Home Staging Blog by Jennie Norris

I was absent from AR much of last week because I was part of a neighborhood group of 400+ homeowners that were opposed to this large building project that is slated to go into our area.  Imagine a house with a nice open living room, and you tell the sellers to cram as much stuff inside to the ceiling as possible and that it will actually be BETTER than what they had before!  That is what this project is like - 5 stories, 54 units per acre!  There is nothing like it in our region.  The City of Roseville wants to build an urban condo and retail center right in the heart of my neighborhood.  This is a great project - there are many of them in the U.S. - but this project belongs in a city center, not surrounded by thousands of houses away from any major employers, no transportation, and no retail. 

There we were, crammed in the City Council chambers to say our peace.  Only allotted 30 minutes, 6 key speakers presented the information on behalf of our group and I sat listening to each present valid arguments against moving forward (I was the behind the scenes communicator for the group).  You know I was so disappointed because the council members did not listen to one thing shared with them - and read their prepared speeches at the end.  It was evident to me that the people's voice did not matter - the builder's pockets did.  The people heading up the opposition invested hundreds of hours of researching documents that had some serious flaws and raising important questions, but in the end, none of it mattered.  And so engrossed in the hope that we could make a difference, I was so disappointed when not one city council member stopped to think and wait for more answers.

It was a moment of pure disillusionment for me.

That idealistic part of me that thinks everything is going to be fair, still exists. 

The good side - It sure made me thankful for what I do as a Stager!  Where my voice is heard - and people do listen - our clients listen.  And they pay US for our expertise - and we are HELPING them!!  And when we share from our expertise and ideas to help them, they are grateful. Gosh it is so much easier!  When we prepare a report or advise on a vacant house, people actually do what we say (well, most of the time :-)) . . . and we really do make a difference in how the house sells, how much money the seller keeps, how much the Realtor earns, and how a buyer finds a home.

That is pure joy!! 

Civic pride aside - I'll stay as as Stager, thank you.  - Jennie

I was thinking the other day about how exciting it is when first building a business - the hope and dream of success right there in front of you.  And that it CAN be overwhelming to figure it all out but it is so exciting to be on a path of a new passion.

Then as we get a handle on all that is needed to market, manage and run a successful Staging business, do we get to the point where we get on a "same old-same old" treadmill?  Are we at risk of getting burned out or losing our passion as we focus on the building of a business?

As a Stager that has been doing this professionally for 5 years (and I acknowledge that most of us would say we've been doing Staging our whole lives - just didn't have a name for it or did not know it could earn us money!) . . . I thought it would be great to hear from those "old timers" that have been Staging professionally for 4 or more years (or 3 years+ if there are not enough 4 years+ to have a good post) - to find out how you/we make and keep each day or experience fresh?

Here are some of my thoughts:

• I still love the transformation - I love standing back and seeing how a space has changed and feeling that feeling inside that "I created this with my vision and ideas!"  It's what I call "WHOO HOO!"  It never gets old to me.
• I love the "WOW" Factor that we create for others - the sellers and Realtors and Buyers!  They may be experiencing Staging for the first time - and so it is gratifying to hear their responses, and share in the newness of it all through their eyes.  That never gets old to me.
• And I still love the thrill of the hunt - going after business, educating, and sharing so that more and more will want to Stage.  I love that I can still find people that have no idea what I do - one mom at school asked me if Home Staging meant I put on puppet shows for kids' birthdays!  I love it!  It's a constant process and keeps me fresh.
• And I love the development of new market niches - to expand services and bring Staging to a whole new facet of people and places.

If you have been professionally Staging with a business for a number of years - share what keeps you fresh and excited.  As I look to the future, I know that I want to be doing this for a long time - and I want my passion and creativity to stay fresh.  There have been times when I have reached burnout after a particularly full week and prayed that the phone would not ring for a day or two while I refresh my batteries.  It's important to take creative breaks from our Staging - weekly - have days set aside that we do not use for Staging - and over time, find ways to not have it become a rote routine of predictability.

