“Organizing Your Life for Success: Insights with Angie Hyche”

Welcome to the CJ Moneyway Show podcast, the podcast show where we unlock potential one dream at a time. Today we have another guest whose journey is truly worth hearing. Sit back, relax, and enjoy the Moneyway experience.

What's up, my good people? Welcome to the CJ Moneyway Show, the podcast that brings you stories behind the success Today we have on the show author, speaker, certified professional organizer, and owner of Ship Shape Solutions, Angie Hite. How you doing today, Angie?

I'm great. How about you, CJ Moneyway Johnson?

All right. Yourself? All right. Yourself? Glad that you could take the time out today and join me on the show. So, Angie, tell us a little bit about yourself and about your background. Yeah.

So I was raised in East Tennessee and still live there. I, uh, had kind of an interesting background professionally. I got my degree in biology. I've worked in education, teaching elementary and high school. Worked— got a master's degree in medical science and worked as a PA, physician assistant, in pediatrics. I was home raising my husband and I's daughters for quite a few years. And then stepped back into work by starting my own business as a professional organizer in 2016. I started speaking for my business and writing, and then I had no idea that that would end up turning into becoming an author. I've got a couple of published books, so I've become a little bit of a master of a pivot of the pivot and reinventing myself. My husband, Eric, and I are in our hometown of Kingsport, Tennessee. We are empty nesters now. We have two grown daughters. That live further away than we would like. And in our free time, we love to hike and we are on a quest to visit all 63 national parks. We are at 55. I also like to do community theater and that'll come up later in the conversation because it's tied into my work, strangely.

So when you say hike, you mean like hiking on mountains or trails or things of that nature?

Yes, we are. Yeah, we are big hikers. We just got back from a trip to Washington State where we hiked at Mount Rainier National Park, North Cascades National Park, and Olympic National Park. So we love to get on the trails.

Now you got me there, Edgy. There's no way I'm hiking on no mountains. Matter of fact, I don't even think I can ride to Tennessee because you got to ride through the mountains and go around the curves and things of that nature. That is a little bit out my element. So, uh, so Angie, how does your education in biology and your past work experience combine with what you're doing now?

Okay. Well, it's a little bit of a stretch. It's very— in some ways you would think, how in the world could medicine and professional organizing be related? But so when I worked in medicine as a pediatric PA, my favorite thing about medicine was I kind of viewed it as a puzzle. With, you know, you've got your patient, you have the things that they're telling you, I'm feeling this, I'm sensing this. You've got the symptoms, you know, they're telling you about, you know, a cough and a fever or whatever. Then you've got what you see on the exam. And if you order any labs or imaging, and then you've got to put that puzzle together and figure out, okay, this is what I think is going on. And this is what I think is going to be the best treatment plan. And I feel that same way when I'm working with a client, they've got the This is the issue that I'm having at my home or in my business. This is what's working, what's not working. I look at the environment and I kind of see what they've done and I see how things are arranged and that we talk about their goals. And then I say, okay, so this is what you want. So this is what I think we should do. You need to try to declutter this and arrange things this way. So that's kind of how I see the comparison between what I did in medicine and organizing. And then my career in teaching, that's pretty easy. When I'm working with a client, I'm teaching. And so I spent a lot of years since 2002, I've been just volunteering in community theater, acting just as a hobby. But so that's not necessarily a work, but that experience gave me several things that are related to my work now. Being on stage gave me confidence, which has been super helpful as a speaker. And I also found my love of organizing while volunteering at the theater, our local community theater. We have 5 local ones. I've been able to act at all of them, but the one that I've been involved with the most, when I first started acting there, I noticed that the room where they kept their costumes and props and set pieces was an absolute disaster. And it was just driving me crazy. I could not handle it. Nobody could find anything. It was just such a big mess. And so one of their part-time employees and I decided we were going to do something about it because it was driving her crazy too. So we spent several weeks going through everything they owned. We got rid of a lot of things. We just had tables and tables spread with just all kinds of stuff and we were sorting into groups and letting things go and putting in containers and labeling and all that. And it was just this huge process. They had a storage unit. They didn't even know what was in there that was costing a lot of money. So in the midst of that mess, I realized, oh my goodness, this is what I love. I could do this every day. Did not realize at the time that professional organizing was a career path, you know, that people paid someone to come in and help them make, you know, put things in order. It would be several years before I started my business, but that's kind of how I knew how much I loved it. And then another thing that theater is coming full circle for me is that I am in the process of writing a play featuring a professional organizer who is helping her mother declutter to downsize. And I'm pitching it to local theaters and hope to get it on the stage of that same theater where I discovered my love of organizing. So that's going to be a whole new kind— that's a whole new kind of writing from what I've done before. So that's kind of how my past work and volunteer experience affect what I do now.

