Ep 41 - Pride & Home Organization Featuring The Go To Girls Inc.

 

Join us for a special Pride episode of The Tidy Revival Podcast featuring the dynamic duo, Stacey and Ashlee, from The Go To Girls Inc. In this episode, we explore their journey as home organizers, the importance of representation in the field, and what it’s really like working with your spouse. We discuss the challenges of conforming to societal expectations and the power of embracing true authenticity when it comes to sharing values as a business owner. Don't miss the exciting giveaway opportunity for a chance to win a copy of their children’s book, "Robbie's Toys." You won’t want to miss this episode filled with love, laughter, authenticity and the power of representation with The Go To Girls Inc.

You can listen right here, on Apple, Amazon, Spotify or you can read the transcription below. Enjoy!

 
 
 
 

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Carly: Hey guys. Welcome to the Tidy Revival Podcast. I am really, really excited for this episode because I have been stalking some folks that I know from the internet. Stacey and Ashlee, the Go-to Girls. We are connecting from Los Angeles to Sacramento to talk about all things inclusivity in organizing. And it's going to be fun. I'm just going to jump into it. And you guys, this is going to air June 1st, so happy Pride.

Stacey: Oh, happy pride, everybody.

Ashlee: I am so excited to be here

Carly: I'm really excited too. This is basically going to be like a pride episode for the Tidy Revival Pod podcast, which we haven't had yet, and I'm so excited. I see you guys are addressed for the part. Got some pride gear on. I got my little bracelet and yeah, so like, let's just, I'm going to kick it off.

Can you please share the origin story of the go-to girls and if you have a specialty, we would love to hear about it too.

Ashlee: We're Stacey and Ashlee of the Go-To Girls. We actually just changed our name too. We're the Go-to Girls Inc. We've been in business for almost 10 years. We've been doing this for a really long time, and we just love what we do. But I think a part of what we do that makes it special is that we love each other.

Stacey: Yeah. We started with one director and it kind of snowballed from there. And now we have all kinds of celebrity clients and we get to work together with those clients and with each other

Ashlee: and work together every day. Be together every day. 

Yes. That means 24 hours a day. 

But honestly, we started the company cause that's what we wanted.

Stacey: Yeah.

Ashlee: And we were both working separate jobs, coming home asking how your day was, honey. And we were like, I think we could do some really amazing things together. And so when we kind of opened that up and created the go-to girls, as just a fun idea. We had no idea that it was going to take us to where it's today.

Carly: Oh my gosh.

Stacey: I agree with that yeah. We just work together and here we are.

Carly: That's so fun.

Ashlee: I will say maybe this kind of ties into us being like tough women, but we love garages, we love the dirty jobs, the storage units…

Stacey: Yeah, anytime that I can get into a dumpster. I'm like please let me jump in, let me throw everything away.

Ashlee: Anytime I can get into a dumpster

Carly: That's the clip.

Ashlee: Total dumpster diver

Stacey: yes.

Ashlee: I mean that there is so much truth in that.

Stacey: So true. I mean, just going through your stuff is so euphoric, and what better way to do it than through a dumpster?

Carly: Yeah. I fully agree. My favorite jobs are the ones where people have a whole room where they're like, I just, I just closed the door.

I'm like, let's get into it.

Stacey: Yeah. Yes. I love that you understand that

Carly: because it makes such, it's such an emotional transformation to make those spaces the thing that you are dreaming that they will be, but it's actually like in life at this moment, essentially, your secret shame that you don't want anyone to know about.

Ashlee: Right.

Stacey: That's the crazy part that we come along, that we come across is all the shame that goes into your stuff. You know, it's really, it's so crazy. It's so psychological too, at that point.

Carly: Mm-hmm.

Stacey: Like mini therapists

Ashlee: Seriously, mini therapists. If Stacey doesn't make you cry, like in a good way,

Stacey: whatever

Ashlee: If Stacey doesn’t make you cry by the end of the job, then you didn't get deep enough, you know? I really think that it always ends up being kind of deeper than even the client thought it would be.

Carly: Oh yeah.

Ashlee: Um, But I love how you were even like, you know, show me the room. Because oftentimes I think organization is tied into, oh, this drawer or this spice rack or this pantry. Mm-hmm. But we love stepping back and like to look at the room, the big picture because that's where the biggest differences are made. I love when we're called out for a pantry and we're like, oh, what about the kitchen in the dining room?

Stacey: What about the garage and the attic?

Carly: You're like, should I hire a dumpster?

Ashlee: Yes, I've got a guy on call.

Stacey: Got a guy.

Carly: My dumpster guy. Don't worry about it. I feel like that's totally organizer life.

Stacey: right?

Do you want 6-foot? Do you want a 20-foot? What you need.

Carly: I know. I got you. I got you, girl.

Okay. So I was going to share the story about how we met because we met at a conference here in Northern California for organizers in 2019. You guys were engaged at that time, right?

Stacey: Yes, we were. Yeah. Yeah.

Ashlee: So funny because obviously at that time when we were at that summit, we were meeting everybody for the first time. Everything was amazing. And at that time we thought we were going to be having, you know, the big wedding that we had kind of always dreamed of, and then it went into no…

Stacey: It was a silver lining. It was great

Ashlee: total silver lining. But that's why I always laughed before like you were engaged. I was like, I know where my head was at. I was thinking of linen napkin colors at that time, you know?

