June 5, 2024 • 29 mins
James Lott Jr, the Super Organizer celebrates 9 years on the air with Friend Ellen Delap, Former NAPO President and Founder of Professional-organizer.com Thank you everyone for your support of this show!
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(00:02):
It is June fifth, twenty twentyfour, which I can't believe, first
of all, because I'm already happythrough the year. But it's a special
day for me because it is mynine year anniversary of my longest running show
that I've ever done in my entirelife, the show that changed my life.
(00:23):
She organized show with James Lott Junior. Who am I? I'm James
lat Junior, the one and onlyI have changed in nine years also,
I'm sure, but I am veryhappy to still say that I'm doing this
show and it's a labor of lovefor me. And before I get into
that, I brought a former guestaround a couple of times. Wi also
(00:43):
was on my left handed show too. She literally has professional dash Organizer dot
com. She got that, andshe's a past president of NAPO and she's
my friend Ellen d'lap. Hi,miss Ellen, James. I'm so glad
to be with you. And firstof all, let me say congratulations.
(01:03):
That is quite an accomplishment. Nineyears. Yes, way to go.
I can't say enough wonderful things abouthow you have brought all of us,
the best of us out in yourpodcast, and so thank you so much
for including all of us in thissuccess. I'm really grateful. That's very
sweet of you. Thank you forsaying that. I when I first started
Folks a long time ago, likenine years ago, it was someone saw
(01:27):
my blog posts and said, canyou make that into a show? And
I will talk about that when Ido my thanks and gratitude. Right now,
I'm going to add that in there. I've been doing for nine years.
I have never waivered on that.I've always thought thanks and gratitude.
I think it's very important to givethanks and living gratitude. It's not always
easy. It's a tough world outthere, but yes, I do that
(01:49):
living gratitude. It's great saying yeah, yes. So my gratitude extends to
Adrenaline radio dot com. Who Imean? They found me said, Hi,
do you want me on the radio? Well, do they know little
James Lott Junior's dream with this voicethat changed at thirteen was to be on
the radio. Had no idea,right and they had no idea. And
(02:14):
when I met up with them,it was a match made in heaven.
Brian Leone, my first engineer producer, love you very much. We talked
recently and i''m back on the showone time. He's great. He helped
engineer this and bring this to me, and then when I left and desided
do it on my own. Iwant to give a shout to Cameron Lewis.
(02:35):
I'll be on his network and thenmyself. I came over here.
But I want to thank all theguests, all the listeners, the viewers,
the industries. It's been something forme that's like we're such a I
talk organizing all day long. Ilove it. I can talk about it
just every day, all the time. I love it because it's such a
vast and varied thing. Because it'snot just closets, it's not just garages,
(03:04):
it's not just putting things in space. It's the way larger than that.
And even I didn't know that untildoing the show. I've been in
business fifteen years this year also,so that's another thing, and my first
time being entrepreneurs. I living gratitudeand thanks for all my clients, anybody
who has hired me, from theeveryday person to the celebrities. I'm glad
(03:28):
you trust me with your stuff becauseI do recognize going into your spaces.
It's it's personal, it's a Idon't care if it's professional it's personal also,
it's in there and we walk thatline all the time and we help
our we help our clients. SoI live in gratitude for that. I
want to thank God for getting mehere and bringing me here and keep me
(03:49):
in the business. There's some businessups and downs, but also getting this
show together and give me a platformlike speaker dot com and iHeartRadio and Amazon
and Apple and Google and Spot andall. I mean they all that they're
here, which means I can broadcastthis and YouTube which is on YouTube to
the world. Special things to NAPO, and I will always the other Ellen.
(04:15):
I have to mention first because shebrought us together. Ellen Fay,
my other friend who's name Ellen,who seriously said we should be use your
resource. Why aren't we talking toyou? And started the ball rolling.
And I've had eight NAPO presidents onthis show that is amazing, and all
including miss Ellen, wonderful, wonderful, wonderful women who have treated me with
(04:42):
kindness. And lastly Miss Ellen becauseover the years she has reached out to
me when I've had certain things happen, just say hi, and you need
anything, are you fine? Andso Ellen, I appreciate that also well,
I love the shout out to NAPO. Thank you so much for including
all of us and being so generouswith your time and energy. And you
(05:03):
know me, I love you,James so I it's from day one I
met you. You are a bigpersonality, so much energy, so inclusive
of everybody. You're always thinking ofhow can we all benefit together? And
you know, I think a lotof what you're talking about is just generosity
(05:25):
of spirit that you have that isso wonderful to be a part of,
to be in the room with.So we're all. We all love being
a part of your team and yournine years of success. Thank you.
And one of the things I didwas I was at NAPO Houston and spoke
so I see that they're like,oh I I was. I was down
(05:46):
there and I had a good timeand we had a great time out the
everybody down there, and that yourchapter is one of my special chapters.
As many out there now, soI can see Houston. I had some
good barbecue. It was a greattimes. Houston is an amazing in the
city. It's really changed a lotover the years and do everything. We
have bounded together a giant community,fourth largest city. But we're all here
(06:09):
to support each other. And youknow, recently we've had lots of horrifying
events with weather and we're still hereto support each other in no matter.
That's great. Yeah. The oneof the things I want to talk about
because you and I have been inbusiness for a while, and I I
and I I've been using the termlong time, and I feel like that's
just something I mean, in lengthof time. I mean, I don't
(06:30):
want to say old time, becausewe're not old, No, we're just
long time. We've been around fora while, and and especially in our
business and and then in Naples specifically, we have I mean, I'm I
mean, I got amazing women friendswho have been doing this, like with
Gina Lark and I've been for athousand years. We just I'm just so
(06:53):
smart and just you know, andLeslie just somebody nobody just do all these
great things out there. We lookback to you for you, and you
look back in our industry as longas you've been in it. What are
sort of the things that make yousmile? Now? You know where we've
come from to where we are now, and you've been able to see it.
