Stephanie Fowler

Stephanie, welcome to the Organized 365 Podcast.

Oh, thank you for having me, Lisa. I'm so thrilled to be here.

This is gonna be so much fun. As I told you, we are recording a series of podcasts this month all about how women in their 30s get it done. And you're here to represent the women who are not working from home, or at least didn't start working from home, then you kind of work from home. Now you're not working from home again.

A lot of back and forth, right? Yeah.

Do you even know where you are today?

I don't know where I am either.

We have to put a little homing device on you.

Yeah, right, right.

Um, women like you have always fascinated me because I, I worked, but I worked from home. I never figured out how you— like, how could you, how could you be a woman and not work? Like, I didn't have an example of that growing up. And so I never understood how the logistics part of it worked. So before we get into all that, can you just let everyone know, tell us about yourself, your spouse, how many kids you have, how old everybody is?

Yes. So when you talk about working from home and not working from home, so I was a corporate executive before I left to continue to grow the company that I founded with my husband, which is Austin Fowler. So I have My husband, we have 4 kids. So our oldest is 11, we have twins that are 9, and our youngest is 6. So all in elementary school for 1 year. So life feels a little simpler for this year. We'll see what next year does for us. And then worked from home the last couple years as we were growing our company, and we just got physical space, gosh, this past spring. So now I'm back in an office again.

How do you like it?

You know, I love it. I think I got used to working from home for a while where the idea of being able to throw in a load of laundry, you know, while I was in between meetings, it felt like I was winning at life because it felt like such a kind of a shortcut. I'd never had that luxury before. But I also realized certainly in the summertime, you know, when kids are home from school, you need that separation of home and work. Because I think as the company has grown, I just need more time to think. And you don't get a lot of quiet time at home with 6 people in the home. So for me, just having that physical space and a space where my team can come in and work too, even though they work primarily remote, that's been really, really good for us.

How big is your team now?

So we have— it's Vince and I, and we have 2 other women that help us on really a part-time basis, and we use a lot of contractors. So we're still at that stage where we're trying to kind of be as lean as we can. I've had a personal assistant for about a year and a half, and she just had a baby. So we're looking to hopefully replace that position. But right now it's just really 4 of us.

Okay, so take me back to before you had kids. You're a corporate professional, and then you had, um, a baby, and that's kind of where the idea of Austin Fowler came from, correct?

Yeah, absolutely. So, um, I was working at one of the Big 4 CPA firms, so I was used to the 80-hour work weeks. And when our oldest was just under a year, I ended up leaving the firm because I obviously my family, I thought, okay, this is just something I, I don't— I can see down the path of what the career progression would be and I don't want to be a partner, you know. So I left while I was in management there and went into private industry thinking this will solve all of my problems. And it certainly wasn't 80-hour work weeks. But it's funny because once you have kids, I realized You just— again, it comes back to that time. I need more thinking time and I need more planning time. And as I had more kids, it's like I just craved more of that time to think and plan because there's just so many moving parts with all of it, um, especially if you throw in like medical issues, you know, for yourself or your kids or anything. Um, it's hard. It's hard to balance some of that sometimes.

How, how did you even attempt? Like, how does it work? I don't understand how it works.

So I played around with my schedule quite a bit. What I ended up doing that really worked the best for me, um, was I went to a condensed schedule. So I said Monday through Thursday, this is when I'm available for meetings. This is when I'll be in the office. I'll work, you know, longer days. And then I had Fridays off to really feel like I was kind of a stay-at-home mom. You know, so it kind of felt like I could dabble in both worlds. That worked so well because, um, you know, my kids weren't in school at the time, so I could take them on errands with me. That's when I did groceries. That's when I visited, um, you know, my grandma who was aging at that time. Um, so it was a really precious time, and it's like, that's the margin I needed to get some of those things done as a mom too.

Yeah.

Really, I mean, if I went Monday through Friday, that is just so hard because how do you squeeze all of those items in over the weekend, plus, you know, caring for your family and whatnot? But that's also the time when I said, I can't do this on my own, and I started hiring some help as far as a house cleaner and some things like that. Whatever I could outsource that wasn't— that allowed me to have more time with my kids or allowed me to still progress my career, I did. So grocery delivery was kind of just coming up on a big thing at that point. So I utilized that, but just hiring out some things, which for me was a mindset shift too, because I felt like I should be doing it all. So there were just some kind of mental barriers to get through of not feeling guilty, because I think a lot of moms who work outside the home too feel guilty. They feel torn kind of in, in 2 different directions, like I should be doing this, I should be doing that. So it's kind of carving out your own path and what that looks like for you and your family.

