Today we’d like to introduce you to Jill McMeekin.
Jill, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
In 2015, I took a big risk. I quit my job and took a six-month sabbatical (God bless my husband!) The purpose of taking a sabbatical was to self-realize, try new things, and figure out my next steps. I was tired of working somewhere for two years, quitting, finding another job, working two years, quitting. You get the picture. Self-realizing is tough to do when you’re 28 years old. But I gave it my best shot.
On Day 1 of my sabbatical, I deep cleaned our grill. I woke up early that morning, made a pot of coffee, and rushed outside with excitement. I disassembled the entire grill, scrubbed the grates, cleaned, primed and polished the thing until it looked brand new. I hadn’t had that much fun in a long time.
On Day 2, I got out my ruler, colored pens, and huge white “thinking” paper, and created a sabbatical calendar. Then I created a sabbatical to-do list. And a sabbatical project list. I had all of my days mapped out, all of my “must try this” items written down. I had a plan. I could not WAIT for this sabbatical to get started.
On Day 3, I purged all of our office papers, re-purposed the office closet, labeled receipts, re-visited some budget items in excel, and took the car to the car wash. I really like their free vacuum stations because I love to vacuum.
Days 4 – 30 followed this same pattern. After I completely re-organized and re-systematized everything in our home, I found myself helping other people organize their lives. I organized things, papers, finances, calendars, projects, lists, more things, files, taxes. I organized everything. Cleaned everything. Systematized everything.
I couldn’t get enough. These were activities that fed my soul and brought me deep joy. These activities also happened to be things that most people hate. Despise. Cringe at the thought. But I LOVED it.
On Day 30, my husband lovingly said to me, “These six months are about you. Take time for yourself. Do you what you want to do. You don’t have to work so hard every day.”
Work so hard? This isn’t work. This is play! He was right, however, about the discover part. I did take the time to discover. And what I found were my unique abilities to take chaos and create order, to take stress and create peace, and to take inefficiency and create efficiency. At the end of my six months, as I sat at my kitchen island polishing my silverware (I had run out of things to do), I realized that I wanted to start my own business.
In January of 2016, I filed my LLC. Six months later, I hired a business coach. One year later, I had helped dozens of clients create systems in their homes and businesses. Now, here I am, in my 5th year of business, creating online courses for homeowners, speaking to groups all over the Valley, and sharing insights and blog posts on social media.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Not at all! I really struggled with self-confidence in the beginning. You really have to believe in yourself as an expert to own your own business. It’s also really hard to be a solopreneur. I am a major extrovert, so working entirely by myself was a huge pivot from years of having co-workers. Luckily, I found awesome groups of other women business owners to connect with and a soundboard with, plus public speaking has been really fulfilling.
J. Ryan Solutions – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
I am an organizing coach who inspires homeowners to create systems in their lives. I focus on the 4 Cs of household management: Clutter, Cash, Calendars, and Cleaning. Yes, I love alliteration! I believe that if we run our homes like a business, we can free up time and headspace to focus on what brings us JOY. I do not want homeownership and family life to be stressful, overwhelming and burdensome. I want home to be a place of peace and efficiency. I want us to focus on minimizing and streamlining our things, our finances, our time, and our cleaning routines.
I am proud of my ingenuity and tenacity. I want my company to be a source of solutions and inspiration for homeowners everywhere. I am SO excited for my online courses. I am pacing to have them filmed next fall, so I will be working hard over the next year to make sure these courses have exactly what homeowners are looking for: smart, useful information that is presented in an easy-to-use educational format. I love being on camera, so I think this is going to be really fun!
What is “success” or “successful” for you?
If I am making a difference with my business, then I am successful. The more people I can impact, the more homeowners I can help, the more successful I become. I LOVE helping people. I love solving problems, fixing things, finding easier ways to do things, and coaching and encouraging people through difficult journeys. This is a big reason why I pivoted to the digital space and decided to create online courses. I want to give the world access to all of my systems, processes, solutions, and let people see inside my brain. I believe so passionately about organization and systems. It is what I think about and lives by every single day. I want as many people as possible to experience the joy of systems. That is success to me!
Contact Info:
- Website: www.jryan.solutions
- Email: jill@jryan.solutions
- Instagram: @jryansolutions
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jryansolutions28/
Image Credit:
Jennifer Bowen Photography
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