I was sitting on the train this morning when my phone rang. Its always tricky deciding whether to answer the phone in an inconvenient place. It might be important. But then if it is important, the train isn’t the best place for a serious conversation.
So I answer the phone and its a local radio station wanting to interview a professional organiser about the excess of stuff in people’s lives, and the overuse of storage units. She picked me out of a long list because of my business name, which is about a lighter way of living.
Anyway, the interview was that afternoon, and being on the train and on the spot, the first thing I could think of is that since I have only just started out in my professional organising business, I don’t have a lot of anecdotes to tell about emptying storage units. So I let the producer know that I was just starting out. I didn’t want to be in a position of being on radio and being asked to make a lot of generalisations based on my experience with my clients, when I don’t have much experience yet. Anyway, she said Ok and goodbye.
Did I blow it? Maybe I could have bluffed my way through the interview as I have done a whole lot of reading and thinking on the topic. But I felt like it was too early in my career to be a representative for the profession. I don’t have smooth answers worked out to questions about organising and how I would handle various situations because I don’t have enough practical experience to have worked all those issues through.
Anyway, I decide to take the “Make a negative into a positive” approach. Even though I didn’t end up being interviewed, it was really confirming that my business name stood out and attracted attention. That means I am on the right track. The other positive is it reinforced that the advertising is out there working for me, and I need to focus on building my experience.
Tapes of the interview will not be available.
May and September 