And what were weekends like? Like, I mean, what do you love doing with your family on the weekends?

We— our weekends now look so much different because now the kids are completely into sports. So it's tournaments and things like that. But at that time, we were so intentional with our time. We would take the kids, you know, on what we call different adventures. So, you know, we would take them around Minnesota to different places to go see. We would do little road trips or things like that, but we always had kind of something planned for the weekend. Those were kind of more of the carefree days where we weren't stuck to a schedule because, you know, the kids weren't really involved in kind of regimented things at that point. So it was really fun. We always— we were running somewhere with them all the time.

And when did you make the transition to starting Austin Fowler?

Gosh, when did I do that? Probably about— well, I, I actually, we came up on our 7-year anniversary this fall. So it's funny, for quite a few years I ran it as a part-time side hustle, which our customers didn't know about. Um, but you know, during the day I was working full-time. I'd get home, I'd make dinner, be with the family. And then once the kids went to bed, Vince and I would pull out our laptops and start working until like 1 in the morning. So when you talk about balance, I don't know that that's the best example, but you know, there's seasons where you have to do that. You know, being— having the career I had, I couldn't just leave and go kind of chase my dreams, as they say, you know. We had to have an income coming in. The benefits came from me. The income came from me primarily. So it was one of those things where I really needed to continue doing what I was doing, but I loved what we were building so much on the side that it didn't feel like work and it didn't feel like a sacrifice. And at that point, I think you're, you're young enough where you can go off of a little less sleep. So we did that for quite a few years, and then I slowly stepped out of that, transitioned into a part-time CFO and president role for another company. So that gave me more time to build Austin Fowler. So I've never had the luxury, you know, of just having this full amount of 40 hours a week to build Austin Fowler. But I think that's forced me to really look for some of those other time-saving tricks and to really evaluate my time too and say, okay, of these hours, what is important? Where do I want to spend that time? And it's usually with Family, of course, and then spending it on meaningful things with the business.

So tell me about your weekends now that the kids are getting a little older and they are so involved in extracurriculars.

It, it is busy. So if we don't have anything on Friday, then Friday is kind of the prep night. We'll usually go out to dinner and then I think through, okay, where are we going to be? And oftentimes Vince and I are going in different directions. It's like a luxury if we can, you know, see all of the kids' games on a weekend and go together. But that's not always the case. But Friday evening, I'll usually prep for the weekend ahead. So I'll be packing a bag with snacks and kind of activities. And that's lessened a little bit now that the kids have gotten older. They can kind of, you know, handle some of that themselves. But having all of that set up the night before allows us to hit the ground running Saturday morning. Because oftentimes it's all day Saturday, and sometimes it's all day Sunday as well. Um, but there's nowhere else I'd rather be either. We love it. Um, but it's busy, and so that's where it's, it's hard to, to find some of that time on Sunday to really plan for the week ahead. So I've had to really be disciplined with that, saying, okay, now that we're back Sunday, even though I'm tired from the weekend, I need to carve out some time to really Look ahead and see what's coming. Of course, do my Sunday basket. That's non-negotiable for me. But really to look at what I need to get ready for myself, but also the kids for the week ahead. Okay.

I don't understand the math. How do you get all your housework done? I don't understand how this happens.

So routines are huge for me. So I, I will confess, as I said, I— we hired a house cleaner. She comes once every 2 weeks. That has just been the biggest blessing for us. So we love that. So I do not scrub bathtubs and showers and things like that. I do love a clean house though. So I take on the responsibility of saying, okay, every morning after the kids leave for school, the house is picked up before I leave for the office.

Mm-hmm.

You know, I kind of pick up as we're going throughout the day. And then for sure, every night before I go to bed, Our house has to be picked up because it's almost like a mental clarity thing for me. If I come down in the morning, it, it looks to me like there's too many open loops if I see a mess everywhere.

Okay.

So picking up the kitchen, picking up the family room, I would love to say that the kids help out a lot with that. They do sometimes. Sometimes it's like it's not worth the battle of, you know, but I think just Leaning on routines too. I'll even, especially when I'm not motivated, I'll set a timer for 15 minutes and I'll just say, let me see how much I can get done in 15 minutes. And it's amazing. Usually your house can look so picked up in just 15 minutes. So that's another trick I've used quite a bit too.

