can't live in a construction zone because I have significant anxiety. So that we need to finish this. But then it was cool because it got to help, right? And so like I wrote things on the wall once we got the drywall up before we painted and I wrote things on the original flooring that we covered up with the bamboo that she wanted. And also just we had this, she had this empty space out here that was the formal dining room quote unquote. And it was nothing for her because she wasn't hosting like that and she was single at the time, of course. So it was just a space where she had a printer. She had just some random things from all over the house there. And I was like, this also doesn't work for me. And so the only thing I had attachment to when I moved in from Philly was my dining table and chairs and they were so beautiful and they looked great there and we had family game nights. We hosted people for dinner. It was lovely and now we have a child. So we had to be flexible with that space, right? And I think that's another thing that's a part of this, right? Being intentional with your home, as your seasons change and your needs change, right? It's not always going to stay a playroom but that's what it serves as right now and it's great, perfect. That's fine. 
Blake: It's such a funny question because again, having just gone through this about six weeks ago, there are still so many things that I'm like, I don't really like that. 
Zee: Six weeks ago or six months ago?
Blake: Six weeks ago. No! But no, I mean, okay. So I joke about it, but that I am so fortunate. My boyfriend is a designer by trade and a furniture designer as well. So he has very good taste. There are some things that are not my taste, but you know, I can't say they're ugly because they're not, it's just not what I would pick, right? But we were very intentional about like moving in and kind of like, I had some things that meant something to me, pieces of furniture that I wanted to bring and you know, we were both very good about letting things go and selling things and you know, donating stuff. But we're still, I mean, again, you probably see that hole, you see the, like, right, there? 
Zee: I notice it now. Until you pointed it out. 
Blake: But now we're always good. So we went somewhere else and there's still a hole in the area and we haven't figured out what we want to do yet. So it is, I actually really kind of like it. I think it's fun to like move in with somebody and get to know their style and like work on things together and like Kim was saying about the, I guess former kitchen or this like unfinished room, there were projects that we needed to do before I could move in. You know, moving into a small DC row home, it doesn't have a lot of storage space. So we ripped out closets, we put up, actually put in some of the IKEA Pax units into the wall. We put four of them into a wall. And so the doors are flush, you know, with the wall, they look built in and essentially like, tripled the storage space in the primary bedroom and then we also did something similar in the guest bedroom just to create more storage space. And so that was fun getting to work on that together. We're both very handy. We did all of the framing and construction and stuff around it. So yeah, it's been, it's been really interesting, but I love it, yeah. 
Zee: Well, who wants their significant other to be a designer, not an engineer, I'm like, what good is that? 
Blake: Well, we're actually like, we actually work together too. 
Zee: So, wow. Okay, that's a whole other dynamic, my goodness. It's awesome, awesome. Okay, pillar three is Connect Often and Connect Often is about making room for people, being with people often and having the physical and the mental space to actually be present with them. And this can be your family, your friends, co-workers or just the random strangers that you meet in the grocery store line or at the gym or your commute, right? So, how has being organized or not, because maybe there was a time when you weren't as organized as you are now? How has that affected the way that you connect with other people? Do you want to go first? 
Hadiyah: That's a great question. It's almost hard for me and I've always been organized since I was a child. I was one of those weird children that color coordinator, color coordinator things, lined up my toys, my stuff animals were all like, I always made my bed. That was just something that was always embedded in my household, you always make your bed the first part of the day. There are times where I have fallen behind on like, oh, I didn't make my bed today, that's probably why I wasn't so productive, right? But also just learning that, you know, there's chapters in life where things aren't always perfect and I don't always aim to be perfect. But if I accomplishes two things off my list, that's, you know, I still have to celebrate the small wins. It's definitely been a transition with my boyfriend moving into my mother's house because it was her house initially. She was one of those that did not have a will so we had to get a probate attorney. But now I am co-owner, co-landlord core tenant. So he moved into my space but I want to make sure I include him in that process of, you know, your opinion matters because we are sharing this space. Sorry, I'm still processing your question. 
