One year ago…ONE YEAR!!!! When I think of all that has happened in one year, my mind and heart can’t even process it all. I knew I wanted to start Reset Your Nest for years, but had plenty of excuses why it wasn’t the right time. It wasn’t until I felt God not just give me permission, but the PUSH I needed to trust in Him and LEAP.
My family had experienced a number of trials and though I knew I needed to find a better job than the one I had, it didn’t seem like starting a business was the most practical way to bring in money. When I felt a distinct answer to prayer reassure me that starting my business was EXACTLY what I should be doing, I decided to go for it.
I figured that worst case scenario would be working a few hours a week and still making more money than I did at the job I had at the time. I had no idea Reset Your Nest would grow into what it is today, a premier Salt Lake City home organization company…and after just one year.
So… for posterity’s sake, and my own, I wanted to share a timeline of some of the biggest highlights of the first year of Reset Your Nest. The main takeaways I realized after writing this post are:
I am so grateful for friends and family who support, cheer, love, and believe in me and what Reset Your Nest is and has the potential to be.
Reset Your Nest is about more than Jen Martin and my love for Salt Lake home organization and design. It is about changing the way people live.
Starting and owning a business is A LOT of work. Like so much more work than I ever could have imagined...so consider yourself warned 😂.
January 2020
I made the leap and committed to the name Reset Your Nest (my high school group of girl friends had helped me come up with the name a couple years earlier after throwing around over a hundred different names...but I had never done anything with it). I set up my website, paid $7 dollars for someone from fiverr.com to make a logo, reached out to anyone and everyone who might be able to mentor me in some way, studied, took classes, researched, practiced, worked, read everything I could find about business, design, and organization….and committed to my dream.
Worked with Tracy Bowers and Liv Design Collective as I also took on some friend and family clients of my own.
Started very awkwardly (not much has changed 😊) attempting to post on Instagram on January 31.
February
Tori Horton flew me to California to coordinate her move and then organize and style her entire home.
I met my first client who didn’t already know me. She hired me to do her pantry…and then it turned into a year of amazing projects throughout her beautiful home.
I quit the job I had at the time, recognizing that Reset Your Nest was already requiring more time than I had.
March
Worked on a number of organizing projects including another trip to California.
Caitlin Mortensen, a friend from my previous neighborhood reached out to me and offered to help me with social media…for free. She wanted to help share her knowledge when I was obviously struggling and didn’t expect anything out of it. She is now my assistant, runs the label shop, and does so much for Reset Your Nest it's crazy.
COVID-19 shut the world down, but things continued to move forward with Reset Your Nest.
April
Bekah Goldie, my life-long best friend gifted me a photo session with the amazing Katie Warner at Peak Photo Studio so my website could reflect the brand I wanted to build.
Photo Credit: Peak Photo Studios
Jobs started to come in more frequently at the end of the month as people got restless from being quarantined 😊.
May
I worked on lots of projects, but just by myself. Reset Your Nest was still just me, which worked great for a quarantined world.
My thoughtful husband surprised me on Mother’s Day with Reset Your Nest hats and t-shirts and Reset Your Nest started to feel official.
June
Reset Your Nest became an official LLC.
The incredible designer, Martha Fetzer, called me and asked if I would be interested in organizing the sample room for The Fox Shop, The Fox Group’s up and coming store. It is still being built…but just being asked to do it remains one of the biggest highlights of my year.
July
I did my first collaboration with the amazing Julie Boye. After getting a few hundred followers from it, I made a goal to have 1,000 followers by the end of the summer. (I reached my goal on July 13, 2020).
Was interviewed on The Lisa Show about staging your home to sell.
August
Travelled to California to do a big move and then Florida to style Krista McCracken’s home.
Did an organizing project for Dani Krum and Instagram following grew to 2,648 followers by August 23.
September
Travelled to Ohio to do projects for 3 different clients.
Organized Abby Smith’s pantry and kitchen (@twistmepretty).