Oh, I've totally seen the growthof our industry. I mean,
(07:15):
organizing is everywhere, and people doreally know about how people can be supported
and helped by all of us thatare NAPO members and even our certified professional
organizers. So I think the growthof the industry, I mean when we
started, people seldom knew that therewere people that could help them in so
many ways in their residences and theirbusinesses, with their finances, with their
(07:40):
kids that are students. So justthe depth and breadth of growth of our
industry is remarkable. And then ofcourse you know in all the ways virtually
that we can help people now,not just on site. So I've look
for this to even become stronger becauseso many people need support in so many
(08:05):
ways, and then the niches thatwill be evolved, just a greater proliferation
of niches as well. So yeah, exponential growth. I'm glad you said
the virtual thing because I think overthe nine over the fifteen years and nine
years we did the show, Idid get really nervous. I'm beginning of
the pandemic. I thought, whatnow, like what are we going to
(08:26):
do? And of course which organizingyou know, it was already a little
bit there before that, but likeit really kind of grew and other things,
set other things ground. But Iwas I got nervous for a little
bit. I was like, wecan't go on people's houses. What are
you gonna do? I mean forthose who do that prior organizing. So
that was interesting that we adapted tothat too, didn't we exactly? And
(08:48):
you know, there's just so manymore ways to get support because you can
get it individually. There's lots ofclutter support groups that are run online,
So wherever your need is, yourneeds can be met in any way.
So it's a great support to thoseof us who have There's so many more
life transitions that are going on,and the velocity of life is so quick
(09:11):
right now, so that level ofsupport is needed even more so. So
Yeah, and also I think tooyou touched upon it. I can't respond
to about how very decision is.If you're a person I want to switch
in a little bit too, Ifyou're a person looking to get into this
business, you can take your personallife experience, some of your academic experience
(09:35):
and you can apply it to somethinginorganizing, right, Ellen, Absolutely absolutely.
We know many great authors, Jamesclear is one of them. Their
life experience was that they had atremendous setback and they built their life back
step by step. And each ofus as professional organizers has had such a
variety. I can't tell you howmany people tell me I've moved over twenty
(09:58):
times. Do you I think Icould become a professional organizer? I'm like,
absolutely, I want to mentor youand get you started. And of
course I first mentioned NAPO because that'sthe best place to get education and not
only on how to run your business, but how to be knowledgeable about the
situations you're going to face with someof your clients. But absolutely, now
(10:20):
is a booming time for people tostart in this industry. I know.
One of the things that makes mesmile and also be in awe is popping
up our certain colleges, universities,this productivity training, the productivity thing.
I'm like, where did that comefrom? I mean, that wasn't there
when I was in bud I wasin college and when dinosaurs and stone tablets
(10:43):
happened, they had had any ofthose kind of programs. I remember as
a kid, I was a kid, but in high school when we had
economics class and home class like that. But that's all gone now. But
to see but to see college universitiesactually are including productivity and management and it's
(11:05):
I means, is that amazing?I think it's I mean, kids are
actually growing up there. You're excitingto hear that. Now there's actually some
trainings that are going on in highschool and college because as we know,
it's been a void for so longfor students, So this is a wonderful
step. Lots of people are juststarting in a very general field like psychology,
(11:26):
and many of these students are becomingprofessional organizers immediately after they leave the
university or college. So yeah,it is very exciting to see this youngest
group starting in this industry. Yougotta say, I grew up I want
to be an organizer, I wantto be a coach, and like really,
I mean I didn't have that wasnot when we were growing up.
There was nothing like that. Yeah, this is great and it's really wonderful
(11:50):
because not only does it give peoplea real place to tap into their strengths,
because the people who are the bornorganized this is such a joyful profession,
and so many people struggle in theirprofession, not thinking that they have
enough training and entering a profession whereyou love what you do every day is
(12:13):
a gift to yourself. Oh mygoodness, you know as I do.
I just I spoke at Nicoles SanDiego this year about your self care and
part of that is your job situation, and that is part of it.
Yes, absolutely, the stress thatpeople feel at their workplace because they don't
have the kind of communication with thepeople that they work with. They might
(12:35):
be more organized and the people aroundthem, and they're frustrated by that.
So yes, absolutely, I'm soglad you to included that in self care
because it's such an important part ofhow we look into the future for our
to thrive as individuals. What itis because for a lot of us,
we spend more time working than notin certain parts of our lives, right
(12:58):
there, certain parts I mean,I mean there's there's parents, so for
some people there's parenting anything like that, but I mean there's but still work
is a major through line our lives. And when you have a job,
you just oh, I've had job, and distrust me where you just dread
going to work. You wake up, that alarm goes off and you're already
cursing yourself before you go to bed. That's not good, that's not good
(13:22):
for yourself. That's not good foryourself as teeve or your or your self
care. And you're drinking coffee anddrinking, you know, two glasses of
wine every night to forget about it. I mean that's not that's not good.
I mean that's like so, Imean I just know that jobs and
employments and for me at forty yearsold, I found my passion and I
always wonder what that feel like.That does change your mindsets? It does
(13:46):
it gives you something to look forwardto her every day. There's the most
important things meaning and purpose, whichis what our profession is. It's all
about meaning and creating meaning and purposein other people's lives. And the productivity
piece. Everybody wants to be findingout the hacks that can help them be
the most productive, to be themost efficient, use their time most wisely.
(14:11):
So these are very important elements ofnot only what we do, but
what others are seeking to do inour profession. Well, you know,
and also what's what's amazing is thatthere's always work to be done, so,
you know, job security is therein America. We have a lot
(14:31):
of people who need help in varyingway we do. There's plenty of work.
It's plenty of but there's plenty ofwork. There's I always say there's
no competition, plenty of work.There's absolutely plenty of work, and there's
plenty of work in so many ways. So once again, finding the niche
that really taps into your strengths makesall the difference. So we have such
a wide variety of people that arehelping people in so many ways. It's
(14:54):
just it's remarkable because who would havethought that you could find a professional organizer
that not only would help you move, but would help you set aside all
the things in your house that youwant to let go of and find a
way to let go of them ina way that you might bring more joy
to others by donating, or moreincome to yourself by how you sold them.
