Ep.69/ Growing a multi-million dollar celebrity-favorite organizing business + how to organize your home in 5 minutes: Ria Safford
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Top organizer Ría Safford dishes on how she first landed A-List celebrity clients, like Chrissy Teigen and Ciara– “I was like’ oh my god a famous person messaged me’.” Plus she shares her path of shifting out of real estate and growing a multimillion dollar organizing business, her tips to growing on social media (“I posted like i had a million followers even when I had just my mom.”) Plus then helps you control the ‘junk drawer’ and dishes tips to organize your home in just 5 minutes from her brand new book The Organized Home.
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Quotes From Our Guest
On the power of social media marketing:
“I was very consistent from day one and my brother still joked that they had to tell their friends like beg them to follow me and that I would post like I had 1 million followers and it would be like my mom and my grandma and my brothers liking all my posts but I just told myself I'm going to post every single day I'm going to keep showing up and that is inevitably what got me seen by celebrity hairstylist Jen Atkin…that turned into all of these other celebrities just because I kept showing up and I was found by a completely unconnected person to me so that was when I first saw like oh my gosh, the power of continuing to put myself and my company out there and what it could do.”
How she landed an A-list clientele:
“I had just birthed my third child 10 hours before she dmed me I was literally in a hospital bed…
I was like oh my gosh somebody famous just messaged me! It was Jen Atkin, the celebrity hairstylist. That was the moment that changed everything with the like that just opened a door to this whole new realm of celebrities and little did I know the influence and impact that this one adorable human being had on Hollywood.”
On organizing:
“And let's call it an essentials drawer from now on because if you call it a junk drawer. You're going to put junk in it.
“So I think it's really easy to look at your entire house as a project and want to run into moving traffic. It is so overwhelming. Well the first thing that you're going to want to do for any project is empty sort and categorize and purge. But it doesn't have to be all at once. Let's just grab all of your pajamas.”
“Break them off into bite-sized projects.”
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GUEST LINKS:
Ria’s Book: The Organized Home for New Parents: Create Routine-Ready Spaces for Your Baby's First Years
Ria’s: Instagram
Ria’s Website
Kim (00:02):
Top organizer Ria Safford dishes on how she first landed a-list. Clients like Chrissy Teigen and Ciara
Ria (00:08):
Oh my gosh, somebody famous just messaged me.
Kim (00:11):
Plus she shares how she grew to a multimillion dollar business and how you can organize your home in just five minutes.
(00:19):
Welcome to the exit interview with Kim Rittberg. Do you work for yourself and want to supercharge your business while still having fun? Well, this is your go-to podcast, part M A Part Cheer Squad. Every week, I'll be joined by top business owners who share the secrets to their success. After I found myself working during childbirth true story, I quit my executive media job to bet on myself fighting the fear and imposter syndrome to eventually earn six awards, an in-demand speaking career and features in Fast Company and Business Insider. Now, I'm here to celebrate all you rock stars betting on yourself, and I want to help you win. If you're self-employed, you're a founder, entrepreneur, coach, real estate agent, consultant, or solo practitioner, and you want to learn about business development, revenue growth, marketing strategy, productivity, publicity, sales, social media, content creation, confidence and work-life balance, it's achievable. I promise this podcast is for you. Tune in every Wednesday to hear from remarkable founders and don't miss our Solo Friday episodes, A treasure trove of video and podcasting mini masterclasses with me. Exit the Grind, enter success on your own terms. Don't forget to subscribe today and grab my free video tips at my website, kimrittberg.com.
(01:41):
Guess what? If you are posting to social media for your business and are not seeing impact, you can join my next video bootcamp. It starts on October 18th, and we take you from overwhelm to totally in charge. I'll teach you how to write scripts and make video that actually brings in clients. I give you templates and downloads. I already do all the work for you. It's a seven week live coaching program with accountability and so much support, and it's really fun. This is what past clients have to say.
Crystal (02:07):
Joining Kim's video bootcamp has been incredible.
Aimee (02:12):
If you're thinking about it, do it. Just do it. It has paid off immensely already. She's a rockstar.
Jen (02:20):
Kim knows how to help you market yourself in a way that drives business, that gets your ideal clients to know, like, and trust you.
