Clutterbug - Real-Life Hacks and Tips to Declutter, Organize and Clean your Home Fast - Passion and Drive with Alexandra Gater | Clutterbug Podcast # 208

Episode Date: January 29, 2024

Today's podcast will wow you, inspire you and motivate you! The amazing and talented Alexandra Gater joins me on today's podcast, sharing her journey of becoming a DIY Home Decor Expert and a successful YouTuber. Alexandra explains how her passion jump-started her career and her drive to make clients' spaces beautiful and functional. Alexandra even shares a few of her favourite decorating tips that won't break the bank!   You can find Alexandra's YouTube page here: https://www.youtube.com/@AlexandraGater Check out Alexandra's Website here: https://alexandragater.com/     You can find more Clutterbug content here: Website: http://www.clutterbug.me YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@clutterbug TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@clutterbug_me Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/clutterbug_me/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Clutterbug.Me/   #clutterbug #podcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hey, Clutterbugs, welcome back to the Clutterbug podcast. I'm a little bit geeked about today's podcast. I just got to say, okay, we have Alexandra Gator, and let me just say, I'm a huge fan of her YouTube channel. If you have not watched her YouTube channel, I need you to subscribe immediately because not only is Alexandra a home decor YouTuber, she's an author, she's a former magazine editor who's connected with millions of people through her home makeover series. But she's really showing people how to design the space and that everyone deserves to live

in a beautiful space that feels like home, no matter their budget. Welcome, Alexandra. Thanks, Cass. I'm so excited to be here. I'm pretty excited. I'm going to tell you the truth. I had not heard of you until recently. And then I'm like, where have you been all my life?

Seriously, you're like four hours from me. You're Canadian. You were on HDTV. You were the host of by or DIY. What the heck, man? You look like a baby. How have you done all these amazing things? Oh, that's so nice. Yeah, a lot has happened in the last five years, for sure. When I think about it, sometimes I'm like, yeah, I should take a nap. Something like soon. Take a nap. So tell me how you got started. I mean, I kind of know how you got started as the editor of Shatteline, which is an incredible magazine.

But if you could share with my listeners, kind of your story of how you went, you're so young and how you went to like this incredible career so quickly. Yeah, I would love to share more about that. So I went to school for journalism here in Toronto. I always kind of, I always kind of knew that I wanted to do some. something impactful. I didn't really know what that looked like or what that meant, but I had to do an internship in my last year and I kind of fell into women's publishing, specifically Shadelaide. And at the time, I was like, I really want to do something a little more creative. Like I was really

into photography and I thought maybe I wanted to go into like fashion content or something. And when I got to Shadalane, I was like, oh my gosh, I absolutely love doing this. this really like, you know, pulls together all the things that I love to do. And I ended up getting hired full time there quite quickly. It was kind of one of those like I was there at the right time and they were really shifting into this like new digital space. And I, long story short, kind of took over the home section when the editor of the home section left. I was really young. I was 25 at the time. I really had no idea what I was doing. And it was just one of those things where, like, I'm not sure if that exact sequence of events would happen now necessarily.

It was truly, like, right place, right time. And I really, like, seized the opportunity and took advantage of really making the job my own. And at the time, I was watching a lot of YouTube content. I loved, like, shorter form content, longer form content on YouTube and watching all of these amazing women do incredible things in the publishing. space, like Lucy Fink. I don't know if you have heard of her, but she was at Refinery 29 and she was creating this like amazing short YouTube series. Anyways, I pitched a series all about home decor and I produced and shot like 20 episodes with our little team at Chatelaine. And there was a ton of money being funneled into the video department. So everyone was kind of like,

yeah, like do whatever you want to do, try things out. And we produced 20 episodes. It was called the home prim over the span of the video. year. And the second last episode went viral. It was a studio apartment makeover. And it had like a million views and the views were climbing and climbing. And I got let go along with 90. Yeah, along with 90 other people at Shadeline and like within the whole, like all the different publications. And I was devastated to say the least. Yeah, no, that's a blow. because you're doing like the coolest thing. Yeah.

And it's kind of, I feel I'm hearing like maybe this was almost like a fake it till you make it thing. 25. 25. I didn't. I didn't know what I was doing or where, what I was, where if I was coming or going.