When do you get the laundry done?

Well, that's always an interesting one for us. It's, that's something Vince has helped with Quite okay. Um, I try to do a load a day because to me having 10 loads on the weekend is just like not the most exciting endeavor. So we try to do a load a day, and then I usually set it in the morning as I'm getting the kids ready for school, and then I would say we're folding kind of in the evening and having the kids put their stuff away. Um, so if we keep up on it, that's the ideal routine for us, but There's always times, you know, where once we're washing everyone's, like, bedding and things like that, you kind of have some of those marathon days a little bit, but we try to avoid those as much as possible.

So what is the division of labor? Like, what is Vince doing? What are you doing? Like, how does that work? As you were saying, I was like, oh yeah, there's another player in the game. Pull him off the sidelines.

Yes. Yeah, he, he is amazing. Um, and he would help more if I if I asked him to. Over the years, it's changed quite a bit. So, as I said, he helps with laundry quite a bit. I would say I do most of the cooking, although he'll do breakfast for the kids some mornings too. I do grocery shopping, planning, just because that kind of falls with my natural, you know, inclinations a bit more, I guess. So, there's, there's no use in trying to form him into that planner when that's just not his natural tendencies. He does all of the outside stuff. So, any landscaping, shoveling, plowing. I don't even know how to work the plow. I have no desire, you know, to know. We live in Minnesota, so that's a job in itself sometimes. And then I do some of the indoor stuff, but he certainly helps pick up and things like that. So, we've definitely come into a rhythm. Or a lot of times if I will order things or, you know, there's a pickup to be done, I'll just let him know and he'll go grab those. So it works pretty well with a lot of, a lot of those things. And, and then as far as childcare, it's split completely down the middle. So he's totally a hands-on dad and is so awesome. He's running them to practices. He's at all their games and, and helping get them ready for bed and things like that. Okay.

So when do you get up in the morning? When do you go to bed? And when do these kids get up? And when do they go to bed?

Seems like that changes all the time. Well, I'm in a new routine now, which I have to say I love, but not every morning. But it's been good for us. So Vince has been getting up at 4 in the morning, actually 3:30, I should say, because he gets to the gym at 4. Because he loves to work out when there's no one there. So that's been great because when he comes back, then I go to the gym. So it's kind of that accountability. So we're finally—

You also work out in all of these things you do? You're also working out?

So, Lisa, you have to know, I took a couple of years off. So it's not like this is something that's been going on for years. I took a couple of years off. It's not like I missed like a week at the gym. I missed a couple of years. Where I'd go like once a month. But no, this is more for just like a mental—

Yeah.

You know, kind of a stress manage— not stress management because I don't feel stressed, but, you know, just kind of focusing on our health. We focus so much on our kids. And I really had the epiphany this year. I can't just let my health kind of go on autopilot. I've got to be a little more intentional about it. So, yeah. So he goes at 4:00. When he comes back, I go, which is usually around 5:30. And then we're both getting the kids ready, and then we get to the office probably around 9 after the kids get on the bus.

Okay.

Yeah. And then the day— it's, it's been hard for me to get used to because I'm so trained in the corporate mindset where you work from 8 to 5. So I feel like when I get to the office at 9, and then of course you have to leave to get home earlier when the kids get off the bus, it feels like I'm cheating my day. So it's like how I've been out of the corporate world for so long and I still am getting used to that. But one of us will leave to make sure we're home when the kids get off the bus. And then it's just dinner and kids' activities at night. I usually try not to work at night, at least not when the kids are awake, because that's my time really to be with the kids. And yeah, but it's great and it's— it works out beautifully too, because since I work with my husband, it's like you're you know, seeing them. So it's not like I'm neglecting him either, because we're not worried about date nights either. So, um, it works pretty well. It's kind of a good routine for us.

So as I'm listening to this, I'm figuring like, okay, so you must have a pretty solid like checklist every morning and checklist every night so that you're not making the decisions, but everything's getting done. Because obviously you're getting home from the gym, you're throwing a load in the washer, you're getting a shower, then you're moving it to the dryer, then they're doing breakfast, and then like So if you're, if you're going to work out at, you said it was 5:30?

Yep.

And you're getting to the office at 9:00. I mean, that's 3.5 hours. So in that 3.5 hours, you work out, you get laundry done, you get the house picked up, you get ready for work, you get your kids off to school. Like, you get all that done in that 3.5 hours. Then you work from 9:00 until when? When does the bus come?

