It’s been just over a month since Major Mom founder, Angela Cody- Rouget, pitched her company on Shark Tank. Although Major Mom did not walk away with a deal from the sharks, we have since seen an influx of business that has kept our Liberators running on all cylinders. We have brought peace to closets and kitchens, tackled basements and garages, and we’ve even helped a few families settle into new homes. We see a lot of life changes in our work as professional organizers. We have story after story of clients finding a new job, a new relationship, a new hobby, or a job promotion after having us come and help them clear space in their homes. We’ve noticed this pattern before: organization brings opportunity. We state in our company values that not only do we believe that an orderly home results in comfort, joy and peace; we believe that freedom from possessions frees you to connect to your higher purpose. We saw that pattern play out very clearly with Angela and the sharks.
You see, Major Mom was in an interesting position when it appeared on Shark Tank: the producers of the show contacted Angela directly and asked if she would be interested in applying. The show was doing an episode featuring businesses started by veterans of the US Armed Forces and Angela has served for 13 years. Angela doesn’t shy away from public speaking, but there is a difference between teaching a group how to organize and pitching your business on national television. Was this a task she was ready to manage? After much deliberation and recognizing the opportunity this could provide for her company and the employees, Angela accepted the invitation and began the process of organizing for preparation.
There were significant obstacles in the way during the application process. Angela’s first phone interview with the producers took place while she was visiting family – in France. It was 1 a.m. her time and she was in a farmhouse with no landline. But Angela had thought it through beforehand and her brother-in-law’s cell phone got the job done for the interview. France also doesn’t have the same access to FedEx locations that we enjoy in the United States. But the company’s files are impeccably organized, which meant that assembling the documents for the Shark Tank application took less time so there was more time to figure out a way to get the application to L.A. In fact, Angela’s producer told her that the Shark Tank lawyer who reviewed the application remarked that he’d never seen an application package so put together and organized in all his years with the show!
We learned a lot appearing on Shark Tank. We learned that a difference in business philosophy isn’t a failure. We learned that many of the entrepreneurs who appear on the show don’t know their company’s numbers or watch the show in preparation. But most importantly, we learned once again how being organized makes space for opportunity. Being organized is a way to increase the time available to you. When you stop hunting for lost items, or picking up clutter or attempting to maneuver around piles, there is so much more time for you to connect to your life’s purpose. This is a concept the Major Mom Liberators are passionate about. We love seeing clients make space in their lives for the unknown opportunities that lie ahead, and we are grateful for the opportunity Shark Tank provided for us to witness this lesson at work within Major Mom.