Hey! I’m Stacey Tunteri, Professional Organizer & Efficiency Enthusiast
I believe
that decluttering is one of the most powerful forms of self-care. Yep, I said it. Eating clean, moving your body, meditating - it’s all well and good. But when you get organized, it elevates every layer - physical, mental, emotional, and more.
Wellness encompasses many intersecting dimensions. Because these dimensions are so interrelated, improving any of them can positively impact the others.
My super powers lie in the environmental dimension.
I help people clarify what matters most to them so they can make aligned decisions about what is truly worth keeping vs. okay to let go. And then what happens?
We gain self confidence and feel a sense of calm and clarity.
We get time back that we can apply to things we enjoy, like social connections, physical exercise, or sleep. (OMG, remember sleep?!)
We often see a positive financial impact by improving our acquisition habits.
We learn to create and enforce healthier boundaries and make it easier to say no to activities, things, and people that are not aligned with our values and priorities.
Mamma, once you start, a cascade of awesome flows your way.
Are you someone who:
Appears to have it all together on the outside, but your home tells a different story?
Has very little time to address the hundreds of unread emails and overcrowded calendar, and is yearning to simplify it all?
Is embarrassed that your space is littered with tiny messes often made by tiny people and wish you had a system to change that?
Feels envious of the people who seem to have perfectly organized lives and want to figure out how that could work for you?
Sometimes the hardest thing to do is recognize when you need help. The next hardest thing is asking for it.
Nobody wants to feel like an overturned turtle with their soft belly exposed. It’s vulnerable to be like, “Look at my hands and feet flapping in the breeze! I am really struggling here!”
Is this resonating?
Hey turtle, I see you.
Your mess is a sacred space, because vulnerability yields the most fertile ground for genuine, authentic connection – a requirement for doing Big Life Work.
Consider the possibility that this vulnerable state you find yourself in may be a catalyst for necessary growth and change.
Would I judge a lady for being messy and vulnerable? No way. I would celebrate her at every possible opportunity for being brave enough to go there. I am along for that ride!
To make it fair, I’ll share my mess with you.
From Too Much Stuff to Crystal Clear Purpose
Throughout my early life, my core identity was built on my idea of work ethic. My original programming featured the following greatest hits about working hard.
— “Life is a struggle.”
— “Work is not meant to be enjoyed; it is a means to an end.”
— “Opportunities are few and far between.”
Classic scarcity mindset.
Even after earning a master’s degree, I lived paycheck to paycheck for years. I had a mountain of credit card debt, student loans, and a car that was always breaking down.
From this nothing-to-lose place in my twenties, I seized the opportunity to move across the country and start over. When I drove my tiny hatchback 2K miles west, everything I owned in the world fit inside.
To kickstart my new life, I applied at a temp agency. My first California job paid more than I had ever made before. I went from struggling to comfortable almost overnight.
While I did demonstrate some responsibility by paying off debt, having discretionary income for the first time in my life sans financial savvy resulted in reckless spending habits. The dopamine hit of clicking “Place Order” from my online shopping cart was intoxicating. I just kept filling closets and drawers, year after year, until I ran out of places to cram things.
Square footage in my home started disappearing.
And so did my work-life balance. The stress was intense. I felt like I was supposed to be doing something else with my life, yet I doubled down, working nights and weekends to avoid disappointing bosses and colleagues. But I DID disappoint and deprioritize my loved ones. I showed up late for dinner reservations with my partner and declined so many outings with friends that they stopped calling me.
I ignored my discontent and buried my overwhelming dread for a wasted life in more clothes and shoes. When my anxiety became unmanageable, I had the stunning revelation that my work ethic was, in fact, rooted in a lack of healthy boundaries.
The scope-creep and long hours were not my employer’s fault. It was me. I had an unhealthy relationship with work and no clear vision for my life. And I had developed an addiction to buying stuff to make it suck less.
With this new self-awareness, I vowed to make different choices.
I decided to not buy anything for a period of several months. Without the constant stream of new things coming into the house, I became more aware of what I already had. I started to notice what I rarely touched versus items I used often and with relish. I began warming to the idea of letting go of the untouched things.
I carved out a weekend to declutter one closet. It was so jam-packed that I nearly filled the bedroom with its contents when I started pulling things out. It took me eight hours to clean out eight square feet. I was completely unaware that I possessed half of what I found in there!
The following weekend, I tackled another closet. Then another, followed by a home office clear-out where I blew out the motor on my shredder after emptying the fifth banker’s box into it.
The more I purged, the angrier I felt about the sheer volume of stuff I had to go through, and the more ruthless I became when making decisions about what to toss or donate.
Over and over again, I would say to various objects, “What value do you bring to my life?”, while imagining how much compound interest would have accrued if I had invested my money instead of buying all this crap. 😡
Suddenly, it was easy to let go, and the prospect of buying more stuff that I would later need to make decisions about held zero charm.
Something unexpected happened. I started feeling the same rush from putting things in the donation pile that I used to get when clicking the “Place Order” button!
Slowly, I freed myself from the cycle of buying things, putting things away, looking for stuff that was hidden behind other stuff, not finding it, then buying it again.
And magic happened.
—The symptoms of anxiety and panic disorder that had gripped me since childhood subsided.
— I had free time.
— I was able to save enough money to leave my full-time job and deeply consider the life I wanted.
— I got clear about what my values and boundaries are and began practicing techniques to help me honor them.
— I became conscious of a relentless stream of self-loathing and fear-based thoughts and started replacing them with a kinder, gentler script. (Still working on that.)
Eventually I decluttered my entire home. I even repaired some relationships. The serenity I felt was better than any fix I ever got from shopping.
Finally, I asked myself a question. If I could do anything I wanted for the sheer joy of it, what kind of work would I do? In other words, what is my purpose?
THIS.
It really hit me, the full impact that decluttering and getting organized had had on my life. This process is not just about tidying up. It is an examination of one’s life and a resetting of priorities.
Ever since, I’ve been on a mission to give women the tools to navigate change and uncertainty with grace and confidence by helping them let go of what no longer serves them. Maybe it’s a too-small dress that makes you question whether your body is still worth loving. Or the voice of your ex-husband reminding you that you’ll never be good enough. Or a list of to-do’s you’ve been putting off so long that you feel like a failure.
Sister, go get a garbage bag.
You don’t have to live weighed down by bullsh*t.
I’ll show you how.
Get started today.
Professional Bio
Stacey Tunteri is a Professional Organizer with deep experience in the transformative power of letting go. Her mission is to give women the tools to navigate change and uncertainty with grace and confidence by helping them let go of things, physical or otherwise, that no longer serve them. She has a B.A. in Art and Psychology, and an M.A. in Community Counseling. She is a creative problem-solver, writer, artist, and efficiency enthusiast. She uses life lessons on patience, resilience, and staying curious to transform her clients’ homes and lives.