Zee: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, because so I'll just tell you kind of what happened to me. So I started out not an organized person. I thought I was organized, but what I was doing was packing up all my junk really nicely. And I'm going to fill our closets and still have more closets with stuff. And but I still always had this thing about having people over. So when we had people over, family, friends, you know, all that thing, gung ho to get them here. Once they were here, I was like, oh my gosh, now I'm going to have to clean all this up. Now I'm going to have to put that away. Oh, I took out all these dishes from, you know, that deep storage space after this, I'm going to have to put them all away and that's going to take me another day. And so I always felt that pressure of having people instead of enjoying them being there. I'm always thinking behind and thinking ahead. But what I found is over the years as I've started well, just in my mind, I'm a minimalist but I have a family. Not always minimalist in practicality, it just doesn't happen. But I'm okay with getting, like you Blake, I'm okay with getting rid of stuff, isn't it? Every day I'm like, yeah, I don't need this. Yeah, I don't need that. You know, it goes, I just don't need it. And that has allowed me to say, hey, come over anytime. I, my house is, I can pick things up, at least in the public areas in five minutes, come over. I feel comfortable having you here. Not just because I'm comfortable but because I want you to be comfortable here. So I want my space to look nice. Yeah, but feel good for you too. And that makes me feel good about having people over and it just has allowed me to be more open, not to be so self-conscious about anything in my surroundings, right? So that's how I've come to that place now. So that's what I was kind of getting to. But yeah, I think having somebody come into your home into your space, like both of you have done. And you going into someone else's space, Kim, that's a huge, a huge thing whereas my husband and I came into, have always come into new spaces together. We've never moved into each other's space. So yeah, we brought all of our junk with us and then have had to deal with clearing that out over these past 26 years and it's always in progress. But it's a different feeling than going into someone else's space. For sure. I mean, I'm feeling good. 
Hadiyah: Well, and you speaking on that, it has taught me because I have found as I get older, I've become more of my mother in terms of like, oh, guests are coming over and I'm like, kind of like Tasmanian devil. Like, okay, like it has to get cleaned up and my boyfriend had realized that like, you move really fast? I mean, he grew up in Europe. So everyone was really, really slow there and it's their time and I'm just like, no, no, no, like guests are coming. We have to like make sure our dog’s toys aren't all over the floor. You can end up tripping over something or someone can end up injuring themselves. But I'm like, you know what, it's okay that my house looks lived in. And so that's something I've had to learn about myself. Like, it is okay. This is a home and it should look like a home that people live in with pets. This is the normal thing but it doesn't have to look like a magazine or perfect or like, oh my gosh, there's dust on that surface. I have now outsourced my cleaning because I don't have the energy or the mental capacity to do it myself. I hired a housekeeper and that was a big deal for me at 33 like, this needs to be done and I just don't have the time to do it. I rather use that time to enjoy my space and go outside or whatever that case may be. I'm learning a lot each day and so I try to implement like, remind my clients of that. Yes, your space is cluttered right now but soon you will feel comfortable having someone in your home because these are your friends and your family. These are people closest to you. They're not here to judge you. They just want to spend time with you. We'll debate. And I recently have a very new client that was just speaking on that. She's like, this is why I haven't had anyone in my space except me and my daughter. We intentionally go outside because we don't want to be at home. And I'm like, well, after we're done working together, that will no longer be a thing for you. It is important for you. I mean, this is your home. And I want you to feel comfortable coming back home every single day and not trying to avoid it. 
Zee: So true. And home, I mean, we, we want our clients home should be their safe space and to have people be able to come over and share that space, share that space with the people that you love, people that you want to meet, people that you want to get closer to. Yes, absolutely. How about you, Kim? Was there a time when you were not organized, Kim? 
Kim: Well, of course, that's what depression shows up for me is when my home reflects that back to me. Right? And so, of course, there was that time. And I wanted to, I already had an answer in mind for this question because I think that I'm sure all of you have been asked by your clients. So is your home like perfect? 
Blake: Yeah. 
