Episode 3: Moving Without Losing Your Mind Part 2
Jill Nicolini Interviews Libby Saylor Founder & Professional Organizer at Anchor Girl Organizing
Transcript
From Manhattan, this is the New York executive podcast.
The Voices that Move markets the conversations that shape the boardroom.
Live from our studios in midtown Manhattan, here is today's program.
We are back with our dear friend from White Glove Move Management.
We're going to talk downsizing, assisted lifting, living, I should say estates.
It's all about the anchor girl today.
And you're like, wait, who, What?
Who's this you're going to learn about?
Libby Saylor, if you haven't yet.
An anch girl organizing.
She's the founder and owner based outside of Wilmington, North Carolina, in Leland.
Her company is fascinating, amazing, and she's really going to help you get everything in shape.
So again, her move, she can help you with your belongings, with everything her and her team manage so much.
Let me have the lady of the hour please introduce herself, say hello.
Hi.
Hi.
Hi.
It's good to see you again, Jill.
Thank you so much, Libby.
Tell us a little bit about the company and all you do and then we're going to get ready to.
Yeah.
Action packed show for episode number three, moving without losing your mind.
Part two.
Part two.
Yes.
I'm Libby Saylor.
I'm the proud owner of Anchor Girl Organizing and we offer professional home organizing services, whether it's closets, garage, attics, drawers, pantries, you name it.
We go in the space, we go in all the scary spaces.
We also offer White Glove Move management, which is what we started last week in episode two.
Well, no, it's really episode three, but it was part one, moving without losing your mind.
So what I'd love to do is just go over those points that we talked about last week real quick and then dive into.
We left it at number seven.
So we're going to go seven through 11.
So if we were going to recap next week.
Excuse me, last week, Jill.
We're going to start with.
Let's talk about the AGO method, which is what I'm sort of starting to formulate for my business because I've learned that anchor organizing is a mouthful.
So I've shortened it down to AGO and the AGO method.
If I share it with my clients and my listeners, it gives them an actionable start that they don't necessarily need me.
They can start on their own and they can dive right into it, or they can send me an email and send, send up the white flag and say, I surrender.
I need help.
So we'll start with that.
And just in recap, that is assess, plan, organize and execute.
And so what is assessed?
So we're assessing what we're moving, what are we planning?
We're planning the furniture.
The boxes are.
We're.
We're numbering them, we're measuring, we are thinking ahead.
We are planning for where we are going, honoring where we are leaving.
We are organized, like I said.
We are editing, we are decluttering.
We are keeping the categories like with like.
And then we're going to execute.
We're going to pack those boxes, we're going to put those labels on there, and we're going to choose our mover or we're going to move ourselves.
Lots of people do.
And we're going to get the stuff out of there where it belongs.
So going back to number one, the first thing that we covered, if you remember, was pack with the unpack in mind.
So you're packing that box, thinking about unpacking that box.
Number two was plan for the destination.
You are not recreating your exact home that you have now.
In your new location, you have many opportunities to make incredible changes that will feel wonderful and new and refresh your things.
Number three, every box has a plan.
Where is it coming from and where is it going into the new home.
We also like to number the boxes, like I said.
And the most essential box is that unpack first box that has your paper plates and your knives and your cups and maybe some tp Anything you can think of that you might want on that first, first day.
And by having my executive assistant pass and that project, I tend to anticipate other people's needs before they even have them.
So once I've gone through that decluttering process with you and we've gained that trust and I've gotten to know you better.
And so as my team, we can start to realize, okay, Jill's going to want.
She's going to want those special pajamas, so we should put those in that box so that she is feeling warm and cozy when her bed is made on the first day.
So she can collapse into it after a long moving day and then moving day itself.
We talked about that.
I like to be on site, but virtually I can be on the phone.
I can be FaceTime.
We could be zooming enough that I think that you can zoom while you're moving.
We can do anything.
I'm pretty agile.
And then the fifth one was the right mover and a deep bench.
That's by accessing me and hiring myself and my team, you gain a wealth of trusted movers, trusted resources, whether it's in the town you're in or we're going to hand it off to an organizer in the town that you're going to.
So that is a great network.
And then number six, where we started, or, excuse me, finished, was downsizing is its own animal.
And I told that story about my mom and dad, how they were my first clients and downsizing them from 5000 square feet into 1500, which was, I mean, it's, it's a huge challenge.
