After a career in marketing consulting that involved lots of travel and working from home when her children were small, Seana Turner was looking for a business that would give her some flexibility. “I wasn’t sure what the second phase of my career life would be so I began to ask my friends what they thought.” Seana found out that her closest companions felt that she was super organized. So she took their cue and did some research.
Seana found classes on line through NAPO, the National Association of Professional Organizers. Getting started with on line courses she learned the basics of being a professional organizer. She joined the local chapter and started subcontracting with an established firm. “By working with someone who had experience I was able to be a part of the process and garner tips of the trade hands on.” One thing she learned was that as an organizer you needed to apply your own approach to the process.
{Before and After Basement Crawl Space Seen Below}
With 6 months of on-the-job training, Seana branched out and began her own firm. She used social media to market her venture and word of mouth helped her get clients as well. So what is her approach.? “I always meet my clients first to make sure working together is a good fit and to assess the situation that needs to be addressed.” Seana says many times a life event calls for help with organization whether it’s a birth, a death, an illness, or a move. Emergencies and change cause families to push things to the back burner and get overwhelmed at staying neat and organized.
Seana’s first step is to pull everything out of the space that she’s working on. “My job is to help facilitate the process. It can be uncomfortable for many people to toss or give away things that they are attached to.” But Seana says if it brings you joy, keep it, if it brings you guilt, toss it. “You may know what you want to do but need a coach and a set time and monetary commitment to get it done.”
Seana loves the feeling she has when a client shows that great sense of relief after a job is complete. “I work with everyone from elderly people who may be downsizing to newlyweds who need to establish systems in their homes and everyone in between.” She has even helped children clean out whole houses of parents who have moved out. With multiple resources for getting rid of things and design skills for establishing storage solutions, Seana has a method. In fact the name of her company is The Seana Method.
Paperwork can be especially overwhelming for people and it’s one of the most challenging jobs but Seana has a method for filing and organizing the mountains of paperwork that everyone has. “We set up files for Action Items, To Pay, To Read, To Call and To Shred. ” Seana reaches out with a weekly blog on her web site, on Facebook and other social media channels and she even speaks at gatherings in the area.
This VentureMom is organized and who doesn’t need more organization in their life. Seana says, “The best part of my venture is how jazzed I get with my work. It’s great to be paid to do something you really enjoy.”
VentureMom Tip
Ask your friends what you are really good at and build your venture around that skill.
Contact: TheSeanaMethod.com
