Speaker 1: Follow Cheeky's and Chill on Amazon Music. Just head to
Speaker 1: Amazon dot com slash Cheeky's and check out even more
Speaker 1: podcasts by Michael Dura throughout Hispanic Heritage month. Listen to
Speaker 1: my latest episode of Cheeky's and Chill on Amazon Music.
Speaker 1: At Amazon dot com slash Cheeky's and listen to Cheeky's
Speaker 1: and Chill on Amazon Music, or ask Alexa to play
Speaker 1: Cheeky's and Chill on Amazon Music. What is one of
Speaker 1: the biggest mistakes to lead to like a disorganized area.
Speaker 2: I would say having too much stuff for the space
Speaker 2: that you have is the biggest mistake you can make.
Speaker 2: Being organized is not about being perfect. Being organized is
Speaker 2: about having easy cleanup, having systems in place so that
Speaker 2: getting your life back on track is quick and easy.
Speaker 1: I have a new fiance. I'm learning to pick and
Speaker 1: choose my battles. I'm like, I don't want to argue
Speaker 1: about the silliest thing. So there's socks and then pants
Speaker 1: that again he wants to wear you.
Speaker 3: Oh the song?
Speaker 2: The song?
Speaker 1: You know what I love about Mondays? Besides the fact
Speaker 1: that there's a new Cheeks and Chill episode, I love
Speaker 1: that Monday's are the start of a brand new week,
Speaker 1: and that means a brand new start. And that's what
Speaker 1: we're going to be talking about today, fresh new starts.
Speaker 1: We're going to be talking to Janelle Cohen, a professional organizer.
Speaker 1: She's going to teach us how to take our old
Speaker 1: living and working spaces and turn them into cleaner, fresher spaces.
Speaker 1: This is Cheeky's and chill. Sitting here with me today
Speaker 1: is none other than the organizer to the stars, Janelle Cohen.
Speaker 1: When she's not busy fixing the homes of Jay Shaddy
Speaker 1: or the founders of Alo Yoga, you can catch here
Speaker 1: on TV shows like The Today Show or Good Morning America.
Speaker 1: She's also been featured in a number of publications like
Speaker 1: The Washington Post. Hi Janelle, It's so good to see
Speaker 1: you again.
Speaker 3: So nice to see you.
Speaker 1: Thanks for having me, of course, thank you for taking
Speaker 1: the time. And I just want hopefully you're proud. My
Speaker 1: house still looks nice and and so does my pantry.
Speaker 2: Good glad to hear it.
Speaker 1: Well, a little backstory, you guys, how I met Janelle.
Speaker 1: I saw her on Instagram and I had her come
Speaker 1: to my house and just organize my life. So she
Speaker 1: started with my pantry, and then from there I was like,
Speaker 1: can you you also like decorate and I love the
Speaker 1: way you do it?
Speaker 3: Can you do that? So she did that for me.
Speaker 1: She did the entire house because when I first bought
Speaker 1: this house, I was traveling and I didn't have the
Speaker 1: time or the energy or the mental space to do it.
Speaker 1: So I just said, here, this is kind of what
Speaker 1: I want. Can you just take over? And that is
Speaker 1: how whatever you see on Instagram, you guys, because I
Speaker 1: haven't really shown my house like too much, but whatever
Speaker 1: you see in the background is all her. Everything, the kitchen,
Speaker 1: my bedroom, everything is Janelle. So I'm proud of that.
Speaker 2: Thank you.
Speaker 1: I love you so much to hear. Yeah, and you
Speaker 1: also have a book I did it called Again. It's
Speaker 1: in my laundry room.
Speaker 2: The folding book, and the laundry room is the perfect
Speaker 2: place to put it. As you're doing laundry, you learn
Speaker 2: how to fold everything, so you nail the location.
Speaker 1: Yes, I have it there, because especially like men's shirts,
Speaker 1: if they don't hang them or get them like dry cleaned,
Speaker 1: and they're just not like hanging. It's there's a certain
Speaker 1: way of in your book, you explain this of folding
Speaker 1: them very nicely where it also helps you save space,
Speaker 1: you guys everything. It's honestly, when when you came out
Speaker 1: with the book, I was like, what the heck, I've
Speaker 1: never I never thought about that, But there's there's an
Speaker 1: art to folding your clothes the correct way in order
Speaker 1: to have more space you guys.
Speaker 2: So yes, and it also reduces wrinkles. It takes better
Speaker 2: care of your clothes. You can see everything you have,
Speaker 2: and it's like a free skill that you can learn
Speaker 2: to better your home and you don't have to spend anything. Yeah,
Speaker 2: you know, you can totally transform your space just by
Speaker 2: learning a new skill.
Speaker 3: Mm hmmm. I think that was genius. I love that.
Speaker 3: I love that.
Speaker 1: Thank you, and I'm so happy for you because you
Speaker 1: were already doing amazing before I met you. But now
Speaker 1: I'm like, I feel like I see you everywhere, and
Speaker 1: you know, kind of like when you buy a car
Speaker 1: and you're like, oh, I'm gonna get this car because
Speaker 1: no one has it, and then and then you see
Speaker 1: it everywhere. I feel like, oh my god. I feel
Speaker 1: like Janelle was my little secret kind of and now
Speaker 1: I'm like she's everywhere, but no, I had seen you
Speaker 1: on someone's like very famous. I mean, I mean, come on,
Speaker 1: you you organize Jay Shatty's I'm a huge fan of Jayshetdy.
Speaker 3: You organized his.
Speaker 1: Whole yn But I feel like I see you everywhere now,
Speaker 1: which is awesome.
Speaker 3: I'm happy for you.
Speaker 2: Oh, thank you, thank you so much. That means a
Speaker 2: lot coming from you.