I mean, you meet people that have been in their homes, like I said, for, you know, 50 plus years.
So there's, there's a whole life inside that house that needs to be honored.
And so we will pick up with number seven today and dive into seven through 11 and seven piggybacks off of that story I told last week, which is the transitioning into assisted living.
The, the baby boomer generation is the largest generation currently alive.
There's millions of them, okay.
And they are aging.
And a lot of them choose to age in place, maybe downsize into a home where the bedroom is on the primary floor, where they don't have to use stairs anymore, or some folks do go into assisted living or directly into memory care.
That can be its own challenge because obviously when you're dealing with seniors, you need to have your patient's cap on even a little tighter.
As I like to say, there could be adult children involved and other family members involved.
They need the time to come and do the edit and go a little bit.
Clicked on your notes and it opened up to someone's video.
This is so bizarre.
Did you hear that?
I apologize.
Oh, that's okay.
No, I can't.
I can hear slightly, but not very much.
I don't know what.
An ad popped up on the.
I don't know how.
So I apologize.
Continue.
That's okay.
Like panic mode.
I got to keep up.
But they keep minimizing.
So go ahead.
That's okay.
I'm tech challenged myself, honestly.
I. I can tell you where things go, but as soon as technology gets involved, I'm like, oh, my God, this is not me.
But like I was saying, adult children.
So they may have, you know, mom's china that they want to come and pick up, or they may have a parent that has literally saved everything thinking that this child is going to.
Or children are going to want it.
They rarely do.
I mean, the New York Times several years ago put out a great article which was, your children do not want your brown furniture.
And so it's all about sort of antiques and sort of saving everything for them.
And they're like, no, the millennials The Gen Z's, the Gen Xers, they have such a different approach to their things than the baby boomers do.
And that goes back to that scarcity mindset that they lived through.
So they tend to hold on to everything and overvalue things because they probably have a higher emotional attachment to their things.
People that are moving into assisted living or downsizing and our seniors, they deserve dignity and as much agency as possible in their decision making.
We certainly don't want to possibly see a cognitive issue going on and then therefore talk down to them.
You know, we're still honoring them all the while possibly working with other family members that are saying, yeah, mom is getting a little bit more forgetful or mom really needs to be kind of, or dad needs to be kind of coaxed into letting go of this one particular thing that may be large or too expensive to move or too fragile or whatever.
We can go back to that.
Start early.
When you start early, these are the clients that you tend to need to earn their trust a little bit longer and for a little bit more time.
So assisted living, like I said last week, when your unit opens, you got to go or else you go back into the waiting list.
And so it can be a very quick while.
You may be planning like, okay, we've put our deposit down and we're waiting for our spot in the queue, so let's get started.
But once you get that date, then the pace goes quickly and seniors can struggle with that pace.
Absolutely.
And the decision fatigue and everything can be harder.
And so having the skills and the professional education that I received through naepo, including with the certificate, the work required to get that certification, it really helped me know prepare for these types of sensitive situations which can lead me into the next one, which is a tough one.
When someone has.
Yes, when someone has passed away, that is probably one of the most challenging because you're entering into someone's home and their things that they are no longer there in order to represent themselves or represent themselves to their children.
All of a sudden the family might be finding things that they didn't know about or there could just be, it's just they're grieving.
It's very, very sensitive.
And I have to say that the phenomena of one parent passing after a long term marriage and then subsequently the other part, spouse passing quickly thereafter, is definitely, unfortunately alive and well.
I've had several instances where both parents passed closely together and then the children are left with the home and the estate.
They want to close the estate and they need the money out of the house because that's going to pay for final expenses.
And so that can be a wildly emotionally charged environment to be in.
But rest assured, we are skilled and capable in those situations.
And they, you know, I find to be the most sensitive of the sensitive.
I would probably put that close to hoarding and really having somebody skilled helping you, because if the family's just doing it alone, you've got old family dynamics, you've got siblings that don't talk to each other anymore or haven't talked to each other in decades.
And then all of a sudden it's grief mixed with settling the estate.
And that can just be very overwhelming.
But we're very capable of working independently.
We are capable of sorting and doing that edit at least so that if kids are flying in and they need to look through the stuff, it's at least like with, like, we never discard of anything in those situations without approval unless it's obviously clearly, you know, trash.
I mean, obviously.
But even still, we try and save everything and leave it out for, for a thorough edit by whomever is in charge.
