I’m Amy Slenker-Smith — business coach for professional organizers. You’ve been booking paid clients for a while now. But you’re still undercharging, overexplaining, and piecing together an income. You’re not new. You’re stuck. That’s what we fix. Sign up here to learn more.
I misread the schedule. Margin caught me.
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Hey Reader, Last week I was packing for my niece's wedding in Maine. A 12-hour drive, timed during the worst possible week to be away from my dad. But then, while we were already in PA, a family friend stopped by to check on him and asked if he could take him to Cleveland Clinic while I was gone. One offer. One yes. The long trip that felt really hard suddenly had room in it. That's margin. Not an empty calendar. Just some room to breathe. We turned the drive into a two-day trip instead of a sprint. And because we had some margin to spare (financially, in our schedule, in our energy), I reached out to Joshua Becker about the Uncluttered Faith Book Tour. What a joy it was for me to join him and share my story in July in Alexandria, VA. My story, the story of me and Zack in a Target parking lot, opens the book on page one. And as luck would have it, New England was their next stop. Here's the part I'd rather skip: I read the website wrong. Flat wrong. I told Joshua I'd meet him in Portland on Thursday. Thursday's stop wasn't Portland — Wednesday was. I found that out mid-bite, Wednesday evening, sitting in a restaurant a hundred miles from where I was supposed to be, and feeling pretty darn proud of my planning. I was mortified. Steve had his phone out before I finished the sentence. Foxborough, Massachusetts. Their next stop. Ninety minutes away. Thursday night. We could make it. And so we did. I stood on a stage with Joshua Becker in front of more than a hundred people and told the story of the rainy Target parking lot. It was the day minimalism found me right as I was finding my way back to my faith. Here's what actually made that night possible:
On the way home, we'd planned to stop in Boston. A slow return to celebrate the end of summer. But rain was coming for two days straight, so we called an audible and landed in Kennebunkport instead. Slower pace. An old friend. Bikes along the water. None of that was the plan. All of it was possible because the plan had breathing room in it. I misread a calendar this week. I'm caregiving for my dad in a season that doesn't leave much slack. And still, margin caught me. Every time. If you want the fuller version of what happens when you build breathing room into your space, not just your schedule, I wrote about it here: 👉 Unlock Your Home's Potential with the Magic of Margin Same principle. Applied to your closet and your calendar. Margin matters. Amy P.S. If your calendar doesn't have room for the good surprises, like a friend who needs you or a detour worth taking, that's worth a serious conversation, my friend! I've got space for a few new 1:1 clients this fall. Book a call and let's look at what's actually on yours. |
Amy Slenker-Smith, Simply Enough
I’m Amy Slenker-Smith — business coach for professional organizers. You’ve been booking paid clients for a while now. But you’re still undercharging, overexplaining, and piecing together an income. You’re not new. You’re stuck. That’s what we fix. Sign up here to learn more.
Hey Reader, A reader wrote back to me last week, after the purple shovel story. She told me something honest. For a long time, she kept her distance from my work. She thought I wanted everyone to throw away everything they owned. Take a picture. Toss it. Done. She wasn't wrong to think that. That's close to what the story said. Here's the harder truth underneath it: if you don't say clearly what you believe, people fill in the blank for you. Sometimes they get it right. Sometimes they don't....
Hey Reader, Three times this month, one of my clients ran the perfect consult. She walked the prospective client through every room. The client finally stopped apologizing for the mess and started planning what could actually change. Then: "This sounds amazing. I just need to talk to my husband." Nine days later. Zero callbacks. Here's the honest truth: research shows a woman's cortisol stays elevated all day in a cluttered home. Her husband's does not. She's carrying a weight he can't feel,...
Hey Reader, I was on vacation last week. Somewhere between sandcastles and sunscreen, we loaned our old purple shovel to a family setting up their tent. We've had that shovel for fifteen years. It's built more sandcastles and dug more holes for umbrella poles than I can count. The next morning, I realized we never got it back. My heart actually skipped a beat. I coach people through letting go of thirty years' worth of stuff. I'm not supposed to panic over a plastic shovel that cost three...