Speaker 1: Oh, thank you. Of course, You're very welcome. Okay, So
Speaker 1: tell me what got you into organizing. I'm just curious
Speaker 1: because it's something that was always a part of your life.
Speaker 1: It is just something because it comes natural or did
Speaker 1: it come natural or I don't know. Tell me a
Speaker 1: little bit about that.
Speaker 2: Yeah. Actually, what's funny is that during the pandemic, I
Speaker 2: started looking through old childhood videos of myself. And at
Speaker 2: this point I already had started my business. But I
Speaker 2: found a video of myself at two years old, folding
Speaker 2: perfectly with an iron and I had no recollection of
Speaker 2: that being a part of who I was as a child,
Speaker 2: neither did my parents. But clearly there was something there,
Speaker 2: you know. But I got into professional organizing clearly by accident.
Speaker 2: It was a Mother's Day gift for my mom. I
Speaker 2: was going to do her pantry, her pantry is amazing,
Speaker 2: but was a hot mess, and so I decided I
Speaker 2: was going to figure it out. I was going to
Speaker 2: redo it, and I did, and I posted pictures on Facebook,
Speaker 2: some befores and afters, and people started commenting and they
Speaker 2: were like.
Speaker 3: Can you come do mine? Can you come do mine?
Speaker 2: And I was like, why the heck not? Might as well?
Speaker 2: So I started doing people's pantries and then closets, and
Speaker 2: I was like, you know what, I really love this.
Speaker 2: This is my passion. I at the time was acting,
Speaker 2: so it wasn't like I was on that path or
Speaker 2: on that journey, and I just took a right turn
Speaker 2: and I was like, you know what, I'm going to
Speaker 2: double down on this, and I think I can turn
Speaker 2: this into a really successful business.
Speaker 1: That's what I did, and you definitely did because with
Speaker 1: my pantry, you guys, mine was also a hot ass mess,
Speaker 1: and she color coordinated the candy and everything. It's just
Speaker 1: you walk in there and it's so esthetically pleasing and
Speaker 1: everything is so easy to find.
Speaker 3: It's just I was like, Wow, maybe I could have
Speaker 3: done this, but it's like it takes.
Speaker 1: But then I sat there, I'm like wait a second, no,
Speaker 1: Like I wouldn't have thought about this to be on it.
Speaker 1: So I'm like, so we need to know in our life.
Speaker 1: So that's awesome. Yeah, But what I really want to
Speaker 1: talk to you about is like helping people now like organize.
Speaker 1: We're going into like a new year, and it's like
Speaker 1: you want to feel fresh and just start your year
Speaker 1: on the right foot. So let's talk about what is
Speaker 1: one of the biggest mistakes that someone does around the
Speaker 1: house to lead to like a disorganized area.
Speaker 2: I would say having too much stuff for the space
Speaker 2: that you have is definitely the biggest mistake you can make,
Speaker 2: because you need to live for what your current circumstances
Speaker 2: are in your current space. I also think if your
Speaker 2: storage isn't serving you, then you need to create storage
Speaker 2: that basically holds what you have without going crazy. But
Speaker 2: I will say that that is my number one thing.
Speaker 2: I believe you should be at seventy five percent capacity
Speaker 2: in all areas of your home. That gives you room
Speaker 2: to increase, decrease, move things around, tetris a little bit,
Speaker 2: and it gives you wiggle room because there are days
Speaker 2: where things aren't perfect. Do you think my laundry is perfect?
Speaker 2: And put away one hundred percent of the time. Absolutely not,
Speaker 2: because being organized is not about being perfect. Being organized
Speaker 2: is about having easy cleanup, having systems in place so
Speaker 2: that getting your life back on track is quick and easy.
Speaker 2: I live in a one bedroom apartment, and if my
Speaker 2: apartment gets a little crazy, which a one bedroom apartment
Speaker 2: can get real crazy, real quick, I can set a
Speaker 2: ten minute timer and snap it back in ten minutes.
Speaker 2: That is the key to being organized, because everything has
Speaker 2: a place.
Speaker 3: You know where it's going.
Speaker 2: You're not trying to figure it out and make it work.
Speaker 2: You know where it goes, you know what you have,
Speaker 2: and you can you know, get back to square one.
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's what I was gonna say. Everything should have
Speaker 1: a place. And one thing I've noticed about myself is
Speaker 1: that I'm very excessive, you know what I mean. Like
Speaker 1: I feel like I buy one or two of the
Speaker 1: same thing. It's like I should just have one and
Speaker 1: when that's about to you know, run out or something,
Speaker 1: I can get the other one. I have that thing
Speaker 1: that I'm really trying to work through. But also, do
Speaker 1: you suggest for people before they start organizing, obviously, like declutter,
Speaker 1: Like before you come into my closet, I'd like to
Speaker 1: remove everything that I'm no longer using or no longer
Speaker 1: fits me in order for you to come in and say, okay,
Speaker 1: I'm going to organize what you are going to wear,
Speaker 1: for instance.
Speaker 2: Yes, so I would say, I mean the biggest part
Speaker 2: of organizing is what I call the edit, so basically
Speaker 2: doing the decluttering, figuring out what you use. But it's
Speaker 2: actually funny that you mentioned that you like to have
Speaker 2: two of something, right. I actually believe that you're going
Speaker 2: to think this is crazy and shocking, but I believe
Speaker 2: that you shouldn't have just like one of everything. Figure
Speaker 2: out what you actually like, what you actually wear. Double
Speaker 2: down on that. So for me, I know what T
Speaker 2: shirt I like, right, I like this one specific T shirt.
Speaker 2: I like this cut, I like it in that size,
Speaker 2: and these are the colors that I like it in.