That can be sensitive too.
Children can be finding out for the first time who the executor or executrix is and there could be anger and disappointment and oh, I didn't know it was going to be this.
I didn't know it was going to be my brother.
I thought it was going to be me.
And there's, there's the control dynamic going on in the background as.
But I want to take as much of the logistical burden off the family as I can while treating the person and their belongings with the utmost respect.
So the other part of it is the assisted living.
When someone passes in assisted living, then that unit goes back to becoming available in the near future.
Assisted living will give you a deadline that you have to have your loved one out of their unit, whether it's a small apartment, memory care, skilledness, nursing, whatever is, is left.
They usually they're respectable, but they want the unit back at the end of the day, it's a business.
So yeah, I, I would say that when someone has passed and we're settling in a state that's probably one of the most sensitive.
Number nine, exceeding expectations.
Like I said last week, I have, I don't mean to sound boastful, but I've never met somebody either, through organizing their pantry, to moving them out of their house, that have ever at the end and said, I could have done that myself.
Usually it's the opposite.
They're just so grateful and happy.
And whether it's an organizing or a move that they see some light, they feel the shift of the congestion, as I like to call it, of the stuff that I aim to exceed expectations both in person and.
And virtually that, you know, that doesn't mean that, you know, clients can't do things themselves.
I really want to share with the listeners and emphasize that you can do a lot of this yourself.
I think that there's a sort of myth that this is going to be really expensive.
The service.
I mean, this sounds like, really great, but this is going to be really expensive.
I think that the virtual organizing starting in early 2027 will really allow people to bring some of the calm and possibly have some cost savings versus having myself or myself and three team members.
It just depends on the size.
But there are people that really do it themselves.
They want to learn, they want to grow, they want to get into it themselves.
And we can do that.
So.
And we can still exceed expectations virtually.
That is not something that I'm worried about at all.
A fresh set of eyes, a clear plan.
All these tips and tricks that we've been sharing over the course of the episodes, you know, that all comes as part of Anchor Girl organizing and exceeding the expectations.
You know, sometimes you don't need necessarily another pair of hands.
You need a separate pair of eyes.
You know, a fresh person saying, you know what?
Why don't we pause here and have you taken a look at.
Or maybe we should prioritize this over that and help give some clarity.
Number 10.
I just, you know, I can't say enough about how excited I am about the virtual organizing.
And like I said, that's going to be launching early 2027.
Um, and like we just talked, it talks about, you know, the professional strategy, the structure, the accountability, the guidance.
There's a huge amount of value that a listener could get virtually versus having me there.
And I'm really excited to be bringing that to my business plan, and I'm really excited to be sort of casting a wider net and meeting more people and helping more.
So I'm very excited about it because my clients can absolutely do it.
Yeah, I know it.
I believe in it.
I've seen it.
And it builds off of itself.
It gets contagious, and it can feel really liberating.
So I'm excited about that.
I think number 11.
And then we can start talking about questions and all kinds of fun things.
Is between part one and part two?
Yeah, between part one and part two, we really have been able to name what White glove move management is because you, you know, it's, it's a catchy, you know, buzz type, you know, of an explanation.
But we really have been able to cover what it provides and why you might want it in addition to your mover or you may want it and then move yourself.
And so what that all encompasses is we are able to determine what will fit and what will not fit and encourage you not to take the items that won't fit.
We will measure, we will map furniture and its placement so that when it arrives and it comes off the truck, the guys know exactly where they're going to take it.
We can edit and re home whatever is not coming with you.
And that includes anything from an estate sale and having it planned down to Marketplace and people coming and picking things up.
I think I could write a book of marketplace pickups.
It's really, I've seen it all and I've sold all kinds of wild and silly things on Marketplace for people.
But you know, it's, it's, it, you know, there's nothing wrong with what's the service where you just can put it out for free?
Well, Craigslist or.
I don't know.
I mean, I don't even know Marketplace,.
But I'm like Facebook Marketplace.
But there is, there is one that you can market free on on Facebook and usually when it's free, it's gone within like nanoseconds.
Yeah, right.
All I'll say about the marketplace is obviously safety first.
You never know who's coming to your house.
You know, be careful.
There are definitely weirdos out there.
Meet up, whatever.
Yes, there's nothing wrong with that.
I also, when you have somebody come to pick up furniture that you might be selling, I would pre plan on having somebody there that you know to help you move it.