My friend in Florida told me she was chatting with her friends and they started talking about Instagram accounts they follow and they both mentioned @reset_your_nest… in Florida! Across the country! That was the first moment I recognized that others were finding value in what I was sharing on Instagram. I had always felt confident with how my business was growing, but didn’t know if there was a place for me in the social media world.
October
Organizing and styling Shannon Hale’s bookshelves and having her offer to sign and give each of my children one of her books.
I had been thinking about building a team for months and then committed to making it happen and within a few weeks had a TRIBE of over 20 talented, kind, and amazing women working with me. The amazing thing is that every single one approached me wanting to be a part of Reset Your Nest. In just a few weeks I had not only organizers, but a bookkeeper, a marketing person, and so much of the help that I was desperately needing.
Photo credit: Annette Dickson Photo
I organized a garage and asked my client where she had found out about me. I expected her to say Instagram, but instead she said that W Design Collective had referred her to me. This was a huge milestone for me because I LOVE W Design Collective and it has been my dream to create relationships with designers and work with their clients to provide services that designers don’t provide. I was so honored that an incredible interior design firm referred me.
November
Featured in Utah Business Magazine. Thanks to Michelle Johnson with www.stakmarketing.com who has helped with marketing and is now helping me with my SEO.
December
Organized a toy room for Shannon Tripp’s mom. Instagram following grew from 23K to 30K almost overnight.
Started our Label Shop! Thanks to Maria, my amazing virtual assistant @pinkcloset_bluehouse.
January 2021
Featured on two segments on KSL’s Studio 5. This was a dream of mine. I really wanted any publicity to be organic (and I wanted to work with Brooke Walker😉) so I turned down another big media outlet that had told me I would have to pay thousands of dollars to be featured on their show, and crossed my fingers that I would hear back from KSL… and I did.
Helped a family of 9 prepare to lose their mom and wife to terminal cancer by organizing their house and watched as SO MANY people showed up to help and donate money to the cause. This is something I want to continue to do for others and one of the reasons why I believe Reset Your Nest is growing at such a fast rate. So much good can be done and I can’t wait!!
Organized Lindsay Arnold’s pantry and Allison Campbell’s home in two consecutive days. These two women solidified my gratitude for women who truly believe that we only rise by lifting others and that there is always room for more at the table. Grateful for their kindness and talent and allowing me to share my talent with them.
Launched an online course! That was one of those ‘in a few years’ goals that felt right to just go for it and do it now (again, thanks to Maria @pinkcloset_bluehouse). Just putting it together was an amazing experience to put on paper the tips and knowledge I feel I have to offer.
Having someone recognize me at The Container Store just from following me on Instagram. It’s so silly, and I have no desire to be recognized, but to me it signifies that people are following me because the content I am sharing on social media is helpful and THAT is meaningful to me.
My 37.7K followers. WHAT!? How did that happen? I truly can’t believe that this is where I am and that more than just my close friends and family are interested in what I am sharing there. It is mind blowing!
EVERY. SINGLE. PROJECT….when I load up my car and wonder if I have bought enough and planned well enough and if I can possibly pull it off when I never know exactly what I’m getting myself into… and then at the end of the day leaving and thinking that this is what I was born to do.
I will share more about getting started as an organizer in another post. There is so much to share about the steps I took. The things I spent time and money on that were totally worth it and the things that weren’t. The lessons I wish I would have learned earlier on, the lessons I am continuing to learn, etc. But… the bottom line from sharing ALL this information is there are so many little and big things that have contributed to the most unbelievable first year of this business that I am so proud of and grateful for.
The common thread and most important thing is that PEOPLE are good and without friends, family, and others... Reset Your Nest wouldn't be what it is. Love you!! Thank you for being here!! Here's to another amazing year!
Jen is the founder of Reset Your Nest, a Professional Home Organizing Business in Utah (servicing Salt Lake City, Park City, Ogden, Alpine, Highland, Mapleton, and St. George). She loves creating order and systems out of chaos and is known for bringing a beautiful aesthetic as well as easy to maintain function to any space. She shares her tips and tricks on Instagram @reset_your_nest.
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