Speaker 2: And I don't have five different kinds of T shirts
Speaker 2: where I'm constantly going to the same one. I have
Speaker 2: five of the same T shirt because I wear them.
Speaker 3: All the time.
Speaker 2: That's who who I am and what I believe is
Speaker 2: like the best thing if you feel like you have
Speaker 2: to have a little black dress in your wardrobe because
Speaker 2: it's just like you have to, but you never wear dresses.
Speaker 2: That's silly, right. You have to curate your closet or
Speaker 2: your home in general to what your needs are because
Speaker 2: everybody's needs are different, so there's no formula, but you
Speaker 2: absolutely editing is the most important part of organizing because
Speaker 2: you don't want to organize a bunch of stuff that
Speaker 2: you don't need, and that's the clutter, that's the clutter
Speaker 2: in your mind.
Speaker 1: Oh absolutely, And that's how I feel right now. I'm like,
Speaker 1: there's so much shit in my closet that I don't need,
Speaker 1: that I don't wear anymore, that doesn't fit me, and
Speaker 1: I hold onto it because I'm like, damn, it has
Speaker 1: a price tag. But I'm like, you know what, I
Speaker 1: can donate it, like, don't look at it. It's kind
Speaker 1: of like paying it forward sort of thing. There's another
Speaker 1: word for it. I can't think of it, but it's like, Okay,
Speaker 1: donate it. Don't look at it like you're throwing it out.
Speaker 1: And that makes me feel better too, like I'm like, Okay,
Speaker 1: I'm gonna donate it and hopefully this will help someone
Speaker 1: else exactly.
Speaker 2: There's that, and it's also making room for things that
Speaker 2: serve you, because every single spot in your house is
Speaker 2: valuable and you don't want to be having it filled
Speaker 2: up with stuff that doesn't serve you right, and it
Speaker 2: also helps you to shop smarter in the future. So
Speaker 2: you're gonna look at the things that have price tags
Speaker 2: on them that you're donating, and you're gonna say, why
Speaker 2: didn't I wear this because it didn't make me feel good?
Speaker 2: I didn't like that color on me, it wasn't comfortable,
Speaker 2: it required a specific kind of bra that I hate wearing,
Speaker 2: and then you don't buy that again.
Speaker 3: That is key.
Speaker 2: You learn exactly what you like, what fits your lifestyle,
Speaker 2: and you cater what you have to that. It's also
Speaker 2: important to remember that you don't have to declutter in
Speaker 2: one big session. If you go let's say you open
Speaker 2: your drawer and you're gonna grab a T shirt if
Speaker 2: you're moving past a T shirt because you don't want
Speaker 2: to wear it, because it doesn't look good on you,
Speaker 2: you don't like it, whatever, rather than just like pushing
Speaker 2: past it and finding what you're looking for, just put
Speaker 2: that into a basket. Start a donation basket, so it's
Speaker 2: just you have that.
Speaker 3: I've been doing that is like literally two months ago.
Speaker 3: I started it.
Speaker 1: I'm like Okay, this is like I'm not gonna wear
Speaker 1: basket and I'm gonna donate it.
Speaker 3: Oh my god, I'm good. I'm on there.
Speaker 2: There you go, And honestly, it adds up one little
Speaker 2: thing here and there, and then it's like then you
Speaker 2: see the drawer differently every time you go to it.
Speaker 2: It's just little pieces. Of course, a huge edit and
Speaker 2: having a big pile of clothes that you get rid
Speaker 2: of is amazing. But if that feels too overwhelming, there's
Speaker 2: other ways of doing it, which like the little donation basket.
Speaker 2: I always have one of those, going, are you kidding me?
Speaker 3: Yeah? Absolutely?
Speaker 1: How did you start working like with all these huge celebrities.
Speaker 1: Is it something that did you go knocking on their
Speaker 1: doors or did they see you somewhere? Yeah, tell me
Speaker 1: a little bit about that.
Speaker 3: Yeah, actually not at all.
Speaker 2: I mean I just was doing what I was doing.
Speaker 2: I was posting on Instagram sharing what I was doing.
Speaker 2: And the first celebrity that reached out to me was
Speaker 2: Jordan Woods and she just DMed me one day and
Speaker 2: I had like no followers. Really, she just like friend,
Speaker 2: I guess followed me and she was like I'm looking
Speaker 2: to like organize and her friends sent my page to
Speaker 2: her and the rest is history, and then me and
Speaker 2: her became friends through it. And yeah, it was so random.
Speaker 2: I was sitting at I was watching The Bachelrette with
Speaker 2: my girlfriends and I was like.
Speaker 3: I think Jordan Woods just DMed me. It was so wild.
Speaker 2: Yeah, But honestly, a lot of assistance is how I've networked.
Speaker 3: Okay, I've gotten some.
Speaker 2: Very very very cool, iconic clients that I can't I've
Speaker 2: signed NDA's and I can't share that I worked with them.
Speaker 2: But that part's really hard because I'm so it's so
Speaker 2: exciting and awesome, but it's like I'm their safe space.
Speaker 3: I'm this like.
Speaker 2: Little fairy, little organizing fairy that just comes in and
Speaker 2: I'm just for them. They don't have to share me
Speaker 2: with everybody. Yeah. But like I got to do Lance Bass,
Speaker 2: which was so cool and I was like, this is
Speaker 2: my childhood.
Speaker 3: Dream, that is and I said that to him. I
Speaker 3: was like, little.
Speaker 2: Janelle would be freaking out right now, Like I don't
Speaker 2: even know like how me as a child would have
Speaker 2: processed what I was doing and seeing.
Speaker 3: I was like this is insane. I would I probably
Speaker 3: would have been there right there with you. Yeah, but
Speaker 3: it was.
