May 5, 2025 • 26 mins
What happens when psychology, project management expertise, and a knack for organization come together? The answer lies in the transformative work of Cheryl Bock, founder of CBOrganizing, who joins us to reveal how professional organizing extends far beyond tidying up spaces—it's about creating peace of mind and emotional wellbeing.
Cheryl unpacks the fascinating intersection between our physical spaces and mental health, explaining why she views organizing as a therapeutic tool rather than just an aesthetic pursuit. "You can attain a sense of peace or order in your life when sometimes everything else is going crazy," she shares, detailing how taking control of even one small area can significantly impact overall wellbeing.
Throughout our conversation, we explore the range of services professional organizing encompasses—from preparing homes for sale to helping clients navigate major life transitions. Particularly moving is Cheryl's work with individuals experiencing trauma or loss, where she becomes not just an organizer but "a shoulder to cry on" while helping clients make difficult decisions about possessions carrying deep emotional attachments.
Drawing from her own entrepreneurial journey, Cheryl offers valuable insights about transitioning from corporate life to building a successful business. Despite pandemic challenges and personal life changes, she credits her passion for helping others as the driving force behind her persistence. "You need to keep your passion strong and be true to yourself," she advises, emphasizing the importance of grit and consistent effort.
Whether you're drowning in clutter, preparing for a major life change, or simply curious about the psychological benefits of organization, Cheryl's perspective will transform how you think about your relationship with your spaces and possessions. Tune in to discover how the right organizational systems—tailored to your unique needs and thinking style—might be the key to unlocking greater calm and control in your life.
CBOrganizing
Cheryl Bock
Bergen County, NJ Allendale, NJ 07401.
(551) 579–7491
cbockorg@gmail.com
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place
where local businesses andneighbors come together.
Here's your host, Doug Drohan.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
Hey, good afternoon everyone.
Welcome to another episode ofthe Good Neighbor Podcast
brought to you by the BergenNeighbors Media Group.
Today we are joined by CherylBach of CBO Organizing.
Cheryl is a professional homeorganizer serving northern New
Jersey, which is where I am.
She's not originally fromJersey, let's see if you can
pick up the accent.
There's a couple of words thatgive it away.
(00:33):
When somebody says about ororganization, that's how I can
tell where they're from if theysay that pronounce about like
that.
But anyway, cheryl, welcome tothe show.
Speaker 3 (00:45):
Thank you, thanks for having me.
Speaker 2 (00:47):
Yeah, so CBO organizing, you're a
professional home organizer.
How did you, you know, start abusiness like this, like why?
Speaker 3 (01:03):
Well, a few different reasons.
So my background, my education,is in psychology, and so I've
always been very interested inhuman behavior and what
motivates people.
I have a professionalbackground in project management
and policy development andorganizing people, and I think
(01:28):
there's one other piece, whichis, you know, I was raised by
somebody who's a very organizedperson, in a small space.
She was just like a MacGyver, Iwould say so I grew up with a
MacGyver and when you sort ofput all those interests together
, that's where the foundation orthe interest came from.
I, that's where the foundationor the interest came from.
And at the time I wasconsulting, about 10 years ago,
(01:49):
I had the opportunity, Ifinished a contract and I was
like what?
This is an opportunity for meto do what I love, and and I,
you know, was working with arealtor a friend who was a
realtor at the time and I saidI'm here to help Anytime.
You need to get a house on themarket.
And she just said I've got ahouse for you, let's go.
I need to get this thing on themarket.
(02:11):
And that's how I began mycareer and it's morphed into a
lot of different services.
Speaker 2 (02:19):
So yeah, so you have different services.
So obviously somebody's sellingtheir home, You're going to
help them.
I guess you know what do yousay?
Stage it, or is that what youdo, or is it something?
Speaker 3 (02:34):
it's not really staging.
So there's several servicesthat I they offer.
One of them is getting homesready to sell and that's
decluttering a home and staging,or I redesign, so I'll use what
people have in their home andmaximize the appearance.
Sometimes they'll hire anadditional stager, but it's
really decluttering the home andgetting it ready.
(02:56):
So that's one of my services.
Another service is to continuealong that line is what do you
need to take with you?
What does your next place looklike?
What's your floor plan for thatplace?
And I help with the logisticsand the project planning, with
the timeline of getting ready tomove and the packing materials
(03:17):
and the different vendors you'llneed and figuring out that
whole piece.
And then also, if they'rewithin our community, then I
would also help them unpack andcreate systems as soon as
they're unpacking so thatthey're organized.
So there's sort of that realestate driven part of my
(03:37):
business.
And then the other part isworking with individuals who are
going through life transitions,excuse me or families just
needing some help with gettingorganized, and it's working with
people one on one to understandwhat their goals are and come
up with systems that helpsupport their lifestyle.
(04:01):
Everyone's different and thereisn't just one way to organize,
and everyone's brain isdifferent, and so it's really
important to understand, from aholistic perspective, how the
family works together and whattheir needs are so if you ever
had, I can imagine I'm gettingmy house ready to sell yes, and
(04:23):
now you've decluttered it in away that I'm like, oh man, maybe
I don't need to move after all.
Speaker 2 (04:29):
I didn't know, I could really be economical.
The way I organize things, theway I store things, it's like
wow.
Or you stage the home and it'slike wow, my house looks so much
better now.
I wish I wasn't moving.
Speaker 3 (04:43):
It's a facelift.
Speaker 2 (04:44):
Everybody gets um, yes, everybody seems to have a
little pang of of regret thatthey didn't do it sooner yeah,
yeah, I mean I, I could see, um,I recently had bought some, um,
I guess, uh, you knoworganizers from my closet to put
(05:05):
.
