October 31, 2025 • 28 mins
Imagine walking into a home that felt chaotic yesterday and feels peaceful today. That’s the promise behind luxury organizing done right, and we brought back Jess Reed of Green Mountain Space to unpack exactly how her team delivers one‑day transformations, even across seven counties in Western North Carolina. From the first consult to the final label, Jess shares the systems, values, and leadership habits that turn a deeply personal service into a scalable, resilient business.
We talk through why her model keeps inventory and vendor management in‑house, how a warehouse and pre‑planning make rural logistics workable, and what “concierge‑level” actually means for moves, renovations, and holiday setup. Jess opens her playbook on SOPs and training with Loom, regular audits that keep quality high, and the role of project managers, lead organizers, assistants, and an inventory manager in delivering consistent results. The conversation also gets candid about entrepreneurship myths—early reinvestment, thin paychecks, and the long game—and how networking and vendor partners quietly fuel sustainable growth.
What stands out is culture. Jess’s PEACE values—People, Education, Accountability, Communication, Evolve—anchor hiring, feedback, and client care. We dig into adaptability on the job when emotions and decisions shift, hyper‑communication that prevents surprises, and calendaring that ties goals to actual time, especially as a new parent. Expect practical takeaways: planning in October for the year ahead, keeping a “hopes and dreams” brain dump, scheduling joy alongside work, and building a team as committed as your most committed member. We wrap with expansion plans toward Hendersonville and where to connect if you want your time—and your space—back.
If this conversation sparked an idea or helped you rethink your systems, subscribe, share it with a friend, and leave a quick review so more builders can find it.
Guest Contact Info:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/greenmountainspace
Facebook:
Thanks for Listening. You may contact me or our team at https://billgilliland.biz/
All the best!
Bill
Thanks for listening. Please hit the subscribe button, leave us a 5 star review, and share this podcast. You can reach me at williamgilliland@actioncoach.com or at https://billgilliland.biz/
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Bill
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_00 (00:36):
Hey there.
Welcome to this week's episodeof Epic Entrepreneurs Podcast.
I'm Bill Gillilan, your host.
I am the owner of Action CoachBusiness Growth Partners and one
of the founders of the AshevilleBusiness Summit.
But this is not about me andAction Coach.
This is about our guest.
And today I'm super pumped.
(00:56):
We have a repeat guest.
We don't, we you know, wehaven't had a repeat guest in a
while.
We've I think maybe maybe youmight be the second one ever.
So uh that's pretty exciting.
I've got Jess Reed from GreenMountain Space.
So, Jess, tell us a little bitabout you, your company, and uh,
you know, what's how you youknow what your services are to
(01:17):
our community.
SPEAKER_01 (01:18):
Absolutely.
Thank you so much, Bill, forhaving me on again.
It's always nice to see you.
Um we are a professional luxuryorganizing company.
Um, we're based here in WesternNorth Carolina.
We do serve seven counties.
Um, we do have a team ofprofessional organizers that
includes two project managers,um, lead organizers and
assistant organizers and aninventory manager.
(01:40):
We specialize in transforminghomes through concierge-level
moves, um, organizing, packing,unpacking.
We do small business organizing,we do holiday setup and holiday
teardown.
Um, and then we also haverenovation support services.
SPEAKER_00 (01:58):
Wow, you've come a long way.
SPEAKER_01 (02:00):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (02:01):
We have I couldn't count, I couldn't keep up with
it all.
It was that you I mean, you wereyou were like, oh, we do this,
we do that, we do this.
Yeah, I love it.
So what does it mean to be aluxury luxury service?
SPEAKER_01 (02:15):
So as far as the we call it a luxury service because
we try to keep everything herein-house, um, meaning that
organizers run businessesdifferently.
Um, most organizers that I knowof that have a really great
relationship with, they havemore attainable um purchasing
options.
(02:35):
And so with that, um they'reable to go to the client house,
they are able to leave thehouse, go buy product.
And we just don't have thatluxury here in Western North
Carolina.
So we try to get everythingready before we enter into your
home.
So we have all of the products.
Um, if your project needs avendor, meaning a painter, a
(02:58):
real estate agent, a mover, adonation specialist, if you need
a foundation, which a lot ofpeople are needing foundation
specialists right now, um, evena year after the hurricane.
Um, hopefully we don't have tobring that up because I know a
lot of people are stilltraumatized about that, but that
is again part of our service.
So we just try to keepeverything in-house.
(03:19):
So we are the one-stop shop forall of the things um regarding
organizing, because our ultimategoal is to help you save time
and help you save energy.
SPEAKER_00 (03:29):
Love it.
Time save energy.
So when you said we don't wecan't do that in Western North
Carolina, is that because of thethe distance that we have to
travel to get things?
We're not like in a in like anurban area.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (03:43):
Correct.
Correct.
So most of the time, what ourclients want, um, we can't go to
the store and get.
And so we purchase materials andwe have a warehouse that we
manage, um, that's our inventorymanager that she takes that on.
And our goal is to be able, um,and we do this very often,
depending on the volume of itemsthat we're organizing, depending
(04:08):
on how large the space is, um,if we're doing multi-spaces, our
goal is to do that one-daytransformation.
Because if you can think of anarea in your home that is just
feeling really chaotic, that youjust feel like you just can't
get to because life is gettingin the way.
We want to offer, and we dooffer that one-day
transformation where you'reinstantly organized.
SPEAKER_00 (04:31):
Wow.
So you'll clean out any space.