(15:15):
So there's a wide variety of waysthat not only we as professional organizers
interact with our clients, even justby supporting them when they're going through a
grief process. So it's it's remarkable. So it is and it's joy to
see this. Yes, and Iand I became I became also a certified
life coach. I went to CoachTrading Alliance and I did that I'm I'm
(15:37):
a coach and fight if areas includingdivorce coaching and that something concrats and it's
a it's recognized by the aba asas a as a part of the professional
part of the process and for clientsand save them a lot of billable hours.
It saves a lot of law peoplehow to deal with the minutia of
(16:02):
separating property, gating, Like wehandle that stuff as coaches. So I
didn't have I had no idea fifteenyears ago that was even anything possible.
So I'm just trying to gi peopleexamples at home from both sides. If
you are in a situation or you'rethink about looking for a career and you're
like, I like mediation, Ilike it. There is I mean,
there's still stuff you can do andI can also organize at the same time
(16:25):
I can do I could do allexactly. That's well. One thing I
want to point out that you area leader in your field because you are
always seeking further education, You're alwayslooking for growth, You're always looking for
new opportunities, which is something thatwe all really makes all of us be
better at what we do, butjust thrive as individuals as well. But
(16:48):
You're right, you're believing a lotof stress in a divorced situation, which
I don't think a lot of peopleknow that. There's this opportunity for you
to have that team member and youknow you don't want to be engaging interacting
with these negative situations like this.So yeah, that is an excellent like
(17:10):
being a life coloach. There's somany ways you can support people, just
whether they're in a divorce, addinga new family member, getting a new
job, moving, So you're avital part of these people's lives. So
thank you for doing that for them. I love it. To me,
it's it's it's I feel like I'mserving and I just feel like that's something
(17:32):
that many of us organizers feel.All we do, Yes, we're serving.
We're serving our community and our public, and that to me is better
than pushing papers. I used topush papers. I had. I had
a job where I was like whatdo we do here? I can have
no ide we do. I'm justI'm like I'm doing some kind of budgets
around. I'm like, what dowe do? Do we make plastics or
like you know, make sparks.I have no idea, but I was
like getting paid but it was empty. It was completely empty inside. I'm
(17:56):
like, I'm just getting paid andthat's it. I'm way for my vacation
and two months and that's all I'mthinking. I mean, I want to
do something where every day and becauseyou know, every day is different,
No todays are alike. When you'rean organizer, and also you're making your
helping facilitate change in someone. I'mexactly on the same page as you.
(18:17):
When I started my business professional dashorganizer dot com in two thousand, my
real goal was I want to makea difference every day and by being a
professional organizer, that's really what youdo. And like you're saying, it
really is like a service to others, and so it's very easy to share
(18:37):
what do we do, how doI help you? Rather than thinking I'm
trying to sell you a package ofhours of us doing something together. No,
this is deep, meaningful work,and so you're right, I mean,
it really is more of a servicethan anything else. Now, I
also want to talk about as wego through this. As time time does
go on and we get a littleolder, some things change. I have
(19:00):
five grandchildren. I'm trying to spendtime with aging parents I'm taken care of
for us long timers, and I'mkind of curse your thought is too,
but just that I feel like ourneeds are a little different than a newcomer
or someone who's you know, beenten years in the business or whatever.
I feel like we have different needs. What are some of your thoughts about
that? The kind of the becausenow we're coming up with where people who
(19:22):
have been in business twenty five years, thirty years, they're we're hitting our
sixties and seventies, and like,I mean, it's just different, but
we still want to be connected tothe business, Like, we still have
different needs. What are some ofyour thoughts about that? I totally agree
our needs are different, and sometimesour physical beings want to make a change
too, because we don't have allof the same not necessarily energy, but
(19:47):
physical capability. So I totally agree. But there's so many opportunities for you
to support people in ways that someof us choose to bring assistance with us,
so then we add a team memberto what we're doing and take them
along with us. Some of uschoose to go into more of a coaching
modality so that way we can workless physically but more mentally. And we
(20:11):
know how big the need is forpeople with not only with their therapists,
but also their coaches. And thensome of us actually have sold our businesses
to others that are younger. Sowe have like so many options as we
age in this profession that it's wonderfuland like you said, like that continuing
(20:33):
education. Even though we know alot, we all know there's still more
to learn about the brain, andthere's so much more research now. So
absolutely there's there's a lot of thingsthat go on even as your business matures.
Yeah, because I think I tellyou all the time. It's just
like language changes. We started sayingproductivity more than time management. There's like
(20:55):
little change that happened. And aso I noticed from being in other industries
that just know, I was inthe healthcare industrys, so just like there's
I was an insurance industry. BeforeI gotten to this, I was an
a farm at AG. You justlearned that language changes, sometimes systems change,
they get updated, someone finds abetter way to do something, and
so it's very valuable to all ofus. So that's why I say education
(21:17):
is something that it doesn't end tillI'm in heaven. It doesn't end while
I'm on earth, still alive,still try and do this even to my
media profession, you know, Iteach classes and coach kids on media,
but also I'm looking at other peoplewho are also making advances. I think
looking sideways, looking forward are greatthings no matter what mis you're in.
(21:40):
And I think in organizing and productivityand all that, I think it's vital
to always kind of see, readupon articles what's going on, Like I
love Ella and I see I'm anerd. I love all that stuff.
I love all that stuff. I'mso right about the language. But I
think none of us want to beleft behind that are at the forefront of
this industry, like yourself. Andas a result, we are often learning
(22:03):
new language, and we're learning aboutnew gurus that are in our productivity and
organizing field, and so we're alwayslooking ahead, like what's coming next.
