April 7, 2025 • 47 mins
Take Krista's Course on Digitizing and Organizing Your Photos: Krista's Course
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Krista has worked as a professional photographer for over 30 years but more recently began a mission to offer easy photo organizing solutions. After helping flood victims salvage thousands of personal photographs in 2022 she realized there was a great need to help everyday people to proactively secure and organize all of their pictures. She has since been featured on dozens of news outlets, authored a book on the topic, hosted workshops and spoken at events encouraging and inspiring everyone to be proactive with their own personal photographs.
In this episode, the host welcomes Krista, a professional photographer and photo organizer from Southwest Florida, to discuss the importance of organizing and digitizing photos. Krista shares her journey from being a professional photographer to becoming passionate about photo organization after the devastation caused by Hurricane Ian. She provides practical advice on assembling and digitizing photos, including the use of specific apps and tools, and emphasizes the importance of being proactive in safeguarding valuable memories. Additionally, the host announces upcoming events, including body doubling sessions and a presentation on organizing with ADHD, as well as highlighting the benefits of community support for individuals with ADHD.
03:37 Krista's Journey: From Photographer to Organizer
08:35 Practical Tips for Organizing Photos
12:21 The Importance of Digitizing Photos
17:09 Overcoming Tech Barriers
21:35 Preparing for the Unexpected
24:25 The Procrastination Trap
25:57 Starting the Digitization Process
27:13 Tools and Services for Digitizing Photos
29:13 Courses and Workshops on Photo Digitization
32:18 The Emotional Journey of Photo Organizing
35:37 Preserving Family History
40:24 Photo Storage Solutions
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Join the Organizing an ADHD Brain COMMUNITY: Organizing an ADHD Brain on Circle
Get your Free DOPAMINE MENU download OrganizinganADHDbrain.com/dopaminemenu
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The ULTIMATE Recycling & Disposal Guide: Disposal Guide
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Yeti Stereo Microphone (00:00):
Hey everyone.
(00:00):
Welcome to the episode thisweek.
I'm really excited to introduceyou to my friend Krista.
I'm really excited for you tohear what she has to say about
organizing your photos,digitizing your photos.
It's something that a lot of ushave been planning to do, but
we've been putting off for areally long time.
And here's the thing, as you'regoing through and listening
today, this is not somethingthat needs to be put at the top
of the list if you have so manyother things that need to be
(00:22):
done first.
But it's still helpful to havethe information because the more
you know, the easier it's goingto be for you to start that
task.
I posted a blog last week whereI talk about the barriers, and I
talked about this in last week'sepisode too, is a lot of the
time we don't do something.
Not because we don't feel likedoing it.
Yes, that's part of it, right?
But also because it doesn'tbring the dopamine.
(00:43):
We have an interest-basednervous system, so we're looking
for something that's gonna bemore exciting, but also because
a lot of the times there's abarrier there.
We have to address the barrierbefore we can truly attack
something.
And the more you know about howto attack something about how to
get through to the other side,the easier it is for you to
accomplish that task By takingsmall and concentrated actions
(01:04):
in the right direction.
Some quick announcements beforewe jump into the show.
I am gonna be hosting two eventswith Russ's community from the A
DHD Big Brother.
If you remember, I interviewedhim on the podcast last
September and then I was on hispodcast as well, and he is.
An incredible human.
and I can't wait for you to joinus.
I posted two of our events inthe show notes below.
(01:27):
One of them is gonna be a bodydoubling session where we're all
going to be declutteringtogether, and it's a free event
where both of our communitiesare invited, but also the
public.
So if you wanna join us in RSVP.
Please join us to declutter withall of us in one place.
I'm also going to be giving apresentation on organizing with
(01:48):
A DHD.
Now, obviously if you're hereand you're listening to the
podcast, some of the informationmay be repeated, but just a
really good idea of what myperspective is on organizing
with A DHD.
So I'd love to see you at bothof those events.
Yeti Stereo Microphon (02:01):
Community is such an important part about
having a DHD because when weknow we're in it together.
We know that other people'sbrains work like ours, we're
more likely to be able to getthings done because we can see
that other people are strugglingtoo.
And we talk about that.
We overcome it.
We try new things.
We figure out what does work forus.
So come join me and Russ fromthe A DHD, big Brother.
Yeti Stereo Microphone-2 (02:21):
Let's go ahead and jump into the show.
Megs (02:24):
I am so excited to be joined by Krista who is a
professional organizer forphotos.
And if you're listening to thistoday, I know you have 10,000
photos that you have no ideawhat to do with because most of
us do.
So Krista, thank you so much forjoining us today on the podcast.
Krista (02:42):
Absolutely.
Thanks for having me.
Megs (02:45):
Okay, tell us a little bit about you.
Who is Krista?
Krista (02:49):
I live in southwest Florida.
I am originally fromPennsylvania though, moved down
here after I graduated fromcollege to sunny, southwest
Florida.
And I am a professionalphotographer.
I have been a photographer mywhole life since I was a child.
I pretend to be thephotographer, so photo is my
life.
And, years ago I used to.
(03:09):
Have that feeling that I neededto have hobbies, that I wasn't
doing enough hobbies.
And then maybe in the past 10years, I realized my job is also
my hobby.
I love photography.
And so now I embrace that.
I embrace, I'm a little bit of aworkaholic but I love what I do.
I love photography, so a goodportion of my free time as well
as my work time, revolved aroundphoto and taking pictures.
Megs (03:31):
it envelops who you are, right?
Those memories and the peoplethat are in your life and help
you believe in yourself.
So you are a professionalphotographer, so how did you get
into the photo organizingbusiness?
Krista (03:45):
it was year 25 years I've been a professional
photographer.
It wasn't until Hurricane Iancame and just really did a
number on my area and, it was upto like 15 feet of flood water
that came through so many homes.
And destroyed everything, likeall of the contents of the home,
including people's personalphotographs.
And I just jumped in and startedvolunteering to help people
(04:07):
salvage what they could of thosephotographs.
And through that process Ilearned that a lot of people
just don't know easy steps to,digitize a photo.
So you have that memory safe incase of disaster.
and that just led from that to,Realizing that people were the
same with their phone pictures.
they don't know how to back themup or they aren't backing them
up and they're not aware of therisks they're taking.
(04:28):
I just became a passion projectslash second business where I
try to get the word out andmotivate everybody to be
proactive and to back up theirphone pictures and to digitize
those print photos so they'reall safe.
so that's the journey that tookme to here.
Now I do courses and workshops,and I have a book coming out.
(04:49):
I have a lot going on that'smore, yeah, I'm super excited
about it.
but more focusing on just tryingto, Inspire people to be
proactive and teach them someeasy methods.
I don't necessarily takepeople's photos in and work on
them, I have a lot of organizerfriends who I love to recommend,
but I'm more the line of lookingto help people and inspire them
and not necessarily take theirphotos from them as a, photo
(05:10):
organizer would entail.
Megs (05:12):
That's amazing.
I love that so much, and that'ssomething that I want to embody
too, partly because this is myperspective on it, at least from
like the professional organizerstance, is when you go into
someone's home and you take overtheir life and organize their
entire life, it's in your hands.
Whereas if you're showing themhow to do it and teaching them
the tools that they need and thedifferent mindsets and
perspectives to have aroundtheir stuff and protecting it.
(05:35):
You get to give them the beliefsthat they get to then live their
life with, which is so powerful.
So thank you for doing that.
what a gift that is to learnmore about how you can manage
your life.
Krista (05:49):
Absolutely.
and then take that and keep itgoing forward as opposed to
somebody who's gonna come in anddo it for you, and then it stops
today, and then you're left.
So I like to think I'm givingeveryone the tools to keep their
photos organized today and goingforward.
Megs (06:03):
That's really neat.
I hate that it was inspired byHurricane Ian, right?
Because there's so muchdevastation when you go through
a huge loss like that.
But I love that that was alsoan.
Inspiration to you.
I come from the insurancebusiness, and so I remember when
I was educating people on thephone and then helping my team
to educate people on the phone,so often people were just like,
(06:27):
what's the bare minimum that Ican have?
I'm just gonna work with thatand then go from there.
Whereas really it's aboutknowing what could happen,
having all the tools, having allthe education, and.
Then making the best decisionfor yourself.
Because once people knew howthey could be protected and what
they could do with their stuff,they made different decisions.
(06:48):
I think that's part of, whatyou're doing is so incredible, I
can't wait to know more aboutthe photo organizing piece, but
we talked a little bit about ADHD, right?
This is called organizing an ADHD brain my goal is to empower
more women and men out there tounderstand that just because you
have a DHD doesn't mean that youcan't be organized.
It just means that you have tothink a little bit differently
(07:10):
about it.
Krista (07:11):
I'm self-diagnosed A DHD, but it's something that
through most of my adult life, Irealized that I just, I think in
a zigzag is the way I always putit.
My husband is an engineer.
He's super linear, and I thinkhe sometimes reminds me that, I
do think in a zigzag, I think itworks for me and I like it.
I just have to have methods frommy everyday life to organizing
(07:32):
photos.
I have methods that work for meto accomplish a task that it
doesn't have to be linear likehe works and thinks.
Megs (07:39):
I love the way that you describe it as a zigzag because
like sometimes I'm zigzagging,sometimes I'm going vertical and
like horizontal.
It's all over the place.
there's no linear for me, What abrilliant way to describe that.
So you have provided us with abunch of tools that I'm gonna
link in the show notes below.
So thank you for doing that,because I think sometimes with
(08:00):
our brains, we don't even knowwhere to start.
We know that we have to start,but then the project feels so
gigantic that how could wepossibly get going where we are,
right?
if we do have 10,000 photos inour Google photos or wherever
we're keeping them.
I know I just had to upgrade mystorage because my Gmail was
(08:20):
like, you're not allowed to useyour email anymore because
you're not paying for enoughstorage.
Because I have too many picturesand videos saved.
And while I have some sense oforganizing in that space, I
haven't gone through and reallydeleted the things that I don't
need anymore.
And so where do we even startwhen it comes to our photos?
Krista (08:40):
I do think looking at it in tiny parts, and that's where
my A DHD brain comes in becauseI can't sit down and spend a
day, like I don't have thatattention span.
I need to do things in smallerbits.
So that's how I suggesteverybody does it, is that
you're breaking things down intosmaller parts.
So if that's the photos on yourphone, set a specific amount of
(09:00):
one month you're going to lookat, and I always suggest.
Starting with routines thatstart today before you even look
back at your old photos.
So start with the photos youtook this past week or even just
today, and going through them,scrolling through, hearting,
those favorites.
So you have.
A group separated out that,that's the best, but also
deleting the junk as you gothrough and making that a daily
(09:23):
routine or a week every Sundaynight.
It's your routine.
but making a routine oforganizing.
And then there's also easy appsthat you can download.
There's one called Daily Delete,and that's a great app.
That's really it, almostgamifies deleting, cleaning up
your camera roll.
So it really adds like a little,dopamine hit to it.
Like it's fun to go through and,delete your photos.
(09:44):
So that's just a neat app that Isuggest people use too.
But really starting with justhaving a routine that's starting
today and going forward would bethe first thing.
And then as you go back, as youhave time, you say, I'm gonna
work on this today, work on aspecific, very specific period
of time.