Um, the bus gets there around 4:00, so we're usually leaving around 3:45. So you still get a good amount of work time. Okay.

You have a school day worth of work.

Yeah, yeah, absolutely. Yeah. You would think of that. You're a teacher.

It's 7 hours. You get 7 hours. So you got your 7 hours. Yeah. Then you come home and you do. So then you probably have a really good after-school routine, which is like, okay, check the backpacks, do the homework, get the dinner going, move the stuff to the dryer if you haven't already, do another pickup, run anybody anywhere they need to go. Then once everybody gets into bed, you get all that laundry put away, then you've got some time for yourself to watch a TV show or read a book or just go to bed or whatever you wanna do.

Yep. Yep, absolutely. Yeah. No, I think the routines are so key for us.

Yeah.

In fact, I don't look at them every day cuz I've been doing them for so many years that I, but I do have them actually like laminated. It's like my morning routine, my afternoon routine, my evening routine. So yeah, you're spot on. Because if I did not have that routine, and I am someone who I love routine, but I also resist it. I don't like being boxed in. It's kind of a weird thing, you know. But I also know if I don't do it, I like— I feel very unsettled. And I know I have to do it to get all the things done. But it kind of just works like clockwork then, because it—

Yeah.

It feels like you're doing a lot, and when you look at it on paper, you're doing a lot. But it just kind of flows, and that's just what you know, you know. And so by kind of theming that time and having those items you want to get done at that time, it works so well. And then also you never let things get too far out of hand. So just like the laundry, if you're doing a little bit every day, or you're picking up the house, you know, here and there, it might feel like you're doing that stuff all the time. But you're also not getting overwhelmed where you're like, Oh my gosh, no one can come over. It's a mess over here. I never have that. I mean, our house isn't perfect, but I never have that feeling because we keep on top of it through the routines. So that helps tremendously, I have to say.

You know, and this is what every woman in any of these interviews has said. I think it's that— I don't know. I think when I was in my 20s and I was a new mom, I just kept thinking that I could get my to-do list done. Like, if I would just order it a certain way, I could get it done. If I could stack it in a certain way, I could do it less often. And I think that people who just like, like all these interviews that we've done so far, it's like, okay, so this is the amount of work that needs to be done. We figured out the place where it's going to fit the best. We basically put it on autopilot. We stopped making the decisions and it's just kind of part of the routine. It's just get up, brush your teeth, throw a load of laundry in, take a shower, do this, drive a kid here.

Like, it's just like Yeah, I agree, I agree. And, and that's something I didn't learn until I had kids because I didn't need them as much. You know, when it's just you, um, it's funny because I remember when I was working, um, at KPMG, and then I would do my MBA in the evening after working a full day. And then when I got home, I would study for the CPA exam until midnight, and I could do it because I had no kids. And so I'm like, this is fine. I mean, it's not what I want to do for 10 years, but I can get it done for a couple of years. And you didn't have to stick to a routine as much because I didn't have all these other people to get places and do things. But the routines, it also has helped me just even when I'm at work, because you, especially as an entrepreneur, you have no one standing over you telling you what you have to get done. So again, that's where it's hard. If you're someone who likes routine but you resist it, it's like, well, this is what I said I'm going to do every day or every Tuesday or something. I better stick to it now because I know that that's actually moving the needle, or that's, you know, getting things done. But, but yeah, I've also realized that not everything is created equal. So not, not everything on my to-do list has to get done. We say no to most things. Like most social things, we just say no because there's just no way that we can get it in.

Yeah.

And you feel a little guilty because you don't want to offend someone or hurt someone's feelings, but there's just no way. You know, if I, if I'm saying my kids are my top priority beside my husband, I, I can't go to all these different events. So it's a good kind of decision-making filter too, to have. You know, those priorities and those routines in place.

Now I wanna touch on packing your bags for the week, cuz that, that's something we haven't talked about before, and I think it'll be really impactful, especially the Organized 365 audience is gonna be like, got it, I understand how that works. Before we go there, talk about how you incorporated the Sunday basket and the Friday work boxes into your life.