We may not have seen exactly whatwas going to go on with with COVID,
but we're very adaptable, we're flexible, and we also always want to
be looking towards what's coming next sowe can help people with that. So
(22:26):
definitely, it's it's very much aboutlooking sideways and looking for the future.
There's so many people in our industrythat you and I both know and or
and or have heard of. Butwe know and I know you and I
know a lot of people that aredoing amazing things too, and I have
no problems to show. That's whyI do the show. I want to
showcate them. People like Jaal lenTell or Dorothy organizer people are Matt Pax
(22:48):
or whatever. These are folks whoare doing things that have been around a
long time, but also are outthere. You're leading the charge and have
these great personalities and are just andI a ways said this industry is one
of the fewdustries where I don't feelcompetition. I feel like we're all in
this together. We're all swimming upstreamtogether to help the world in these in
these things, and it's been veryit's been That's one thing I appreciated the
(23:11):
last nine years through the show thatpeople are not saying, like I'm not
going on yourself because you're you're anorganizer too, Like, no, I'm
an organizer also, so let's I'lllift you up to you. That's why
I've just like I said, there'splenty of work exactly, and I think
it's true we're extremely collegial in ourindustry. We really don't think of each
other as competitors. We really thinkthe saying I have is a rising tide
(23:33):
floats all boats. So every timesomeone has a professional organizing show on TV
Home Edit, you name it,Matt Paxton's show, every show that's on
TV Hoarders with Dorothy, people arethinking about maybe I need that kind of
help too, So it helps allof us. And also many of us
(23:55):
go to conferences together. NAPO hassummit where we're teaching each other things and
even things as something like how touse a design program on house or how
to use Canva as a graphic designtool. Like I love my peers and
they love me, and we're sofortunate to have an industry that feels that
(24:18):
way about each other. So again, I said it right after one of
my other shows. But folks,I was supposed to be at the summit
in Long Beaches, in my backyardbasically I live in Inglewood, and I
got COVID right before that and knockedme out, and I was so sad.
Again, Mindy gotting. My girlwas giving me carpeloge so she'd let
me run the place, and Iwould give her a shout out again.
(24:40):
I love her and I couldn't makeI was so upset. I wouldn't see
all my friends because I'm telling you, when you go to a conference of
professional organizers, there's no other highfor me. There's so much. That's
why I couldn't come. I don'twant get right Covid. Yeah, I
was it is. I was lovesinking. She said, you got you
(25:03):
bring your camera and your microphone.I had to run a place. I
was so excited. I want togive her. I just want to give
another shout out to her again foragain Niklell President wonderful to me giving me
access. And I'll say I saidsome expectives because I couldn't go, but
I was this dad Covid knocked folks. You don't want to knock me out.
I slepped like twenty hours one dayand said it was just crazy.
But yes, but I mean thesummit, Chug have one in Chicago next
(25:26):
time. We're trying to go thatway. I love Chicago. Chicago's great.
I hope you'll be there. Yes. Well, and even when you're
a celebrity in our industry like youyourself, James, like influencers we are
very embracing and so we will walkup to you give you a hug.
Of course, tons of Instagram momentsgoing on. So yes, so yeah,
(25:49):
And you know, the wonderful thingabout Sunday is it's a very equal
playing field. All of us feelreally good about it. So it's great
thing. That's good. Hear someI mean, so my friends were speaking.
I was like, great topics tothere's great topics you guys, you
don't understand. It's just it's sucha our industry is just it's just wonderful
and I and I feel very blessedto have found it. Thanks to Julie
(26:11):
Morgan Stern's book Inside Organizedly, InsideOut. I saw that book. It
came to my orbit and I waslike, what is this? And that
led me fifteen years of this pathand nine years of his path on here
and did Ellen that was it wasthat book that led me this direction.
Yes, yes, that's such greatand that's funny. Yes, that's awesome.
(26:32):
So we have to end, butI just I just Ellen thinks for
being on the show so much,and I just and one last thing before
we go, what would I haveto say to anybody who is either who
was looking for a professional organizer ora coach that just and they're they're on
the fence. What would you whatwould you say to them? Tell people,
(26:56):
do as much as you can foryourself, but don't be afraid to
ask for help. I think that'sthe biggest challenge people have, is they
feel like they're very vulnerable that ifthey have to ask for help, it's
an inadequacy of theirs. I'm abig proponent of build a bigger team.
Doesn't matter who your team is.Like, there's a person that can come
(27:18):
clean your house, there's a personwho's going to do your launch. There's
a person that's going to come inand help you with your closet, your
finances, helping your kids be betterstudents. So don't think about it as
an inadequacy because you don't have enoughhelp. It's how can you get all
sorts of help this way? Soit's wonderful. Thank you so much,
(27:41):
Thank you so much. Check outNAPO dot net for just want organizers or
if you want to join, oryou want to look at some some classes
and something. I mean, theteachers are, they're amazing instructor. It's
amazing stuff. When I'm there andthey are on the forefront. Check me
out. I'm for some reason,I'm on a roll right now. I
am being asked to mean a lotof magazines so we can check it out.
(28:06):
I've been question I've been questioned.Sorry, I've been quoted in Apartment
Therapy recently, Better, Better Homesand Gardens, uh Forbes. I mean,
it's a couple of places you canfind some of my latest stuff in
just I'm just in James Lodjenor andyou can figure that out. But I
want to thank all those publications forcoming to me. I mean, I'm
humbled by it, and thank you. And to everybody who again who watches
(28:30):
or listens to this program, Iappreciate it. Go to her professional dot
dash organizer dot com. I putin the description below. If you want
something to need some help, andyou're anywhere, just talk She's for hire.
Got people talk to her. James, I want to congratulate you again
on these nine amazing years and includingus all in the fun and bringing us
(28:52):
all with you. So thank you, thank you. I plan on being
here even longer now. Think I'mstill going, folks, I'm the only
organizing shows been going on continuously thiswhole time, and we're going to continue
going. We have more people totalk to you and more people have more
topics to illuminate, so that willcontinue happening. Everyone get organized. It's
really anybody can do it, andyour life really, I'm seriously, it
(29:15):
will really be better. See younext time.