I have shelves, but all mysweaters and sweatshirts and
other things are just all foldedup on these shelves or draping
over the sides.
It was a big cluttered mess andI bought a few I guess we'll
call them containers and mywife's like, well, that looks
really good, I should do that.
So now our closets look so muchbetter.
(05:26):
And then I just started to dothat with my clothing drawer,
although the organizers I boughtaren't very, they don't fit the
drawers that well, so it's okay.
But still, I'm going througheverything and I'm like, okay, I
need there's about 10 t-shirtsI can get rid of because I
haven't worn them in like 10years.
But the point I'm getting at isthat when everything is
organized and it's, you walkinto it or you open a drawer and
(05:47):
it's like, oh, there'severything I can find easily, it
does provide peace of mind anda calmness.
Speaker 3 (05:54):
Yes, definitely.
And when you talk about peaceof mind and calmness, I actually
do a lot of one-on-one workwith people who have are in a
crisis situation or gone throughtrauma and traumatic um
situations, and it's creatingthat calm for them and um and I
(06:15):
I actually see organizing as atherapeutic um tool yeah I I
come at or I come to organizingin a slightly different
perspective than maybe some ofmy colleagues, and that you're
right.
You can attain a sense of peaceor order in your life when
(06:36):
sometimes everything else isgoing crazy.
Do that to be able to take thatstep, to take control of a
certain space like your closet,and to put everything you know
in a way that you know where itis and you can manage it.
Speaker 2 (06:59):
It does have a huge impact on your mental health and
well-being.
Yeah, my next project is mygarage, but right now my son and
his friends are building somekind of cardboard basketball
game.
That's been in there for acouple of weeks.
I'm like what are you guysgoing to finish this thing off?
I want my garage back.
Yes, look on your website ofthis guy's tool shelf and I'm
(07:22):
like, yeah, it kind of looksfamiliar.
Yes, Maybe not quite as bad,but it is pretty bad, and
there's so many things that Ihave not used.
But I'm not going to throw awaybecause you never know when I'm
going to need that extensioncord or that landline cable.
You know for my, for a phonethat I haven't plugged in in 10
years, but you never know.
Speaker 3 (07:40):
You know, Doug, it's all about moderation.
Speaker 2 (07:44):
Yeah, that's what it is.
Speaker 3 (07:46):
Because you do need that stuff sometimes, and it's
not about getting rid ofeverything.
Speaker 2 (07:50):
Yeah, I noticed you also do outdoor, like when you
talked about curb appeal.
Yes, you also help peopleoutside of their house.
So do you work with alandscaper to do that, or how
does that work?
Speaker 3 (08:03):
So that would be.
It's primarily like you know,when you want to get pictures
done and get um things ready toget your house on the market,
it's things like a power I'llbring.
I have a power washer so I'llpower wash the stairs or the
front sidewalk or the siding onthe house.
Um, I'll, I'll arrange for someplanters and you know, if
(08:26):
something needs to be painted orslightly repaired, it's just to
create a fresh look from thefront of the house.
And sometimes I'm the one thereshoveling the sidewalk.
You know it's sort of you'redoing all those things that
nobody else has time to do orthinks to do.
Speaker 2 (08:46):
Yeah, yeah, and I'd imagine also, you know, a big
part of your client group isprobably seniors or the children
of seniors.
So they're finally selling thehouse.
You know, the dad died or themom died and maybe someone's
moving into an assisted livingcommunity.
It's got to be a very emotionaltime too, because I remember
(09:11):
when my grandfather died andhe's he was German descent, his
mother was from Germany, his dadwas from Switzerland, that's my
great grandparents.
He lived in Queens and they hadlike a brownstone which
nowadays would be worth millions.
Back then you then whatever, whoknew?
But I remember when we had toclean it out and there were so
(09:31):
many things that he kept.
Maybe he was a hoarder, I don'tknow.
They didn't have that word backthen.
But my mom is kind of carriedon that trait, shall we say, and
it's so hard for her to get ridof things.
She's going to be 90 years oldand you know, when you have a
(09:53):
number of kids and it's time tosay, okay, let's get rid of this
, and oh, no, no, I want to keepthat.
Oh, what about this?
Speaker 3 (09:55):
you know, I'd imagine it's it's difficult on your
part to have people you knowdepart with things that have
such an emotional connection toyes, um, there are situations
where I'm actually working withsomeone say a spouse who just
lost somebody, and helping themdownsize and get ready to go
into an independent livingsituation.
(10:16):
Yeah, and then the other thingis I actually I'm noticing a new
trend, which is adult childrenare hiring me to help their
parents while they're stillhealthy and mobile.
Yeah, To declutter, so that it'sa gift to their parents, so
that they can enjoy their spacewithout being, you know,
(10:38):
reminded of all their theirstuff.
But you're right, it'sabsolutely very emotional and it
takes some time.
You're jumping into a very, youknow, emotional situation and
people are very vulnerable atthat time.
And you need to really work toreassure them and to help them
(11:02):
and be a shoulder to cry onalong the way too reassure them
and to help them and be ashoulder to cry on along the way
too.
Speaker 2 (11:10):
So when my parents moved from Long Island to
Florida, I thought that was thetime they were going to like
declutter.
They basically broughteverything with them.
I remember when they firstmoved into their new house, the
garage was like the garage Igrew up in you could barely park
a bicycle.
Let it want a car.
And I said, so, what's yourplan for cleaning out the garage
?
And they laughed at me.
Now they've been in that house15, maybe 20 years and, yeah,
it's always going to be that way.
