What Do Home Stagers and Major League Baseball Players Have in Common?

Well it certainly is not our annual multi-million dollar contracts . . . or the papparazzi that follow us around! LOL

But seriously . . . I was out to dinner with my husband and friends on Sunday, and the Tampa Bay-Boston final series game was on television. We were seated at the bar waiting for our table, and people were shouting and yelling for their preferred team.

I said hello to the man seated next to me - he looked to be in his mid-50's - and as he watched the game he sort of whimsically said, "You know - those guys really have it great. They get to do something they have loved since childhood and make money at it."

Hmmm.

So I turned to him and said, "Well I may not make the multi-million dollar annual contracts of the baseball players, but I get to do something I love and have been passionate about since I was young."

He was intrigued - I told him about Home Staging, and found out he was an engineer (boring - to me anyway) and from the environmental business arena (where I used to work) . . .

Think about it - it's true. As Home Stagers, we get to use our creativity that we've had since we were very young, and make money and have a life because of it.

Most people (including me) were taught to get educated, get a good job, pay bills, and pursue something that helped make enough money to support the lifestyle we want.

When I found Home Staging as a viable business, it opened my eyes and my life to the possibilities of doing something I really enjoy. I hope to teach my kids that their passions are worth pursuing - and there are ways to make income doing something they love not just doing something for money.

There is a difference, as most of us know. Any of us that have ever worked for someone else doing something we really did not enjoy can attest to this truth.

I think there are many people that are following their passions and doing things they truly enjoy. The true test is to ask ourselves, "Do I see myself doing this for the rest of my life and if so, will I be happy?"

The best part of all is that we CAN earn good money as a Home Stager - it totally depends on how we build our business. We can be successful, we can even have "fans."

Home Run for Home Staging!

- Jennie

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To work with Home Stagers that are passionate about what they do to help you Stage your house or listing, call We Stage Sacramento - 1-888-WE-STAGE. Serving Placer, El Dorado and Sacramento Counties since 2002.

Do we need a 12-Step Program for Stagers?

I blogged back in July about Home Stagers having A.D.D. http://activerain.com/blogsview/585638/Do-Stagers-have-A
– and although I know most of us do not actually have that condition – I did think that Stagers enjoy staging because of the short term gratification element.

Along those same lines - I also believe that those of that have found our life passion with Staging are ADDicted to Staging.

What is an addict? Websters defines it as: A person who cannot resist a habit, especially the use of drugs or alcohol, for physiological or psychological reasons.

OK – let’s just remove the drugs and alcohol part – and put in “A person who cannot resist a habit, especially the use of Staging and creativity, for physiological and psychological reasons.” – and there you have it!

We that love Home Staging are Staging Addicts!

Does this mean we need our own 12-Step program for support? Having grown up in a 12-step household (so this is not in any way meant to demean the helpful groups that saved my family’s life), I can just hear the statements now at the weekly support groups – “SA – Stagers Anonymous.”

“Hello, my name is Jennie, and I am a Staging Addict.” Group: “Hello, Jennie.”

The 12 Steps would be launched with the statement:

1. I am powerless over Staging - and help declutter other houses so their lives will not be unmanageable.

2. Came to believe that a power greater than myself – Staging - could restore me and my clients’ houses to sanity.

Etcetera.

The truth is, like an addict, I CAN feel myself going through withdrawals when I have not had my hands in someone else’s house. My husband and kids notice it too – as I begin to “re-Stage” our own house – rearranging things, straightening, and fussing in the house – in order to make something “old new again.” It bothers them – they want to be able to leave a blanket on the ground or not put the centerpiece back where it belongs after playing our Wii. To me – I often don’t feel complete until my own house is back “in order” and yet I do have clutter – the kind that most families with children would have. Books, papers, collections, displayed school projects, and laundry – lots of laundry. And yet I recognize when I am crossing over to the addiction fix - I become sort of like a whirling dervish - spinning through my house cleaning, straightening, and re-doing displays. Time for a Staging project - FAST!


I do believe we that love Staging are ADDICTED to it - as one of my mentors proudly shared, "It gets in our blood stream - it's addictive." And yet I also know it is one of those "healthy" addictions. We are not harming anyone in the process of Staging (unless we drop a box on our toe), and we do help others to achieve their goals.


Now as I am writing this - I realize that as Home Stagers, we are addicted to Staging spaces and making houses more visually appealing, which is true. But what about the other role we play in this 12-Step world?