Kim (02:29):
And reach me@kimrittberg.com or message me on Instagram or LinkedIn at Kim Rittberg, R I T T B E R G, and we'll talk about Video bootcamp and see if it's a fit for you. Anyone who's ever come into my home or office or life or bedroom knows that I love a good organizer, so I'm really excited to have real on the show. Riia Safford is a Cuban American mom of three, the founder and CEO of reorganized, a company offering full service organization design and space planning to families across the us. She's organized spaces a-listers like Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Ciara, and Jen Atkin, and for everyday families desperate for more streamlined systems in their homes. Her own organization journey began when she became a new mom and felt overwhelmed by all the mess accumulating in her house. Oh my God, yeah, you and me, sister, everybody.
(03:15):
She set out to calm the chaos and helped families everywhere reduce stress and create routine ready spaces that would make managing life with little ones easier. And in 2022, she partnered with you brands for a product line at Target major, and she's partnered with dozens of other companies like Michael Ziploc. I design apartments.com. So basically re is a really big deal. She has only 300,000 followers on Instagram, guys. So listen, the answer is listen. And I'd love for you rhi to take us into what you were doing before. So now you have this amazing organizing business. What were you doing before that?
Ria (03:46):
So I had pretty much just graduated college, which is so crazy. So I graduated in 2012 and I was in commercial real estate before starting reorganized. I actually landed into this really amazing job and I had my daughter at that time, so I was 24 when we had her. And I fell into this job that made me six figures. My first year I was part of this amazing team. I had gotten my real estate license. I mean, everything was as great as I could need it. We had stability, security, all of this. And I freaking hated it because I had this little precious baby that I just couldn't stand leaving a daycare 10 hours a day. I didn't feel motivated to go out and do the job that I was doing, just it wasn't meshing. And that just kind of led to this moment in our family where I wanted a change. My husband wanted a change. We were in Houston, Texas at the time, and we had a one-year-old daughter, so we made the move to California and that is when I transitioned to start my own business reorganize.
Kim (04:55):
So talk to me about this. Were you always a neat person? I'm a really messy person. How do you become a professional organizer?
Ria (05:01):
No. So crazy, right? I know. It's like the most random profession, first of all, and there's no accreditations, there's no schooling. I mean, there are, but you don't have to do it to call yourself professional. No, I'm a dumpster fire. I don't put caps on things. I leave cabinets open. I love that I have the brain and the habits and the tendencies of the majority of our clients. I truly understand to the core what they are going through and how they're trying to navigate their spaces. So it was really more that I could combine my creativity and my use of space. Tetris always nailed it.
Kim (05:45):
So basically you were really good at playing catchers and that's
Ria (05:47):
Yes. So good. Yes, and I just prioritized it. I eventually prioritized organization. I was able to do it when I prioritized it, but I just never until I had kids and it was kind of this whole moment of, oh my gosh, I need to get it together for myself, for my family. And once I figured out a formula that worked for me, if it could help me, it could help anyone. And that was truly the origin of reorganized was me figuring out my own organization needs and solutions.
Kim (06:18):
So talk to me about when you were going to launch the business. How did you feel? What was going on on the inside during that transition?
Ria (06:24):
Oh my gosh. It was the craziest time ever because my husband thought that I was going to transfer internally with this amazing company and this high paying job that I had. And I was like, for sure, for sure. Little did he know, I had reached out to one of my dear friends from college to create branding for me because I knew how important that first impression and image of a company is. So I wanted to be able to really present my husband with my whole thought. I wanted him to see it. I wanted him to understand what I wanted to try doing. So yeah, it was nuts because I knew that if he didn't support what I wanted to do, I wouldn't have done it. It was totally scary in Banana Land, what am I doing? What? No. So he got on board and then I was just excited, but I didn't anticipate all that was to come.
Kim (07:20):
And what didn't you anticipate? What are the major things that you're like, wow, I didn't see that coming. I didn't expect that
Ria (07:27):
For one, being here talking to you. I didn't anticipate podcasts. I didn't anticipate a book or product lines working with celebrities. I wanted my side hustle, target money. I wanted to help cover mortgage. That was the bar that I originally set. And then my ambitions just got bigger and bigger and I'm very competitive. So then when I saw what other people were doing, then it just totally took over me and I didn't anticipate loving running a business as much as I did.
Kim (07:56):
Okay. When you just go from, I feel like a lot of the listeners have their own businesses or the side hustle just became a business, now they're scaling. What did you learn? Where are the biggest lessons to go from? Okay, I'm organizing, I have some clients too, now I'm in Michael's and now I'm working with a-list celebrities. What helped you scale along the way?