Kim: And all of the things and like minimal and there's just nothing there and it's so, whoa, whoa, whoa. I'm also a human. I also have a child like we do the best that we can, right? And I think that there's a, there's an interesting dynamic of like, okay, someone's coming over and I'm this certified professional organizer. So I'm going to make my house look and then this same thing what you're saying and you're like, you can haul ass. But when your home has things you love and use and need in it, it's really easy to put things away, right? You know where things go? It's very easy to reset. So we finish a session with a client and they're like, oh my gosh, I can't believe it looks like this. And I said, okay, now you just have to leave and never come back. And like, watch how well maintained. But reality is you live there and you use the space and you're playing and eating and hosting and hanging out with your family. So like, it's just a matter of resetting just constantly resetting. And Blake, you were talking about this space with the fireplace and those two chairs. Like, this is my dining room table. This is where everything happens. So this, we start the morning off and it's totally cleared off. It looks beautiful, it's clean. And then we start playing games and then we have breakfast here. But so we're constantly flipping the table over into something else, right? And so everyone in the family knows when you're done playing this, this goes away. Done with arts and crafts, goes away. And we know where it goes. And everyone is responsible for that, not just me. And as a mom, it's a good chance for me to give myself grace that my home is not gonna look perfect because we're enjoying it. And that's the point, right? But also that I'm asking for help. I'm leaning on my family. Everyone who lives here belongs here and can contribute no matter what their age is. And so that's something really important that we divide and conquer and work together to reset constantly every day. Not to perfection, but just putting things away to make it maintainable and enjoyable. So you can kick back after he's in bed and be like, now I can work for Lacks and not have to do all of the things that you undo all the things that you've done all day. 
Zee: And I think you've all, you all pretty much said this, but basically I feel like we're being organized to me is not having the pristine home. But it's just having the knowledge of if I want this space to be like mother-in-law ready, I can do it in five minutes. I've got that confidence that it can be done. Do I want to do it right now? No. The dog's running around. The kids are running around. It can wait. But if she were to come over, I have that confidence that I can put it all in. 
Blake: Yeah. It's funny that you say that too because one thing that I was telling someone recently, I think I may have put this on Instagram, is that like, and yes, you said this earlier like so many times people ask like, I bet your home is just like perfectly organized and spotless and like everything. And I tell people I like to say that messy can also be organized. Yeah. And like, you know, like just a personal example, like I don't fold underwear in socks, right? Like I have a drawer. My drawer has, you know, like a drawer divider in space for underwear and socks, but they come out of the dryer and they get thrown in the drawer. Like I am not taking time to fold socks and underwear. And like if you open the drawer, it looks messy, but it's still organized. And I think like a lot of people don't associate, like are they think that those are two completely different things and they're not? And so I think that going back to what you were saying at the very beginning of the podcast is just like, like it's meant to function, right? It's not meant to always just look great. It's meant to live your life and not to be organized or to organize. 
Zee: Or to be organizing all the time. 
Blake: Yeah. Right. Yeah. So if you don't feel like folding, you don't feel like it's important for you to fold and see your underwear and file method or whatever, you don't have to. Yeah. It's in the drawer. And I'm not going to set that up with my client, right? Like if they don't want to do it, I'm not going to sit there and Mari Kondo, file fold everything because they're not going to do it.
Zee: After you leave every day. Every laundry day, they'll be calling you. Blake, come fold my underwear please. 
Blake: Exactly. It's going to happen. Yeah. 
Zee: Kim, did you want to say something? 
Kim: I was saying that people need permission to give up that aesthetic. I mean, just over the weekend, I had a mom who was like, I don't have to fold my kid's laundry. I don't have to fold their underwear. Nope, this is the underwear, just toss it in. And it's like exhilarating, right? Wow, wow, wow, wow. And I think that happened for me recently real quick. I was sick. My whole family had the sort of flu. It was awful. Down for the count for like a solid week. And the house is a disaster, naturally. And there's this feeling of like, oh God. Oh, God, how do I, where do I even, huh, right? And this is like, this is my expertise. This is our passion. It's different when it's your own home. But the more that you do this work, the more confident you are, right? And you know, number one, I deserve a calm and restorative home. But number two, I know what I have to do to get this back. It's not going to take me forever. Like I just need to start doing the things and trusting that we can reset and knowing that we're capable of doing those things. And that happens with my clients too, especially when, as we work with them more than once, it's very intimate work. We're talking about systems. We're talking about maintenance. We're doing accountability. We're staying in touch. People get better at this. And people feel more confident, and they feel that shift in their self-worth. And it's beautiful. It pays off. 
