Episode 93 - From Clutter to Calm: The Busiest Months and Hidden Hacks of Neat Method Revealed!
Episode #93 | Lauren Alsup | From Clutter to Calm: The Busiest Months and Hidden Hacks of Neat Method Revealed!
In this episode of The Curious Builder, host Mark Williams chats with home organization guru Lauren Alsup about how Minnesota winters affect client needs and how her Neat Method team keeps things tidy year-round. From post-holiday decluttering to gifting organization services, Lauren spills on making homes functionally fabulous. They even swap funny stories and dish on functional staging for model homes and the crucial role of organized garages.
Listen to the full episode:
About Lauren Alsup
Lauren is the owner of NEAT Method Minnesota, and has relocated multiple times cross-country—making her a master of moves! She graduated with a degree in marketing but as an entrepreneur at heart, she has owned and managed multiple businesses. With a passion for travel, she took her first trip at six weeks old and never travels to the same place twice. She’s been a downhill skier since she was 3 and has been incredibly independent ever since.
Resources:
Find the NEAT Method’s website here
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Lauren Alsup [00:00:00]:
So typically when I'm hiring, I like to see how they are, how they love. So a lot of times they, it, it ranges. But if it's something where I'm like, you're a referral from a friend who I trust as an organized human, then that's a little bit different. But if you're a blind hire, then, oh, absolutely. I want to see your spaces because you can't be a representation of a neat brand if you're not neat yourself.
Mark Williams [00:00:21]:
How do you. So this is fascinating. Interview. Today on the POD podcast, we had Lauren Alsop, who owns the Neat Method. I got the privilege of working with her last spring. I actually surprised my wife and did a cleaning of our home and organizing so that her company basically goes into people's homes, organizes, and gives you essentially a methodology so that you can keep your house clean and orderly. So if you're looking for a great idea for a spouse, a client, we're actually going to use Lauren and her team to help us with our upcoming artisan tour home. I think one thing that I've not done well enough in my career is design closets.
Mark Williams [00:01:03]:
But in this case, we're going to actually organize the closets ahead of time to really show people what they can do. So without further ado, here's Lauren Alsop. Welcome to the Curious Builder Podcast. I'm Mark Williams, your host. Today I'm joined with Lauren Alsop from the Neat Method. Welcome.
Lauren Alsup [00:01:18]:
Hi. Good morning.
Mark Williams [00:01:19]:
Hey. It was, it was so fun. I was trying to think. So we, when we're hopping on about this beforehand. Yeah. You and I met through our good friend Morgan Molitor. I think you'd known her for at least a couple of years, is that right?
Lauren Alsup [00:01:31]:
Yes, I have. So I've known Morgan for a couple of years. We actually got introduced when she was renovating her current house and we did some work with her in her current house, and then it kind of transformed into a partnership with her business. And we've worked on a ton of clients together.
Mark Williams [00:01:45]:
And so you own and operate the Neat Method. And we'll talk a little bit more about our past in a second. But why don't you explain what your company is and how you got into it and then we'll circle back on some of the relationship stuff here in a little bit.
Lauren Alsup [00:01:56]:
Sure, absolutely. So Neat Method is a luxury home organizing company. We work with any space within a home, but primarily focus on your high traffic, high potential areas. So think about, like, primary closets, bathrooms, kids closets, playrooms, kitchens, pantries, Any of that. In certain markets we get creative and we have things like boathouses or pool houses or things of that nature. But in Minnesota, it's mainly indoor spaces.
Mark Williams [00:02:20]:
Yeah. And I can't remember where the home that Morgan worked on, that was her artisan home. Did you do any work there?
Lauren Alsup [00:02:28]:
We did. And actually, funny enough, so we had staged that house with products and a client of ours actually bought that house. And so we have been back to that house several times.
Mark Williams [00:02:39]:
Oh, interesting. I know who the person is. And we won't share the name on this, but the. So they were your client before that and then they bought the home. So it's like, oh, wow, that's a small world.
Lauren Alsup [00:02:50]:
Yes. They've been a client of mine for a little over a year and so we transitioned with them into that house from their previous home.
Mark Williams [00:02:57]:
So it's interesting and I want to do a deep dive on this, but maybe just from a personal side, I'm a pretty neat person. My wife is OCD neat. She's very neat. And so I actually thought, I think it was around Mother's Day, wasn't it? Was it?
Lauren Alsup [00:03:08]:
Yeah.
Mark Williams [00:03:08]:
Was it Mother's Day? So it was last spring. I had met you and I thought it'd be really fun to surprise my wife. And so I had you, you and your company come in. I think it was you and three or four of your co workers. And my wife was working that day. I remember planning it around. Around when she was gone. And the idea was we were going to organize the whole house.
Mark Williams [00:03:26]:
So specifically my closets, my wardrobe, the garage was huge and the storage room. And mainly because, like my wife is always, when are you going to do this?
Lauren Alsup [00:03:36]:
Or.
Mark Williams [00:03:36]:
And I think this is just anytime you co inhabit a space with people. In hindsight, maybe we should have had you help with the kids bedrooms. In fact, that would have been nice. But anyway, long story short, you came in and I was there to help pay. Sometimes you need someone. I'm not someone that holds onto stuff forever. It is cathartic to be like, go or no go. And so sometimes when someone else holds you accountable, you're like, get rid of it, get rid of it, get rid of it.
Mark Williams [00:03:57]:
And actually, you'd be proud of me. I actually just switched out my wardrobes from summer to fall and I threw away another or gave away another old 30, 40 pieces just in the cleansing mode. But anyway, someone asked me, so you label everything. You've got these little baskets. A lot of it is just teaching people organizational methods. And someone had asked well, like that's great, Mark, but after six months, isn't it go back to how it was before. And the answer is no. In my case, the.
Mark Williams [00:04:23]:
Just the simple stuff, the dividers. Sometimes we all have things that we can't do, or maybe we could do them, but there's mental blocks or whatever it might be, and we just need a little help over the edge. Honestly, what comes to mind is maybe someone knows how to exercise, but they have to hire a personal trainer because it's the fact that they're paying that trainer to be accountable, they keep themselves accountable. I feel like I know that I paid for the services to help organize some big spaces in my home. That's. I know I invested in those. And so it's. I want to maintain that.
Mark Williams [00:04:52]:
That anyway does that.
Lauren Alsup [00:04:53]:
Right.
Mark Williams [00:04:53]:
What are you seeing? Let's talk a little bit about. That was just my personal side of it. But yeah. What kind of clients are coming to you? How are they finding you? And I'm sure you have got some hilarious stories that I can't only imagine some of the stories you'd have.
Lauren Alsup [00:05:07]:
Yeah. So the main reason people come to us is they're just. They're overwhelmed. They're mentally at their capacity. They know they could do it, but they don't have the time to do it or necessarily the want to do it. They'd rather spend their time doing something else. Or they just can't figure out how the functionality works because they've been in the spaces too long. For instance, you're looking at a closet.
Lauren Alsup [00:05:29]:
You look at it every single day, and to you, it's probably never going to get better from what it is, but there you need help. And so typically clients call us when they either have reached that point where they're like, okay, we need help, or a lot of clients start call us when they move, when they start fresh. And they just want the whole house set up in a better way than they lived before. And we have a ton of clients also who just call us because they want to live better. They want to be able to have more time with their families. They want their systems overall to function better. They continue on the closet theme. Like they don't want to be doing the laundry, and then the laundry gets stuck in a laundry basket because they have no guide as to where it goes or position as to where it goes.
Lauren Alsup [00:06:08]:
And so making those systems where they can go from A to B to C and it's takes them far less time than it used to. It keeps them sane when they see those spaces all the time. And then also just it keeps everyone else in the home accountable for it.