I mean, you clean out garages,dens, it doesn't matter.
It's just, yeah, okay.
Get it organized.
I love that.
I love that.
All right.
Well, let's switch gears alittle bit, talk a little bit
about business here.
So um, you know, when I firstmet you, you were kind of just
getting really off the ground.
So if you had to start overagain, what would you do
(04:53):
differently?
SPEAKER_01 (04:58):
Oh Lord.
Um I think starting over.
Oh my apologies.
So sorry, somebody just calledour business line.
I'm gonna take that down.
We are a project manager that'sanswering the phone.
Um I would say documentation ofSOPs and then more regular
(05:25):
audits.
Um, and I think that is just inthe midst of what I'm doing
right now, because as I startedadding team members and as I
started to grow, um I oftentimesask for feedback from them and I
say what's working, what's notworking, what feels messy.
But it's about having the keyplayers to help me develop those
(05:45):
processes.
And so the actual writtendocumentation is not always on
me.
Um, because right now that'sthat's where we're at.
If I had to start over.
So I would have um found Loom awhole lot earlier um because
Loom is like my best friend.
Um, I'm just in the midst ofright now of revamping two
(06:09):
trainings um for our leadorganizer and our project
manager, because that those arethe two positions that we're in
desperate need of.
SPEAKER_00 (06:18):
Yeah, if you're not familiar with Loom, Loom is a a
great program where you can uhrecord yourself and your
computer, you can use it for uhsending a video email, but you
can also do it to record uhstandard operating procedures or
any kind of systems or anythingwhere you can need to show
somebody else how to do it soyou can do it once.
(06:39):
So uh yeah, Loom's awesome.
So it's uh it's a it's a it's agreat software that's that
that's multiple useless.
So what have been a learning ortwo that you've had as an owner
and employer since you started?
SPEAKER_01 (06:54):
So um I would say the number one way to expand
your business, I would say, isthrough networking.
Um, and I have a partner thatalways invites me to things.
She gives us so much opportunityand so much exposure that to
(07:17):
really have those key partnersto take care of them in such a
way that you want to take careof your vendors just as
important as taking care of yourteam because your vendors are
gonna be also out there speakingabout you top of mind.
Um, and they, I feel likeultimately help our business
(07:37):
grow.
Um so I would say that that'sbeen one of my biggest key
learnings um as far asmarketing.
Um, and I would say alsoevaluating your time and your
capacity.
I am I'm the number one personwith shiny squirrel syndrome, is
(07:59):
what I call it.
Um it's like, you know, this isa really great idea.
Let's develop it.
But then it's really nice to putthat in a holding place where
you can constantly reference andyou can constantly go back to
whenever you do have reallygreat ideas, but you don't have
the time to develop it.
So I make it an active practicebecause since we've met, I um we
(08:25):
had a baby, she's 10 months.
SPEAKER_00 (08:27):
Oh, congratulations.
SPEAKER_01 (08:28):
Thank you.
SPEAKER_00 (08:29):
Oh, that's exciting.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (08:31):
Yeah.
So the biggest thing is what ismy goals?
What are my goals for the year?
And how much time am I actuallyum devoting to reach those
goals?
And there is a thing about goalsetting um and writing
everything down of all thethings that you want to do, but
(08:51):
attaching that to time isreally, it's kind of what makes
or breaks you, at least what Ithink in business and
entrepreneurship.
SPEAKER_00 (09:00):
I love it.
Yeah, attaching a time to thegoal or a task or yeah, a lot of
people skip that step.
They write down the task, getthe to-do list, but they don't
put the time that it's gonnatake to do it.
So you end up with a to-do listthat's pretty deep and pretty
long and pretty hard to actuallylive into.
So um Yeah, that's yeah, that'sthat's uh that's that's great.
(09:23):
Yeah, well, congratulations onthe baby.
That's that's fun.
That's fun.
A 10 month old's fun.
So what are yeah, yeah.
So given all that, what is whatare some of the common
misconceptions about running abusiness?
SPEAKER_01 (09:44):
Ooh.
You know, I'm gonna have tothink about that.
I don't know, what what of yourwhat are some of the others?
Maybe um if you share with mesome of your other Oh yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (09:57):
The one I always get is that the business owner is
rich.
Um or that, well, like, youknow, that the employees all
think the res you know got itmade.
Right.
Or that it's easy.
That's that's the one, you know,that because it it, you know,
oh, the owners got it madebecause it's yeah.
(10:18):
So um there's a lot of otherones, but those are the two
biggest ones that I hear.
SPEAKER_01 (10:23):
So yeah.
So I would say it's definitelynot easy.
Um I think it's just oh Lord.
I think it's just something thatyou just have to be
excruciatingly passionate aboutand you have to be able to work
at it every day.
(10:43):
And common misconceptions, Ithink, you know, rich, no, no.
Um, I am I barely, you know, intransparency, I barely took a
paycheck my first three yearsbecause I reinvested, I
reinvested everything.
I reinvested into my team, Ireinvested into building our
(11:07):
warehouse.
Um, and having a personalcushion allowed me to do that.
Um, so a common misconception isyou have to invest all of your
money, no, but you are gonnamake some sort of investment,
whether if it's you know,finance or time.
And what I had was time.
I had a little bit of money, butyou know, and I would think that
(11:32):
even as a business owner,because I'm looking at the sheet
on the back, I would say I'mprobably at like the maybe
manager stage, maybeself-employed.
I would say I'm like teeteringin between that.
Right.
Um, that if you're gonna do, ifyou are gonna be an
entrepreneur, you have to playthe long game.