And you're like the editor of a magazine. Yeah. Like, it was definitely fake until you make it. There was a lot of like pushback within the overall like home like interior design community. Not like not necessarily directed specifically. at me, but I definitely felt like, oh gosh, I have no idea what I'm doing. But I've always been

like really hardworking. I've always just like loved to be creative and put myself out there and like just try. Like, you know, just I've always just like been really good at giving it a go. And working towards something has always been like, it's just like part of who I am. So I guess in that sense, I was just able to handle, I guess, all the feelings. that came with being 25 and doing this job. Yeah, you're brave. That's what it is. Let's be honest, you're brave.

Thanks. So you're not afraid of failing and you're jumping in and you're figuring it out as you go. And that's so admirable. Thank you. Thanks. But at the time I got like, oh, I didn't really feel brave because I was like, well, I don't have this video team that's going to be able to shoot these videos. People were like starting to follow me on Instagram and like request spaces.

Like all the videos were starting to start. starting to pick up a lot of traction on the shadow lane YouTube channel, which basically no longer existed because we were all like that. So I just kind of started shooting my own content. Like I didn't really know what else to do. And I also really understood that there was like momentum happening and I kind of had to ride the wave. So I started my own channel. Without the budget without the. I used my severance money. I was like working part time writing articles for like different magazines. And then I had an interview at a pretty big Canadian like interior design magazine.

They called me in for an interview. And I remember it was like not until I was sitting across from the person interviewing me that I realized, oh, actually like I don't want a job within a corporation. I don't want to work for someone else. And it kind of was that subconsciously. I had kind of made the decision when I walked out of that interview. like I want to do this by myself and just start my own thing. So yeah, I kind of chipped away at it for two full years and was like, you know,

just kind of scraping by and gave almost gave up a billion times. And then we're like finally, I finally feel like I'm settled into a group now. I have nine employees, which is wild. And yeah, and we're really like we're in a space where things feel good. and not as challenging as they were when I started. Okay, I'm just going to say this. Okay, your YouTube channel's effing insane. It's insane because your makeovers that you do are like HDTV level quality.

And you can tell them the production value. You can tell like, let's not even go there. You give away complete makeovers to your viewers. Like you give away for free. Yes. And I'm over here. I'm over here, okay, doing like a little organizing makeover with me and Emily and we shoot ourselves and edit ourselves and I give, I donate everything. It is so much work. Yeah. It is so

expensive. It is and you're doing this on a scale 20 million times bigger than I'm doing. Like, how? Yeah. I'm so proud like, thank you for saying all those nice things. And I finally reached a place where I'm like, I'm so proud of our team. It's not just me. Like, I'm, I'm not saying thank you. I know just, you know, I'm not like complimenting myself. I'm complimenting the whole team because it's really a group effort. How am I doing it? Like do you like specifics or just? No, I just mean how like I know from my perspective like I, so I'm planning my YouTube video every week. And if I'm doing a makeover, you have to meet with them. You have to see the space. You have to message in the space. You have to come up with ideas. You have to come up with products.

Yeah. You have to coordinate shoot dates. Yes. You have to buy everything and have it ready. So you're there and maybe like I have one day for decluttering and then one day for putting it together and the logistics just about kills me. So I do them very infrequently and not to mention I don't really make money off those videos because they are very expensive and you are doing this while managing a team and doing that scheduling and you're still the creative person at the end of the day. Like I'm just how is your brain not much? How are you doing the logistics? Are you an organized person? No. What is your secret? No, so I think my secret is, honestly, early on, I knew that if I wanted to keep doing

these makeovers, there was a time where I was doing them by myself. My partner at the time was helping me. I was shooting on weekends. Like, the makeovers weren't great. Like, don't go back and look at 2018 AG videos. Like, please don't. And I always knew, like, if I wanted to do this and take it to a bigger scale, I was going to have to hire a team of people.

And that's really my secret is like delegating things and having, I'm so proud of the team that I've felt because everyone is just so incredibly talented. And we really run the whole production like you would a TV show. The CEO of my company actually came from a TV background. She's worked for, like worked on Big Brother and Top Chef. And so she understands how to run like a day. And we have call sheets. We have like everything broken down into time slots. We're a well oiled machine. And there's so many people involved and so many steps involved to that like finished half an hour YouTube video you see. So we go scout the space. We measure the space. I have a call with the makeover recipient. We go through a whole like brainstorm and planning session. And a lot of our makeup, well, all of our