The Sunday basket is— so I would say I did the Sunday basket maybe 2 years before I did the Friday Work Box because I wanted to make sure I really understood the routine. And maybe I'm a slow learner, but I wanna make sure I have a good grasp of it before I move on. It is a game changer. And especially when you are someone who just has, I mean, for anyone, but someone who has so many things going on, it's easy to feel like you're dropping the ball. And to have one place where I know I put all my actionable to-dos And I don't have to— when I get home and I see that piece of mail, I don't have to open it right now and think through it and process it, because I know I'm supposed to be making dinner. So I have a routine where I just put it in the Sunday basket. That's that. And it works well for our family too, as a system, because the kids— our oldest son just handed me a permission slip for a ski field trip, and I said, when does it have to be signed? And he said, not till the 19th. And I said, perfect. Put it in my Sunday basket, please. So it's not clogging up my brain and giving me decision fatigue, um, but it also forces me to be disciplined every Sunday afternoon or evening and say, this is when I'm going to process everything for our house, um, for the family, especially now with the kids in school.

Mm-hmm.

There's always something that has to be signed or reviewed or something along those lines. Um, so it's been a game changer. Because you feel like you're on top of things, and even it incorporates vacation planning and all the things, you know. Um, I just don't know of another way to do it, and I shudder to think if I hadn't done the Sunday basket what— I mean, it would— how people say they feel like a hot mess. I'm like, I get it, I would feel like a hot mess. But you don't, because you've got that routine and system in place.

Mm-hmm.

So that's been huge. And then, and then bringing that over into Austin Fowler, as you know, as a business owner, you're in charge of all the things, all the finances, production, HR, you know, all the things. And to have a system that helps you keep track of it and feel on top of it and know what to focus on at any given time. It's a game changer. So I would say it also just banishes the feeling of overwhelm, but it helps you to stay focused on getting the right things done, and also to not feel guilty. And I've done this so many times, Lisa. I feel like you're in my head, especially around Christmas time, where I'm looking through things in my Sunday basket like, can this wait until next Sunday? And I feel like my natural inclination would be like, no, everything has to be done now. And it's like, no, really it doesn't. That could wait probably until middle of January. So, yeah, you have to—

the only way to create more time and capacity is to, say, proactively procrastinate things. Like, yeah, could we do everything this week? Yes, we could. Should we? No, we shouldn't. Because when you proactively procrastinate, a couple of things happen. Sometimes you just decide you're not going to do that at all, and then you didn't waste any time on it. But secondly, sometimes something better comes along or an easier way to do it or additional information that you didn't have initially. And I'm like, oh, this is so much faster now because I waited. I didn't try to push it through faster.

Exactly. No, I've found that myself too, for sure. And there's been times where I'm like, oh, I'm so glad I wasn't impatient with that and trying to get that done right away because a lot of times it just falls off and you don't even need to do it. It was canceled or something, or more information came out on it. Yeah, there is an advantage to not doing everything immediately.

Now, something I love to follow on your Instagram channel is to constantly watch you pack your bags. And this is something that I used to talk about a lot when I was blogging, but I don't talk about it very much now on the podcast. It is inside of the kids program. I think also because you have kids, it is very much a kids-focused thing. I mean, you pack your work bag depending on where you're going, but the idea of packing the bags is a very Mom, school-age kid-centric thing. I remember when my kids were the ages of your kids. Of course, I only had 2. I would do this on Sundays as well when I was done with the Sunday basket. Then I would get out and I would pack all the bags for the week. So I'd pack the gymnastics bag, I'd pack the ballet bag, I'd pack the football bag, I'd pack the, the, you know, swimming bag, whatever. Like, I would just line up. I would look at our calendar. I would look at every single activity we had.

Mm-hmm.

And I would get out the designated bag, and I purposely purchased bags for every single activity we ever did.

Yeah.

I think it's the best thing you could do. And I was into 31 at the time, so I'd like— Yeah. And then I'd buy like all the matching bags, and they had like thermal totes that matched and all this stuff. And so I would pack those bags, and it made you make sure you had the uniforms washed and make sure you had like all the ancillary stuff. If you were the snack mom, I'd put anything snack related in there right away. If you had other kids coming, you could put in different toys that they're going to play with. I, because I'm such a nerd and I am not into any of the sports that we're doing, I would always pack work stuff like a book I was going to read, or I would take papers and I would sort papers. I would take stuff for scrapbooking. I would, I would take it to all— we're sitting there all day. These dance competition things take all day long.

Yes, all day. I've heard about those. Oh, yes. Yeah.

Are you kidding me?