Zee: Love that, love that. I love that it's not about forcing things that just don't fit with your energy. If you're, especially if you've been sick or your taught as me, there's some major event has happened. Maybe your mind isn't there right now. And that's okay. But having the confidence that over time, you'll be able to do it. You'll have the energy at some point to do it. I think that goes a long way. Yeah, I love that. 
Zee: Now we're going to move into pillars four and five. Work to Live Well and Thrive Daily. And we're going to do this as a lightning round, okay? So quick fire answers. Don't have to overthink. We're just going to go into it. Pillar four is Work to Live Well. And it's about organizing your time and your work just as thoughtfully as you do your closet and your kitchen cabinets, right? It's prioritizing and building systems so that your work supports your life, not the other way around, of course. So Blake, do you check your email after dinner?
Blake: No. 
Zee: Oh, and is that a new thing? Or is that something that you've been doing you've been? 
Blake: I've always been very good. Like even when I was in the corporate space, I was very good about leaving work at work. Unless I was in the middle of a really big project that had like a deadline, or we were coming up on a big event, or something like I've always been pretty good at, just like leaving it there and dealing with it the next day. 
Zee: Oh, nice, nice. Kim, have you ever said yes to work when you already knew that you didn't have the space at the time for it? 
Kim: Absolutely. And I'm just coming work from healing from a foot surgery that was planned. And I gave myself two gifts. One was I'm taking a admin day on Thursdays where I don't see clients in person and I just catch up on all of the things. And that is totally delightful. And the second thing is, I'm no longer booking two clients in one day. Because I used to give myself this thing of like, oh, well technically, I could just drop off donations after the first client and just hurry up and go over to the second client and get a babysitter for my son and see them. And that was exhausting. It was totally exhausting. And so I'm like, I'm not gonna do that anymore. And now when I'm scheduling and I look at my calendar and I see all of these Thursdays open, it's really hard not to say like, oh, I'm off that day because I'm not off. I'm still working very actively, very intentionally. I'm just not seeing clients. And I won't take that back. I won't go back on that. 
Zee: Wow, wow, that’s the best. Okay, Hadiyah, what's one work habit you know that you should change, but you haven't yet? 
Hadiyah: Ooh, the answering after dinner. Because I hold some, I wear so many hats. I am the chapter president of Arizona. I am a business owner. I'm also the unofficial planner of my family, but it's something I'm actively working on every single day. Like, oh, there's a certain time before bed. I can't respond to this. I can wait until the next morning to respond. Sometimes my anxiety takes over. And I'm like, if it's on my mind, I should respond now, right? But not necessarily because that time is for me to really calm down and cuddle with my fur babies or with my boyfriend before we go to bed. Because the next day, there's always opportunity to do that. One good thing I have been doing is my morning routine. So I try not to do anything before 8 a.m. except make my bed, brush my teeth, and maybe have some tea or meditate. So that's something I've been doing very, very well in the last three years. 
Zee: So nice, nice. I do want to mention, I forgot to mention that all three of you, all four of us, are members of NAPO. And at some point or other, and even now, we’ve been very actively involved in volunteering for the organization. So thank you to all of you. That's how we all met. That's how we all met, so that's good. 
Zee: Okay, pillar five is Thrive Daily. This is about how your physical and mental wellness is affected by your surroundings. So having spaces that encourage the habits that you want to create and sustain is really important, right? I think you all agree with that. So Hadiyah, if you could tell people to put one thing in their house, purely for their well-being, what would it be? Whatever you think here, it can be something really practical or something absolutely, you know, pine the sky, complete dream situation. What do you think that would be? 
Zee: A meditation space or a corner. Okay. Having a little space that, you know, whether it's a pillow or a blanket, just having a space for that. Sometimes people have space in their closet for it. But just having that time where you feel the most anxious because I am anxious all the time, I think I've been anxious since I was a child. Having that opportunity of like, when I feel the most anxious, that's time to kind of pause what you're doing and step back and just sit in silence or listen to some relaxation music, whatever the case may be. But I recommend it for all ages, not just adults because children go through anxiety as well. 