makeover take at least three months, like start to finish. And so we're usually working. Yeah, we're usually working on like three spaces at a time. So I guess like, yeah, I guess my, listen, now I want to get in the weeds. My listeners are more like cast, but listen. Okay. Are you getting everything donated? Like all the supplies and products, this is so much work. Yeah. So one thing that I worked really hard, when I was at when I was at Shadoling working and publishing, it was normal to like, we call it call things in. So it was normal to call a product in from. the brand to photograph it for the magazine. So I would create these, I was, I was creating these connections with these like retailers and the PR people within those companies. And they would say, yeah, like, we'll send you this pillow so you can shoot it. We'd love to be in Shadolene. You can keep the pillow. And that's kind of the charm of working and publishing, right? Like, people go on press trips. They get things sent to them. It's fun. And when I got like, go, that was the biggest thing of like, wait a second, how am I actually going to get these companies

to send me product if my channel has 200 subscribers and I don't have this huge brand to back me. So it took a while. Like there was at the beginning, I was asking the makeover recipient to pay for a portion of the product and like my service. And I've just built it up to a point where brands want to be featured in the makeovers because we're linking all the items. We're doing short form content on social media. And so these brands are getting lots of experience.

exposure. And yeah, we have like so many amazing brands that we have amazing relationships with. But it's taken a lot of time to build those relationships and get to a point where we're like, yeah, you like you should want to be in our videos because it's great exposure. Yeah. And so you're saying this. And I know people listening at home are thinking, wow, she gets the stuff for free and it's all, they just send it. I know from a YouTuber like the behind the scenes, the logistics. of working with brands and having things shipped and wanting to make sure you're mentioning what they want to talk about in that video and that you're not having competing products within that video. And the logistics on getting it, do they want to see approval before? Do they

have tweaks and changes and all of this? And you're doing this on a scale like television show scale. Yeah. I'm so impressed. So I was the host of an HD TV show. I know. Yeah. For for two years and those episodes that they put together were like $250,000 that you have to spend upfront, but you know that they're being bought by the, you know, like you're making this product, but HGTV is purchasing it from the production company. So at the end of the day, there's that safety net. You don't have that safety net. If you produce a video and it flops on its face, you're left holding the bag. Yeah.

And still having to pay your employees and still having to pay your business costs. You are brave, man. You have gonads. Like, I'm in awe of you because that's, this is a tough industry. And you are nailing it. Thanks. I think the secret, not a secret, but the thing that I've learned a long way is to just like ask for what you want. want and also to lay out the ground rules. Like, we are producing a TV show. So we can't be looking

over 50 contracts from 50 different brands at the same time. That would be actually impossible. So we have like a email that we send out that's very clear, very concise. And at the end of the day, like the gift of products are just an exchange for like publicity. And I think a lot of creators don't realize that they can just like reach out to brands and and ask. And it's taken me a really long time to realize the value that I'm bringing to those brands with just even like a 10 second mention in my video or a link in the description box or shouting them out on social. We also try to work with like a lot of Etsy sellers or smaller businesses to get to help like them with that exposure. And a lot of the time those smaller brands will be like, oh, I'm so excited. Of course I want to

be a part of this YouTube show. But it's definitely, like I said, been a long, kind of slow burn. And I feel like it's only really been in the last year where I'm so incredibly proud of the content we've created because we've worked at that process for like literally years. So it is manageable. And we can do it with a really small team. Yeah. I have to take a second and interrupt to thank today's podcast sponsor, Cozy Earth. A few years ago, I upgraded my just pouring basic sheets to Cozy Earth award-winning bamboo sheet set. And I'm telling you, there's no going back, because it feels like luxury. They're so soft. Their temperature regulating. Now I even have their waffle blankets, their other bedding, their pillows. I'm such a huge fan of Cozy Earth. Not only do

they have a lengthy warranty, but every time I wash them, I swear they get. better. It's long-lasting, beautiful bedding that you deserve and just really upgrading your whole sleeping experience. And right now, my listeners can get up to 35% off sitewide when you use the code clutterbug. Go to cozy earth.com and use that promo code clutterbug to get up to 35% off site wide. Okay, so my listeners at home are listening to this and they're probably thinking, wow, she's amazing, which you are. But also, I want to talk about the motivation, the drive, the time management, the skills that are behind your success and your talent. Because a lot of us listening at home, I was stuck in this thing. It was all I can do to get up and shower and clean my house

on a daily basis, you know? And you are like, I'm not settling, you're not settling for a mediocre life. You're not settling for a nine to five and a job that you're not passionate about. You're like, I don't want to work for somebody else. Even though I love it, you want it all, Alexandra. I do. Yeah. And you're like, and guess what? I'm going to make it happen. But I think. And I have goosebumps. I do too. You're being, thank you for all your kind words. I, but it, my drive hasn't come without a lot of trials and tribulations. I think. So I, I have suffered for anxiety, like an, like an anxiety disorder. I actually don't have ever said this a lot, but I have a panic disorder as well. So there was a time when I was at Chaville, where like I actually couldn't