SPEAKER_00 (11:53):
Yeah.
No, I I love that.
A lot of people don't realizethat or the other thing that
happens is after they after uhbusiness owners and
entrepreneurs are successful,they don't the people tend to
forget that there was the threeyears of no paychecks.
There was the the or smallpaychecks or getting by or
squeaking by or trying to I, youknow, I remember, you know,
(12:16):
writing payrolls on Friday andhoping that I could cover it by
Monday, you know, when thechecks were all gonna clear.
So, you know, interesting.
Yeah, it's a it's uh uh backback in the day when there was a
little bit of float.
So um, yeah, it's good.
So what do you what do youattribute your growth to?
SPEAKER_01 (12:38):
I would say compassion.
If I had to sum it up in oneword, it would probably be
compassion.
Um, you know, we are we are ateam of women.
My husband is the part owner umfor you know legal and financial
reasons.
He's 49% and I'm 51.
But I call him our RHR becausewhenever I have you know certain
(13:04):
dynamics and situations, like heis always there to support me.
Um but with being a primarily,you know, women-based, um,
woman-based company, and knowingthat everybody either has a
partner or you know, maybe theyhave a child, um, having
(13:25):
compassion whenever they come tome and they say, hey, like I I
either need a break or today wasa really hard day, or I have
things that are going onpersonally.
I don't ever make them feel thatthey can't come to me because I
never make them feel bad forgoing through things because
we're all human.
And I want people to really lovetheir work.
(13:48):
I want because to hire anorganizer, you are extremely
vulnerable, um, you know, from aclient perspective.
And then from an organizer'sperspective, you're going in and
you're helping by helping aperson go through something.
Um, we do position ourselves aslifestyle organizers.
So, what a lot of people hire usfor um is because a life event
(14:11):
happened or a series of lifeevents happens and things just
became really chaotic and theyjust don't even know where to
start.
Um, and so I think that I havehired a team of compassionate
people in order to hold spacefor our clients.
And we do, we hold space forthem no matter what.
Um, we hold space for them intheir con in their consult.
(14:33):
You know, we follow back up withthem.
Um, if they say, Oh, mydaughter's getting married in
October, well, we make sure thatwe send emails out or we send
out a text message and I'm like,hey, I hope you have a really
great weekend.
Um, we've had clients be withus.
We are about to be in year five.
We've had clients still with usfrom the beginning because we
(14:54):
make an investment of who theyare as a person.
Because again, what people wantmost in this world is time.
SPEAKER_00 (15:03):
More valuable than money, that's for sure.
SPEAKER_01 (15:06):
Yeah.
So we give people back theirtime.
And I think that's what really,you know, attributes to our
growth and our success, and thatas a team, we're constantly
evolving.
Um, it's one of our core values,um, is through education.
So our core values are um theyspell the word peace because
(15:29):
yes, I came from a corporatebackground, and so acronyms are
just ingrained in me.
Um, but so P is for people.
So you have to put people firstbefore anything, because if we
don't have people, then we don'thave a business and we don't
have each other.
So it's people before anything.
Um, next is education.
(15:50):
Uh the A is for accountability,um, having personal
accountability for ourselves andbeing okay, being wrong, being
okay and like celebrating beingright, you know, we can
celebrate accountability too.
Uh C is for communication.
Um, I'm a hyper communicator,and so I think that more
information is better than notenough information, especially
(16:13):
whenever it comes to clientdevelopment, client experience,
team member development, andteam member experience.
And then the last E is forevolve.
If we do all of those things,then we can evolve as a company,
but we can also evolve aspeople.
SPEAKER_00 (16:32):
Love it.
Love it.
Peace.
People, education,accountability, communication,
evolve.
I love that.
I love that.
So you've got a family.
How how do you balance yourpersonal life with demands of
running the business?
SPEAKER_01 (16:54):
A lot of calendaring.
A lot of calendaring.
Um so I um and it's taken meabout four years, especially
now, um, that we have a child inthe mix, is I found that even
(17:17):
with nap times, I'm like, okay,what can I get done in two
hours?
You know, am I focusing on mybusiness today or am I focusing
on my house today?
You know, um, or am I focusingon myself?
And so I think the balance ofthat and really being regimented
about my schedule um and havingvery firm boundaries um that my
(17:42):
family does come first, um, andthen my work family comes
second.
I think what has helped me a lotis releasing and delegating, a
lot of delegating.
Um, and my team really steppedup for me.
Like I was, I came back, youknow, this is the not glorious
(18:03):
side of entrepreneurship andbeing a mom.
I came back at two weeks.
It was only two weekspostpartum, and I came back
because there was just a lot ofchange and a lot of growth, and
we were converting to employees,and I was like, okay, I gotta
get all of this stuff to thebookkeeper.
And so because I want toprogress every year, um, but
look at me going on a tangentbecause I typically tend to do
(18:26):
that, sorry.
Um, but I would say what hashelped me balance the most time
is I update my calendar for whatmy plan is for the week.
But then at the end of everyday, I actually update it for
what happened.
And then if I couldn't get tosomething, then I just move it
(18:47):
to the next available slot.
And sometimes that's three weeksfrom now.
SPEAKER_00 (18:53):
Love it.
Love it.
Yeah.
Well, um, it's good for anorganizer to be organized.
So, and the best way to getorganized is with a calendar.
So, well done on that.
So, what qualities do you lookfor in employees and how do you
foster a positive and productivework environment?