I am only going to look atpictures from the past month, or
from, I'm gonna start with.
whatever month, and I'm going tojust do one month at a time or
(10:07):
today, my goal is to go look atthree months of photos.
I think having a goal set also,helps to make it manageable and
not have you just get tired ofthe task and never wanna come
back to it.
So that's what I suggest.
I do think, to speak on thestorage aspect though, to a
certain degree, I know a lot ofpeople will ask me like, how do
(10:28):
I eliminate paying for storage?
I think part of having photos ispaying for storage, and I think
that's the easiest way to keepthem.
20 years ago I used to have topay to get all my pictures
developed, and that was theexpense of loving to take
photos, whether it was, just apoint and shoot camera or
anything.
So now the expenses, we need tostore them and the easiest
method to do that is to pay forstorage, whether it's Dropbox or
(10:50):
Google Photos or wherever you'restoring them.
I also think that's part of themindset to, keep in mind too.
Megs (10:55):
I really like that.
What a good perspective to have.
Like we used to have to pay todevelop them, and that's
expensive.
And then you'd had to pay forfilm and then you had no idea
what kind of photos you weretaking, so you would just take
one and hope for the best.
And most of the time, that's whywe paid for professional
photographers because we did notget it on the first try.
Krista (11:13):
Yes.
Megs (11:14):
And I love the way that you talk about, stick to a
specific month.
And that's one of the ways wetalk about organizing our home
is you can't do it all at once.
You can't go through all theyears at once when it comes to
your photos.
So putting blinders on andsaying, this is where I'm
starting and this is where I'mgonna go from here.
(11:36):
And just sticking with thatspecific idea.
and I love the idea of dailydelete.
I'm so excited.
Some people listen to this showand then they're like, wow,
Megan, you have a DHD, andyou're so organized.
How do you possibly do it?
And I'm like, my home isorganized and I'm working on
these other aspects of my life.
I am a work in progress, justlike any other human being out
(11:59):
there.
And that's important to rememberAs you start and continue to
evolve, you're gonna grow inwhat you learn how to do and
learn how to organize in yourlife, including photos,
including your home.
So thanks for explaining thatway, because there are so many
parallels when it comes toorganizing the digital space as
well as your actual physicalspace.
(12:20):
it's really quite neat.
okay, so tell us, do.
you still practice being aprofessional photographer?
Krista (12:26):
I do actually, so I photograph families and
weddings.
my clientele is mostly people onvacation here in Southwest
Florida, but after Hurricane Iancame through, it really did a
number on our hotel and tourismindustry.
for the past two years, I'vedone about.
25% of what I did leading up to,as far as the number of families
and weddings that Iphotographed.
So it's a lot less than I didbefore, but it's been an
(12:47):
interesting thing wheresimultaneously I've had these
opportunities come in to write abook and to, do a workshop and
now do a course.
And I've had these opportunitiesshow up that, filled in that
space a little bit Been ablehelping me to get the word out
about people being moreorganized with their photos and
keeping them safe and doingthose steps to make sure that
(13:07):
they don't go through what I sawthrough Hurricane Ian.
Megs (13:11):
That's incredible.
I love that you're sticking withyour first passion and your
first hobby, but you've createdit into so many more
opportunities for you to takeyour knowledge and expertise to
educate others.
What a benefit to other peoplethat you're able to share that
through courses, through books,through, all these different
(13:33):
means to get the word out.
we live in that world where weare privileged to get the
information out in a differentway and that's what I love about
having a DHD and being anentrepreneur too, is that you're
creating this world where younot only get to live your
favorite passion, but you've gotall of these passions that have
come out of it because.
You're just thinking outside thebox.
You've got this incrediblycreative brain that's coming up
(13:56):
with all of these other ideas toshare with the world and what a
gift to us that we get toreceive on the other side.
Krista (14:04):
thank you for that.
It's really put a spotlight onmy Zigzag, A DHD brain, though
I'll
Megs (14:08):
Yeah.
Krista (14:10):
I, for anybody who's looking at careers right now,
being a wedding and familyphotographer is very A DHD
friendly.
it's.
Structured and, exciting at thesame time.
You're doing things and there'stimelines.
it worked very well for mybrain.
I'm still navigating this newpath of having these things
going on.
'cause one day I wake up andI've gotta work on a course and
(14:31):
then just today, the coverdesign was sent to me from my
publisher for my book.
So I had to look at that, but atthe same time, another organizer
wants to do a workshop with meand I I'm still working on
making this work without beingtoo, ping pong in my brain.
It takes a little bit moreeffort I think.
Megs (14:49):
Yeah, I think it.
I remember when I first left forcollege, I thought I needed to
pick a career.
I thought I had to pick onething, like a major.
I had four majors before Ifinally decided on something,
and really, I just thought thatI needed to pick, and I was so
jealous of these people who knewwhat they wanted to be when they
were 10 years old and then justwent with it.
(15:10):
I'm like, I don't know what thatis.
I have so many interests andthere's so many things that I
know I could be good at.
But you are living this A DHDdream because you are pursuing
your hobby, but then you're alsopursuing all of these other side
hobbies at the same time.
And I just feel like that givesus so much forgiveness because
I, even starting the podcast, Ithought I was gonna go into this
(15:31):
podcast teaching people how tocreate Pinterest perfect
pantries.
And then I was like, whoa, thereis so much that we do not
understand about organizing.
And now it has evolved intosomething so much bigger.
And I have so many differentideas on how to take it in a
different direction while alsokeeping this main.
Area for people to continue tolearn and enjoy from.
(15:51):
what a cool opportunity for usto do whatever the hell we want
in so many different arenas.
Krista (15:56):
Yes.
Megs (15:57):
Ping pong away.
what's one of your favoritestories when it comes to.
People finally getting theirphotos in order where they feel
like they have control over thatpart of their life and they've
been able to share that withyou.
Krista (16:10):
a lot of the people I.
Talk with that I'm reallydirectly talking with are more
people who've been through atragedy, whether it's
hurricanes?
home fires.
There's been a lot of situationswhere they're contacting me
after they've been through atragedy and lost half of their
photos.
So we're trying to salvage halfof'em.
So that's more of the people I'mtalking with.
(16:32):
almost on a daily basis.
I have people that have somesort of catastrophe, which is
how.
Prevalent.
That really is, and that'stestament to the fact that we do
need to keep our photos safe.
damaged homes and also digitalmalfunction happens more often
than I think anyone realizes.
but to have a single story thatwas the.
Best.
there's, one woman that Ihelped, she is actually a
(16:52):
retired, emergency room doctor.
So a very intelligent woman, butshe had no idea on just some
basic things you could do toback up your photos.
So we just sat down together andI worked through that with her.
that one has always just stuckwith me because not knowing how
to digitize.
A print photo or not knowing howto get your photos off your
phone has nothing to do with howintelligent somebody is, and
(17:15):
sometimes the tech world they'renot very welcoming and friendly.
you wanna get your photos offyour phone, you instantly get
treated like you're stupid ifyou don't know what a terabyte
is, people aren't friendly inthat arena.
I love.
How I was able to help this onewoman because she literally been
around the world and saved livesand done these amazing things.
She's probably one of the mostintelligent people I've been
(17:36):
around, but still had no idea onsome basic things, which to me
is proof that, doesn't haveanything to do with, how smart
or how neurotypical someone is.
it's its own little compartment.
And I've been lucky that it'sbeen my whole life that I've
focused on this.
So for me, it's easy.
that's kinda my goal in generalto fill in that gap between
somebody who's super techy andsharing tech information in a
(17:57):
way that's over people's headswith, just making it friendlier
so that everybody has access tohaving safe photos.
Megs (18:04):
I think that you hit the nail on the head because when
we're thinking about this techworld, I think so many people
hold themselves back from lifethat could make it easier for
them to live.
Because they know that they'reprobably gonna be bad at it at
first.
Krista (18:21):
they're afraid to ask because they've been treated
like they're stupid.
When they asked, what is anexternal hard drive?
it's just sad and I don't wantanyone to feel like they can't
have safe photos.
Megs (18:34):
yeah.
and like to that point, I.
People think that they should begood at these things, right?
oh, an emergency room doctor,you should be good at organizing
your photos, right?
Because you're a doctor, right?
you have a brilliant brain, butthat's ridiculous.
All of these shoulds in a worldthat's constantly changing and
(18:54):
evolving, where the tech isconstantly changing and evolving
too.
I know as a millennial when Iwas in high school and even
beyond going into college in mytwenties, things came to me just
very naturally, especially inthe tech world.
Like it was so easy for me tolog onto Facebook, create my
profile, or even I was codingwhen I had MySpace you would
(19:16):
just look it up, you'd do it,and like you'd figure it out
because it was right there infront of you.
But.
Now that things are continuouslychanging and evolving, if you
don't keep up with the changingand evolving and you're doing
the same thing that you havebeen your whole life, naturally
things are gonna feel verydifferent when you try to
change.
And so when you don't know wherea certain button is or you don't
(19:37):
know how to do something thatyou feel like you should be able
to do right away, it's veryfrustrating.
And so I tell my clients, and alot of people all the time is
Part of trying something new anddoing something that could make
your life easier is being braveenough to not be good at it at
first, and to ask questions andto say I have no idea what I'm
doing.
Can you support me?
(19:58):
And asking for help.
And I think that's another thingis we've gotta get better at
asking for help because thereare just some, like you and me,
like there's so many incrediblepeople that know what they're
doing in one space.
We still don't know what we'redoing in other spaces.
This is just where our expertiselies.
So ask us the questions and thenwe'll depend on you to be our
emergency room doctor, because Ifor sure am not gonna be the
(20:21):
person that goes in there youcould even possibly teach me
what you do.
So it's, yeah.
It's so fascinating, this worldthat we live in, and I just
wanna make it more normal to askquestions and to be okay with
that.
I was sharing right before westarted recording is I was like,
oh my gosh, an organizer forphotos like this is amazing.
And then I started to look atyour website a little bit more,
(20:42):
and you sent me an email andyou've been on the Kelly
Clarkson show and on a b, Cnews, you've been on all of
these incredible platforms toshare the gift that you have
with this world.
I'm honored that you join ushere as well because.
There's so much that we canlearn from you.
Krista (20:58):
thank you for having me.
I do appreciate it.
love just getting the word outand trying to, remind people
just to be proactive, I think.
the other thing is, we weretalking about people not knowing
how to do it.
I also think people don'trealize how important it is to
do it, to back up your photosfrom your phone, to digitize
your print photos, Like I said,I speak with people almost on a
(21:19):
daily basis that have beenthrough some kind of
catastrophe.
It's a lot more prevalent thanmost people realize, so I love
the opportunity to get the wordout any way and anywhere I can,
so I absolutely appreciate thatyou've invited me here to chat
about this.
Megs (21:34):
Yeah.
And thank you for saying thecatastrophes again because it
reminds me of the LA fires andthere's so many people that have
been pushed outta their homes.
They were given, minutes toleave without being prepped in a
situation that they couldn'thave seen coming.
most of us think that it's nevergonna happen to us.
In fact, working in theinsurance field, I would ask
(21:57):
people if they're interested inflood insurance and almost like
95% of people told me that theydon't live in a flood zone.