Ria (08:12):
I think that knowing your end goal, even if it's not even an end goal, but knowing the next milestone you're trying to hit and working backwards from that. So even landing a partnership, okay, well if I didn't even have an Instagram, if I have no presence, they're not even going to find me. So you're having to take all these steps to ultimately hit these goals. And so I think that just doing that thinking backwards was major. I got really caught up in what I thought I needed right away. I thought I needed all of these business things all at once, and I paid for really stupid things. I paid for a copywriting course because what all of a sudden, I don't know how to just type a paragraph of what I'm doing. Why am I paying for this course that I absolutely did not finish? There are so many more resources out there than you realize and the best resources are people. Then I started reaching out to other organizers. People are amazing. They're like, oh, here's what my contract looks like. Oh, here's how I structure my business. And so nice. And that helped me the most with figuring out what I should be prioritizing was leaning on other people who have been there.
Kim (09:24):
So talk to me about what do you think? And to my side feel like it's funny because when you're in it, it's hard to step back and be like, what was the thing? What do you think was the best thing you did to help scale your business? To go from being like, okay, I have some clients to, okay, now I'm in Michael's. Are there certain things you can identify? So obviously you have an amazing social presence, so that's been a huge part of it. What would you say if you could identify one or two things that really helped you go from small to known to being a known quantity?
Ria (09:52):
So I think there's that phrase, you can't work on your business if you're working in your business. And it was when I could start stepping back and outsourcing help or building a team. So hiring an accountant was one of the first things I know what I don't know. I needed help in that realm and didn't want to have to deal with the financials. That isn't what got my juices going with the business stuff. So outsourcing that was major. Not only did it take a lot off my plate, but it took a lot of stresses off my plate and I could really focus and understand the financial landscape of my business to make more purposeful choices. So that was major. Knowing what I don't know and outsourcing to get those things done.
Kim (10:37):
I run my own video marketing business where I help people grow through video and podcasts. And knowing that you're doing so well on social media, I would love any marketing tips that you've learned along the way about growing your business. You have 300,000 followers on Instagram. What would you recommend to business owners trying to grow their business through social media marketing?
Ria (10:55):
I think, and I will say that, I mean Instagram is a whole different beast than it was. I'm so lucky at the timing that I was growing and highlighting celebrity projects and things like that because you could just grow overnight. Literally. I did Chrissy Teigen's Pantry and 66,000 followers that first night alone. Crazy. And I don't feel like those types of projects would translate the same now just 2, 3, 4 years later. So I'm very much having to adapt with the ever-changing landscape of social media. I got very comfortable with growing 2,500 followers a week, and now I'm like, what is happening? I'm going down sometimes or staying at the same numbers. So staying on top of, okay, what am I supposed to be doing was very, very, very important. But I was very consistent from day one. And my brother still joke that they had to their friends, beg them to follow me and that I would post, I had a million followers and it would be like my mom and my grandma and my brothers liking all my posts. But I just told myself, I'm going to post every single day. I'm going to keep showing up. And that is inevitably what got me seen by Jen Atkin, celebrity hairstylists, beauty mogul, who then that turned into all of these other celebrities just because I kept showing up and I was found by a completely unconnected person to me. So that was when I first saw, oh my gosh, the power of continuing to put myself and my company out there and what it could do.
Kim (12:30):
And how did Jen Atkin, for anyone who doesn't know her, she is a celebrity hairstylist. She's always on tv. She's really a household name in the beauty industry and even outside, she's one of those people you would see on a morning show talking about hair. How did you get in touch with her? How did she find you?
Ria (12:45):
This is seriously the best story because I had just birthed my third child 10 hours before she dmd me. I was literally in a hospital bed, in a hospital bed. My mom's there helping me, she's holding the baby. My husband's at home with the kids. And it was the first time that I got a DMM from a verified, this was when check marks first really became a thing. This was 2019. And I was like, oh my gosh, somebody famous just messaged me. And I hate admitting that I didn't know who she was at that point. And she's kind of one of those people where once, you know, can't not know her anymore. But I didn't know who she was at that time, which I think made me that much more chill about everything. But she just DMed me saying that they moved into a new house and she wanted to know if I had availability to come and help her organize. I was like, yeah, yeah, I do. So mesh panties and all, I didn't tell her that I had just birthed a child. I didn't want to lose this opportunity. And then I told her and she couldn't believe it, but I think she thought that was so baller. She was like, you're totally the person you nut you obviously love what you do.