Carly: Oh, totally.

Ashlee: We were engaged. My gosh, that's so funny. Cause none of that happening, needless to say. Married now, and that summit, we are so thankful for what that brought to our community I don't know about you, but we felt like we were the only organizers. Nobody even knew about the industry. I feel like you even said the word organizing and a lot of people, but, these summits, conferences, TV shows, there's been so much recognition.

Stacey: And a spotlight put on organizing.

Carly: Yeah, absolutely.

Ashlee: How cool. 

Carly: I know. I feel like I've been very fortunate to be a part of networking groups. We have one locally, so a lot of the local organizers were at that conference. And then I'm also part of a group. a little plug for inspired organizer, if anyone wants to know about it. And I'm a mentor in that group, so we have folks nationally and internationally too. If you need an organizer in Amsterdam, I got you.

Stacey: Wow. How incredible. It's crazy how far the reach can go.

Carly: Oh, yeah, absolutely. And so in that way, it was helpful. I absolutely agree that television shows, like specifically, really have helped our industry because I mean, yeah, I used to have an elevator pitch for just describing what I do at all for not even my company. Just what it is.

Ashlee: Yeah.

Stacey: Right. Yeah. People think it's event planning. They're like, oh, you organize events. It's like, no, no, no. I organize the stuff in your home.

Ashlee: right? Yes. And now hasn't the elevator pitch changed too, like in the show? Yes. Just the word

Carly: Oh, like Marie Kondo? I'm like kind of… except I'm not Konmari certified, which is a whole thing. And people are like, oh, I didn't realize.

Stacey: yeah, The Spark Joy book I might have you donate.

Ashlee: Yeah, it's so funny too. Our world and who our gods are, in this industry. And then it's interesting the individualism of actually working with an organizer. And how different that can be. You know, some people want it done quickly, and some people want it done slowly. Some people want a team. Some people want, you know, a couple of hours with one person. And when you learn that and you learn just how big our industry is and how different each of our businesses is incredible. And it's so cool. It's, we always, I mean, this is a funny analogy, but we always say it's like a pizza place, pizza shops, you know? Oh yeah. There are so many pizza places in the neighborhood, but how different are they? All of them stay open, and all of them succeed. And it's because they all have a different specialty. I seriously think of that with organizers. We all have our special toppings

Carly: Yeah. and it's so personal, you're not going to vibe with everyone. I know that there are plenty of people I am not going to be their cup of tea and they're going to look at my Instagram or website or something and just leave.

Stacey: I don't know why you have such a beautiful Instagram.

Ashlee: I know your Instagram, they're missing out then.

Carly: Well, thank you very much for saying that. 

Stacey: A lot of work goes into that. We absolutely understand this.

Carly: I know your guys are so fun, which is where I followed your love story and I saw your wedding and everything, and it was just beautiful.

Ashlee: 14 people, including us, including whoever was going to marry us, anybody that needed to do any services. So that means sisters are doing your nails and hair. Mom got ordained so she can marry us. Friends were photographers.

Stacey: We had to leave family out, you know, a blessing in disguise in some parts.

Ashlee: It's funny though, it forced us to have this beautiful constraint of the number of people and the parameters and it brought it to the most important thing to us, which is our love. I know that's so cheesy, but it really is like it meant so much to us.

Stacey: Tears.

Ashlee: It was so special that day. We really did both feel like special brides.

Stacey: Yeah. We wanted it to happen regardless. We were going to go down to the courthouse and get it done, but

Ashlee: because that was a really special day. So we got married on our 10th anniversary together. And for the fact that that day happened to be in the middle of the pandemic, we were like,

Stacey: nothing's going to stop us.

Carly: Yeah. It's, it's happening. Okay. Buckle up buttercup. We're doing it.

Stacey: Yep. Exactly.

Ashlee: Exactly.

Carly: Oh my gosh. Okay, so I'm going to switch gears and talk more about social and the social feed. This is why I reached out because this is going, this is me sharing my story. No, my story is not everybody's, but. I really felt like when I first got started as an organizer.

I fell into that trap of like, You know, people, I feel like there was spoken advice and unspoken advice about not sharing too much, don't be too much, don't rock the boat. And I also grew up super religious and so I think I internalized a lot. I mean, I know I internalized a lot. We'll talk about how that pertains to coming out later.

But I think that affected how I showed up from not wanting to, you know, I'm like, okay, don't, don't show any tattoos. Don't curse. Don't maybe don't come out on my work platform. People don't, people don't want to hear that side, you know? And I. I and I, I know that that's my story. I don't want to put words in your mouth, but I know in a post-2020 world, I'm definitely more and more aware that perfectionism is a myth.

Be yourself over everything. Not everyone is going to like you, and that's fine. And we've been more about showcasing my personal values like the company values as pillars of our community, which I'm really open with. I want it to be open for folks who we're going to work with.

I want to be open for folks who come onto my little team and I want to be extra open because there are going to be some people who have a big, big problem with that. And I just want to repel 'em away and let. Get on outta here. Yeah. and then draw in the folks who need extra support and who that means a lot too.

