Interview by Mallika Malhotra, The Brand CEO

Mallika Malhotra: Thank you for being part of this, I’m excited to do this with you!

Bettina Blanchard: Me too! Maine Vibes! I love living in Maine and the idea of sharing what lights us up. It’s an inspiring way to live. 

MM: Can you introduce yourself, state your pronouns and talk a little bit about your business?

BB: My name is Bettina Blanchard, my pronouns are she/her and I am a professional home organizer. I help people to love where they live. It's not all I've ever done in my career, but it's been a passion of mine in life and my business for over 20 years.

“Tapping is used for pain, physical & emotional, trauma, motivation, and sleep. It’s a wonderful mind/body tool anyone can learn.”

- Bettina Blanchard

MM: You do a little bit more than home organizing?

BB: I do, yes! I help people who have too much stuff and not enough time, get their property market-ready so it sells for top dollar, fast. 

I also teach online a method that makes home organizing easy and fun to do.

Many people were never taught how to organize their homes. So I developed a simple system I call SOS. Sort. Organize. Simplify. It helps you to know where to start and what to do next.

And it works beautifully until you come across something you don’t use or love but can’t let go of it. 

Maybe you think “I might need it someday.” Or it was a gift, or an heirloom, or you paid a lot of money for it. All these reasons to keep things you don’t use or love boil down to fear. Fear of letting go. Fear of forgetting the memory or the person. Fear you are making a mistake. 

Clutter comes from holding onto things we don’t use or love but simply are afraid to let go of. Even my 3 step system couldn’t help people who were keeping things because of fear. 

So I kept trying to figure out how to let go of things we don’t use or love. Then about five years ago I was introduced to EFT, the Emotional Freedom Techniques, also known as tapping.

I learned about the effects of tapping on the body and how it works. When you are in any kind of negative state and you tap on 9 different acupuncture points, it sends a calming signal to your brain. 

Now I teach people when they find themselves stuck, how to tap to help calm their minds, so they can take action. The smallest action can often start us moving forward again and make all the difference.

MM: So that's how The Tidy Tapper was born!

BB: Yes! It’s Tidy, like a simple system, and it's tapping, like Emotional Freedom Techniques.

MM: Not only are you building a point of difference, differentiating yourself from the other home organizers by using this tool as part of your process, but now you're able to scale your brand. You're moving out of the localized in-person to a new platform where you can serve more people. 

Let's talk about that a little bit because that's a major shift in your business and probably a shift in your mindset and how you think about business. Any lessons learned from the beginning of entrepreneurship to who you are now?

BB: One of the lessons I learned was, I thought I needed to be the expert. To be in charge and keep some distance from my clients. The reality is I can help much better if I lead with empathy and share my experience. It's really ok to feel a heart connection with the people that I'm helping. Besides, that's just who I am. 

MM: In the beginning, a lot of us think of business as transactional, very professional. Whereas business is about building a relationship, right? The more you're in business, the more you realize you can best serve your clients by actually connecting with them on a deeper level. 

You've been an entrepreneur for how many years?

BB: Over 20 years. 

“I can help much better if I lead with empathy and share my experience.” - Bettina Blanchard

MM: Over 20 years, I’m sure there are lots of lessons learned through big challenges! What has been one of your biggest challenges over that 20-year period?

BB: I think from the business perspective, it really was how can I expand when this business relied primarily on my personal energy and experience. I’m one small human with a big heart. I want more people to love where they live, but there are only so many doorways I can cross in a given week.

The Tidy Tapper allows me to be able to share what I’ve learned, what I know to be true, and a proven system, with a wider audience.

MM: Scaling your business is a hard problem to crack, sometimes it takes time and sometimes you're constantly pivoting and shifting. You've really done such a wonderful job of being in someone's house and doing the work to now creating a DIY-type of program that someone can download and get the tools that they need to do it for themselves. You can help so many people around the world, but then you have different programs where you get a little bit deeper with people, so it’s a different suite of services that really help your clients at the end of the day, which is great. Can you share some wins, and tell me something that you're really proud of that you've done in the last couple of years?

BB: Part of the way I serve people is by holding the space. I’ve created a community on zoom where we practice tapping on our challenges every week. It’s called the Tidy Tapper Club.