Think about it. Are we also codependent as Stagers? Do we do for others what they should do for themselves - but are not able? Yes we do. The decluttering, the proper presentation for the overwhelmed home seller - are all things the seller (or Realtor) are not able to do - and we come in and "save the day" with our plans, our creativity, our inventory, our knowledge.


Hmmm. I had not thought of that before now - but there is a grain of truth. We do help rescue the sale time and time again, offering up our solutions, telling our sellers not to be concerned - we'll take care of it - and allowing them to step aside and pass the responsibility for presentation of the house to us.


I guess we play both roles – we are the proverbial Addict and the Enabler. But the good news is that we are not hurting anyone in the process – we are helping. We are helping feed our own addiction and helping the Client achieve their goal of selling, even if it means we have to do the work ourselves.

Afterall - life should not be all boring - we have to have some FUN to feed our spirit - even if it is an addiction that can drive some of our family and friends crazy! And that is a whole other 12-step program.


SA unite!

Home Staging Standards are Important

The Olympics are nearly over - and my familly and I have enjoyed watching all the competitors. We have cheered for winners and felt badly for those that had unfortunate episodes where they were defeated. Whether they win or don't place in the top 3, the athletes all have one thing in common - they had to qualify to be considered in the top for their country.

For Home Staging - we have to have standards as well. There are those that don't believe this in practice even though in theory they may spout the need for standards. The International Association of Home Staging Professionals (IAHSP) is a professional association open to all Stagers. However, to join IAHSP a Stager must meet standards of education and quality. They must first gain education and earn a professional designation and then agree to the code of ethics.

The designation IAHSP chose as the one Stagers needed to have in order to join is the Accredited Staging Professional (ASP) Designation. It is the longest standing designation with the most history and credibility behind it. It boasts over 14,000 graduates from classes that have been taught since 2,000 and was developed by the Creator of Home Staging, Barb Schwarz.

Just like the National Association of Realtors (NAR) requires members to first be licensed real e state agents, and then get additional education, and join at the national, state, and local levels in order to be a member, IAHSP does the same. In fact most associations for a professional group require some sort of education and standards in order to join. The American Medical Association is only open to MD's, and the National Speakers Association is only open to professional speakers that have to meet certain criteria.

In the world of home staging, there are groups that allow ANYONE to join - regardless of their background - education or not. Is this helping to serve the Staging industry? No. By allowing just anyone to join, it waters down the quality of service and membership of the group that becomes only as strong as the weakest members.

Opening up a "professional association" to anyone that calls themselves a Stager means I could wake up one day after watching a bunch of HGTV shows and proclaim myself a Stager and join this group. I would be in the same category in the eyes of the public that does not know better - even though I have professional education, a designation, and adhere to a code of ethics that is enforceable. I am not interested in belonging to a group that waters down the importance of professionalism in Home Staging by allowing hobbyists and un-educated people to join.

When looking at selecting a home stager, it is important to find out what association they belong to - and make sure that the association itself is one that serves the industry with a higher expectation of performance - not only in how a Stager interacts with their clients, but also in their overall quality of work.

As an ASP Master Stager, I do belong to IAHSP - and am a proud member of the first and best association serving our industry.

- Jennie

Home Staging Convention - IAHSP & ASPs Lead the Home Staging Industry

I just attended the annual IAHSP Convention in Seattle and it was so great! I am so excited to share all the new services and tools with my clients - as no one else in the industry has the resources - than Accredited Staging Professionals. Stagedhomes.com has put together state-of-the-art and cutting edge products and services that will make our role as ASP Stagers serving sellers and Realtors even easier!

I met so many wonderful ASP Stagers from all over the United States and Canada that are working to grow successful Home Staging businesses. The open sharing of what is working in all markets was so helpful, and the high level of education we received invaluable. The convention featured speakers that shared on key marketing strategies, internet marketing, working with clients, integrating multi-media approaches to our presentations, and business management, inventory mamagmenet, and business planning. We heard about key new market niches we can approach to grow our revenue and continue to thrive in Staging even with some areas where the foreclosures have outnumbered traditional listings.

Overall it was fabulous and Barb Schwarz, President & CEO of Stagedhomes.com, was the visionary behind our Convention and inspiration that fed our spirits and hearts throughout the event.

I am excited to depart from Seattle in a few short hours and get back home to Roseville, CA where I will be implementing many new services for our key clients.

Home Staging works - and I am so proud to be associated wth Stagedomes.com and the ASP Masters and ASPs around the country that uphold integrity as the number one trait for business.