Mark Williams [00:06:21]:
And I think what appealed to me about it is I built custom homes for a living. And so we're following a plan. There's a blueprint that after you do your rough ins, like there's going to be insulation and sheetrock, there's inspections. Like there is a path on how to build a house. There's obviously a lot of art that goes into an artistry, of course, but there is a little bit of just math or science, right? One plus one is two and two plus two is four. There's a critical path. You know what it is. And I think with organizing what paralyzes people is they don't know where to start.
Mark Williams [00:06:48]:
But to your point that unless you give them sort of the blueprint on what to do after or create a system around it, I wonder if that's not why even the name the neat method. You're coming up with a method. It's not just solving the problem. You're creating a path, a work path. Is that, would that be a foundational principle of the neat method?
Lauren Alsup [00:07:05]:
I think for sure. Like the biggest thing is that we want to create something that works for you in your home. So we're not trying to say it's a one stop shop that's going to work for everybody. We need to know. That's why we ask so many questions. Do you switch your wardrobes? What do you wear the most? What do you gravitate towards? What do you wear too much that you'd like to not be wearing as much? You know, who else needs to see this stuff? Who does your laundry? What days of the week do you do your laundry things of those questions, because that helps us to make the system that's going to function for you best. And for certain clients, we do a lot of, we work with a lot of builders because we design a lot of storage spaces for them. Where you're designing the overall house, they'll call us and be like, I have 300 pairs of shoes.
Lauren Alsup [00:07:42]:
How do I fit that with within this parameter? And what kind of closet do I need for that? And so a lot of things too is we're taking an idea that a client has and then executing it to fit their lifestyle and their needs so that when they're moving into these new homes, they're not regretting their choices when it comes to a closet system. Or wait, why did I put this in? I have three times as much clothes because the. And I'm sure you experience this. The paralysis people can have when they have to make so many decisions when building a home or even just changing a wardrobe in and out, it's just. It can paralyze people. And so a lot of what we do too, is just help them step over that bridge to the next moment of, yeah, you're going to live in the space and function in the space. And a lot of it's just the mental challenges that people face when it comes to that because they're just overwhelmed with all these choices.
Mark Williams [00:08:29]:
And maybe I'm a good case study. Mine was essentially a remodel. We'd lived there several years, but it's not ever than a new home that you live in for a while. Most of the stuff that you provided was organizational bins labeling, things like that. So the material lift was pretty low. If. If you're consulted, I've never thought about this. And obviously Morgan did this with her home with you.
Mark Williams [00:08:47]:
If you're going to build a new home, do you offer closet systems? Are you designing that with the closet designer? Like, how do you guys function together? Or would you be competitors in that sense?
Lauren Alsup [00:08:58]:
No, we aren't. So we have a bunch of partnerships with closet companies. And so what I would do is go in and say, all right, here's the, you know, specs. Like, this client needs six long hangs, six short hangs, 300 shoes. Like, I come in with the raw facts and then let them build it. I am definitely not a closet provider, but I'm an information provider to those systems. And then there's also some tactical things where it space is pointless to me if I can't fit more than one bin within a certain space. So I'll say things like this.
Lauren Alsup [00:09:27]:
The shelves need to be at least 24 inches wide and they need to be at least 14 inches deep. Like things of that nature, just so it makes logical sense when you go and build it. So then when we bring in the products for it, then the products actually function as well.
Mark Williams [00:09:40]:
This is. Okay, this is fascinating. I must have missed that, obviously, because I didn't experience that. I'm relating most of this interview based on my personal experience, but in this case, I actually like that. So let's. A lot of people that listen obviously are builders or remodelers, and we have clients. And I've recommended you and will continue to do. I think there's the.
Mark Williams [00:09:55]:
Actually, before I go down this rabbit hole, what percentage of your work is on new construction versus going and helping people that already have a hot mess? Situation that you're trying to, you know, ride in on a red Superman cape.
Lauren Alsup [00:10:07]:
I would lately, I would almost say it's 50 to 60% new builds. But yeah, this summer into fall, the last two weeks have been new builds, brand new homes. I'm trying to think overall, I think it's more probably like 70% of the latter and then 20% of new builds. But I would say this year it especially it has been a ton of new builds.
Mark Williams [00:10:30]:
How so? This is going into my next question then. So I'm designing a home for a client, obviously. Usually we interview the team of a big team player. So it's, we're going to get our architectural partner on board, we're going to get our interior designer on board. We're going to spend several months working on cabinet, elevations, selections, all that kind of stuff. Traditionally, what I would do in this situation is whatever the architect design in terms of space. Eventually when I send a bit it out, like I'm not consulting with my closet designer, they have the space and it's plenty big. But it's not.
Mark Williams [00:11:02]:
We're not actually asking for their involvement in design on the front end, which leaves them obviously very little options to other than to conform to that space. But we're good at what you do. But even if you're good at what you do, you're not an expert at everything. So then we send it off to our closet designers. They'll come back with some before they meet the client. They'll come back with just some initial concept sketches. I'll include that in my bid package to the client once we're under contract, maybe once we get past the Sheetrock phase, we'll set up a meeting. So this is on our homes.
Mark Williams [00:11:32]:
They might be six, seven months into the build or whatever it is, maybe not that far, five months in. And we will have the closet designer meet with the client and the interior designer, and then they will work on designing out their stuff and get into the nitty gritty. That's how I've been doing it. Where would I involve you and should I be? Obviously, everyone is going to say we want to be probably at the architecture phase, which you can't have everybody pulled back into the architecture phase. You'll never get anything done. But where realistically are you? Because it almost seems. Are you doing the interview of the client first and then informing the closet designer and then approaching the client or what is the right sequence here?
Lauren Alsup [00:12:07]:
No. So typically what we do is if I see. So I've done it both ways. Where I've had someone send me their blueprints and be like, do you think this is enough space for the closet that I need built? And if it is? And I'll be like, yeah, I think it's fine. Once we get further down the road, then we'll actually design it out. If I don't and I'm like, what are you thinking? This is smaller than your current closet and that drives you nuts, then I'll say something because I tend to, if we can rectify the issue earlier than later, it always saves everybody time and money. But for the most part, I would say once the Sheetrock is up is kind of where I come in and play and say, okay, so I know the stats on what the client needs. I can visually see what we're working with in terms of space.
Lauren Alsup [00:12:49]:
And usually when you're doing a custom home, I know there's a usually a closet budget. So I always advise in the beginning, if someone's saying I want a completely custom closet, then there's a little like reality check as to what that cost versus a, for lack of better term builder grade kind of closet where you're talking the difference in a closet from 5 grand to 30 grand and things of that nature. And just making people realize, like what you see on Instagram or what you see on Pinterest for a primary built in closet doesn't necessarily translate depending on what your actual budget is for that space.
Mark Williams [00:13:24]:
Interesting. What? Looking back, going back more on the business side of things, where are you? So the company was founded by Ashley and Marissa. I don't know how long ago that was and how many total franc this is it considered a franchise?
Lauren Alsup [00:13:41]:
Yes.
Mark Williams [00:13:41]:
How many total franchises are there in A, the state and B, the country?
Lauren Alsup [00:13:45]:
So Meat Method was founded by Ashley and Marissa back in 2011. And at that time they had just a few markets. They were Chicago, San Francisco. And since then we've expanded to about 100 markets and we are in the US and Canada. I am the only one in Minnesota. I have the the whole state. So we go all over the place. I was actually in St.
Lauren Alsup [00:14:06]:
Joseph, Minnesota all last week, so kind of all over and Neat Method was really founded on the principle of we see all these beautiful design spaces on the exteriors, but then you open a cabinet or you open a closet and it's just a disaster. And so the functionality behind those spacious spaces needs to work just as well as the design on the outside of the spaces. So we actually work with a ton of interior designers because they're the ones who are like, I'm buying this piece for my client. I need it to function as beautiful as it looks. So then they're not mad at me for buying the beautiful piece that doesn't function right?