Speaker 2: Honestly, it's just all referral. All my clients are referral,
Speaker 2: just word of mouth and building trust and just continue
Speaker 2: working hard and focusing on that and then the rest comes.
Speaker 1: Yes, because you are very very good at what you do.
Speaker 1: And what I noticed is like you go, you do
Speaker 1: your thing. I think you guys put on like music
Speaker 1: you had in your little Yeah, you almost like you're
Speaker 1: not even there. And I'm just like, oh, okay, Like
Speaker 1: you're just so respectful and I think that goes a
Speaker 1: long way. And obviously, yeah, people recommend you so absolutely
Speaker 1: thank you.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I love that.
Speaker 2: I get in the zone. I listened to some podcasts
Speaker 2: so there, Yeah.
Speaker 1: Awesome, awesome, I know it Chigi's and Chill. You don't
Speaker 1: have to say that now, but no.
Speaker 3: I always I have everybody, so are you kidding? Awesome?
Speaker 3: I think that's where I saw you the first time.
Speaker 1: I'm actually on Jordan Wood's Instagram and I think she
Speaker 1: was saying thank you for I didn't know. I thought
Speaker 1: you were just organizing. But then you're like, oh, thank
Speaker 1: you for helping me decorate. She said something like that,
Speaker 1: and I'm like, oh my gosh. You Also it's heck yes,
Speaker 1: so it just saved my life.
Speaker 2: I did her house for MTV Cribs.
Speaker 3: Oh you did? Okay?
Speaker 1: Yes? And I love the it was so clean and
Speaker 1: the colors. I was like, I sound kind of like that.
Speaker 3: I want that.
Speaker 1: Yeah, okay, So tell us a little bit more about organizing, Like,
Speaker 1: are there, like, what are key things? I don't know,
Speaker 1: two or three or maybe five if you have them,
Speaker 1: like things that people can do right away to start
Speaker 1: like just organizing their life a little bit better.
Speaker 3: Okay.
Speaker 2: Number one thing just to get like the aesthetic that
Speaker 2: you see on Instagram. You know that, Like organizing, perfection
Speaker 2: is symmetry and having everything matching. So if you get
Speaker 2: the organizing bug and you're gonna go get some baskets,
Speaker 2: some new hangers, whatever labels, you name it, there's so
Speaker 2: many different things get all the same. You don't know
Speaker 2: how many times I go into people's houses and they
Speaker 2: have twenty different bins and none of them match, and
Speaker 2: none of them is little. It's just like chaos. And
Speaker 2: it's like you want your organizing to be cohesive, and
Speaker 2: it makes a really big difference. So if you get
Speaker 2: the organizing bug and you're gonna go buy some bass
Speaker 2: gets have the whole house match. Yes, that's number one. Labels.
Speaker 2: Labels is so so key to being able to maintain
Speaker 2: a space because there's accountability and it's also communication with
Speaker 2: everyone in the house. Usually it's not just one person
Speaker 2: in a home. Usually there's multiple people using a space
Speaker 2: and you don't want to have to micromanage it or
Speaker 2: you be the only one that knows where things go,
Speaker 2: So you need to have labels. They don't need to
Speaker 2: be too specific. It could just say snacks or breakfast
Speaker 2: or whatnot. Okay, so labels is key.
Speaker 3: What else? Ooh?
Speaker 2: One thing is if you notice that there's like an
Speaker 2: area that constantly gets cluttered, so like let's say by
Speaker 2: the door, or like there's a spot in your bedroom.
Speaker 3: I'll give use my fiance as an example.
Speaker 2: He likes to put clothes that are not like fully dirty,
Speaker 2: but not fully clean, just like on the dresser on
Speaker 2: the top, and that literally drives me bananas. So instead
Speaker 2: of being annoyed by it, I decided, Okay, we need
Speaker 2: to figure out a solution for this. So there's a
Speaker 2: spot near his nightstand where we put a basket and
Speaker 2: that's where the stuff goes that's not clean. Enough for
Speaker 2: the closet, but not dirty enough for the hamper. We
Speaker 2: all have those things, you know, like jeans or whatever. Yes,
Speaker 2: So it's figuring out a system around your habits rather
Speaker 2: than thinking overnight you're just going to have totally new habits,
Speaker 2: because that's not realistic. We take our shoes off in
Speaker 2: one specific spot, we put our keys down in one
Speaker 2: specific spot, at a hook, at a bowl. Figure out
Speaker 2: what you need in order to add some sort of
Speaker 2: order to that problem.
Speaker 1: Okay, perfect, congratulations on your engage a glue. So I
Speaker 1: have a new fiance, right, and he does the same
Speaker 1: exact thing your fiance does. And that was my question
Speaker 1: because now, yeah, I'm learning to pick and choose my battles.
Speaker 1: I'm like, I don't want to argue about the silliest things.
Speaker 1: So now I'm just like, Okay, if it is now
Speaker 1: that you mentioned is easier for him because it's always
Speaker 1: on his side of the bed and I can't see
Speaker 1: it because I'm on the right side and he's like
Speaker 1: on the side. But I don't walk that way a lot.
Speaker 1: So there's socks and then pants that again he wants to.
Speaker 2: Wear agh the sock, yes, the sock, Yeah, I'm just like,
Speaker 2: why why are they under the bed or like under.
Speaker 1: The Like I'm just like I can't you know the
Speaker 1: night stands that I have because you put them there.
Speaker 1: So it's not like you can hide it. It's like
Speaker 1: open and there's just stuff or like you know, like Postmates,
Speaker 1: and he just leaves it there. And it's like he's
Speaker 1: not dirty, He's not a dirty guy. He's just messy.