Oh, okay. Well, I wish you luck in getting your play out there, especially at the place where you started off with the passion that you have right now. Because I was going to ask you, and I think you kind of hit it on the head. That you didn't know that being a certified organizer was a profession, because I was going to ask you exactly what was a certified professional organizer. I don't know why I keep getting tripped up with that word, but, uh, but I think you kind of answered that in a sense. So with that being tied into your business, Ship Shape Solutions, so what is your business actually? What does it actually entail? Is it just organizing, or does it have other details, other features that's involved in it.

Yeah. So I want to go back really quickly to professional organizer because it's a much broader field than most people realize. There are organizers that do only decluttering or work only in businesses that do only productivity, only digital, only photos, you know, so it goes beyond just putting physical stuff in order. Helping you figure out systems to make your processes more smooth and that kind of thing. And actually, a Certified Professional Organizer, you don't have to be— have a specific degree or be certified to work in organizing. Most, the vast majority of organizers are not certified. In order to be certified, you have to have at least 1,500 hours of paid organizing experience. And you have to pass a difficult exam and you have to have continuing education credits to keep that certification going. So it's an elite group of people that are actually CPOs, Certified Professional Organizer.

Oh, okay.

Anyway, what was the question? Oh, Ship Shape. So I started my company, Ship Shape Solutions, in August of 2016. And immediately started working with clients, mostly in homes, a few businesses. And actually, at the beginning of 2023, I decided not to work in homes anymore because I really needed to give more attention and time to my writing and my speaking and starting a podcast. So I'm, I'm not working in homes now. I do a little bit of volunteer organizing for nonprofits. That I'm passionate about. But now my focus is on the speaking and the writing and podcasting. So Ship Shape Solutions is— it's more now the focus is on creating content around helping people simplify their lives.

Well, I know if you said that you're focused on writing and podcasting, that, that in itself takes a lot of time and a lot of A lot of energy. Sometimes it feels like it's not enough time in the day, and then plus you're writing a play too. And so a lot of times, no, just time just goes by. You got so many ideas, you got so many things that you're trying to do as far as marketing and coming out with different type of solutions to fix the problem. So, so I get it. Let me ask you a question, Angie. Yeah, so why are you so passionate about discussing clutter?

Oh goodness. I guess the main reason I'm so passionate about it is because I see the negative consequences of what our clutter does to us. And when I talk about clutter, most people, when you say clutter, you picture piles of stuff, and that is definitely a kind of clutter. In fact, especially in our culture, we are just inundated with too much stuff. Most of us have all that we need and way more. And that's why we're in the shape we are.

Yeah.

But clutter really goes beyond the stuff. I define clutter as anything that distracts us from our priorities. So we can have clutter in our schedule, we can have clutter in our minds. And so it's that distraction that really wreaks so much havoc. And so I see the negative consequences. I also see how getting rid of that clutter is just so freeing. It allows you to really spend your time doing what you want to do and to place and to be able to prioritize the things that are most important. So I see how life-changing— I'm passionate about speaking about clutter and writing about clutter because I see how life-changing it can be when we let that clutter go.