Tapping is cool, but it does look a little different. There are people, and I was one of them, who felt like, “Oh I get how this works. This is kind of cool.” But I didn’t necessarily feel comfortable doing it by myself.  I found it helps to have somebody lead the way. Especially in the beginning.

MM: That's so great to have, a nice, safe space, building a community, and doing something that you love! Speaking of a community, we always need people in our circle, cheering us on, because it's hard to be an entrepreneur with all the highs and the lows. Who do you have in your corner that has helped you build your business?

BB: Oh, I’ve had lots of people over the years help with things like mindset and taking action, copywriting, and tech support. I love all these people and I wouldn’t be where I’m at without them. 

And one notable in my corner right now is you! 

When we met, you saw ways you could help that made perfect sense. Encouraging me to bring my authentic self to my brand and now it’s coming to life! That’s part of my secret sauce, so Mallika, thank you! 

Dominique Miles helps me with mindset. She’s been on my team as an organizer as well and really understands my business. We circle up a couple of times a week so that I can stay focused on my one thing.

MM: You always need someone like that!

BB: She is really good at it! We're not even in the same generation and I love that!

MM: Yeah, it doesn't matter, right? It’s an energy and that give and take connection. I'm glad you have people in your corner, including me. It is very hard to do business alone. Let’s talk about being a woman-owned business, what does that mean to you?

BB: I love to help other professional home organizers get started. Often I hire them to come work along with me. I don't hide anything. I share my successes and my, “Wow if I could do this differently!” That's been a lot of fun.

MM: You have a new website coming up, you have a lot of beautiful social media posts going on… Where do you see your business in the future?

BB: I see The Tidy Tapper as a movement, even more than a business. It's acknowledging that as human beings in first-world countries, we are people that like our stuff. That’s fine as long as it’s helping us live our best lives. When our stuff takes over things are out of balance. That’s how Tidy Taper can help.

Tapping is used for pain, physical & emotional, trauma, motivation, and sleep. It’s a wonderful mind/body tool anyone can learn.

I'm so grateful that I discovered it and how nicely it works together to help people love where they live.

I believe happiness comes when we have room to be creative, enjoy being with people, do fun things, and not spend all our time managing our stuff.

Tidy Tapper is a movement because it strives to find the balance necessary for a happy, fulfilling life. 

MM: That's really powerful, I love it. For Maine Vibes Magazine, it's all about the good vibes and I’m curious, what gives you good vibes and good feelings?

BB: Oh you mean beside tapping? I have a lot of fun every day with my family, friends, and one really cute little dog. I get to play music in several bands… there are lots of great vibes there. 

My life is tidy and organized not because I think it’s a great thing to be, but because of all the fun things I get to do!

We Airbnb our home and we have a little camper that is like our tiny little house on wheels. We go off and have adventures while people are having their own adventures in our home. That’s really fun!

MM: Any advice that you would give your younger self about being an entrepreneur and owning a business?

BB: Trust your instinct and listen to your inner champion. Our instincts have, I think, two voices. We have the inner champion who sees the hopeful, the potential and we have our inner guardian. Our inner guardian wants to protect us and keep us safe. So I would say, honor both, but give your inner visionary more reign, embrace that part of you.

 MM: Yes! I love that advice. Any other women-owned businesses you'd love to shout out?

BB: My colleague and friend Mandy Schumaker from Higher Performing People. Mandy brings professionals and business owners together for monthly mastermind meetings with both a business and personal development focus. I’ve been a part of them for almost 15 years. They are wonderful.

Having a brand that reflects your personality so that you can really serve the people that you're best set up to serve, that's what you bring to the table Mallika. 

Dominique Marie Miles, her area of brilliance is around mindset, around filling your cup and I love putting those two things together! 

MM: Thank you for the shout-out! Anything else in closing, you would like the readers to know about you or your business? 

BB: I’m on a mission to put an end to people feeling overwhelmed and unhappy in their homes. There’s a reason for the clutter and once you understand it and have a few tools in your toolbag, taking charge of your stuff can be easy and fun. 

Especially when you are part of a group of people on the same path. Check out our called group called Tap into a Tidy Life on Facebook. It’s free and it’s fun. We inspire each other with our success and what’s possible.

Many thanks to Bettina Blanchard for sharing your story and to Mallika Malhotra for interviewing Bettina!

Web: https://tidytapper.com

Instagram: @tidy_tapper

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