Preferred Partner Interview - OCD Girls

How many of you have watched the Home Edit on Netflix? Maybe you follow them on instagram? 

I don’t know if you’re like me, but I was very into the idea of aesthetically pleasing yet fully functioning home organization when it started to gain steam 5 or so years ago. I tried and tried to do it myself and I could always make it pretty…but it was the function that I just could not get down. It never stayed pretty. 

I remember thinking to myself – there HAS to be someone that does this for a living. I started researching my options. It came down to having a friend who “had a knack for these kinds of things” or bringing someone in from out of town. Neither felt right. 

Until low and behold…..The OCD Girls hit Instagram. 🥳I remember thinking “OMG FINALLY” and DM’d right away. 

The rest has been history. 

In this blog, you’ll hear how Rebecca and Jamie’s business has taken off due to their outstanding customer service & their incredible skill for creating a beautiful space that functions like a boss – tailored totally to your family. 

Since our first project together, I’ve hired them for pretty much every room in the house, every move, and Rebecca even designed my closet in the home I built a year ago. 

You’ll see success after success.

What you might not see, because they’re humble af, is their insatiable ability to serve from the heart. They truly care about making the space “you” and they work tirelessly to create that vibe. 

A DM changed the way  I live life in my home and brought two incredible friendships into my life, I will shout their praises from the rooftops for days to come….and I will keep them as my not so secret weapon when it comes to organizing + creating a functioning space that allows you to live life. 

They are an integral part of making a house a home. ❤️

1. Introduce yourself -- How long have you been in the business? Why did you start your company? 

Hi! We are Jamie and Rebecca and we are The OCD Girls! We started out as exercising buddies and every day during our 4 miles we would talk about the parts of our houses we were organizing and give each other suggestions and ideas. That turned into helping one another organize spaces where we quickly learned that two heads are better than one. Like everyone else we spent a lot of time at home during the pandemic. 

We quickly ran out of spaces to organize and we are pretty sure we were starting to drive our families crazy with all our organization projects! We knew we liked organizing and we thought we had a knack for it but we didn’t know that it could be a job until we saw the Home Edit on Netflix and our business just took off from there! The first thing we decided on was our name – it was PERFECT!! 

We would exercise and talk through all the aspects of the business. We practiced organizing on our own spaces until we felt ready to find our first paying client. We found one and the OCD girls was officially launched in the Spring of 2021!

2. What do you like to do outside of the office or workplace? Family life? Activities? 

Rebecca was born and raised in Billings but moved away for a number of years. Part of that time was spent getting her BS degree in professional/technical writing from USU where she met and married her cute hubby Andrew. She worked as a technical writer for Novell and also wrote freelance for magazines before returning with her family to Montana 15 years ago. She loves everything about Montana and never plans to leave again. 

She has three---no scratch that---four kids since her oldest daughter, Brynne, married Helam. Baylor is a senior at West and Brittyn is a 7th grader at Ben Steele. She also has two fur babies, Maisie and Walter. She loves snow skiing, mountain biking, cleaning for fun, diet coke, Mexican food, and spending time with her family anywhere but especially in the mountains of Big Sky!

Jamie moved to Montana from Texas a little over four years ago for her husband’s job. Before her full-time mom job took over all her free time, she graduated from Brigham Young University with a BS in business and worked as a realtor in Park City, UT for 7 years. She has four kids. Samantha is a freshman at West, Alanya is a 6th grader at Ben Steele, and Peyton (4th)  and Colton (2nd) attend Boulder elementary. She has a fur baby named Cocoa. They all love life in Montana but they especially love spending time on the slopes of Red Lodge or exploring national parks. Jamie loves Thai food, hiking, snow skiing, watching her kids having fun together, being alone and Ben & Jerry’s Tonight Dough.  

3. What is your take on work-life balance and how do you balance it all? 

We are both busy moms. But by using our organization skills to keep our lives running as smoothly and efficiently as possible, we seem to strike a reasonable work/life balance. When the business first got started, it took off pretty quickly and while that was so great and amazing, it took us both a bit to sort out a careful balance between running a successful business and running our home and family lives. 