leave my house. Like I couldn't the thought of going out. I can't really explain it because it just sounds bizarre, but anyone who suffer from panic attacks maybe will understand. Like I couldn't leave my house to go to walk to the subway. Like getting from point A to point B was really difficult for me. And I don't know if you've ever experienced a panic attack, but it's one of the most uncomfortable physical, like, feelings I've ever experienced. And I think that the thing about me is, like, I never, my anxiety has never manifested in, like, me being in bed or depressed for long periods of time. It's actually manifested in, like, how can I do more? How can I kind of use this anxiety, like in a positive way kind of like I just always wanted a lot for myself and always kind of

expected a lot for myself which has obviously had consequences you know in terms of my mental health but it's also something that has enabled me to be where I am today and it's very contradictory and I struggle with it sometimes because now that I'm medicated and not having panic attacks and not anxious to an extent. I don't feel that like constant, oh my God, you have to do the next thing. You have to go do this thing. Like I'm able to relax more and just breathe a little bit more. But I would definitely say that my anxiety kind of forced me to be where I am today in this

very strange, weird way. No, I can relate to that. That's so hard. I'm going to share something I haven't shared. I'm currently in therapy. right now to deal with my anxiety driving. Yeah, that, what's next, what's next, what's next. Yes. Yes. Yeah. And if you're not growing, you're failing and I've got to do. And whenever I feel overwhelmed, and even when I have a lull in my life where it's like everything seems okay,

I want to fill it with something else. Same. And I also will say that like I don't ever sit down and think, huh, I'm, you know, I'm doing great. Like, this is cool. Like, you, you know, you can say all those nice things, but I'm constantly comparing myself to other people on social media. I'm constantly saying to myself, I have such a big team, like, I should be doing this by myself. Like, a lot of content creators don't share that they have a team. That my team is quite literally has to be, like, part of the videos because we produce them. It takes a lot of people to produce them. So it's not like an HGTV show where people are working behind. the scenes and the host is kind of like, oh yeah, I'm painting this whole wall myself.

People are involved in the videos. And it's funny because like there's been some shame that has come with that for me, you know, because I'm like, well, I should do it myself or these people are doing it themselves. I know how much work it is to manage people. Like there is no shame. You're a girl boss and that's incredible. And you can do so much more. My anxiety stops me from hiring more people because I always feel like this is all going to come crashing down at any moment and I don't want to take anyone with me. So I don't want to hire somebody because what if I can't pay them? And then they're dependent on me and what if this all goes under and what if I, because I'm so, this is such a piece of crap. Like my anxiety is like you've had luck. You're so

lucky. You're so lucky. And it's going to end at any moment. You better keep hustling and running and go into the next thing because yeah. I understand that feeling and that thought process so much. And it's so interesting because almost everyone I talk to who has a small business or who has one employee or no employees, that's the number one question I get is like, how do you employ people? Like how do you do that? And I received early on received a, early on received a.

really amazing opportunity from Shopify. I produced a whole other YouTube channel for them and hosted it. And that money, I immediately poured into my business. And I've always, at the beginning stages, I always viewed any success or brand deal or whatever I landed. I was like, okay, I'm going to pour this into the company. I'm going to pay myself as little as possible. and I'm going to hire people who are better than me and hire people who have strengths that I don't. Like my company could literally not function without my C.O. Amanda. Like she puts everything in my calendar. She plans our shoots. She has that film background. She also went to business school. Like she is good at all the things that I'm not.

And hiring her was a huge leap for me. Like she was well into her career. I knew what her salary was going to be. But I also have always viewed, if you hire well and you hire someone who is better at something than you are, they're going to make you money. Like it's going to help you grow your company. And so that's how I've kind of always viewed those things. It doesn't mean I wasn't scared shitless to do that, to do those hires. But I've always understood my goal.