Mark Williams [00:14:40]:
Yeah, I mean, that's a powerful. That's a powerful end and also just a powerful statement. This episode is brought to you by Adaptive. For over two years now, I've been using Adaptive. It's a engine incredible game changer. It's AI technology based, it helps you with bill pay. And as a builder, there's very few things that anger our subs more than not being paid on time. Well, those days are gone.
Mark Williams [00:15:09]:
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Mark Williams [00:15:55]:
They've been our partner now for over a decade, installing all our wood floors on all our new homes as well as our remodels. And on a personal level, Adam and Anthony Ginkola, the owners, are just absolutely amazing people. They've been so supportive of my career as well as doing anything. We need to make sure that our clients are happy. And they work so well with our other vendors and trade partners at not only protecting their product, but also ensuring everyone else's looks great. So if you're looking for a wood floor or for a refinish, I highly recommend Alpine Hardwood Flooring. It's important for me to remind myself as somebody who builds homes to we're there as a guide to our clients. And sometimes we're a guide and an expert, sometimes we're just a guide.
Mark Williams [00:16:35]:
I'm not the expert in closet, but you are and so an organization. So I can bring you in. It's no different than us bringing in our cabinet shop. Like, I know what I like in terms of woodwork but I can't make. And there's hundreds of things like that in a home and we're introducing those on a limited basis or the power the client is empowering us to make decisions on their behalf. But ultimately, not only do we want the house to be beautiful and aesthetic and artful and all those things, but a home is obviously very utilitarian. Like it needs to fit their. And I'd say lifestyle is a word of course, I think we'd all like more.
Mark Williams [00:17:07]:
Young families are, I assume they're doing a whole lot more laundry than other people because the kids get so dirty so quick because they're constantly falling over doing whatever. And anyway, laundry is. Is a hu. Right. And depending on who's doing the laundry or if it's shared duties or whatever, just making it as easy as possible for the family to function so that kids don't know absolutely well.
Lauren Alsup [00:17:26]:
And the biggest thing too is when someone's going to build a home, more than likely they're going to stay in it for a while. So it's also thinking about the growth of that family and though maybe they have little kids as of right now, but as they grow into it, what kind of functions need to be introduced? So we do a lot of systems where we know like the 2 and the 4 year old do not play 16 sports, but let's say in 10 years they do play that many sports. So let's make sure the garages and the territory that like the sports would go into have enough space and enough function for those to work out and for it to be something where it says, okay, this is going to function for now and you just grow into it.
Mark Williams [00:18:04]:
Yeah. Where have you been my whole, my whole life? My garage is a thousand times.
Lauren Alsup [00:18:09]:
You are the king of hobbies.
Mark Williams [00:18:10]:
Yeah. I had so many hobbies, it's like I think the. Yeah. Part of your team was like, okay, how many sports this household play? And it was all my stuff. My kids weren't even old enough to have all this stuff. What is in terms of the leads that are coming your way from a business standpoint, how often are they coming through professionals like a builder or remodeler or a designer versus how often are people finding you organically?
Lauren Alsup [00:18:33]:
I would say probably 85 to 90% of our business is referral based from a previous client or from a friend of a friend kind of situation. So that. That's very powerful for us. And then I would say the rest of that is going to be a split between organic, your Google or instagram lead and then our partners. We have very strategic partnerships when it comes to people in Minnesota specifically because we are a luxury service, we offer a luxury product. We know that and we know we're not for everybody, but we know that the value behind what we offer is something that really matters to certain partners. And I think the biggest thing that we always find too when we get any kind of referral and is we can tell right away what type of client they are and what type of needs they have. And so we're able to really tailor our messaging to them and our help to them based on what they need.
Lauren Alsup [00:19:23]:
If they're a whole house, I'm going to see you every month type client, that's a totally different message to them than it would be for a I have one space that bothers me kind of client.
Mark Williams [00:19:33]:
Where are you finding that are some of the hottest items in terms of that need the most organization? If you were to go in in terms of a list, where do you find that people find the most value in the services that you do?
Lauren Alsup [00:19:46]:
Yeah, absolutely. So high traffic areas are a number one priority. Whether it's a pantry, kitchen, primary closet. Those are the biggest ones we see. Depending on if the family has kids then obviously kids rooms as well. Kids are tiny tornadoes. They just take off their clothes and you can literally see the line.
Mark Williams [00:20:01]:
It's like oh.
Lauren Alsup [00:20:02]:
You're like oh okay. And establishing. We like to say that we like to help kids a lot because then they grow up to be nice organized humans and. And that to parents is really sticks with them because they also don't want to be picking up their kids clothes for their entire childhoods. So I think the kids rooms, primary closets, kitchens and pantries. Minnesota gets really popular right around this time actually with mudrooms and utility type spaces because we're thinking a lot more about the snow, the mass, the wet areas that can come into play.
Mark Williams [00:20:35]:
Mm. When you. I know a lot of your. I believe anyway correct me if I'm wrong. A lot of the items that you're bringing are either branded or walk us through a little bit of that. So I have a lot of like in my closet for higher up stuff whether it's sweaters or watches or passports or whatever and has a little label there. They all match. Right.
Mark Williams [00:20:53]:
There's a lot of. And you're not going to just any random store to get this stuff. You I assume this is all neat. Method supplied. How far. What are their range of products and what was the thought process besides obviously it's a Good business. Move on there for fun to do it obviously, because you're buying it from them too. But what was some of the thought process behind that?
Lauren Alsup [00:21:12]:
Yeah, so we like to. So neat methods had products for a couple years now and the biggest thing that we found is we've been using products from other manufacturers for years and just filling the void as to the products that we wish were on the market and we wish were being used. For instance, in your closet you have these oxford bins which are a fabric, but they have a structure to them. So it plays well with things that need to go in there that are more delicate, like clothing items or whatnot, because it's not going to snag or tear on anything, but it provides you the structure. You need to throw the bin up there and toss it around and not have to worry about this flimsy sided bin that's not actually going to support you. So things like that where we were just like, okay, we have to take a step back and see if we're providing the services, then the products have to match the service level of what we're providing. So pretty much the products that we really focus on are going to be various bins and baskets that are of higher grade material, so metals, acacia woods, fabrics as well, leather, things of that nature. And then our indoor dividers are another big thing that we work with.
Lauren Alsup [00:22:13]:
And that's going to be for flexible, for kind of any space, but primarily focuses on like kitchen, sculleries, pantries, that area.
Mark Williams [00:22:21]:
And when you decided you had quite a quite a robust background, I was joking with you. Before you came on your history, we had 87 jobs. You've been an owner here for over seven years. You're a founder of Project Halicon, which I'm not quite sure what that is, Vice president of partner operations and director of marketing and business development, marketing coordinator. So a lot of marketing in your background, what. And we can talk a little bit about that if you want. But what made you decide to be an entrepreneur and when you decided to do that, what was the catalyst that sort of made you change like you were a founder of whatever Project Halcon. Didn't do any research on what that was.
Mark Williams [00:22:57]:
But what made you leave that to start? Neat method.
Lauren Alsup [00:23:02]:
So I was one of those victims of the economy way back in the mid 2000s. And when I graduated college I really thought I wanted to be in actually in sports and in marketing for. I had an internship with the Chicago Bulls and I thought that was like the coolest thing ever. But that's back when they gave free internships in exchange for just fun things. And so I knew that wasn't really going to provide life because let's be real, quarantines are fun, but they can't pay your rent. And so I switched over into and just really focused on different companies that were within a startup incubator and going to go to market. And I really got fascinated with go to market strategies and basically like solving problems to make other people successful and did that a lot through marketing, partnerships, investor relations throughout the different kind of companies I worked with and companies I own and really found a passion for solving people's problems. And also I've always loved interiors design, just actual physical problems as well.
