It’s Nice to Meet You
Hello! It’s been a while since I’ve posted an update, so for those of you who are new to the Yellow House, welcome! I’m Alyssa. It’s wonderful to meet you.
My life doesn’t look like I expected. I’m a business owner and entrepreneur, but I got my education in psychology and teaching. I had planned to be a classroom teacher, and thought that was where my life was headed. Instead, shortly after marrying my best friend, my life went a little off the rails. Shortly after that, the whole WORLD went off the rails, and I had to reevaluate. I wasn’t going to be able to do the thing I had dreamed of. But that was okay. I could find a new dream.
The new dream turned out to be home organization! I tripped and fell face-first into it. While I was at home trying to decide what to do next, I was becoming increasingly unhappy with all the home organization advice out there. Clearly, that advice was geared toward a person who wasn’t me, because trying to keep house was all I was doing, and I seemed to be failing at it!
When I was diagnosed with autism, it all began to make sense. My autism and ADHD weren’t going to allow me to use the same effort-demanding systems that worked for other people. I gave up on traditional advice, and I started experimenting to see what was going to work for me. If I was lucky, I thought, I’d end up being able to run my home in a way that didn’t make me long for a real professional.
Well, not only was I able to do it, but the systems I created kept working. Through a process of trial and error, I refined them until I had a real method for keeping house! Not only that, but it was helping me see myself in a brand-new light. I wasn’t lazy, I just needed a different method than I had been told was the “right” way to do things.
I decided to put my education to work, and I created my business. It was the best next step I could have taken. Teaching neurodivergent-friendly methods of home organization to people who want – or need – a different way of doing things combines so many of my passions into one neat package that I couldn’t have dreamed of a more aligned way to use my talents. By prioritizing my needs over the expectations others had for me, I discovered that it was possible to empower others to do the same.
If you want to prioritize your time, effort, and abilities instead of home organization trends, then you’re my kind of person. Your home doesn’t need to look magazine-ready; mine certainly doesn’t! But it’s comfortable, suits my family’s needs, and feels good when we spend time there. If that’s an experience you’re interested in too, then you’re in the right place.