KonMari for Real Moms: Organize Your Life Without the Overwhelm

Welcome to the Working Moms of San Antonio podcast. We're your hosts, Erika Radis and Marie Lifschultz, a realtor and lender here in San Antonio. But most importantly, we're working moms just like you.

This podcast is all about creating a space where we can come together, share stories, and learn from each other. We love connecting with local moms in business here about their journeys and how they're balancing it all. Because let's be honest, it's not always easy, but it's so worth it.

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Now on to today's episode. Grab a cup of coffee, settle in, and let's get started.

Welcome to this week's episode of the Working Moms of San Antonio podcast. Today we are here with not one, not two, but five professional organizers who practice a very specific, um, process of organizing. And so, um, we're going to get into all of that today, but I'm just going to turn it over to these gals to kind of individually introduce themselves, um, and their businesses.

Good afternoon, uh, my name is Hitomi Kinoshta and I'm the Platinum KonMari Consultant in San Antonio. And I've been working for this method for 2000— since 2017, that with a passion for clothing and the closet styling, that's what I do. And with 20 years as a fashion ambassador for an Italian couture brand in New York City, now I bring that same luxury touch into home closets. After the client identified what truly sparks joy, we treat the items with care and gratitude, then styling them like a boutique space.

My name is Emilie St-Jacques. My business is Emilie Organizes LLC. I became a professional organizer in 2019, but I became certified in the KonMari Method in 2021. And I find that it really helps my clients achieve a whole other level of decluttering because it helps change their mindset.

Amazing.

I love that.

Yeah.

Hi, my name is Ami Teodosio and my business name is just my name, Ami Teodosio. I got certified in the KonMari Method January 2024, so I've only been doing this for one year., and I love guiding clients through choosing what sparks joy and letting go of that which does not serve them.

Hi, I'm Angie Marino. I own Clean G Professional Cleaning and Services. I've owned that for 8 years, and I thought, what better way to serve our clients is to add the organizing. So I am a professional organizer and declutter coach, as are my colleagues here. So that what— that's what makes us different from any other professional organizer is we are a declutter coach as well. I have always loved serving people from serving food to the homeless to cleaning their homes to now organizing. I just love to organize.

Me too. I just wish I was good at it.

I'm glad someone does.

I know.

That makes me the last person. Hi, my name is Lupe Villarreal. I became a certified KonMari consultant last year. And I could have not done it with the support of this amazing team. We came together as a group collaborating rather than competing with each other. So that's really amazing. And I'm passionate about helping professionals how to have joy at work because having an organized place, according to research, makes you more productive and happier at your workplace, whether it's in an office or at your home office or at a cubicle. Um, so I'm happy to share anything that can help any professionals, um, in their workplace. Thank you.

Love it.

Yes, thank you all so much for being on.

It's perfect for our community, what Lupi just said about coming together and not competing but helping each other and supporting each other. That's exactly what Working Moms of San Antonio does. We have lots of people in different industries that come together and support each other because there's enough business out there for everyone. So that's amazing. We're excited to hear about you guys.

Yes. Um, so I am, I'm curious, we have had organizers on our podcast before. Um, there are, I think, people obviously in any industry that do things a number of different ways, and organizing I'm sure is no exception. Um, and so can you gals share with us a little bit about what makes this particular method different, uh, than other methods that other organizers may or may not be using?

I think that the, the main difference is that there are a lot of organizers, let's, let's call them non-KonMari organizers, who will organize by putting things in boxes and bins, and they will tell you what organizing supplies you need to buy. KonMari is a little different because we're more about figuring out what items you have that you should keep, which ones you should let go of, And most of the time with my clients, we just reuse organizing supplies that they already have lying around. We very rarely go out and buy product. I mean, if they want them, yes, we can recommend products. But most of the time, it's about the, the final result is about the decluttering and simplifying of their life and helping them achieve their ideal lifestyle, much more so than buying things to make things look pretty.

Yeah, that makes sense. And that probably makes it maybe more cost effective as well. I mean, you know what we see right now, and we talk about it all the time on the Instagrams, is these like beautiful homes that have like these beautiful, perfect, like, you know, like those— yes. And I'm like, well, my house doesn't—

I have a love-hate relationship. I mean, love because obviously it's because it's so beautiful, right? But at the same time, no one I know lives like that, right? Yes, beautiful back stock, all color-coded. No one has 27 different bell peppers in their fridge, right? They have leftovers, right? Yeah, we're organizing for the way people live, not Pinterest.

Yeah. Yes, that makes sense.

Well, I think as Americans, I, I just realized, I mean, on my Instagrams as well that we just have too much stuff. Yeah, we as Americans love stuff. I love stuff and we don't know how to get rid of the stuff when we don't need it. It's very painful for me to like, but I might use that sweater in 2 years. Like, I might need that one. Or we buy something for one specific event and we never use it again.

I'm known for that.

If I may, another thing that makes this method very unique is that The focus is not on what you want to let go. The focus is in what you want to keep. And another uniqueness of this process is that we coach you and we help you and we guide you through the process of letting go of the things that you're holding on to for the wrong reasons. Like the just in case, it's one of the reasons, but it's been 2 years. And why, you know, keeping it for another 2 years to see if you use it or not, why not just looking at the past 2 years. Did you use it or not? And then we also help you deal with the guilt of letting go of things that are valuable or that you're keeping only for being guilty that someone special in your life gave it to you. Um, and like Marie Kondo says, from the moment you got that birthday card and you open it and it made you happy at the moment, it already served its purpose.