You've touched on this a bitalready, but I'd like to hear a
(19:16):
little more in depth.
SPEAKER_01 (19:17):
Okay.
Um, so can you repeat thequestion more time, Soris?
SPEAKER_00 (19:21):
Yeah, what qualities do you look for in employees and
how do you foster a positive andwork productive work
environment?
SPEAKER_01 (19:29):
So I would say one of the number one qualities that
we need is adaptability.
Because we are dealing, yes,with things whenever we are in
client homes, but we're alsodealing with emotions.
So what, for example, what aclient may say to us during a
(19:54):
consult, um, yes, I'm ready toget rid of this.
We can show up on the very onthe day of organizing, and
they're like, oh no, I changedmy mind.
Or, oh no, my my partner is notready to let this go.
Um, or oh, I'm selling it tosomebody, but they're not going
to come and get it for a coupleweeks.
So I think adaptability andbeing able to go with the flow
(20:15):
is our number one trait.
Um, and being able to receivefeedback and being able to give
feedback.
Like I ask for feedback all thetime.
And I think that's that opencommunication and fostering that
with our team has been reallyhelpful because people can call
me out and I'm not going to bemad at them.
(20:38):
And I'm like, okay.
So I think that.
Um, and then that compassionpiece and knowing that everybody
is going through something.
And just because, you know, ifsomebody, we never want to, you
know, accept people that arebeing rude, but um, Jefferson
Fisher, if you know him, um, hisbook, The Next Conversation, is
(21:04):
really helpful um when knowinghow to respond to someone um
going through something that'semotional because most of the
time it's not really attacked toyou.
So, and then the next one wasabout teams, right?
SPEAKER_00 (21:20):
Sorry.
Um, I mean you've you'veanswered the question.
I think you're good.
SPEAKER_01 (21:24):
Okay, good.
SPEAKER_00 (21:25):
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
No, I think you've I thinkyou've answered it.
So we also have an acronym, andyou've heard it from me
probably, B Epic.
And um I've uh so I want to Iwant to get this is a quick fire
round.
So a couple of sentences orwords about each one.
And so uh B, bring the energy.
SPEAKER_01 (21:47):
Okay.
Yes.
SPEAKER_00 (21:49):
So what is what are what are a couple of sentences
or words or your thoughts onbringing energy?
SPEAKER_01 (21:55):
Bringing energy um as the owner you set the tone.
SPEAKER_00 (22:01):
Love it.
How about you've got in youracronym and my acronym, we both
have education.
So give me a quick give me aquick education thing.
SPEAKER_01 (22:10):
Um make it consistent.
SPEAKER_00 (22:13):
Love that.
How about P planning?
SPEAKER_01 (22:18):
I think everybody should plan in October for the
following year.
SPEAKER_00 (22:22):
Yeah, I would agree.
October, November, December,somewhere before the end of the
year.
Love it.
I inspiration.
SPEAKER_01 (22:32):
Walk the walk.
SPEAKER_00 (22:34):
Love that.
And C is commitment.
SPEAKER_01 (22:40):
You're only as good as your most committed team
member.
SPEAKER_00 (22:45):
Wow, that's big.
That's a big deal.
You're only as good as your mostcommitted team member.
That's right.
It's the weakest link thing,right?
Yeah, yeah.
I love that.
I love that.
So thank you for that.
You're welcome.
So, what words of advice wouldyou offer other business owners
who are looking to grow?
SPEAKER_01 (23:08):
I would say words of advice would probably have a
brain dump list of all of yourhopes and dreams.
And keep it regularly available,keep it at the forefront of your
mind.
If it's on your notes app, ifit's somewhere on a Trello
board, if it's in a Google Doc,if it's handwritten, keep it
(23:33):
regularly available becausethings are gonna creep in.
Um, and also journal daily ifyou whether it's you know
tactily or digitally.
Um because not only you'retaking time in order to
decompress so you can't havethat separation from business
(23:55):
and home and business and life.
Um, I feel like you just gottaget it out sometimes, you know,
and it's really hard forentrepreneurs to put it down.
You have to equally, yes,schedule everything out, but you
also have to schedule joy andhappiness and fun.
And, you know, like Jesse or isit Jesse Itzer?
(24:17):
I can't ever, yeah.
Yeah, so the big so the big asscalendar, like schedule,
schedule your fun.
That's important.
SPEAKER_00 (24:28):
Yeah, I actually had to make it one of my three big
goal categories because I wouldhave just worked all the time.
So because work was fun, but itwas for me, but it there's you
know, that doesn't work foreverybody in my family.
So uh yeah, it's an it's an it'san interesting thing.
So so maybe I'm gonna get one ofthose things on the brain dump
(24:51):
hopes and dreams list here.
But what's the next big thingfor Jess in Green Mountain
space?
SPEAKER_01 (24:57):
I would say the biggest thing um right now,
aside from solidifying ourpositions within our training
and developing our team members,we would love to expand to
Hendersonville and have a team.
Um, because what we have foundin traveling, I would love me
(25:21):
personally, one of my big dreamsis I want to just travel.
I want to travel and organizeand travel for fun, but not
everybody wants that.
And so I think our next step isto build out a team in
Hendersonville because the driveout there sometimes to like flat
rock and it's just uh it makesfor a very long day.
(25:46):
And so I think having a team outthere is gonna be our next step.
SPEAKER_00 (25:50):
So love it.
Love it.
So last thing, what's the bestway for someone to find you?
SPEAKER_01 (26:01):
Um, best way to find us is um two platforms.