Lauren Alsup [00:24:01]:
And so when Neat Method came to market in 2011, I was really fascinated by it because it was something where I said, okay, this is something where I can provide an experience for more than one client or the experience doesn't last as long. So we're not solving six months to year long problems, we're solving like things that are happening today that can be solved tomorrow. So that really got my just problem solving brain interested. And then the artistic side of me was like, well, what can be better than utilizing all these pretty products and design elements to actually help solve those problems?
Mark Williams [00:24:36]:
And how did you find out about what Neat Method was? Like, why Neat Method? It seems like you're very capable. You could have done a number of different careers. What was it about the Neat Method? Either philosophy or what was your intro there?
Lauren Alsup [00:24:47]:
So it's two sided. So one, because I'd had businesses I started from scratch before. It's extremely hard and it's very taxing. And while I loved it and I frogged off of it, I sat down and said, do I really want to do that again or do I want some help and some support in what I'm doing? And so Neat Math is a franchise. And I got a hold of them actually through a friend of mine who I went to college with and who had heard of it because this was Instagram was, well, it was living, it wasn't as popular, so it wasn't really a social marketing kind of find. And I chatted with them and just figured out, yes, this is the kind of way I want to go. The support they offer and the nature of just the business itself is what I want to go towards. Because I'd always been in more luxury high end spaces.
Lauren Alsup [00:25:32]:
And so it was thinking about what can I apply my skill sets and my business knowledge to make my next company.
Mark Williams [00:25:39]:
Yeah, Interesting. How long did that sort of courtship, if you will, go for where you were interviewing them and I assume they were interviewing you or how does that process work in terms of. I'll let you answer that question for a second.
Lauren Alsup [00:25:49]:
Yeah, so it's definitely changed now, but seven, eight years ago it was definitely a process of can you make a business succeed? The reality is, well, yes, we would love to just give these businesses to everybody. It's more so about can you make this succeed and do you have what it takes to deal with the kinds of clients that we deal with and just the type of lifestyle that we lead in terms of how we want, need to be perceived. And so it's something where we really pride ourselves on. I have an organized home. I don't go home to a messy house. I have an organized system, a family, like those things. And I think that, that if I was a messy person and I couldn't keep my calendar straight kind of thing, I would not be a good candidate for it. So a lot of the conversations we had in the beginning were just really who are you and how do you function? And that's how I approach it to my team as well.
Lauren Alsup [00:26:35]:
When I go to hire people, I need to know that they're an organized human to start with. Because if they're not, they're definitely not a match for this kind of business. And I think too just general like people skills, like if you're not an outgoing person, if you don't have the ability to deal with these, the low end problems, the high end problems and everything in between, then you can't work with these kind of situations. We're dealing with people's homes, their personal effects and that's the most precious thing to most people. So the reality is you have to have that respect level to deal with it.
Mark Williams [00:27:03]:
Yeah. And to me it's no different than any other company hires. It seems like it's very cultural focused. Literally a lot of times you're hiring people based on again, the culture fit their personality disc assessments, all those kinds of things. Yours is like a physical manifestation of order though. Like you do you ever when you're hiring people, do you go and ask if you could actually go to their car or go into their home to see how they keep their own home.
Lauren Alsup [00:27:27]:
There's a process. So typically when I'm hiring, I like to see how they are, how they live. A lot of times they, it ranges. But if it's something where I'm like, you're a referral from a friend who I trust as an organized human then that's a little bit different. But if you're a blind hire then oh absolutely. I want to see your spaces because you can't be a representation of the Neat brand if you're not neat yourself.
Mark Williams [00:27:49]:
How do you saw this is fascinating interview because there's got to be. Evidently there's not. But like small business, we can do all kinds of different stuff. So would this be a second interview you'd interview? Let's say you're interviewing me and say Mark, hey, this is a great first interview. Let's schedule a time to see your house. How do you avoid someone going and cleaning their house and having it look really great when they don't keep it or can your eyes can see through?
Lauren Alsup [00:28:11]:
So the biggest thing that we do is I always do a FaceTime interview for the first time. And so it's really easy to be like just show me an organized space for life fast. Because you in that time you can't. There's literally no way you can get it together. And people's variety of what they think is organized is very different. And it's changed over the years. But now if you're wanting to work with me, you really have an idea of what Neat is based on what you can see from all of our various socials because we do behind the scenes, the before and after is like the real live representation the day in the life of. There's just.
Lauren Alsup [00:28:44]:
There's so much information where people can really understand who we are. And so a lot of times I can can tell right away if someone's really wants to be in it because of what we do versus just it looks fun and that seems like a cool job. I've had my team now for quite a few years and we all can. It's. We could probably do it with our eyes closed, but it's also a representation of I trust and I know that these team members are going to portray and do what they're supposed to represent the brand properly. And we're just a well owned machine.
Mark Williams [00:29:13]:
By this point do you. How big is your current team?
Lauren Alsup [00:29:18]:
So my current team is eight people, nine people including me.
Mark Williams [00:29:23]:
Wow, that's actually quite large. And how many from an operational standpoint like today you're doing this interview, what does your day to day look like, your week to week in terms of are you leading most of the sales? How often? Obviously, obviously. But on my particular case you were there with three others. But obviously if you have a team of eight, you personally can't Be at every one of these. How do you run your team?
Lauren Alsup [00:29:42]:
Yep. Yeah. In the beginning I was very involved with projects like on a day to day basis and now not so much just because I've trained everyone to be of what I can offer as well. So I usually handle a lot more of the behind the scenes, the sales, the marketing operations, all that kind of jazz. I do still go to certain projects just depending on the level of complexity of them. For instance, like we were at a project last week where it was a very large, it was a 12,000 square foot home. So you've got a lot going on. You've also got.
Lauren Alsup [00:30:11]:
They were moving into it. So you have that.
Mark Williams [00:30:12]:
Not a house that big where you have your internal entire team of eight there. Yeah.
Lauren Alsup [00:30:15]:
Yep. On a typical normal project you're going to see somewhere between 2 and 4. But for more complex or if you've got more spaces then more people will come. Myself and then I have a project manager who runs a lot of the same things that I would be doing on a client project, talks to the clients, is in charge of the team, does all the product ordering, does all that kind of stuff. So I have them and then I have just a level of actual organizers too who do the day to day. But, but the reality is it's the. Depending on the type of project, it depends just how many people come.
Mark Williams [00:30:49]:
How often are you going back to someone's home on a. Let's say a regular basis. So they just scheduled you quarterly, yearly, every couple of years. How does that. What are you seeing as a trend?
Lauren Alsup [00:31:00]:
So we've seen actually a lot more people sign up for our reoccurring maintenance service and that's something where we. They could be monthly, they could be quarterly and we have a couple monthly and we have a couple quarterly. But a lot of that has to do with, with kids, whether it's their clothing, their toys, their whatever it is. Because if you think about it as a parent, like I have a daughter and I'm constantly trying to see which clothes fit my kid and like constantly trying to cycle through them and it is the biggest pain in the butt. And so when we talk to parents they're like, we'll come and go through your kids clothes. They're like you will. And just that in of itself taking that task off a parent is huge because as you probably know, your kid will show up one day wearing capris when they should be leggings and you're.
Mark Williams [00:31:41]:
Like, like that's so funny. That's so funny. You Say that because, like, I would. You'd like to think that kids don't care, but kids are so. At least mine are so tactile that everything that they touch, if it doesn't fit, like my middle son, Simon, if it's not super comfortable, if it's too tight or too loose, he's honestly a little bear. Like, it has to be just right. And, like, my wife just bought him a new jacket and it's, oh, maybe an inch too long in the sleeves. Kids are impossible to buy for because they're tweener.
Mark Williams [00:32:08]:
They. And they. They just change so quickly. Anyway, he was grumping this morning as I was getting him to school, and he. And I was like, dude. Like, he doesn't. He. Obviously he can't relate to this, but I'm like, just roll up the sleeve, because guess what? By the end of the winter, this thing's going to fit perfectly.