We get asked pretty often if we keep our own spaces organized. The answer to that is yes and no. We both feel much happier when our own lives and spaces are organized but we are moms which means we live with kids. So while we try to keep our spaces very organized, for the most part, we aren’t perfect and neither are our spaces. We are constantly refining our spaces and systems to try to learn new and better ways to help our clients and solve their organizing challenges. And we are constantly reassessing to make sure we are keeping the delicate balance we worked hard to achieve.

4. What is one area of your industry that you feel you really hit the nail on the head? Why? 

One of the biggest aspects of being professional organizers that we didn’t realize was what a vulnerable and sensitive issue “stuff” is for many if not most of our clients who hire us. It takes courage on their part to allow us into their spaces and to see their “mess.” Everyone always apologizes for the “mess” when we come for our free consultation but if they didn’t have a “mess” they wouldn’t need us. 

One of the things we have heard from almost every client we have had is how comfortable they felt having us in their space and how appreciative they were that we didn’t judge or criticize – we just helped. We all have different emotions when it comes to our stuff and we have a knack for helping our clients work through those difficult emotions whatever they may be. We like to say we are more than just professional organizers…we are also therapists, interior designers, stylists, teachers and coaches. Because when you are truly decluttering with clients, you are doing all this and more! And after all that we usually end up being friends with our clients! We have the BEST clients!! 

5. What do you do that is unique for your industry? What makes you different?

We’ve been amazed at how many clients have hired us to help them get organized through a significant life transition. We’ve helped with retirements, becoming an empty nester, down-sizing, illness, divorces, loss of loved ones, moving (both pack and unpack) and so much more. Most of our clients like to be organized but either lack the time or the know how to do it themselves. Sometimes the space has gotten overwhelming and out of control and the client just doesn’t know where or how to start. Most of our clients have us come in for an initial space and end up hiring us for additional projects. We love that!

Our greatest challenge isn’t usually the space but the client who hires us to help them declutter and organize but is then unwilling to part with anything. A lot of the time the biggest problem isn’t just lack of organization but way too much stuff for the space. 

When the client is unable or unwilling to pair down or dejunk, it makes it super challenging to organize everything and make it all fit and work together. We like to remind our clients “Own stuff…don’t let your stuff own you!” Your stuff shouldn’t cause you stress. Think about what you own, why you own it, and if it’s improving your life. If it isn’t, let it go! 

After all, clutter is not just the stuff on your floor. It’s anything that stands between you and the life you want to be living. 

6. What is your favorite space to organize?

Our favorite spaces to help organize are the ones that make the biggest impact on the quality, efficiency, and function of our client’s daily lives. For each job, that space is different. For some it’s the mudroom, or laundry room; for others it’s the pantry or the master bedroom closet. And for others it is the garage or the storage room. It seems to be influenced by the space that causes the client the most stress when they enter it. 

That being said, we are currently loving doing master closets. While pantries are our most popular space and we love nothing better than a total pantry transformation, we have done some amazing master closets lately and they make such a great impact on our client’s day to day life.

7. Do you have a wild story about a project? What happened? 

While we don’t really have a wild story, we have been absolutely amazed at how quickly the business took off, how busy we continue to be and how happy our clients are when we are able to help them get organized. It’s such a happy feeling to feel in control of our stuff! There are so many advantages to hiring a professional organizer. Here’s just a few:

•  We set up systems that make it easy to maintain organization even for kids! Everything will be labeled and everything will have a home which makes it so easy to maintain! 

•  We have a vast knowledge of product and solutions so we know exactly what will work with your space AND your budget!

• We are fast and efficient. An organization project that might take you days if not weeks we can typically do in hours

• We have a unique ability to look at a space and make it make sense and function for your specific needs and situation. Let us be that fresh set of eyes to look at your challenges and find a new and unique way to solve them! 

• We can help you work through some of the difficulties of getting rid of things including emotional attachment, uncertainty of what to keep and what to throw, and just being overwhelmed with too much stuff. After all, the money has already been spent. Holding on to an item 

What’s the easiest way for people to book with you? Where can they find you? 

We can be found on Instagram @the_ocd_girls. There you will see lots of projects, before and after photos, and much, much more!

Once you decide you are interested in hiring us, go to our web site (theocdgirls.com) and fill out the request for a consultation form. Doing this allows us to get you on our schedule for a free in-house consultation. This allows us to meet you, talk with you about the challenges and problems in your space as well as your hopes for the outcome of the project. We look forward to meeting you and helping you get organized!!