Mm, you know, when you said something that was vital, you said that we can have clutter in our minds. It's a different type of clutter. And as I was alluding to, as far as like the different things that one can do, as far as writing, as far as podcasting, then you have your business, and then it's other, you know, then you got your family, you got the hiking. So it's a lot of things that you can think about at one time, and a lot of times you can get cluttered. You know, I see it as that. And I've heard a guy say once before, he said that a lot of times when you have like different venues, different things that you're doing in life, that you got to have pockets. And so in these pockets, you put certain ideas. Okay, I got this idea. I'm gonna put this in that pocket. I'm gonna put this in this pocket. Because as I'm listening to you, I'm seeing now that If I don't have pockets to put certain ideas in, they can all get cluttered up together, you know. And so now I'm putting this idea with this idea, but it don't go there, you know, but I'm trying to fit it because I don't have nowhere else to put it. And so yeah, I see. That's a good point. You can have clutter in your mind. And so therefore, oh yeah, absolutely.

That's an interesting analogy with the pockets. I don't struggle so much with the physical clutter. I've just always been one that likes my things, you You know, very ordered and I get rid of things a lot, but the mental clutter, that attention clutter, that is a real issue for me. And one of the most negative consequences of it, if my mind is spinning in a ton of different directions all the time, wherever I am at the time, sometimes I'm not even there in my mind. You know, I may be speaking to someone, but you know, I'm off on my to-do list or whatever. It keeps you from really enjoying where you are and it can really damage your relationships. One of the biggest sources of my mental clutter is my phone and just spending too much time on my phone. And that's a continual battle for me. And I've wasted a lot of time scrolling through Facebook and Instagram. And so the people who are with you are more important than whatever is on your phone. And that's something that I preach a lot and have to preach to myself as well.

Yeah. And I get it. Like on Sundays, I don't do any type of social media. I don't post. I don't, you know, that's a day of resting for me because as you say that, so now what I try to do with my routine, I get up, I check my emails, I check certain things that I've, you know, posted because I try to automatic post things now because as you say, you can get tied up into doing things and then you got people reaching out to you. People want to talk, people want to sell you on this, people want, and it's get frustrating at times to the point where I have to tell people, Angie, for real, like, look, I don't live on social media. So once I go check my messages and this, I'm off. Yeah. So people get mad. I wouldn't seem like you're too busy. I don't— that's not my job. You know, some people, that's their job to live on social media, to try to sell you. That's their job. That's not my job. You know, we got things that we try to do. We try to set up podcast. I gotta do interviews. I gotta set up things for the interview. I gotta do interview questions. I gotta do my clips for the podcast. I gotta, you know, take notes. I gotta— we got other things to do. I can't just sit on Facebook or Messenger all day long like some other people. And I think sometimes people don't understand that. And so that is— that's one thing that I kind of let go, Angie, is the social media aspect. I'll go check it, boom boom boom boom boom boom, and then I'm out of there, right? Then I'm out because it can take up a lot of your time. So Angie, you have two books.

Mm-hmm.

Okay. I wanted to ask you about the first book because I like the analogy where you're talking about what the Bible says about clutter, but let's talk about your second book that you just released.

Yeah, so the second book is called Uncluttered: Shaping Your Heart and Home for What Matters Most. And I co-authored that with my friend Leanna George. Leanna is an author and a former organizer in Houston. And Uncluttered is a book of 28 devotionals. Each devotional has scripture, of course, the devotional, a prayer, and a practical step called Now Unclutter It, and a page for reflection. So, and the book is just like with Unholy Mess, it deals with not just the physical clutter of stuff, it also deals with clutter in your schedule and clutter in your mind. So it's full of biblical principles and practical action steps. So it published in June of 2024 with Scrivenings Press, which is a Christian publishing company. It's been just such a great thing to project, to partner with Leanna. And she and I also have a podcast of the same name, Uncluttered: Shaping Your Heart and Home for What Matters Most. That podcast started in January of 2023. So again, it's about just, you know, trying to get rid of the unnecessary so you can prioritize what should be the most important.

So with that question right there, what's the most important? So with the podcast and with the book, can you give us an example of what would you consider what's most important?