Speaker 1: He's just like, oh, I'm gonna wear it again, so
Speaker 1: I just left it there, But like it bothers me.
Speaker 2: What's funny is that? And something that I've learned with
Speaker 2: mine is that sometimes they're looking for a system. They
Speaker 2: don't know how to say, like hey, I never know
Speaker 2: where to put X, Y and Z, so they just
Speaker 2: like do it and they can't like necessarily always verbalize
Speaker 2: like it'd be great. But like sometimes I'll put a
Speaker 2: system together or like organize his desk or something, and
Speaker 2: he's like, oh my god, wow, that is so much
Speaker 2: much better. I'm so and then uses that system. So
Speaker 2: I think sometimes it's figuring out what that thing is.
Speaker 2: Like maybe I'm putting a basket on the side of
Speaker 2: his bed near the nightstand and that gets cleared every
Speaker 2: few days or whatnot, because maybe that he's looking like
Speaker 2: I don't know where to put these, you know.
Speaker 3: And that's what he tells me. You totally gave me
Speaker 3: a solution.
Speaker 1: I'm just like, I think what I'm going to do
Speaker 1: is just organize it for him and be like, hey,
Speaker 1: this is what I suggest and now. And I've noticed
Speaker 1: that once I do it, I'm like, okay, the towels
Speaker 1: or you know, even our little Q tips and stuff like,
Speaker 1: I'm like, okay, this is where can you just this?
Speaker 1: This is where you replenish it or how And he's like, okay, cool, yeah, awesome.
Speaker 1: I'm like, it's like little things. It's not like they
Speaker 1: do it on intentionally. They're trying to be inconsiderate. It's
Speaker 1: just I think you just have to guide them a
Speaker 1: little bit more because they're thinking about other things.
Speaker 3: I don't know.
Speaker 2: I think there's just different personality types. I think some
Speaker 2: people are aware of that, they're aware of their space,
Speaker 2: and then there's people that just aren't. And I think
Speaker 2: there's then there's also people in the middle. I feel
Speaker 2: like it's not a passive aggressive thing to like organize
Speaker 2: his stuff and leave a system. I think it's like
Speaker 2: a way of helping, Like this is a skill that
Speaker 2: I have, and I can help you to like have
Speaker 2: a better system so you can find what you need
Speaker 2: and then they can offer you guidance in other ways
Speaker 2: that other skills I don't have, like tech, you know,
Speaker 2: like this mic setup today, I didn't set that up.
Speaker 2: I don't have that skill whatsoever. And so it's kind
Speaker 2: of like it's a skill and some people have it,
Speaker 2: some people don't. Some people need it to be to learn,
Speaker 2: you know, and they can they can learn because they
Speaker 2: have the drive, but it's not natural. So I think
Speaker 2: that it's like a good thing. Figure out where those
Speaker 2: holes are, what are those things that are really frustrating
Speaker 2: and difficult and annoying to deal with, and then figure
Speaker 2: out solutions around them because they're not going to change.
Speaker 2: They're not going to change overnight. So it's just like
Speaker 2: accepting that breathing right and you know, then just doing it.
Speaker 1: Yeah, because I definitely don't want to come off as
Speaker 1: like passive aggressive or feel like he feels that I'm
Speaker 1: like his mom and I'm trying to organize his life
Speaker 1: because I'm trying to Obviously I'm not trying to emasculate
Speaker 1: him in any way. It's just I like things a
Speaker 1: certain way, and now that I've gotten older, and now
Speaker 1: that you've organized my life, I want it to stay
Speaker 1: that way.
Speaker 3: I'm like, dang, now that I'm.
Speaker 1: Older, I'm so particular, I'm so anal about certain things.
Speaker 3: I just want things a certain way. And that's it.
Speaker 1: Like, oh, you are preaching right now. Yeah, I'm like,
Speaker 1: what is happening to me? I was like, I wasn't
Speaker 1: always like this before. I'm like, okay, now I'm like, no,
Speaker 1: I can't leave the house until this isn't its place.
Speaker 1: And it's just getting it's getting a little like worse,
Speaker 1: you know, or better. I don't know. I don't know
Speaker 1: if it's a bad or good thing. It's just it's
Speaker 1: what it is, you know.
Speaker 2: It's everything in moderation, labeling, and also just like you
Speaker 2: want to have control of your space, because there is
Speaker 2: it's a subconscious thing. But we don't have control over
Speaker 2: a lot of things in life, but we have control
Speaker 2: of our surroundings. So at least for me, I feel
Speaker 2: like when I'm feeling stressed out, when I'm feeling anxious,
Speaker 2: that's when I'm like.
Speaker 3: The bathroom is a mess.
Speaker 2: I have to redo it, and I get a little crazy,
Speaker 2: And I think it's just because I can control that, right.
Speaker 2: I can't control what else is happening, right, and things
Speaker 2: that you know are bigger than I am. But I
Speaker 2: can control the way my bathroom sync looks, and I
Speaker 2: can control that my clothes are put away, And so
Speaker 2: I think it's like gaining feeling control, and I think
Speaker 2: that it's a good outlet. I think though, also in moderation,
Speaker 2: you don't want to go so far that then it's
Speaker 2: like you can't live your life because if it's not perfect,
Speaker 2: you're not happy. So I think it's you know, somewhere
Speaker 2: in the middle of that and making it realistic.
Speaker 1: Okay that honestly, I know we're talking about organizing, but
Speaker 1: like I feel like we're having a little bit of
Speaker 1: a therapy session because right now that you said that,
Speaker 1: I'm like, I guess that's what it is. I'm like,
Speaker 1: I just I can control this one thing and I
Speaker 1: want it to be okay. And then my mind for
Speaker 1: some reason has this space and I'm like, Okay, now
Speaker 1: I can think about work and everything else I have
Speaker 1: to do, but my home, my cars, even I cannot
Speaker 1: with a dirty car. I'm like, I can't, Like if not,
Speaker 1: I can't think it's like if that's I'm right, okay.