I think the biggest reason I have not experienced that is that even though Staging is not new to me, each house I deal with and each seller I work with - they are new - and that is what helps keep it new and fresh.  I appreciate what I have learned in the past, to help me handle the present and future, and work to keep the FUN and PASSION at the front of what I do in Staging.

Someday we will have a post on here that will be "Octagenarian Staging - Still At it After All These Years!"  As I have always shared with others, as long as we have our minds, we CAN Stage until we are old and gray!

-Jennie

One of the subjects on my first intro blog was how to Stage with children and someone just asked me about it - so it's a good blog topic.  When I got started as a Stager, I was a full-time Mom of 4 children, ages 2 1/2 to 7 years old.  My oldest is a girl and then I have 3 boys!  Yeah!  I worked full-time in the environmental consulting field as a marketing and business development manager before coming home after having our daughter.  My goal was to stay at home, and when my husband was faced with losing 1/3 of his income in high-tech, I had a decision.  I could either go back to corporate (not!) or find something productive I could do from home.  So my search began, and I had always toyed around with the creative side of my talents - knowing that if I could frame a business around what I was good at, I could make it work.  Enter Staging.  I had the last 2 houses I sold in the Bay Area Staged by someone my Realtor brought in.  She gave me ideas, I implemented them, and the houses sold.  So, when I moved to Roseville, and my husband's job situation happened, I thought, "Staging!  No one is doing it here."  We looked at 80 houses for sale and I knew no one was Staging.  So a lightbulb went on, I did my research and got trained.  The rest is history.

But part of my journey is my life with children and running a successful Staging company while also being a Mom.  In the beginning, I was homeschooling my 4 children.  Two were in primary and 2 were in preschool.  I had to teach during the morning up until about 1 PM and had homeschooling networking groups where I taught Spanish, and other subjects.  So, in the beginning, I only Staged during evenings and weekends. It was tough but I did it.  My husband was in outside sales, so when I had a presentation that I had to do in the early morning, he would stay home and teach, or watch the kids, and I would be gone for an hour.  After 2 years of this, we decided to put our kids into private Christian school, where they attend to this day.  I was "validated" when they had their test scores for entrance and all placed well above their grade levels for all subjects except their writing samples that were at "age level."  I hate getting up in the early morning to get them off to school, but now I do have my full day to get Staging done, network, and do other necessary tasks for running my business.

The key turning point was when my husband got into Real Estate full time about 3 years ago.  I do all his marketing too - all his pieces, website, etc. and so we realized that my time was being squeezed and in fairness to our kids, we needed to put them in school because I could no longer manage their schooling, my growing business that had tripled in size, and now my husband's Real Estate business. 

Now our children help me on jobs from time to time - and really enjoy it.  I have my 8 year old Austin that can carry a rolled up area rug all by himself!  My littlest one Logan (7) is "Mr. Clean" and loves organizing my tools.  My daughter Lauren, (12) is a Stager in Training - loves the creative side, and Steven, my 11 year old is just willing to help load, or do whatever I need.  I am excited to have them grow up in this business - and hope that they decide to do something entrepreneurial for a career - whether it's joining my husband in his business as a Realtor, me as a Stager, or helping us run our businesses.  Our boys have this knack for math (I did get an A+ in Calculus at UCLA) - that analytical mind that would make them great at organizing or assembling or ???  Of course they will pick their own paths, but as they need summer jobs, etc., they can help in Mom & Dad's businesses! And there are some GREAT tax benefits to paying kids to help in a family business. And thank goodness for GameBoys - when I have had to take them on a job and they grow bored, they can play those little games and stay quiet!

As my business grew and I had demands from clients, I added people to my team.  I knew I could not get out during the afternoon - the first 2 years I was in business I could not do this, so I needed team members that were available.  So I added them - and they would go out on the jobs I could not, plus had their own jobs to do.  It worked out great - I never had to turn away business, I never had to tell a client I could not get to them, and so it grew. 