(11:30):
My mom is starting to departwith a few things and saying who
gets what, as they, you know, Iguess, start to face the
inevitable.
But yeah, there's so much therethat I don't know.
A couple of weeks of garagesales, we'll see what we can do.
Speaker 3 (11:50):
It is really helpful to have an organizer help you
walk through that process.
Speaker 2 (11:56):
See, there you said process, there's the giveaway.
So you are from Canada.
Yes, I'm from toronto, canada,so having been a big hockey fan
growing up, I always you knowthat was one little nuance to
the, to the accent that I couldpick out yes, the hockey players
would say about, or you know,the ou, and, and then the
(12:17):
organizations, that organization, although you don't say
organization, right, um, no, Isay organization.
Speaker 3 (12:23):
Oh, you do, no, I say organization.
Speaker 2 (12:25):
Oh, you do Okay.
All right, I guess you do Okay.
Or we say organization, butwhatever, tomato, tomato.
So, having worked, you know, ina different career for so many
years, and now it's been 10years since you started your own
business, what has that journeybeen like, going from, you know
, working for someone to havingto be responsible for everything
(12:49):
?
And when I say everything, itmeans driving revenue, marketing
, client relationship.
I mean you know you were in thepeople kind of talent
management.
You know industry, if you will.
Speaker 3 (13:05):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (13:06):
But you did that for someone else, for you know,
corporate, but now you have todo it for yourself.
Yeah, you know, I'm surethere's ups and downs to it all,
especially when you have, youknow, children.
It's nice to have your ownbusiness, but at the same time,
there's no guarantees for howmuch money you're bringing in,
right?
Speaker 3 (13:22):
That's true.
That's true and that is one ofthe big differences is a
constant paycheck, and then youknow, when you're self-employed,
it's ebbs and flows and youneed to plan accordingly for
that.
I think one thing that I loveabout the work I do now is that
I can really sink my teeth intoa project and help somebody and
(13:44):
see instant change, whereasbefore I had so many direct
reports and, you know, alwaysputting out fires and I never
really got to practice my craft,and I think that's one of the
things that I really enjoy.
I'm very passionate about mywork and helping individuals and
(14:06):
in terms of you're right havingto be, you know, the
salesperson, the media person,everything I'm definitely not,
you know, 100% in all thoseareas, I kind of, you know I'm
always trying to catch upeverywhere Because I am a parent
as well and I have thoseresponsibilities, so there's a
(14:29):
lot, but I'm fortunate enoughthat a lot of my business is
driven from word of mouth andyou know there's always room for
attracting more clients and Ijust I'm enjoying being
self-employed.
I wouldn't.
I wouldn't trade it for theworld.
Speaker 2 (14:49):
Yeah, you know I was.
I I was kind of forced intoself-hunt.
I was laid off in 2017.
I worked for two bigcorporations and been laid off
twice.
So you know there was a.
I had a guest on my show whoused the difference between
financial security of getting apaycheck and having benefits to
financial freedom.
And yeah, you, you maybe can'tpredict your, your revenue every
(15:13):
month, but when you get betterat what you do, you kind of get
a sense of what you're.
You know how you built yourbook of business and the word of
mouth and the.
You know the clients thatyou're getting.
But you know, to what you said,I like the immediate impact of
something that I do today willimpact.
You know the outcome in thenext few weeks, if not
(15:36):
immediately, whereas you couldwork for somebody for an entire
year and then wait for yourreview and get a 3% raise and
not know if anything reallymattered.
You know.
Speaker 3 (15:46):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (15:47):
So there is that, that satisfaction.
So would you have any advicefor anyone Like it doesn't have
to be your space, but say it's.
Let's say it's someone who'shad a dream.
A lot of businesses came aroundor came about during COVID when
people were kind of forced into.
Either they were laid off orthey, you know, were working at
home and had a lot of free timeon their hands and saw a need or
(16:11):
saw that there was somethingout there that they loved to do
and they decided to give uptheir comfort of their steady
paycheck.
But some of them didn't make it.
They had a dream, but theyreally didn't know how to carry
it out.
Do you have any advice forpeople that are starting off now
of what they need to do to behere five, 10 years later?
Speaker 3 (16:33):
I think you really need to have some grit, and by
grit I mean consistency inreaching out and really trying
to find the best partnershipsand connections in the community
to be a vehicle to help peopleget to know about your product
(16:58):
or service.
A lot of research.
Some resource I used that Ifound really helpful was SCORE.
This is a mentorship programfor people getting into business
and they were wonderful and Iwould suggest that reaching out
to them as well If you'relooking to start something new.
(17:20):
But it really is researching,getting to know who your
competitors are, understandingthe need of the product,
targeting your select audience,because within a lot of
businesses and services there'sgeneralists and there's niche
and it depends on what you wantto be where you put your time
(17:43):
and effort.
But it really is.
It's the grind, it's theeveryday getting up and just
doing it that makes yousuccessful.
Speaker 2 (17:52):
Yeah, there's Damon Johns from Shark Tank calls it
the rise and grind.
But when you use the words gritor the word grit, there's a
psychologist named AngelaDuckworth who wrote a book
called grit and it's the powerof passion and perseverance, and
she was hired by West Point totry to determine, help them
(18:15):
determine who out of theircandidates will make it past
boot camp, because it wasn'talways about, you know, iq or
intellect.
You know there was someintangible that you know meant
somebody was going to getthrough boot camp and others
weren't, and you know it's.
I guess it's a combination ofpassion and long-term
(18:36):
perseverance.
But what determines who's goingto have that perseverance?
