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In this episode of The Art of Imperfect Adulting, Amy Stone speaks with Barbara Hemphill about how a Nebraska farm upbringing, international adventures, and a knack for noticing everyday problems led her to launch a multi-decade organizing career. Barbara shares how listening to fellow parents on a New York City playground inspired her very first business and sparked a movement, and how she turned setbacks and skepticism into opportunities for innovation and legacy-building.
About the Guest:
Barbara Hemphill is a celebrated productivity expert, speaker, and founder of the Productive Environment Institute. With a career spanning over four decades, Barbara’s journey began with a $7 classified ad and evolved into a global movement, bestselling books, and training programs for aspiring organizing consultants. Her expertise bridges the gap between physical, digital, and emotional clutter, helping countless individuals and organizations transform chaos into clarity.
"My business is based on four words, which I learned from clothes closets: Clutter is postponed decisions." — Barbara Hemphill
Main Topics Covered:
Quote from the Episode:
“Clutter is postponed decisions. The reason your closet fills up is you haven't decided if you'll lose the ten pounds or play tennis again... Take it to the digital world and people wake up, open and close their emails, and forty minutes go by with no decisions.” — Barbara Hemphill
Timestamps: [00:00:05] Barbara’s welcome and introduction
[00:01:42] Why listening on the playground sparked her organizing business
[00:02:48] Barbara’s unconventional path from Nebraska to India to NYC
[00:07:19] Family background and the entrepreneurial spirit of farming
[00:15:39] How farm life systems became the seeds of her business
[00:17:08] Reading Stephanie Winston and launching her first ad
[00:20:42] Lessons learned from early clients and media pitches
[00:27:08] Facing skepticism and gender bias in business environments
[00:29:00] The organizing business boom and the birth of national associations
[00:33:38] Organization myths and managing realistic clutter
[00:35:43] What’s changed (and what hasn’t) in the organizing industry
[00:39:11] Building a legacy business and the impact of emotional clutter
[00:43:24] Barbara’s favorite reads and her go-to potluck dish
Special Offer from the Guest:
Access the Productive Environment Institute’s “Success Scorecard: The Art of Managing Information” and the Less Clutter More Life 12-minute training video at www.LessClutterMoreLife.com
Note from the show: Guest offers are often limited-time and limited quantity. If you have an issue redeeming the guest offer please reach out to the guest or vendor directly.
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Here are a few resources that Amy uses to make all this great content. These are affiliate links :-)
For livestreaming and recording ECamm https://www.ecamm.com/mac/ecammlive/?fp_ref=amy69
Podcast hosting and distribution: Captivate FM https://www.captivate.fm/signup?ref=ntczmwi
Website hosting with Siteground https://www.siteground.com/?referrer_id=9115590
Ai Transcription Tool: Castmagic https://get.castmagic.io/ugrmjjrt8ofj
For Email I recently switched to Beehiiv https://www.beehiiv.com?via=Amy-Stone
before that I used Kit.
Books I like and books written by show guests on Bookshop.org https://bookshop.org/lists/podcast-guest-authors
No transcript available for this episode.

The Art Of Imperfect Adulting

The Art Of Imperfect Adulting

The Art Of Imperfect Adulting