So for those of you that have children, they are only little once, so make sure you take the time to be with them.  I have said to myself, I don't want my kids to reflect on their youth and say, "My Mom was this great Stager and our house looked really nice, but she was not around."  That would be so sad.  So, I have to stop sometimes and put aside the marketing or jobs I want to do and go on field trips, help with school projects, and just watch a movie with them.  Making memories is important.  I had someone tell me that they wished my kids would hurry up and grow up - and I don't want that.  Time is fleeting - so find a balance - I guess that's the best advice I could give to anyone in a similar situation.

Balance - it's not always easy.  I find myself getting sucked into working all the time (or the AR site!) . . . so I end up staying up really late - into the wee hours of the morning. That is MY time.  The kids are in bed, books read, pj's on, and sound asleep.  I have been known to go to sleep and get up at 3 AM to work on the computer.  I schedule most of my jobs starting at 10 or 11 AM, and only go out earlier if I have a networking job or a presentation. . .or it's summer and I am trying to beat the heat.  So, if I am super tired after a late night, I can go back and rest for an hour or so.  I LOVE not having a time clock, but I do end up burning the candle on both ends for sure.  Make sure to protect your health too!  I ended up getting pneumonia last year because I let myself get run down - which is yet another good reason to have a colleague to work with so you can rest up if needed!

I look foward to involving my children even more as they get older and I think it's great that they can see their parents working their own business, and they understand the value of money as we share with them how hard we work - and they see it first hand.  But they also see that we really enjoy what we are doing. 

So find your balance, and enjoy your family.  Find a colleague to help with jobs as needed.  If things happen in the family that pull your attention away for a time, know that you can put the Staging aside for a time to handle more important needs. . .it can always be picked up again when life is back on track.

Those of you that have kids, how have you handled having kids at home - or on the job?

Please share - it's a valuable topic and I know a lot of Stagers are Moms first . . . or are Dad's first . . . or will be someday . . . and your children may be children or your pets or you may have some other person you care for - and so the key question is how do you find your balance?

- Jennie

Because of another blog where I posted some of the Tales from the Trenches, wouldn't it be fun to post some of our funniest, oddest, or craziest Staging stories?

I shared one on a blog already - where we were Staging a house during the daytime, and were not quite done as it got dark. We realized that the electricity was not working - as we began to try to turn lights on, and so began working as fast as possible to finish up.  I was literally Staging by flashlight in the bathrooms as I worked to finish "staging the towels."  We had to pack up and get out with a little tiny flashlight to guide us.  But I was determined NOT to have to go back.  I am a one- trip woman.

Another time we were driving to a job, and this was in the day when we would use our SUV's and pick up trucks to Stage instead of a box-truck.  So we are driving along the freeway when one of my whicker chairs goes FLYING out on to the freeway.  It just took flight.  We pulled over - and the next thing I know, our mover guys are dashing traffic to rescue this chair while I am screaming at them to come back!  They got it - we now call the chair affectionately, "Freeway Chair."  It is a little worse for wear, but with a little spray paint and a strategically placed throw, you'd never know of its misadventure!

Then there was the time I was teaching a class - and it was during our class project where I had about 40 students Staging this house.  I was outside with the outdoor team and we had our sign displayed out front promoting the fact that the house was being professionally staged.  This guy drives up in a teal green pickup and waves me over.  I walked over and he started asking me question, "Oh you are Staging.  How is it going?" And then he proceeds to tell me that he thinks he might want his house "decorated" and needs some help.  I was thinking to myself, "This does not add up - the guy is in a truck, wearing a flannel shirt and vest, he had dried spittle in the corner of his mouth (TMI - I know but it goes with the story) . . . so I am talking to him for about 3 minutes, when I look down into his car, and realize HE HAS NO PANTS ON!!!!  EWWWWWWWW!  I looked up, I turned around like a robot, waved ALL the students inside and just said to myself, "He is not wearing any pants."  Thank goodness, what little of his flannel shirt was down there covered whatever he hoped I'd see (Thank god!) . . . Yes, I called the police after I got home - and actually located the truck in the neighborhood so El Perverto could not "surprise" another unsuspecting "Stager."

So there you have 3 of mine . . .I have more that I can share later!! - Jennie

I thought it might be fun for us to share photos of some of our "incredible" Staging finds in houses we work with - you know, those items that the seller is so proud of - the painting, sculpture, collection of items - they all have names and stories . . . but they all gotta go!