So this has led to more clients who tell me that they feel safe off the bat you know, from social media, from my website. And I would love to hear your guys' journey in that way of publicly being yourself.

Ashlee: Absolutely. 

Stacey: Well said. And what a great word. The word safe, because we hear a lot that people, and I think social media is great in that sense that you can get a sense of somebody and who they are as a company or just as the people that you're hiring and to just bring somebody in and like you already feel that safeness around them without even meeting them. I think that's so huge and so thankful for social media. In that spotlight, especially when they could do the complete opposite, you know?

Ashlee: And what we do, I mean, let's, you know, touch on that of an organizer is not only just coming in your home, probably going in your underwear drawer. How do you get more personal than that? We say we know more about you than your family and by the, and so you really do.

I always try to put myself in the client's shoes. I always imagine, gosh, if I had a stranger coming into my house, what would that be like? And I think that when you get to know somebody a little bit, even, you know, that's why we have these profiles and portfolios and websites is hey, get to know us in our business.What a great way to kind of showcase not only ourselves but the safety that we provide as a couple.

Stacey: Yeah

Ashlee: We think that's a huge part of why we have a retention rate with our clients is because it's not just, you know, a one-and-done process. We kind of get to know them as a couple and we always come at things, you know, with an understanding of, well, I know what that would be like from my, you know, with my partner. And we're very understanding and kind of get more involved in that way, I think. Because we understand what it's like when we're going into a household like that.

Stacey: Yeah. I could also speak to showing up with the tattoos and you know, showing up with my backward hat and stuff like that. I always felt this alternativeness and I didn't know if that would be respected and Okay in the community. because when you see all, like everybody on tv, they're so poised and proper, and they look the part and I'm like, I don't look the part, but I sure don't feel comfortable in that part

Ashlee: Imposter Syndrome. Right? It's crazy to not feel the part that you actually are. And we experienced that all the time.

Stacey: And I think just recently you've been able to show up in that confidence and just be like, well, you either want us or you don't. I have no problem stepping away. I'm no longer hunting for that job because I need it. It's more like fishing for the job because you know, you want us and you want what our abilities and specialties are.

Ashlee: Yeah. We cast our line and people, you know, they, they're the ones that kind of, I feel like find us and come to us. And that's an, I mean, it's so funny because I remember in the beginning we would literally ask each other like, is it okay we're wearing beanies? Are they going to respect that?

Stacey: Are we allowed to?

Ashlee: There were no rules, right? Mm-hmm. So now I feel like before anybody hires us, they jumped on social media, they know who we are in one way or another. And whether that's, you know, through somebody's work or through a photo or through a YouTube video or something like that.

And I, I love that because then it's not this who's going to show up to my house. I don't know. And that's also why we run our company, that every single job, Stacey and I are on the job. Mm-hmm. We don't send a team, you won't get another girl. It's us. And I feel like that kind of helps people understand, oh, I'm seeing these two girls as the face of the company and that's who's going to be on my day of the job, you know?

Yeah. I feel like it's a very kind of getting to know us and maybe we're a little bit fun and alternative in these ways. Cause, you know, we, we do try to kind of be ourselves and that could be a little bit silly sometimes,

Carly: But it's great because I feel like that's made my work better too when you can go to work and just be yourself you're swapping stories. I won't give examples, but you know, you're swapping stories with clients. They're sharing something, you're sharing something, you're laughing, you know, and they're really getting to know you. On my end, I'm at every job as well, so I have a couple of folks I work with, but it's more behind the scenes like somebody's doing content operations. Thank you, Brittany. And I have a gal, Amy, who does a lot of errand running every week, running donations and shopping and things, which is really, really helpful while I'm at my desk being like, <mimics typing sound>.

Stacey: Ashley likes to say it's like a table, a tabletop. We're the tabletop and everybody under you is the legs. So we're the support and well,

Ashlee: they're the support that we cannot do our job without. Yeah. 

Carly: a hundred percent. Or not as much. It's like you can do it, but not as much as you do.

Stacey: Yeah, you can't, you're not doing it all by yourself or you're having help, but it doesn't have to be on the job necessarily.

Ashlee: I mean, let's be honest, at the beginning we did wear all of the hats. . We did all of it. And it's really nice to kind of be in our, at the point in our business when we know where our strengths are. And where somebody else's strengths are. We do love. Organizing and we love being on-site and actually going through the things and being in front of the client. And so I'm so glad that we still get to do that, this, this far down the road.

Carly: I love it. Okay, so I wanted to ask you guys, I wanted to hear about instances in which the phrase representation matters resonates with you in your business.

Stacey: I had a little tough one with this one cause I, I don't know, I guess it all goes back to I think the clothing and for me, like dressing more Masculine than most of the organizers. Like, was that okay? And questioning that. And it's taken this far to be like, I don't care what they think it's all about, like how I show up and I do my job, 110%, give it my all. But it was crazy to question who I am versus on the job. But Yeah, but I, I feel like it doesn't matter.

Ashlee: Yeah. It's funny. I will say we've been really, really fortunate in that we've never had an instance where anything inappropriate or disrespectful happened because of the fact that we're gay, I feel like everybody is pretty much in an understanding. We have this joke, if we ever are working for somebody and they didn't come from another referral, so they might not know us on a, you know, personal level, know that we're married, which I don't know how you can't. Yeah.