Like, how do you identify thatwhen you interview someone for a
job, uh, or you're talking toyour kid, who's?
You know you want them to cleanout the garage or whatever it
is, um, you know to have thatlong-term perseverance.
I don't know if it's innate, ifit's learned, but certainly
everything that I've seen fromsuccessful entrepreneurs is,
(18:59):
yeah, is having that grit andthat grind and knowing that.
You know it's a belief inyourself and a belief in the
process, that you know you can,that it'll turn out okay.
But you definitely have a lotof ups and downs and a lot of
moments of doubt and pain, and Ithink it was Thomas Edison said
the difference between successand failure is success is trying
(19:22):
just one more time.
I guess you know there areplenty of times in your career
where you started off and maybepeople thought you were crazy
that you're going to start ahome organizing business where,
to your point, there are a lotof competitors.
I've interviewed others on thisshow that are home organizers.
So why you?
You know why, and you know Iknow you.
(19:43):
You've built up a network withrealtors and you have a nice
niche with that and also thedifferent services that you
provide.
That's not just aboutorganizing, but would you agree?
I mean, like, did you?
Did you look back and say, yeah, I always had that grit, I
always had that grind in me, orwas it something that you kind
of uncovered after you startedthis journey?
Speaker 3 (20:06):
I think I always had the grit and grind because there
was a lot of adversity in mylife, and so adversity really
creates strength andperseverance, I think.
So I do believe I've already.
I always had that.
The pandemic really pushed me.
(20:28):
I had a lot of people sayingare you crazy?
You got to switch your job, youcan't do this anymore.
Are you crazy?
You got to switch your job, youcan't do this anymore.
And I also became a singleparent at the same time during
the pandemic, and so I wasreally challenged Is this going
to carry me through?
And I just I just believed inmyself and I looked at the
(20:50):
people I was helping.
Speaker 1 (20:51):
And.
Speaker 3 (20:51):
I just I just, you know, seeing them continue to be
successful in their lives.
It gave me the passion and Ijust pushed through.
And all the naysayers, you knowit was from a place of concern.
(21:12):
But, you really.
You are challenged and peopledo push back and you need to
keep your passion strong and betrue to yourself.
I think that's a big thing iswhen other people are
questioning it.
Speaker 2 (21:26):
Sure, there's a line by a famous guy.
I'll reveal his name if youdon't know it but he wrote a
song that goes people think I'mcrazy doing what I'm doing.
Give me all kinds of advice tosave me from ruin.
Unfortunately, that was thelast album that he ever wrote,
but that was John Lennon andWatching the Wheels, and I use
(21:47):
that quote a lot because youknow I well, yeah, I think when
he wrote that song he had kindof been out of it.
You know he was 40, turning 40,and he kind of disappeared to
raise his kid, you know, hissecond son, and that's what
people thought.
You know, hey, I'm doing fine,just watching Shadows on the
Wall.
Yes, but the point is that youget a lot of people that say
(22:11):
what are you doing?
You're crazy.
Or maybe they say it behindyour back.
You, what are you?
Speaker 1 (22:14):
doing You're crazy.
Speaker 2 (22:14):
Remember they say behind your back you do it's.
It's really rewarding when youcan look back and and not that
you have to prove them wrong,but you prove to yourself that
you could do it.
Speaker 3 (22:24):
No, I think, I think that, but it pushes you, it
helps cement your belief when,when you have pushed back.
I think yeah, it fortifies youand I think that you know you
were mentioning how do youdefine yourself or how do you
(22:46):
become competitive or how do youyou know what's unique about
your services.
I think that diversificationfor me helped with that.
So you know, I have thisclientele where I'm just
organizing getting houses on themarket, but then I've got this
health and wellness piece whereI'm helping people who are
(23:08):
neurodivergent or have issuesaround depression, anxiety, loss
, and that's a very differenttrack than the commercial side
of organizing or the residentialside of organizing, and I think
that is there's a lot of valuein teaching people about how to
(23:32):
help heal themselves throughorganizing as well, how to help
heal themselves throughorganizing as well.
Speaker 2 (23:36):
That's great, that's great.
So, cheryl, let's go back tohow would, how would people find
you Like?
How would they contact you?
What's the best way to reachyou?
Speaker 3 (23:46):
Well, you can definitely check out my website
at cborganizingcom.
So the CB is Cheryl Bach.
That's what the CB isorganizingcom.
So the CV is Cheryl Bach.
That's what the CV is and I canbe reached on there.
You can submit a form and youcan also text me or call me at
551-579-7491.
(24:10):
And, yeah, I'd love to hearfrom people and I I do offer
free consultation forindividuals as well?
Speaker 2 (24:19):
So, yes, okay, that's great.
And are you on social medialike Instagram or anything like
that?
Speaker 3 (24:24):
Yes, facebook and Instagram as well.
Speaker 2 (24:26):
Got it.
So if I go on Instagram and Itype in CB organizing, I called
it CBO organizing, but whatever.
And now I can see let's see,hang on a second Some of the
projects you worked on.
Speaker 3 (24:43):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (24:44):
Which is that garage transformation which is really
nice.
Speaker 3 (24:47):
I love garages.
Speaker 2 (24:48):
I have garage envy, I have to admit.
When I see a really clean andorganized garage, I'm like man
someday someday, someday,someday some way.
Well, cheryl, thank you so muchfor being on the show.
You know I think we coveredeverything.
Is there anything we didn'ttalk about that you offer?
Speaker 3 (25:07):
I think we covered everything.
Speaker 2 (25:09):
Yeah, yeah.
Well, this is great.
