Turning Passion into Purpose
Hi friend! I’m Jen, the founder and Chief Organizing Officer here at Life in Jeneral, but I’m sure you know that by now. What you probably don’t know is my story...how I got to where I am, what fuels my fire, and the things that keep me sane while juggling this crazy thing called life!
Since I was a little girl, I’ve always been the definition of type A, even though I didn’t know it. What I really never knew was that this passion of mine would carry me through life and give me purpose. I really just loved color coding and keeping things tidy, and can you blame me? I even remember skipping recess in grade school because I wanted to rearrange the furniture in the classrooms. Looking around, I knew the rooms weren't functioning at their maximum capacity and I wanted to change that. What 10 year old does that? I guess it’s been my destiny from the start to create an organizing company, ha!
In my 20s, I was a celebrity executive assistant, and this experience was where I really discovered that my love and passion for organizing could be turned into a career. I would help my friends and family on the weekends—all while working full time—and was booked for months. At this time, I was doing it completely for free because I loved organizing so much that I didn't care.
The last five years with Life in Jeneral
In order to understand my Life in Jeneral journey, we have to go back to the beginning. Life in Jeneral actually was not intended to be what it is today. In all honesty, I became an entrepreneur not even fully understanding what that word meant. What I did know, however, was that I grew up watching my dad take his passions and build companies out of them. I knew I wanted to help people create a better life for themselves, but I had no intention of making a business out of it. My dad worked hard every single day, and I innately learned what it took to create something with meaning behind it. He used to always say, “you can be and do whatever you want in this world, but you have to treat people right.” Every day, I think of that—how if you work really hard and treat others with kindness, you will find success in what you do.
At the start of Life in Jeneral, it was just me. I did e-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g. It would take weeks to do someone’s garage, but I didn’t care. I absolutely loved it. I loved waking up, heading to work, and creating a drastic physical and emotional change for someone. I worked around the clock to get the company up and running, and eventually hired on team members to help me keep things afloat so that I could focus on starting our custom cabinetry line, Closets in Jeneral. I was doing the physical organizing by myself, but of course, I have always had incredible support systems to help me out. Family, friends, and networking groups were the people I leaned on to keep me accountable to set goals I could really stick to and achieve.
My passion drove my growth
There have been SO many ups and downs over the past five years. Building a business from the ground up is both challenging and fulfilling in ways I never could have imagined when I started, but my passion ultimately drove my company’s growth. The passion I have for what I do has always outweighed the hardships. Running a business has affected my life immensely. It’s a 24/7 job, so to make it work, you really have to love what you do. You never stop thinking, planning and dreaming up your next move, and you can’t imagine your life without the business. Over time, my vision for Life in Jeneral has continued to pivot to support not only my clients, but also to evolve into a business mentorship. My mission is to help others, and expanding my brand more and more in that realm has been a natural progression.
Onto the next chapter
Now that I’ve really mastered running an organizing company, I’ve been lucky to share some of the knowledge I’ve learned through the years with others. After having gone through everything from the ground up, it’s important to me to be a resource for others so that they don’t have to waste time in the trial and error phase too. I’ve been a business coach for fellow organizers, so the idea of launching my own master class felt like such a natural next step in my career. Seeing the impact that I’ve had on those I’ve mentored in the past has inspired me to create something that can be accessed by anyone, anywhere in the world. Here’s a little BTS from shooting the class—I cannot wait for you to see the final product!
I know it may seem like I have so much going on that I don’t have the time to indulge in some self care. The reality, however, is that the products and things I use in my daily routine are my self care. Over the years, I’ve experimented with everything under the sun to find these products that make my life run as smoothly as possible.
Of course, I do like to treat myself to some real self care too! On my days off, I love to cozy up in some sweatpants (rainbow patterns are my favorite!), light a good candle, throw on a face mask, and read a good book. Here are some of the best self care items I use. I genuinely believe that incorporating these things into my routine contributes to my productivity!
From the bottom of my heart, thank you for your support. I am so beyond grateful every day that I’m able to do something I love, and thankful that my passion for creating systems and organizing has turned into purpose. Seeing the transformative process from the start to the end and seeing my clients’ reactions has truly given me so much joy. I am incredibly grateful to have you all on this journey called life with me!