So our thing is we just say, babe, You call your friends, babe. Yeah. So if we're on the job and it's like, Hey babe, can you hand me this? It's this. And we don't do that all the time, but it's kind of like a way of saying, Hey, by the way, this is who we are. But again, it's, we've never even had an instance where something happens.

So representation to us has just kind of always been about being ourselves. And it's only until recently I'll say that I considered tying it into our business in a sense of like actually showcasing it. And putting that as a quality of ours on our social media, because I always thought that was something kind of like you said, like nobody needs to know that nobody wants to see that side or hear that side. But it's who we are and I feel like, because we don't work separate jobs, we work jobs together. It is important to, represent that and so yeah. I think, yeah, it's just also having the confidence to be able to include that as a part of your business. Mm-hmm. One thing that we're looking into, is our goal this year is to become an LGBTQ-certified business.

Carly: Ooh.

Ashlee: We're open to opportunities that are only specified for businesses like ours, and that was really special and definitely a little bit of a solidification, I would say.

Carly: Yeah. Yeah, I, I feel you on all of this. I came out really, really late in life, and if you're listening to my podcast for the first time, spoiler alert, I'm Bi and since I grew up really, really religious, it was, it was, I. It felt like a very difficult thing and which is why it took me so long.

Stacey: I hear you.

Carly: Anyway, that's a longer story for another day, but the point is that when I started talking to people more and more, I definitely had a few people, you know, say like, well, are you, are you sure you want to talk about this? I mean, what does it really have to do with organizing? I'm like, well, if gay folks need organizers it means a lot to them. And if my trans brothers and sisters need an organizer, it means a hell of a lot to them.

Stacey: Absolutely. We've actually had clients seek us out because we are gay. After all, they actually want to support the community as well. And that's always been like just a cherry on top of like, wow. How cool to support in this other way? You know, instead of even just being an ally, you're supporting an ally-owned business, and that sure feels good.

Ashlee: Yeah. Yeah. Being an ally by supporting a small business, a small queer-owned business. Yeah,

Carly: Yeah, yeah. I've, I've definitely had queer families seek me out because they see, you know, happy pride on Instagram. I've had Jewish families seek me out because they, you know, see that we're celebrating different holidays on social media and those types of things, they matter. You know, they matter to folks who, to your point before, need to feel safe in their own home.

Stacey: Yeah, exactly.

Ashlee: Nobody can understand and represent that just as well.

Carly: Yeah, yeah, exactly. Okay. This is the thing we all want to know. Actually, I'm going to switch the questions around. What are the hardest things about working with your wife?

Stacey: Oh boy.

Ashlee: This is a fun one to do.

Stacey: We get asked that all the time, like, how do you guys work together? I would kill my husband. That's what people say all the time.

Ashlee: Ok, so I think I actually figured it out. And it was like a light bulb moment a couple of years ago. We always get asked this question, we're like I don't know, we just like each other. I figured it out. I think It's because of liking our job and us working together and being allowed to do all these different tasks together, whether it's building a piece of IKEA furniture or completely taking apart a garage and having to put it back together and look professional and coordinate everything. There's a lot that goes into our job. And I realized a couple of years ago, that's what makes us so good at working together. It's working together because when you do that, you're put into these situations and scenarios that I would argue a lot of couples never have to do.

If you actually did something that you do with your colleague and your employees, you know, a big project that you put together. If you and your spouse did something like that together, what would that look like? We even joke. Okay. Every single couple should have to build one piece of IKEA furniture before they get married.

Stacey: like a dresser.

Carly: I say that too!

Ashlee: Drawers too, right? Like nothing. No Billies, you can't go easy.

Carly: No, it needs to be one of these guys like a sliding door front, and I argue you need to go to Ikea, not a click-in pick-up. You need to start at the front. You need to just be given a line number. You need to go through the whole store. Stop for the meatballs.

Ashlee: Yeah.

Carly: Keep going and find it on a Saturday.

Stacey: Oh! You just upped that! Talk about relationship building.

Ashlee: Yeah. I mean, most people wouldn't even make it to the car. You know, like,

Carly: I'm like if you can do that. Then you can get married.

Stacey: Yep. And that's to her point, that's the thing, is like we see each other at our worst on the job. And we have to navigate, especially being in somebody else's home to come at each other respectfully. We can't fly off the handle. No. And just, you know, go nuts because we're mad at something. Not even aim necessarily at each other. Or sometimes it could be aimed at each other. 

Ashlee: We have really good habits in place. So it's funny too, cause if you think about it, it's not like, oh, that was that one instance or that one piece of IKEA furniture. Done. Never have to do it again. Yeah. Guess what? We have a job tomorrow and we're building something.

Carly: More iKEA furniture.

Stacey: Or even like garage racks or just taking stuff out. Who's taking direction? Who's, who's the leader?