It is June fifth, twenty twentyfour, which I can't believe, first
of all, because I'm already happythrough the year. But it's a special
day for me because it is mynine year anniversary of my longest running show
that I've ever done in my entirelife, the show that changed my life.
(00:23):
She organized show with James Lott Junior. Who am I? I'm James
lat Junior, the one and onlyI have changed in nine years also,
I'm sure, but I am veryhappy to still say that I'm doing this
show and it's a labor of lovefor me. And before I get into
that, I brought a former guestaround a couple of times. Wi also
(00:43):
was on my left handed show too. She literally has professional dash Organizer dot
com. She got that, andshe's a past president of NAPO and she's
my friend Ellen d'lap. Hi,miss Ellen, James. I'm so glad
to be with you. And firstof all, let me say congratulations.
(01:03):
That is quite an accomplishment. Nineyears. Yes, way to go.
I can't say enough wonderful things abouthow you have brought all of us,
the best of us out in yourpodcast, and so thank you so much
for including all of us in thissuccess. I'm really grateful. That's very
sweet of you. Thank you forsaying that. I when I first started
Folks a long time ago, likenine years ago, it was someone saw
(01:27):
my blog posts and said, canyou make that into a show? And
I will talk about that when Ido my thanks and gratitude. Right now,
I'm going to add that in there. I've been doing for nine years.
I have never waivered on that.I've always thought thanks and gratitude.
I think it's very important to givethanks and living gratitude. It's not always
easy. It's a tough world outthere, but yes, I do that
(01:49):
living gratitude. It's great saying yeah, yes. So my gratitude extends to
Adrenaline radio dot com. Who Imean? They found me said, Hi,
do you want me on the radio? Well, do they know little
James Lott Junior's dream with this voicethat changed at thirteen was to be on
the radio. Had no idea,right and they had no idea. And
(02:14):
when I met up with them,it was a match made in heaven.
Brian Leone, my first engineer producer, love you very much. We talked
recently and i''m back on the showone time. He's great. He helped
engineer this and bring this to me, and then when I left and desided
do it on my own. Iwant to give a shout to Cameron Lewis.
(02:35):
I'll be on his network and thenmyself. I came over here.
But I want to thank all theguests, all the listeners, the viewers,
the industries. It's been something forme that's like we're such a I
talk organizing all day long. Ilove it. I can talk about it
just every day, all the time. I love it because it's such a
vast and varied thing. Because it'snot just closets, it's not just garages,
(03:04):
it's not just putting things in space. It's the way larger than that.
And even I didn't know that untildoing the show. I've been in
business fifteen years this year also,so that's another thing, and my first
time being entrepreneurs. I living gratitudeand thanks for all my clients, anybody
who has hired me, from theeveryday person to the celebrities. I'm glad
(03:28):
you trust me with your stuff becauseI do recognize going into your spaces.
It's it's personal, it's a Idon't care if it's professional it's personal also,
it's in there and we walk thatline all the time and we help
our we help our clients. SoI live in gratitude for that. I
want to thank God for getting mehere and bringing me here and keep me
(03:49):
in the business. There's some businessups and downs, but also getting this
show together and give me a platformlike speaker dot com and iHeartRadio and Amazon
and Apple and Google and Spot andall. I mean they all that they're
here, which means I can broadcastthis and YouTube which is on YouTube to
the world. Special things to NAPO, and I will always the other Ellen.
(04:15):
I have to mention first because shebrought us together. Ellen Fay,
my other friend who's name Ellen,who seriously said we should be use your
resource. Why aren't we talking toyou? And started the ball rolling.
And I've had eight NAPO presidents onthis show that is amazing, and all
including miss Ellen, wonderful, wonderful, wonderful women who have treated me with
(04:42):
kindness. And lastly Miss Ellen becauseover the years she has reached out to
me when I've had certain things happen, just say hi, and you need
anything, are you fine? Andso Ellen, I appreciate that also well,
I love the shout out to NAPO. Thank you so much for including
all of us and being so generouswith your time and energy. And you
(05:03):
know me, I love you,James so I it's from day one I
met you. You are a bigpersonality, so much energy, so inclusive
of everybody. You're always thinking ofhow can we all benefit together? And
you know, I think a lotof what you're talking about is just generosity
(05:25):
of spirit that you have that isso wonderful to be a part of,
to be in the room with.So we're all. We all love being
a part of your team and yournine years of success. Thank you.
And one of the things I didwas I was at NAPO Houston and spoke
so I see that they're like,oh I I was. I was down
(05:46):
there and I had a good timeand we had a great time out the
everybody down there, and that yourchapter is one of my special chapters.
As many out there now, soI can see Houston. I had some
good barbecue. It was a greattimes. Houston is an amazing in the
city. It's really changed a lotover the years and do everything. We
have bounded together a giant community,fourth largest city. But we're all here
(06:09):
to support each other. And youknow, recently we've had lots of horrifying
events with weather and we're still hereto support each other in no matter.
That's great. Yeah. The oneof the things I want to talk about
because you and I have been inbusiness for a while, and I I
and I I've been using the termlong time, and I feel like that's
just something I mean, in lengthof time. I mean, I don't
(06:30):
want to say old time, becausewe're not old, No, we're just
long time. We've been around fora while, and and especially in our
business and and then in Naples specifically, we have I mean, I'm I
mean, I got amazing women friendswho have been doing this, like with
Gina Lark and I've been for athousand years. We just I'm just so
(06:53):
smart and just you know, andLeslie just somebody nobody just do all these
great things out there. We lookback to you for you, and you
look back in our industry as longas you've been in it. What are
sort of the things that make yousmile? Now? You know where we've
come from to where we are now, and you've been able to see it.
