Today's guest, Beth Walker, is a single mother of three boys and a recent "empty nester." She currently works full time as a Technology Consultant, a career she began out of college, took a break from to raise her boys, and has since gone back to. Beth believes in hobbies and passions outside of her job, the most recent being a keyboard player and vocalist in local rock bands playing throughout the suburban area. In addition to music, she has a passion for all things domestic - knitting, crocheting, cooking and baking...and now tidying!

In addition to being a Renaissance woman Beth is one of Kristyn's clients! They've tidied for over 60 hours and are almost to the finish line. We take a deep dive into Beth's journey as she shares the benefits of living clutter free.

In this episode, you’ll enjoy:

• How Beth's life coach's suggestion to read The Life-changing Magic of Tidying Up led her to seek out to find the support of a KonMari Consultant (Kristyn)

• Beth's vision of her ideal lifestyle and living environment that grounded her process

• How tidying has significantly impacted Beth's life in the following areas:

  • Health
  • Career
  • Finances
  • Relationships
  • Community
    

• How Beth experienced significant shifts in her ability and confidence to maintain her tidy space

• How Beth found the accountability and customized support Kristyn provided to be mission critical to her success

• The temporary sacrifices Beth made to ensure tidying remained a priority and to keep her momentum going

• Spark Joy Ep 49 | Why Hire a KonMari Consultant

Gems:

"I've been a hopeless organizer and I could never find that one way to keep it up."

"It's so easy to think about what you don't want."

"I thought I was shooting for the moon to be honest but, I can tell you I absolutely live that life right now."

"This isn't just organizing, it's coaching. It's sitting down...goals, values, how do you want to live your life, let's do it."

"Overall, with KonMari, it's allowed me to focus on other goals in my life."

"This is the way my house is and this is the way it's going to be and this is who I am now."

"It definitely spreads from your physical world to your energetic and spiritual world in ways that you almost can't explain."

"It's shown me so me parts of myself I didn't know were there. Or, I wanted to be there."

"It was so much work, but so much fun."

"...You don't realize you are changing as you're doing it. You don't have to change in order to do it."

"I'm not doing [KonMari] because I'm supposed to or I want to. I do it because there is this part inside of me that doesn't want to do it any differently."

"You think you're hiring someone to hold to you accountable to a process in a book. what you're really doing is hiring a coach that helps you change your life."

What sparks joy for Beth: Having the time freedom to focus on goals and other aspects of their life beyond tidying.

You can find Karin Socci at The Serene Home
You can find Kristyn Ivey at For the Love of Tidy

Special Guest: Beth Walker.

Our guest this week is Stephanie Seferian of Mama Minimalist.

Stephanie lives just outside of Boston with her husband and two daughters.
She podcasts and blogs weekly about how the themes of minimalism, sustainability, decluttering, low-waste living and parenting intersect.

Her podcast, The Sustainable Minimalist, features eco-friendly tips and incremental strategies for cutting through clutter as a means to more fully enjoy life's sweetest moments.

Now, we want to hear from you. Tell us your burning tidying questions or share stories about how KonMari has impacted your life. Find us at www.sparkjoypodcast.com and click “Ask Spark Joy” to leave a question or comment for a chance to be featured on next week’s show.

While you’re there, sign-up to join our Spark Joy podcast community and get notified when each episode airs. You can also join the Spark Joy podcast community on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter at the handle @sparkjoypodcast.

In this episode, you’ll enjoy:

-How Stephanie decided to pursue a minimalist lifestyle after becoming a busy mom.

-Her Three Dimensions of Minimalism: Aesthetic, Experiential, Sustainable.

-How going down the minimalist path gave her more time to be present for her children.

-How our tendency to buy, declutter, and buy again impacts the environment.

-The challenges of having young children and maintaining a minimalist household.

-How to manage the influx of gifts that come into the home.

-Recycling old cellphones at Best Buy:
Best Buy Recycling Program

-Learn about Cellphones for Soldiers:
Cell Phones for Soldiers

-The struggle of letting go of a beloved wedding dress!
Brides Against Breast Cancer

Gems:
“We are destined to being constant consumers of technology.”

“We had the normal parent thoughts of 'When we have a yard, things will be better. When we have a place for our daughter’s stuff, we will be more relaxed.'"