They live on a hill.
I was like, okay, everybodycan't possibly live on a hill,
but yes, and I even just readthe book by Mel Robbins, and she
was just talking about how,yeah, we hear all this data and
this information and the truthout there and how it can affect
(22:20):
us.
None of us think it's gonnahappen to us.
people smoke cigarettes, butthey're like, I'm gonna be the
exception to the rule.
or we live in Florida, butyou're like, nah, like
hurricanes happen, but I won'tbe affected by it.
So how do we get in this mindsetto prepare ourselves for the
worst when we truly hope anddon't want to actually prepare
(22:42):
for the worst because we don'tthink it's gonna happen to us?
How do we get there?
Krista (22:47):
I wish I had the answer because I would have everybody
convinced to get their picturesdigitized for sure, if that was
the case.
But I just saw a statisticrecently that said one in 10
homes are damaged by a naturaldisaster every year.
it really is.
Happening to a lot of people,more so than we think we all
think we're safe, and thenthere's situations that aren't
(23:07):
natural disasters.
The pipes broke.
there's so many things thathappen that it is happening.
And I do feel like the morethese things are happening, I'm
being contacted more.
especially right now, I've hadseveral people from California,
not necessarily their homes wereimpacted by the fire, but
several people have reached outto me asking me where do I
start?
(23:27):
Because they are close to it andthey've realized how it's
hitting close to home,literally.
And now they're starting to geta little nervous.
I wish I knew how to motivateeverybody.
I'm trying my best, I keepputting out my social media
posts and talking about it.
I just wanna inspire everybodyto do this'cause I will tell
you, having.
(23:47):
Lived through Hurricane Ian andthen started going into homes to
help people afterwards.
There was nothing in the worldthat could have prepared me for
the things I saw and theheartbreak I felt, and just
daily, just hugging people andseeing, just complete
devastation.
It really, that will completelychange your world once you've
seen that.
(24:08):
I put a lot of thought into, ifwe only had minutes to evacuate
or if we were outta town thatday and we didn't get to
evacuate and take anything like,are the things that are
important to us safe?
So I really just wanna sharethat with as many people as I
can and hopefully inspire asmany people as I can to take
those same precautions.
Megs (24:25):
I think sometimes.
We put it off because we feellike there's always time, right?
Like I'll get to that later.
And especially with an A DHDbrain, we procrastinate a lot of
the decisions that we have tomake because there are so many
competing priorities in our lifethat are taking over and that it
does get put on the back burner.
(24:46):
coming back to that perspectiveon working on it a little bit at
a time, a little bit everysingle day, because we like to
think of things as like onewhole, like I have people call
me all the time and they'relike, I'm finally ready to get
my house done.
I need to get it done in amonth, and then I need to move
on with my life.
And I was like, I love that youwanna do that.
(25:07):
Except that sometimes it's gonnatake longer.
In fact, most of the time ittakes a lot longer because it
took you this long to get thestuff into your house.
It's going to take you maybehalf the time to get it out of
the house, but at the same time,it's gonna take a good amount of
time.
And same with the photos.
If you've been taking photosfor, some of our families out
(25:27):
there, 50 years of history ofPhotos of your family and then
your grandkids and extendedfamily, it's going to take a
little bit of time to get itdigitized and to preserve it.
where do people start?
if people are listening and theyhave been affected by the fires,
or, even in North Carolina wesaw some huge devastation this
(25:48):
year, the storms are gonna keephappening and, we are gonna
continue to lose our stuff.
How do we start digitizing ourstuff to get prepared?
Krista (25:57):
So I think in general, when it comes to getting your
photos digitized, what I suggestis collecting everything into
one place first, because so manypeople have, photo albums in
this closet and that shoebox inthat closet, and my college
memories are still at myparents' house, like all of that
stuff.
Collecting it all into one placeand dedicating a space to that
(26:19):
if possible, is it part of thedining room table or in office
areas somewhere where you candedicate a space and collecting
it all.
So getting it all together Ithink is the first step.
And then.
breaking it into smallerprojects.
One of those being then try toget it into chronological order
as best as possible.
I always say when it comes togetting things in order by date,
(26:39):
make it close.
It doesn't have to be perfect ifit's slowing down the process, I
wouldn't put.
Too much effort into nitpickingon the exact date things go in.
But try to get them in a roughchronological order and then
break it up into smaller groupsof things.
You're gonna scan.
A lot of times there's differenttypes of photos, you might have
some years you had a Polaroidcamera and some that are really
(27:01):
old or some are in albums, sothe different types and break it
into small projects that waytoo.
I think just breaking it up alittle bit and, digitizing a
little bit at a time is the wayto go for sure.
Megs (27:12):
That's cool.
So what is the proper way todigitize a photo?
And especially if you don't havea scanner, where do you start?
Krista (27:20):
For sure.
I do suggest getting a scanner,that's gonna be the best
quality, and there's scannersthat make the process so fast
and so easy that.
It's fun to do it.
I, I do suggest having thescanners doing it that way.
there's also an app for yourphone called Photo Mine, and
that's a great app to use toget, if you wanna just use your
phone, it's going to get a scanof the photo to your phone and
(27:42):
it's gonna be a better qualitythan just taking a picture with
your phone.
and it has some neat bells andwhistles.
If you have some old photos thatare black and white, it will
colorize them.
It can sharpen some pictures.
Get stuff from like the eightiesor earlier where.
sometimes they're a littleblurry.
The, photo, my napkin sharpenfaces too.
So it's got some neat thingslike that.
So those are the tools Irecommend to start digitizing
(28:04):
pictures.
And then there's also greatservices too.
I can't, I, there's somefabulous photo organizing
services where you just handthem your pictures and they do
it for you.
And I think that's somethingthat people shouldn't rule out.
it is a little bit of aninvestment, but I absolutely
think it is worth it.
After seeing what I saw andseeing the heartbreak I saw.
Every one of the people Itaught, hundreds of people I've
(28:26):
talked to, every single onewould pay double to just have it
done tomorrow because they wouldtell me over and over again,
it's the hardest loss.
it's the one thing that was themost difficult.
Like those are the things Iwould hear.
so in retrospect, all of themwould invest in hiring A photo
organizing service to justdigitize those pictures and have
it all done for them.
(28:47):
So I do tell people now, don'trule that out.
If it's something, maybe set atimeframe.
I'm gonna do this in the nextsix months, and if you haven't
started it in the next sixmonths, then it's time to just
make that investment and have itdone for you.
Megs (28:58):
I love that.
it's such a good point too,because I think there's so much
that we think that we can doourselves.
When really when we start todelegate and ask people for
help, it allows us toreprioritize in the things that
we truly need to get done andtakes a little weight off our
shoulders.
Tell us a little bit about thecourse that you teach or
courses.
Krista (29:15):
so I've done a few workshops.
I don't have one scheduled yet,but I'm looking to do one in the
spring, so that'll be coming up.
and that's more of an onlineworkshop where I work together
with people.
I have a course coming out thatis going to walk through every
step of getting digitalpictures, getting a scan of your
picture.
So it's gonna start from thebeginning.
I try to teach the course in away that assuming that maybe.
(29:36):
You have no knowledgewhatsoever.
So right from picking a scannerto how do you get the software
on your computer to make thescanner work?
So I walk through every step ofit try to keep it in as many
details as I can so nobody feelsleft behind at any stage.
and then I just talk about thedifferent, methods that you can
use and then how to take thosepictures once you digitize them.
(29:56):
I have suggestions for ways tocreate a folder system and where
to keep them, where to store thepicture.
So I go through Every step of itand, try to throw some
inspiration in there to keep theproject going.
So that's what the course isabout.
And it's coming out inconjunction with my book that
comes out in June, which, ismore of a memoir, part memoir,
part how to guide.
(30:17):
So it really walks through myexperience living through
Hurricane Ian and the.
Things I saw in the people Ihelped and, what their situation
was, what they lived through,and walk through that.
And then what happened to theirphotos in each one of these
situations and how we savedthem.
And then with each chapter, endwith methods that you could use
to prevent this from happeningto you.
So it starts with, differentsituations that are all
(30:38):
regarding the hurricane, butthen also I lead into digital
photos too, so things you can doto prevent losing your digital
photos as well.
Megs (30:46):
Oh, that's so cool.
what is the book called?
Krista (30:49):
Beyond the storm.
it's, library Tales Publishingand, it's distributed by Simon
and Schuster, so I think thatmeans it's gonna be in all the
bookstores, but, we'll find out,
Megs (30:58):
will people have the opportunity to pre-order it?
Krista (31:01):
pre-orders will be coming out soon, so I'll
announce that on my website thatall information will be there.
Megs (31:06):
Oh, that's so cool.
I have not taken your course,but I wanna plug it because so
often we take on all of thestuff ourselves and we think we
can do it ourselves.
When you actually pay for acourse and you sign up to take
it.
You're locked in to gettingyourself the more information to
feel more confident about takingthe steps you need to get your
(31:28):
photos under control.
We're gonna keep putting it offand keep putting it off until
you sign up for something likethis where you have someone
holding your hand through theprocess so that now you have the
tools where you know where tostart and you know how to do it.
And now it is about setting upthat routine and getting it done
on a regular basis a little bitevery single day so that you
(31:51):
feel like you're makingprogress.
And it's all about the progress.
It's about the journey I feellike it could be really fun too.
I know I love going through myphotos and like just reliving
some of these experiences thatI've had in my life and being
like, oh my God, I can't believeI wore that.
Or Why did I put 15 butterflyclips in the back of my head and
(32:12):
feel like I needed to take apicture of it?
Krista (32:14):
I love looking at other people's pictures.
That's how much I love photos.
Megs (32:17):
yes.
Krista (32:18):
I do tell people when it comes to photo organizing,
though, this is not likecleaning the garage is usually
what I tell them.
This is a very personal and canbe very emotional if you're,
going through photos.
a lot of people I talk to haveinherited photos as well, where
they've just given 80 yearssometimes of past photos from
their parents or grandparentshave just been handed to them.
And that's, it's overwhelming.
(32:38):
I think that's a big projectthat people get.
They inherit 10 boxes of photosand sometimes I've heard people
20 years, these photos have beenin a box in a closet.
They haven't even looked at'embecause it's overwhelming.
So I do think when you start aproject, whether it's your own
photos or ones you've inherited,just go into it thinking that it
can be emotional and there's alot of memories there.
(32:59):
And it's okay to stop and take amoment, even if it's those
butterfly hair clips.
Take a moment and look at thatand take in That memory.
'cause that's ultimately, that'swhat the photo is for.
it's living its purpose at thatpoint.
So allow that time and also ifit becomes too emotional, walk
away from it.
It's okay to say, okay, this ishard.
I'm gonna walk away from it.
don't look at it like we'recleaning the pantry.
(33:21):
We're gonna start, we're gonnafinish.
We've gotta do it like thisbecause it's a very personal
project.
Megs (33:26):
That's, yeah, that's powerful.
I went to visit my.
Parents back in 2023 before Ileft my corporate job, so I
wasn't organizing professionallyyet, but they have this old
farmhouse where all of mygrandparents' stuff is still
there because they originallybought the house and then my
parents moved in.
All their stuff is on top of it.
So like photos everywhere, butalso other stuff everywhere.