Uh, one is Instagram.
So I do try to share what theteam is up to almost every day.
Um, sometimes it ends up being alittle bit late.
And I would say our website, um,so that way you can see about
all of the services that weoffer.
And you can also contact us umdirectly from there.
SPEAKER_00 (26:23):
What's the website?
SPEAKER_01 (26:24):
It is greenmountainspace.com.
SPEAKER_00 (26:27):
Nice.
Okay.
It's easy enough.
Greenmountain space.com.
You heard it there, or check herout on Instagram.
Hey, thank you.
Thanks for being part of thiscommunity.
Um, we appreciate all you'redoing.
Really know you're going tocontinue to grow and be
successful.
Um, yeah, you're doing thethings you need to do.
You're learning and you'regrowing.
(26:48):
So that's what that's what ittakes.
So appreciate you being part ofour community.
SPEAKER_01 (26:53):
Thank you so much.
I appreciate you too.
SPEAKER_00 (26:55):
And until next time, all the best.
Hey there.
Welcome to this week's episodeof Epic Entrepreneurs Podcast.
I'm Bill Gillilan, your host.
I am the owner of Action CoachBusiness Growth Partners and one
of the founders of the AshevilleBusiness Summit.
But this is not about me andAction Coach.
This is about our guest.
And today I'm super pumped.
(00:56):
We have a repeat guest.
We don't, we you know, wehaven't had a repeat guest in a
while.
We've I think maybe maybe youmight be the second one ever.
So uh that's pretty exciting.
I've got Jess Reed from GreenMountain Space.
So, Jess, tell us a little bitabout you, your company, and uh,
you know, what's how you youknow what your services are to
(01:17):
our community.
SPEAKER_01 (01:18):
Absolutely.
Thank you so much, Bill, forhaving me on again.
It's always nice to see you.
Um we are a professional luxuryorganizing company.
Um, we're based here in WesternNorth Carolina.
We do serve seven counties.
Um, we do have a team ofprofessional organizers that
includes two project managers,um, lead organizers and
assistant organizers and aninventory manager.
(01:40):
We specialize in transforminghomes through concierge-level
moves, um, organizing, packing,unpacking.
We do small business organizing,we do holiday setup and holiday
teardown.
Um, and then we also haverenovation support services.
SPEAKER_00 (01:58):
Wow, you've come a long way.
SPEAKER_01 (02:00):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (02:01):
We have I couldn't count, I couldn't keep up with
it all.
It was that you I mean, you wereyou were like, oh, we do this,
we do that, we do this.
Yeah, I love it.
So what does it mean to be aluxury luxury service?
SPEAKER_01 (02:15):
So as far as the we call it a luxury service because
we try to keep everything herein-house, um, meaning that
organizers run businessesdifferently.
Um, most organizers that I knowof that have a really great
relationship with, they havemore attainable um purchasing
options.
(02:35):
And so with that, um they'reable to go to the client house,
they are able to leave thehouse, go buy product.
And we just don't have thatluxury here in Western North
Carolina.
So we try to get everythingready before we enter into your
home.
So we have all of the products.
Um, if your project needs avendor, meaning a painter, a
(02:58):
real estate agent, a mover, adonation specialist, if you need
a foundation, which a lot ofpeople are needing foundation
specialists right now, um, evena year after the hurricane.
Um, hopefully we don't have tobring that up because I know a
lot of people are stilltraumatized about that, but that
is again part of our service.
So we just try to keepeverything in-house.
(03:19):
So we are the one-stop shop forall of the things um regarding
organizing, because our ultimategoal is to help you save time
and help you save energy.
SPEAKER_00 (03:29):
Love it.
Time save energy.
So when you said we don't wecan't do that in Western North
Carolina, is that because of thethe distance that we have to
travel to get things?
We're not like in a in like anurban area.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (03:43):
Correct.
Correct.
So most of the time, what ourclients want, um, we can't go to
the store and get.
And so we purchase materials andwe have a warehouse that we
manage, um, that's our inventorymanager that she takes that on.
And our goal is to be able, um,and we do this very often,
depending on the volume of itemsthat we're organizing, depending
(04:08):
on how large the space is, um,if we're doing multi-spaces, our
goal is to do that one-daytransformation.
Because if you can think of anarea in your home that is just
feeling really chaotic, that youjust feel like you just can't
get to because life is gettingin the way.
We want to offer, and we dooffer that one-day
transformation where you'reinstantly organized.
SPEAKER_00 (04:31):
Wow.
So you'll clean out any space.
I mean, you clean out garages,dens, it doesn't matter.
It's just, yeah, okay.
Get it organized.
I love that.
I love that.
All right.
Well, let's switch gears alittle bit, talk a little bit
about business here.
So um, you know, when I firstmet you, you were kind of just
getting really off the ground.
So if you had to start overagain, what would you do
(04:53):
differently?
SPEAKER_01 (04:58):
Oh Lord.
Um I think starting over.
Oh my apologies.
So sorry, somebody just calledour business line.
I'm gonna take that down.
We are a project manager that'sanswering the phone.
Um I would say documentation ofSOPs and then more regular
(05:25):
audits.
Um, and I think that is just inthe midst of what I'm doing
right now, because as I startedadding team members and as I
started to grow, um I oftentimesask for feedback from them and I
say what's working, what's notworking, what feels messy.
But it's about having the keyplayers to help me develop those
(05:45):
processes.
And so the actual writtendocumentation is not always on
me.
Um, because right now that'sthat's where we're at.
