Meet Sandi D’Arezzo

We were lucky to catch up with Sandi D’Arezzo recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Sandi, thank you for joining us today and sharing your experiences and acquired wisdom with us. Burnout is a huge topic these days and so we’d love to kick things off by discussing your thoughts on overcoming or avoiding burnout
With two little ones under 3, one of which is still home with me, while trying to run a business, it’s hard not to feel burnt out sometimes. I have the type of personality that can push myself too far if I don’t actively try not to get overwhelmed. But over time I’ve had to learn and then keep those boundaries for ways to avoid burnout. Here are five things that help:
1. Therapy at least every other week
2. Taking walks, not in the mindset of losing weight but in the mindset of it makes me feel better mentally.
3. I tend to always be in the achieving mindset, so trying to let myself relax and steer away from that. That usually means reading a book for pleasure instead of self-help or business-related. Same thing for podcasts: listen to true crime or public radio podcasts that I enjoy instead of business. When I start to feel burnt out it helps to delete all those podcast episodes about business and set a rule that I’m only listening to more “fun” podcasts or music in the car/on walks.
4. This one is really hard but helps when I can keep the boundary: not checking my email or social media on certain days. This is usually when my daughter is home from daycare that day with me. I can focus on her and not look at work email.
5. I recently started planning out at least 1-2 days in advance for business work with 1 big and 2 small tasks per day, and I write it out in my “ideas” document where I keep my long list of business ideas and to dos. This allows me to focus on the tasks I actually need to get done and also shows me at the end of the day that I actually got important tasks done, instead of always feeling like I didn’t get much done (when I really did!)

Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?
I own a professional organizing business that I opened in 2017. I have two locations on the East Coast: one in Portsmouth, NH where I grew up and one in Cary, NC where I live now. I have talented and dedicated teams of employees in both locations that organize in our clients’ homes. We specialize in helping clients going through big life changes. That can mean anything from welcoming a new baby, retiring and downsizing, becoming an empty nester, losing a loved one and getting all their belongings, to moving and having to declutter, pack, and unpack.
Our company is special because we are a team that can go into a client’s home and unpack it in just a few short days. We’ll even bring in products such as baskets and labels, to have systems set up from the start.
Something new and exciting is that we recently started a monthly look book via email and a complimentary organizing guide that can be downloaded to learn more about our organizing process. https://www.hello-simplified.com/organizing-guide.html

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
The three skills/qualities that have been most impactful on my journey are:
1. Perseverance is key. It’s so hard to start your own business and it can take years to see the benefit. But it’s so worth it. I love having the freedom in my schedule and running the business the way I want to. I’m proud of what I’ve built and am excited to see the business grow more, provide more work for my organizers, and help more clients.
2. Empathy has been very important. Clients need to feel that you understand their struggles and aren’t there to judge them. They need to know they can trust you. Same goes for me and my employees. I want them to feel comfortable sharing their business struggles with me so I can help. I know this job can be physically and emotionally taxing sometimes and I want them to know I see them and am on their side.
3. A love of learning has been vital. Running a business is like 90% business and 10% what the business is actually about. I didn’t go to school for business (I went for music education!) but I’ve taken courses and self-taught myself so much about running a business. I love it though. It would be really hard to start and run a business if you didn’t love learning new things.

Advice for folks early in their journey would be to think about why you’re starting the business. Your why will help you persevere when things get tough. Is it to be able to spend more time with your kids? To have extra income so you can go on vacation once a year? Keep that why at the front of your mind.
As for empathy, give people the benefit of the doubt and put yourself in their shoes. Pause and take some deep breaths before you respond if you’re upset. Try to keep your employees happy, they’re doing hard work and are integral to the success of your business.
For learning new skills, find what works best for you and don’t be afraid to invest in your business. It can be scary to pay for a course, but do your research and choose something. Paying for a course can give you the motivation to put more effort in. Plus, if the course is what allows you to make more money, it will pay for itself quickly.

To close, maybe we can chat about your parents and what they did that was particularly impactful for you?
It’s hard to know exactly what was the most impactful, but something important my parents taught me was not to be afraid to ask questions. If you don’t know, ask. That’s one of our manifestos of the business too. I’m a question girl! I was the girl in class who wouldn’t be afraid to ask the clarifying question on something I didn’t understand, that many other students were thinking, but wouldn’t raise their hand for. I’m sure I annoyed other students and even my teacher sometimes by all my questions. But that’s what got me ahead. I wanted to know the right answers and learn what I was confused about.

In college I took advantage of office hours. I would run essay ideas past my teachers and even have them proofread drafts before I handed in my final paper. Asking questions is a big part of what got me straight A’s (also anxiety, but that’s another story 🙂 ).

Even now, in conversation, if someone says a word I don’t know or something like a movie that I don’t know what it is, I’ll ask. Some may feel embarrassed and just play along and pretend they know, but it’s ok to admit you don’t know something. No one is google and knows everything about everything. Showing vulnerability can even bring people closer and make them feel that they don’t have to be perfect either.

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