Kim (13:43):
She's like, your underwear weighs 10 pounds. But absolutely be my organizer. I'm excited about this.
Ria (13:48):
Yes, 100%. And it was an incredible opportunity.
Kim (13:52):
How big was your client base and how big was your social following at that point that a celebrity hairstylist is following you and finding you? Did you already have a big social following at that point?
Ria (14:01):
I think I need to ask my husband because right before I did that project, he wrote down my exact following. He was like, I think that we're going to look back at this number. I think it's really going to change after you do this. And I want to say 30,000 always jumps in my head. I feel like I had about 30,000 followers, which thinking back, I'm like, wow, that's pretty
Kim (14:21):
Good. And so how many years, what year did you start your business again? You said?
Ria (14:25):
So launched it in 2016. I had a daughter in 2017, a son in 2019. So 2017, it was like I got to work at my leisure. I wasn't in hustle mode like, oh my gosh, I'm trying to grow this into something. It was like I'm doing enough for our family.
Kim (14:41):
And then you said you have three kids, right?
Ria (14:43):
I have three kids.
Kim (14:43):
So 20 17, 20 19 and then
Ria (14:45):
2015.
Kim (14:47):
Okay.
Ria (14:48):
It was very organized.
Kim (14:50):
You're like, what? I do. Okay. So I'm just so impressed. And I also, I like to ask the nitty gritty things. I think a lot of times people are, so here I was an accountant and the next day I'm a multimillionaire running my
Ria (15:01):
Own. Yeah, no, let's get into it. Let's get
Kim (15:04):
Into it. And then so that's 2019. Was that celebrity business celebrity was her taking you on, was that the moment that changed everything?
Ria (15:14):
Yes. That was the moment that changed everything with the, that just opened a door to this whole new realm of celebrities. And little did I know the influence and impact that this one adorable human being had on Hollywood. I mean the amount of text messages from like, oh my gosh, head explosion people of like, Hey, this is so-and-so got your number from Jen. Hey, basically I trust Jen with anything. Hey. I'm like, what? Give my number. I'm talking to you. What's going on? This is crazy. And even Chrissy, Tegan, it's not like, oh, my team reached out to her team hoping to do something. It was Jen. I was like, Hey, do you think Chrissy would have any organization needs? And she was like, oh, here's her house manager. Just ask. I'm like, cool.
(16:01):
That's so crazy. And so Jen, now we've done two of her homes, her mom's home in Utah. She has a place in Seattle. We've done both of her businesses and both of the new locations of her businesses. And that's the most special to me about any of our clients is it's this long lasting, I hate the one-off like, okay, I'm going to promote you and give me a discount and then we're never going to talk again because then I'm going to look for another company to give me a discount and keep doing that. Hate that. I want real people, real clients, real relationship.
Kim (16:31):
Do you have a lot of people coming to you and being like, I want you to work with me, but either work for free or work at a big discount? You can publicize me.
Ria (16:37):
Yeah, all the time. There's something to be separate. So even the Chrissy Tegan one, she didn't pay me, but I got product from a company and that company paid me. So I made sure that I was covered somewhere. I wasn't just going out there for nothing.
Kim (16:51):
Yeah, I feel mixed about that. I always feel like it's the same with speaking engagements. I'm now doing more speaking and people ask me, when do you get paid? When do you not get paid? It's like that to your point, sometimes it's worth it to work for free to get the publicity, but then other times it's like truly your time costs money. You're filling up a day or two days or three days or whatever of your schedule. Someone has to pay for that for sure. It's actually time.
Ria (17:15):
And I feel like you get really good at standing your ground. And I mean, that's not to say I've never worked for free. I absolutely have had my time is easier to give. So it's okay, you're going to pay for product or Hey, I need to make whole with my team. So there are different ways. I've also gotten creative with the things that I ask for because some people, their social media, their demo isn't going to do it for us, but oh, I think you're really, really amazing at your brand and all of that. I would love to have three business calls with you. How else can I leverage these people and what they can offer? And the way that I always explain it too is I'm not sending you a sweater to throw on and tag. I am doing a service. I mean literally getting on my hands and knees. So is my team to provide a service that is going to make you more at peace, more efficient. You're navigating your home that much better and it's making you that much more successful in what you do. There's a whole lot of layers to that.