Oh, I've totally seen the growthof our industry. I mean,
(07:15):
organizing is everywhere, and people doreally know about how people can be supported
and helped by all of us thatare NAPO members and even our certified professional
organizers. So I think the growthof the industry, I mean when we
started, people seldom knew that therewere people that could help them in so
many ways in their residences and theirbusinesses, with their finances, with their
(07:40):
kids that are students. So justthe depth and breadth of growth of our
industry is remarkable. And then ofcourse you know in all the ways virtually
that we can help people now,not just on site. So I've look
for this to even become stronger becauseso many people need support in so many
(08:05):
ways, and then the niches thatwill be evolved, just a greater proliferation
of niches as well. So yeah, exponential growth. I'm glad you said
the virtual thing because I think overthe nine over the fifteen years and nine
years we did the show, Idid get really nervous. I'm beginning of
the pandemic. I thought, whatnow, like what are we going to
(08:26):
do? And of course which organizingyou know, it was already a little
bit there before that, but likeit really kind of grew and other things,
set other things ground. But Iwas I got nervous for a little
bit. I was like, wecan't go on people's houses. What are
you gonna do? I mean forthose who do that prior organizing. So
that was interesting that we adapted tothat too, didn't we exactly? And
(08:48):
you know, there's just so manymore ways to get support because you can
get it individually. There's lots ofclutter support groups that are run online,
So wherever your need is, yourneeds can be met in any way.
So it's a great support to thoseof us who have There's so many more
life transitions that are going on,and the velocity of life is so quick
(09:11):
right now, so that level ofsupport is needed even more so. So
Yeah, and also I think tooyou touched upon it. I can't respond
to about how very decision is.If you're a person I want to switch
in a little bit too, Ifyou're a person looking to get into this
business, you can take your personallife experience, some of your academic experience
(09:35):
and you can apply it to somethinginorganizing, right, Ellen, Absolutely absolutely.
We know many great authors, Jamesclear is one of them. Their
life experience was that they had atremendous setback and they built their life back
step by step. And each ofus as professional organizers has had such a
variety. I can't tell you howmany people tell me I've moved over twenty
(09:58):
times. Do you I think Icould become a professional organizer? I'm like,
absolutely, I want to mentor youand get you started. And of
course I first mentioned NAPO because that'sthe best place to get education and not
only on how to run your business, but how to be knowledgeable about the
situations you're going to face with someof your clients. But absolutely, now
(10:20):
is a booming time for people tostart in this industry. I know.
One of the things that makes mesmile and also be in awe is popping
up our certain colleges, universities,this productivity training, the productivity thing.
I'm like, where did that comefrom? I mean, that wasn't there
when I was in bud I wasin college and when dinosaurs and stone tablets
(10:43):
happened, they had had any ofthose kind of programs. I remember as
a kid, I was a kid, but in high school when we had
economics class and home class like that. But that's all gone now. But
to see but to see college universitiesactually are including productivity and management and it's
(11:05):
I means, is that amazing?I think it's I mean, kids are
actually growing up there. You're excitingto hear that. Now there's actually some
trainings that are going on in highschool and college because as we know,
it's been a void for so longfor students, So this is a wonderful
step. Lots of people are juststarting in a very general field like psychology,
(11:26):
and many of these students are becomingprofessional organizers immediately after they leave the
university or college. So yeah,it is very exciting to see this youngest
group starting in this industry. Yougotta say, I grew up I want
to be an organizer, I wantto be a coach, and like really,
I mean I didn't have that wasnot when we were growing up.
There was nothing like that. Yeah, this is great and it's really wonderful
(11:50):
because not only does it give peoplea real place to tap into their strengths,
because the people who are the bornorganized this is such a joyful profession,
and so many people struggle in theirprofession, not thinking that they have
enough training and entering a profession whereyou love what you do every day is
(12:13):
a gift to yourself. Oh mygoodness, you know as I do.
I just I spoke at Nicoles SanDiego this year about your self care and
part of that is your job situation, and that is part of it.
Yes, absolutely, the stress thatpeople feel at their workplace because they don't
have the kind of communication with thepeople that they work with. They might
(12:35):
be more organized and the people aroundthem, and they're frustrated by that.
So yes, absolutely, I'm soglad you to included that in self care
because it's such an important part ofhow we look into the future for our
to thrive as individuals. What itis because for a lot of us,
we spend more time working than notin certain parts of our lives, right
(12:58):
there, certain parts I mean,I mean there's there's parents, so for
some people there's parenting anything like that, but I mean there's but still work
is a major through line our lives. And when you have a job,
you just oh, I've had job, and distrust me where you just dread
going to work. You wake up, that alarm goes off and you're already
cursing yourself before you go to bed. That's not good, that's not good
(13:22):
for yourself. That's not good foryourself as teeve or your or your self
care. And you're drinking coffee anddrinking, you know, two glasses of
wine every night to forget about it. I mean that's not that's not good.
I mean that's like so, Imean I just know that jobs and
employments and for me at forty yearsold, I found my passion and I
always wonder what that feel like.That does change your mindsets? It does
(13:46):
it gives you something to look forwardto her every day. There's the most
important things meaning and purpose, whichis what our profession is. It's all
about meaning and creating meaning and purposein other people's lives. And the productivity
piece. Everybody wants to be findingout the hacks that can help them be
the most productive, to be themost efficient, use their time most wisely.
(14:11):
So these are very important elements ofnot only what we do, but
what others are seeking to do inour profession. Well, you know,
and also what's what's amazing is thatthere's always work to be done, so,
you know, job security is therein America. We have a lot
(14:31):
of people who need help in varyingway we do. There's plenty of work.
It's plenty of but there's plenty ofwork. There's I always say there's
no competition, plenty of work.There's absolutely plenty of work, and there's
plenty of work in so many ways. So once again, finding the niche
that really taps into your strengths makesall the difference. So we have such
a wide variety of people that arehelping people in so many ways. It's
(14:54):
just it's remarkable because who would havethought that you could find a professional organizer
that not only would help you move, but would help you set aside all
the things in your house that youwant to let go of and find a
way to let go of them ina way that you might bring more joy
to others by donating, or moreincome to yourself by how you sold them.