Zee: Oh, I like that. How, when did you start cultivating a meditation practice? Before I started my business, when I moved away from my nine to five, I was working from home at the time in a corporate position during COVID. And I had to learn just like, like was saying, when I'm off work, I'm off work. I was like, I will not put my desk in my bedroom. It has to be in another room. And I'm going to put a blanket over it so that way I know I'm off work. And I don't try to like, log in and check something. Like, no, I'm off work. I clocked out and I'm not getting paid for that time either. So. Yeah. I like it. 
Blake: And I love that people are starting to realize this because, and I don't know how it is. A lot of people have been laid off, right? Like our economy is slowing a little bit. And like, I think people, I want people to understand that like the, I guess like, I don't know what the term is, but like the, the, the energy that they're giving to their employer and the loyalty and like the gunk, like, like just everything they're doing for the employer, the employer owes them nothing, right? And so like, I, I, I love that people are starting to realize that like, there should be a work separation of work and life balance. And this is the thing that I think America gets absolutely wrong and Europe gets so incredibly, right? Like one of the many things. But I love that you're saying that. Because you know, I, that's one thing I always try and talk to my clients about as well. I, too. 
Zee: I love that you just said that because so many people, their identity is their work instead of the other way around. Your life is your job, quote unquote. And you work to support that. So I just, it's just a little, we, we have it a little backwards area. Um, so well, Blake, where in your house do you go when you need five minutes alone? 
Blake: Um, I usually go
Zee: You’ve been there for six weeks. 
Blake: Well, and he wasn't here for like five of those weeks. He was traveling for work. No, but I, I've, I've unofficially been living here for a while. But, um, I usually will go into, um, like our spare bedroom. 
Zee: Okay. You have a place that you can go and like close the door and just. 
Blake: Yeah, close the door. There's a TV in there. Like if, if one of us wants to watch something that the other person doesn't want to watch, you know, or just needs some time, we, we have another, we have another space. 
Zee: Nice. What do you and living and working in DC? Tiny apartments, smaller spaces. What do you recommend to families who have a bunch of kids? Um, a bunch of pets. Do you help them to create kind of a. My space sort of a thing where they can. 
Blake: I mean, I wouldn't say I go into it like advocating for that. Um, I think if, if that's a goal or something that comes up in conversation or consultation, absolutely. Um, and I've never really thought of it that I love what Hadiyah was saying about just like even in the closet, right? It doesn't have to be this like big dedicated space. It could just be something that you're folding into another. Another area. 
Zee: Oh, yeah. Kim. Well, and before we move to Kim's question, I think that, um, you and I have kids, Hadiyah, you have a puppy now. Well, I don't know about your cats, but the dog. And the kids when they're little, like, there is no privacy. There is no. So my getaway spot was the bathroom. I can actually lock the door. I'm like, sorry guys. I'm in the bathroom. And I'm like sitting and just doing my thing. Or, um, the closet. I don't know why you said the closet because I was the other. Sorry guys. I'm whatever changing. I come out with the same clothes. But, you know, I don't know. 
Zee: Um, Kim, what spot in your house is basically a dumpster fire right now. And how does that make you feel? Is there one there doesn't have to be one, of course, if you don't have something. 
Kim: I wouldn't call it a dumpster fire. There are things I would call a dumpster fire that are happening right now, right? Um, in my home, the, the most difficult space to keep tidy. Hands down is the basement. It's not, it's an undone basement. It's mostly storage. We have toward rotation down there, but our laundry is down there. We don't get in and out of that space a lot. And so because we do have a small home, we don't keep everything up on the mean level. If we don't use it often, we store downstairs. And so a thing is that come up. Sometimes it takes them a little while, not just to get downstairs because they get downstairs, but then they get in a pile downstairs. So then they have to be put away. And that's the biggest, that's the biggest part. But that's so common for all of us, right? Because you can close the door. No one sees it. No one needs to know what that looks like. And, and, and also, um, relatively, it's not that bad. And it is easy to do. It's just taking the, the five minutes to put things away. 