(33:48):
We emptied out one of our sideattics and my mom and I were
going through her mom's Hopechest, which is pretty common
for women to have to put all oftheir memorabilia and these
beautiful things, thesekeepsakes from their lives in
it.
My mom pulled out this photo ofit was super long.
It was probably four feet long.
Of maybe three feet long of abunch of people it looked like
(34:12):
they were all at camp.
And I was like, what the heck isthis?
And my mom's like, this is aphoto of an adult camp that your
grandparents went to, and that'swhere they met each other she
finds my grandfather on one sideof the photo.
And then my grandmother is onthe other side of the photo.
And in no world would I haveever said, let me look for
(34:34):
someone I know in this picturebecause it's hard for me to even
recognize what my grandparentslooked like when they were young
and.
I told my mom that it's soimportant for me, and I would
love if she felt this way too,is I would love to go through
these photos with her so that Iactually knew who these people
were.
Because if I hadn't done thatwith her, I would've no idea
(34:55):
what to do with this scroll thatwas three feet long of all of
these people that were at adultcamp that I would've never known
that they were at adult camp.
But I say that because I.
if your parents are gone oryou've got all these old photos
and you don't know who anyoneis, what do you do?
(35:16):
Because, I think that's mybiggest struggle is I would love
to have this is my greatgrandfather and and this is his
family and so on.
Like, how do we possibly makesense of all those old photos if
we don't know what to do withit?
it feels weird to let it go.
Because it's our family history,but if we don't know who's
there,
Krista (35:35):
Yeah.
Megs (35:35):
what is your recommendation?
Krista (35:37):
My first thing is anyone listening, if you're, I use this
as motivation to sit down withyour parents today or your
grandparents today, and takenotes of who all of these people
are, because the photos losevalue when we don't know who
they are.
they go from being sosignificant to being valueless
because we don't even know ifthese are our relatives or if it
was the neighbor that gave thema photo.
(35:58):
So take the opportunity now, sitdown with family and make those
notes.
for people who don't have that,there are, really crazy new
technologies coming out thatwill help you identify who
people are, even in olderphotos.
Yeah, it's pretty cool.
I believe ancestry.com right nowhas.
A feature that when you uploadphotos, it connects it with
photos and can tie who it is.
(36:18):
I don't know how well it worksyet, but I believe that
technology is only going to getbetter.
So if there is one photo of,uncle Bob from 1940, the one you
upload of Uncle Bob whateverit's gonna be able to connect
that and identify that's yourUncle Bob.
I think that technology isgetting better.
I've been telling people latelyjust, if it is your family and
the pictures are important toyou, hang on to them if you can,
(36:40):
and see, if the technology isthere to help you identify who
the people are in photos,
Megs (36:44):
Is that something that you walk through in the course as
well?
Krista (36:47):
You know what?
I touch on it, but I don't walkthrough it.
I'm not an ancestry.com user, tobe honest with you.
that might be my 2025 thing.
I've been thinking about becauseit does connect so much with old
photos.
I'm thinking maybe I need tojust dive in and start
researching my own ancestry andsigning up for ancestry.com and
stuff.
But, yes, the old photos, thereare a lot of functions in there.
Megs (37:09):
Cool.
Yeah, that's really cool.
I'm just trying to think too ofthe audience.
I have a wide variety of peoplethat listen, all ages that are
listening to get moreperspective and, I would like
to, let me ask you before Iprescribe this, but Is this
course friendly for, people intheir sixties and seventies as
well as people in their thirtiesand forties who could take
(37:30):
advantage of it and get a holdof, digitizing what they have.
Krista (37:36):
For sure.
Yeah, so a good portion of myaudience, like in Instagram, I
can see the demographics of whois following me and a good
portion of my audience.
I'd say I think it was like 85%of my audience is over 50.
So I do have a large group ofpeople that are older, in my
audience.
But I like to keep everythingfriendly to everyone so that,
nobody feels left out.
(37:57):
Whether it's somebody who, maybethey're younger, but they don't
work in, maybe they work outsideor they're not working in
technology at all, so they don'thave.
maybe some skills on how toconnect a scanner to a computer.
So I've tried to keep it, prettyuniversal, that anybody could
use it and not feel overwhelmed.
the course comes out in March,so I have it, it's in the works
right now, I'll be announcing iton my Instagram and talking
(38:19):
about it a bunch more in thecoming weeks.
but yeah, I do think what I'veoutlined and what I've recorded
so far is just very, friendly toanyone really.
Megs (38:29):
Yeah, no, it's such a gift I'm excited for you.
I just wanna say thank you againbecause as an A DHD
entrepreneur, I jumped intothis.
Not thinking too much about it,which is totally okay, because
sometimes that happens, right?
Zigzagging and I'm just makingdecisions and, I think coming
into this, I thought that I hadto prove myself.
(38:50):
And yeah, in certain ways I do.
But at the same time, to seewhere you are and how much
you've accomplished in not onlyachieving your dream of being a
professional photographer, butthen helping people in so many
other ways.
You're such an inspiration toother people out there who wanna
become an entrepreneur and likewriting a book and being on
(39:12):
podcasts and like KellyClarkson, oh my God, she's one
of my favorite humans ever.
Krista (39:17):
She's fabulous.
Megs (39:19):
Oh, so freaking cool.
I'm so impressed with whatyou've done and I'm so excited
for how many more people you getto help out there in our world
and you're doing the damn thing.
So thank you.
Krista (39:31):
thank you for connecting me with the world.
I appreciate you.
Megs (39:35):
where can my listeners find you?
Krista (39:37):
Instagram is my favorite.
I am, at the Krista k onInstagram and that's my social
media home.
But we repost everything toYouTube and Facebook as well,
which are the same.
and then my website is the krisak.com and I have an email that I
send out every two weeks that'sjust inspiration and tips.
To get photo organized.
(39:58):
So I encourage everybody to jointhat.
And the very first email I sendout is my free resource guide,
and it's a list of 60 different,tools and apps and gadgets.
The photo labs, I compared allof my work in one place where
you can link to all of myfavorite things to get photo
organized and to enjoy yourphotos.
So all of that is in one place,and that goes out as the very
(40:20):
first email when you sign up toreceive my email Inspiration.
Megs (40:24):
What is your favorite photo storage app that you've
used?
Krista (40:29):
Ooh.
So I personally use Amazonphotos, because it's free if you
have Amazon Prime, which is, youcan't beat the price.
So I just, it's easy.
You just download it to yourphone and it automatically backs
everything up every night.
You don't even have to thinkabout it.
So for me, I use it as a backupstorage, I don't open it.
I don't look at it again, it'sjust there in case something
(40:51):
were to happen with iCloud or ifsomething happened, my photos, I
know they're always safe there,so that's my favorite.
And then also you could just,you get on your computer, all of
those pictures you scan, youeasily just, you slide'em over
and you can add them to yourAmazon photos too.
So even, your parents' weddingalbum, if you digitize that, it
can also live in the same placeas all of your.
So I like that just for the easeof use and the fact that it's a
(41:13):
free at right now, it's free.
I always like to warn peoplethese things don't stay free
forever.
Megs (41:18):
Yeah.
Krista (41:18):
But it is free at the moment.
There is another storage appthat I don't use personally, but
I absolutely suggest for anyonewho wants simple.
And that's called ForeverStorage.
their motto is they're keepingthings for you forever.
You pay a one time fee upfrontand they keep them for your
lifetime, plus many more years.
I found just playing around withit, it's got a really nice
(41:40):
platform where everything isorganized nicely.
It's easy to search for things,it's all online accessible on
your phone.
it's just super easy.
So you can add all of yourpictures to it if old pictures,
new pictures.
So I really think that's a greatoption for people, but it's just
you're paying for it upfront soit's not the least expensive.
So basically Amazon photos isprobably the least expensive
(42:01):
option you can get, and that iswhat I use forever.
Megs (42:03):
Cool.
That's awesome.
And is there anyone that youwould say don't use this because
it's gonna not say ruin yourlife, but anyone you would deter
us from using?
Krista (42:14):
Oh gosh, probably.
Let me think.
when it comes to iCloud, forinstance, or if you're on
Android, Google photos, I thinkthey're great.
I would use them, but just knowwhat they are.
They are syncing to your phoneand they're only one place.
Sometimes people are confusedand think because they are Your
phone and your computer, thatthey're then in two places, but
they are not, they're in oneplace.
if you accidentally deletepictures, which I actually just
(42:36):
had somebody have this happenedrecently.
they think it might have beentheir grandchild playing with
their phone.
But anyway, a whole month ofphotos were just gone and they
didn't realize it quick enoughbecause you do have that.
Backup.
Like you have things, sit in thetrash can for a while, they
didn't realize it.
Six months later they went backto find photos and realized this
whole group of photos was gone.
And there's no explanation forwhy, but it's gone from
everywhere.
(42:56):
'cause it got deleted from onelocation.
So that's just one example ofhow having photos only relying
on iCloud, for instance, is notgreat.
You do wanna have, like for me,the Amazon photos is
simultaneously backing thingsup, and that's a different
location that is not synced tomy phone.
So if I delete everything off myphone, it will.
stay in Amazon photos.
(43:17):
So that, I think is just nice tohave that extra thing.
I wouldn't say I discouragepeople from using iCloud.
I think it's great to useiCloud.
I just think you need to use itknowing what you're using.
You're using a sync.
Your pictures are still only inone place.
They're not backed up.
So that's just something tothink about, for anyone that's
using a sync service like that.
Megs (43:37):
Oh my gosh.
That's huge.
Yes.
Thank you for telling us.
it's so nice to meet you andthank you so much for your time
and your education and sharing alittle bit of your story.
I can't wait to learn a littlebit more about your journey and
any last words before I let yougo today?
Krista (43:52):
I just appreciate being here.
I appreciate you so much.
Thank you.
Yeti Stereo Microphone-1 (43:56):
Isn't Krista amazing?
I get to meet the coolest peopleby working on this podcast, and
I'm so thrilled to be able toshare them with you too.
With each and every passingepisode, there's something more
that I learn not only about mybrain, but how we approach
different situations anddifferent life lessons.
So many things.
One takeaway from this episodefor me was her perspective on
how we used to have to pay forfilm And getting our pictures
(44:17):
developed back in the day.
And now part of that process isjust paying for the storage of
our photos and digitizing them.
Now, there's also a ton ofdifferent places out there that
can do all of this for you, butit does cost a lot of money.
I went to a presentation lastyear on photo organizing.
With a local photo organizer inthe Denver area, and she was
(44:37):
saying that she did A projectand these people told her that
they basically had enough moneyto be disorganized, so they let
other people do it for them.
And I'm like, wow.
I think that that's somethingthat I never considered having
enough money for it to bedisorganized.
So super interestingperspective.
This month is spring cleaningmonth in my community, and so
I'd love to see you there.
(44:58):
We're gonna be doing q and As,body doubling sessions, some
additional information and somereally cool tools that I love to
release to support you alongyour journey.
And I'd love to meet you andfind out what you're working
through and see if there'sanything that can support you
along the way.
If you are in the ColoradoSprings area, I'm gonna be
hosting a clothing swap on April19th from 12 to 5:00 PM It's
(45:20):
gonna be with me and Tara fromStyle Elevation with Tara.