It is. So it's funny because naturally I was not an organized person for the longest time until I became, you know, and probably until I was done with college. I'm like, oh, I gotta really pull this together because life is busy. That was kind of your first taste of it, I feel like, for me. And so even packing stuff ahead was something I had to train myself to do. But I, I despise kind of that feeling of chaos and rushing around and forgetting stuff. And so I realized, okay, just taking a couple minutes the day before an event, or at the beginning of the week, to pack your work bag, your diaper bag, your handbag, whatever it is, your kids' bags. It makes all the difference in the world, and it's honestly a game changer between yes, we can survive that day, or no, we can truly have a great day and be comfortable and have what we needed on hand. And I learned that too when I was working downtown Minneapolis. And it's like, well, once you're down there and you're 35 minutes away from home and you have to, you know, walk half a mile to a parking garage to get back to your car, if you forgot something, that's it. So having a packed bag, or when I'm going out to see clients, You know, I never wanted to feel like I was that hot mess. So, so often you look inside a woman's bag and she's so embarrassed about it, you know, because it's just got all the stuff jammed in there. And I can totally understand how that happens so easily. But to me, to my mind, that just says chaos. And it just gives me that unsettled feeling, and you never know if you have all the right things. So just taking those few minutes, whether— like, I always like to do it on Sunday because again, it's kind of tying into your natural planning for the week ahead. But taking those few minutes and saying, okay, yes, we're set up for the week ahead, whatever. You know that unexpected things are going to happen.

Yeah.

So as if you can prepare as much as possible ahead of time, then you take what could be a crisis and really turn it into something that is just inconvenient. You know, but you're ready. And then also there's so much lost time everywhere, whether you're waiting at a doctor's appointment and you're sitting there for 45 minutes and you're like, should I walk out? Should I just leave? Should I, you know? But if you have some work with you and you have a protein bar because it's over lunch and you're starving or something, Yes. It turns a really what could be a frustrating situation and just turns the volume down on that and it makes it you know, hopefully a more pleasant day. But you were also productive with that time, so you don't feel like that time was just wasted.

Yeah. So you have these awesome Austin Fowler bags and backpacks, and I just love watching you pack them up for all the different things the kids are doing and all the things you're doing. But, and I, I am gonna grab out of my purse right here. I love these packing totes that you have. So you have these different packing totes, and I carry one. Obviously I'm out of my, my cereal bar, but normally this is— I fill this up on Sunday, and it has my protein bar and then my cereal bar that doesn't have protein in it. And I always have the cereal bar every morning. It's one of those— what's it called?

Let's just grab one.

One of these Nature Bakery bars.

Oh, sure.

Yeah. I have a fig bar with a coffee every morning, and then I also keep these always packed with me everywhere I go. These Zone Perfect protein bars because they're like 200 calories. But I literally— it can be a meal replacement for me because it's so dense in protein. And I keep this in my purse. I also keep it in my travel backpack and I keep one in my car. So I always have these Austin Fowler zipper pouches with these food in all these locations. And then I copied you on this one.

Yeah.

So you have the little one and you keep in it like I don't know, all of your emergency things.

Yes.

And I, I watch you every time. I'm like, what's in there again? What else could I add to mine?

Like, what do you have in yours? Yep.

I love this because this is all the little stuff that I need to have in my purse that's floating around in there that you never need. But when you need it, you need it. And I love that it's in the pouch because it's just one thing that you can move in and out of a purse. And so you don't have to touch all those things. So I, I have in mine, I have an inhaler, I have my lipstick. I have a Sharpie to sign a book because I went to my book signing and I forgot my own Sharpie. So now, now that one.

Yeah.

Charger cord, lotion, Kleenex. I'm allergic to the world.

So I know. Yeah.

And then I have Luden's cough drops because I talk all the time. So it just like keeps your throat moist. So these are the things that I keep in my little thing. What do you keep in your little You're little.

Okay. So in that kind of theme that you have, I have flossers. I don't know, like I never needed those 5 years ago. Why do I need these like every other day now? But I have flossers. I have like breath mints, like Lifesaver breath mints that are individually wrapped. Okay, here's my favorite thing. You can get those tiny little Ziploc baggies at like Walgreens or something. Oh, yes, you have those.

Oh, I have those in my wallet.

Yes, yes, those are a game changer because— and I know you get this too, Lisa, because I've heard you say this—

migraines.

Yes, migraines. So I keep Excedrin. I keep— yes, yep, anything. And that has been a game changer. Like when we're gone all day at a tournament or something and one of the kids is like, I feel like I'm getting sick. I'm like, oh, well, let me open my vitamin C. And get you started on some vitamins right now to hopefully ward some of this off.