Mark Williams [00:32:23]:
Your mom. Mom has done a great job getting you a new jacket. How about let's be thankful for what we have? And then my little guys, Tate, he puts on a shirt today, and it was a long sleeve because it was a little colder today. And he looks like the Hulk. It's, like, up to his elbow. It's. I don't even know what you call those T shirts. They make some.
Mark Williams [00:32:38]:
This was not designed to be. Whatever those shirts are called, where they're like, middle arm, 1, 3, 4. Oh, he hates those. They just go bananas. And he's like, why? And he's. He's literally trying to pull it to the end. It was really funny, actually, but it's just what. It rolled with it anyway.
Mark Williams [00:32:52]:
Yeah. So anyway, I can relate to the pain as a parent.
Lauren Alsup [00:32:55]:
Yeah. So a lot of it. A lot of clients will see on a reoccurring basis for tasks that we've already done for them or for projects we've done that we're just maintaining other clients. We might start in one space, and then you gradually see them go to more spaces. So there's that approach, too. And then a lot of clients actually move a lot. So we see them often for moving. We've had clients in the past.
Mark Williams [00:33:17]:
Will you help? Do you help? Do you help them pack up and all that stuff, too?
Lauren Alsup [00:33:20]:
We don't pack, but we will unpack them. So we. And we will arrange their move. So literally, like, we could have a client go on vacation, go up to their cabin or something and move them while they're gone, and they have to do absolutely nothing.
Mark Williams [00:33:41]:
This episode is brought to you by pella Northland. For 20 years, I've been using Pella windows, and I couldn't be happier to call them as a business partner, a trade partner, and someone that really supports us in our quality builds. We use wood windows and doors on every single one of our homes, and 98% of every home that I've ever built has been a Pella window. I've gotten to know their team here locally as well as nationally, and the way that they support us as a craftsman as well as they support our homeowners with their lifelong guarantee, it's obviously been a game changer for me. So when people ask me who I use, I recommend Pella. If you want to hear more about Pella story, you can listen to episode one where I interview Peter and Ed from Pela Northland about their journey into the Pella ownership.
Lauren Alsup [00:34:22]:
And I think a lot of people find that, like, amazing because they don't want to deal with the stress behind moving. And especially we have clients who they haven't moved for 15 years. So to them it's like the. It's a very big deal versus clients who do move all the time.
Mark Williams [00:34:35]:
You know, as we're coming up on Thanksgiving and Christmas and I don't think I'd have the budget to do this, but the idea I think would be solid. And I want to ask one question before I ask the question I really want to answer. Ask is what? Like, how far out are you right now? If somebody calls you and says we need to get on your schedule, how far out would you be? Like, I'm trying to get understanding, like your backlog.
Lauren Alsup [00:34:55]:
Yeah. Typically fall and winter, we're were three weeks out, and then summer were more like a month and a half out.
Mark Williams [00:35:02]:
Wow, that's so that's pretty good backlog. So as a business owner, do you ever think. So if you staffed up a few more people, you would decrease your backlog, but then would you ever burn up? Would you ever have you ever worried that, hey, we're going to run out of work? Or has that never really been an issue?
Lauren Alsup [00:35:16]:
Oh, we have definitely in the past. Winters can be long sometimes in Minnesota, so I think it really just depends. We have a lot of clients who are snowbirds, so the other aspect too is their just physically not in Minnesota in the winter, so they don't need any help. And then I think I like to say January is usually pretty decent because we're coming off the new year and a lot of people just have a lot of stuff they need to get rid of. But as you get into the true deep winter, it gets a little more challenging because you are in your space so you want your stuff around you a bit more than if you're, you know, going into a milestone of the kids are getting out of school for the year. I want to be really organized for summer or like in summer people move all the time, so that's a big thing. And then in the fall, everyone's preparing for the holiday so they want to make sure all the spaces look nice and neat for family to come or for Santa to come or those aspects. And so it really just depends.
Lauren Alsup [00:36:07]:
But I would say I wouldn't ever probably think about staffing up above what I have just because we can manage a certain amount of projects right now that I'm comfortable with. I know that I also have one of the larger teams when it comes to me. A lot of people pay more at the like 4 to 5 people range.
Mark Williams [00:36:25]:
Compared to the other hundred that are in the country, right?
Lauren Alsup [00:36:27]:
Yep.
Mark Williams [00:36:28]:
Yeah.
Lauren Alsup [00:36:28]:
And some have big teams and some just don't. But I think it's all personal owners preference on how they do things. And to me also it just is a matter of does this client seem like they need eight people in their house at the same time or is too kind of enough for them to get overwhelmed?
Mark Williams [00:36:41]:
I mean, where I was really going with this is what, how. What a great gift this would be. I think lately, the last couple years I'm much more interested, I think back of like gifts that people have. I'm a sentimental person and love languages. Not that I don't like gifts. I certainly like thoughtful gifts, but puts a lot of pressure sometimes on some somebody to come up with a thoughtful gift. And I was thinking as a business right now we're putting together something for, to give to our past clients, current clients for, for the holidays here. Which is roughly what we think when this episode will air.
Mark Williams [00:37:10]:
But my point is from an experience standpoint, it makes me want to say, hey, I will give the gift of the neat method to a client as like a thank you. How often do people gift your services to another person person?
Lauren Alsup [00:37:26]:
It actually happens quite frequently. We actually do a lot of realtors closing gifts to clients. We find that's a really popular one. We do a lot of gift cards during the holidays and for specific things like Mother's Day is a big one. Birthdays are big ones where someone's been begging. I just want to hire someone to help me and it's a really nice surprise. The amount of clients we have Are their husbands arrange it for their wives and their wives are like, oh my God, it was a dream. That's all I wanted.
Lauren Alsup [00:37:51]:
Really lovely to see.
Mark Williams [00:37:52]:
Yeah, I like that. How do you facilitate that? They would have to. So it can't really be a surprise. They'd have to be there there. Because I'm sure if someone gave this not to my wife because she's so clean, but if you gave it to someone else and you started chucking their clothes like that might not end so well. So how do you manage that?
Lauren Alsup [00:38:07]:
So we do a lot of gift cards and we just leave it that way is probably the easiest way. We've done it before where has advised a gift card and then he sets up the consult with his wife as her birthday present. And so like that kind of aspect too. And then we've also had it too where you know, a realtor is gifting it to their client and it's just a gift card. They can use it in any aspect of the home. But I think it just depends too. A lot of the builders we work with, they like to gift it to their clients around Christmas as well because it encourages them in the new year to do a new project. So it's a lead generation for builders.
Lauren Alsup [00:38:38]:
This is great.
Mark Williams [00:38:39]:
I, I have a feeling that you're going to get a lot of business out of this because I'm not here's already turned so I might as well ask. The question that everyone's going to ask is from a cost standpoint, let's say let's do this twofold. I know it's going to be. It depends. So if this is a custom off. So let's pair this into two. Walk us through your normal sales process of how you come up with the cost. And then b my next question would be like, how do I gift something to a client? Because obviously I have to pay for it ahead of time Because I don't think most people would probably do an open ended check on whatever the client wants.
Mark Williams [00:39:06]:
They'd probably say, hey, it's going to be 500,000. They're putting some sort of limit on it. And then if the client wants to go over, that's on them. Walk us through those, those two models, if you will.
Lauren Alsup [00:39:16]:
Yeah, yep. So our kind of initial process is pretty easy because it's a matter of figuring out what the problem is and finding a solution. So let's say your problem is your kitchen. Then we're going to be thinking about the solutions for that. If it comes to something where you are Looking at it from a gifting perspective, then it's going to be square footage based. So I think about, okay, if you're thinking like this client could use it for this beautiful custom pantry you built them, I would just want to know what's the square footage, because only so much can fit into certain square feet. Knowing like you've built out a pantry or if you have pictures of a pantry, I can quote it pretty well based on that and then tell you like, okay, so it's going to cost you a thousand bucks for hours and maybe another thousand bucks in products. And we just figured figure out you're gonna pay for hours and they're gonna pay for products.