Because when you get strangers in your house and then they tell you that they can move something and then they drop it, it's not good.
I've seen walls dinged.
I've seen all kinds of things happen right before they're supposed to leave and then we've got to get the painters back because a stranger came and moved furniture and didn't take care.
And there's a hole in the baseboard or in the wall and it needs to be patched and painted.
We source the right movers so that your things stay protected.
We source storage options if you need it.
Long term, I usually shy away from, as I have said in previous episodes, but short term storage as strategy is a great thing.
I've used it myself.
And it's definitely a great way of clearing your mind while you're, and your visual plane while you're moving.
Because if you move things into storage to stage your home, which is something else I also do, I'm capable of coming into your home prior to listing it and helping you pick the items that maybe you want to put away before you move.
I don't have resources for the furniture part of the staging, but we can stage with what you already own.
And so let's say we've taken down all of your pictures because your personal pictures are the number one thing that gets put away.
We can wrap, we can wrap them, pack them and we could put them in short term storage so they're out of the house.
But if you didn't want to pay for any type of short term storage, I can assure you that people that are doing a walkthrough and thinking about buying your home, they don't want to see you in it, they want to see themselves.
So if you have a picture of your kids out and you have all of these personal items out, it does tend to inhibit possibly a buyer from walking through and seeing their stuff in it.
But a buyer would always rather see pre packed boxes neatly stacked and labeled in a closet if you wanted to store them there, rather than seeing all of the stuff out.
Because it's also an indicator that you're a serious seller and that you're ready to move and that you're, you're going to, you know, be proactive in your offers and you're ready to go.
What else comes in the white glove?
We estimate and order your supplies.
So I'm pretty good at, you know, taking a visual look of a room and seeing how many smalls, how many mediums, how many extra larges, how much paper will we need keeping you away from the pits of all of the sort of gadgets and you know, the sleeves and the this that you can buy on Amazon and they're all great and fabulous, but you don't really need them and they end up jacking up your costs, which in this day and age and in this environment that we're in, we want to keep them down.
We are capable of packing so things don't break.
I told that story about how the movers packed and then we packed a box, we pushed it over the side of a wall.
I was, it wasn't my personal, I should say we as organizers pushed it over the side of the wall.
Most of the stuff was broken in the movers box, whereas Our box was safe and sound, so we pack for protection.
I don't want an insurance.
An insurance claim myself any more than the next person, so.
And filing an insurance claim with your mover is usually a nightmare.
Oh, yeah, I'm dealing with that still by flood situation.
And then.
Yes.
Gosh.
And when I had someone move bring me my furniture, the whole thing fell through the wall a few years ago.
And it was a fight to try to get them to repair the wall and the money.
And I'm like, but wait, you guys have insurance?
And I had a fight with a.
It's so not.
It's frustrating.
Yeah.
Yes, yes.
But if you pre plan and you pack in the way that we can show you virtually or we can do for you, those boxes are going to be safe and sound.
The numbering and the inventory of the boxes is included.
So you can do your own Excel file.
I mean, it's not like it's.
It's impossible.
I can definitely be sharing a format.
Excuse me, with virtual clients, but usually in person, we're doing it ourselves.
It's.
It's a complete service.
Part of the complete service also is being on site, loading and unloading.
That is usually a godsend.
I was going.
I would say if there's anything where I would splurge, I would really want to have the organizer there with me on the load and the unloading day, whether it's virtually or in person.
I can't tell you how many clients have texted me, emailed me long after the move and been like, libby, do you know where.
And oddly enough, stuck up here, I'm like, oh, yeah, I remember where we unpacked.
That.
It's just.
It's a bizarre trait of mine.
But I usually can remember.
So having somebody that's more probably locked in on your things.
Yeah.
Whereas you're kind of all over the place because it's such a hectic day.
We remember things that you have not been able to remember because you're inside the decision fatigue, you're inside the overwhelm.
And that's some of the calm that we bring to the chaos.
We answer a million of questions on move day from the movers.
It doesn't matter what color code you use.
It doesn't matter how big your print is.
Some of them just ask and they don't read.
And that's just the way it is.
But with the movers that we have, we tend to not have that going on, but they're pretty used to our process and they love working with us.
So it Makes their day easier.
But they always have a million questions.
And so part of the service is helping answering them so that you can focus on your big move.
Excuse me, I had a sneeze.