Kim (18:12):
Totally. Who's a person that texted you that you were like, I cannot believe this person just texted me.
Ria (18:18):
Well, so I can say this because we've shared that. She's shared that I've worked with her, but Sierra and Russell Wilson, getting a text from Sierra Wilson was for some reason I started crying and I just look at my husband and I was like, one, two step was like my anthem in 2004. I just was a mess. What are we doing? It was crazy.
Kim (18:39):
You're in your closet and you're like sniffing her sequin dress. I'm just kidding. Oh
Ria (18:42):
My gosh. Well, I'm that loser. I think when I get anxious or I'm like, oh my gosh, this is a moment. I crack jokes all the time. And so she was showing me through a space and she's showing me her pantry, which wasn't really disorganized, but she was like, oh, I just feel like there's something we can do. And I was like, yeah, I feel like it can level up. And I'm just saying her song names to her as a loser. She's like, okay,
Kim (19:05):
You're like my, don't you step in your closet. Yeah,
Ria (19:07):
I can't help myself. Yeah, that was crazy. And there are other people that, whatever, NDAs and stuff, but a lot of Grammy, Oscar Hall of Fame, we've worked for seven billionaires. It's been, there's certain people, I'm just like, what is happening? But I think the coolest part, and we work for normal people too, by the way. I'm always like, and the regular people, but it doesn't matter how much money you have, it doesn't matter how successful you have. Organization is so personal and it is so much deeper. It doesn't matter how much staff you have, they can't speak to your personal belongings, certain things. But to really have a successful project, the clients that are like, I want to fully embrace this experience are the ones that are the most successful.
Kim (20:00):
So talk to me. So we work celebrities, work with real people, and let's talk about your book. What are the biggest tips that regular people can take away? What are your biggest tips for organizing when you're in your house and you just feel embraced by clutter? What do you do?
Ria (20:12):
So I think it's really easy to look at your entire house as a project and want to run into moving traffic. It is so overwhelming. You're just like, what are we doing? Absolutely not. The way you can approach your whole home is the way that I explain. Approaching a single space, looking at anything all at once is so stressful and it can be really overwhelming of not knowing where to start. And so in my book I even address even before the actual organizing, it's the have you allotted the appropriate amount of time? And even before that, it's are you in the right mindset, are even in the head space to do this? Because organization is a lot like any other lifestyle change, an exercise routine, a new diet or nutrition plan. You can't just overnight, have you ever gone to the store and you just get all of this healthy shit and then you're like, oh God, I had no plan. And when have I eaten radishes? What are we doing? You're
Kim (21:06):
Talking to someone who's signed up for Nutrisystem twice in her life. So yes.
Ria (21:09):
Okay girl, I have been there. And so when you can just break them off into bite-sized projects, and there are even tasks within the projects. So maybe tackling your whole closet is really, really daunting and you don't really have the time. Well, the first thing that you're going to want to do for any project is empty, sort and categorize and purge, but it doesn't have to be all at once. Let's just grab all of your pajamas. Just gather all of your pajamas. And that is your task that you want to start and finish and you're assessing them. Or do you have all the sets? Do you like them all or any of them? Trash, donate, work your way through all of your categories and then figure out is where everything is making sense. And this is the same. It's literally copy and paste approach with a different outcome. No matter the space. You're doing all the same steps. Some just take longer and are more exhaustive. Maybe you're in an attic, obviously there's more personal items. Personal spaces can be harder, but start with your junk drawer and let's call it an essentials drawer from now on. Because if you call it a junk drawer, you're going to put junk in it. That's why we call it a trash can. We put trash in it. Little things.
Kim (22:19):
Speaking of the essentials drawer, F k, A junk drawer. I feel like I know this for myself, I know this for my family, I know this for everybody. All the papers and things like that that go in the junk drawer, where should they actually go?
Ria (22:31):
99% of them the trash can. Some of the stuff we keep really think about the stuff that's in there. I've had two bins of documents and files that I pulled out last week. My husband shredded every single thing except for some medical records and a birth certificate manuals. You don't need them manual. You can look up anything online. When is the last time you were like, oh, my vacuum. Where's my manual? And literally I couldn't even tell you. I couldn't even tell you. And as far as that specific drawer, what are the things that you really need there at that moment? What are the things that you're naturally always leaving over there? Maybe you have a bunch of chapsticks and you do want to a chapstick right there randomly. You want a nail file or it's lunch notes for your kids. It's really the things that are essential to that space. You put your keys in there. Everybody's is different, but you want your home to reflect your habits. So what are you naturally gravitating to do in that space?