Speaker 2: I think it's part of it is just taking control
Speaker 2: of your space, Like take control of it, get that
Speaker 2: energy out, set a timer. I mean, my advice is
Speaker 2: always to put on a podcast and do an activity
Speaker 2: within that podcast, because it's like your mind is working,
Speaker 2: you're thinking, but you're thinking about something else. Right, So
Speaker 2: I'm thinking about the conversation I'm listening to, or I'm
Speaker 2: thinking about the story I'm listening to, and my mind
Speaker 2: is going, I'm getting some stuff done, and then it's like, Okay, now.
Speaker 3: What do I have to do?
Speaker 2: Like what do I have that I big that I
Speaker 2: need to accomplish, or that I have to deal with,
Speaker 2: or that I have to emotionally handle. I mean, I know,
Speaker 2: organizing is a physical thing, right, it's your space, it's
Speaker 2: your surroundings.
Speaker 3: But it's also.
Speaker 2: Very, very very emotional, and I feel like a lot
Speaker 2: of my clients don't realize that, especially when they do
Speaker 2: a closet edit. Like people sometimes have a mental breakdown.
Speaker 2: They like they just start crying because they're so relieved,
Speaker 2: and they didn't even realize they were so stressed out
Speaker 2: by it. So I think it's just your surroundings, your environment.
Speaker 2: Knowing what you have or where it is can affect
Speaker 2: your ability to accomplish things every day.
Speaker 1: I oh, my god, Yes, And I realize is that
Speaker 1: now that I've gotten older.
Speaker 3: I'm like, Okay, this is what it is.
Speaker 1: It just makes everything better for it to be in
Speaker 1: its place, you know, And I just have to control
Speaker 1: a little bit more. And I understand that it's It's okay.
Speaker 1: Even if the scissors aren't where I put them in
Speaker 1: the drawer and they should be there, then it's okay.
Speaker 3: I think.
Speaker 1: Now you gave me this amazing idea. I'm gonna buy
Speaker 1: myself a label maker, thinky And I'm gonna label the
Speaker 1: shit out of everything.
Speaker 3: Yep, I'm gonna label everything.
Speaker 1: He's here, scissors here, just the cleaning supplies because I'm like,
Speaker 1: why is this cleaning supply? Because I did this the
Speaker 1: other day. I organized and then I'm like, why is
Speaker 1: this cleaning thing? I'm like, they all go together, you
Speaker 1: see it. But maybe people don't see what I'm saying
Speaker 1: because I organized it.
Speaker 2: That's totally true, Like everybody sees things differently. I mean,
Speaker 2: trust me, I see it on a daily basis. I'll
Speaker 2: be like, what, that's what you But organizing is also
Speaker 2: like my number one tip and how to figure out
Speaker 2: where you should put things. As you close your eyes
Speaker 2: and you think, where would I look for that? Where
Speaker 2: would I look for the batteries? And that's where they
Speaker 2: should be? And everybody's answer is different. And some people
Speaker 2: say in the garage and some people say in the
Speaker 2: I say, with my tools. Everybody has a different answer,
Speaker 2: but it has to be where you would think it
Speaker 2: goes and then label it because everybody thinks differently.
Speaker 1: Yeah, absolutely, Okay, cool, I'm going to do that. I
Speaker 1: love shoes and I love bags, and I know a
Speaker 1: lot of women out there do too. I used to
Speaker 1: do this, and I don't know, it was a little frustrating,
Speaker 1: but let me know if I did good. Okay. But
Speaker 1: I bought like a bunch of plastic containers and I
Speaker 1: put my shoes in the containers and then I took
Speaker 1: pictures of my shoes and I put the Is that good?
Speaker 3: Yeah? Okay?
Speaker 1: Because I think I want to do that again because
Speaker 1: right now in my closet they're open. But I feel
Speaker 1: like they're getting dusty because I don't wear every pair
Speaker 1: of shoes every day obviously, so I felt like they
Speaker 1: were better taken care of when I had it in
Speaker 1: that system.
Speaker 2: I have mine in bins where they open in the front,
Speaker 2: so they drop down in the front, so then you
Speaker 2: can pull the shoe out and slide it back in.
Speaker 2: I recommend that because then you don't even need to
Speaker 2: do the picture thing and they can move around as
Speaker 2: needed and you don't feel tied to it, but you
Speaker 2: can still see them and they're protected.
Speaker 3: So yes, I love that. Okay, okay, cool? And what
Speaker 3: about bags? Purses?
Speaker 1: They can bags because we have our go tos and
Speaker 1: then we have the like do you recommend going organizing
Speaker 1: by like these are my go to bags, my everyday bags,
Speaker 1: and then a night like a date night bag or something.
Speaker 1: I don't know.
Speaker 2: So it's so funny because I have such strong opinions
Speaker 2: about organizing purses, and I've organized a lot of purses
Speaker 2: and a lot of incredible collections. I am a big believer.
Speaker 2: Don't have it in the dust bag unless it can
Speaker 2: really get damaged or a snag on something else. So
Speaker 2: like maybe sometimes swayed, I say leave in the dust bag.
Speaker 2: But besides that, take it out and just make sure
Speaker 2: to dust them right.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: Then I say I like to do it by color,
Speaker 2: and I like to do it by color because I
Speaker 2: feel like sometimes if you have like these are my
Speaker 2: daily bags and these are my going out bags or whatnot,
Speaker 2: I feel like then you get locked into using the
Speaker 2: same thing over and over again. And there's some bags
Speaker 2: that just never get to see the light of day.
