You Should Never Work With Family, They Said

Bonnie and Lily’s Story

Once upon a time there were two sisters who didn’t get along…

My sister and I weren’t close as children. Lily was the annoying younger sister who stole my clothes and stained my shirts. As adults, well, I guess you could say we grew up! We’re very close and agree on many things, but where we disagree (like politics), we disagree intensely! We’re both stubborn and opinionated and passionate yet unswervingly loyal.

So when we decided to start a podcast together we knew there would be lots of fireworks.

But let me take you back to the beginning.

I was at radio station 96five recording my regular segments, Organise4Life, when the producer said, “You should do a podcast. You’ve got a great voice and you’d be really good at it.” I laughed it off and said something about cloning myself first. But the thought kept nagging at me.

About a month later, Lily, who was living in New Zealand, messaged me out of the blue one day.

“WHY HAVEN’T YOU STARTED A PODCAST YET???”

What?! Is someone trying to tell me something?

I brushed her off but spent time musing it over. It was something I would really enjoy but what would it look like? I knew I wanted a co-host (because who wants to listen to me talk for 30 minutes?) but it had to be someone who I would love doing it with, even when it inevitably got tough.

There was only one person who made the cut.

I called Lily up and told her a long story about all the proverbial ducks that were starting to line up. When I announced I wanted her to co-host with me, she burst out, “The WHOLE time you were telling that story I was telling myself not to get my hopes up, that you would pick somebody else!!!”

It seemed like the stars were aligning!

Fast forward nearly a year – Little Miss Organised was growing, I had 3 kids small kids, I started a new business and Lily moved back to Brisbane and had her first baby. We were busy little chickens who grabbed every opportunity we could to develop our podcast idea.

Even though Lily had turned into an organising machine as an adult, she was adamant she didn’t want to play the messy sister role since I was ‘Little Miss Organised’ (full disclosure: she DID have a floordrobe for most of her teen years). Lily had studied Psychology and with my education background, and 9 years of Organising – and our journey as parents – we knew people could benefit from our experience.

The Little Home Organised Podcast launched in June 2020 and hit #1 in the ‘How To’ category on the first day. It is now listened to in 26 countries. We help the everyday person to take small steps to declutter and get organised to reclaim time for the things they love.  Our motto is ‘progress, not perfection’ (no Pinterest perfect pantries here!). We’re passionate about organising, and love that our listeners are too! We’ve had some great episodes, from organising your kitchen like a chef, to organising children with ASD and helping a loved one who is hoarding.

Life can be pretty chaotic, but 2020 has really taken the cake. Many people have been forced to stay at home and have realised their home isn’t the sanctuary they’d always wanted it to be. More people than ever are decluttering, getting organised and being intentional about the storage they purchase. There is no better time to declutter and organise your home than now. And Little Home Organised is here to help!

Our first online course launches in October. To be the first to know when The Essentials Guide lands, join the Little Home Organised Community on Facebook.

And remember, progress, not perfection!

Lily & Bonnie