Kim (23:32):
I was just looking at my junk drawer and I was like, I don't know why this old key that we never use anymore is for our old lock is in here and things like that. I'm like, this is my most accessible drawer. I'm good or bad in the, I'm like, whatever you use a lot should be eye line, hand area. So then I was thinking, what a waste. This is my best drawer I should not have
Ria (23:53):
In here. Best in drawer.
Kim (23:54):
The best drawer, the best drawer. Can We rename it from the junk drawer to the best drawer. Drawer, the best drawer, and then you only put your most used favorite items in there.
Ria (24:03):
That's it. That's all it should be. And I think because of everybody has just decided universally that this is the drawer we just check stuff in. It's like, I don't even want to think about it. I'm just panicked and placing it here and it'll be my problem. Never.
Kim (24:20):
I wrote in my notes rebrand the junk drawer. That's the show notes. I was like rebrand the, oh my gosh,
Ria (24:24):
I love it.
Kim (24:25):
What is the most impact? What area, if I tackled first will have the most impact? If I'm organizing my house,
Ria (24:32):
Your personal spaces, that being your bathroom, your closet, the first space you walk into every morning is more than likely the bathroom. And to feel good from the moment you get up before you even go out into the rest of your home makes a huge difference. It's the oxygen mask effect. Take care of yourself first and you'll be your best version of yourself for everything else. And then from there, I would say the most used spaces. But I know a lot of people feel the most relief from a garage project.
Kim (25:04):
Oh, well I live in New York City, so that sounds nice. I could feel that. But
Ria (25:09):
Do you not have a garage?
Kim (25:11):
I don't have a garage. I live in an apartment building.
Ria (25:13):
Wait, that sounds amazing though. You probably have so much less stuff. I feel like a garage is just like, we just put stuff in garages.
Kim (25:19):
Truthfully, it's more that I've moved so many times and my parents got divorced and so we sold a house. So my childhood is three ster lights, so I don't have childhood stuff, but now my kids of course have a bunch of stuff. But yeah, I think that we don't have exploding stuff, but I am really bad about where should things go? Where should this go? To your point about the bathroom, I find that I agree bathrooms should only have your essentials for what you need every single day. But then I'm like, what about the special stuff? So I try to put that in a different area that if I need it once every two months,
Ria (25:48):
Yes, it's like a puzzle. And you start placing the easy pieces, which this is what I use all the time, and this is the closest that it is to me. These drawers, these cabinets, and then all the rest. You just fill in the rest of the areas. And if it exceeds that space, then we need to plan B. But usually if it all fit before you can make it work and make sure that it's the most, it makes the most sense for you. It's routine ready for your needs.
Kim (26:13):
Yeah, I love that. What are your clients struggle with the most when they come to you? What's the biggest struggle that you see?
Ria (26:19):
I feel like it's time that they don't have the time to do it. It's rarely that they would never be able to figure it out. I'm not reinventing the wheel when it comes to organization, but I think a lot of times clients are calling us because it holds them accountable for those blocks of time that is dedicated to be organizing and tackling their spaces where, I mean, how often have you been like, okay, I'm totally going to get after this space. And then you're like, but I'm on episode three of my new show on Netflix and I'll do that another time. Hello?
Kim (26:49):
I think you have to actually lure yourself. You say, I reward myself by watching Netflix while I organize.
Ria (26:55):
And I've started to do that and then I just catch myself sitting at the end of my bed and I'm like, wait, but if I keep going back to the closet, I'm missing what's happening? Is he alive? I just started Grey's Anatomy. I am living under a rock.
Kim (27:07):
Wait, you're going to get through all season 45. What are they? 45?
Ria (27:11):
I'm on season seven. I'm on season seven. Most people are like, yeah, you're probably going to want to stop now. But now I'm like, well, I got to know certain storylines. But yeah, no, some episodes completely unhinged. I'm like, what is happening?