Well, you know, and I think that's a question that each person has to answer for themselves. And honestly, for most of my life, if you had asked me what's most important, I would give you the right answers. I would say, you know, my relationship with God is the most important, and then my family. But if you looked at how I spent my time, my life didn't really match that. So we gotta walk the walk and not just talk the talk. So as a Christian, if I'm saying that God is most important, but I'm not spending any time in the Bible, I'm not serving, I'm not praying, I'm not hanging out with Christians and ministering to others, then you may say it's the most important, but it's really not. So if I'm cluttered my life with the unnecessary, then I can't make room for that. So this whole thing about identifying and eliminating clutter, it's really, really difficult. It's soul-searching work to be able to honestly look at my life, at how I'm spending my time and what I'm thinking about. And, you know, am I really prioritizing what matters most? And if not, what's getting in the way? And that's the clutter that's got to go. Don't miss out on CJ Moneyway Johnson's book, Both Eyes Open and Both Eyes Shut, and get ready to preorder his upcoming release, The Issues of Life, coming soon. Moneyway, aiming to inspire.

You know, I think you answered the question in a way that I was actually looking for the answer, because I think you hit it on the head that you have to walk the walk and not just talk the talk.

Yeah.

As being a Christian, a lot of times we may get off course, or, you know, we may not have read our Bible in a while. But I think, and it's just from my perspective, of what you and your friend Angie is doing, because the Bible say that iron sharpens iron.

Mm-hmm.

And so the things that you guys are doing as far as writing the book, you said that it had devotionals in there. So that was time that was spent with Gabby. And then to the point too where you guys are trying to— well, it also talks about what we plant a seed, you know, we plant seeds. You got some that plant, you got some that sow. Or water, but it says that neither one is nothing because it's God who gives the increase. But what I've took from that, Angie, is that as long as you're doing your part, that's all that God is asking you to do. As you said, am I out here trying to talk to people about the word of God? Am I out here, you know, trying to teach people the gospel or give them what I know? And so I think that the time that you guys— sometimes we do things but not knowing that we are really spending time with God, you know what I'm saying, with the word. Because if I'm writing devotionals in my book, that was time that was spent that I had to, you know, get the scriptures. And then we had to talk about it. Then we had to elaborate on it and think about it. Even with the podcast, same thing, you know, we have to elaborate on certain things because I have a thing, like you say, that we do get cluttered. And I had an analogy that, you know, just speaking of a mother, as you being a mother yourself, you do the same things. You know, I have a mother, I have a wife, And so you get up, get the kids ready for school, you go to work, you come home, you cook dinner, you wash clothes and things of that nature, you help them with their homework at the end of the night, and then you go to bed. And then the next day you're doing the same thing all over and over again. It becomes a routine. But in the midst of that, Angie, this is one thing that I say, in the midst of that, where have I had time to spend with God? Where have I had time to read my word? Where have I had time to have a time to myself? And so a lot of times when we get so caught up into what we're doing traditionally, we do miss out on certain elements of what's most important, and that is the word of God.

Yeah. And the other thing too is that if we're living our lives in the way that we need to, that really our whole life can be a form of worship to God, you know, if we do everything for him and are really mindful about the reasons why we're doing things, you know, with our kids, if we teach them as we go, and, you know, if we do the best that we can at everything, like we're working for God and not men, you know, when I wrote Unholy Mess: What the Bible Says About Clutter, and when I speak about it, it's kind of ironic because the whole idea of what the Bible says about clutter, the word clutter is not in the Bible at all. But it's just because people didn't really use that word in Bible times. But if we talk about things that distract us from putting God first, uh, you know, the Bible is full of, you know, God knows that many, many, many things take our attention away from serving him.

So yeah, yeah, man. And it got like you say, because he said, he said that he is a jealous God. And you know, we idolize people, we idolize things. Like I said, I'm from the Chicagoland area, and so we will put Michael Jordan, you know, ahead of God. Not saying that Michael Jordan is God or whatever, I'm not trying to get into that, but I'm just saying how we will put things or people before God, you know, even our children, even our husband and our wives, that we will put things before God. But he said that, you know, we put him first. And then everything else falls in line. But we do it in a reverse order at times. We want to put everything, prioritize everything else first and then fit him in. That's not, that's not how that goes, right? That's not how that's supposed to go. Yeah.