So, oh yeah, I know that I have a whole box full of birthday cards and My dad too.

My dad, he saves every birthday card. And I am the kind of person where I will hoard stuff and then throw it away because I get overwhelmed. So then I'll throw the whole box away. And he's like, remember that card that I got? And kind of makes me feel bad about not keeping that card. And it's like, nope, I got rid of that, pal.

But I had never thought of it that way, Lupe, where it made you, it gave you joy for that moment. And it served its purpose. It did what it was supposed to do.

Absolutely. I did go through my, uh, cards, and you want to keep the ones that spark joy, like the ones from parents, kids, grandparents. But then you have cards that you don't even remember who they came from, and how can something like that can spark joy? But that's actually the last category. That's a sentimental category. I feel like I'm going ahead of my— ahead of everything, like the last category, because it's the most difficult category, and I might let one of my colleagues here talk about the categories so you can get the whole picture.

Yes, we would love—

yeah, I can't wait to— let's hear categories.

Yeah, so, um, I think one thing that separates the KonMari Method from traditional organizing is that we don't necessarily organize by room by room. Like, I need my pantry organized— we can do that, but what we do is, uh, we organize by category. So starting with clothing, and what we do is we get clothing from all over the home, all the closets, even in your laundry room, put them in a big pile, and then from there, um, choose what sparks joy. So it's by category. So the categories are clothing, books, paper, miscellaneous, which is like everything else. Everything in the kitchen sink. Um, and then lastly is sentimental.

Got it.

I feel like there should be more categories. I have tools, toys, but I guess—

yeah, yeah, that's all in miscellaneous. So when you get to miscellaneous, then you isolate all my tools, all my toys, all my hobby supplies, all my luggage. And, um, what organizing in general is, is putting like with like. And so when you organize by category, you are putting like with like. And that's why, um, that's why the method works so well.

Well, Ami, when you come to my house and see it, well, you'll be there for a couple of weeks just helping with all those categories.

It does. It, it actually can take, um, so Tidy Festivals can take anywhere from 3 months to 6 months is probably the general—

What did you say? Tidy festivals?

Yes, tidy festivals. Yeah, let me pass it on to someone else to explain. Yeah, let me pass it on to someone else who wants to explain what a tidy festival is.

It sounds fun.

I can. I can too, Xianping.

So this is something you respect the things. What do we do, and we have— we are giving them with gratitude each one of items what you own, and to put the respect, through the respect. This is a Japanese philosophy to be appreciated and with respect, and then this is a festival really between the things and you. So that's why we call it the tidings festival.

Oh, giving respect to the items that you have.

Yes.

How interesting.

Can you dive a little bit more into that, like explaining? I'm trying to wrap my head around it a little bit.

Yeah, when you, um, when you thank the item that you're letting go for the purpose that it served while you had it and the happiness that it provided and you thank the item, it's— it feels better by letting go. By letting it go, by thanking the item, you're showing appreciation and you're letting it go with peace, not regretting. Now that item, whether it's a piece of clothing or a decoration or a piece of jewelry, is gonna go in and, and make somebody else happy, whether you gift it or sell it or donate it.

Got it.

And it also—

is that—

go ahead, Amelia, because it also helps people let go of their items without guilt, because guilt is one of the big reasons why people tend to hold on to it. They would feel guilty if they were to let it go, but much of the time they, they don't feel well keeping it either. And so by focusing on what the item brought to your life, what it taught you, or how it has served you, you can be thankful for having had the item and learning that lesson, and then you pass it on to someone else.

I think, um, the generation before us— my, my parents and my grandparents had a lot of things, and I— when they start to get older and want to give us things, I'm like, I don't want any of that.

The—

I don't need china, I don't need, um, the little figurines that were like big collectibles. You know, 40 years ago or whatever the case was. But my parents kept trying to give me things. I'm like, I don't want those things. And I— but I felt guilty not taking them. So I always told myself and my children, just say thank you and take it. Like, just because I felt bad not taking it for some reason.

So what we— how we're different also is, are we listening to others, other people's voices? Or ours.

Okay.

So if you're listening to somebody else's voice, like, you know, I, I really, um, like, I have a client who, um, has several things that her sister gives to her, and in confidence she feels that, you know, this is tacky or this is not my style. Then she's listening to her sister's voice instead of her voice.

Okay. No, I, I say I probably do that.

I feel like I'm always doing that.

I listen to everybody but myself. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

So then the Tidy Festival— we have to do our own Tidy Festival in order to become certified. And Tidy Festival meaning our whole home. And I'm so glad that that was a prerequisite to becoming certified is because now I understand. When I started with the clothing, I thought, ah, this can't be too hard, right? So I gathered all my clothing and I put it in one spot. I had trouble picking up that first piece of item. I'm not kidding you. I went to pick it up and it took me 3 tries to pick it up. And I finally picked it up, and once I started, I was like, oh, it's getting easier and easier. So we start with clothing because that's the easiest to kind of let go, or, you know, say thank you. And, and then books, you know, that's kind of another easy category. So you hone your skills as you go. And finally, at the end, I sat down and I looked around and I said, man, all the stress— not all the stress, that's wrong— a lot of stress was lifted from my shoulders because I was holding on to other people's voices, or just because, and it just, it was Amazing. And a lot of times we get confused with the minimal, minimal, you know, minimalist, and that's not what we're about. We're, we're about keeping joyful what, what sparks joy.

Ding!

