How I know Heidi
I met Heidi a few years ago when my youngest daughter joined Pony Club at Garrod Farms stables in Saratoga. Heidi organized lessons for the members which involved a lot of planning and coordination. After her daughter left Pony Club I ran into Heidi a few more times and the barn, always having meaningful conversations. When she told me about her idea of “open nest” rather than “empty nest” (in this chapter of our lives), I asked her if I could interview her for The Fifties Project, and I’m excited she said yes!
Heidi’s youth and college days: from wanting to “save the world and help people” to becoming a marketeer
Heidi was born in Portland, Maine and grew up in the small town of North Hampton, New Hampshire, a sea coast town about 5 minutes from the ocean. Heidi calls it a special and safe place to grow up with her two siblings who are 5 and 8 years older. Her mom was always outside in their beautiful gardens and Heidi enjoyed creating bouquets and décor alongside her. You could be in Maine or Massachusetts in about 30 minutes; there were lots of influences from Canada, and even England. (Sometimes people in California say she talks fast and she pronounces some words more formally – Heidi attributes that to those influences).
When Heidi went off to college, she wanted to help people and become a social worker. She studied sociology at the University of New Hampshire for her first year of college. Although she had a fun freshman college year, she didn’t find herself academically. She transferred to a small junior college in Boston to study fashion, where she receive two associates degrees: one in retail promotions (events, PR) and one in marketing. In retrospect, Heidi feels she has always been a marketer/creative thinker. She was involved in many activities and student-led events and was the president of the marketing club. It was a great fit, and she truly found herself and excelled academically for the first time, being the salutatorian of her class.
Heidi’s early work life
In Summer Heidi had always worked clothing retail jobs, but that wasn’t exactly what she wanted to do. She stayed in Boston for a few years, working for one of the biggest modeling agencies in Boston, the Hart Agency. They had the agency but also a modeling school (finishing school) where young women would learn details of modeling work and more. Heidi taught an accessory class which was so creative and fun. She worked with the director and put on fashion shows at malls and big department stores throughout the Boston area. The director was the spokesperson and Heidi ran the back end, taking care of all the many details. Events and creativity continue to be themes.
Early in her 20’s, she met a guy who had an opportunity to come work for Apple in California. She followed him and ended up working for a Taiwanese computer company (Acer) as a sales assistant. Heidi did that job for about 6 months, becoming the sales person for the Midwest and west coast. She loved building relationships with distributors and increasing sales. She worked in sales for 2 1/2 years, then rolled into marketing. During the 14 years with Acer, she was always open and ready to take on corporate events, sales meetings, team building, community outreach and employee training. Heidi was in charge of all the national and regional trade shows and special PR events for many years. Keeping vision and mission in mind, she created programs that incorporated both creative ideas and company goals. She was always seeking new opportunities, and Acer was a great place for her to expand. Creativity, detail management, organization and events were definitely her thing.
Heidi as stay-at-home mom: involved in her kids’ education, making a difference with art and tutoring kids
Heidi got married at 27 and divorced at 32; then met current husband Dave at 35. They got married within a year, and had their first child that same year. After having her first child Heidi started working four days (pretty much full-time still), but she had a hard time leaving her son. After a year she moved to HR and worked 3 full days, doing new employee orientations, creating internal communications and documentation. After having her second child at 39 she made the decision to not go back. Her husband believed in that idea too, so it was an easy decision. She’d make the same choices a 1000 times over again.
As her kids grew up, they went to a co-op preschool where she became room parent and was very involved in curriculum development. She loved being part of her kids’ education. In elementary school she re-instituted the art docent program. She loved seeing the kids who were lost in academics find themselves in art. Heidi realized early on, that you can really make a difference in a child’s life with exposure to all forms of art as part of the overall education. She became president of the home and school club, leading fundraisers, events and campus-wide programs. Heidi supported her kids’ classrooms in a variety of ways, like having her own weekly ELA group. Sometimes she wonders where one young boy in particular ended up, as he had a very challenging home situation.
When it was time for her son to go to middle school (and her daughter 2 years later), the family decided to attend a new independent charter school. It was a parent participation K-8 school, and Heidi chose to lead book clubs, working with other students for her required hours each week. Heidi loves books, and very much enjoys finding books for kids that interest them. Over 5 years she was involved in special events and many room management activities. She ended up tutoring two kids in reading comprehension, organization and writing; one of them she just helped with college applications. Heidi also ran her daughter’s 8th grade class graduation (about 750 attendees): this was her last school event.