If I had to start over.
So I would have um found Loom awhole lot earlier um because
Loom is like my best friend.
Um, I'm just in the midst ofright now of revamping two
(06:09):
trainings um for our leadorganizer and our project
manager, because that those arethe two positions that we're in
desperate need of.
SPEAKER_00 (06:18):
Yeah, if you're not familiar with Loom, Loom is a a
great program where you can uhrecord yourself and your
computer, you can use it for uhsending a video email, but you
can also do it to record uhstandard operating procedures or
any kind of systems or anythingwhere you can need to show
somebody else how to do it soyou can do it once.
(06:39):
So uh yeah, Loom's awesome.
So it's uh it's a it's a it's agreat software that's that
that's multiple useless.
So what have been a learning ortwo that you've had as an owner
and employer since you started?
SPEAKER_01 (06:54):
So um I would say the number one way to expand
your business, I would say, isthrough networking.
Um, and I have a partner thatalways invites me to things.
She gives us so much opportunityand so much exposure that to
(07:17):
really have those key partnersto take care of them in such a
way that you want to take careof your vendors just as
important as taking care of yourteam because your vendors are
gonna be also out there speakingabout you top of mind.
Um, and they, I feel likeultimately help our business
(07:37):
grow.
Um so I would say that that'sbeen one of my biggest key
learnings um as far asmarketing.
Um, and I would say alsoevaluating your time and your
capacity.
I am I'm the number one personwith shiny squirrel syndrome, is
(07:59):
what I call it.
Um it's like, you know, this isa really great idea.
Let's develop it.
But then it's really nice to putthat in a holding place where
you can constantly reference andyou can constantly go back to
whenever you do have reallygreat ideas, but you don't have
the time to develop it.
So I make it an active practicebecause since we've met, I um we
(08:25):
had a baby, she's 10 months.
SPEAKER_00 (08:27):
Oh, congratulations.
SPEAKER_01 (08:28):
Thank you.
SPEAKER_00 (08:29):
Oh, that's exciting.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (08:31):
Yeah.
So the biggest thing is what ismy goals?
What are my goals for the year?
And how much time am I actuallyum devoting to reach those
goals?
And there is a thing about goalsetting um and writing
everything down of all thethings that you want to do, but
(08:51):
attaching that to time isreally, it's kind of what makes
or breaks you, at least what Ithink in business and
entrepreneurship.
SPEAKER_00 (09:00):
I love it.
Yeah, attaching a time to thegoal or a task or yeah, a lot of
people skip that step.
They write down the task, getthe to-do list, but they don't
put the time that it's gonnatake to do it.
So you end up with a to-do listthat's pretty deep and pretty
long and pretty hard to actuallylive into.
So um Yeah, that's yeah, that'sthat's uh that's that's great.
(09:23):
Yeah, well, congratulations onthe baby.
That's that's fun.
That's fun.
A 10 month old's fun.
So what are yeah, yeah.
So given all that, what is whatare some of the common
misconceptions about running abusiness?
SPEAKER_01 (09:44):
Ooh.
You know, I'm gonna have tothink about that.
I don't know, what what of yourwhat are some of the others?
Maybe um if you share with mesome of your other Oh yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (09:57):
The one I always get is that the business owner is
rich.
Um or that, well, like, youknow, that the employees all
think the res you know got itmade.
Right.
Or that it's easy.
That's that's the one, you know,that because it it, you know,
oh, the owners got it madebecause it's yeah.
(10:18):
So um there's a lot of otherones, but those are the two
biggest ones that I hear.
SPEAKER_01 (10:23):
So yeah.
So I would say it's definitelynot easy.
Um I think it's just oh Lord.
I think it's just something thatyou just have to be
excruciatingly passionate aboutand you have to be able to work
at it every day.
(10:43):
And common misconceptions, Ithink, you know, rich, no, no.
Um, I am I barely, you know, intransparency, I barely took a
paycheck my first three yearsbecause I reinvested, I
reinvested everything.
I reinvested into my team, Ireinvested into building our
(11:07):
warehouse.
Um, and having a personalcushion allowed me to do that.
Um, so a common misconception isyou have to invest all of your
money, no, but you are gonnamake some sort of investment,
whether if it's you know,finance or time.
And what I had was time.
I had a little bit of money, butyou know, and I would think that
(11:32):
even as a business owner,because I'm looking at the sheet
on the back, I would say I'mprobably at like the maybe
manager stage, maybeself-employed.
I would say I'm like teeteringin between that.
Right.
Um, that if you're gonna do, ifyou are gonna be an
entrepreneur, you have to playthe long game.
SPEAKER_00 (11:53):
Yeah.
No, I I love that.
A lot of people don't realizethat or the other thing that
happens is after they after uhbusiness owners and
entrepreneurs are successful,they don't the people tend to
forget that there was the threeyears of no paychecks.
There was the the or smallpaychecks or getting by or
squeaking by or trying to I, youknow, I remember, you know,
(12:16):
writing payrolls on Friday andhoping that I could cover it by
Monday, you know, when thechecks were all gonna clear.
So, you know, interesting.
Yeah, it's a it's uh uh backback in the day when there was a
little bit of float.
So um, yeah, it's good.
So what do you what do youattribute your growth to?
SPEAKER_01 (12:38):
I would say compassion.
If I had to sum it up in oneword, it would probably be
compassion.
Um, you know, we are we are ateam of women.
My husband is the part owner umfor you know legal and financial
reasons.
He's 49% and I'm 51.