Speaker 3: Yeah, and they're so sad dying in your closet.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: And I feel like when you have things by color instead,
Speaker 2: you're inspired, Like you're gonna get ready to go out,
Speaker 2: and you're gonna grab your you know, a bag for dinner,
Speaker 2: and instead of grabbing the one you grab every time,
Speaker 2: you'll be like, well, I was gonna grab black bag.
Speaker 3: What other black bags do I have? Mm hmmm.
Speaker 2: And then you can grab a different bag, and it
Speaker 2: gives you the opportunity to wear more of what you have.
Speaker 2: I believe, see everything that you have, because it's going
Speaker 2: to inspire you to wear it.
Speaker 1: Yes. Oh my god, I need you so bad. I
Speaker 1: need you to come please help me, because that's what
Speaker 1: I see. I'm like, instead of buying another bag because
Speaker 1: It's just it's ridiculous. I'm like, I still have bags
Speaker 1: that I don't use enough, so what is happening. I'm
Speaker 1: probably not seeing them or they're For instance, there's bags
Speaker 1: behind other bags and I'm like, oh my god, I
Speaker 1: forgot I had that, you know, so okay, by color.
Speaker 2: There's no way you could go into your closet and
Speaker 2: mentally remember everything you have. Like I get to the
Speaker 2: grocery store and I can't remember if I've pasta sauce
Speaker 2: at home. Like there's no way you could go into
Speaker 2: your closet and be like, oh right, I remember that
Speaker 2: bag I got three falls ago that looks great with
Speaker 2: brown boots. Like there's just no way you need to
Speaker 2: see it to really enjoy it.
Speaker 3: Okay, so see it.
Speaker 1: And then as far as you're clothing, do you like
Speaker 1: color coordinating as well?
Speaker 2: I like category and then within that color blocking or
Speaker 2: color coordinating, but I feel like the category is more important,
Speaker 2: So like jackets together, and within jackets maybe like having
Speaker 2: blazers from casual sweatshirts and sweatpants should be together, dressy tops,
Speaker 2: basic tops, hants, skirts, Those are the categories that I
Speaker 2: feel like are important and it's better to have those
Speaker 2: categories separate than deal with color. Of course, I'm extra
Speaker 2: so I do color within the category. But okay, if
Speaker 2: that sounds super overwhelming, you don't have to do that.
Speaker 1: Okay, now that you mentioned jackets and stuff. I had
Speaker 1: a friend that used to do this, and I don't
Speaker 1: do this, but she would put all her winter stuff
Speaker 1: during summertime away and just bring out like her summer
Speaker 1: stuff out.
Speaker 2: That's what I do.
Speaker 3: Okay.
Speaker 2: I do that because I don't have a lot of space.
Speaker 2: So because I'm tight on space, I have to be
Speaker 2: kind of vicious about, you know, making sure that my
Speaker 2: summer spring stuff is away so I could pull my
Speaker 2: fall out, which I literally just did this weekend.
Speaker 3: It was so fun.
Speaker 2: But I think that even if you have enough space,
Speaker 2: it's really fun to do that. Because I didn't even
Speaker 2: remember doing this, but I put like some yoga stuff
Speaker 2: away that was like hunter green colors and they were
Speaker 2: like more fall colors, and I put them away to
Speaker 2: make space, and I forgot I did that, and then
Speaker 2: when I pulled them out, I literally felt like I
Speaker 2: won the jackpot. I was like, this is amazing.
Speaker 3: I have new leggings.
Speaker 2: They're not new. I've had them maybe four or five
Speaker 2: years now, but because I did that seasonal swap, it
Speaker 2: made me feel like they were new, which was a
Speaker 2: really fun, special feeling. I love that feeling, So I
Speaker 2: think that it's a really great thing to do. And
Speaker 2: it's you want your stuff in your closet to be
Speaker 2: stuff you're wearing current. Right, You're not going to use
Speaker 2: a straw bag in November. It's just not going to happen.
Speaker 2: So why see it on the shelf instead put it
Speaker 2: away and then pull it out in spring and then
Speaker 2: it's like so fun and exciting and you feel like
Speaker 2: you got a new wardrobe.
Speaker 3: Yeah, You're so right. Okay, we need to do that too, because.
Speaker 2: It's really fun.
Speaker 1: Yeah, because I'm sure I have like a bunch of
Speaker 1: jackets that like now I can wear and I'm so
Speaker 1: excited because it looks like it's gonna get cold. Fin'd
Speaker 1: my absolute favorite. I love falling too. Yeah, And okay,
Speaker 1: so last question. Because I am a huge overpacker, I
Speaker 1: feel like I need to be. I don't know, I
Speaker 1: think this is just me being like finding excuses, but
Speaker 1: I'm like, just in case, I stay in extra day,
Speaker 1: just in case I need my big bottle of shampoo,
Speaker 1: Like it's ridiculous because everything's always overweight. Then it spills
Speaker 1: and it's just it's honestly, it's ridiculous. But I can't
Speaker 1: help it. I mean, are there any tips besides I know,
Speaker 1: getting the travel sizes?
Speaker 2: So actually what's crazy is that I'm also an overpacker
Speaker 2: because I can pack a suitcase real, real good because
Speaker 2: I fold like really perfectly. So I'm like, you know what,
Speaker 2: I'm gonna bring twenty T shirts and we'll just see
Speaker 2: what I feel like. But I went on vacation a
Speaker 2: few weeks ago and we were going to multiple different
Speaker 2: places for like a few weeks, and my friend is
Speaker 2: a stylist, my friend Robin, So she came over and
Speaker 2: she was like, Okay, we're gonna do this my way,
Speaker 2: and I was like, show me Away's girl, and she
Speaker 2: basically was like, Okay, what are you gonna wear on
Speaker 2: the plane?