Ashlee: It's taught us so much. I feel like one of our big words is, Communication. Yeah. And we communicate on the way to the job. We communicate while we're on the job, and then we talk about the whole day on our way home. And I feel like those habits are really, really healthy. We bring that into our relationship and our job. We are very respectful of each other in our home and outside of our home. what you see on the job. That's how we are, you know? Yeah. And I think it really does bring us so much closer because we have those opportunities to do that. And also the habits of when you do need time to cool off. Knowing how to do that respectfully, and also giving your partner the permission, like she'll, she's so good with me or whatever, to, if we're on the job and I need a minute to be like, yeah, hey, take your time. I've got this. I'm, I'm good. Go ahead.

Stacey: Yeah. Go step away. Go take a minute.

Ashlee: It's totally a team effort. And we really do just work so well with taking care of each other, you know? Mm-hmm. If one of us gets a drink, Hey, what do you need? Can I get you anything? Yep. Like we are constantly looking out for each other and taking care of each other, it makes the day so much better. I mean,

Stacey: not to say that sometimes those things aren't hard to do either, because sometimes it's hard to remember that. And you don't want to make, I don't want to make my wife mad at me, but sometimes I do

Ashlee: not everybody's perfect. Totally honest. Yeah. But we also know how to turn it around really quickly. Cause you know, we have another job tomorrow

Stacey: And we just want to show up for the client. You know, we gotta put that stuff aside. Even though we deal with it sometimes on the job, we have to put it aside and show up for the client because they're the ones paying us and we don't want to, yeah.

Ashlee: We always want to give them the best experience. And I don't know about you, but I hate when I go somewhere and you get this feeling of like, somebody's having a bad day and they're taking it out on you. 

Stacey: the waiter, the cashier, the Starbucks person,

Ashlee: like, oh my God, you're having a bad day or month, and we never want to bring that to the job.

Carly: And then that interaction, you know, if someone is having a bad day, which we've, you know, I've been a cashier, I've had a bad day, but Yep. But that interaction is like two minutes versus like 3, 4, 6 hours. And to your point, if anyone's listening and you haven't hired an organizer, let us just tell you, and I don't even have to ask if you found this, the case. I know you have for sure. Especially when you're working with other couples, it can be difficult for them to not lose their cool with each other. And sometimes we end up in this pseudo marriage counseling role where you're like, Hey, let's just take five real quick. Okay. But you go over there and you go over there.

Stacey: Can you go get lunch for your wife? Cause she's obviously hungry or something.

Carly: Yeah. And yeah, and you're just trying to tamper down the snippy comments and things and because it can be very overwhelming, you're in the middle of an already overwhelming space and then you're kind of uprooting it. That middle part can be really difficult.

Ashlee: It's easy to blame, it's easy to point fingers. It's easy to say something that kind of like didn't mean or is disrespectful. Yeah.

Stacey: Yeah. And one person could be ready and the other person not, you know? And so it's pushing that envelope and it's because we act, we have to ask so many questions about your own stuff that it's like, well, I need the answers. You know, and that can kind of, get really testy with people.

Ashlee: That's one of our rules actually, is if we're working on a space, you know, we do walkthroughs and surveys and all this stuff beforehand, but that's one of the things, if we're working on somebody's space, if a wife hires us to, to organize the, the tool shed and garage. The first question we ask is, whose space is this? Who uses it? And are they okay with this? Are they ready? Are they going to be available? We don't even do a kids' room without them being ready and okay. And available. So, yeah.

Carly: Amazing. I love that. Okay. I feel like you kind of touched

Ashlee: It's like we went on all these little mini-rants. I'm like, what was the question again?

Carly: Well, I feel like you answered my next question which is what is your favorite thing about working with your wife?

Stacey: Oh, I can answer that one. I think being able to depend on her, like true and true, I can really depend on her, know that she's going to be working, she's got my back. Even from getting the drink to doing all the details. That dependability is just a weight lifted off my mind that I could not even have in my mind as a cloud or anything. And I just love that because working with other people brings in that like, oh, I have to be my managing them and worrying about them. Like, what are they doing? How are they doing? How are they presenting themselves? And

Ashlee: you just want to do you, yeah. I love making sure everything else is taken care of.

Stacey: She's really good at that, thankfully.

Ashlee: Oh, I, the thing I love about working with Stacey is her attention to detail. Because the things that Stacey does a lot of times, I mean, you know, they're, they're traditionally masculine roles. So it's, it's handyman things We'd say handyman things, you know? Mm-hmm. She's hanging gallery walls. I mean, she's cutting down wood for shelving in closets, building racks. She does some amazing things. And sometimes I'm also I mean, it's very attractive, but I'm also very impressed. I'll be honest when I hear the drill and the saw. It's like, Ooh,

Carly: you're like need a drink?

Ashlee: I love, love, love that When we're on a job and I'm doing the details and I'm labeling and all these things, if there's a gallery wall that's scheduled to be, that's going to be hung, that Stacey is going to hang it perfectly and she's going to do that, she's going to put her heart into it. She's going to give it the time. She's got the right tools, she's already prepared. You know, I just love her attention to detail because I know what it's like to work with people who you have to go back and micromanage and redo.

Carly: Oh, check everything.

Stacey: Did they even clean up after themselves?

Ashlee: Oh, that's one of the big things. The details after. And you know, at the end of the job, sometimes Stacey and I are working on different things. Mm-hmm. And at the end of the job, we do a walkthrough and I'm seeing Stacey's work sometimes for the first time and I'm like, oh, look at that gallery wall looks really good. Right. Ok. So we did this and she did that.