And we have to also keep in mind that, you know, we talk about the things that we own, our stuff, our possessions. But the real truth is that we don't own them at all. You know, everything that we have our physical things, our time, our thoughts, our talents, all that comes from God. And so we are challenged to use them in a way that would glorify God. So the Bible talks a lot about stewardship. We generally only think of that term as related to money, but really applies to everything. So if everything that I have in my life, all my physical stuff, was given to me by God to use during this time, then I want to be able to use them in a way that glorifies him. So if I have boxes and boxes and boxes and boxes of stuff that I'm not using that could benefit someone else, then am I being a good steward of my stuff? I think no. You know, if I'm spending time on things that are not important, am I being a good steward of my time? No. So it really does require a lot of soul searching. And being honest about where we really are, you know. And when your life is not in alignment, you're not acting in alignment with what you say you believe, then you can only do that for so long before something's gonna break.

Yeah, I totally agree with you. It's 3 things that you made me think about with just that statement that you just made. One, he said there was nothing made before he made it, you know. 2, you think about the young man that he came to that had a lot, and he told him, he said, well, I've been praying, I've been doing this ever since my youth. He said, but give away your— he said, yeah, everything that you own and follow me. And he said that he walked away sorrow because he had many possessions. And so, you know, so sometimes, as what you were saying, and then the talents on how the one, they multiply their talents and this and that, right? And then the one, he buried his talents in the earth. You know, he say, well, everybody know that you reap what you don't sow. And so I think a lot of times too, Angie, that we have buried our talents in the earth and then don't know where to go back and pick them up. We looking for things or solutions for our problems. But what we don't understand is, is that a lot of times we have buried our talents. That's just like Angie is a writer. Angie is a speaker. And so if Angie had buried those talents, back in the day. And then now she's looking for, well, God, what do you want me to do? What, what direction am I supposed to go in? He said, I sent you forth with what, what I wanted you to go with, but you have buried them. You buried your talents. And I think a lot of people in life have buried what God— because we don't want to do the will of God, we want to do the will of ourselves. And so therefore we bury the things that God gave us and try to take up on our own mantle. And then we wonder, well, then we've realize or wonder why things are not going the way that we want it to go. Andy, I love that you came on the show today. I love this guy right here.

Like I said, you're a man of the word. I love it. I love that you know your Bible. You know, I think a lot of the reasons we accumulate things and we accumulate things in our calendar and take in all this information and stuff, I think that we're trying, desperately trying to fill this hole in our soul, to bring this happiness and contentment, because we feel this urge for something more. And so we bring all this into our lives and it doesn't work. It doesn't satisfy.

Yeah.

It's like we know that, but we just keep trying over and over. Oh, if I just got this, if I just had this in my life, and if I was able to travel more, if I could if I had, you know, the right relationships and these clothes and the jewelry. I mean, just on and on and on. It's, it's all our desperate attempts to bring some satisfaction when, when really only God can satisfy.

Uh, and we can go on and on about that. But, uh, so Angie, what was it like— I just have to ask this— what was it like being featured on a local daytime TV show?

That was kind of, that was really fun. So I went on this show, it was a local TV talk show. I was invited one time and they recommended like, if you can bring some stuff and make it more of a demo instead of you just talking. And so the first one I did, it was around the time when school was starting back, I think. And so I talked about some back-to-school things, brought some props and talked through that. And then thinking it was a one-time thing. And then before I left, one of the hosts said, yeah, I was just talking to the producer and he wants to know if you would like to come back. Would you like to be a regular on the show once a month? And I was, well, yeah, of course. And so that lasted 4 years and it was really, really neat. So I had to try to do, bring something new every time. I always had things, you know, physical objects that I would talk about how to organize them. And yeah, I love that. And then they finally got really strict about everyone on the show had to pay because it was like advertising in a way, you know, advertising my services. But it was fantastic. I loved it.

Yeah, I just had to ask that, you know, because I think when you're in this type of space, I think some people yearn to get it, but there's some people are patient that if it comes, it comes, and if it don't, it don't. But when I get people that said that they've been in various magazines or they've been on talk shows and this and that, I had to ask because it just seemed ex— because I know if I'm ever asked to come on a TV show or a major magazine, I'm gonna tell everybody about it. Yeah, yeah, I would tell everybody. So Angie, in close, I got a couple more questions for you first. You said that you had your podcast venture with your friend, but you have another podcast, right?

