Around here we're big fans of reality business shows like The Profit, Restaurant Start Up, Bar Rescue and especially ABC-TV's Shark Tank. Shark Tank features budding entrepreneurs with the chance to "bring their ideas to the sharks in the tank -- five titans of industry who made their own dreams a reality and turned their ideas into lucrative empires."
The contestants try to convince any one of the sharks to invest money in their idea. When more than one of the sharks decide they want a piece of the action, a bidding war can erupt, driving up the price of the investment.
Major Mom - Featured on February 5th:
We're really excited to learn that our colleague and former Air Force Major from Phoenix Angela Cody-Rouget and her company will be featured on Shark Tank this Friday, February 5th. John co-chaired a national leadership committee for the National Associations of Professional Organizers (NAPO) while Angela was the Chapter President of NAPO Colorado, so they worked together for over a year.
“Episode 719” – Veteran and military spouse entrepreneurs try to enlist the Sharks’ investments in their products—will it be a mission accomplished? A former Air Force Major from Phoenix, AZ looks to franchise her personal organization business that can keep Americans’ homes “majorly” de-cluttered. “Shark Tank,” FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 5 (9:00--10:01 p.m. EST) on the ABC Television Network."
So how did Angela get on the show? "One of the producers contacted me... and said they were looking for veteran entrepreneurs for their show. Months of contracts, jumping through hoops and lots of stress landed me in LA at Sony Studios where I met five sharks in person as I pitched my business. It was an incredible experience full of many emotions and lots of prayer." According to Angela, she's under a gag order but can say she met with the Sharks for about an hour and the meeting will be compressed into entertainment value.
Questions or Comments?
Do you have questions for Angela, Shark Tank, Reality TV or organizing in general? Let us know here in the comment section or you can tweet us @johntrosko on Twitter. You can also check John out on Instagram (@johntrosko).
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If you're local to Los Angeles, join OrganizingLA founder John Trosko at WeGo! on Saturday, January 9th when NAPO Los Angeles and the City of West Hollywood present a free community event designed to educate and inspire Angelenos to get organized in 2016. John served two terms as chapter president of NAPO-LA.
From decluttering your home or office, aspiring to have a paperless lifestyle or mastering time management to achieve maximum productivity in your day, Los Angeles best professional organizers will give workshops and offer their best tips for getting organized. Ask-the-organizer panels will present attendees with the opportunity to discuss their own challenges and receive advice from the experts, while companies will exhibit products, services, tools and resources to help you get organized and stay organized.
Ask the Organizer Panels:
Ask the Organizer Panel is an opportunity for attendees to hear general organizing advise delivered directly from the experts. Participants include Leslie Haber, Dorothy Breininger, Regina Lark Ph.D, CPO®, Cynthia Smith and John Trosko.
Ask the Organizer Panel with ADHD Specialists includes experts Standolyn Roberts, CPO®, Kim Anker-Paddon, CPO-CD®, COC®, Debra Frank, CPO-CD® and Mishele Vieira, CPO®.
Workshop Experts:
Detail for weGo!
Saturday, January 9, 2016
11:00am-3:00pm
Plummer Park Community Center
7377 Santa Monica Boulevard, West Hollywood, CA 90046
About NAPO Los Angeles:
NAPO-Los Angeles is a non-profit professional organization dedicated to developing, leading and promoting professional organizers and the benefits of better home and business organization. The founding chapter of the National Association of Professional Organizers, "The Organizing Authority®," NAPO-LA has provided members with a forum for networking, professional development and raising public awareness since 1985.
Questions or Comments?
Do you have questions about weGo!? Let us know here in the comment section or you can tweet us @johntrosko on Twitter. You can also check John out on Instagram (@johntrosko).
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Want to learn smart and practical organizing tips for your home, office and life? Save time by signing up for free topic updates and receive them as soon as they're published. Plus, as a gift receive our exclusive Martha Stewart Living Radio recorded radio interview and transcript, chock full of strategies, tips and resources direct from John.
Sprinkles in Beverly Hills eases your late-night cravings with the world's first cupcake ATM. But cupcakes aren't the only things ATMs are dispensing.
Southern California is full of modern-day kiosk conveniences; like the world's first cupcake ATM at Sprinkles in Beverly Hills, CA. Coinstar is another innovative kiosk to turn your coins into a gift card or paper bills, Redbox helps you rent movie and video games and Amazon's Locker organizes online purchase package retrieval. So what else is out there?
The EcoATM
Developed by Outerwall in San Diego, EcoATM is an automated device-recycling kiosk that collects unwanted or used cell phones, tablets and MP3 players for instant cash (also known as a cellphone buy-back or trade-in program).
The machines determine the amount by looking at three things:
Did you know by the end of 2015, there will still be an estimated 422 million idle or inactive mobile devices, and out of those, only 99 million will be recycled. They're hoping to help increase the recycled amount. Here's a cool video on how it works.
If you are the kind of person who has amassed a truckload of electronics, and you want to responsibly turn them in (and make some cash), EcoATM sounds like a convenient, easy and safe way to declutter your office.