(15:15):
So there's a wide variety of waysthat not only we as professional organizers
interact with our clients, even justby supporting them when they're going through a
grief process. So it's it's remarkable. So it is and it's joy to
see this. Yes, and Iand I became I became also a certified
life coach. I went to CoachTrading Alliance and I did that I'm I'm
(15:37):
a coach and fight if areas includingdivorce coaching and that something concrats and it's
a it's recognized by the aba asas a as a part of the professional
part of the process and for clientsand save them a lot of billable hours.
It saves a lot of law peoplehow to deal with the minutia of
(16:02):
separating property, gating, Like wehandle that stuff as coaches. So I
didn't have I had no idea fifteenyears ago that was even anything possible.
So I'm just trying to gi peopleexamples at home from both sides. If
you are in a situation or you'rethink about looking for a career and you're
like, I like mediation, Ilike it. There is I mean,
there's still stuff you can do andI can also organize at the same time
(16:25):
I can do I could do allexactly. That's well. One thing I
want to point out that you area leader in your field because you are
always seeking further education, You're alwayslooking for growth, You're always looking for
new opportunities, which is something thatwe all really makes all of us be
better at what we do, butjust thrive as individuals as well. But
(16:48):
You're right, you're believing a lotof stress in a divorced situation, which
I don't think a lot of peopleknow that. There's this opportunity for you
to have that team member and youknow you don't want to be engaging interacting
with these negative situations like this.So yeah, that is an excellent like
(17:10):
being a life coloach. There's somany ways you can support people, just
whether they're in a divorce, addinga new family member, getting a new
job, moving, So you're avital part of these people's lives. So
thank you for doing that for them. I love it. To me,
it's it's it's I feel like I'mserving and I just feel like that's something
(17:32):
that many of us organizers feel.All we do, Yes, we're serving.
We're serving our community and our public, and that to me is better
than pushing papers. I used topush papers. I had. I had
a job where I was like whatdo we do here? I can have
no ide we do. I'm justI'm like I'm doing some kind of budgets
around. I'm like, what dowe do? Do we make plastics or
like you know, make sparks.I have no idea, but I was
like getting paid but it was empty. It was completely empty inside. I'm
(17:56):
like, I'm just getting paid andthat's it. I'm way for my vacation
and two months and that's all I'mthinking. I mean, I want to
do something where every day and becauseyou know, every day is different,
No todays are alike. When you'rean organizer, and also you're making your
helping facilitate change in someone. I'mexactly on the same page as you.
(18:17):
When I started my business professional dashorganizer dot com in two thousand, my
real goal was I want to makea difference every day and by being a
professional organizer, that's really what youdo. And like you're saying, it
really is like a service to others, and so it's very easy to share
(18:37):
what do we do, how doI help you? Rather than thinking I'm
trying to sell you a package ofhours of us doing something together. No,
this is deep, meaningful work,and so you're right, I mean,
it really is more of a servicethan anything else. Now, I
also want to talk about as wego through this. As time time does
go on and we get a littleolder, some things change. I have
(19:00):
five grandchildren. I'm trying to spendtime with aging parents I'm taken care of
for us long timers, and I'mkind of curse your thought is too,
but just that I feel like ourneeds are a little different than a newcomer
or someone who's you know, beenten years in the business or whatever.
I feel like we have different needs. What are some of your thoughts about
that? The kind of the becausenow we're coming up with where people who
(19:22):
have been in business twenty five years, thirty years, they're we're hitting our
sixties and seventies, and like,I mean, it's just different, but
we still want to be connected tothe business, Like, we still have
different needs. What are some ofyour thoughts about that? I totally agree
our needs are different, and sometimesour physical beings want to make a change
too, because we don't have allof the same not necessarily energy, but
(19:47):
physical capability. So I totally agree. But there's so many opportunities for you
to support people in ways that someof us choose to bring assistance with us,
so then we add a team memberto what we're doing and take them
along with us. Some of uschoose to go into more of a coaching
modality so that way we can workless physically but more mentally. And we
(20:11):
know how big the need is forpeople with not only with their therapists,
but also their coaches. And thensome of us actually have sold our businesses
to others that are younger. Sowe have like so many options as we
age in this profession that it's wonderfuland like you said, like that continuing
(20:33):
education. Even though we know alot, we all know there's still more
to learn about the brain, andthere's so much more research now. So
absolutely there's there's a lot of thingsthat go on even as your business matures.
Yeah, because I think I tellyou all the time. It's just
like language changes. We started sayingproductivity more than time management. There's like
(20:55):
little change that happened. And aso I noticed from being in other industries
that just know, I was inthe healthcare industrys, so just like there's
I was an insurance industry. BeforeI gotten to this, I was an
a farm at AG. You justlearned that language changes, sometimes systems change,
they get updated, someone finds abetter way to do something, and
so it's very valuable to all ofus. So that's why I say education
(21:17):
is something that it doesn't end tillI'm in heaven. It doesn't end while
I'm on earth, still alive,still try and do this even to my
media profession, you know, Iteach classes and coach kids on media,
but also I'm looking at other peoplewho are also making advances. I think
looking sideways, looking forward are greatthings no matter what mis you're in.
(21:40):
And I think in organizing and productivityand all that, I think it's vital
to always kind of see, readupon articles what's going on, Like I
love Ella and I see I'm anerd. I love all that stuff.
I love all that stuff. I'mso right about the language. But I
think none of us want to beleft behind that are at the forefront of
this industry, like yourself. Andas a result, we are often learning
(22:03):
new language, and we're learning aboutnew gurus that are in our productivity and
organizing field, and so we're alwayslooking ahead, like what's coming next.
We may not have seen exactly whatwas going to go on with with COVID,
but we're very adaptable, we're flexible, and we also always want to
be looking towards what's coming next sowe can help people with that. So
(22:26):
definitely, it's it's very much aboutlooking sideways and looking for the future.