And again, I really you know,it's always interesting to hear
how people have adapted andcreated something out of nothing
and it's a I'm sure it's agreat.
You're a great role model toyour kids as well, because
there's nothing more, I thinkyou know, more rewarding than to
look up and see somebody who'ssucceeded and try to model
(25:33):
yourself after that.
And if it's your parent, youknow how much you know it's all
the better.
Speaker 3 (25:36):
So I think it's great .
Yes.
Speaker 2 (25:39):
You and I will be right back.
We're just going to have Chucksay goodbye to our audience and
hang on for a minute.
Okay, thank you.
Speaker 1 (25:46):
Thank you for listening to the Good Neighbor
Podcast To nominate yourfavorite local businesses to be
featured on the show.
Go toP Bergen calm.
That's GNP Bergen calm, or call2, 0, 1, 2, 9, 8, 3, 2, 5.
This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place
where local businesses andneighbors come together.
Here's your host, Doug Drohan.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
Hey, good afternoon everyone.
Welcome to another episode ofthe Good Neighbor Podcast
brought to you by the BergenNeighbors Media Group.
Today we are joined by CherylBach of CBO Organizing.
Cheryl is a professional homeorganizer serving northern New
Jersey, which is where I am.
She's not originally fromJersey, let's see if you can
pick up the accent.
There's a couple of words thatgive it away.
(00:33):
When somebody says about ororganization, that's how I can
tell where they're from if theysay that pronounce about like
that.
But anyway, cheryl, welcome tothe show.
Speaker 3 (00:45):
Thank you, thanks for having me.
Speaker 2 (00:47):
Yeah, so CBO organizing, you're a
professional home organizer.
How did you, you know, start abusiness like this, like why?
Speaker 3 (01:03):
Well, a few different reasons.
So my background, my education,is in psychology, and so I've
always been very interested inhuman behavior and what
motivates people.
I have a professionalbackground in project management
and policy development andorganizing people, and I think
(01:28):
there's one other piece, whichis, you know, I was raised by
somebody who's a very organizedperson, in a small space.
She was just like a MacGyver, Iwould say so I grew up with a
MacGyver and when you sort ofput all those interests together
, that's where the foundation orthe interest came from.
I, that's where the foundationor the interest came from.
And at the time I wasconsulting, about 10 years ago,
(01:49):
I had the opportunity, Ifinished a contract and I was
like what?
This is an opportunity for meto do what I love, and and I,
you know, was working with arealtor a friend who was a
realtor at the time and I saidI'm here to help Anytime.
You need to get a house on themarket.
And she just said I've got ahouse for you, let's go.
I need to get this thing on themarket.
(02:11):
And that's how I began mycareer and it's morphed into a
lot of different services.
Speaker 2 (02:19):
So yeah, so you have different services.
So obviously somebody's sellingtheir home, You're going to
help them.
I guess you know what do yousay?
Stage it, or is that what youdo, or is it something?
Speaker 3 (02:34):
it's not really staging.
So there's several servicesthat I they offer.
One of them is getting homesready to sell and that's
decluttering a home and staging,or I redesign, so I'll use what
people have in their home andmaximize the appearance.
Sometimes they'll hire anadditional stager, but it's
really decluttering the home andgetting it ready.
(02:56):
So that's one of my services.
Another service is to continuealong that line is what do you
need to take with you?
What does your next place looklike?
What's your floor plan for thatplace?
And I help with the logisticsand the project planning, with
the timeline of getting ready tomove and the packing materials
(03:17):
and the different vendors you'llneed and figuring out that
whole piece.
And then also, if they'rewithin our community, then I
would also help them unpack andcreate systems as soon as
they're unpacking so thatthey're organized.
So there's sort of that realestate driven part of my
(03:37):
business.
And then the other part isworking with individuals who are
going through life transitions,excuse me or families just
needing some help with gettingorganized, and it's working with
people one on one to understandwhat their goals are and come
up with systems that helpsupport their lifestyle.
(04:01):
Everyone's different and thereisn't just one way to organize,
and everyone's brain isdifferent, and so it's really
important to understand, from aholistic perspective, how the
family works together and whattheir needs are so if you ever
had, I can imagine I'm gettingmy house ready to sell yes, and
(04:23):
now you've decluttered it in away that I'm like, oh man, maybe
I don't need to move after all.
Speaker 2 (04:29):
I didn't know, I could really be economical.
The way I organize things, theway I store things, it's like
wow.
Or you stage the home and it'slike wow, my house looks so much
better now.
I wish I wasn't moving.
Speaker 3 (04:43):
It's a facelift.
Speaker 2 (04:44):
Everybody gets um, yes, everybody seems to have a
little pang of of regret thatthey didn't do it sooner yeah,
yeah, I mean I, I could see, um,I recently had bought some, um,
I guess, uh, you knoworganizers from my closet to put
(05:05):
.
I have shelves, but all mysweaters and sweatshirts and
other things are just all foldedup on these shelves or draping
over the sides.
It was a big cluttered mess andI bought a few I guess we'll
call them containers and mywife's like, well, that looks
really good, I should do that.
So now our closets look so muchbetter.
(05:26):
And then I just started to dothat with my clothing drawer,
although the organizers I boughtaren't very, they don't fit the
drawers that well, so it's okay.
But still, I'm going througheverything and I'm like, okay, I
need there's about 10 t-shirtsI can get rid of because I
haven't worn them in like 10years.
But the point I'm getting at isthat when everything is
organized and it's, you walkinto it or you open a drawer and
(05:47):
it's like, oh, there'severything I can find easily, it
does provide peace of mind anda calmness.