Lauren Alsup [00:39:59]:
Like, we're very agile when it comes to that stuff. But I think the biggest thing is we charge an hourly rate per human and then per hour. And pretty much the average is a walk in closet is somewhere between seven to 10 hours, just depending on how much stuff you have and the square footage of the closet. I would say our average can be done in a day. So if we're done in a day with three people, you're looking at 75 an hour times that. I would say the biggest variable is always going to be the type and style of products people want. Because for us, we want something that's going to last you and really be really functional. Sometimes clients want to use their products they already own.
Lauren Alsup [00:40:39]:
Sometimes clients don't really care. Sometimes clients want very high end items. So that's a little more like unsure when it comes to things. What I typically say to clients and to referral clients, let's put it that way. So a builder, a realtor, a designer, that kind of thing. If they already know there's a space that they're going to need help with, then I always tell them to aim towards that space versus just a general blanket of like their home. And a lot of times it'll be so for instance, I have gained a very long term client just from the fact that their closet drove them nuts. We've now moved them several times and linked them with several builders to figure out exactly what kind of house they want to build and exactly what kind of style they want to be.
Lauren Alsup [00:41:20]:
And it's funny because Morgan and I work together on a client who bought a home where we said to them, we need about $30,000 in closet changes and we need several other built ins made and we need that kind of thing because as you move a family into a new space or a spec type space, you have to adjust it to be exactly what that family needs. And if they have the budget to do that, it's a great win for everybody.
Mark Williams [00:41:41]:
Would it ever be? So what about a model home? So, like, we're designing our first spec home in like 12 or 13 years. And I'm putting a lot of thought into the philosophy behind what is inspiring the build. And. And we're creating an entire marketing campaign around it anyway. Is it. I don't really have a touchstone in terms of a person to design around. That's this. We won't talk about that on this podcast.
Mark Williams [00:42:04]:
It's a whole other separate thing. But, like, how would you do us? Would you do a generic design around what people would like to impress upon people? If someone came into your model home and they saw a pantry, let's say you picked the three biggest things. You said the kitchen, the pantry, and the owner's sweet. To me. I. I'd add the fourth, which probably be the garage. Garage. There's been so much value that I've seen in the garage space.
Mark Williams [00:42:26]:
Since you've done it for us anyway, how do you. How would you invest in that or how should somebody look at doing that as a value add, as a way to sell their home?
Lauren Alsup [00:42:34]:
Yep. An easy thing for us back home, or one that's going to be on an artisan tour, parade of homes type thing. We do a lot of products within those homes to show people how they actually functionally utilize them. One of the biggest obstacles we know that people can't do is visualize. They actually need to physically see something. And a house. So if they're walking into a closet, for instance, they're like, I don't know if my clothes would fit in here. Well, if we can fit 200 hangers, you can fit 200 pieces of clothes.
Lauren Alsup [00:42:58]:
So, like adding those elements where it helps people sell the spaces, actually, because they can physically see their stuff in it.
Mark Williams [00:43:05]:
So you'll put the 200 hangers in an empty closet just to have them hang in there. Interesting.
Lauren Alsup [00:43:10]:
And we've done it too. Just where we show off. Okay, here's what it would look like if these bins were in here. Or here's what it would look. Look like to function within this home. And it's something too, where you provide the value to the builder because it's. The house can sell faster when it has things in it. It's very much like staging.
Lauren Alsup [00:43:26]:
You're just staging spaces that are already built in. Or it's looking at it from a client perspective of then I can actually visually See myself in here. Or you get it from the other perspective of if you're on some kind of home tour, it's prime marketing for everybody.
Mark Williams [00:43:40]:
Yeah, no, I'm already. Yeah. I think you're gonna have to. I think we're gonna have to work something out of my spec home. I think everyone should. Based on what you just said it having built now for a long time and had a lot of show homes. I look back at the homes that we did early on and I get we're at a different price point and I'm not knocking anyone that does this and we're at a different strata today than we were then. But it's like you're trying to cut costs because you think that maybe your value statement or maybe the client's value statement is such that you don't think they'll spend it used to be I remember man when I first started we'd do a 1200 clowns closet alliance and that was basically just the owner suite for some wire.
Mark Williams [00:44:17]:
This is 20 years ago and now it makes me cry, cringe. Now it's 10 to 20000 easily just for. And that wouldn't be over the top really high end. That would just be nice. Not amazing. Not bad. Just nice and solid shell.
Lauren Alsup [00:44:31]:
Yeah, exactly.
Mark Williams [00:44:32]:
And drawers. I'm a big fan of drawers and there's so many places you can go but like you go into a closet that has. It's just. You feel better about your space. I. I just met a lady today. Oddly enough she cut it from her budget for financial reasons. But she said that when she drives into her garage she wants it to feel like she drove into her house.
Mark Williams [00:44:50]:
Like she wants it really high end. And I. It was interesting to hear her talk like that Also she realized even though she values that she's going to do that later. But I actually. I found that a really a refreshing point of view that the epoxy on the walls to the paint to how to the. They have huge windows in their garage. The natural light which is really nice. And so I just think of builders in general.
Mark Williams [00:45:11]:
At least for myself. I definitely have thought about closet and stories storage the wrong way. Mainly because the house is empty. So of course it's clean. But it's also not realistic. I've had a number of people come through a home that's styled and it looks beautiful. And one of their first thoughts, they say I could never keep my house this way. And that's a wormhole.
Mark Williams [00:45:30]:
It could go a number of different directions based on if that's true. But I think sometimes if you show somebody the blueprint going back to your, to the method or the neat method in this case, I think showing the closet organization, showing the garage, I think that would be something that would be. I would actually really like to, to do that on our next home. So we'll have to talk a little bit more, not only about the closets, but really the garage would be super cool. I think that's a really incredible space to design.
Lauren Alsup [00:45:55]:
Yeah, the garage is actually very, very popular and have become more popular in the last year because I think to your point, people are realizing like, this is a space that I actually do live in and I do store things in. I noticed a lot of new builds are actually going away from your traditional storage rooms because they're putting that space towards another aspect of a home, whether it's like a gym or a sauna or whatever. And the garage now has become their primary storage space. So we're coming up with creative solutions when it comes to things like, okay, are we doing things that hang from the ceiling and they electronically go up and down and that's where you put stuff that you use like once a year. Or are we building in cabinets or are we building in sports equipment holders? Like just things like that to make it functional. Because as all parents know, driving over some kind of sporting equipment as you pull into your garage is. It's painful because you paid for that and now the bike is broken, things of that nature. But also, again, just making it functional.
Lauren Alsup [00:46:46]:
You only have so much space in a garage, so you need it to be functional.
Mark Williams [00:46:50]:
I think this goes back to us as builders really and designers of helping under paint the picture of lifestyle. And the problem is I can just think back in my own career landscaping for a long time, closets. I'm trying to think of things that you maybe would put in, but they're the first things the client takes out because they would rather have their kitchen. Kitchen. Their kitchen is usually their non negotiable or their owner suite or their great room. And so they're thinking in those terms. And a lot of people, whether I agree with them or not, it's irrelevant. They look at landscaping as something that they could defer to a later point.
Mark Williams [00:47:21]:
The truth is very few people do it later. And so. And a big part of architecture in, in of how a home feels is how the landscaping goes into it. And where I'm going with this is like the garage. It used to be that we did garages that were completely unfinished. They'd just be two by four studs and no insulation.
Lauren Alsup [00:47:39]:
Oh yeah.
Mark Williams [00:47:39]:
And then it would just be dryw wall but no paint. And then this. Obviously there's a price tag for all this stuff that.
Lauren Alsup [00:47:45]:
Right.
Mark Williams [00:47:45]:
As the homes escalate, the expectations of what these rooms look like also elevate.