And I've always broken down that goal into like, okay, well, how are you going to make this happen. And I'm still like not the, I, I don't make as much money as a lot of the people on my team. Like, I'm still underpaid for probably, yeah, I'm not paid as much as my other employees, but that's because I'm trying to build something and get to a point. Yeah, that's what every financial expert will say to do. That's what every, I mean, Amazon didn't turn a profit for 30 years. Exactly. Because everything they made, they reinvested in their business. business. I have a real fear with doing that because what if next year my business crashes and then I have nothing. So it's keeping me small. I'm not, I'm not as brave as you. And I feel like you are the

interview I needed. I feel bad for everyone listening at home because I feel like this is the therapy. I need to go to the next level because I'm letting my fear and anxiety of failure. Yeah. And I tell everybody not to do this. But I'm also. so doing this to not be a risk taker. The only thing I risk maybe is my own personal, like failure like I suck and people think, ha, ha, ha, you're bad. I'm okay with risking that, but I'm not okay with risking like anything above and beyond that, but no risk, no reward, right? And you, you don't say you're confident, but you're, yeah, you're brave and confident. But it's so interesting because it's so interesting because something I've been working through a lot in therapy.

is I, I am so sure of it's all going to work out and it's all going to be okay when it comes to my career. But yet, like, personally, there's also, I'm not brave personally. There's so many things that I am really not as brave and confident in as I am in my career. So I kind of think that I just, I think when I do these interviews and when I get these questions, it's like, yes, but also, you know, like I might be good at, in this area, but I'm not great in this area. And if I have any advice for anyone, it's higher people who are better at something than you are and who have different strengths than you,

because that truly has what has gotten me this far. It's come with a lot of like ego checks on my part and being like, okay, like this person's way better at this thing than you are. And that's okay. Like, I struggle with that almost daily and checking in like, am I good enough? Am I doing you're a good enough job. Am I, like, it's hard for me sometimes to believe that I'm the owner of this company and that actually I run the show. Like, it takes, I have to really psych myself up for that. So all the things you're feeling are like totally normal and anyone that's listening. And I don't really, I don't have it all together. Like it's, it's, that's not what I want people to think at all. But I have taken risks and I'm, I believe in myself enough in this aspect of my

life to take those risks for sure. I love that. Not everybody listening is going to be an entrepreneur and not everybody listening is going to like run this whole business, but I hope they're feeling inspired listening to you or watching you if they're watching it on YouTube to really go all in in some area of their life. Yes. What do you love and can you jump in and figure it out as you're swimming. Yes. That's so beautifully said. And also to just start, like to make that jump.

And if you look at my content five years ago, it's so embarrassing. It's not great. I'm still embarrassing now. I look at yours and I'm like, oh, my God. And five years from now, hopefully I'll be looking at this content that I'm producing. That's so embarrassing. But that's how you grow. And I think a lot of people don't realize that content creators have to start somewhere.

Like, you have to start or business owners. So to start somewhere, put it at a product that's not great, and eventually it'll evolve to being something greater and bigger. And that's how I feel about, like a lot of people listen to me because they want to get their home under control. It's the exact. The message is the same for every single area of your life. If you're living in clutter and chaos and you're like, my house is horrible and I am

embarrassed about it. You just get started. Exactly. And you organize with shoeboxes to start. And you just, and you decorate your house with what you have. or thrift store finds or, you know, a chair you find on the side of the road. And if you keep making it a priority because you know that you love this and you deserve this and this makes you happy, you will keep leveling up that aspect of your life. But everybody has passions in different

areas. And have you always been really passionate about interior design and creativity? Not interior design specifically. Well, kind of. Like when I was little, I love. to go to IKEA and look at all the displays. And my surroundings were really a way for me to feel like in control, even as a little kid. Like I, my surroundings have always been important to me in that in that sense. But I never grew up thinking I want to go into interior design specifically. But it combines all the things that I love to do. Like I love photography. I love creative writing like those are the things I was really interested in at chatelaine and I loved like pulling product to and curating you know a mood board for our shoots I loved being in the studio putting all those

products like just so so every it makes sense why I do what I do now um and yeah home decor for me like really kind of came from this place of how do I make myself feel the best that I can feel wherever I'm living and having like control over that aspect of my life. Let's let's talk back about I want to just share something else about the therapy thing. Yeah. For a second because this I'm seeing a new therapist lately and I was diagnosed with ADHD four years ago, which I was like, oh, this makes so much sense. Like I'm always looking for that dopamine rush in my life.

I've been chaotic my entire life and I've really embraced that chaos like, oh, I'm just a disaster. I'm a flighty mess. Blah, blah, blah. I'm going to do something exciting in the whole world. It's there. Jump in. Jump in. I'm crazy. And now that I'm seeing this new therapist, he's like, yeah, some of that might be ADHD, but a lot of that is anxiety. A lot of that is this anxious energy that looks like hyperactive ADHD, but that anxiety is causing that that hyper. And what happens if we remove that? What happens if we get calmer and we're not as anxious and not as anxiety? And you know what my brain says, Alexandra? The whole thing crashes down. Yeah. Because that is why I'm having any semblance of success because I'm nuts. And I'm just like, I better do, better do, better do, better do, better do.