As—

yeah, that's the keyword, what sparks joy.

What sparks joy?

Absolutely.

Marie, I think, is it Marie? Are you, you're on my left.

Yes, ma'am.

Is that you? You mentioned something about our parents, grandparents. I've heard somewhere that, you know, after the Great Depression in the 1930s, I believe it was, people kept things for just in case, for, 'cause they're not, insecurity, you know, like, the being poor and not having much. So people kept things as much as they could. And that's why, you know, one of the reasons why— I don't know for a fact, but one of the reasons why the older generations have a lot of stuff, uh, that— and then now, um, you know, the younger generations going through the grandparents' things or, uh relatives that passed. It's a lot. You'll see it in, in, in state sales when you go. And, and even though it's a lot of fun to go to these things, sometimes it makes me sad because someone kept this, you know, someone collected this. And talking about your lifestyle, you know, you— we begin, what, what is your perfect lifestyle that you, that you want for yourself? And, and for me it'll be that if I was to die tomorrow and my children need to come and go through my stuff, they only see the things that— everything that I have makes sense. Like, oh, she needed clothes, there's clothes. She needed these dishes, that's all she has. I don't want my kids to come and find boxes after boxes and bags full of stuff that doesn't make any sense. Like, why did my mom keep this? You know what I mean? So Um, yeah, so that— so you create your lifestyle in your head before you start the process too. What do you want your daily life to look like in around you, in with your stuff?

I think economic status also causes people to save things. Like, I— we didn't throw foil away growing up, or, you know, we saved oil, like certain things that we could reuse. And as I grew up and was able to buy things um, it was easier for me to throw things away and just buy new if I needed something, not keep it. But I, I would hear, um, not my own voice but my, my parents' voice, right, saying, why did you do that? You could— you don't have to buy new, you can still use this. But I didn't need it for a year, so no reason to keep it. Does that make sense? So I think it's just generational we're trying to get away with. But I think my parents had just a lot of stuff, and I've gone through the process of them passing and going through their things And I would like, why did she have this? Why do we have 3 irons? I don't understand why we have 3 irons, but they did, you know, so but it would— that is something that goes through my head, Lupi, as well, that if I was to pass, I wouldn't want my boys to have to go through stuff that didn't make any sense. That makes a lot, you know.

Absolutely.

And, you know, an iron does not spark me joy personally because I'm not the best at ironing. I'd rather do laundry and fold clothes that I like.

Ironing.

You know, it's maybe like an item that may not spark joy, but same like the tools, it's an item that— oh gosh, what's the word that I'm looking for? Ladies, help me out. It's something that is practical or—

The use of it, being wrinkle-free might spark joy, and then you keep the iron for that.

I do like ironing though. I actually do like ironing. It brings me back My dad had uniforms growing when I was growing up in military and then for where he worked. And we would get paid $0.25 if we ironed his shirts and his pants and had the crease. And so I made money doing it growing up. So it became a— it sparked joy for me, but I don't need 3 of them.

Right.

You know, back in the day they had a few of them because they will— while one iron was heating up in the stove, they were using the other one. That's another topic. Vito, go ahead.

So beginning of this KonMari method, you— most important thing is first is you have to imagine your ideal lifestyle. Okay. So we all do that to ask clients to close their eyes, to be— think of— imagine after you finish all this organization, Homerun method. And then what do you see in the— you're the other side of it. And we encourage our clients to have a— maybe the picture or writing down what is the specific. Maybe it's, I would like to bring— invite my friend for dinner or family gathering.. Or so like Lupe also mentioned that it's almost like a visual, like detail is the better, more details is great to have all those things. And this is your goal to be get there. Everybody is different speed, but that is most important. Then you go into jump into that process of And that will really help to get there because let's face it, it's not easy. Sometimes easy for some clients, sometimes very difficult. And so you, like other business as well, right? Because if you have a goal, you can strike the goal, trying to reach the goal and the dreams. So that's most important to begin. We start and we pray before the session. Oh, we, okay, um, we say introduce yourself in a silent um, say hello to the house and the space, and sometimes clients join. Most of the time, right, girls? It's most of the time clients will join us to be in the quiet and to pray. Amy likes to do that, and that's beautiful, um, to set the tone to be so we can all focus at the same time in the same place. And the same mindset.

Thank you.

Yeah, that's amazing. So it's almost like a grounding process to, to begin. Um, so, so that's how you start with, with that, and then the visualization part. And then can, can you ladies share kind of how the next steps go when you meet with a client? How does it go?

I'll take this. So, um, like Omi said, we start With the clothing, um, we have them, um, bring all the clothing from all over the home. Now, one thing to mention is that this is— we only work with the client, not the client's spouse's stuff. So it's only whatever belongs to the client.

Oh.

If the spouse wants to join in, we will allow the spouse to join in separately. Um, and it's typically the eyes start glazing over about 3 hours. So we have them, we have the client bring all their clothes into one space, and that space is usually the bed. Yeah. So you have, you have to finish it before you can go to bed that night. So we go through, they pick up each piece, and if it sparks joy, they know immediately it sparks joy. And if not, then they, they thank it and donate it or pass it on to somebody who will love it. Um, so we go through the wearable things first, and then, um, we help them either put it back in the closet or they put it away. So then we move on to the next category, kind of do the same thing, put all the books in one spot, and then go through the books the same way. Does it spark joy? If not, donate it. Then papers, and then the miscellaneous, which is everything else. So that's what takes a long time. So when you get to communal, community property like the kitchen, if you have two cooks in the home, then we go, we, we, we go to just what our client uses And then if it, um, if they share the, you know, the crock pot or whatever, they both have to be involved, not one or the other. So you can't have, you know, like I'll use, I'll use, um, a doodad in my kitchen, but my husband won't use it. So if he comes along and says, meh, I don't need that. Then we're gonna, we're gonna get in trouble because she wanted that.