Lauren Alsup [00:47:50]:
Oh, for sure.
Mark Williams [00:47:51]:
And I think it's funny, I don't. You've been in a lot of homes and this is where I'd like to spend maybe the last 10 minutes. Just maybe some funny stories or some shocking stories that you could actually share. Because I just think it'd be really funny. But one is, I would suspect that if you went into somebody's garage and their garage was really organized, would I be wrong in saying that the rest of their house is probably really put together? Because don't you think that the garage is probably the last thing that someone would spend time organizing?
Lauren Alsup [00:48:16]:
Yes. Garages and storage spaces, when those are organized, then they definitely live an organized lifestyle because there is nothing like no one puts the money into that. They drive in and they move, they move along. They go inside the house. That's where they need to put the money. So when you see them focusing on the garage or on a storage space, both which are used but very utilitarianly used, that to me then says, okay, I care about my whole experience, not just my inside experience.
Mark Williams [00:48:45]:
Yeah, yeah. How? Tell some, tell some funny stories. I should have started with this as the hook because I imagine you've either found some really interesting things. I'm sure you find money. I'm sure even people live in their place for a long time. You find all kinds of weird things. And rather than me guessing like what are some funny things you found? Or like where a client be like, whoa, I didn't even know that was still here. Or I'm sure there's past passports and birth certificates and all kinds of stuff that they didn't know.
Mark Williams [00:49:08]:
What have you got for some funny stories here?
Lauren Alsup [00:49:10]:
I think so. A lot of them I can't completely share. But a lot of the funny stuff that we tend to see is going to be stuff that clients will be like, oh, that was like two ex wives ago. Or things where you're just like, what happened? Or you. We've had a few instances where you find stuff and the wife will be like, huh, not mine. And you're like, oh, oh, okay. We've had some situations where like we find liquor in teenage kids rooms and we're like. And as parents we're all like, okay, do we want this kid to get in trouble.
Lauren Alsup [00:49:44]:
Would this kid get in trouble? It's like a whole thought process about, like, in reality, we could just move it and put it back and nothing would ever happen. But it's a very moral dilemma. We've had a lot of situations where you walk into a space and a client thinks they're, like, super duper organized. And you open a closet and, like, stuff falls on you, and you're like, how is this organized? Like, what exactly happened here? No, And I would say we have some very favorite clients. We're like. We have a client who she's been with us for, oh, gosh, probably six years now. She's gained, like, three children along the way. So I feel like, yeah, six years.
Lauren Alsup [00:50:18]:
And she started out. She is the most organized person I've ever met in my life. Life. And yet we see her at least once a quarter because she has several children. And she needs things to cycle and function and be so, like, military precision. Because that is how she has to live her life. But she is one of the people where you drive into her garage and you know the program and you know what's happening, because her garage is to a T. And so it's really interesting because we get clients like that where we'll go back and we'll help them, but I don't know that they necessarily would need us, but for them, it's a need.
Lauren Alsup [00:50:55]:
But then we have clients where we wish we could go back because we just watch what happens in, like, the overnight since we've been there and been like, we need you a whole bin for all this stuff you just threw on the floor. So it's that process of, like, just figuring out what type of client you're dealing with. We've dealt with a lot of athletes and a lot of people who you just laugh at the. What is important to them versus what's not important to them. To us normal humans, like a kitchen, a pantry. Having those stocked is important. Important sometimes to them. They're like, the shoes.
Lauren Alsup [00:51:25]:
Tell me about the shoes. And it's okay. Could I tell you where your spoons are?
Mark Williams [00:51:30]:
No. Yeah, yeah. Like, I don't need to eat. I need to know my shoes. It's funny because I'm picturing, like, a Nike wall that's lit up, that has. And obviously people I don't know. But if I was a professional athlete and I spend a lot of time in shoes, I suspect I would have a pretty sweet shoe collection that. So I can only imagine some of the cool Stuff that you get to see.
Lauren Alsup [00:51:48]:
Oh, it is, for sure. We just shared a reel, actually, of one of our favorite athletes clients. And the amount of shoes he has, it's just incredible and amazing and every color you can think of. So it's a very beautiful closet as well, because it's just a rainbow of shoes.
Mark Williams [00:52:00]:
Because I haven't. I've always wanted to have a client like that, just because I think it'd be real. I just, like, really artistic and just different things. I think that's unique. I think anytime you get a chance to be a part of something that's unique or different or just, ooh, that's. I think that's what's fun about clients in general.
Lauren Alsup [00:52:15]:
Oh, yeah.
Mark Williams [00:52:15]:
Is the fact that you get to enter into their space and there's something different or unique. I can imagine. We built a house. I'm wondering, like, hunting stuff. And I remember at the. When we were doing the design, the client wanted just because he had. At his old house, he had all his hunting shotguns and jackets and all that kind of stuff in a big safe in his garage, plus whatever. And his wife was talking about the smell.
Mark Williams [00:52:35]:
And I said, you're building a new home. We can actually design it. Unfortunately, we are actually already in. For whatever reason, it didn't come up sooner or I didn't ask the right question. Maybe that was on me. But we. It turns out that underneath the garage, or, sorry, underneath the front stoop, we are able to do span creek. So we must not have been able.
Mark Williams [00:52:51]:
We must have been before. It must have been implanting after all.
Lauren Alsup [00:52:53]:
Yeah.
Mark Williams [00:52:53]:
And so we did span crete, and we actually created a space underneath the front stoop of the house. And that ended up being a dedicated. Not instead of a sport court. It was much smaller, but it was basically like a robust.
Lauren Alsup [00:53:06]:
Plus.
Mark Williams [00:53:06]:
It was here. It was surrounded by concrete and a clamshell door, and all his hunting stuff was in there. His wife loved it because it was out of the garage. He loved it because it was like a dedicated space. But. And he was a really neat, orderly person. But that part, I guess it was the client that was unique. We just got a chance to respond to that uniqueness and come up with a design innovation that, you know, really made it fun for everybody.
Lauren Alsup [00:53:28]:
Oh, yeah, We've done that several times. We actually. This coming week, we have a client who has a whole hunting room that's off the back of the house adjacent to the garage. Basically, we planned it where it. The items never have to go into the physical home. And they never have to be with the normal things. They can go around and not be touched in any manner. Doesn't have to go through the house, down the stairs, that kind of thing.
Lauren Alsup [00:53:49]:
We've had clients where they have car lifts that are very unassuming like you would never know. Driving into this person's house at the bottom of the garage actually goes to the basement. So designing spaces where it can function and be mobile for when the car needs to be lifted down versus when it is up in the normal sense. Because then otherwise they've got a giant basically second garage full of nothing. And so coming up with solutions like that where you're dealing with a very niche item, but it needs to be. It is important to that homeowner. So coming up with a solutions where you're like, sure, we'll just make all your storage on wheels and here's your plan on how to move it or things, things of that nature.
Mark Williams [00:54:25]:
Have you. It's interesting. Like a closet or sorry, cars. How often do you get called to organize somebody's car? Because I look at obviously any parent with small children in car seats. Every time you get your car detailed, you're like, oh my word, how is there that much food in your seat? And what it. How is this possible? And even if you vacuum regularly, you're just like, you're appalled that like kids just. I don't know where, I don't know if they're hiding it or what. But anyway, I guess going back to more of an organizational standpoint.
Mark Williams [00:54:52]:
Are there cor car organizers? I feel like cars could use some organization as well, especially with families.
Lauren Alsup [00:54:59]:
Yep, we do a lot of car recommendations. We don't do a ton of like actual organizing within them. It's more. So here's the system to put in your cars. Where we have dealt with more car stuff is the people who have a lot of car maintenance items. So it's more so creating those systems to keep your car up to date.
Mark Williams [00:55:15]:
Like in the garage, like tool chests and that kind of stuff. Okay, that might makes tons of stuff.