Kim (27:23):
I started Gilmore Girls on mat leave and then I was like, wait, there's nine more seasons. Nah, I'm not going to do this. But I liked it, but I was like, this is too much. Wait. So knowing that most people struggle with time, and for people who are going to buy your book, what do you recommend? Let's say they do want to organize. They're going to read your book. How should they find the time? What's the best way to time block so that you can organize your house?
Ria (27:45):
So for everybody it's going to be different. Somebody might not have grandparents that live in the area who can come and watch the kids and maybe they have other kids and they're expecting a new kid. So you have to get very creative with, okay, who's watching the kiddos? Or how old are your kiddos? Can they be there and be distracted? My kid's eight, six, and four. I can absolutely distract them with a movie to be able to tackle certain things and for everyone in the household to understand this, I'm doing this. I'm not really here. I thought of this phrase while I was writing the book, that there are moments where you have to pick your piece. Is it going to bring you more peace to tackle a space or watch that Netflix show? So there are more moments in our day than I feel like we realize and we prioritize the things that matter to us. And you have to find a way to prioritize this. And it doesn't mean that you have to have a 48 hour block for a garage, but make some substantial blocks. Take a day off of work, a personal day. You'll feel so good and you've got to find the time and you can. You really can.
Kim (28:51):
And I know you have a sanity saver. What do you recommend as being the sanity saver for new parents?
Ria (28:57):
Oh my gosh, I feel like there's so many little ones sprinkled through. There were little things that I learned that just made a big difference. Like something as simple as linens, making them all the same color. Don't get a floral one for spring and this and that and this for this bedroom. Having all white major sanity saver because you're not constantly trying to find all of these sets that perfectly go together. Everything goes with everything. As my kids started to get older and even when they were younger, get all the same color socks because oh my gosh, if I can't find this pink tie dye and then these black pumpkins, whatever, some of the freaking socks I have to find is just out of control. And the sock thing was driving me nuts. And especially with little kids, there's so many little things, so many little things and doing a little bit of laundry every single day because when I don't do that, it is mount insert whatever the tallest mountain is.
Kim (29:54):
Everest, Everest.
Ria (29:55):
Everest,
Kim (29:56):
Okay, let's say I have five minutes. I have five minutes. What could I do in five minutes to organize my home?
Ria (30:03):
Pick a small category, pick your spices, pick your makeup. Go through and see if anything can go going through any small category and figure out if any of it can go. If any of it belongs in another room, that is a short little thing that you can do to start some momentum
Kim (30:19):
In the trash or organize into something
Ria (30:21):
Else in the trash or yeah, maybe it's going to a friend donating. Those are your three categories. And another sanity saver for parents with kids is having a bin that is a two small bin. As you're getting things out of the dryer, I like to have anything that I'm donating or whatever R d b washed, if you know that that one's too small, it immediately goes to this too small bin. Then when that bin hits its peak, that is your sign to either go take it to a donation, drop off to bin it up and label it for future child, or to give it to your friend who had a baby after you and you give her all the clothes. I give all my son stuff to my best friend and I just pack it up, move it over. Once that bin's full so easy.
Kim (31:06):
That's basically the only thing I'm giving myself a gold star for. We do have a drawer that says Lily's old things, Nate's old things. And then we put them in there and then every month or two I'd get a target bag and I'd bring them to the person. But I also love that, make sure I identify in advance who's it going to. So we have one person for my daughter's and for my son's. I can't remember. We had someone, and maybe I give to Salvation Army now, but anyway, identifying where it's going.
Ria (31:30):
Yes, I love that. But
Kim (31:32):
Everything else, I'm like, oh yeah, that's a good idea. My mom, it's very funny. My mom's hilarious. She will take those 15 minutes when you're sitting in an airport and have nothing to do and she'll try to clean out her purse in that time.
Ria (31:43):
Oh my gosh. That's so smart
Kim (31:45):
Though. It's very smart. It's also hilarious. I'm like, not everyone needs to see those used tissues, but I do love it. It's actually very smart. It's like in line with what you said, take the five minutes, tackle a small area.
Ria (31:55):
You do have time if you want it. I literally probably have something in every single purse that I own, but that doesn't mean that I'm not an organized person. It's like you can be both people in spaces that I have, systems, chef's, kiss spaces. I haven't prioritized bad.
Kim (32:12):
Talk to me about how big and successful your business is now.
Ria (32:15):
Oh gosh.
Kim (32:16):
Talk to me about how much money you're making R now.
