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Who Am I
My name is Vania Tashjian Frank and I’m an organizing coach (aka professional organizer). Basically, I really like to help people organize their spaces and also like to write. A lot. I spent 10 years in the corporate world, primarily in consumer insights. In an nutshell, I helped companies determine what their consumers needed and wanted so they could meet their needs (this is the corporate version).
At the root of this for me is my love for people and how we behave, think, perceive, make decisions, etc. Add a full cup of curiosity about people, a dollop of love for organizing spaces and a sprinkle of writing, and there you go...My Happimess was made.
I started my business in late 2007, but really got it going in Spring 2009 (post-wedding planning and a brief stint in grad school). I had always dreamt of owning my own business, not fully aware of all the hats I would need to wear. But, I love every piece of it - learning and growing personally and professionally through my organizing business. I get to be creative and make my own decisions with my organizing approach, philosophy and running the business.
I soon (very, very, very soon) realized how I get in the way of my own success. How much Law & Order can one human being actually watch? When you start watching reruns of a nearly 20 year-old show, the self-esteem starts to take a hit. Not-so-helpful patterns - habits and core beliefs - that I always knew existed were now magnified because I had to fully rely on myself for everything.
If I really wanted to run a business, I had to be more honest with myself about these not-so-helpful patterns and learn how to address and hopefully change them. I knew that awareness would be the first step, and creating strategies for change would be the second step. But seriously, this is all I knew. I didn’t know where to start and half believed this was possible.
I guess the half belief was all I needed. Soon after, it dawned on me that I could hire a business coach. I had seen them on Oprah (my religion, according to my husband Ted), heard about them through friends, read about them online and had always wanted to work with one! I would hire a coach who would help me identify my patterns and address them one-by-one.
I imagined myself as a super-hero (a hot one in a fabulous outfit with gorgeous shoes, of course) who reaches out to shatter the not-so-helpful patterns that are furiously flying at her. It was a perfect idea! Since I’m not really a super hero, I was somewhat realistic about the actual effort it would really take on my part and looked forward to working with a coach.
Now, I needed to find a coach. After a bit of research and interviewing (ok, after two weeks of research and interviewing; Ted, didn’t give me the title “queen of due diligence” for nothing), I decided to work with Lora Banks, www.coachapproach.net. Lora is amazing! I have been working with her since July 2009 and thank my lucky stars, every day, that I found her. Since then, with many thanks to Lora’s support, I have been making loads of changes to my life and business, especially my not-so-helpful patterns (which seem to be endless; yay me).