No, I just have the one with Leanna, Uncluttered: Shaping Your Heart and Home for What Matters Most. Yeah. So we're on YouTube and Apple Podcasts and Spotify and all the major platforms.

Yeah. Okay. What's the name of it again?

It's called Uncluttered: Shaping Your Heart and Home for What Matters Most. It's also the name of our book together.

Okay. And so is this where people can find you on social media? Under the same name?

Yeah. So we have a website, uncluttered.faith. We have— we're on Instagram and Facebook. And then I also have my own Ship Shape Solutions website and social media and that kind of thing.

Okay. So my last question, and before I let you out of here, and I appreciate you coming on the show today, giving us your insight and your wisdom on cluttering or decluttering. And so with that being said, What are your top decluttering tips?

All right. So as you know, I can go in tons of directions. I'm going to stick with physical stuff on these tips. So, and I love, love, love to talk about decluttering. So I would say the tip that I give more than anything is something I call daily decluttering. So I've got something I'm going to show if you're on YouTube. If not, I'll just tell you about it. So I have this box that says donations.

Okay.

So my husband and I have this in a spot that's easy to get to. So the tip is that you have a container that everyone in the house knows where it is. It's really easy to get to. And every time you see anything that is clutter, you drop it in there. Well, how are you going to know if it's clutter? It's just a couple of easy questions. Do I love it? Do I use it?

Hmm.

So if you're looking at that item, and you can't say, yes, I love it. Yes, I use it. Then it might be clutter.

Mm.

So drop it in that container. When that container fills up, go donate that stuff and then do it over and over and over again. It makes such a big difference and it takes almost no time. So if you want to just boil it down to one question, if you're looking at something, trying to decide, is this clutter? Just ask, is this adding value to my life? If it's not, that's easy. Let it go. So that's my number one decluttering tip. And just in general, always err on the side of letting go. Most of us are really— have all we need and way, way more. And don't make it too complicated. Don't sit there and think, well, what would be the best place for this? Well, there's, there's Habitat for Humanity and Salvation Army and Goodwill and this agency and that agency. And, you know, just pick a place. They're all doing great work, doing different kinds of great work, and they know how to handle it. They know how to get it in the hands of people that need it. So just let it go.

Mm-hmm.

Also, a lot of our clutter just comes about from not having regular systems in place and not being really on top of things. Just with the daily, the dishes, the laundry, the daily pickup, just the more regular you are with that, you got less clutter, the clutter of clean clothes you haven't put up or, you know, dishes in the sink or whatever. So just real regular with that dishes, laundry, daily pickup, and a paper management system, those regular habits. The other one that I like to talk about with decluttering and really with anything is something I call the container concept that comes from Dana K. White, an author that I really enjoy. So I'm not talking about just necessarily choosing a particular container, but a container, not only does it hold things, but it limits things. So if I say, all right, well, I've got 4 shelves of coffee mugs. That's something that tends to multiply. Mugs, t-shirts. And I say, this is ridiculous. I don't need this many. I'm going to contain myself. I'm going to limit myself to only one shelf or two shelves, then if you limit yourself, then you say, okay, I'm only going to have one shelf or two shelves. I'm going to take everything out. And then I'm going to choose only my favorites, put them back. And then when that space is filled that I have said I was going to limit myself to, then the rest go away. So that's a way to use the container concept.

Yeah. Is it anything else that you would like to share with us before we leave today?

I've got lots more tips on my website, ShipShape.Solutions, and love to have you follow me. So thanks for having me. It's been a joy. Check out my website, ShipShape.Solutions, and got lots of free resources there. And you can find information about my speaking and my books and 7 years worth of newspaper articles about decluttering and organizing.

Hey, you heard it here on the CJ Moneyway Show. Go pick your book up at all bookstores or wherever you love to get your books from. You have been listening to the CJ Moneyway Show. I'm your host CJ Moneyway. We outta here. Peace.

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