SME team on the new NAPO Move Management and Home Staging Certificate

June Carter, GYST* Solutions

Why Move Management & Home Staging? This mixture of skills is unique to Professional Organizers and Productivity Specialists and makes for a very special learning experience.

Since the launch of NAPO’s new Specialist Certificate course, Move Management and Home Staging, I have been thinking about my motivation to be part of its development process and have come up with some insights on how this course can impact NAPO members.

Many people applied for this team and six were chosen. Although I was asked to be the team lead, I was not part of the process in selecting the team members.  I was thrilled with the people chosen: Janet Schiesl of Basic Organization, Colleen Ashe of Ashe Organizing Solutions, Coleen Gemellaro of Beautifully Organized, Naehmah Ford Goldson of Restore Order Now, Marianne Cherico of Coaching by Marianne, and me, June Carter of GYST* Solutions. The help and support from the Education Advisory Committee Co-Chair, Kristine Stables, was invaluable.

I come from a family of teachers. Adult learning is different from childhood and adolescent learning and I found my niche in teaching Home Staging. There is something amazing about seeing an engaged adult when their eyes get wide and they “get it,” especially when they really want to learn and there’s no worry about a test at the end. 

Home Staging is much more than fluffing pillows and buying pretty things for a house. I consider Home Staging as “space therapy” and emotional support for a home seller. I have had Home Staging projects where I did nothing but sit there while the home seller told me the story of every piece of furniture in her house. I was the only one willing to listen and validate her history.  

Part of the benefits of becoming a CPO® was the education that I invested in to get there. I always remember that we are looking to impart transferable skills. When I teach Home Staging it is mission accomplished. 

Although there are many Home Staging courses available in the marketplace, NAPO’s Move Management and Home Staging Specialist Certificate is the only one that includes Move Management.
Can Move Management and Home Staging grow your business? Here are insights from the Certificate’s team.

Marianne Cherico, The Home Stager’s Coach

It is my hope that this Certificate inspires you to see new opportunities for helping your clients so that you can expand your business into one that is both fulfilling and lucrative.

When I was asked to be part of the team that developed the NAPO Move Management and Home Staging Specialist Certificate, I was excited to join this collaboration with successful women who have different business models and who each bring something unique to the table. My background includes 27 years in real estate sales, owner of a Home Staging Business since 2005, and coaching Home Stagers how to uplevel their business since 2014.

There was a lot of hard work and thought that went into developing this certificate. It was great to work with colleagues in the industry and see firsthand the things that they focus on to facilitate the learning process.

Integrating Home Staging with Move Management creates incredible opportunities for both Professional Organizers and Home Stagers. Armed with the knowledge gained in this Certificate, I envision the potential to create a concierge menu of services that provides huge value and sets you and your business apart.

Colleen Ashe, Ashe Organizing Solutions, Ltd.

Take advantage of the creative ways the Move Management and Home Staging Specialist Certificate can elevate your business – all while having fun! 

It was an honor to receive the notification of my selection as a subject matter expert for the newest NAPO Certificate, Move Management and Home Staging. This project brought together a diverse, fun team excited to share our techniques along with our stories.

We quickly organized ourselves as a team and as you can imagine, delved into sharing and developing course content. Whether we are downsizing seniors, handling an international move, or helping a client get top dollar for the sale of their vacant or occupied home, NAPO recognizes our unique talents and the need for this unique certificate program. While we all love organizing at our core, I found my passion when I honed my skills, marketing efforts, and service offerings directly to the senior population – where we often find overwhelmed clients alongside frantic family members. The development of the Move Management and Home Staging Certificate gave the team the platform to share the best of the best insights on this remarkable aspect of our industry.

We did not hold back with our well-honed best practices, lessons learned, and specific steps to improve your bottom line. We challenged the team to think bigger, and we delivered. We threw in some great nuggets on Project Management that you can easily use for hands-on organizing gigs.

One of the things that NAPO members do best is to share our experiences and encourage our colleagues. The Move Management and Home Staging Specialist Certificate will likely inspire you to look deeper into your service offerings. We think you will love what you find! Learn the tales from the trenches with our Move Management and Home Staging experts. 

Janet Schiesl, Basic Organization

When it comes to Move Management, I like to say, “everything but the truck and the heavy lifting.”

While a lot of organizers help clients prepare for a move with downsizing services, there is so much more to the many steps in the moving process.

You may meet a client who is considering putting their house on the market, or they already have a contract and a tight deadline to move out, or they could be anywhere in between.

As a naturally organized and project focused person, it seemed like a natural move to add packing and unpacking to my business offerings. I had a team of employees that I needed to keep busy. We were already helping clients downsize and pack up some of their things to get their house “show ready.” It seems that we just kept packing. Actually, we had built trust with our clients and they wanted to continue working with us.

Growing up as a kid of a military family, we moved several times. As I watched the movers pack up the contents of our home, I was mesmerized at the efficiency and planning involved. When my company started offering packing and unpacking services, I found ways to educate myself and my team on the business of move management.  

I was then lucky enough to connect with a small local moving company who didn’t offer packing. They promoted my services to their clients, so it was easy to find those first packing clients. In return, we referred our local moving clients to them.

You’ll learn in the Move Management and Home Staging Specialist Certificate that having a few moves under your belt positions you as a move expert to your clients.

There’s always more to learn, so even after offering move services for years, I take advantage of NAPO‘s moving and relocation SIG to continue learning from my colleagues. Did you know that the Moving and Relocation SIG is one of NAPO’s largest Special Interest Groups?

Take advantage of NAPO’s educational offerings and learn some of the ins and outs of Move Management and Home Staging with NAPO newest certificate.