I have some doozies I have seen over the years!  Here are just a couple I could dig up easily - and I am sure I can locate more!

Before:  The INCREDIBLE and RARE - "Jacka-Phea-alope!"  Found in the western states desert regions.  Placed by the front door in a prime spot for all to see!  (Staged - now in the closet!)

Before:  Nude Sculptor with busts and bodies in yard as art, and all throughout the house!  "Art to some - offenseive to others" - she agreed to put all but one naked sculpture away.  I had to "John Ashcroft" the remaining piece with fabric. It worked.

As a new person to AR but not new to Staging, I was excited about a place where ideas could be exchanged, information shared, and friendships formed.  One thing I have found in my relatively short time as part of this group is that people may post questions or thoughts, but they all don't want "helpful" advice.  It's the old thought that anyone who is in a relationship can relate to:  If your spouse or partner is venting about something they are unhappy about, do they want you to solve the problem or just listen?  I made the mistake of trying to help solve the problem and give information, but it was not wanted because the people really just wanted to vent and share experiences.  I see that now. 

I am hoping that just because I might be affiliated with a training company, that you will give me a fair shake.  I am here as a Stager.  I have no hidden agenda.  I know many of you on this site, you have been my students and you have been my friends. Some of you have come and gone from where we first met through training, but that does not mean I value you any less or target you.  I thought the idea behind the blogs was to share ideas and information, which is what I have tried to do with the spirit of wanting to help and to point things in a positive direction. 

Part of who I am is that I stick up for what I believe - and it's hard for me to see things in writing that are so opposite of what I know, and not "say" something to introduce another perspective. Are my feelings or beliefs any less important because of who I am and what I may do in the world of Staging?  I have posted some helpful topics - and had people write that I didn't know what I was talking about, etc., and I didn't get my panties in a wad even though the postings were to me a bit confrontive.  It's OK.  Some have written about my character and what I believe and my motives - and how is that possible when they are not me and have no clue what my motives are and what is in my heart? The glass is half full in my book - and I honestly work to look for the best in people. That is the part of sharing - we can agree to disagree, or offer up additional information to help people understand.  And sometimes it's best to just listen and empathize.

That is what I expect from the questions or topics I might write - I am actually asking for advice and input, and sometimes just a shoulder. Is this a forum where only the person starting the blog is right and anyone with experiences that are not the same or may not agree are on some sort of firing squad or are we big enough and open enough to welcome other viewpoints that may not agree with ours, and be willing to accept information that is based in fact (not just emotion)?  I really hope so. . .it's what I was counting on when I joined this network.  I have enjoyed reading many posts that have made me laugh, made me question processes, made me think of new ideas. . . it's great. I hope in the spirit of the AR group, you can get to know me . . . some one said, "To know me is to love me."  At this point, I'll settle for "Like." - Jennie

Welcome to those of you venturing into the ActiveRain forest of fun and learning!  Inspired to join this network by past students and clients, I thought "what the heck" and so here I am.  Hopefully this site will give exposure to Staging in a positive way - as a great business full of wonderful people.

As a successful Stager in my region, I am proud of the growth of the industry as a whole that I have seen over the past 5 years.  I see articles, programs and hear conversations about this business that a short time ago did not exist in many areas of our country.  Now, we have training companies, associations, conventions, local support groups and more as Staging takes hold.  As an Accredited Staging Professional Master and Trainer, I am here to help answer questions to help people get on track and stay on track.  The key for me is to keep it positive and to have questions posted here framed in the postive so that the impact is to help you or others on the path or journey you are on as a Stager or someone just interested in the subject.

I am a member of the WCR, the BIA in my local region, and many other local networking groups as I believe this business is built on successful development of relationships - not only with our clients, but with our associates.  It's all WHO YOU KNOW - and the world of Staging has many entrances, but one common goal - help sell houses.

This is a business and passion, and I have formed some of the best friendships of my life with fellow Stagers.  Write to me and I will write to you - as we explore the world of Home Staging! - Jennie