It's always like this relief of…It's complete, everything is straightened, ready. You know? It's so cool to work with you, babe because you're always so prepared. And I love, like even down to like the toolkits with the hanging, you know,

Stacey: we're organizers,

Ashlee: I dunno what they're called though.

Stacey: Doodads. Nails.

Carly: Hang, hanging kit.

Ashlee: Picture hanging kit. I don't, the one that I know not to disorganize. 

Stacey: or trip over

Ashlee: frantically, try to put them all in the right holders and she said it was never the same.

Carly: No, it's just ruined.

Stacey: It's all good. I love you despite.

Ashlee: But I just, I love that. And I mean, it kind of goes back to like what you said, like being able to count on one another. So I think it's, yeah, we both have the same level of what a job looks like completed. Completed. Mm-hmm. And that's such a relief. I love that.

Carly: Ah, I love it so much. I'm so happy for you guys.

Stacey: Oh, thank you. We really appreciate that. It's not easy though. We may make it look easy, but it's not easy.

Carly: Oh no. It's a marriage

Ashlee: we're girls. We cry a lot.

Carly: I mean, same girl. Same.

Ashlee: Okay. Yeah. We always say just let it out. Let it out.

Carly: I know tissues are mandatory in my kit between my clients or, you know, just me. I won't, I won't cry at your client, but you know, they do need to be in my kit.

Ashlee: Yeah.

Stacey: Totally ain't that the truth.

Carly: Okay. Fun question. What are your plans for pride this year?

Ashlee. Well ironically, because we've been to Pride in West Hollywood. Mm-hmm. It's amazing. And it's also,

Stacey: it's nuts

Ashlee: incredibly crowded and crazy. We're not going to be doing those kinds of festivities. we're going to be with our Group of friends who are

Stacey: diverse in themselves. And so hanging out with the group and keeping lowkey.

Ashlee: We have a great group of friends and it's funny, we all are kind of go-to girls and go-to guys. It's like one person's in charge of ice and tables and food and drinks before, you know, we have a party in like five minutes. It's so much fun. It's really, we'll be hanging out with friends and playing some games.

Stacey: How about you? You're so close to San Francisco. What are you doing?

Carly: So I went to college in San Francisco and I lived there for 15 years. So I've done the big SF pride many times.

Stacey: Whoa.

Carly: Yeah. And so much fun. And then we moved to Sacramento about six years ago. I've done their big pride also. Actually, Lizzo was there a few years ago. Cool. Oh yeah. So it's a lot of fun, but this year I'm the same. I'm like, you know what? I've done like big, big, big pride. So there is a local community, maybe like half an hour or so away from me, and it's called Amador. It's like America's smallest city, I think is their slogan.

I know somebody from college, she and her husband have a restaurant there. Shout out to Small Town Food and they do small town pride. So we're waiting for them to announce the official activities, but it sounds like they're going to mix things up this year. So I'm definitely going to do something that they're putting on because it's just like, It's just very like a small and low key and small town and it's like the gold rush era. If you're ever in NorCal, it is honestly like the pride vibe in town year-round is very strong and very important to the community.

Ashlee: Oh, how cool.

Stacey: That feels so good to go into a place and you kind of feel that community around you and you don't have to worry about that. Mm-hmm. We've been in parts of Middle America where you definitely feel like you're not welcome and it's very unsettling. So it's nice to be in a place where it's like, oh, we're welcome.

Carly: Totally.

Ashlee: Yeah. And, yeah. I mean, we work in LA but we travel all over. It's crazy to have those different experiences, but all in all, I mean, It's really amazing how everybody kind of has their arms open. Well, everyone we've encountered.

Carly: Yeah. I have a story for you guys in a second. But first I also wanted to give a shout-out to its Instagram profile. I mean, it's an organization, but their Instagram is queer sports with a Z here in Sacramento, and they are running a queer cookout. The 10th, I hope I don't get that date wrong. 10th, 11th. And I think I'm going to hit that up in June

Stacey: Oh, fun. Do you get to play sports or watch sports?

Carly: So they do like actual queer sports activities, like team, team sports and they'll have like, okay, like this is basketball day and stuff. I still haven't been to one of those. And anytime they've had a queer cookout. The date hasn't worked, but I'm part of a BIPOC meetup group locally, and they're going to have a contingent. I have some other friends who are like, we're definitely going to go to the next one. And one of my friends was like, I'm definitely volunteering. I'm like, okay, well it's settled. Like I will absolutely be at this event and it's just this huge queer cookout. If you guys ever want to come to Sacramento, come up, we'll do gay shit. It'll be so much fun.

Stacey: It's gay shit. It'll be great. Just gay shit in general is fun.

Carly: Just like gay fun shit. And it'll be, it'll be good. 