Speaker 3 (05:54):
Yes, definitely.
And when you talk about peaceof mind and calmness, I actually
do a lot of one-on-one workwith people who have are in a
crisis situation or gone throughtrauma and traumatic um
situations, and it's creatingthat calm for them and um and I
(06:15):
I actually see organizing as atherapeutic um tool yeah I I
come at or I come to organizingin a slightly different
perspective than maybe some ofmy colleagues, and that you're
right.
You can attain a sense of peaceor order in your life when
(06:36):
sometimes everything else isgoing crazy.
Do that to be able to take thatstep, to take control of a
certain space like your closet,and to put everything you know
in a way that you know where itis and you can manage it.
Speaker 2 (06:59):
It does have a huge impact on your mental health and
well-being.
Yeah, my next project is mygarage, but right now my son and
his friends are building somekind of cardboard basketball
game.
That's been in there for acouple of weeks.
I'm like what are you guysgoing to finish this thing off?
I want my garage back.
Yes, look on your website ofthis guy's tool shelf and I'm
(07:22):
like, yeah, it kind of looksfamiliar.
Yes, Maybe not quite as bad,but it is pretty bad, and
there's so many things that Ihave not used.
But I'm not going to throw awaybecause you never know when I'm
going to need that extensioncord or that landline cable.
You know for my, for a phonethat I haven't plugged in in 10
years, but you never know.
Speaker 3 (07:40):
You know, Doug, it's all about moderation.
Speaker 2 (07:44):
Yeah, that's what it is.
Speaker 3 (07:46):
Because you do need that stuff sometimes, and it's
not about getting rid ofeverything.
Speaker 2 (07:50):
Yeah, I noticed you also do outdoor, like when you
talked about curb appeal.
Yes, you also help peopleoutside of their house.
So do you work with alandscaper to do that, or how
does that work?
Speaker 3 (08:03):
So that would be.
It's primarily like you know,when you want to get pictures
done and get um things ready toget your house on the market,
it's things like a power I'llbring.
I have a power washer so I'llpower wash the stairs or the
front sidewalk or the siding onthe house.
Um, I'll, I'll arrange for someplanters and you know, if
(08:26):
something needs to be painted orslightly repaired, it's just to
create a fresh look from thefront of the house.
And sometimes I'm the one thereshoveling the sidewalk.
You know it's sort of you'redoing all those things that
nobody else has time to do orthinks to do.
Speaker 2 (08:46):
Yeah, yeah, and I'd imagine also, you know, a big
part of your client group isprobably seniors or the children
of seniors.
So they're finally selling thehouse.
You know, the dad died or themom died and maybe someone's
moving into an assisted livingcommunity.
It's got to be a very emotionaltime too, because I remember
(09:11):
when my grandfather died andhe's he was German descent, his
mother was from Germany, his dadwas from Switzerland, that's my
great grandparents.
He lived in Queens and they hadlike a brownstone which
nowadays would be worth millions.
Back then you then whatever, whoknew?
But I remember when we had toclean it out and there were so
(09:31):
many things that he kept.
Maybe he was a hoarder, I don'tknow.
They didn't have that word backthen.
But my mom is kind of carriedon that trait, shall we say, and
it's so hard for her to get ridof things.
She's going to be 90 years oldand you know, when you have a
(09:53):
number of kids and it's time tosay, okay, let's get rid of this
, and oh, no, no, I want to keepthat.
Oh, what about this?
Speaker 3 (09:55):
you know, I'd imagine it's it's difficult on your
part to have people you knowdepart with things that have
such an emotional connection toyes, um, there are situations
where I'm actually working withsomeone say a spouse who just
lost somebody, and helping themdownsize and get ready to go
into an independent livingsituation.
(10:16):
Yeah, and then the other thingis I actually I'm noticing a new
trend, which is adult childrenare hiring me to help their
parents while they're stillhealthy and mobile.
Yeah, To declutter, so that it'sa gift to their parents, so
that they can enjoy their spacewithout being, you know,
(10:38):
reminded of all their theirstuff.
But you're right, it'sabsolutely very emotional and it
takes some time.
You're jumping into a very, youknow, emotional situation and
people are very vulnerable atthat time.
And you need to really work toreassure them and to help them
(11:02):
and be a shoulder to cry onalong the way too reassure them
and to help them and be ashoulder to cry on along the way
too.
Speaker 2 (11:10):
So when my parents moved from Long Island to
Florida, I thought that was thetime they were going to like
declutter.
They basically broughteverything with them.
I remember when they firstmoved into their new house, the
garage was like the garage Igrew up in you could barely park
a bicycle.
Let it want a car.
And I said, so, what's yourplan for cleaning out the garage
?
And they laughed at me.
Now they've been in that house15, maybe 20 years and, yeah,
it's always going to be that way.
(11:30):
My mom is starting to departwith a few things and saying who
gets what, as they, you know, Iguess, start to face the
inevitable.
But yeah, there's so much therethat I don't know.
A couple of weeks of garagesales, we'll see what we can do.
Speaker 3 (11:50):
It is really helpful to have an organizer help you
walk through that process.
Speaker 2 (11:56):
See, there you said process, there's the giveaway.
So you are from Canada.
Yes, I'm from toronto, canada,so having been a big hockey fan
growing up, I always you knowthat was one little nuance to
the, to the accent that I couldpick out yes, the hockey players
would say about, or you know,the ou, and, and then the
(12:17):
organizations, that organization, although you don't say
organization, right, um, no, Isay organization.
Speaker 3 (12:23):
Oh, you do, no, I say organization.