But I call him our RHR becausewhenever I have you know certain
(13:04):
dynamics and situations, like heis always there to support me.
Um but with being a primarily,you know, women-based, um,
woman-based company, and knowingthat everybody either has a
partner or you know, maybe theyhave a child, um, having
(13:25):
compassion whenever they come tome and they say, hey, like I I
either need a break or today wasa really hard day, or I have
things that are going onpersonally.
I don't ever make them feel thatthey can't come to me because I
never make them feel bad forgoing through things because
we're all human.
And I want people to really lovetheir work.
(13:48):
I want because to hire anorganizer, you are extremely
vulnerable, um, you know, from aclient perspective.
And then from an organizer'sperspective, you're going in and
you're helping by helping aperson go through something.
Um, we do position ourselves aslifestyle organizers.
So, what a lot of people hire usfor um is because a life event
(14:11):
happened or a series of lifeevents happens and things just
became really chaotic and theyjust don't even know where to
start.
Um, and so I think that I havehired a team of compassionate
people in order to hold spacefor our clients.
And we do, we hold space forthem no matter what.
Um, we hold space for them intheir con in their consult.
(14:33):
You know, we follow back up withthem.
Um, if they say, Oh, mydaughter's getting married in
October, well, we make sure thatwe send emails out or we send
out a text message and I'm like,hey, I hope you have a really
great weekend.
Um, we've had clients be withus.
We are about to be in year five.
We've had clients still with usfrom the beginning because we
(14:54):
make an investment of who theyare as a person.
Because again, what people wantmost in this world is time.
SPEAKER_00 (15:03):
More valuable than money, that's for sure.
SPEAKER_01 (15:06):
Yeah.
So we give people back theirtime.
And I think that's what really,you know, attributes to our
growth and our success, and thatas a team, we're constantly
evolving.
Um, it's one of our core values,um, is through education.
So our core values are um theyspell the word peace because
(15:29):
yes, I came from a corporatebackground, and so acronyms are
just ingrained in me.
Um, but so P is for people.
So you have to put people firstbefore anything, because if we
don't have people, then we don'thave a business and we don't
have each other.
So it's people before anything.
Um, next is education.
(15:50):
Uh the A is for accountability,um, having personal
accountability for ourselves andbeing okay, being wrong, being
okay and like celebrating beingright, you know, we can
celebrate accountability too.
Uh C is for communication.
Um, I'm a hyper communicator,and so I think that more
information is better than notenough information, especially
(16:13):
whenever it comes to clientdevelopment, client experience,
team member development, andteam member experience.
And then the last E is forevolve.
If we do all of those things,then we can evolve as a company,
but we can also evolve aspeople.
SPEAKER_00 (16:32):
Love it.
Love it.
Peace.
People, education,accountability, communication,
evolve.
I love that.
I love that.
So you've got a family.
How how do you balance yourpersonal life with demands of
running the business?
SPEAKER_01 (16:54):
A lot of calendaring.
A lot of calendaring.
Um so I um and it's taken meabout four years, especially
now, um, that we have a child inthe mix, is I found that even
(17:17):
with nap times, I'm like, okay,what can I get done in two
hours?
You know, am I focusing on mybusiness today or am I focusing
on my house today?
You know, um, or am I focusingon myself?
And so I think the balance ofthat and really being regimented
about my schedule um and havingvery firm boundaries um that my
(17:42):
family does come first, um, andthen my work family comes
second.
I think what has helped me a lotis releasing and delegating, a
lot of delegating.
Um, and my team really steppedup for me.
Like I was, I came back, youknow, this is the not glorious
(18:03):
side of entrepreneurship andbeing a mom.
I came back at two weeks.
It was only two weekspostpartum, and I came back
because there was just a lot ofchange and a lot of growth, and
we were converting to employees,and I was like, okay, I gotta
get all of this stuff to thebookkeeper.
And so because I want toprogress every year, um, but
look at me going on a tangentbecause I typically tend to do
(18:26):
that, sorry.
Um, but I would say what hashelped me balance the most time
is I update my calendar for whatmy plan is for the week.
But then at the end of everyday, I actually update it for
what happened.
And then if I couldn't get tosomething, then I just move it
(18:47):
to the next available slot.
And sometimes that's three weeksfrom now.
SPEAKER_00 (18:53):
Love it.
Love it.
Yeah.
Well, um, it's good for anorganizer to be organized.
So, and the best way to getorganized is with a calendar.
So, well done on that.
So, what qualities do you lookfor in employees and how do you
foster a positive and productivework environment?
You've touched on this a bitalready, but I'd like to hear a
(19:16):
little more in depth.
SPEAKER_01 (19:17):
Okay.
Um, so can you repeat thequestion more time, Soris?
SPEAKER_00 (19:21):
Yeah, what qualities do you look for in employees and
how do you foster a positive andwork productive work
environment?
SPEAKER_01 (19:29):
So I would say one of the number one qualities that
we need is adaptability.
Because we are dealing, yes,with things whenever we are in
client homes, but we're alsodealing with emotions.
So what, for example, what aclient may say to us during a
(19:54):
consult, um, yes, I'm ready toget rid of this.
We can show up on the very onthe day of organizing, and
they're like, oh no, I changedmy mind.
Or, oh no, my my partner is notready to let this go.
Um, or oh, I'm selling it tosomebody, but they're not going
to come and get it for a coupleweeks.
So I think adaptability andbeing able to go with the flow
(20:15):
is our number one trait.
Um, and being able to receivefeedback and being able to give
feedback.