“There’s no one path to minimalism.”

“It’s about getting out and getting living.”

“We emphasize experiences over stuff in our home.”

What sparks joy for Stephanie:
“The simple and often overlooked moments with my daughters and husband.”

Parting words of wisdom:
“Just take one small step toward simplification. And if it feels right, take another.”

To connect with Stephanie, you can find her at MamaMinimalist.com
@mamaminimalist on Instagram and Twitter

The Sustainable Minimalist on Facebook:

Listen to her podcast:
Sustainable Minimalist Podcast

You can find Karin Socci at The Serene Home
You can find Kristyn Ivey at For the Love of Tidy

Special Guest: Stephanie Seferian.

Our guest today is Meg Brunson.

Meg is a multi-passionate mama living in Phoenix, AZ with her husband and 4 young daughters. She is a serial entrepreneur and a former Facebook employee, striving to provide a better life for her family through entrepreneurship.

She is the founder of EIEIO Marketing, the host of the FamilyPreneur Podcast, and recently helped her 10 year old launch her first business.

In this episode, you'll enjoy:

-You'll learn how Meg started her business and her motivation for becoming an entrepreneur.

-Meg's tips for teaching your children critical thinking skills.

-How she and her daughter drilled down to find the perfect value statement that created Story Time with Kiki: Story Time with Kiki

-The importance of the calendar in managing a busy household with kids.

-How Meg and her husband support their girl's passion for learning.

-Meg's strong passion for helping kids set and achieve their goals.

-Using setbacks and challenges as a way to help kids be resourceful and resilient.

-Meg's favorite resources for building a great business:
A CRM platform: Dubsado
A scheduling platform: Acuity Scheduling

-And, hey, we all need a good resource for relaxing!
Winc

To connect with Meg, you can visit her at her website: www.megbrunson.com
Or her marketing website: www.eieiomarketing.com

She's on Twitter: @themegbrunson, Instagram: themegbrunson and Pinterest: themegbrunson

Her facebook is:
Meg Brunson on Facebook

She's the editor at: Phoenix Kids Out and About

And Kiki's website is: Story Time with Kiki

Spark Joy wants to hear from you! Tell us your burning tidying questions or share stories about how KonMari has impacted your life. Find us at www.sparkjoypodcast.com, email us at contact@sparkjoypodcast.com to leave a question or comment for a chance to be featured on next week's show. Join us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter via @sparkjoypodcast.

What sparks joy for Meg:
Her kids "those happy moments, their smiles and giggles" The freedom of working from home and being able to spend spontaneous moments with the kids while pursuing her entrepreneurial dreams.

Gems:
"We should be paving additional paths for our children."

"Drill down to the thing you know the best and find the value proposition within that knowledge."

"Turn their questions back on your kids. Get them to explore the question themselves."

"If you are passionate about it, I really believe you can make it happen."

"I'm going to have those good resources. I'm just going to have to build them out myself!"

You can find Karin Socci at The Serene Home
You can find Kristyn Ivey at For the Love of Tidy

Special Guest: Meg Brunson.

A Certified Simplicity Parenting Coach and KonMari enthusiast with over a decade of experience, Christine coaches women to create home environments that support harmony and connection.

Christine coaches from the heart, using joy as a guide and her clients find so much peace in having less, doing less, and editing their lives and their homes with intention.

In this episode, Christine will share her unique approach in helping moms find their own path in creating an intention-filled life. Christine transformed her space with the support of her husband and their young, spirited daughter.

You can follow Christine on her website, Creating Calm Coach, on Facebook at Christine O'Brien Coach or on Instagram @creatingcalmcoach. Download her Free Creating Calm Checklist.

Spark Joy wants to hear from you! Tell us your burning tidying questions or share stories about how KonMari has impacted your life. Find us at www.sparkjoypodcast.com, email us at contact@sparkjoypodcast.com to leave a question or comment for a chance to be featured on next week’s show. Join us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter via @sparkjoypodcast.