Speaker 2 (12:25):
Oh, you do Okay.
All right, I guess you do Okay.
Or we say organization, butwhatever, tomato, tomato.
So, having worked, you know, ina different career for so many
years, and now it's been 10years since you started your own
business, what has that journeybeen like, going from, you know
, working for someone to havingto be responsible for everything
(12:49):
?
And when I say everything, itmeans driving revenue, marketing
, client relationship.
I mean you know you were in thepeople kind of talent
management.
You know industry, if you will.
Speaker 3 (13:05):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (13:06):
But you did that for someone else, for you know,
corporate, but now you have todo it for yourself.
Yeah, you know, I'm surethere's ups and downs to it all,
especially when you have, youknow, children.
It's nice to have your ownbusiness, but at the same time,
there's no guarantees for howmuch money you're bringing in,
right?
Speaker 3 (13:22):
That's true.
That's true and that is one ofthe big differences is a
constant paycheck, and then youknow, when you're self-employed,
it's ebbs and flows and youneed to plan accordingly for
that.
I think one thing that I loveabout the work I do now is that
I can really sink my teeth intoa project and help somebody and
(13:44):
see instant change, whereasbefore I had so many direct
reports and, you know, alwaysputting out fires and I never
really got to practice my craft,and I think that's one of the
things that I really enjoy.
I'm very passionate about mywork and helping individuals and
(14:06):
in terms of you're right havingto be, you know, the
salesperson, the media person,everything I'm definitely not,
you know, 100% in all thoseareas, I kind of, you know I'm
always trying to catch upeverywhere Because I am a parent
as well and I have thoseresponsibilities, so there's a
(14:29):
lot, but I'm fortunate enoughthat a lot of my business is
driven from word of mouth andyou know there's always room for
attracting more clients and Ijust I'm enjoying being
self-employed.
I wouldn't.
I wouldn't trade it for theworld.
Speaker 2 (14:49):
Yeah, you know I was.
I I was kind of forced intoself-hunt.
I was laid off in 2017.
I worked for two bigcorporations and been laid off
twice.
So you know there was a.
I had a guest on my show whoused the difference between
financial security of getting apaycheck and having benefits to
financial freedom.
And yeah, you, you maybe can'tpredict your, your revenue every
(15:13):
month, but when you get betterat what you do, you kind of get
a sense of what you're.
You know how you built yourbook of business and the word of
mouth and the.
You know the clients thatyou're getting.
But you know, to what you said,I like the immediate impact of
something that I do today willimpact.
You know the outcome in thenext few weeks, if not
(15:36):
immediately, whereas you couldwork for somebody for an entire
year and then wait for yourreview and get a 3% raise and
not know if anything reallymattered.
You know.
Speaker 3 (15:46):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (15:47):
So there is that, that satisfaction.
So would you have any advicefor anyone Like it doesn't have
to be your space, but say it's.
Let's say it's someone who'shad a dream.
A lot of businesses came aroundor came about during COVID when
people were kind of forced into.
Either they were laid off orthey, you know, were working at
home and had a lot of free timeon their hands and saw a need or
(16:11):
saw that there was somethingout there that they loved to do
and they decided to give uptheir comfort of their steady
paycheck.
But some of them didn't make it.
They had a dream, but theyreally didn't know how to carry
it out.
Do you have any advice forpeople that are starting off now
of what they need to do to behere five, 10 years later?
Speaker 3 (16:33):
I think you really need to have some grit, and by
grit I mean consistency inreaching out and really trying
to find the best partnershipsand connections in the community
to be a vehicle to help peopleget to know about your product
(16:58):
or service.
A lot of research.
Some resource I used that Ifound really helpful was SCORE.
This is a mentorship programfor people getting into business
and they were wonderful and Iwould suggest that reaching out
to them as well If you'relooking to start something new.
(17:20):
But it really is researching,getting to know who your
competitors are, understandingthe need of the product,
targeting your select audience,because within a lot of
businesses and services there'sgeneralists and there's niche
and it depends on what you wantto be where you put your time
(17:43):
and effort.
But it really is.
It's the grind, it's theeveryday getting up and just
doing it that makes yousuccessful.
Speaker 2 (17:52):
Yeah, there's Damon Johns from Shark Tank calls it
the rise and grind.
But when you use the words gritor the word grit, there's a
psychologist named AngelaDuckworth who wrote a book
called grit and it's the powerof passion and perseverance, and
she was hired by West Point totry to determine, help them
(18:15):
determine who out of theircandidates will make it past
boot camp, because it wasn'talways about, you know, iq or
intellect.
You know there was someintangible that you know meant
somebody was going to getthrough boot camp and others
weren't, and you know it's.
I guess it's a combination ofpassion and long-term
(18:36):
perseverance.
But what determines who's goingto have that perseverance?
Like, how do you identify thatwhen you interview someone for a
job, uh, or you're talking toyour kid, who's?
You know you want them to cleanout the garage or whatever it
is, um, you know to have thatlong-term perseverance.
I don't know if it's innate, ifit's learned, but certainly
everything that I've seen fromsuccessful entrepreneurs is,
(18:59):
yeah, is having that grit andthat grind and knowing that.
You know it's a belief inyourself and a belief in the
process, that you know you can,that it'll turn out okay.
But you definitely have a lotof ups and downs and a lot of
moments of doubt and pain, and Ithink it was Thomas Edison said
the difference between successand failure is success is trying
(19:22):
just one more time.
I guess you know there areplenty of times in your career
where you started off and maybepeople thought you were crazy
that you're going to start ahome organizing business where,
to your point, there are a lotof competitors.