Speaker 3: Okay?
Speaker 2: What are you gonna wear the first night you're there?
Speaker 3: Okay?
Speaker 2: Are you going out to dinner that night?
Speaker 3: Okay?
Speaker 2: What do we And she like moved my shoes around
Speaker 2: to like whatever, and she took a picture of each
Speaker 2: bundle of whatever, of each little outfit I have never
Speaker 2: packed so perfectly for a vacation. I had everything I need,
Speaker 2: and for some stuff, I packed like some stuff I
Speaker 2: rewore because I was like, oh, I can rewar this.
Speaker 2: But I had plenty and I had an extra outfit
Speaker 2: or two and I was fine. And I felt like
Speaker 2: I didn't have to spend any brain power figuring out
Speaker 2: what I was gonna wear when I was on vacation,
Speaker 2: because I was like, this is the outfit that was
Speaker 2: picked for me today, and I felt like I looked
Speaker 2: like a million bucks. My suitcase was perfect.
Speaker 3: It was game changer.
Speaker 2: So I say, lay everything out out really specifically, and
Speaker 2: then you'll see what shoes you're naturally bringing, what bags
Speaker 2: you can naturally mix between, and then you put your
Speaker 2: bra and underwear with that outfit. So what bra are
Speaker 2: you wearing with that outfit? What underwear are you wearing
Speaker 2: with that outfit? What socks are you wearing with that outfit?
Speaker 2: So you have everything right there, it's not like at
Speaker 2: the end you then have to gather at all. It
Speaker 2: was amazing.
Speaker 3: It's probably a game changer.
Speaker 1: And do you put like your jewelry or like, hey,
Speaker 1: I'm gonna wear these little earrings with it, you take
Speaker 1: a picture, and then I've seen those organizing bags on
Speaker 1: Amazon as well, like where you can put your whole
Speaker 1: outfit in there.
Speaker 2: I actually I did packing cubes. I love a packing
Speaker 2: cube because it's basically tuessing your suitcase and then I
Speaker 2: just did it by day or like by like this
Speaker 2: was the first week of my trip. This was the
Speaker 2: second week of my trip, and that worked totally fine.
Speaker 2: I highly recommend a packing cube.
Speaker 1: Okay, packing cube, got it? Labels check packing cube. Okay, right,
Speaker 1: I'm learning so much And just a silly question, do
Speaker 1: you cause I'm sure like your fiance is probably like
Speaker 1: so lucky you like, do you pack for him?
Speaker 2: Oh? Yeah, he lives a real privileged life, Like how awesome,
Speaker 2: what a blessing he gets all his laundry folded by
Speaker 2: me and organized.
Speaker 3: And would she's so pretty?
Speaker 2: I love it.
Speaker 3: I love it. It's so fun.
Speaker 1: Oh that's awesome. I'm so happy for you. Okay, well, Janelle,
Speaker 1: thank you so much. Honestly, I'm so grateful that he
Speaker 1: came on the podcast. It was so interesting. I learned
Speaker 1: so much and I'm sure my listeners did too. And
Speaker 1: I'll be sending you a text message. See when you're available.
Speaker 3: To come help me with my lifey over soon.
Speaker 1: Oh actually, you should share your your social media or
Speaker 1: anywhere they can find you and your book and all
Speaker 1: that good stuff.
Speaker 3: Please.
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, straighten Up by Janelle. That's my Instagram, that's
Speaker 2: my TikTok that's my YouTube, that's my everything. I love
Speaker 2: it straight And my book is The Folding Book, okay.
Speaker 2: And you can find that on Amazon target you name it,
Speaker 2: Barnes and Noble.
Speaker 1: I love that, Okay. I was lucky and blessed you
Speaker 1: you sent it to me, so thank you. But you
Speaker 1: guys find it on Amazon. It's honestly a really good
Speaker 1: one to have. You're gonna like, like, what the heck?
Speaker 1: I could have the craziest things. You can fold anything
Speaker 1: and everything, you guys, So make sure you check it out.
Speaker 1: And you guys, before you go, I always have a
Speaker 1: quote for you, okay. So the quote for today, you
Speaker 1: guys is organization isn't about perfection. It's about efficiency, reducing
Speaker 1: stress and clutter, saving time and money, and improving your
Speaker 1: overall quality of life, which is what we just talked about.
Speaker 1: And believe me, once you start, you're just gonna love
Speaker 1: how you feel and It's just kind of like, let
Speaker 1: me remove all this excess stuff that I don't necessarily
Speaker 1: need that is just taking up space, and it just
Speaker 1: gives you room to breathe in every way. So Janelle again,
Speaker 1: thank you, and I appreciate your time. And you guys,
Speaker 1: thank you for listening. And I'll catch you on the
Speaker 1: next episode of Cheeks and Chill. Guys, los Amo, do
Speaker 1: you need advice on love, relationships, health emails. I'm so
Speaker 1: excited to share with you that my Cheekies and Chill
Speaker 1: podcast will have an extra episode drop each week. I'll
Speaker 1: be answering all your questions. Just leave me a voice
Speaker 1: message person a Monday. All you have to do is
Speaker 1: go to speak pipe dot com, slash Cheeky's and Chill
Speaker 1: Podcasts and record your questions.
Speaker 3: I can't wait to hear from you.
Speaker 1: This is a production of iHeartRadio and the Michaeldura podcast Network.
Speaker 1: Follow us on Instagram at Michael Gura Podcasts and follow
Speaker 1: me Cheeky's That's c h i q i S. For
Speaker 1: more podcasts from iHeart, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts,
Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite podcast, and check
Speaker 1: us out on YouTube.