About Me
The first thing I’ll tell you about me is that, I am not a naturally organized person!
I was a VERY messy kid (my older brother is still shocked I do this for a living) but I fell in love with organizing when I became a Day Care Teacher. My classroom had clearly defined activity centers, bins, signs, and labels, and so playtime and clean-up time was easy and fun. I could not have wrangled 30 kids without those systems! I went to work in corporate America, found it was very confusing and cluttered, and re-organized my work area…then the rest of the company, then people’s homes and their own businesses…then I started InnerLift.
True confession, I’m still a Procrastinator and a day-dreaming Book Nerd who puts things down and then loses them! I have always been my own toughest client. I have found that the secret is to make the right thing easy to do, and then even the laziest person will do it, every time. Even me! Unless I’m almost at the end of a good book, then all bets are off.
About My Life
My 3 sons are all grown-up now and I’m thrilled to be a Mimi (grandmother)! Most of my family is local and we all love spending time together, our family get-togethers are loud, messy and full of laughter! My challenge is to be able to comfortably host everyone at my small house, including keeping a room for my grandchilden and all of their stuff so they can visit as often as possible.
My sons were pretty wild and I remember constantly trying every trick in the book to keep my house clean and organized. I used Job Jars, Charts, Timelines, Checklists, Reward Systems, Psychology, Montessori Methods and anything and everything else! I figure whatever worked for our family could work for anyone!
What I Enjoy
I have to tell you about my horse/soulmate Max because he is the reason why I am such a calm and happy person today, compared to the anxious and bossy Type A person that I was for years. I bought Max at a horse auction 20 years ago, against the advice of the horse experts I had brought with me, because I couldn’t see him go to the Slaughter House.
Of course, my horse expert friends were so right because I immediately discovered that Max was REALLY stubborn, opinionated, easily bored, thought he was always right and didn’t like being told what to do. In short, he was exactly like me! So that means we got along, right? NO! It was horrible! He was uncontrollable, I was frustrated, I wanted him to be obedient and he wanted to be left alone to eat. Things did not go well. I bought special equipment, I hired Trainers, I tried everything. Then I started learning about Natural Horsemanship (like being a Horse Whisperer) and Horse Psychology. I learned that Max was just a horse being himself, and that I was going to have to change myself into someone he wanted to Partner with. This process took YEARS! And thousands of hours of learning and growing, and getting worse, and getting better. But I learned an incredible lesson from Max, who remained my greatest teacher until the day he died, on January 3, 2019.
I learned how to mesh what I wanted with what Max wanted, how to make things more fun for him so he wouldn’t get bored, how to motivate and reward him so that he wouldn’t “leave” our lessons, how to respect his intellect and be a partner, not a boss. We had an amazing relationship, he became my heart horse and our time together was so magical, I will always be grateful for all of it. We developed a bond so deep so that it felt like we could read each other’s minds.
I learned that when someone feels safe with you, when they feel heard and respected, when you take the time to build a relationship before expecting them to do anything, then together the two of you can accomplish great things!
This new philosophy changed everything about me, as a horsewoman, but also as a friend, mother, and even a Home Organizer. Most people in my profession are Type A, controlling people, we see the mess and we know how it should look! But Max taught me that the change starts with the relationship I build with people. When I can really see someone, understand their challenges and their struggles, and we work together to build a vision and then make it happen, that really feels like magic.