I've interviewed others on thisshow that are home organizers.
So why you?
You know why, and you know Iknow you.
(19:43):
You've built up a network withrealtors and you have a nice
niche with that and also thedifferent services that you
provide.
That's not just aboutorganizing, but would you agree?
I mean, like, did you?
Did you look back and say, yeah, I always had that grit, I
always had that grind in me, orwas it something that you kind
of uncovered after you startedthis journey?
Speaker 3 (20:06):
I think I always had the grit and grind because there
was a lot of adversity in mylife, and so adversity really
creates strength andperseverance, I think.
So I do believe I've already.
I always had that.
The pandemic really pushed me.
(20:28):
I had a lot of people sayingare you crazy?
You got to switch your job, youcan't do this anymore.
Are you crazy?
You got to switch your job, youcan't do this anymore.
And I also became a singleparent at the same time during
the pandemic, and so I wasreally challenged Is this going
to carry me through?
And I just I just believed inmyself and I looked at the
(20:50):
people I was helping.
Speaker 1 (20:51):
And.
Speaker 3 (20:51):
I just I just, you know, seeing them continue to be
successful in their lives.
It gave me the passion and Ijust pushed through.
And all the naysayers, you knowit was from a place of concern.
(21:12):
But, you really.
You are challenged and peopledo push back and you need to
keep your passion strong and betrue to yourself.
I think that's a big thing iswhen other people are
questioning it.
Speaker 2 (21:26):
Sure, there's a line by a famous guy.
I'll reveal his name if youdon't know it but he wrote a
song that goes people think I'mcrazy doing what I'm doing.
Give me all kinds of advice tosave me from ruin.
Unfortunately, that was thelast album that he ever wrote,
but that was John Lennon andWatching the Wheels, and I use
(21:47):
that quote a lot because youknow I well, yeah, I think when
he wrote that song he had kindof been out of it.
You know he was 40, turning 40,and he kind of disappeared to
raise his kid, you know, hissecond son, and that's what
people thought.
You know, hey, I'm doing fine,just watching Shadows on the
Wall.
Yes, but the point is that youget a lot of people that say
(22:11):
what are you doing?
You're crazy.
Or maybe they say it behindyour back.
You, what are you?
Speaker 1 (22:14):
doing You're crazy.
Speaker 2 (22:14):
Remember they say behind your back you do it's.
It's really rewarding when youcan look back and and not that
you have to prove them wrong,but you prove to yourself that
you could do it.
Speaker 3 (22:24):
No, I think, I think that, but it pushes you, it
helps cement your belief when,when you have pushed back.
I think yeah, it fortifies youand I think that you know you
were mentioning how do youdefine yourself or how do you
(22:46):
become competitive or how do youyou know what's unique about
your services.
I think that diversificationfor me helped with that.
So you know, I have thisclientele where I'm just
organizing getting houses on themarket, but then I've got this
health and wellness piece whereI'm helping people who are
(23:08):
neurodivergent or have issuesaround depression, anxiety, loss
, and that's a very differenttrack than the commercial side
of organizing or the residentialside of organizing, and I think
that is there's a lot of valuein teaching people about how to
(23:32):
help heal themselves throughorganizing as well, how to help
heal themselves throughorganizing as well.
Speaker 2 (23:36):
That's great, that's great.
So, cheryl, let's go back tohow would, how would people find
you Like?
How would they contact you?
What's the best way to reachyou?
Speaker 3 (23:46):
Well, you can definitely check out my website
at cborganizingcom.
So the CB is Cheryl Bach.
That's what the CB isorganizingcom.
So the CV is Cheryl Bach.
That's what the CV is and I canbe reached on there.
You can submit a form and youcan also text me or call me at
551-579-7491.
(24:10):
And, yeah, I'd love to hearfrom people and I I do offer
free consultation forindividuals as well?
Speaker 2 (24:19):
So, yes, okay, that's great.
And are you on social medialike Instagram or anything like
that?
Speaker 3 (24:24):
Yes, facebook and Instagram as well.
Speaker 2 (24:26):
Got it.
So if I go on Instagram and Itype in CB organizing, I called
it CBO organizing, but whatever.
And now I can see let's see,hang on a second Some of the
projects you worked on.
Speaker 3 (24:43):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (24:44):
Which is that garage transformation which is really
nice.
Speaker 3 (24:47):
I love garages.
Speaker 2 (24:48):
I have garage envy, I have to admit.
When I see a really clean andorganized garage, I'm like man
someday someday, someday,someday some way.
Well, cheryl, thank you so muchfor being on the show.
You know I think we coveredeverything.
Is there anything we didn'ttalk about that you offer?
Speaker 3 (25:07):
I think we covered everything.
Speaker 2 (25:09):
Yeah, yeah.
Well, this is great.
And again, I really you know,it's always interesting to hear
how people have adapted andcreated something out of nothing
and it's a I'm sure it's agreat.
You're a great role model toyour kids as well, because
there's nothing more, I thinkyou know, more rewarding than to
look up and see somebody who'ssucceeded and try to model
(25:33):
yourself after that.
And if it's your parent, youknow how much you know it's all
the better.
Speaker 3 (25:36):
So I think it's great .
Yes.
Speaker 2 (25:39):
You and I will be right back.
We're just going to have Chucksay goodbye to our audience and
hang on for a minute.
Okay, thank you.
Speaker 1 (25:46):
Thank you for listening to the Good Neighbor
Podcast To nominate yourfavorite local businesses to be
featured on the show.
Go toP Bergen calm.
That's GNP Bergen calm, or call2, 0, 1, 2, 9, 8, 3, 2, 5.
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