Bless you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Bless you.
Oh, mine would have been nine times louder.
Well, because I was able to hit the mute button sometimes.
Oh, oh, sometimes I can, sometimes I can't.
Right.
Mine would have been louder.
Oh, yeah.
And then we unpack and establish new systems in your home.
And that's where we're going to head next week is talking about, you know, what is organized.
It's not perfection.
We, we talked about that.
So what is it?
And that's where I want to go next week.
So please stay tuned and continue.
So continue listening.
We will establish those new systems.
We're going to set you up for those success moments.
Whether it's getting out the door easier with your kids in the morning, whether it's hanging your clothes in a manner in which that you wear them more often or that you see clothes that you maybe haven't seen in a while and you're like, oh wait, I forgot even had that.
So we have all kinds of systems that we can help implement, whether in person or virtually so that you can unroll and have a fresh start in your new home.
Again, we're not moving boxes.
We're moving a functioning household from one home to the next.
And we're even capable if the first home wasn't functional of in that edit process and in that move process finishing with a functioning home.
We've seen all.
Oh yeah, all scenarios so we can do it all.
And you know, that's basically, you know, why the planning matters.
Why would you want to spend your, your good hard earned money on this service?
It's, you know, the planning matters.
The planning actually saves you money in the long run.
Good move.
Management is anticipating what we'll need before we need it.
And that's that project management executive assistance experience that I have.
And there are hundreds of details in a move that, you know, naturally would be overwhelming to someone who doesn't normally move.
I'll tell a little story.
On the move day that we got to our house, my husband was extremely stressed.
Even though he had his own professional organizer, personal, like free of charge.
Okay,.
Not necessarily quite free.
We all.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, gotcha.
Wink wink.
But yeah, he was really stressed out because he was like, this isn't going to fit.
And, and, and what about this and what about that?
And they're all very natural questions.
But when you have an organizer such as myself.
And you have the AGO method behind it.
I can't tell you.
We've seen it all.
So you're going to see us calm as cucumbers.
Calm as cucumbers.
And so I also would like to toot my own horn and say, I have never missed a moving deadline.
So when the clients are panicking, we're not going to make it, we're not going to make it.
How are we going to get out of here on time?
I have never missed a deadline.
I had never had to move a move date because of our services.
If we have the deadline, we get it finished and we exceed expectations.
Absolutely.
So, you know, the more the emotional, the more emotional the move, the more important the logistics come.
And with that, that is White Glove move management part one and two.
I'm excited.
Yeah.
Yes.
Great stuff.
Moving without losing your mind.
And I really love this AGO method.
Again, thank you.
Giving, you know, giving people what they need.
They need a plan.
They don't want to feel chaos.
They don't want to feel overwhelmed.
And with the White Love service especially, and I love it.
You have a plan for everyone, for every box, every item.
And you guys are just so, gosh, I wish I had you here.
I'm still dealing with my flood stuff and having to move stuff and I just don't have the time.
And I'm like, let alone my unorganized, unorganized house.
But it's good to know people like this are out there that can help.
And I love this whole virtual aspect that you can start helping people like me from afar.
So how can I contact you, Ms. Ly?
How do we get you?
Well, you can find me first on socials, on Facebook, Instagram and Tik Tok under the handle Anchor Girl Living.
It's a little different because it encompasses all things Libby.
So it really is my organizing and sort of my lifestyle.
I have lots of hobbies and sort of niches that I like to share with my followers.
So click follow.
You can also find me on my website, www.anchorgirlorganizing.
All1word.com on there.
You can submit your email, join our newsletter.
You can learn more tips and tricks right into your inbox.
You can send me an email and you know, like I said, put up the white flag and say, surrender, I need help.
And we can start chatting and yeah, that's where I am.
I'm looking forward to hearing from listeners.
Same here.
Thank you so much for being here, for joining us and yes, we'll talk again.
Hopefully next week.
Enjoy the rest of your day.
Thank you so much.
You do the same.
Thanks, Jill.
Are you looking for calm in the middle of a cluttered home?
Are you ready to replace stress with.
Order, beauty and function?
Hi, my name is Libby Saylor, and I'm founder of Anchor Girl Organizing.
I help individuals and families navigate the storm of clutter with personalized organizing solutions designed around the way they really live.
Visit anchorgirlorganizing.com and let's create a home that supports you.
Get anchored and get started today.