She's a stylist.
So bring all of the clothes thatyou no longer want.
It could be men's, women's, orkids' clothing.
And there's even shoes that youcan donate.
You drop off all of yourdonations It's$10 to get in and
you can take anything home withyou for only$10.
That's it.
I've had some incredible luckreplenishing my closet and
(45:44):
making sure that I walked awaywith the things that really
elevated me and not felt like Ineeded to break the bank to do
it.
It's pretty amazing, so come seeme.
It's gonna be a balanced studioin Palmer Lake, Colorado.
I feel like April is shaping upto be an incredible month so
far, and I can't wait to seewhat you're able to accomplish.
Oh, and lastly, some of you havebeen asking for the to-do list
download where I talked aboutjust planning my day out each
(46:06):
day.
If you go to my websiteorganizing an A DH, ADHD
brain.com and go to shop, I'llhave any of the templates that
are no longer available for freethere in the shop.
Hey everyone.
(00:00):
Welcome to the episode thisweek.
I'm really excited to introduceyou to my friend Krista.
I'm really excited for you tohear what she has to say about
organizing your photos,digitizing your photos.
It's something that a lot of ushave been planning to do, but
we've been putting off for areally long time.
And here's the thing, as you'regoing through and listening
today, this is not somethingthat needs to be put at the top
of the list if you have so manyother things that need to be
(00:22):
done first.
But it's still helpful to havethe information because the more
you know, the easier it's goingto be for you to start that
task.
I posted a blog last week whereI talk about the barriers, and I
talked about this in last week'sepisode too, is a lot of the
time we don't do something.
Not because we don't feel likedoing it.
Yes, that's part of it, right?
But also because it doesn'tbring the dopamine.
(00:43):
We have an interest-basednervous system, so we're looking
for something that's gonna bemore exciting, but also because
a lot of the times there's abarrier there.
We have to address the barrierbefore we can truly attack
something.
And the more you know about howto attack something about how to
get through to the other side,the easier it is for you to
accomplish that task By takingsmall and concentrated actions
(01:04):
in the right direction.
Some quick announcements beforewe jump into the show.
I am gonna be hosting two eventswith Russ's community from the A
DHD Big Brother.
If you remember, I interviewedhim on the podcast last
September and then I was on hispodcast as well, and he is.
An incredible human.
and I can't wait for you to joinus.
I posted two of our events inthe show notes below.
(01:27):
One of them is gonna be a bodydoubling session where we're all
going to be declutteringtogether, and it's a free event
where both of our communitiesare invited, but also the
public.
So if you wanna join us in RSVP.
Please join us to declutter withall of us in one place.
I'm also going to be giving apresentation on organizing with
(01:48):
A DHD.
Now, obviously if you're hereand you're listening to the
podcast, some of the informationmay be repeated, but just a
really good idea of what myperspective is on organizing
with A DHD.
So I'd love to see you at bothof those events.
Yeti Stereo Microphon (02:01):
Community is such an important part about
having a DHD because when weknow we're in it together.
We know that other people'sbrains work like ours, we're
more likely to be able to getthings done because we can see
that other people are strugglingtoo.
And we talk about that.
We overcome it.
We try new things.
We figure out what does work forus.
So come join me and Russ fromthe A DHD, big Brother.
Yeti Stereo Microphone-2 (02:21):
Let's go ahead and jump into the show.
Megs (02:24):
I am so excited to be joined by Krista who is a
professional organizer forphotos.
And if you're listening to thistoday, I know you have 10,000
photos that you have no ideawhat to do with because most of
us do.
So Krista, thank you so much forjoining us today on the podcast.
Krista (02:42):
Absolutely.
Thanks for having me.
Megs (02:45):
Okay, tell us a little bit about you.
Who is Krista?
Krista (02:49):
I live in southwest Florida.
I am originally fromPennsylvania though, moved down
here after I graduated fromcollege to sunny, southwest
Florida.
And I am a professionalphotographer.
I have been a photographer mywhole life since I was a child.
I pretend to be thephotographer, so photo is my
life.
And, years ago I used to.
(03:09):
Have that feeling that I neededto have hobbies, that I wasn't
doing enough hobbies.
And then maybe in the past 10years, I realized my job is also
my hobby.
I love photography.
And so now I embrace that.
I embrace, I'm a little bit of aworkaholic but I love what I do.
I love photography, so a goodportion of my free time as well
as my work time, revolved aroundphoto and taking pictures.
Megs (03:31):
it envelops who you are, right?
Those memories and the peoplethat are in your life and help
you believe in yourself.
So you are a professionalphotographer, so how did you get
into the photo organizingbusiness?
Krista (03:45):
it was year 25 years I've been a professional
photographer.
It wasn't until Hurricane Iancame and just really did a
number on my area and, it was upto like 15 feet of flood water
that came through so many homes.
And destroyed everything, likeall of the contents of the home,
including people's personalphotographs.
And I just jumped in and startedvolunteering to help people
(04:07):
salvage what they could of thosephotographs.
And through that process Ilearned that a lot of people
just don't know easy steps to,digitize a photo.
So you have that memory safe incase of disaster.
and that just led from that to,Realizing that people were the
same with their phone pictures.
they don't know how to back themup or they aren't backing them
up and they're not aware of therisks they're taking.
(04:28):
I just became a passion projectslash second business where I
try to get the word out andmotivate everybody to be
proactive and to back up theirphone pictures and to digitize
those print photos so they'reall safe.
so that's the journey that tookme to here.
Now I do courses and workshops,and I have a book coming out.
(04:49):
I have a lot going on that'smore, yeah, I'm super excited
about it.
but more focusing on just tryingto, Inspire people to be
proactive and teach them someeasy methods.
I don't necessarily takepeople's photos in and work on
them, I have a lot of organizerfriends who I love to recommend,
but I'm more the line of lookingto help people and inspire them
and not necessarily take theirphotos from them as a, photo
(05:10):
organizer would entail.
Megs (05:12):
That's amazing.
I love that so much, and that'ssomething that I want to embody
too, partly because this is myperspective on it, at least from
like the professional organizerstance, is when you go into
someone's home and you take overtheir life and organize their
entire life, it's in your hands.
Whereas if you're showing themhow to do it and teaching them
the tools that they need and thedifferent mindsets and
perspectives to have aroundtheir stuff and protecting it.
(05:35):
You get to give them the beliefsthat they get to then live their
life with, which is so powerful.
So thank you for doing that.
what a gift that is to learnmore about how you can manage
your life.
Krista (05:49):
Absolutely.
and then take that and keep itgoing forward as opposed to
somebody who's gonna come in anddo it for you, and then it stops
today, and then you're left.
So I like to think I'm givingeveryone the tools to keep their
photos organized today and goingforward.
Megs (06:03):
That's really neat.
I hate that it was inspired byHurricane Ian, right?
Because there's so muchdevastation when you go through
a huge loss like that.
But I love that that was alsoan.
Inspiration to you.
I come from the insurancebusiness, and so I remember when
I was educating people on thephone and then helping my team
to educate people on the phone,so often people were just like,
(06:27):
what's the bare minimum that Ican have?
I'm just gonna work with thatand then go from there.
Whereas really it's aboutknowing what could happen,
having all the tools, having allthe education, and.
Then making the best decisionfor yourself.
Because once people knew howthey could be protected and what
they could do with their stuff,they made different decisions.
(06:48):
I think that's part of, whatyou're doing is so incredible, I
can't wait to know more aboutthe photo organizing piece, but
we talked a little bit about ADHD, right?
This is called organizing an ADHD brain my goal is to empower
more women and men out there tounderstand that just because you
have a DHD doesn't mean that youcan't be organized.
It just means that you have tothink a little bit differently
(07:10):
about it.
Krista (07:11):
I'm self-diagnosed A DHD, but it's something that
through most of my adult life, Irealized that I just, I think in
a zigzag is the way I always putit.
My husband is an engineer.
He's super linear, and I thinkhe sometimes reminds me that, I
do think in a zigzag, I think itworks for me and I like it.
I just have to have methods frommy everyday life to organizing
(07:32):
photos.
I have methods that work for meto accomplish a task that it
doesn't have to be linear likehe works and thinks.
Megs (07:39):
I love the way that you describe it as a zigzag because
like sometimes I'm zigzagging,sometimes I'm going vertical and
like horizontal.
It's all over the place.
there's no linear for me, What abrilliant way to describe that.
So you have provided us with abunch of tools that I'm gonna
link in the show notes below.
So thank you for doing that,because I think sometimes with
(08:00):
our brains, we don't even knowwhere to start.
We know that we have to start,but then the project feels so
gigantic that how could wepossibly get going where we are,
right?
if we do have 10,000 photos inour Google photos or wherever
we're keeping them.
I know I just had to upgrade mystorage because my Gmail was
(08:20):
like, you're not allowed to useyour email anymore because
you're not paying for enoughstorage.
Because I have too many picturesand videos saved.
And while I have some sense oforganizing in that space, I
haven't gone through and reallydeleted the things that I don't
need anymore.
And so where do we even startwhen it comes to our photos?
Krista (08:40):
I do think looking at it in tiny parts, and that's where
my A DHD brain comes in becauseI can't sit down and spend a
day, like I don't have thatattention span.
I need to do things in smallerbits.
So that's how I suggesteverybody does it, is that
you're breaking things down intosmaller parts.
So if that's the photos on yourphone, set a specific amount of
(09:00):
one month you're going to lookat, and I always suggest.
Starting with routines thatstart today before you even look
back at your old photos.
So start with the photos youtook this past week or even just
today, and going through them,scrolling through, hearting,
those favorites.
So you have.
A group separated out that,that's the best, but also
deleting the junk as you gothrough and making that a daily
(09:23):
routine or a week every Sundaynight.
It's your routine.
but making a routine oforganizing.
And then there's also easy appsthat you can download.
There's one called Daily Delete,and that's a great app.
That's really it, almostgamifies deleting, cleaning up
your camera roll.
So it really adds like a little,dopamine hit to it.
Like it's fun to go through and,delete your photos.
(09:44):
So that's just a neat app that Isuggest people use too.
But really starting with justhaving a routine that's starting
today and going forward would bethe first thing.
And then as you go back, as youhave time, you say, I'm gonna
work on this today, work on aspecific, very specific period
of time.
I am only going to look atpictures from the past month, or
from, I'm gonna start with.
whatever month, and I'm going tojust do one month at a time or
(10:07):
today, my goal is to go look atthree months of photos.
I think having a goal set also,helps to make it manageable and
not have you just get tired ofthe task and never wanna come
back to it.
So that's what I suggest.
I do think, to speak on thestorage aspect though, to a
certain degree, I know a lot ofpeople will ask me like, how do
(10:28):
I eliminate paying for storage?
I think part of having photos ispaying for storage, and I think
that's the easiest way to keepthem.
20 years ago I used to have topay to get all my pictures
developed, and that was theexpense of loving to take
photos, whether it was, just apoint and shoot camera or
anything.
So now the expenses, we need tostore them and the easiest
method to do that is to pay forstorage, whether it's Dropbox or
(10:50):
Google Photos or wherever you'restoring them.
I also think that's part of themindset to, keep in mind too.
