We recently had the chance to connect with Sandi D’Arezzo and have shared our conversation below.
Sandi, so good to connect and we’re excited to share your story and insights with our audience. There’s a ton to learn from your story, but let’s start with a warm up before we get into the heart of the interview. What is a normal day like for you right now?
A normal day starts when my daughter comes in to our bedroom to snuggle. My husband and I get our two kiddos dressed, fed, and ready for daycare. I drive them to daycare and then am usually off to either the YMCA to do a strength-training class, to various appointments, or often to a local coffee shop to get my caffeine-fix and work for a few hours. I find that I can really focus and get tricky tasks done at a coffee shop, since I don’t have home distractions like dishes, laundry, and my dog barking!
After I arrive home I’ll make a healthy lunch like a big kale salad, then get back into working for a few hours before I get the kids. I manage my two locations so I’m often on calls with my team to plan products, sending estimates, invoices, running payroll, marketing, and all that fun back-end stuff! Client leads can come in any time of day, so I’m often calling leads back in my car between locations or on nights/weekends. I do try to set some boundaries with myself, but it’s hard as a business owner and I also don’t want to lose business if I wait too long to respond!
I pick up the kids from daycare, make dinner, play a little with the kids, and then it’s time for their bedtime routine! My husband and I switch off each night with one of the kids. They love this alone time with each of us. I love my son saying “Mommy night for me!” all excited.
After they’re in bed it’s about 8PM. Sometimes I’ll call a client back or one of my organizers to discuss something. If I’m lucky I’ll have a free night where I can watch tv, eat a later dinner or snacks, and get some reading in.
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
I’m the owner of Hello Simplified Professional Organizing. We have locations in both the Raleigh, NC area (where I live now) and Portsmouth, NH area (where I grew up). We’re proud to have been in business for over 8 years. We primarily help clients with home organizing, decluttering, and unpacking after moves.
We specialize in helping clients experiencing major life changes. You need someone on your side when your life is in flux. Whether you’re experiencing divorce, having a baby, or downsizing to senior living, our team of talented organizers are here to help!
Great, so let’s dive into your journey a bit more. What did you believe about yourself as a child that you no longer believe?
It was difficult for me to fit in and make friends as a child. I think I wanted to be friends with the “popular” kids too much and pushed for friendships that clearly weren’t going to happen. I cared a lot about what people thought.
My best friend was a homeschooled neighbor and thank goodness for her. She made me feel valuable, worthy, and loved. But at school I struggled to make lasting friendships. Once I was in high school this improved drastically once I found my “people” in band and chorus.
Overall, I grew up having this negative core belief that I was unlikeable, or that it was hard to make friends.
I feel like this really changed when I moved to North Carolina. I started using friend apps to meet new people and slowly realized that an abundance of people found me interesting, kind, and wanted to be my friend. My confidence grew and grew.
Now I’m the person who tends to bring neighborhood friends together and grow our community. I know I have a lot to offer as a person and friend. If someone doesn’t want to be friends with me, that’s fine. I can also choose that an acquaintance or friend isn’t a good fit anymore. I want to pour my time and energy into friendships that make me happy and add value to both of our lives.
What’s something you changed your mind about after failing hard?
Not related to my organizing business, but as a student I strived for perfection. I was the one getting straight A’s and 100’s in classes (I might have put too much pressure on myself!). I started a music history class in college (I was a music education major) and it was beyond difficult for me. For example, the instructor would play a 30-second clip of a 60+ minute obscure music piece, out of 20 choices, for our exam and we had to identify what piece and composer it was. My brain just didn’t work like that, not to mention the hours and hours of music listening it involved to study.
One of the first assignments took me many grueling hours. I remember crying in my dorm room since I just didn’t understand how to do it correctly, but I refused to give up. After all that work, I think I got maybe a 60? It was the lowest grade I ever received. I was miserable in that class and it felt hopeless. If I gave my absolute all and was failing, what more was there to give?
This one class was going to bring down my GPA that I worked tirelessly for years to achieve. One of my friends mentioned dropping the class, which is something I had never considered. But I thought about it and the clouds seemed to part. I decided to drop it and was thrilled. The instructor was not happy and basically said I was giving up. But I know how hard I worked and it just wasn’t working. It’s times like these it’s good to know it was a him problem and not a me problem.
Next, maybe we can discuss some of your foundational philosophies and views? What are the biggest lies your industry tells itself?
There is a lot of comparison now with social media. I think the home organizing industry can make it seem like the amount of followers you have and the number of Instagram-worthy projects you post shows how successful and important you are. But you can have a successful business, that helps a lot of people, without having any social media following. I post once a week on Instagram, try not to care about my followers count, and don’t focus on getting my clients through social media.
Some of the clients we help the most will never have their photos on our pages. We may not use bags of products, or make their homes look like a magazine, but they’re finally able to breathe in their home, cook dinner in their kitchen, and find what they need easily.
Okay, we’ve made it essentially to the end. One last question before you go. Are you doing what you were born to do—or what you were told to do?
I do think I’ve found the perfect career for myself.
I left what my life “told” me I was supposed to do, which is music. I was the music girl growing up. I took piano lessons 1st-12th grade, I was a music major, then elementary music teacher. My schedule was filled with chorus, band, and theater. Although there’s a lot that I loved about these things, I do wish I had kept music more as a hobby than a career. Doing music as a job kind of ruined it for me as an enjoyable thing, sad to say.
Now I don’t really do anything musical, except sing to my kids at bedtime, occasional karaoke, and volunteer to teach music at my kids’ daycare. I’m not in a chorus or local theater group. I’ve thought about these things, but also am not sure if it would be fun for me again yet. Am I considering this because I feel guilty for not doing music anymore, or because I would actually enjoy it?
It’s also a huge time commitment. I have limited time and want to fill it with things that bring me joy now, not with what I “should” be doing.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.hello-simplified.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hellosimplified/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Hellosimplifiedorganizing/
- Other: Organizing guide free download: https://www.hello-simplified.com/organizing-guide.html