There won't be joy there.

Yeah, there won't be joy there. And then, um, that takes a while because it's everything else in the home. And then the sentimental. So if, for instance, I— putting myself out there— I lost my grandmother many, many years ago, Well, by the time I got her stuff, I was very— it was very limited what I was offered. And I decided to keep her little— her— she was very petite— and keep her little robe. It was a pink robe that she always wore, and I could just see her walking around in it. Well, I kept it hanging in my closet for, gosh, 30 years. Well, you know, that's clothing. So, but that is sentimental. So I put it off to the side for the last category when I did the sentimental. So it may be, it may fall into one of the other categories, but it really belongs in sentimental. So we finished sentimental. Now you've done your Tidy Festival. Then that's when we start organizing and reusing, repurposing. Um, I like to use like Apple phone boxes. You know, they've got a top and a bottom. So we've got two pieces there that we can use as trays tucked in a drawer. Nobody's gonna know they're Apple boxes but you. So we use those, um, we purpose things. So I can maybe pass it on to somebody else to explain about the right angles versus round things and anything else.

Well, I want to know about all that, but Andy took my joy away because I can't go through Roger's stuff and get rid of it.

That's right, you can't take somebody else's stuff and throw it away, Marie.

Darn it, it doesn't work.

You can't do that.

But when he sees you doing your stuff and how happy you are and how organized and how much more time you have to enjoy the things that matter, you might, you know, motivate somebody else in the home to do the same.

Yeah, you don't know Roger.

You don't know Roger. You're gonna have to come meet him and convince him. He likes his tools. You know, in our relationship, I have to say, he is, um, was very close to his grandfather, and, uh, things do have a very sentimental— a lot of his things do. And he keeps it because I did this thing with my grandfather, so I have this thing. So that has been a challenge in our relationship for 20 years. I'm like, do we really need 3 of them? I know Grandpa touched all of them, but do you really need 3? Okay, so I've given in a little bit there where I don't have a sentimental attachment to a lot of things. And he gets very frustrated with me. I'm like, oh, just throw it, we're good, just, just throw that away, we don't need that.

You know what, another thing is maybe, um, if he has a man cave or garage, you can decorate with something, some of those things, you know, that way he can still, um, enjoy it.

Yeah, it's a good way of repurposing stuff.

Excellent.

With my experience helping clients, I see a trend. They keep their sentimental items in the garage, in a box, in the attic, in a closet. And I believe in my heart that sentimental items should be in a special place in your home where you can see them or enjoy them.

I agree. I like that.

Do you have any other questions?

I have lots.

Yeah, Angie mentioned angles and, and round things and different things, and now I, now I can't stop thinking about it. So what does that mean?

Anyone?

Ami, I nominate Ami.

I'll be really honest, I have no idea what she's talking about.

No, oh my gosh, that's so interesting.

No, when she said that, I was like, what are you saying?

I don't know. She's talking about this because when you fold the things, right, you fold in a certain way and put in the drawers. No, it's not, Angie?

No, what I'm speaking of— thank you though, both of you, thank you— no, what I'm speaking of is, you know, most of our our shelves are 90-degree angles.

Correct.

So instead of using round containers, you utilize more space by using the 90-degree angles. So, you know, the Tetris method. Yeah, the what?

Yes, Tetris, the game. I'm a big Tetris person. I love organization. I just wish I had a family that did too. Tetris. So yes, I understand what you're saying. Like, have something that fits into a space. So you— I cannot stand wasted space. It drives me absolutely bananas. I like having space. I don't— I have a— I have rooms in my home that I'm like, I don't— I need to utilize it for something. It can't just be there.

Like, I—

we have to use it. So if not, then it's wasted space in my head. So yes, so having a round thing in a corner doesn't make sense because then you're not utilizing the whole space. Oh, we're like this. We're good.

Yes, I'm still Tetris. Love Tetris.

Yes, it's a very Tetris method. Yep.

I love it.

Yeah.

Yeah. So yes, to Hito's point, yes, we do fold in a certain way so that it— and it's like file folders, so you can see the, the, your items.

But yes, I remember reading something or hearing something. It was during when COVID first hit is when, um, this method— I, I heard about it, maybe it was a show, I can't remember how— I kind of started to listen about it and talked about, um, having items. Like, I have a hard time when I have very deep shelving and we put items in the back, I forget that I had them. For example, I would save for my children. For example, if I was saving clothing because I was, you know, 6 to 8 months or 6 to 9 months or whatever it was. And my other son could use them. I would forget I had them because I would put them in a container that I couldn't see, or I had them in the back of the closet. So in the— what I read is make sure that it's visible, like file folders, make sure things are visible. And the way you fold things as well is where they— it's kind of like a filing so you can see the things versus on top of stuff. Because you can't see underneath. Is that correct?

Once you do that and you get used to it, you cannot go back to the, uh, retail store type of piling things one on top of the other.

Yes, yes.

And wouldn't it be nice the stores did that? That way if you need the medium size, you just go and pull it and you don't have to mess up their, their whole pile.