And I'm not confident that I'll still be able to self-motivate without that kind of layer of anxiety, that underlying anxiety. So can we go back to that for you? Because you said that you're kind of getting that, you know, you're on medication now. Yeah. Are you still? Are you getting control of that nervous energy? I guess that's how, is that how you would describe it as well, that nervous energy?

And at the beginning of my, at the beginning of taking, I'm starting to take medication, I was really worried that I was going to lose that drive. like I was like well actually is this beneficial because I'm so driven I was such a like I got such good grades in school I never did anything like quote unquote bad like I and because I had anxiety like I was paralyzed by my anxiety but my anxiety and my panic reached a point where I was like I actually don't have a choice like I'm not even thriving in this situation like it's not it's not benefiting me in any way it's actually hindering me and in Interestingly enough, when I started taking medication, that's kind of when I went out on my own. And like, all the things, all these opportunities that came up for me, I never would have been able to do those. I don't think, unless I was medicated to like doing a TED talk, doing like interviews in front of people, like going on television. Like I, those things probably wouldn't have been possible.

And I guess to answer your question, it's a really interesting one. And I actually think about this often. I think I'm trying to settle into a place of trusting myself more and knowing that even though I'm less like, you know, okay, got to do this, got to this. Like, I kind of like care less if that makes sense. Like it's like I don't, I obviously there, I care, but I care less about being the best of the best of the best. And it's really freeing, to be honest, because it kind of allows me to actually put out a ton of content, try new things, like do things that maybe would have, I wouldn't have done before. I don't know if that answers your question. It does. And I'm so glad you said that because I'm really embracing this whole, I've always been like not a perfectionist. But any what I thought it was my anxiety, maybe that was propelling me forward. But now it's like maybe my. Maybe my. all the ways that I'm just like, ah, it's okay, it's good enough. Do it kind of shitty. Just make sure

you do it. And that try, that's really, I think, the underlying success. Yes. Not my anxiety. And I think, yeah. Sorry. Sorry. Yeah, no, go. Yeah. Let's just tell people listening to do things shitty. Exactly. But I also think like that trusting myself piece was really important too. Like my anxiety, hasn't my anxiety didn't cause me to be driven like my anxiety didn't it may be propelled that drive a little more than someone who doesn't have anxiety but i'm still a driven person i'm still someone who wants to achieve i'm still someone who has these big dreams and aspirations so that hasn't left and it's just made it so it's more enjoyable like when i'm on vacation i don't feel like i have to be working every single day but i but i write things down and I allow myself to brainstorm and still like do things.

But yeah, the anxiety being like a little bit more under control has just allowed me to do so me amazing things that look easy, but they wouldn't have been easy without that help. I love this. Okay. I'm going to go back to interior design and we're going to talk more about your book. What? Yeah. And seriously, please, everybody go right now, subscribe to your YouTube channel.

but I'm wondering if you have a secret like I will share my secret for getting up and getting stuff done because I know a lot of people listening there is a block there they have big dreams and goals for themselves too but there's something going on where they're just not being able to get past it and get up and take action and for me my secret most definitely is every day I write myself a to-do list and the things on the to-do list are small yes so i'm not going to say like film an entire freaking youtube video and edit today today is i'm going to just set up cameras and talk right like that's what i'm doing today or i'm just going if it's a home task it's something it's not like clean my whole house today it's i'm going to clean the kitchen today yeah and that little

steps, but writing it down and kind of giving myself a goalpost that I have to meet by the time I go to bed has propelled me forward. And I'm wondering if you have like a little tip of something that someone can incorporate in their life, too, to help get them. We only live one life, Alexandra. We live one freaking life man. And let's be proud of it. Totally. And I think that can totally apply to home decor and my viewers too. I know a lot of people are like, well, I want to buy this rug and then I want to buy a sofa and I have these big dreams and aspirations for my space. And so my book, the kind of goal was to break it down from the planning section to like the doing section to the living section. And I really, my whole, my whole brand has always been,

not even my brand, my kind of view of home decor has always been that sometimes like it's the smallest things that have a really big impact. So painting your walls white, like moving into a rental and just painting your walls white, doing that one thing can make your space feel fresher and brighter and more like yours. Or painting an accent wall or getting a new vase. Like all of these tiny things can make us feel better in our spaces. Scent is huge for me like buying a candle or making your own diffuser blend or like these small things can have such a big impact. And so I always try to promote just like you said, writing a list and starting small, starting with a mood board, starting with a paint color and committing to something. And just like

we were talking about people being scared to start, you know, their lives, people are also really scared to make decisions and to regret those decisions. And, And I've always just said, like, guys, it's just paint. Like, it's paint. Paint over it. You know, you can sell your sofa if you hate it in five years. But for me, like, just buying trendy things or things that I feel are timeless has never worked for me.