Megs (10:55):
I really like that.
What a good perspective to have.
Like we used to have to pay todevelop them, and that's
expensive.
And then you'd had to pay forfilm and then you had no idea
what kind of photos you weretaking, so you would just take
one and hope for the best.
And most of the time, that's whywe paid for professional
photographers because we did notget it on the first try.
Krista (11:13):
Yes.
Megs (11:14):
And I love the way that you talk about, stick to a
specific month.
And that's one of the ways wetalk about organizing our home
is you can't do it all at once.
You can't go through all theyears at once when it comes to
your photos.
So putting blinders on andsaying, this is where I'm
starting and this is where I'mgonna go from here.
(11:36):
And just sticking with thatspecific idea.
and I love the idea of dailydelete.
I'm so excited.
Some people listen to this showand then they're like, wow,
Megan, you have a DHD, andyou're so organized.
How do you possibly do it?
And I'm like, my home isorganized and I'm working on
these other aspects of my life.
I am a work in progress, justlike any other human being out
(11:59):
there.
And that's important to rememberAs you start and continue to
evolve, you're gonna grow inwhat you learn how to do and
learn how to organize in yourlife, including photos,
including your home.
So thanks for explaining thatway, because there are so many
parallels when it comes toorganizing the digital space as
well as your actual physicalspace.
(12:20):
it's really quite neat.
okay, so tell us, do.
you still practice being aprofessional photographer?
Krista (12:26):
I do actually, so I photograph families and
weddings.
my clientele is mostly people onvacation here in Southwest
Florida, but after Hurricane Iancame through, it really did a
number on our hotel and tourismindustry.
for the past two years, I'vedone about.
25% of what I did leading up to,as far as the number of families
and weddings that Iphotographed.
So it's a lot less than I didbefore, but it's been an
(12:47):
interesting thing wheresimultaneously I've had these
opportunities come in to write abook and to, do a workshop and
now do a course.
And I've had these opportunitiesshow up that, filled in that
space a little bit Been ablehelping me to get the word out
about people being moreorganized with their photos and
keeping them safe and doingthose steps to make sure that
(13:07):
they don't go through what I sawthrough Hurricane Ian.
Megs (13:11):
That's incredible.
I love that you're sticking withyour first passion and your
first hobby, but you've createdit into so many more
opportunities for you to takeyour knowledge and expertise to
educate others.
What a benefit to other peoplethat you're able to share that
through courses, through books,through, all these different
(13:33):
means to get the word out.
we live in that world where weare privileged to get the
information out in a differentway and that's what I love about
having a DHD and being anentrepreneur too, is that you're
creating this world where younot only get to live your
favorite passion, but you've gotall of these passions that have
come out of it because.
You're just thinking outside thebox.
You've got this incrediblycreative brain that's coming up
(13:56):
with all of these other ideas toshare with the world and what a
gift to us that we get toreceive on the other side.
Krista (14:04):
thank you for that.
It's really put a spotlight onmy Zigzag, A DHD brain, though
I'll
Megs (14:08):
Yeah.
Krista (14:10):
I, for anybody who's looking at careers right now,
being a wedding and familyphotographer is very A DHD
friendly.
it's.
Structured and, exciting at thesame time.
You're doing things and there'stimelines.
it worked very well for mybrain.
I'm still navigating this newpath of having these things
going on.
'cause one day I wake up andI've gotta work on a course and
(14:31):
then just today, the coverdesign was sent to me from my
publisher for my book.
So I had to look at that, but atthe same time, another organizer
wants to do a workshop with meand I I'm still working on
making this work without beingtoo, ping pong in my brain.
It takes a little bit moreeffort I think.
Megs (14:49):
Yeah, I think it.
I remember when I first left forcollege, I thought I needed to
pick a career.
I thought I had to pick onething, like a major.
I had four majors before Ifinally decided on something,
and really, I just thought thatI needed to pick, and I was so
jealous of these people who knewwhat they wanted to be when they
were 10 years old and then justwent with it.
(15:10):
I'm like, I don't know what thatis.
I have so many interests andthere's so many things that I
know I could be good at.
But you are living this A DHDdream because you are pursuing
your hobby, but then you're alsopursuing all of these other side
hobbies at the same time.
And I just feel like that givesus so much forgiveness because
I, even starting the podcast, Ithought I was gonna go into this
(15:31):
podcast teaching people how tocreate Pinterest perfect
pantries.
And then I was like, whoa, thereis so much that we do not
understand about organizing.
And now it has evolved intosomething so much bigger.
And I have so many differentideas on how to take it in a
different direction while alsokeeping this main.
Area for people to continue tolearn and enjoy from.
(15:51):
what a cool opportunity for usto do whatever the hell we want
in so many different arenas.
Krista (15:56):
Yes.
Megs (15:57):
Ping pong away.
what's one of your favoritestories when it comes to.
People finally getting theirphotos in order where they feel
like they have control over thatpart of their life and they've
been able to share that withyou.
Krista (16:10):
a lot of the people I.
Talk with that I'm reallydirectly talking with are more
people who've been through atragedy, whether it's
hurricanes?
home fires.
There's been a lot of situationswhere they're contacting me
after they've been through atragedy and lost half of their
photos.
So we're trying to salvage halfof'em.
So that's more of the people I'mtalking with.
(16:32):
almost on a daily basis.
I have people that have somesort of catastrophe, which is
how.
Prevalent.
That really is, and that'stestament to the fact that we do
need to keep our photos safe.
damaged homes and also digitalmalfunction happens more often
than I think anyone realizes.
but to have a single story thatwas the.
Best.
there's, one woman that Ihelped, she is actually a
(16:52):
retired, emergency room doctor.
So a very intelligent woman, butshe had no idea on just some
basic things you could do toback up your photos.
So we just sat down together andI worked through that with her.
that one has always just stuckwith me because not knowing how
to digitize.
A print photo or not knowing howto get your photos off your
phone has nothing to do with howintelligent somebody is, and
(17:15):
sometimes the tech world they'renot very welcoming and friendly.
you wanna get your photos offyour phone, you instantly get
treated like you're stupid ifyou don't know what a terabyte
is, people aren't friendly inthat arena.
I love.
How I was able to help this onewoman because she literally been
around the world and saved livesand done these amazing things.
She's probably one of the mostintelligent people I've been
(17:36):
around, but still had no idea onsome basic things, which to me
is proof that, doesn't haveanything to do with, how smart
or how neurotypical someone is.
it's its own little compartment.
And I've been lucky that it'sbeen my whole life that I've
focused on this.
So for me, it's easy.
that's kinda my goal in generalto fill in that gap between
somebody who's super techy andsharing tech information in a
(17:57):
way that's over people's headswith, just making it friendlier
so that everybody has access tohaving safe photos.
Megs (18:04):
I think that you hit the nail on the head because when
we're thinking about this techworld, I think so many people
hold themselves back from lifethat could make it easier for
them to live.
Because they know that they'reprobably gonna be bad at it at
first.
Krista (18:21):
they're afraid to ask because they've been treated
like they're stupid.
When they asked, what is anexternal hard drive?
it's just sad and I don't wantanyone to feel like they can't
have safe photos.
Megs (18:34):
yeah.
and like to that point, I.
People think that they should begood at these things, right?
oh, an emergency room doctor,you should be good at organizing
your photos, right?
Because you're a doctor, right?
you have a brilliant brain, butthat's ridiculous.
All of these shoulds in a worldthat's constantly changing and
(18:54):
evolving, where the tech isconstantly changing and evolving
too.
I know as a millennial when Iwas in high school and even
beyond going into college in mytwenties, things came to me just
very naturally, especially inthe tech world.
Like it was so easy for me tolog onto Facebook, create my
profile, or even I was codingwhen I had MySpace you would
(19:16):
just look it up, you'd do it,and like you'd figure it out
because it was right there infront of you.
But.
Now that things are continuouslychanging and evolving, if you
don't keep up with the changingand evolving and you're doing
the same thing that you havebeen your whole life, naturally
things are gonna feel verydifferent when you try to
change.
And so when you don't know wherea certain button is or you don't
(19:37):
know how to do something thatyou feel like you should be able
to do right away, it's veryfrustrating.
And so I tell my clients, and alot of people all the time is
Part of trying something new anddoing something that could make
your life easier is being braveenough to not be good at it at
first, and to ask questions andto say I have no idea what I'm
doing.
Can you support me?
(19:58):
And asking for help.
And I think that's another thingis we've gotta get better at
asking for help because thereare just some, like you and me,
like there's so many incrediblepeople that know what they're
doing in one space.
We still don't know what we'redoing in other spaces.
This is just where our expertiselies.
So ask us the questions and thenwe'll depend on you to be our
emergency room doctor, because Ifor sure am not gonna be the
(20:21):
person that goes in there youcould even possibly teach me
what you do.
So it's, yeah.
It's so fascinating, this worldthat we live in, and I just
wanna make it more normal to askquestions and to be okay with
that.
I was sharing right before westarted recording is I was like,
oh my gosh, an organizer forphotos like this is amazing.
And then I started to look atyour website a little bit more,
(20:42):
and you sent me an email andyou've been on the Kelly
Clarkson show and on a b, Cnews, you've been on all of
these incredible platforms toshare the gift that you have
with this world.
I'm honored that you join ushere as well because.
There's so much that we canlearn from you.
Krista (20:58):
thank you for having me.
I do appreciate it.
love just getting the word outand trying to, remind people
just to be proactive, I think.
the other thing is, we weretalking about people not knowing
how to do it.
I also think people don'trealize how important it is to
do it, to back up your photosfrom your phone, to digitize
your print photos, Like I said,I speak with people almost on a
(21:19):
daily basis that have beenthrough some kind of
catastrophe.
It's a lot more prevalent thanmost people realize, so I love
the opportunity to get the wordout any way and anywhere I can,
so I absolutely appreciate thatyou've invited me here to chat
about this.
Megs (21:34):
Yeah.
And thank you for saying thecatastrophes again because it
reminds me of the LA fires andthere's so many people that have
been pushed outta their homes.
They were given, minutes toleave without being prepped in a
situation that they couldn'thave seen coming.
most of us think that it's nevergonna happen to us.
In fact, working in theinsurance field, I would ask
(21:57):
people if they're interested inflood insurance and almost like
95% of people told me that theydon't live in a flood zone.
They live on a hill.
I was like, okay, everybodycan't possibly live on a hill,
but yes, and I even just readthe book by Mel Robbins, and she
was just talking about how,yeah, we hear all this data and
this information and the truthout there and how it can affect
(22:20):
us.
None of us think it's gonnahappen to us.
people smoke cigarettes, butthey're like, I'm gonna be the
exception to the rule.
or we live in Florida, butyou're like, nah, like
hurricanes happen, but I won'tbe affected by it.
So how do we get in this mindsetto prepare ourselves for the
worst when we truly hope anddon't want to actually prepare
(22:42):
for the worst because we don'tthink it's gonna happen to us?
How do we get there?
Krista (22:47):
I wish I had the answer because I would have everybody
convinced to get their picturesdigitized for sure, if that was
the case.
But I just saw a statisticrecently that said one in 10
homes are damaged by a naturaldisaster every year.
it really is.
