Today we’d like to introduce you to Keli Jakel.
Hi Keli, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
Would you believe me if I said this career path was essentially started by picking up a random book at a pharmacy while waiting for a prescription to be filled? While reading this book in the waiting room of a dentist’s office, it hit me—although I cherished my time in education, it was no longer my calling, organizing was!
As I thought through all of my work in the education field, I quickly realized that organizing was always a major part of my success–in classroom management, campus leadership, curriculum planning, and everything in between. It always came back to the efficiency and function of the space or the materials to create better systems for students and teachers. So, I decided to take this innate ability to make situations and places better for others by beginning to build my client roster with a few in-home organizing sessions per week.
In the meantime, I spent hours studying everything possible that could help me become the best professional organizer in my area. I studied psychology and residential organizing, I jumped on every related class available, and I joined NAPO. I knew that my passion was in organizing and this is exactly what I was meant to do. My business quickly took off and I was busier than I had ever thought possible.
Then Covid hit. And my business came to a screeching halt as I decided to keep my distance from clients’ homes. During this time, I started coaching women to discover their own passions and get organized so they could pursue hobbies from home. I also found several organizers looking to break into the industry. One of those organizers was Liz.
Once I went back into clients’ homes and saw Liz in action, I realized that she was special and I was determined to build a working relationship with her. She introduced me to Nisa and it was quickly apparent that we were better together.
Together, Liz, Nisa, and I went all-in on getting the business running right. We spent three solid months focusing on Organized by Keli & Co (OBKCO) and making sure we had all our ducks in a row to move forward. We’ve seen nothing but growth since!
This month, we are celebrating one year since that decision! As a team, Liz and Nisa lead in home organizing jobs while I handle the business side and coaching clients of OBK&CO. Our combined strengths are what make this team unstoppable! It is incredible what can happen when women come together with a common purpose and work within their strengths.
I truly believe I am using my strengths in leadership and organizing to create opportunities for my team to share their strengths with clients that need them. I take great care to pair organizers with clients where their strengths will shine because that way everyone wins.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
The biggest challenges and obstacles for us have been trying to balance growth and our vision. As we have been growing over the last year it seems that every time we create systems and processes to support our work, we outgrow them and need new ones. It’s actually a great challenge to have!
Another obstacle has been product sourcing. With the supply chain issues and popularity of organizing after Covid, sourcing the containers, bins, and shelving has been difficult. Of course, we have our favorite “go-to” products that we prefer but we have learned about many new tools and products available. While we are looking forward to the day that everything is restocked, we have embraced the opportunity to practice creativity! And really amazing to see how our list of favorite organizing products has expanded and changed along the way.
As you know, we’re big fans of Organized by Keli & Co. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
At OBK&CO, we know busy people have trouble finding the time to organize their homes in such a way that they can feel free to focus on other priorities. This results in unnecessary stress and tension on relationships, routines, and daily quality of life.
We created a service that organizes functional and inspiring spaces to live and work in so that clients can spend their time and energy on what matters most. We can unpack and organize homes so that busy professionals can continue to focus on work and not use their mental or physical energy to unpack and settle into a new home. We can declutter and implement systems for families so that their home meets their current lifestyle.
With a place for everything and everything in its place, clients can spend their Saturday heading to the mountains or connecting with friends instead of unpacking boxes, reorganizing the kitchen or decluttering their closet and still hit the ground running Monday morning.
We create organized spaces because when people have order in their lives, they can focus their energy on being who the world needs them to be. What sets us apart from other companies is that we do all of this with minimal involvement from the client. We have clients that we never meet face to face- but using our signature services and processes we are able to create organized, functional spaces for them.
We are really proud of our growth and reputation. We strive to exceed expectations with every project. We love unpacking and/or organizing a home and the client walks in for the reveal and feels pride and relief.
Do you have any memories from childhood that you can share with us?
So… my parents think it is comical that I grew up to be an organizer. As a child, I would just shove everything under the bed or hide it in the closet and consider my space clean and organized. When I was about 12 my mom purchased a book for me about how to clean your room. What a game-changer! Sometimes all we need is a system that makes sense and everything falls into place.
While I am still not one to micro-organize everything in each drawer, I have come to appreciate the benefits of order and how it impacts our daily outlook and efficiency. I enjoy helping to create this order for others.
Contact Info:
- Email: Keli@organizedbykeli.com
- Website: Organizedbykeli.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/organizedbykeli/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/organizedbykeli
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEmJHyitMV_814PYnf_UTtA
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/organized-by-keli-and-co-denver
- Other: https://www.pinterest.com/organizedbykeli/_created/
Image Credits:
Stephen Cunningham