But the story that I wanted to share with you was, we were telling some friends. So last week I went to a conference, this is a short version. Last week I went to a conference and the day we stayed an extra night after the conference ended. So myself and my friend, we could just sleep in, have a lazy breakfast and then leave. So, The vibe for this conference, it's called Mom 2.0. Y'all should definitely come next year. It's so much fun. It's for folks who are like in the mom industry, so even if you're a dog mom or an auntie, but you're working with moms, they're like, come on in the vibe. The vibe is very much like, Hey, hey, new friend. Where are you from? Like, you're just making friends along the way. Everyone's so cool and everyone's very much on the same page. Let's just say values. So we were at breakfast the next day. We're looking around and we're like, The vibe has changed. It was obvious a new conference came in and it was very much like golf pocket squares.

Stacey: Oh God.

Carly: Very serious. White men.

Stacey: White men. I can already picture it.

Carly: And we were like, what's happening? So we saw the, we saw somebody's placard and I looked up what it was, and I just turned to my friend and I was like, I was like, we gotta get outta here. And she was like, what? It said it was like the Republican legislative committee thing that, that's almost like…back it up.

Stacey: complete opposite of everything fun, inclusive.

Carly: So, I definitely have this rainbow shirt like the Bay Bridge or Golden Gate Bridge. And I was like, well this is obviously my outfit for the way out. Not that anyone was making eye contact with us, but

Ashlee: no.

Stacey: They put their own shield up. Yeah.

Carly: Yeah. So I hear you with not,

Stacey: It goes back to that.

Carly: Yes. Just care. That's it. That's all we're asking for. Just like human decency. Is that too much to ask?

Stacey: Right. Keep your opinions to yourself and don't bother anybody.

Carly: Yeah. Just don't bug people. and just let people live their lives and be who they are.

Stacey: Right. It's not hurting anybody.

Ashlee: Absolutely

Carly: not hurting anyone.

Stacey: Exactly. And guess what? We're probably cleaning your house and serving you food and doing everything. And you're fine with it there,

Carly: right? You really are. You can't see my face at home, but that big, big eyes, big facial expression, eyes happening. So I'll switch gears and I want to talk about Robbie's toys.

Ashlee: Oh, okay. Well that's our baby.

Stacey: Oh, I love that book.

Ashlee: Good book.

Carly: Let's, so you guys wrote a children's book and we're going to do a separate fun Instagram post on it later this summer too. because I bought two books so we could give one away. Robbie's Toys is a book about a boy with too many toys and it is an awesome children's book. I love it. And tell me, tell me all about it.

Ashlee: Okay. So it was a really funny kind of experience. You know, when we first started the Go-to Girls, we went into a lot of family homes, met a lot of kids, and a lot of the spaces that were asked to organize are kids spaces. Kids grow out of the things that are coming in so quickly. So there's often, you know, a big purge, a big donation, and it got to the point where they started to hate us. They really loathed the go-to girls walking in the door. Because we were the enemy. We were the ones taking the toys away.

I mean it was so funny to watch And we really connected with the kids. We love kids. We're proud aunties. Hey nieces and nephews. And honestly, it's so cool cause they're some of our biggest fans. Yeah. And we just know how important it's to connect because these kids, they're going to be adults one day.

So let's use this as an opportunity. Let's teach something. Right. So we started explaining to kids that when we donate toys, they go to other girls and boys, that there are other kids out there. And we love explaining it. Like when a kid is a little bit older and you're donating those baby toys, we're like, there's a baby out there who needs these baby toys, but you're no longer a baby, you're a big kid. But then we ended up kind of going home and saying, wait a minute. There's so many people that could benefit from this. And we did some research, a lot of organization books and cleaning up your room books. But the ending is really surprising. You like, bring things back in and fall back in love with your stuff and keep it and it's just whoa, whoa, whoa. 

It's about getting it out there. And so yeah, we wrote Robbie's Toys and it's about a boy with too many toys. He learns to purge and donate the toys to other kids and then cleans his room in an organized way. We really wanted, like, yeah, we just wanted to make it easy and kind of give a step by step to what we do. And so now after we made the book, our process is if we're working on a kid's space, we send our client this book beforehand. We say, Hey, Read this book, let them get to know the process, and that way when we come, we're kind of already having this connection point and it's already familiar to them otherwise. Donating and organizing. These are not words that kids are used to hearing. Mm-hmm. And kind of a weird, scary process. So just kind of opening their eyes to it a little bit. Yeah.

Stacey: It's good life skills. We think that to kind of set the foundation right now, because you're going to always need this in your life, you know, from college. Yes. When you're growing up, when you're moving out of your house, it's just the way of life that you have to get rid of things. Yeah. Yes. You know, and there's a good way to do it and. Getting it back out in the world, that is, somebody else can use it instead of just trashing it. Mm-hmm. So that's a, it's more for our clients' kids and kids in general.

Ashlee: And we literally saw the shift, you guys. I think it was so funny. After Robbie's Toys, we would see kids say Oh, I have some toys to give away! It was totally different the way that they would come about us and the process. I'm like, they were ready.

Stacey: They'll hand us like one coin and be like, here, can you donate this? And it's like, oh my God.

Ashlee: Now always have to be like, mom, is this OK if we donate??

Stacey: I just bought that like a month ago.

Ashlee: And she's like No, that was expensive.

Stacey: Or she'll be like, fine. You know, they'll be like, I'm proud of my kids for wanting to donate it. Yeah. And taking that opportunity cause. It's a big life skill and that's what we believe in. Mm-hmm.