There's so many people in our industrythat you and I both know and or
and or have heard of. Butwe know and I know you and I
know a lot of people that aredoing amazing things too, and I have
no problems to show. That's whyI do the show. I want to
showcate them. People like Jaal lenTell or Dorothy organizer people are Matt Pax
(22:48):
or whatever. These are folks whoare doing things that have been around a
long time, but also are outthere. You're leading the charge and have
these great personalities and are just andI a ways said this industry is one
of the fewdustries where I don't feelcompetition. I feel like we're all in
this together. We're all swimming upstreamtogether to help the world in these in
these things, and it's been veryit's been That's one thing I appreciated the
(23:11):
last nine years through the show thatpeople are not saying, like I'm not
going on yourself because you're you're anorganizer too, Like, no, I'm
an organizer also, so let's I'lllift you up to you. That's why
I've just like I said, there'splenty of work exactly, and I think
it's true we're extremely collegial in ourindustry. We really don't think of each
other as competitors. We really thinkthe saying I have is a rising tide
(23:33):
floats all boats. So every timesomeone has a professional organizing show on TV
Home Edit, you name it,Matt Paxton's show, every show that's on
TV Hoarders with Dorothy, people arethinking about maybe I need that kind of
help too, So it helps allof us. And also many of us
(23:55):
go to conferences together. NAPO hassummit where we're teaching each other things and
even things as something like how touse a design program on house or how
to use Canva as a graphic designtool. Like I love my peers and
they love me, and we're sofortunate to have an industry that feels that
(24:18):
way about each other. So again, I said it right after one of
my other shows. But folks,I was supposed to be at the summit
in Long Beaches, in my backyardbasically I live in Inglewood, and I
got COVID right before that and knockedme out, and I was so sad.
Again, Mindy gotting. My girlwas giving me carpeloge so she'd let
me run the place, and Iwould give her a shout out again.
(24:40):
I love her and I couldn't makeI was so upset. I wouldn't see
all my friends because I'm telling you, when you go to a conference of
professional organizers, there's no other highfor me. There's so much. That's
why I couldn't come. I don'twant get right Covid. Yeah, I
was it is. I was lovesinking. She said, you got you
(25:03):
bring your camera and your microphone.I had to run a place. I
was so excited. I want togive her. I just want to give
another shout out to her again foragain Niklell President wonderful to me giving me
access. And I'll say I saidsome expectives because I couldn't go, but
I was this dad Covid knocked folks. You don't want to knock me out.
I slepped like twenty hours one dayand said it was just crazy.
But yes, but I mean thesummit, Chug have one in Chicago next
(25:26):
time. We're trying to go thatway. I love Chicago. Chicago's great.
I hope you'll be there. Yes. Well, and even when you're
a celebrity in our industry like youyourself, James, like influencers we are
very embracing and so we will walkup to you give you a hug.
Of course, tons of Instagram momentsgoing on. So yes, so yeah,
(25:49):
And you know, the wonderful thingabout Sunday is it's a very equal
playing field. All of us feelreally good about it. So it's great
thing. That's good. Hear someI mean, so my friends were speaking.
I was like, great topics tothere's great topics you guys, you
don't understand. It's just it's sucha our industry is just it's just wonderful
and I and I feel very blessedto have found it. Thanks to Julie
(26:11):
Morgan Stern's book Inside Organizedly, InsideOut. I saw that book. It
came to my orbit and I waslike, what is this? And that
led me fifteen years of this pathand nine years of his path on here
and did Ellen that was it wasthat book that led me this direction.
Yes, yes, that's such greatand that's funny. Yes, that's awesome.
(26:32):
So we have to end, butI just I just Ellen thinks for
being on the show so much,and I just and one last thing before
we go, what would I haveto say to anybody who is either who
was looking for a professional organizer ora coach that just and they're they're on
the fence. What would you whatwould you say to them? Tell people,
(26:56):
do as much as you can foryourself, but don't be afraid to
ask for help. I think that'sthe biggest challenge people have, is they
feel like they're very vulnerable that ifthey have to ask for help, it's
an inadequacy of theirs. I'm abig proponent of build a bigger team.
Doesn't matter who your team is.Like, there's a person that can come
(27:18):
clean your house, there's a personwho's going to do your launch. There's
a person that's going to come inand help you with your closet, your
finances, helping your kids be betterstudents. So don't think about it as
an inadequacy because you don't have enoughhelp. It's how can you get all
sorts of help this way? Soit's wonderful. Thank you so much,
(27:41):
Thank you so much. Check outNAPO dot net for just want organizers or
if you want to join, oryou want to look at some some classes
and something. I mean, theteachers are, they're amazing instructor. It's
amazing stuff. When I'm there andthey are on the forefront. Check me
out. I'm for some reason,I'm on a roll right now. I
am being asked to mean a lotof magazines so we can check it out.
(28:06):
I've been question I've been questioned.Sorry, I've been quoted in Apartment
Therapy recently, Better, Better Homesand Gardens, uh Forbes. I mean,
it's a couple of places you canfind some of my latest stuff in
just I'm just in James Lodjenor andyou can figure that out. But I
want to thank all those publications forcoming to me. I mean, I'm
humbled by it, and thank you. And to everybody who again who watches
(28:30):
or listens to this program, Iappreciate it. Go to her professional dot
dash organizer dot com. I putin the description below. If you want
something to need some help, andyou're anywhere, just talk She's for hire.
Got people talk to her. James, I want to congratulate you again
on these nine amazing years and includingus all in the fun and bringing us
(28:52):
all with you. So thank you, thank you. I plan on being
here even longer now. Think I'mstill going, folks, I'm the only
organizing shows been going on continuously thiswhole time, and we're going to continue
going. We have more people totalk to you and more people have more
topics to illuminate, so that willcontinue happening. Everyone get organized. It's
really anybody can do it, andyour life really, I'm seriously, it
(29:15):
will really be better. See younext time.
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