Brenda Scott Of Tidy my Space: 5 Things Retirees Say They Wish They Were Told Before They Began Retirement

An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis

Plan for expenses to increase not decrease. Medical expenses might no longer be covered so they’ll be out of pocket and you’ll need more drugs, eye glasses and medical treatments.

As a part of my series about the “5 Things Retirees Say They Wish They Were Told Before They Began Retirement” I had the pleasure of interviewing Brenda Scott.

Brenda Scott retired after working 31 years at Kelloggs, and is the owner of Tidy my Space, a Home Organizing company in London, Ontario, Canada. She works with clients who need help getting their homes decluttered, organized and safe to live in. She uses her years of experience to deliver an unique solution specific for each client.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you share with us the backstory about what brought you to your specific career path?

I thought that I would retire from Kelloggs and live off my pension until the end but the factory closed when I had 5 years left to go, so I had to go to a plan B. Like many of my ‘work family’ I took the cash buy out and invested most of it. I did take a year off to relax and really think about what I wanted to do, I wanted a purpose to get up in the morning. After 31 years of working days and afternoon shifts, your body still wants a routine. So I enrolled at a community college as a ‘older student’. I was scared of going to the campus, so I completed my courses online, which allowed me the freedom to still have a social life with my other retired friends. After completing my Office Admin course, I worked as a receptionist for 3 years then after having many people comment that I should use my natural talent with organizing to help more people. I did a lot of research about what is involved with opening a small business, there’s rules and licenses, so after getting all of my ducks in a row, I opened Tidy my Space.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you started your career?

I don’t have any stories yet because I’ve only been in business for 1 year and just starting to get clients.

Can you share a story with us about the most humorous mistake you made when you were first starting? What lesson or take-away did you learn from that?

I went into a clients’ home with a plan of getting it done quickly but they wanted to chat about each item and visit. I learned to let the clients tell their story, especially if they’re senior, but still get the work done. They need company as much as they need work done.

None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?

I’m grateful to Elaine Kapogines. She came into my life as I was getting my business idea launched and I joined her Media Relations membership to learn about promoting my business. She’s not only a teacher but she’s been there to encourage me to try new things, always there to answer questions. For myself, launching a business in my 50s, technology is fairly new, having someone that explains the process so that a newbie can understand is such a gift.

What advice would you suggest to your colleagues in your industry to thrive and avoid burnout?

My advice is to be yourself! Not what others think you should do or be!

What advice would you give to other leaders about how to create a fantastic work culture?

Listen and respect what your workers bring to the job. Understand their ‘story’, their ‘why’.

Ok thank you for all that. Now let’s move to the main focus of our interview. Retirement is a dramatic ‘life course transition’ that can impact nearly every aspect of one’s life. Obviously everyone’s experience is different. But In your experience, what are the 5 most common things that people wish someone told them before they retired?

1. Have something to do with your time.
2. Plan for expenses to increase not decrease. Medical expenses might no longer be covered so they’ll be out of pocket and you’ll need more drugs, eye glasses and medical treatments.
3. Make a commitment with ‘work family’ to stay in touch. Too many people lose connection and feel forgotten.
4. Get another job, you don’t have to retire. It can be a paying job or a volunteer position, keep active.
5. Change your investments from high risk to low or medium risk. You no longer have the leisure to ride out the ups and downs of the stock market. Hire an investment adviser asap.

Let’s zoom in on this a bit. If you had to advise your loved ones about the 3 most important financial issues to keep in mind before they retire, what would you say? Can you give an example or share a story?

1.Hire a professional investment adviser that’s highly recommended,2. make a will,3. know what your financial situation is. Knowing your financial situation involves; knowing where your money is, how much you have and how much you’ll need. A family member was always saving for retirement but once they retired they still kept saving. They had enough to live very well on but they went without because they felt they had to save money, but for what? Know what you have and what you need, enjoy life! You can’t take it with you!

If you had to advise your loved ones about the 3 most important health issues to keep in mind before they retire, what would you say? Can you give an example or share a story?

Health issues would be:1. you need to stay active to keep healthy. Take up a low resistence workout, nothing high cardio. 2. You’ll probably need more medical treatments, the body starts to break down, have a good doctor. 3. Your meals need to change to support your aging body. Eating habits like greasy fast food, lots of coffee or caffenine, will not be the answer. Listen to what your body needs, get started on a healthy meal routine.

If you had to advise your loved ones about the 3 most important things to consider before choosing a place to live after they retire, what would you say? Can you give an example or share a story?

1. Choose a home that you can maintain yourself in a community that you love.
2. Live near friends, family, amenitites, grocery stores, pharmacy, shopping centers. If you aren’t able to drive, can you get there by walking? Also is the hospital or doctors nearby.
3. Think of your future needs, are there changes that you can make to prepare for your mobility issues in the future. Ex. grab bars, wider doorways, door levers not knobs, higher toilets, curb-less showers.

Just before retiring, my husband and I moved into the country, it was our dream to have a bit of land and no neighbours. We soon found out that it involved driving 45 minutes to visit doctors and friends back in the city. It could also be life changing if we had an emergency, the local hospital was 30 minutes away in good weather.

You are a person of great influence. If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂

Help each other! Be willing to lend a hand and help someone. Don’t always be looking for payment, do it because it’s right.

Is there a particular book that made a significant impact on you? Can you share a story?

‘The Happy Equation’ by Neil Pasricha

I found this ebook while searching for something to read and the title jumped out at me. I’ve read it twice, he writes with such simple truths and it answered my questions of “why” and “how” to be myself and run a business.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Do you have a story about how that was relevant in your life?

I’ve always liked “Just Do It” from Nike. When my daughters were little, they teased me that I should get it tattooed on myself because I constantly said it when they asked ‘why’. It’s helped me when I start to over analize a problem, looking at all of the details, but really I was just delaying the project. Think about it then JUST DO IT!

What is the best way our readers can follow you on social media?

They can follow me on Instagram; @tidymyspace.ca and FaceBook : Brenda Scott.

Thank you for these fantastic insights. We wish you only continued success in your great work!

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Brenda Scott Of Tidy my Space: 5 Things Retirees Say They Wish They Were Told Before They Began… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.