Like I ask for feedback all thetime.
And I think that's that opencommunication and fostering that
with our team has been reallyhelpful because people can call
me out and I'm not going to bemad at them.
(20:38):
And I'm like, okay.
So I think that.
Um, and then that compassionpiece and knowing that everybody
is going through something.
And just because, you know, ifsomebody, we never want to, you
know, accept people that arebeing rude, but um, Jefferson
Fisher, if you know him, um, hisbook, The Next Conversation, is
(21:04):
really helpful um when knowinghow to respond to someone um
going through something that'semotional because most of the
time it's not really attacked toyou.
So, and then the next one wasabout teams, right?
SPEAKER_00 (21:20):
Sorry.
Um, I mean you've you'veanswered the question.
I think you're good.
SPEAKER_01 (21:24):
Okay, good.
SPEAKER_00 (21:25):
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
No, I think you've I thinkyou've answered it.
So we also have an acronym, andyou've heard it from me
probably, B Epic.
And um I've uh so I want to Iwant to get this is a quick fire
round.
So a couple of sentences orwords about each one.
And so uh B, bring the energy.
SPEAKER_01 (21:47):
Okay.
Yes.
SPEAKER_00 (21:49):
So what is what are what are a couple of sentences
or words or your thoughts onbringing energy?
SPEAKER_01 (21:55):
Bringing energy um as the owner you set the tone.
SPEAKER_00 (22:01):
Love it.
How about you've got in youracronym and my acronym, we both
have education.
So give me a quick give me aquick education thing.
SPEAKER_01 (22:10):
Um make it consistent.
SPEAKER_00 (22:13):
Love that.
How about P planning?
SPEAKER_01 (22:18):
I think everybody should plan in October for the
following year.
SPEAKER_00 (22:22):
Yeah, I would agree.
October, November, December,somewhere before the end of the
year.
Love it.
I inspiration.
SPEAKER_01 (22:32):
Walk the walk.
SPEAKER_00 (22:34):
Love that.
And C is commitment.
SPEAKER_01 (22:40):
You're only as good as your most committed team
member.
SPEAKER_00 (22:45):
Wow, that's big.
That's a big deal.
You're only as good as your mostcommitted team member.
That's right.
It's the weakest link thing,right?
Yeah, yeah.
I love that.
I love that.
So thank you for that.
You're welcome.
So, what words of advice wouldyou offer other business owners
who are looking to grow?
SPEAKER_01 (23:08):
I would say words of advice would probably have a
brain dump list of all of yourhopes and dreams.
And keep it regularly available,keep it at the forefront of your
mind.
If it's on your notes app, ifit's somewhere on a Trello
board, if it's in a Google Doc,if it's handwritten, keep it
(23:33):
regularly available becausethings are gonna creep in.
Um, and also journal daily ifyou whether it's you know
tactily or digitally.
Um because not only you'retaking time in order to
decompress so you can't havethat separation from business
(23:55):
and home and business and life.
Um, I feel like you just gottaget it out sometimes, you know,
and it's really hard forentrepreneurs to put it down.
You have to equally, yes,schedule everything out, but you
also have to schedule joy andhappiness and fun.
And, you know, like Jesse or isit Jesse Itzer?
(24:17):
I can't ever, yeah.
Yeah, so the big so the big asscalendar, like schedule,
schedule your fun.
That's important.
SPEAKER_00 (24:28):
Yeah, I actually had to make it one of my three big
goal categories because I wouldhave just worked all the time.
So because work was fun, but itwas for me, but it there's you
know, that doesn't work foreverybody in my family.
So uh yeah, it's an it's an it'san interesting thing.
So so maybe I'm gonna get one ofthose things on the brain dump
(24:51):
hopes and dreams list here.
But what's the next big thingfor Jess in Green Mountain
space?
SPEAKER_01 (24:57):
I would say the biggest thing um right now,
aside from solidifying ourpositions within our training
and developing our team members,we would love to expand to
Hendersonville and have a team.
Um, because what we have foundin traveling, I would love me
(25:21):
personally, one of my big dreamsis I want to just travel.
I want to travel and organizeand travel for fun, but not
everybody wants that.
And so I think our next step isto build out a team in
Hendersonville because the driveout there sometimes to like flat
rock and it's just uh it makesfor a very long day.
(25:46):
And so I think having a team outthere is gonna be our next step.
SPEAKER_00 (25:50):
So love it.
Love it.
So last thing, what's the bestway for someone to find you?
SPEAKER_01 (26:01):
Um, best way to find us is um two platforms.
Uh, one is Instagram.
So I do try to share what theteam is up to almost every day.
Um, sometimes it ends up being alittle bit late.
And I would say our website, um,so that way you can see about
all of the services that weoffer.
And you can also contact us umdirectly from there.
SPEAKER_00 (26:23):
What's the website?
SPEAKER_01 (26:24):
It is greenmountainspace.com.
SPEAKER_00 (26:27):
Nice.
Okay.
It's easy enough.
Greenmountain space.com.
You heard it there, or check herout on Instagram.
Hey, thank you.
Thanks for being part of thiscommunity.
Um, we appreciate all you'redoing.
Really know you're going tocontinue to grow and be
successful.
Um, yeah, you're doing thethings you need to do.
You're learning and you'regrowing.
(26:48):
So that's what that's what ittakes.
So appreciate you being part ofour community.
SPEAKER_01 (26:53):
Thank you so much.
I appreciate you too.
SPEAKER_00 (26:55):
And until next time, all the best.
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