This month’s Fabulous Small Business Interview features Jamie Steele, who is based in Austin, Texas, and is a time and productivity specialist. Come along and read about Jamie and what she learned while creating her successful business. Take it away, Jamie!
Questions asked
1. Tell us about your business and when you started.
I started my business in 2012 and rebranded in March of 2019. I work with busy professionals in person or virtually, anywhere, to find the order in their day. By organizing time and technology, I help clients (affiliate) create an environment that promotes productivity so they can focus on their passions. I believe with the aid of technology that we can work with our day in sync with our priorities.
That means three things:
- It means teaching yourself how to find and create focus spots in your routine. At Tidy Your Time LLC, we ask what you can do while that first cup of coffee (affiliate) is brewing. We look at the whole environment and see where we can help you reduce clutter and save steps, giving you more time for what matters to you.
- It means assessing your priorities and getting rid of what doesn’t need to be “to-done.”
- It means creating time for your self-care. If we are rested and refreshed, we can be there for others. We must put our oxygen mask on first.
2. Why did you start your business?
I first fell in love with productivity and efficiency after reading Cheaper by the Dozen by Frank Gilbreth Jr and Ernestine Gilbreth Carey. Getting things done in pockets of time when I was standing or sitting around with nothing to do became an obsession of mine. This was before Facebook so that natural distraction wasn’t there. I would read while waiting in line at the post office, update my to-do lists, or make phone calls while sitting parked in the car. There is always something to do you just have to be prepared to do it.
My passion for technology also started at a young age. My parents are programmers. They taught me to be respectful but not afraid of technology. I love exploring new devices, apps, and programs to help save time. I help my clients (affiliate) use their technology to automate tasks that would otherwise take hours. I teach them to be brave and explore what their technology can do.
3. What do you feel is an area you struggle with in your business?
Outsourcing. There are many items I could outsource, like social media, website tasks and updates, and other admin work, but honestly, I kind of enjoy those tasks.
4. What did you do to combat or overcome this struggle?
I use automation tools like IFTTT and Zapier to cut steps out of routine processes. I just signed up with Dubsado to automate my client workflows. I also use the social media tool Meet Edgar to ease the burden of social media posting. Meet Edgar saves me hours each month by automatically posting to social media on a predetermined schedule.
5. Please share some tips on how you made your business a success.
Being adaptable, willing to learn, and being open to new opportunities are the keys to my success. I really enjoy running a business and the tasks that are associated with it. To avoid burnout, I associate some tasks that most would consider work as self-care. For example, anything related to social media is self-care. My stress level goes down when I get to market myself on Instagram and Facebook.
I also think being connected to a group of colleagues (affiliate) through NAPO is an essential part of my success. Through NAPO, I have learned how to run my business and gained some fantastic friendships along the way. I currently serve as the NAPO-Austin President and love my chapter. We like to have fun and learn about organizing, productivity, and how to run our businesses.
I encourage anyone who is running their own business to do as much networking as possible. Creating relationships outside of your primary occupation will keep referrals coming in. I have found the key to networking is building relationships and getting to know the other person’s company so you can refer them best. Bringing in other people’s business is a great way to keep your name front and center when the need for your services arises.
Thank you, Jamie, for sharing your wisdom. Because I am the person companies go to for outsourcing, I also struggle to outsource my tasks. You see, I need the most recent updates on social media sites so I can see the changes firsthand and know how to handle them. However, I do like to automate sharing my blog posts. I do use a few of the ones she mentioned above. I also use Hootsuite, which lets me post on Instagram and Pinterest, as well as other social media sites like Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter. Since I have a business account, I have a little more flexibility to post to various business pages. They recently updated their interface, and I am enjoying it.
I also use Tailwind for scheduling on Instagram and Pinterest. Tailwind lets me share other Tailwind bloggers’ content on my Pinterest account through the Tribes and Discovery sections, which gives me more variety on that platform. The Instagram posting feature is new to me and can only be used for my organizing account. I’m still figuring this one out.
What’s great about being a small business owner is that you get to try new things when you want to, remember to be flexible, and make sure you practice self-care by using the resources around you. Feel free to visit our Self-care blog posts for ideas on Sabrina’s Organizing Blog, too.