Yeah.

You know, or ibuprofen or just, and it's not like I have to use that stuff all the time every week, but to know I have it just makes me feel so much better. I keep like hair ties in there, a pen, just little things like that. Also an inhaler for one of my kiddos. Yeah, just, just little things that again take, you know, if you're sitting somewhere, maybe you're traveling or whatever, and all of a sudden you feel like this terrible headache coming on and you're like, if I don't take something, this is going to not be good. But maybe you're on the plane or something. But if you have that on hand, it just makes it so much easier. And you can transfer those from bag to bag. So like you said, if you're using like your travel backpack, but then you stick it in your handbag. And to me, having that compartmentalized, because that might be the same stuff that some woman has in the bottom of her big tote purse, but she doesn't have it compartmentalized. So it's all just floating in there. So you don't know what you have, you know, and it feels just chaotic and you're literally just digging through stuff. So when you have it compartmentalized in something as simple as a zipper tote, you feel like you're winning at life a little bit, you know? Yeah.

And you also know when you're out, like, it's very clear that I am out of the fig bars. I need to replenish, but I have enough of the protein bars. Like, it gives you a container for how much of this stuff that you need. And the more you're gonna be away from home, the more you can have the comforts of home while you're traveling.

Yes.

And you don't have to worry about it 'cause you're at work, you're at the sporting events, you're at home, you're back and forth. That's when I really started using the trunk of my car and I would call it my car closet. Yes.

I'm like, okay, it's the fall, put coats in the back of the—

'cause you'll be out and then all of a sudden you come out of a game or something and all of a sudden the temperature has dropped. 30 degrees and it's the first time it's gotten cold, or it's the first time it's gotten warm, or you decide you want to stay at a friend's house and their kids are going to run through the sprinklers, but you don't have swimsuits. Like, that was never a problem for me because I always had pool towels and swimsuits in the back of the car from the time my kids were 6 until they were 16. Like, we could stay at a pool party anywhere because that was part of my car closet, was always packed for the season.

Yes. So that is genius. And actually, one of my girlfriends had told me that, and I wish I would have listened to it and actually done it this past fall. We were— I had a couple of things packed in the back of my car, and I put them in my husband's as well. But we were at one of our older son's football games in the evening, and all of a sudden it was like a 30-degree drop. It was freezing. We were completely underdressed for it, and I thought if I would have just had hats and gloves in the car, you know, and I would have thought ahead and just kept a spare set in there, it would have made it that much more comfortable. I mean, obviously you survive, you're fine, right? But when you think of that night, you're like, gosh, that was freezing, you know? So having that stuff packed ahead and it just sits there. So once you do it once, it's not like you're continuing to do that all the time. You just have it in case you ever need it, which is nice.

How often do you reevaluate the organization that you need for your kids? Because they're older now. Yeah, it's just constant.

I, I felt like when they were little you had to do it all the time, of course, because you're changing stages and toys and needs and food and all the things all the time. But even this morning I was just thinking, apparently my kids don't like socks. We do not like socks in our family. And so every time they come downstairs when they're ready for school and about to put their shoes on, no one has socks on. And I thought I should just have a bin down here.

Yes.

In one of the cabinets. With socks. I mean, that would, you know, because when you ask them to go upstairs, put on socks, they're like, oh, are you kidding? So little things like that, when you feel kind of the tension or discomfort of a certain thing and you see it over and over, that's where I start to notice and say, okay. Like, we built— not we, Vince did. He built these huge, like, lockers in our garage that are just beautiful, like wooden lockers. each kid has their own, and that's been a game changer for us for, you know, sports gear, school backpacks. They have a basket for all their hats and mittens. So it's little things like that that you invest a little time and maybe a little money up front, but then you just enjoy the simplicity and organization of it after for, for quite a while. So that's been nice.

Yeah, that— I did the same thing with socks. And a lot of people have followed, followed me. I did it when, um, Joey was a baby.

Mm-hmm.

Because I mean, you'd only put socks and shoes on them when they would leave the house.

Yeah.

So I just left the diapers, the socks and shoes in the family room and I never took socks all the way upstairs after we did laundry. Like they just always stayed in the family room. Yeah. And, and I, so what you're describing is my parenting style, which is basically like, is there a way for me to avoid this argument entirely?

Yeah. Yes, yes, it's not worth the battle, but I need you to have socks on at school too. Right, right.