I always feel bad when I do that because all the, the bigger sizes are on the bottom. I have to pull it on.

I hate You should feel bad. I have been that person that has to put it back together and it's not fun.

When I started doing that with my clothes in my dresser drawers, okay, that was a game changer because then I could open the drawer. Yes. And you see everything that you own. And once I do that with my clients too, it often makes them realize like, oh, I have a lot more of that color than I thought. Or like, oh, I have all these shirts that I forgot I owned. But once you see everything, It makes your life so much easier. Like, I would never go back now to piling instead of vertical folding.

I wish they made dresses— I have very deep drawers, so like, I— yeah, it's, it's useless. Erika, you have a lot of black. I don't even have— you don't have to fold your stuff.

No, everything is black. It's very gloomy, it's very depressing, but it makes me feel skinny, so I'm gonna wear it every day.

But yeah, so like, I have— I bought a dress, I'm like, this is worthless because I have these very deep drawers. And I, I've, and I, I've tried— I love folding videos on my Instagram. So we have a very good friend of ours who owns a wash and fold laundry service, and I love her videos because she folds them very pretty. But, and I've tried it, but it doesn't work in my dresser because either the drawers are really skinny or really, really, really deep.

So I have a hard time with that, but If your drawers don't open all the way and you can't really see to the back, I would suggest going with seasonal items in the front, and then as this changes, you just switch them.

Rotate them. Yeah. Well, that's a good idea. Yeah.

Yeah.

And consider the container or the space that it's going to live. You fold it either like this or like this, fold it down if it's narrow, fold it like this if it's taller. So consider the depth.

Okay, got it. Well, I think for when I had children, it was very difficult to keep up with baby clothes. That was a hard thing when I became a mom. Like, why is there so much? We had so much of it. And a lot of people will donate stuff to you and you take them because you needed them. Um, I had a hard time, so I ended up hanging everything. And then my closets were compact because I didn't know how to fold it properly. So I would have a lot of things, but at least I thought in my head I could at least see it all. I knew what I had and I could arrange it by size because, you know, babies grow, you know, very quickly. Um, so I ended up doing that for the longest time because I wanted to be able to see stuff. So the only thing that got folded were very minimal things, just because. And then so I have wasted space in my dressers because the drawers were empty.

Yeah, but you did, you did it in a way that worked for you. Yeah, right. That's also— I feel like that's a big component of the KonMari method is we're not trying to tell you the one way to do it. We're trying to figure out, okay, what works for you with your lifestyle, and we'll help you figure it out.

Yeah, you know, I'm curious, ladies, what, what drew you to the KonMari style? Like, what other I know there's other methods and stuff like that. I mean, I, when I hear— I know very little about it, and I, like I said, I kind of heard it through COVID, through a show or a book or something I was reading, and I found it fascinating. But what kind of drew you to it?

I've always had the desire, like, I love all things home, and I've always had the desire to have like a home that I loved. And I was told that don't worry about like things matching, but just get what you love and it will all work out. And it wasn't until I found the KonMari method that I actually had a system to be able to systematically go category by category, choosing everything I loved and having a way to discard the rest. And so now I kind of knew, like, kind of a roadmap of going through every single piece of clothing. Every single book, every single sheet of paper, and going through that whole thing and being able to just choose what I loved. And now I know for sure that everything in my house, literally, I've touched it and I know that's what I loved. So I think that's what drew me to the Method most. It was like this system that was like, oh, this makes so much sense. To me.

I like that.

Yeah, that's exactly why I got into it, because I thought this is more methodical than just placing items, like Amelie said, placing items into a bin and tucking them away on a shelf.

Yeah.

And so this is another, um, client.

See it?

Yeah.

We emptied those just by decluttering, so she had additional bins left over. So in our method, we will actually clear up space and, um, clear up drawers. In fact, I still have a dresser sitting in there with 2 and a half drawers that are empty.

Yeah.

Oh my gosh, what is that like?

This is why we don't recommend you to go and purchase, you know, uh, storing, uh, containers before your Titan Festival, because we know that you're gonna end up with a lot of empty spaces to store, and no need to go and buy anything, um, anything more. So, uh, because I started my statement by saying that we are a team, we actually help a client, uh, as a team. I think it was 3 of us, and, um, uh, the household ended up with a whole one side of the closet empty, uh, for the, the partner to store their things. So yeah, no need to go into the money.

Yeah, cost efficient too.

Yeah, I like to save a buck just just as much as the next gal.

Exactly.

Yes. And I'm, I'm frugal. Yeah.

Yeah.

I'm cheap.

Yeah, I probably am both. But I think one thing that's interesting about, uh, going through the method is that when you actually go to stores, when you go to Target or Walmart— and I've, I've gone to, um, like a home design store with Angie And when you look at stuff, you're like, uh, I don't— I actually don't want to bring this in. Because, you know, like, the process of decluttering, uh, takes so long, or, you know, takes, takes a lot of things. And so your, your joy meter, that like intuition in you, is just so strong. Even, even my kids, when they're offered like free stuff, they're like, yeah, take this book. They're like, uh, no, no, thank you. Um, So that, that joy meter is just really like tuned in to change your consumption habits. And it's, it's just pretty mind-blowing to see.

That's amazing. I just can't believe that. Like, I mean, so you're already thinking so many steps ahead because you know that at some point, if you accept this item that you maybe don't love, you know, you're going to have to let it sit there and it's going it's gonna bother you that it's there, and then you're gonna have to, you know, thank it for its journey, and then you're gonna have to do all these things, and it's gonna be a whole deal. And so you may as well just not even bring it home, because why go through all that if you don't love it, you know?