In this episode, you’ll enjoy:

• Christine’s private Facebook group community, KonMari Method: Life-changing Magic for anyone working through the KonMari tidying process

• Christine’s virtual consulting program, From Chaos to Calm, which consists of group and individual support for making joyful transitions

• How Christine combines two powerful schools of thought to inform the way she supports moms to relax into full presence with their children: Simplicity Parenting and the KonMari Method

• Simplicity Parenting by Kim John Payne

• Re-occurring KonMari related pain points that may sound familiar:
  1) feeling too overwhelmed to start, 2) getting stuck at some point in the middle of the process, and 3) uncertainty regarding doing KonMari with a family

• How to guide a family through the process and how to find the joy click-point when you have growing kids

• How speaking to your items can “soften” and facilitate letting them go

• How focusing on the positive and the joy can apply to your vision for fitness and diet

• Learning about Brene Brown , who says that gratitude creates Joy

Christine’s favorite tidying tip:
“Tune in to your intuition and trust your joy checks.”

What sparks joy for Christine:
Her family and the transformation she has witnessed as a result of this process. She’s joyful about sharing this way of living!

Gems:

“The toys she’s interested in change all the time.”

“As you get more in tune with what brings you joy, more space develops for experiencing joy.”

“Put your oxygen mask on first and make sure you complete your tidying first before you move on to your children.”

“Different personalities come out for display when you do KonMari with a family.”

“What? Talk to my clothes? Say thank you and goodbye?!”

“The process is about connection and not perfection.”

You can find Karin Socci at The Serene Home
You can find Kristyn Ivey at For the Love of Tidy

Special Guest: Christine O'Brien.

Our guest, Diane Arias is a true KonMari mom and one of Kristyn's former clients. After a decade of raising her three girls (one age 14 and two twin thirteen-year-olds), Diane found that her belongings, along with her home, looked run down and unloved...and so her KonMari Summer began. She tidied for up to 2-3 hours at a time across her 3,000 square foot home. The results? A space filled with love and joy that will take her family of five into the next phase of their life.

In this episode, we will show you it is possible for busy moms to get tidy too! Follow Diane through every phase of the KonMari process, as she applies the method in the presence of her growing family. Look forward to tips on how to plan, pace, and reward yourself during your tidying event to avoid hitting a wall.

You can follow the final stages of Diane’s tidying journey by connecting with her on Instagram (@diane_arias_2017).

Spark Joy wants to hear from you! Tell us your burning tidying questions or share stories about how KonMari has impacted your life. Find us at www.sparkjoypodcast.com, email us at contact@sparkjoypodcast.com to leave a question or comment for a chance to be featured on next week’s show. Join us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter via @sparkjoypodcast.

In this episode, you’ll enjoy:

• The article that inspired Diane to pick her tidying back up after reading the The Life-changing Magic of Tidying Up after working through clothing three years ago

• How Diane course corrected her original plan after confronting the sheer number of things in her home

• How Diane's vision reflected the part of her that she wanted to reconnect with to be the best model for her daughters

• How Diane leaned on her experience training for marathons to push through moments of overwhelm to get to a point where her surroundings were supporting her

• How an intentional reward system helped trigger Diane back into gear during moments when she needed extra motivation to finish Komono (miscellaneous items)

• The "warning" Diane thinks should come with Marie Kondo's books

• How each member of Diane's family reacted to her decluttering and how they supported her in their own way

• Diane's advice to busy moms that are ready to dive in

• How tidying has helped Diane be more in tune with her husband's values and motivations

• How Diane's children taught her the KonMari signature fold after watching YouTube videos!

• How Diane's family adjusted to the big changes taking place in the shared spaces and pushed through a few uncomfortable moments

What sparks joy for Diane: "Having headspace...and a true, full presence for my daughters."

Gems:

• "This is definitely something I want to do. I just need to have the timing show up for it."

• "I had no idea how much stuff I actually owned."

• "My own joy for my own life is what was missing."

• "I truly feel my home is a reflection of me."

• "A home that is full, and vibrant and joyful and truly supporting me and my family."

• "I would not be able to put into words what I was wanting for my children...but I've found it through this method."

• "You truly have to detangle yourself from someone else's belongings."

• "I've plugged myself into every single person's belongings in the house, meanwhile, not really taking care of my own."

• "These t-shirts look like someone cares."

• "I can be the kind of mom I wanted to be."

You can find Karin Socci at The Serene Home
You can find Kristyn Ivey at For the Love of Tidy

Special Guest: Diane Arias.