Because I'm like, well, okay, the sofa's neutral. And that's okay. It's, you know, but I wanted a pink sofa. Like, I want a pink sofa in my space. And there's so many just, like, companies. out there that can help you hack your furniture and not feel like buying, you know, a rug is going to dictate how your space is going to look for the next 20 years. So yeah, I just, I really encourage people to have fun with it and not be so nervous about making a mistake. And listen to my,

listen, listeners, listen, don't wait until you've decluttered and organized and tidy. You don't have to put off making a space beautiful until you have the money or the time or everything's just right in the stars align and now to do it. I think there is power in pretty. And I've talked about this before, but making your dining room table pretty some way, getting a centerpiece or painting it or getting a new one, you're going to keep that dining room tidier. You're going to be inspired to go a little bit further. So don't be afraid to start with a little home decor. Paint your walls. You paint your walls. You're going to want to declutter the floor and you're going to want to go to the next level. There is power in making a space pretty, not just power in motivating you and

getting it clean and tidy, but power every day. So I just recently redid my bedroom and I put these bright, crazy curtains in. Everybody hated them and they said they're horrible. And everyone's like, what are you doing? Do you love that when you're so happy with something and then the internet has other ideas. Yep. Yep. And you're like, everybody had other ideas. They're like, that looks horrible. Let me tell you this. I wake up every morning. I look at those curtains and I get a, I'm like, I love those freaking curtains. Yeah. Every single morning. I wake up with like this little jolt of happy. Totally. And that's like every, not every, but most corners of my home, I'm like, oh, that little lamp makes me so happy. And that picture above my bed makes me so happy. And like I said, like I, I understand that

I have a kind of a weird job where I, you know, I'm very fortunate to like home decor is my job. So I feel like I have an abundance of, I can experiment. It is a process for me. I can switch things out. I understand that that's not everyone's life. And maybe someone can't afford to deck their house out entirely at once. And that's not the, like, that's not the expectation. The expectation is starting small.

and even a lamp or like a paint color on the wall, like we were saying, or a new throw pillow, like those things can have a really big impact. Just like I would imagine organizing that jump short that like every time you open it, you're like, it's annoying, you know, like every time you open it, you're like, it's, there's stuff falling out. I can't. And it becomes this task of like. But then when you, when you organize it, every time you open it, you're like, look what I did.

You're proud. Exactly. You feel good about yourself. And that's the real power here. Every time we do a little thing that we're like, I feel good, our confidence grows. Our trust in our self-growth. Our self-love grows. And we're reminded of that every time we look at the beautiful space every single freaking day.

So it's hard in the beginning. I don't know if you've ever, I know you organized your whole house with the home edit line. It was very fun. Yeah. That was so fun. Have you ever struggled with excess clutter and mess? Probably not because your little anxiety head is like everything. Well, when I moved in with my partner, Noah, I don't have the, we're very opposite

is what I'm going to say when it comes to organization. I like everything just so. And he's like, oh, pile over here. Like he just doesn't, it doesn't, but clutter doesn't bother him in the way of bothers me. But yeah, I've definitely experienced like, I feel like sometimes, oh, we have so much stuff. Like, we just have so much stuff and we have an excess of stuff. And so I try, I would say, like, every season to just declutter and, like, take stock of what I have and what I haven't used. And a lot of excess of stuff for me, it just drives me nuts. It makes me feel like so

disorganized and cluttered in my mind. Yeah. But you put, yeah, you declutter on a regular basis. And I think that's the secret. Growing up, right, we were never, we were taught you have to vacuum and you have to do your dishes and you have to put away your laundry. But nobody ever said, hey, man, you also have to get rid of stuff on a regular basis. Because if you don't, you will be completely overwhelmed and have way too much stuff. And because this isn't something that's been taught. And it does go against human nature because we are hunter and gatherers. Giving away feels kind of wrong. I think a lot of people allow their anxiety and fear in those natural tendencies to hoard because at our core, that is human nature to hoard. That's what safety and security looks like. We end up with spaces that make us really miserable because we're not like cavemen and there's a target around the corner. Not for us Canadians, but you know what I'm saying. There's an IKEA. And we're just constantly bringing things in. If we're not getting things out at the same rate, we can be drowning. So I'm a big component of like declutter, declutter. But,

but also make your space beautiful. And there's something really incredible about little DIY projects, little projects, whether it is decluttering a drawer or painting a chair or painting a wall or recovering something in fabric is so easy. I just discovered how easy this is that can transform not only your space, but your confidence and your whole life, really. Definitely. And when I organized last year using those home had beens,