Your Turn to Comment
What do you think of the new EcoATM kiosks? Would you ever use them? Do they provide enough value for you? Will Apple's iPhone Buy-Back program crush EcoATM? Let us know here in the comment section or you can tweet us @johntrosko on Twitter. You can also check me out on Instagram (@johntrosko).
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Want to learn smart and practical organizing tips for your home, office and life? Save time by signing up for free topic updates and receive them as soon as they're published. Plus, as a gift receive our exclusive Martha Stewart Living Radio recorded radio interview and transcript, chock full of strategies, tips and resources direct from John.
Reuters is reporting that Container Store has filed paperwork for an Initial Public Offering.
The "original storage and organization store," Container Store operates 62 stores in 22 states, including four locations in the Los Angeles-area, Century City, Costa Mesa, El Segundo and Pasadena.
Selling storage bins, baskets, drawer dividers, trays, locker organizing supplies, labelers, and small furniture, Container Store has amassed quite a following in their 35-year history including accolades from Forbes for the quality of their work environment.
We've written some behind the scenes stores about Container Store including; their sale in 2007, their equity purchase, the shutting down of their closet organizing system Elfa wholesale division, and a slew of other pieces on their generous charitable activities.
There is no word yet when the offering will be put out. If you would like to read more about the deal, and issues surrounding, check out the Wall Street Journal blog. The Dallas Evening News blog is saying that Container Store really just wants another private investor to take over, a public offering turns the company into a revenue generating machine... and that machine may hurt their workforce by taking away costly benefits. This makes sense because other retail stores we shop at for our Los Angeles professional organizing business are public, and their service reflects a focus on sales, not service. But who know? In the meantime, we're still shopping there for our clients.
Photo credit
Your Turn To Comment:
Do you shop at the Container Store? What are your favorite products? Are you running to your broker to get on the list to buy shares of stock? Let us know here in the comment section or you can tweet us @johntrosko on Twitter. You can also check me out on Instagram.
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Want to learn smart and practical organizing tips for your home, office and life? Save time by signing up for free topic updates and receive them as soon as they're published. Plus, as a gift receive our exclusive Martha Stewart Living Radio recorded radio interview and transcript, chock full of strategies, tips and resources direct from John.
Even with the start of spring, many people will have trouble breaking open their closets and going through their garages to get going on their spring cleaning. But sometimes the mess that seemingly won’t go away can be symptomatic of a deeper problem: depression.
"The fact is that previous generations simply didn’t have all the stuff we have today. They were never tempted by 24-hour shopping channels, blasted with emails about last-chance sales, or bombarded with catalogs and junk mail. Generations from baby boomers to millennials may have it all within reach, but most haven’t learned how to keep it in balance. Homes continue to grow fuller, despite our households growing smaller. "
The March/April 2013 issue of The Saturday Evening Post, features Angelica Huston on the cover, (coincidentally we wrote about Huston's thoughts about clutter in her Venice home in 2008). The End Clutter Now! Post piece examines the connection between clutter and depression; and provides insight on how to eliminate the clutter before it piles up. Post contributor Iyna Bort Caruso details the negative cycle of stress because of the mess and how it leads to an inability to dig out. Here are some tips to focus on getting rid of the clutter:
4 Spring Organizing Tips:
More tips can be found on Post's piece End Clutter Now! You can also read our related organizing piece on Angelica Huston.
What do you think are the links between clutter and depression? Tweet us at @johntrosko or leave a comment below.
Life this Topic?
Want to learn smart and practical organizing tips for your home, office and life? Save time by signing up for free topic updates and receive them as soon as they're published. Plus, as a gift receive our exclusive Martha Stewart Living Radio recorded radio interview and transcript, chock full of strategies, tips and resources direct from John.
Being around Steve I've been fortunate to hear some great music I've downloaded or heard him play live at clubs around Southern California. So I wonder what Steve would think about this song from Macklemore & Ryan Lewis (pictured below), called Thrift Shop.
Music Producer Macklemore and his partner Rapper Ryan Lewis music video Thrift Shop has been viewed on YouTube more than 62 million times. And all this without the help of a major music label support.
Owning a Los Angeles home organizing service, we visit thrift stores all over Southern California and we drop off items from generous clients so they can get a tax write-off or just help clear the clutter in their house or office. We've written blog topics that included how one Pomona thrift store employee employee found $30,000 tucked inside a donated suit jacket, celebrity thrift stores in Los Angeles, even a piece on a woman who was featured on David Letterman when bought a Jackson Pollock painting for $5 and almost threw darts at it in her mobile home in Costa Mesa.
One thing for sure, Thift Stores have not always seem very cool-- but they are gaining popularity with the reuse and recyle movement. But what if Tag Shops were somehow to become these hip locales where everyone wants to hang out, sort of like, The New American Rodeo Drive? Check out Macklemore & Ryan Lewis new song (caution: adult language). They're making thrifting fun, sexy, full of great cool designer bargains (99-cents!) where everyone can afford to join the club. Can it be any better?
Macklemore & Ryan Lewis - Thrift Shop
If you think the music is not main stream enough, check out the duo on The Ellen Degeneres Show earlier this month (scroll down to the January 18th entry).
What bargains have you found in your local thrift store? Please share in the comments below or tweet us at @JohnTrosko
Image courtesy XXL Mag.
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