Heidi past 50
Once her kids went to high school, Heidi started trying different gigs to get paid and to see what was next: she worked at a preschool, Crate & Barrel, a health spa, etc. Meanwhile, friends would call her for organizing advice. In college she had earned the nickname “Tidy Heidi” because she was so organized. Heidi doesn’t call herself a complete minimalist but she is very selective about what comes in the house: what she has, she wants to be meaningful. In 2015 she started to talk to a woman running a successful organizing co in the area, and decided to join her. Besides working with clients, Heidi ran special events and managed the yearly gifting program for this company.
Heidi quickly found that although a lot of people need one-time help, she likes ongoing clients. Developing the relationship, understanding the needs and goals of each individual and helping them find space to breath. A few favorites included a 19 year old who had just finished hairdressing school and wanted her room to reflect her new role, an older woman processing a master bedroom that had become a landing zone for everything after her husband and mother both had passed within a year apart, and a 10 year old daughter of her client, who after reorganizing her desk and room together, stated that she felt inspired! When organizing, Heidi tries to use what her clients already have and be thoughtful about purchases and donations. It’s easy to get containers from Target, The Container Store etc. but she likes to challenge herself and be creative with solutions. She also encourages her clients to surround themselves with what matters and to tell their story in decorating, creating the space that allows them to discover and to nourish their well-being.
Heidi as an entrepreneur
In 2019, Heidi decided to start her own business. She already had a handful of clients she developed on her own, which was helpful to start. Now approaching 60, she is learning a lot. Of course the current Covid situation isn’t helping her as she can’t meet with clients in person. Heidi is learning how to use social media in her business development and to express her purpose in helping others.
On her Instagram account @the_heart_pages, Heidi focuses on creativity while writing simple poetry and thoughts. Heidi wholeheartedly believes we are on this earth to be creative; this creativity can come in all kinds of forms: gardening, cooking, art, music, etc. Her mission is to instill in people the idea that creativity is a necessity.
With TACHE-Order Inspired Space, her organizing business, she spreads wellbeing messages as well as organizing tips and solutions. Heidi doesn’t think you get to that one landing spot or final destination. She feels like she’s had many paths and she hopes she’ll have many more roads ahead in her journey. Helping people get to where they need to be, is an important mission for her.
Heidi is still trying to explore other things too. She had to opportunity to talk to Paul Boyton (author of “Begin with Yes” and “Be Amazing” – over 2M followers) about other ideas she has like her “Open Nest” thinking and developing greeting cards (she always liked to write). His advice: take small steps while figuring out what you want to do. Heidi’s goals for the rest of 2020 are to take life day by day and develop her current business. Oh, and she has a children’s book coming out this fall with her sisters! It’s a retelling of a bedtime story her father created many years ago about family, loyalty and inclusion.
What Heidi wishes she would have known earlier
Considering all she is doing with her creativity now, Heidi wishes she had been more confident that being a creative person is OK. Even though her uncle was a painter and her grandma wrote poetry, no one in her circle did the “art route”. Her dad loved her uncle and grandma but Heidi doesn’t know if he felt that was something you should do with your life. She wishes that schools would always offer creative opportunities for students to explore. Creative stuff is always the first thing to get cut in schools and in companies too. She now believes it is so valuable and important for everyone to discover.
Heidi’s advice for others
Be OK with whatever your emotions are in a day. Heidi’s parents were always very expressive (and sentimental) and every time she left her New Hampshire home there would be a “movie like” scene with them crying and waving good-bye (even when she was 50 years old) because they wanted to be together and hated the miles that separated them from their children and grandchildren. So, express from your heart and show your love.
When you see something call out to you (a book or movie or something else), see what its value is and what is there for you to discover. Be open. Follow people on social media that are interesting and different. Read People magazine. Seriously. Years ago in a marketing class at Stanford she learned that that’s the pulse of America.
Don’t compare. Do self-discovery, whatever that looks like for you: reading, observing, dreaming, creating in any art form. Watch what’s going on around you, but at the same time try not to compare. This is a journey and just maybe I’m not supposed to be on the mountain top yelling out the next new thing. Maybe I just need to support my own little cluster. We just march forward. Sometimes bigger steps, sometimes baby steps but we keep moving.
Connect with Heidi
Heidi would love to help anybody looking for organizing – small or large spaces, small businesses: any kind of project. Just no garages. She’s happy to chat for a 30 minute free consultation.
Website: orderinspiredspace.com
Instagram: @orderinspiredspace, @the_heart_pages
Facebook: orderinspiredspace / TACHE