Happening to a lot of people,more so than we think we all
think we're safe, and thenthere's situations that aren't
(23:07):
natural disasters.
The pipes broke.
there's so many things thathappen that it is happening.
And I do feel like the morethese things are happening, I'm
being contacted more.
especially right now, I've hadseveral people from California,
not necessarily their homes wereimpacted by the fire, but
several people have reached outto me asking me where do I
start?
(23:27):
Because they are close to it andthey've realized how it's
hitting close to home,literally.
And now they're starting to geta little nervous.
I wish I knew how to motivateeverybody.
I'm trying my best, I keepputting out my social media
posts and talking about it.
I just wanna inspire everybodyto do this'cause I will tell
you, having.
(23:47):
Lived through Hurricane Ian andthen started going into homes to
help people afterwards.
There was nothing in the worldthat could have prepared me for
the things I saw and theheartbreak I felt, and just
daily, just hugging people andseeing, just complete
devastation.
It really, that will completelychange your world once you've
seen that.
(24:08):
I put a lot of thought into, ifwe only had minutes to evacuate
or if we were outta town thatday and we didn't get to
evacuate and take anything like,are the things that are
important to us safe?
So I really just wanna sharethat with as many people as I
can and hopefully inspire asmany people as I can to take
those same precautions.
Megs (24:25):
I think sometimes.
We put it off because we feellike there's always time, right?
Like I'll get to that later.
And especially with an A DHDbrain, we procrastinate a lot of
the decisions that we have tomake because there are so many
competing priorities in our lifethat are taking over and that it
does get put on the back burner.
(24:46):
coming back to that perspectiveon working on it a little bit at
a time, a little bit everysingle day, because we like to
think of things as like onewhole, like I have people call
me all the time and they'relike, I'm finally ready to get
my house done.
I need to get it done in amonth, and then I need to move
on with my life.
And I was like, I love that youwanna do that.
(25:07):
Except that sometimes it's gonnatake longer.
In fact, most of the time ittakes a lot longer because it
took you this long to get thestuff into your house.
It's going to take you maybehalf the time to get it out of
the house, but at the same time,it's gonna take a good amount of
time.
And same with the photos.
If you've been taking photosfor, some of our families out
(25:27):
there, 50 years of history ofPhotos of your family and then
your grandkids and extendedfamily, it's going to take a
little bit of time to get itdigitized and to preserve it.
where do people start?
if people are listening and theyhave been affected by the fires,
or, even in North Carolina wesaw some huge devastation this
(25:48):
year, the storms are gonna keephappening and, we are gonna
continue to lose our stuff.
How do we start digitizing ourstuff to get prepared?
Krista (25:57):
So I think in general, when it comes to getting your
photos digitized, what I suggestis collecting everything into
one place first, because so manypeople have, photo albums in
this closet and that shoebox inthat closet, and my college
memories are still at myparents' house, like all of that
stuff.
Collecting it all into one placeand dedicating a space to that
(26:19):
if possible, is it part of thedining room table or in office
areas somewhere where you candedicate a space and collecting
it all.
So getting it all together Ithink is the first step.
And then.
breaking it into smallerprojects.
One of those being then try toget it into chronological order
as best as possible.
I always say when it comes togetting things in order by date,
(26:39):
make it close.
It doesn't have to be perfect ifit's slowing down the process, I
wouldn't put.
Too much effort into nitpickingon the exact date things go in.
But try to get them in a roughchronological order and then
break it up into smaller groupsof things.
You're gonna scan.
A lot of times there's differenttypes of photos, you might have
some years you had a Polaroidcamera and some that are really
(27:01):
old or some are in albums, sothe different types and break it
into small projects that waytoo.
I think just breaking it up alittle bit and, digitizing a
little bit at a time is the wayto go for sure.
Megs (27:12):
That's cool.
So what is the proper way todigitize a photo?
And especially if you don't havea scanner, where do you start?
Krista (27:20):
For sure.
I do suggest getting a scanner,that's gonna be the best
quality, and there's scannersthat make the process so fast
and so easy that.
It's fun to do it.
I, I do suggest having thescanners doing it that way.
there's also an app for yourphone called Photo Mine, and
that's a great app to use toget, if you wanna just use your
phone, it's going to get a scanof the photo to your phone and
(27:42):
it's gonna be a better qualitythan just taking a picture with
your phone.
and it has some neat bells andwhistles.
If you have some old photos thatare black and white, it will
colorize them.
It can sharpen some pictures.
Get stuff from like the eightiesor earlier where.
sometimes they're a littleblurry.
The, photo, my napkin sharpenfaces too.
So it's got some neat thingslike that.
So those are the tools Irecommend to start digitizing
(28:04):
pictures.
And then there's also greatservices too.
I can't, I, there's somefabulous photo organizing
services where you just handthem your pictures and they do
it for you.
And I think that's somethingthat people shouldn't rule out.
it is a little bit of aninvestment, but I absolutely
think it is worth it.
After seeing what I saw andseeing the heartbreak I saw.
Every one of the people Itaught, hundreds of people I've
(28:26):
talked to, every single onewould pay double to just have it
done tomorrow because they wouldtell me over and over again,
it's the hardest loss.
it's the one thing that was themost difficult.
Like those are the things Iwould hear.
so in retrospect, all of themwould invest in hiring A photo
organizing service to justdigitize those pictures and have
it all done for them.
(28:47):
So I do tell people now, don'trule that out.
If it's something, maybe set atimeframe.
I'm gonna do this in the nextsix months, and if you haven't
started it in the next sixmonths, then it's time to just
make that investment and have itdone for you.
Megs (28:58):
I love that.
it's such a good point too,because I think there's so much
that we think that we can doourselves.
When really when we start todelegate and ask people for
help, it allows us toreprioritize in the things that
we truly need to get done andtakes a little weight off our
shoulders.
Tell us a little bit about thecourse that you teach or
courses.
Krista (29:15):
so I've done a few workshops.
I don't have one scheduled yet,but I'm looking to do one in the
spring, so that'll be coming up.
and that's more of an onlineworkshop where I work together
with people.
I have a course coming out thatis going to walk through every
step of getting digitalpictures, getting a scan of your
picture.
So it's gonna start from thebeginning.
I try to teach the course in away that assuming that maybe.
(29:36):
You have no knowledgewhatsoever.
So right from picking a scannerto how do you get the software
on your computer to make thescanner work?
So I walk through every step ofit try to keep it in as many
details as I can so nobody feelsleft behind at any stage.
and then I just talk about thedifferent, methods that you can
use and then how to take thosepictures once you digitize them.
(29:56):
I have suggestions for ways tocreate a folder system and where
to keep them, where to store thepicture.
So I go through Every step of itand, try to throw some
inspiration in there to keep theproject going.
So that's what the course isabout.
And it's coming out inconjunction with my book that
comes out in June, which, ismore of a memoir, part memoir,
part how to guide.
(30:17):
So it really walks through myexperience living through
Hurricane Ian and the.
Things I saw in the people Ihelped and, what their situation
was, what they lived through,and walk through that.
And then what happened to theirphotos in each one of these
situations and how we savedthem.
And then with each chapter, endwith methods that you could use
to prevent this from happeningto you.
So it starts with, differentsituations that are all
(30:38):
regarding the hurricane, butthen also I lead into digital
photos too, so things you can doto prevent losing your digital
photos as well.
Megs (30:46):
Oh, that's so cool.
what is the book called?
Krista (30:49):
Beyond the storm.
it's, library Tales Publishingand, it's distributed by Simon
and Schuster, so I think thatmeans it's gonna be in all the
bookstores, but, we'll find out,
Megs (30:58):
will people have the opportunity to pre-order it?
Krista (31:01):
pre-orders will be coming out soon, so I'll
announce that on my website thatall information will be there.
Megs (31:06):
Oh, that's so cool.
I have not taken your course,but I wanna plug it because so
often we take on all of thestuff ourselves and we think we
can do it ourselves.
When you actually pay for acourse and you sign up to take
it.
You're locked in to gettingyourself the more information to
feel more confident about takingthe steps you need to get your
(31:28):
photos under control.
We're gonna keep putting it offand keep putting it off until
you sign up for something likethis where you have someone
holding your hand through theprocess so that now you have the
tools where you know where tostart and you know how to do it.
And now it is about setting upthat routine and getting it done
on a regular basis a little bitevery single day so that you
(31:51):
feel like you're makingprogress.
And it's all about the progress.
It's about the journey I feellike it could be really fun too.
I know I love going through myphotos and like just reliving
some of these experiences thatI've had in my life and being
like, oh my God, I can't believeI wore that.
Or Why did I put 15 butterflyclips in the back of my head and
(32:12):
feel like I needed to take apicture of it?
Krista (32:14):
I love looking at other people's pictures.
That's how much I love photos.
Megs (32:17):
yes.
Krista (32:18):
I do tell people when it comes to photo organizing,
though, this is not likecleaning the garage is usually
what I tell them.
This is a very personal and canbe very emotional if you're,
going through photos.
a lot of people I talk to haveinherited photos as well, where
they've just given 80 yearssometimes of past photos from
their parents or grandparentshave just been handed to them.
And that's, it's overwhelming.
(32:38):
I think that's a big projectthat people get.
They inherit 10 boxes of photosand sometimes I've heard people
20 years, these photos have beenin a box in a closet.
They haven't even looked at'embecause it's overwhelming.
So I do think when you start aproject, whether it's your own
photos or ones you've inherited,just go into it thinking that it
can be emotional and there's alot of memories there.
(32:59):
And it's okay to stop and take amoment, even if it's those
butterfly hair clips.
Take a moment and look at thatand take in That memory.
'cause that's ultimately, that'swhat the photo is for.
it's living its purpose at thatpoint.
So allow that time and also ifit becomes too emotional, walk
away from it.
It's okay to say, okay, this ishard.
I'm gonna walk away from it.
don't look at it like we'recleaning the pantry.
(33:21):
We're gonna start, we're gonnafinish.
We've gotta do it like thisbecause it's a very personal
project.
Megs (33:26):
That's, yeah, that's powerful.
I went to visit my.
Parents back in 2023 before Ileft my corporate job, so I
wasn't organizing professionallyyet, but they have this old
farmhouse where all of mygrandparents' stuff is still
there because they originallybought the house and then my
parents moved in.
All their stuff is on top of it.
So like photos everywhere, butalso other stuff everywhere.
(33:48):
We emptied out one of our sideattics and my mom and I were
going through her mom's Hopechest, which is pretty common
for women to have to put all oftheir memorabilia and these
beautiful things, thesekeepsakes from their lives in
it.
My mom pulled out this photo ofit was super long.
It was probably four feet long.
Of maybe three feet long of abunch of people it looked like
(34:12):
they were all at camp.
And I was like, what the heck isthis?
And my mom's like, this is aphoto of an adult camp that your
grandparents went to, and that'swhere they met each other she
finds my grandfather on one sideof the photo.
And then my grandmother is onthe other side of the photo.
And in no world would I haveever said, let me look for
(34:34):
someone I know in this picturebecause it's hard for me to even
recognize what my grandparentslooked like when they were young
and.
I told my mom that it's soimportant for me, and I would
love if she felt this way too,is I would love to go through
these photos with her so that Iactually knew who these people
were.