Ria (32:19):
Yeah, I would say that we doubled every single year, but my first year was, I mean, I think 25,000. And when Covid hit, so that was probably year three, covid hit and I was like, oh, we're done. We're not going to be in people's homes. Who's going to be like, please bring a virus in. Oh my gosh, was I wrong? We doubled that year. We doubled the year after, and last year our revenue hit 2 million. Wow. Crazy. Crazy. Totally. Banana land and that's not, and then I also do the brand side of things. So I'll partner with different brands for social media. I'll partner whether it has to do with organization stuff or lifestyle or business. I love anything that's tied to business. I've done some partnerships with QuickBooks, which has been really fun. So that's a whole nother revenue stream as well. Yeah, which I mean, social media is a full-time job, but I also have been a one woman show when it comes to our social media.
Kim (33:21):
You don't do everything for social media yourself.
Ria (33:24):
Oh yeah.
Kim (33:24):
Oh, I love that. I when I know that, because then I'm like, now I'll message you and I'll say, hi,
Ria (33:28):
No, yeah, no, it's fully me,
Kim (33:31):
Someone's manager. I'm like, you're not really seeing me say hi in your message, but that's cool.
Ria (33:35):
It's Foley me, which certain things like dms, even if I were to have help, and I've had pockets of help throughout the time, but I'm such a weirdo about my social media. But that being said, I don't have a content calendar. I don't have scheduled posts. I don't have a plan, which I feel like are all the worst things I could be doing for myself. So people are like, how are you doing it? I'm like, I'm not, I have a straw and I'm 20 feet underwater. But here we are.
Kim (34:00):
I actually say though, so I came to this, I was the head of video at US Weekly. I launched their video unit. Cool. And before that I was a TV news producer. And when I'm leading an 18 person team making videos, we need a calendar. Everybody has their assignments for the day, everyone has their assignments for the week and over the month we have goals for myself. When I teach people, I'm like, do what works for you. I recommend a calendar, but I only have in my calendar every Wednesday I run something for the podcast. The other stuff I know Monday or Tuesday I'm going to run something educational. I like to teach about video and podcasts. And then later Friday or Saturday, something fun. I don't always even do three a week if I'm too busy, I don't. But I know that for myself, I'm not super regimented. So I can have a content calendar, but then I can forget to look at it for two months. If I'm going to a launch of a course I'm running, I'm like, okay, I need to look at my content calendar to hold myself accountable. But when I'm really busy, I'm not always necessarily going by my same content calendar. It's like it doesn't matter. If it works for you, it works. But if it's not working, then you need a different system.
Ria (35:00):
I'm finding, just like I was saying with the changing landscapes of social media and stuff, the way that I was doing things isn't necessarily working. I was before the trending sounds, the hashtags you had to use. And I mean TikTok for how much I consume that freaking app, I'm like, Ugh, that just seems like a whole beast I'm not ready for. But yeah, not having a calendar when things are way too regimented, I'm way more likely to just like, I can't do it.
Kim (35:28):
But it's like you said, it's like do it your own way. Everyone has their own way, and that's what I assume. If it works for you, great. And if it doesn't work for you, let's talk about it. But otherwise, awesome. Bria was so fun. Okay. Tell people where they can, your book name again and how they can find you, all of that good stuff.
Ria (35:42):
Yes. So my book, which comes out October 3rd, is the Organized Home for New Parents. So it really dials in on ages two and under and how to best set up your home for routine spaces for you and your family. And I'm so excited. I really think it's going to be the number one registry must have for any mom until the end of time. And at Riorganize is my Instagram R I organize. It's a play on my name Ria and Instagram is my number one platform that I'm on. And if you want to see me struggle to build on another app, follow me on TikTok.
Kim (36:18):
Thank you so much.
Ria (36:19):
This was amazing. Thank you.
Kim (36:25):
Thank you for joining us. Don't forget to exit the grind and enter success on your own terms. This is the exit interview with Kim Rittberg. Don't forget to grab my free download, how to Grow Your Business with Amazing video at kimrittberg.com and linked out in the show notes. I love to hear your feedback. Make sure to submit to me what you learned from the show and how you are crushing it on your own terms. Connect with me on Instagram or LinkedIn at Kim Rittberg, R I T T B E R G. And this show is edited by Jillian Grover and produced by Henry Street Media. I'm your host and executive producer, Kim Rittberg.