Exactly. And, and you just, you feel it in your body. Like, I feel like the KonMari method is very, like, I don't know if the word is visceral, but like, you feel everything. The, the joy— you're supposed to feel this rise of joy. And then if you, if it's not quite I always pay attention, and I told the clients to pay attention to their body. Um, like, my lip kind of does this up thing and my nose kind of scrunches. And so each of them have their own, like, little, like, uh, I don't like that. And that's what we as consultants also pay attention to and tell our clients, like, listen to this, or feel your body and how your body reacts to this, um, item.

Yeah, that makes sense.

I do want to add to what Amy said, that we don't do it for you. We can come to a house to coach you and guide you through the process. We don't do the decluttering for you. It is your journey and it's your decision. I like to help, you know, putting things in bags, because you're going to end up with bags and boxes of things that you don't want to keep anymore. But it is your journey and you make a decision. Of what you keep. We can coach you on how to process, um, the process— how to process the process. But, um, but yeah, that's another thing that a lot of professional organizers will do it for you, and you just come back to your home and, oh, it's done like a magic thing. But no, it is your journey. So I, I think it's important that the owner of the stuff, of the items, is the one who decides.

What to keep and what not to keep, to keep what sparks joy alongside our client, not for them, not instead of them.

Yeah, well, that makes sense. It's a very personal journey, you know. It would be hard for, for the person who's coaching to understand if it brings you joy or not. So yeah, you can ask the question, but you wouldn't feel it. So that makes sense.

Yeah. And I wonder, and maybe, um, Hitomi can answer this, because she's the most senior person here. In your experience, do people stick with this? I mean, once you've done it with them, do they continue to practice this? Do you feel like— I'm sure not everybody, but for the most part, because it is— they are so personally involved.

Most of the part, when people are finished this process, they will stick with it. They cannot go back.

Yeah, that's amazing.

It becomes a habit, you know.

Yeah.

It is just a process to really gain, tune into what this method is. It is, it's you have to practice every day.

Yes.

So your mindset, your habits, so you will correct them. And by the time you finish the whole whole Tai Chi festival, you are already trained in the mind-wise, heart-wise. So most of the people are. Unfortunately, if it's like they are just doing the clothes or just doing just the part of partially, it's tend to go back. But because they didn't go to whole The whole thing. That's what I think. What do you think, ladies?

Tell me, why did you start? What drew you to this method? You've been doing this for so long.

Well, I'm Japanese and I took a course when Marie wrote the book and stepped into to US. Before that, I discovered her, so I went to Japan to take a class first, and they finished in US. But so we shared kind of like this, um, to respect of things. It's kind of like I'm the tone of Japanese community, like that mindset is there. So of course I have a connection of that. And I tried different before KonMari method. I tried different method and I think I was reaching the certain level of cleanness on outside, but the drawers in the hidden area, drawers or behind the door, somewhere people cannot be able to see. That was always something is like stressed me out. And this is the, this is the method really bring me to beyond that. I can reach them, I can inventory them, I know exactly what they are in my house. And then I've been through and that's why I joined the KonMari method.

Consultant.

So there's no junk drawer in the KonMari Method, apparently.

Sometimes it's, it's, we are as a consultant, sometimes it's time goes on. Okay, today is perfect, absolutely fabulous, but month from now, 3 months from now, we, our life getting busy, and of course there is somewhere is becomes a little bit gray. So you have to go back. So it's not like once you do it, it's not— you don't have to do it anymore. No, as I mentioned, like, you have to practice. So you, you go back to the place and then bring it back to that fabulous place again.

It's more of a maintaining after that because life continues, you know, you continue to receive gifts, you continue to shop or replacing things, but then you are more mindful about how you do that. As a matter of fact, Emily has a few tips that she shared with us before, how to maintain as well. Do you mind?

I'm a big proponent of the one in, one out rule. I try to apply that to most things in my home, but especially clothing. Like, for example, the new dress, I will be looking through my old dresses to get rid of one, and sometimes that actually prevents me from buying a new dress that I don't need because I'll think like, well, wait, wait a minute, I have like these 3 dresses that I could wear on the same occasion. Do I really need that 4th one? No, I don't. So I'll keep the ones that I have. But then if I have one that I know, I know it's worn, I know it doesn't look as good on me, doesn't feel as good as used to, then I'll replace it. And so the total number of items that I own stays roughly the same. Obviously there's some fluctuation, right? Because life happens. And I try to teach that to my kids also when they receive their birthdays, the holidays, and even when they go just to a birthday party and they come back with all the favors, right?

Yes, yes.

Stuff comes in. So I teach every once in a while, we go through all their stuff and they will decide, okay, I don't need these items anymore. I want to make more room for this Lego set. And so I'm teaching them slowly how to curate, I guess would be a good word, curate their belongings.

Well, that was my one of my questions. How do you handle birthdays and, and Christmases? And could you get things that you did not specifically pick, right? That someone thought of you and bought you something. So it's very difficult, like, if it's something that doesn't bring you joy, like, what do you do? But that, that's perfect. Like, with the children, I allow them the opportunity to, to go through their things and figure out what they want. Um, and the one in, one out method, I do like that because I like have so many t-shirts and I don't need any more. It just kind of keep the same number.

And for gifts, really be The purpose of a gift is to be received. After that, it's up to you, right? And it brought you joy in the moment that you had it because this person who loves you made you happy.