Because if I hadn't done thatwith her, I would've no idea
(34:55):
what to do with this scroll thatwas three feet long of all of
these people that were at adultcamp that I would've never known
that they were at adult camp.
But I say that because I.
if your parents are gone oryou've got all these old photos
and you don't know who anyoneis, what do you do?
(35:16):
Because, I think that's mybiggest struggle is I would love
to have this is my greatgrandfather and and this is his
family and so on.
Like, how do we possibly makesense of all those old photos if
we don't know what to do withit?
it feels weird to let it go.
Because it's our family history,but if we don't know who's
there,
Krista (35:35):
Yeah.
Megs (35:35):
what is your recommendation?
Krista (35:37):
My first thing is anyone listening, if you're, I use this
as motivation to sit down withyour parents today or your
grandparents today, and takenotes of who all of these people
are, because the photos losevalue when we don't know who
they are.
they go from being sosignificant to being valueless
because we don't even know ifthese are our relatives or if it
was the neighbor that gave thema photo.
(35:58):
So take the opportunity now, sitdown with family and make those
notes.
for people who don't have that,there are, really crazy new
technologies coming out thatwill help you identify who
people are, even in olderphotos.
Yeah, it's pretty cool.
I believe ancestry.com right nowhas.
A feature that when you uploadphotos, it connects it with
photos and can tie who it is.
(36:18):
I don't know how well it worksyet, but I believe that
technology is only going to getbetter.
So if there is one photo of,uncle Bob from 1940, the one you
upload of Uncle Bob whateverit's gonna be able to connect
that and identify that's yourUncle Bob.
I think that technology isgetting better.
I've been telling people latelyjust, if it is your family and
the pictures are important toyou, hang on to them if you can,
(36:40):
and see, if the technology isthere to help you identify who
the people are in photos,
Megs (36:44):
Is that something that you walk through in the course as
well?
Krista (36:47):
You know what?
I touch on it, but I don't walkthrough it.
I'm not an ancestry.com user, tobe honest with you.
that might be my 2025 thing.
I've been thinking about becauseit does connect so much with old
photos.
I'm thinking maybe I need tojust dive in and start
researching my own ancestry andsigning up for ancestry.com and
stuff.
But, yes, the old photos, thereare a lot of functions in there.
Megs (37:09):
Cool.
Yeah, that's really cool.
I'm just trying to think too ofthe audience.
I have a wide variety of peoplethat listen, all ages that are
listening to get moreperspective and, I would like
to, let me ask you before Iprescribe this, but Is this
course friendly for, people intheir sixties and seventies as
well as people in their thirtiesand forties who could take
(37:30):
advantage of it and get a holdof, digitizing what they have.
Krista (37:36):
For sure.
Yeah, so a good portion of myaudience, like in Instagram, I
can see the demographics of whois following me and a good
portion of my audience.
I'd say I think it was like 85%of my audience is over 50.
So I do have a large group ofpeople that are older, in my
audience.
But I like to keep everythingfriendly to everyone so that,
nobody feels left out.
(37:57):
Whether it's somebody who, maybethey're younger, but they don't
work in, maybe they work outsideor they're not working in
technology at all, so they don'thave.
maybe some skills on how toconnect a scanner to a computer.
So I've tried to keep it, prettyuniversal, that anybody could
use it and not feel overwhelmed.
the course comes out in March,so I have it, it's in the works
right now, I'll be announcing iton my Instagram and talking
(38:19):
about it a bunch more in thecoming weeks.
but yeah, I do think what I'veoutlined and what I've recorded
so far is just very, friendly toanyone really.
Megs (38:29):
Yeah, no, it's such a gift I'm excited for you.
I just wanna say thank you againbecause as an A DHD
entrepreneur, I jumped intothis.
Not thinking too much about it,which is totally okay, because
sometimes that happens, right?
Zigzagging and I'm just makingdecisions and, I think coming
into this, I thought that I hadto prove myself.
(38:50):
And yeah, in certain ways I do.
But at the same time, to seewhere you are and how much
you've accomplished in not onlyachieving your dream of being a
professional photographer, butthen helping people in so many
other ways.
You're such an inspiration toother people out there who wanna
become an entrepreneur and likewriting a book and being on
(39:12):
podcasts and like KellyClarkson, oh my God, she's one
of my favorite humans ever.
Krista (39:17):
She's fabulous.
Megs (39:19):
Oh, so freaking cool.
I'm so impressed with whatyou've done and I'm so excited
for how many more people you getto help out there in our world
and you're doing the damn thing.
So thank you.
Krista (39:31):
thank you for connecting me with the world.
I appreciate you.
Megs (39:35):
where can my listeners find you?
Krista (39:37):
Instagram is my favorite.
I am, at the Krista k onInstagram and that's my social
media home.
But we repost everything toYouTube and Facebook as well,
which are the same.
and then my website is the krisak.com and I have an email that I
send out every two weeks that'sjust inspiration and tips.
To get photo organized.
(39:58):
So I encourage everybody to jointhat.
And the very first email I sendout is my free resource guide,
and it's a list of 60 different,tools and apps and gadgets.
The photo labs, I compared allof my work in one place where
you can link to all of myfavorite things to get photo
organized and to enjoy yourphotos.
So all of that is in one place,and that goes out as the very
(40:20):
first email when you sign up toreceive my email Inspiration.
Megs (40:24):
What is your favorite photo storage app that you've
used?
Krista (40:29):
Ooh.
So I personally use Amazonphotos, because it's free if you
have Amazon Prime, which is, youcan't beat the price.
So I just, it's easy.
You just download it to yourphone and it automatically backs
everything up every night.
You don't even have to thinkabout it.
So for me, I use it as a backupstorage, I don't open it.
I don't look at it again, it'sjust there in case something
(40:51):
were to happen with iCloud or ifsomething happened, my photos, I
know they're always safe there,so that's my favorite.
And then also you could just,you get on your computer, all of
those pictures you scan, youeasily just, you slide'em over
and you can add them to yourAmazon photos too.
So even, your parents' weddingalbum, if you digitize that, it
can also live in the same placeas all of your.
So I like that just for the easeof use and the fact that it's a
(41:13):
free at right now, it's free.
I always like to warn peoplethese things don't stay free
forever.
Megs (41:18):
Yeah.
Krista (41:18):
But it is free at the moment.
There is another storage appthat I don't use personally, but
I absolutely suggest for anyonewho wants simple.
And that's called ForeverStorage.
their motto is they're keepingthings for you forever.
You pay a one time fee upfrontand they keep them for your
lifetime, plus many more years.
I found just playing around withit, it's got a really nice
(41:40):
platform where everything isorganized nicely.
It's easy to search for things,it's all online accessible on
your phone.
it's just super easy.
So you can add all of yourpictures to it if old pictures,
new pictures.
So I really think that's a greatoption for people, but it's just
you're paying for it upfront soit's not the least expensive.
So basically Amazon photos isprobably the least expensive
(42:01):
option you can get, and that iswhat I use forever.
Megs (42:03):
Cool.
That's awesome.
And is there anyone that youwould say don't use this because
it's gonna not say ruin yourlife, but anyone you would deter
us from using?
Krista (42:14):
Oh gosh, probably.
Let me think.
when it comes to iCloud, forinstance, or if you're on
Android, Google photos, I thinkthey're great.
I would use them, but just knowwhat they are.
They are syncing to your phoneand they're only one place.
Sometimes people are confusedand think because they are Your
phone and your computer, thatthey're then in two places, but
they are not, they're in oneplace.
if you accidentally deletepictures, which I actually just
(42:36):
had somebody have this happenedrecently.
they think it might have beentheir grandchild playing with
their phone.
But anyway, a whole month ofphotos were just gone and they
didn't realize it quick enoughbecause you do have that.
Backup.
Like you have things, sit in thetrash can for a while, they
didn't realize it.
Six months later they went backto find photos and realized this
whole group of photos was gone.
And there's no explanation forwhy, but it's gone from
everywhere.
(42:56):
'cause it got deleted from onelocation.
So that's just one example ofhow having photos only relying
on iCloud, for instance, is notgreat.
You do wanna have, like for me,the Amazon photos is
simultaneously backing thingsup, and that's a different
location that is not synced tomy phone.
So if I delete everything off myphone, it will.
stay in Amazon photos.
(43:17):
So that, I think is just nice tohave that extra thing.
I wouldn't say I discouragepeople from using iCloud.
I think it's great to useiCloud.
I just think you need to use itknowing what you're using.
You're using a sync.
Your pictures are still only inone place.
They're not backed up.
So that's just something tothink about, for anyone that's
using a sync service like that.
Megs (43:37):
Oh my gosh.
That's huge.
Yes.
Thank you for telling us.
it's so nice to meet you andthank you so much for your time
and your education and sharing alittle bit of your story.
I can't wait to learn a littlebit more about your journey and
any last words before I let yougo today?
Krista (43:52):
I just appreciate being here.
I appreciate you so much.
Thank you.
Yeti Stereo Microphone-1 (43:56):
Isn't Krista amazing?
I get to meet the coolest peopleby working on this podcast, and
I'm so thrilled to be able toshare them with you too.
With each and every passingepisode, there's something more
that I learn not only about mybrain, but how we approach
different situations anddifferent life lessons.
So many things.
One takeaway from this episodefor me was her perspective on
how we used to have to pay forfilm And getting our pictures
(44:17):
developed back in the day.
And now part of that process isjust paying for the storage of
our photos and digitizing them.
Now, there's also a ton ofdifferent places out there that
can do all of this for you, butit does cost a lot of money.
I went to a presentation lastyear on photo organizing.
With a local photo organizer inthe Denver area, and she was
(44:37):
saying that she did A projectand these people told her that
they basically had enough moneyto be disorganized, so they let
other people do it for them.
And I'm like, wow.
I think that that's somethingthat I never considered having
enough money for it to bedisorganized.
So super interestingperspective.
This month is spring cleaningmonth in my community, and so
I'd love to see you there.
(44:58):
We're gonna be doing q and As,body doubling sessions, some
additional information and somereally cool tools that I love to
release to support you alongyour journey.
And I'd love to meet you andfind out what you're working
through and see if there'sanything that can support you
along the way.
If you are in the ColoradoSprings area, I'm gonna be
hosting a clothing swap on April19th from 12 to 5:00 PM It's
(45:20):
gonna be with me and Tara fromStyle Elevation with Tara.
She's a stylist.
So bring all of the clothes thatyou no longer want.
It could be men's, women's, orkids' clothing.
And there's even shoes that youcan donate.
You drop off all of yourdonations It's$10 to get in and
you can take anything home withyou for only$10.
That's it.
I've had some incredible luckreplenishing my closet and
(45:44):
making sure that I walked awaywith the things that really
elevated me and not felt like Ineeded to break the bank to do
it.
It's pretty amazing, so come seeme.
It's gonna be a balanced studioin Palmer Lake, Colorado.
I feel like April is shaping upto be an incredible month so
far, and I can't wait to seewhat you're able to accomplish.
Oh, and lastly, some of you havebeen asking for the to-do list
download where I talked aboutjust planning my day out each
(46:06):
day.
If you go to my websiteorganizing an A DH, ADHD
brain.com and go to shop, I'llhave any of the templates that
are no longer available for freethere in the shop.
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