Ashlee: Also, I don't even know if this is realized by a lot of people, but in the book it talks about these three steps and that's actually become our slogan. Sort it, contain it, and label it. Came from Robbie's toys, just, oh, we needed an easy way and easy terms for kids to understand what those three steps were. And now if we ever get on a job, and Stacey and I are wide-eyed, like, whoa, where do we start again? I swear we come back to sort it, contain it, label it, and it's just one of our easy methods that we love passing on.

Stacey: And parents can use it too.

Carly: Yes. I thought that it was so well written and just explained. In such a very easy to understand way, and it's so, it's, it's just lovely.

Stacey: Thank you. It's all self published by us.

Ashlee: Our goal was not to, you know, get it on the shelves necessarily. It was just to kind of share this with our clients and it's really cool to see that it's still. It's beneficial and people are still enjoying it and we're just really proud of it.

Carly: That's awesome.

Ashlee: Maybe a second book one day. Who knows?

Stacey: We have a few in the works.

Carly: Yeah. So we're going to do a giveaway. It'll be a separate post on Instagram where you can, there's going to be a giveaway for a copy of Robbie's Toys Shipping to the US only, please. Woo woo. And you'll just need to follow the go-to girls and also comment and also comment.

And you're going to answer the question, what is your biggest struggle for organizing kids toys? So you'll see this on Instagram, just comment in the post follow, go to Girls Inc. And, and we'll have it linked in the, and the profile too. And we'll select somebody to, yeah, to win a copy of Robbie's Toys..

Ashlee: I'm excited. Amazing. That's so cool.

Carly: What would you say is the best age group for this book?

Stacey: Three to one hundred.

Ashlee: My godson has been reading it like forever and he's, he's three and half now, but I would say like, three to 10. Yeah, three 10. It's an easy read for, mm-hmm. You know. 8, 9, 10 year olds. But I still think it is such a great lesson. And you know, I don't know about you, but like at bed time when the kids like choose the longest novel for you to read, you're like,

Carly: Oh my gosh. I'm like, we're going to read three pages.

Ashlee: Exactly. We really tried to think about the parents on this one. It's a short read. It's an easy read and it's one that even if you read with your child once and you guys get that lesson together, or you as a parent pick up those Sort it, Contain it, Label it skills, amazing.

Carly: Yeah, a hundred percent. Yeah. Oh, cool. Fantastic. Okay, so any final thoughts that you'd like to share with everyone?

Stacey: Be yourself. That is a huge one. Just show up as yourself. It's okay. And kind of just don't worry about what other people think.

Ashlee: Yeah. I think that we've really come into ourselves as a couple and a business.The minute that we started doing things with confidence. And really kind of getting over any of that silly imposter syndrome because if you're doing it, you're doing it. And it doesn't matter what you did before. It doesn't matter if you have a degree in it. It doesn't matter what everybody else's story or path looks like. If you're doing it, you're doing it. That's amazing.

Stacey: Well said, Beauty.

Carly: It really is. Where can folks find you?

Ashlee: Ooh. Well, on Instagram. On Instagram, that's our best. The Go-To Girls in Inc. The Go-To Girls Inc. And just recently, it's not the number two, it's the Go-to Girls Inc. And we got a website, we have a YouTube channel. We're on Facebook. Come visit us there. Yeah. Yeah. And yeah, I mean, Email. We can, I mean, not even kidding you we're so open to like, say hi. I mean we, we try to get to all of our comments and respond to everything. Please. We are open. If you have any questions, we're happy to answer them. We're chill. Come say hi.

Carly: You guys are very chill. I'm going to vouch for the Chillness because we've been internet friends for a while and they fully let me stalk them for this episode.

Ashlee: Yes, stalk away.

Stacey: We like some stalkers.

Carly: Thanks, guys. So we will have all of your links in the show notes too. So be sure to follow them. And you'll see that post pop up on Instagram too for Robbie's books. And thank you both so much for being here.

Stacey: Oh, thank you for having us. It was a pleasure. It was a lot of fun.

Ashlee: It really was. I mean, it was just like a fun little gal chat conversation. Right, right. It was so fun and easy.

Carly: I appreciate you. It's always fun to talk to other organizers about the biz.

Stacey: Yeah, yeah,

Ashlee: absolutely.

Stacey: I get it.

Carly: Awesome. Thank you.

We would love to make sure that your questions are answered for a question of the week or a future episode. So we love to hear from you. DM (on Instagram) or you can always email me, carly@tidyrevival.com. We love hearing from you. We love hearing your thoughts about the pod, and thank you so much for hanging out.

If you wanna learn more about how I can help you, feel free to head over to tidyrevival.com to learn how I work with people one-on-one or in our private community. If you enjoyed this episode, please be sure to subscribe so you'll always have access to the latest episode.

We would also love to hear your takeaways. Feel free to tag us on Instagram, Facebook, or TikTok. The Tidy Revival podcast is written and hosted by me, Carly Adams, and edited by Brittany McLean. Title Song Maverick is by Dresden The Flamingo.

and until next time, remember that…

 
 
 

Links mentioned in this episode

 
 
Tidy Revival Podcast, OrganizationCarly AdamsTidy RevivalDecluttering, Home Organization, Pride