I didn't, even though I had heard it a thousand million times, I didn't realize like the power of giving something a home. And so now I feel like it's been almost a year since we, since I did that organization project. And I feel like everything's kind of stayed like pretty organized because everything has a place. And I'll have to go through sometimes when the bin gets full, like decluttered a bit. But I just know where everything goes. And that's really helpful. I wanted to ask you a question, though, but organizing. Do you think that people have, like for, okay, I would say I'm pretty organized, my home's pretty organized, but there's certain things, and I can let things go very easily.

Like, I'm like, we don't need this. We're never going to use this, you know. It's not, I'm not very sentimental. But do you think that people are sentimental about, like, at least one category of thing? Because for me, it's like old letters that I've kept or card. It's like I can't give that stuff away. And I would say that's like the one area that I'm so not organized in. I have these five plastic bins at my parents' house in their basement,

just like piled high of paper and like notebooks that I just can't give away. So do you have any advice for like, sorry, I'm asking you the questions, but do you have any advice? No, I love this. Or is it just something that's like, okay, if it is organized within a bin, like keep it. it's not really serving me. You know, it's not, I don't go and open those boxes hardly ever. I don't think I have years. So here's what I'm going to say. Yes, you are sentimental when it comes to written things. And that's, everybody does have like one area of their life where there, sometimes it's photos, sometimes it's home decor, whatever it is that they're really like children's items. If they've been a mom,

get really sentimentally attached to those. So I think there's two things going on. One, you're doing a great job because you've given it a home. But two, you've told yourself you can't get rid of anything that's special that's written. My suggestion would be for you to limit yourself to three big totes and just look. Got it. Like take a weekend, open those up, go through the memories, like look at them and be like, oh, this is beautiful because I guarantee 50% of that isn't really worthy of the tote. It's just at the time it felt like it was. Yeah.

It's just you haven't gone back and revisited those memories. And here's why it's beautiful. You actually get to experience and relive all those beautiful things while going through it, which you're missing out on right now because you're just leaving them collecting dust at your parents. So relive those. And you can streamline and create yourself a cultivated collection of the best of the best. But keep it in a tote. I call the memory totes.

And I think three is a great amount for somebody like you who has like one specific thing. But someday you're going to get married. You may have children. You may not. I'm not judging. But you are young, man. You have a lifetime worth of memories. Yeah.

And I don't want you to burden yourself with 25 totes of written memories. Right. So if you could every season, every fall and every spring, go through those and create a cultivated collection, it's just called the memory day. memory making moment days. I love that. Thanks. That's something I've been that's been like in the back of my mind. But you're right. It's like I'm not even experiencing those memories because they're sitting in bins. And I sometimes think like why like what of what day am I waiting for? You know, to open those up. And so yeah. Okay, thanks for that advice. That's great. Yeah. And once you do that, you're like this one's worthy of keeping. This one not so much. It'll feel a lot

easier. You just haven't made time for it. That's all. Yeah. Yeah. Great. Well, thank you. Okay, this has been amazing. I'm feeling so inspired. I got to hire more people. I want to jump in. I want to live my life. More like you. I'm so impressed. Please tell everyone where they can find your new book, which I am like right now going to go get and how they can follow you and check out your incredible YouTube videos. Yeah, so I'm at Alexandria Gator on YouTube, on Instagram, Pinterest, on TikTok. book is available pretty much where every, you know, book is sold. But Amazon is a really easy place to grab it. I think in the States like Barnes & Noble and Canada, Indigo. Yeah, thank you so much for all of your kind words and your support. It means so much. I'm really impressed by just the

way you live your life and you just jump in and make your passion also your career while also helping others and running this incredible business and you're so brave. You're so brave, and we could all learn to be a little bit more like you. It gives me so much chills that I'm going to start saying that. That's going to be my new 2024 affirmation. It's just brave. So thank you for saying that. It means so much to me.

Yes. Thank you. And thank you everyone listening at home. I hope you're feeling inspired today to make one space beautiful, whether it's a drawer or a shelf or paint a wall white. It will change your life, just saying. And we'll see you guys next time. Hi.