Lauren Alsup [00:55:19]:
Yeah. But more so on a physical car, I always just say, especially as a mom, I have organizers throughout the car just to keep certain things. Because obviously like I have a two year old, she's hungry, just I have to always have a snack for sure. But it's also thinking about those things where I'm like, okay, once she has a snack, where do I put the trash? Is it a messy snack? Do I need wipes? Like the whole thought process of it versus Just being like food. Got it.
Mark Williams [00:55:39]:
That's. That's. I really appreciate that you're thinking back, back to the process or this method. There was something you had just had said that sort of triggered a thought. Let's see, what was it here? It was about food. Oh, shoot. Cute. I guess it wasn't that important.
Mark Williams [00:55:51]:
It was, man, if something I want to ask, it'll come back. It'll come back to me. One of the questions I wanted to ask you was about order. So only just. I guess I'll speak for myself because that was my question. How. So let's say you organize a closet. You've got left to right.
Mark Williams [00:56:03]:
On the upper, you've got shirts. And I tend to like to organize stuff from light to dark colors. I don't know why, but then lately it's like I've noticed like with my pants that I tend to wear the same stuff on a regular basis. And if you're going to introduce variety, you have to have a method to do. So what I've started to do is if I pull something out of the right middle, I rotate it to the far left, and that way I always know that what I just wore or whatever worn recently, if it comes out of the wash, I just keep putting it to the left. So basically it'll cycle my clothes. Like on a kind of a domino effect.
Lauren Alsup [00:56:35]:
Right.
Mark Williams [00:56:36]:
And I'm sure I'm not the only one that does this, or maybe I am. But tell me a little bit about what do you tell people? Like, some people want to look at their closet and they want to just look like left to right is light to dark. And that's always going to be the case. But then for me, it's. I would always pick the same clothes. So mine is to get variety. What is this? Is this something that's common? Or walk me through your reaction to that.
Lauren Alsup [00:56:56]:
So much of it is going to be based on the client and the needs of the client. Mainly where. Where we start is each category of clothing goes through a color process and then a function process. We always put tops on top and bottom on bottom. And then long hang is your area where it's going to be more like dresses, longer items, coats, whatever it might be. Then a lot of times it's kind of client and space preference on things like sweaters or certain pant items. Like some people like their jeans folded, some like I'm hung. It just depends because again, we're building solutions that are going to work for you.
Lauren Alsup [00:57:29]:
We're not building them to work for us. And so what why we do that too is when we ask all those questions, we're thinking of those. So for you you're like, I need to like have this cycle clothing. Great. Totally fine. Because that's what needs to work for you. You don't want necessarily the color coding aspect because you pick a top and you pick a bottom. But for some clients, they have outfits pre planned in their mind for a month.
Lauren Alsup [00:57:53]:
So for them we need to make it function for that sake where they're like I'm getting this top with this sweater with this skirt when thinking of things that way. So a lot of it just relates back to the actual function that client needs of their space.
Mark Williams [00:58:04]:
I think we really fascinated fascinating is to have you go to. This would always be like. Like we have the parade of homes where people get to go and look at homes and art. It'd be really funny to bring you to five people's homes with three people behind you just like observing. And then you would just you. It would be like the husband and wife but they weren't allowed to talk. And then this like, this is like a game show of a reality TV show.
Lauren Alsup [00:58:26]:
Like figure them out.
Mark Williams [00:58:27]:
Yeah, exactly. Like the psychology of what like how much could you infer? Like almost like doctor or not Dr. Seuss. Wrong. Dr. Sherlock Holmes. I don't know why Dr. Seuss.
Mark Williams [00:58:37]:
But you Sherlock Holmes. This thing you would look at it and that would be why. I don't know why. I think I'm getting more and more interested in people's like little ticks and idiosyncrasies because I. I find them really interesting and unique and there's everyone's is so different and obviously people you know better sometimes. Have you ever known someone that own really well but then it takes someone else to say something like, oh yeah, all right. Like we just posted a real. My, my, my marketing admin.
Mark Williams [00:59:02]:
I didn't realize that every time I start a video, I start like a selfie video, not like a podcast or whatever. I say all right. And then it's. I start. That's not. I don't know if the video on Instagram it is funny and I'm cracking up. My whole family's dying laughing because like evidently that's like something that I do, but I was completely unaware of it. Anyway, I'd just be curious like from clothing and organization what you could actually infer about people.
Lauren Alsup [00:59:24]:
We can infer a lot. I like to say we're trained at this point to look at the clues this Is some how someone lives. If you leave a beverage on a nightstand, I'm going to know what your variety of human is right away. And I'm going to know if what.
Mark Williams [00:59:36]:
Do you order or dial? What do you mean? What do you mean by that?
Lauren Alsup [00:59:39]:
If so, for instance, if a bed's not made, then I'm going to know that you rush in the morning and you don't prioritize tasks like that in the morning. So I'm going to know that your system needs to be very efficient and very quick. If you have multiple beverages, I kind of omit water. Like I keep water by the bed. But like people who, where I see like a wine glass or if I see another beverage kind of thing, I know that they spend a lot of time at night in bed. So their nightstands need to be functional for things like an iPad, reading materials, glasses, things of that nature. So you look at it right away in terms of just how they live. And you can infer things pretty easily.
Lauren Alsup [01:00:12]:
When it comes to a closet, you can typically tell what they wear based on what is in the laundry, what's on the floor, what is still perfectly on a hanger. No one's ever touched it, what still has.
Mark Williams [01:00:24]:
What has dust on it.
Lauren Alsup [01:00:26]:
Exactly.
Mark Williams [01:00:27]:
I had a. I had a black suit the other day, actually wore it to a funeral and then I wore it to a guy gala. But that was like my twice a year. And as I looked at the shoulders, I'm like, I dusted it off obviously, but I looked at, I have not worn that black suit in quite some time. And so anyway, it's just funny to your point. It is also on the far outside of my closet. Like it's not in the dead center.
Lauren Alsup [01:00:47]:
But it's also something that helps us figure out too when clients are like, I just don't know what I should get rid of, or I don't know what to get rid of. It's pretty obvious if something is dusty or like clearly has ever been worn, or it's like in a pantry, for instance, if your cans are expiring now, then you definitely are not using that and you definitely won't use that because the amount of time it takes for a can to expire is a long time.
Mark Williams [01:01:11]:
And we disrespect our time here. We should probably wrap it up. But then now it's funny now the juices are flowing. Some interesting little ticks. But that's probably our personal stuff for we'll have everything in the show, notes of people, especially local builders, Remodelers or designers or anybody here in Minnesota. Right. Right now I'm thinking that every single you're going to be inundated with years of work. Because anyone that isn't giving their client like the gift of the neat method upon closing or just as a nice gift, honestly, it's really, really cool.
Mark Williams [01:01:39]:
Both. It's thoughtful. Yeah, it's. I really not only appreciate what you did for me personally, but just hearing about this, it's reshaping how I want to even design my parade home. My. My artisan home. And so anyway, we'll be in touch about that for sure. On a personal side, what do you like to do when you're not organizing people's lives?
Lauren Alsup [01:01:54]:
I have a 2 year old, so I keep very busy with her. But I'm a big fan of just getting outside and really embracing like the feeling of so the work we just done. And now we're gonna have a glass of wine. We're gonna sit and observe the right now snow, but just refreshment of the outside.
Mark Williams [01:02:08]:
Yeah, I love it. I love it. Well, thank you so much for coming on and we'll talk to you soon.
Lauren Alsup [01:02:13]:
Yeah.
Mark Williams [01:02:15]:
Thanks for listening to the Curious Builder Podcast. If you like what you listen to, please give us a five star rating and write us a review. It really means a lot. It's a great way for us to just understand what you like about the podcast and what we can keep doing. So like and review and please share with your friends and family. Find out more at curious builder podcast.com.
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