Zee: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. What about you? Is there a spot in your house that you're like, I don't want to see it. I want to close the door. 
Hadiyah: It used to be my garage. Yeah. Not anymore. But it's interesting. I have learned. It used to be my space, multi-purpose space. So like laundry, storage, memories that, you know, you know, you know, you know, you know, a craft memory book or something like that, I have stopped bringing stuff home that are clients, like donations and stuff. I'm like, I will no longer collect stuff in my garage, just because I have that corner. Does it need, it needs to hold stuff? Because eventually I want to be able to, like, really perfect and like contain and label everything, but right now things are very decluttered. The moment I could see more of the floor of the garage, I can breathe again. There is fresh air in here. It is amazing. I feel so happy. It brings me joy now. It's interesting. I'm not sure what year this house was built, but what used to be a coat closet. I grew up in the Midwest, so I'm used to a co-closet and then other closets. They turned it into kind of a storage closet and added shelves. And I'm like, oh my gosh. This is where our coats and closet and our jackets could actually go versus our closets. So my boyfriend actually is handy and works at construction. I'm going to have him rip all those shelves out and actually put our coats back in there because I'm so used to having that. And right now, I don't. 
Blake: You need coats? 
Hadiyah: Yeah. We're treating the white travel places where it's cooler. Like January, February, or the cooler months of the year for us. And I'm going back to Ohio in two weeks where it will be colder. So yes, I would like to have them hung up versus stored in a container, you know, space bag, if you will, just to easier to get to them when I'm ready to pack. 
Kim: So I think what you said to about when you could see the floor, it was such a breath of fresh air. And I know that all of our clients feel that, right? Like we get to see that. We get to see them see their floor or see their counter and be like, and going back to the question Zee that you had asked earlier to Hadiyah or you said, um, like what would you have them buy or bring into their home? I think we don't need to buy anything. And like your answer was so beautiful, right? Because it's just coziness and self-worth and security, but clearing spaces so that you have a corner to yourself that is open, clear, calm, that doesn't stress you out. Just just making that space. You don't need to spend a dollar on that. 
Zee: Yeah, that sounds amazing, amazing. However you like, is there a spot in your house that you just don't want to see right now? Everything is in place at the moment?
Blake: So I would say maybe like 75% of the house, but again, only because we're in transition, right? So like we still have art to hang. We still have like a couple pieces of furniture to get rid of. We're we are very much in the middle of getting settled. 
Zee: You have to patch that hole. Oh my gosh. Thank you guys so much. I've absolutely loved talking with you all, hearing about your homes and your lives and situations. And I know that people want to hear this stuff because yeah, they know about their their homes and it's always a game of comparison. And so yeah, none of our homes is ideal. None of our homes is perfect, but it's ours. It's how we want to live by being organized, not continually organizing. So thank you so so much. So yeah, even organizers are choosy about what deserves our attention. Sometimes it's folding things in a file method, the Marie Kondo way. Sometimes it's tossing all of your underwear in the drawer with the drawer organizer. It's done. It's it's organized. We don't have to organize everything. I think maybe that's part of what you were saying Blake. Sometimes people over organize thinking that that's what organizing means. And we don't do that. We don't fix everything. We don't have perfect homes ourselves. We choose what matters. And I really think that that's what 100 episodes of this podcast has been about. Organizing for Beautiful Living is not about having a spotless house. It's about being intentional with your space and your stuff and your attention. So that your life feels calm, connected, and meaningful. And yeah, sometimes that means there's a bag of supplies sitting off camera. Maybe for a week. Really don't feel like putting away right now. So later. And yeah, sometimes it means you've got stuff in a pile in your basement. And that's okay for now. But if you're choosy about what you organize and what you let wait, because it's not important right now, then your home can support your life instead of running your life. So thank you again for being here. Blake Jones, Kim Mazewski, and Hadiyah Alexander. And thank you to everyone who's been listening for 100 episodes. Have a wonderfully organized week, everybody. We'll see you on the next episode.