Yes.

It doesn't mean that you have to hang on to that thing for the rest of your life. There will come a point when you no longer need it and you pass it on to someone else. You make room in your life for the things that you love and that you use.

I do have that one family member that will notice when you don't wear the item they got you though.

I have that family member as well. Yeah, yeah. I mean, even her just saying like, that doesn't mean you hang on to it for the rest of your life, my immediate voice was like, but it does, it does mean that.

I told my daughter, I have a young adult daughter, I told her, do not feel that because I gave this to you, you have to keep And she said to me, Mom, that's the best thing you ever told me in my entire life. So I freed her from the guilt of keeping things.

Yeah, just grew up in a household. I grew up in a household where everything had its place, but my mom had places for everything. Like everything was filled with stuff. So even though it had its place, we knew where it went. It was just a lot of things when she passed it on. And it was, you know, and she, she was one person that would be— her feelings would be hurt if we didn't use the item or have the item or want the item she gave us. Um, you know, and so you, as a daughter, you just kind of like, okay, Mom, thanks. And, and it's very, it's very, very grateful that she thought to give us things. But like you said, it wasn't my style. It wasn't things that I would find joy in or that I even— I didn't enjoy looking at. Like, I'm not a big figurine person. I, I'm a very clean line, like, I don't like a lot of stuff. So, but yeah, happy birthdays.

That goes back to listening to other people's voices.

Yes.

And, um, so Mom, I loved it, and so I donated— I gave it to somebody else to love just as much. So I passed on the love.

Yeah. I don't know that Ellie Adler would go for that response, but it's worth a shot. It is, it's worth a shot.

And I think they understand. I mean, they're, they're, they're daughters as well. But it's, it's the stuff when the kids would come home, and I'm thankfully my kids were not big on the party favors and stuff, but going as when they were little and we went to a birthday party every weekend, I thought, and they would come home with goodie bags. I'm like, okay. And, and the money that people spent on them, I'm like No, no, no, like you don't have to provide, you know, favors, like, because they go from our, you know, the little baggie to the trash a lot of the times. So I felt— but I did feel guilty for doing that because I know people spent time, money, you know, because parties right now for little kids, they're, they're big to-do. It's a lot of things, the balloons and the, the, the different things they make with the Cricut machine and all the other things they make. It's great and pretty to look at, but it's not usable items in my household. So a lot of times it went straight to the trash. No one tell anybody, but it went to—

everyone knows.

That's a great segue into how do you, how do you do the KonMari method for kids? So, yes, so, um, what we are— what we practice is Anyone from 3, 4 years old and up. Um, so, but I mean, this is going to sound weird in this day and age, but it's just the consultant and the child in the room. Because if mom or dad are in the room and they raise that eyebrow, the child's gonna go, oh, maybe I should keep this, you know, and it doesn't spark joy for the child.

So they get to be part of the method as well, and it teaches them how to find joy in the items that they have in their home, their room and stuff.

Yes. And I know that's really good because honestly, I am that mom where if I was in the room and they were like, ah, we love this, I'd be like, but we don't need to keep it, you know? Like, so it's good to let them do that stuff.

Yeah. And Ami and Amelie, um, their children practice it too. And I just love to hear their stories when they say, you know, that my son, you know, said, I'm gonna, I'm gonna give it to somebody else to love. Or, you know, I just love that.

We, within my household, the boys love things. And my, my eldest son, he, um, after my dad passed, wanted all the shirts, all the hats, all like, can we keep two? Can you pick your two favorite? Because there's not enough room in the house for all the, you know, Grandpa stuff. So let's keep what you can use, or maybe we can turn one into a bear or a pillow or something. But you don't fit into his clothes and you're not gonna wear them, so let's figure out what works. So we did sort of do the method. I had him pick because he wanted to keep everything, and I'm like, he was a 74-year-old man and you're, you're 12, like you're not going to wear his clothes, like this is just not going to happen. So we do have quite a few t-shirts still that he does wear, so he's proving me wrong on some of it.

Marie, I wanted to mention that you said that your mom had a place for everything, and that's actually— she was doing the partially KonMari method, because that's another thing, when you find a home for everything in your house, it's so easy to tidy every day because everything has a home. So you don't have to have the declutter— the clutter in your home of things that you don't know where they go or you don't have a place for them. So that's actually—

she had a place for everything while we were kids, um, because we would have to put the things away. We just had a lot of things. And then as we be— as my siblings and I became adults and we moved out, those things never found place again. They found just random places to put— so she didn't have enough hands to put things away. Um, but she did. Growing up, we were very— she was very, uh, big about weekends, mornings. We were up cleaning. We did it because— and it also set the mood for the, the week. We had our things, stuff put away, that kind of things. But we had a lot of stuff, and it was a lot of dusting, and, and it made me not like, like the— we call them monitos, but I don't know how to—

like, tchotchkes.

Yeah, like a whole bunch of little things. And I'm like, this is— it took all day to clean and put back and make sure it was taken care of. And they're all glass and they're all, you know, very beautiful. It just, um, for my gen— it lost its value, or what, you know, what we liked. And the style changed, so it just became a clutter for a lot of us who took it.

So all the ceramic figurines.

Yes, yes, yes.

Yeah.

So when she passed, we kept one. My sisters and I all kept one thing, and the other things we did donate. So that was nice, but I felt a little guilty about it because she had spent so much money and time either making or buying stuff that we had. Just, it wasn't, it wasn't something we kept.