So like my parenting, like I give zero parenting advice, zero, because my parenting style is how little do I have to parent you? How many things can I completely avoid parenting you at all? Like if things are going wrong, I'm like, what am I doing here? What can I change to make this go the way that I want it to go? And so the socks and shoes would be the same thing. Like, okay, so my kids never— their shoes were always downstairs. They never went all the way upstairs so that they were where I needed them when we were ready to leave.

Yeah.

That's why I packed all the bags and they were all in the cart. Now, some parents may say, you know, it's a child's responsibility to maintain all of their stuff. I'm like, that's all fine and dandy until you are sitting there at dance class and they don't have their shoes. Who do you think is getting in their car and driving back? Or paying for a lesson that they cannot take because they don't have their shoes. Either way, I'm the loser here.

I'm the one that is losing.

So since I'm the one that is going to pay the price either way, how about if I just make sure that I'm not paying the price and that we actually get the money for the lesson that I've already signed up for, that I'm sitting there and waiting for it to begin with? So I always try to figure out how do I make it so literally this is failproof. Like, this thing is going to go and I'm still going to be in a good mood while we do it.

So I am right there with you, Lisa, because I agree. I let them fail on certain things and certain things I'm like, that would be too painful for all of us.

Right?

So for example, sports uniforms, those never go upstairs to their closet. I'm like, nope, those hang on the rack in the laundry room, which is on our main level that way. And they know that it's been that way for years. So that way we never lose those. And, you know, Saturday morning when we have to leave at, you know, 6:30 in the morning to get to a game, You know exactly where your jersey and shorts are.

Agree.

There's certain things like that. But it's interesting, one of my kids the other day was leaving for school, and he couldn't find his book for book club, which is one of their assignments. And he said, Mom, I, you know, can you look for it and bring it to school for me? And I said, no. I said, buddy, that's something you should have been looking for the night before. So there's certain things I said, you'll have to talk to your teacher and let them know that There's certain things I'll let them kind of have that experience, but then others it's like, I'm not going to drive 45 minutes to a game and realize you don't have your jersey on. So that one, you know, I will make sure that we have taken care of. So, but I think that also teaches them the routine and hopefully to set up those systems themselves as well, even if they don't recognize it now. But hopefully when they're older, they, you know, can remember, well, we always had our jerseys in the same place, or we always had socks down here, which now I'm going to start doing that tonight. And so hopefully they realize that, but they also learn the accountability and responsibility because they were allowed to, you know, have that kind of embarrassment or feeling of discouragement a little bit when they didn't have what they needed for some more inconsequential things.

Yeah, we did the same thing with With any kind of uniform. It just never left the laundry room. Like, when it got clean, it just never got in the laundry basket to go upstairs. It just stayed there until it went back in the bag, actually, which we hung in the back hall. And then you grabbed the bag and you had everything that you needed.

Yeah, yeah, I love that. I think it makes it easier for kids too. And sometimes when we say, well, it's all the kids' responsibility, it's like, yes, that sounds lovely in theory, but think about even as a adults when we wear so many hats. I mean, kids are going from school to sports to whatever other activity, so we can't expect them to remember every little thing, you know. So I do think there's some, um, some things where we have to kind of help facilitate that a little bit. Um, but there's some things that I'm just— to the extent that I can pack it up the night before and make it easier, I will do that just so we don't have a chaotic morning. Because then they're happier, we're happier, and the day hopefully goes a little smoother.

Yeah. Stephanie, how do you relax?

You know, it's funny because I love what I do so much that I could, I could honestly work constantly and it doesn't feel like work to me. So I don't feel like I need to escape anything or— but there are certain things we love to do. We love to travel as a family. I like to read, although when I'm reading, it's usually a business book. I'll be honest. I love going out for dinner with my girlfriends, you know, usually like once a month or once every month and a half or so. I don't know, but honestly, just, I think this season is so short in our family's life that I don't—

Yeah.

I don't need to kind of like do any other activities at this point because I enjoy, you know, being at our kids' activities. I love being at work. I get to work with my husband, so it doesn't feel like I need to kind of escape anything. Or so I'm probably not a great role model for that, although I do, I do things like I'll get my nails done and things like that. But if I had to cut them out, I definitely would.

So tell everyone how they can find your fabulous bags.

Oh, austinfowler.com. And then on social media, we're Austin and Fowler.

So Stephanie, thank you so much for coming on the Organized 365 podcast.

Thank you for having me, Lisa. It's been so fun to chat with you, as always.