Yeah, another way to look at it is like everything that you bring into your home, you're trading for something, whether it be your time or your energy to be cleaning it, the maintenance. And so, um, even something as simple as a toaster, and I'm not gonna say get rid of your toaster, but like with your toaster, you do have to clean it, make sure, you know, the dust around it, put it back where it's supposed to be and things like that. So, uh, sometimes I think of items like the more I let go of, the more time I have. And that, that was interesting because my 10-year-old son Actually, he spoke at my last workshop just, just a little bit, and like his why was, uh, time. He gets more time when he's able to get rid of things. He's able to kind of buy that time to do the things that he loves.

Yeah, more time to play.

More time to play.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Absolutely.

And also, and also is that the less cleaning necessary because everything is have a home and very easy to clean, maintain.

Yeah, that's a good point.

I've managed to do that in my household for like our main area, like the kitchen and the dining room and our sitting areas. I have to tackle garage and bedrooms. Because that's where I would say when we have— we tend to host at my house for a lot of holidays or get-togethers for my family. So when we're done cleaning, things that get— we have junk drawers or we have a closet, like, just stick it in the closet, we'll figure it out later. Well, 6 months have gone by, we have not opened that closet. So those things are still sitting there or hanging in there.

Yes, we understand.

But having a space for everything will make it a lot easier, you know, putting things back where they go.

Yes, it's a lot easier, and everybody can understand it. Everybody in the household, everybody knows, oh, this is such a— oh, that's— this is the box we're going to. So I think is that you— so we tell clients, you have to focus on you to do that. You are highly investible of course, and then share them, help them a little bit, but don't push them because this is already for you. You find, really like a find about yourself.

Yes.

And interesting enough, family members will be curious to see what's your things are so organized and easy and clean. And so there is a great influence.

Yeah.

So you can do it for yourself and then spread it around a little bit, you know, um, as long as you're not being too pushy about it, right?

Yes. Yeah.

Oh no, no, we won't do other people's items. Um, well, this has been so interesting. I am so interested. It almost seems like a spiritual experience in organizing. And it sounds like it could change your life, you know? So I feel like, I hope that our listeners have learned at least a little bit about this. And I hope that they call you ladies to change their lives.

That's why the book is called The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up.

Yeah, that's right.

I didn't know that part, but that makes total sense.

Yeah, that it made us want to help other people change theirs, and that's why we do what we do.

Yeah, how amazing. I love it. Um, well, now is the part of the time that we would usually ask our guests to kind of share with our listeners how they could reach out to you gals, um, to have you help them change their lives.

Yes. So, um, my company name is Kinoko. Um, Kinoko means in Japanese is mushroom, but actually coming from my last name. And, uh, um, people can reach out through my website, and I do presence of the Instagram. So which my Instagram is more focused on folding clinic, which is various items. I create a video for different underwears, t-shirts, dresses, gowns. You name it. So that would be a great tool for people to visit and practice through the video.

What's that? What's your Instagram?

Uh, hito_kinoshta.

Got it, perfect.

Thank you. So I'm, um, my website is emilyorganizes.com. And on Instagram, I'm Emily Organizes, and from there you can have access to my Linktree with, um, all my— there's Facebook, there's my services, there's my blog, so you can find me from there.

Oh, I like a good blog.

Yeah, so, um, my website is my name, Ami Teodosio, A-M-I-T-E-O-D-O-S-I-O.com. And I'm also on Instagram, which is just same thing, Amity Odosio. Facebook, uh, Amity Odosio KonMari Consultant. And, um, yeah, I love sharing, um, decluttering tips, tricks, how to love your home. I think that, um, each person is worthy of living in a home that they love, and so that is passion of mine, and you'll see that on my, um, social media. Oh, but I am taking a break from social media, but by the time this airs—

for lunch—

by the time this airs, it'll be done. But, um, yeah, just wanted to say good for you.

Oh yeah, I'm jealous.

And I know we all need seasons to, um, just relax and reflect and, uh, stop the input, even when it comes to social media as well.

She puts on a mean workshop, by the way.

Yeah, yeah.

I am Angie and I own Clean G Professional Cleaning and Services. So Clean G is the, the word clean and Angie kind of morphed together. So here's our—

look at that—

here's our logo, and you can reach us at www.cleangie.com, and we have Instagram and Facebook as well. And our phone number is 210-354-5654.

So I'm Lupe Villarreal. You can find my profile in the akonmary.com website under, um, hire a consultant. Um, and I, I también hablo español, so if you have— if anyone bilingual has someone who only speaks Spanish, I can help as well.

Love that.

Perfect. And we will put, um, all of that information in the show notes of this podcast so that way it makes it super easy to find you ladies. Um, and I just want to thank you all for being on. I learned so much. Um, about just this specific type of organizing and how, like we said, it seems like it could change your life. So I think it's really interesting. I'm so glad you're able to share today.

I went to go find my joy, so yeah, I'm ready.

Let's go find it after this.

And then, yeah.

And then I will also thank our listeners for tuning in to this week's episode of the Working Moms of San Antonio podcast, and we will catch you guys next week.

See you guys next week.

Thanks so much for tuning in to this episode of the Working Moms of San Antonio podcast. We hope you love today's chat and found a little inspiration to take with you into your week. If you have a podcast topic suggestion or a question you'd love for us to cover definitely send us an email at hello@workingmomsofsanantonio.com. We'd love to hear from you. And until next time, see you in the community.