- Alicia
Who is Alicia & How Did She Get Here?
I'm sure you're thinking...
Well, I don't blame you because I never properly introduced myself!
My name is Alicia Benedict. I'm a 30-year-old Capricorn. I was raised in Topeka, Kansas. In 2016, I moved to the beautiful city of Wilmington, North Carolina. I'm an Enneagram 2, which is why I LOVE motivating women to be the best version of themselves. And I am the Founder and CEO of Organized by Alicia!
To give you a little back story, I never intended on becoming a business owner, it just kind of happened. 🤷🏽♀️
When I graduated high school, I had no idea what I was going to college for. I knew I wanted to be with my friends, have the typical "college experience", and ultimately get a good job so that I could be considered SUCCESSFUL. Success. Such a powerful word. But what exactly did it mean? Money? Comfortability? Status?
Financial stability was MY definition of success back then. I wanted to make a lot of money, which all boiled down to having a good job. But, how do you land yourself a good job? Society led me to believe that if I wanted a quality job, I had to get a college degree, and that was the track to success. I wanted to be successful, right? So that was that. That was my path. I was going to go to school, get a degree, become successful. Sounded easy enough.
Next, I had to pick a career. But, how do you decide what you want to do for the rest of your life? It felt so final. I had so many questions but no answers. So I based it on the few things I knew...
When my best friend Amanda went to college, she went to school to become an interpreter. Amanda and I were similar people with similar interests. For 18 year old me, it was all coming together. An interpreter sounds like a fun job! I bet they make all kinds of money! And that's when it was decided, I would go to school to be an interpreter as well.
I mean, why not? I had been studying Spanish for all four years of high school and I had been learning Chinese for a year and a half, so I listed the positives:
I liked languages
I liked talking
I liked to help people
It works, that's my career! I was going to be an interpreter. So that's what I went to college to pursue.
From there, I went to college for three years, dropped out, and decided to join the working world. I was ready to start making money, have freedom, and thought I would just go back to school after a year or so. Thought being the keyword.
7 years passed.
I didn't realize how hard it was to get back into school as an adult, even if you really wanted it. But finally, after taking a long break from college, working in restaurants, and deciding I was ready to make more out of my life, I was finally able to go back to school for interpreting
and I HATED it.
I hadn't even considered this as a possibility. For 10 years I had believed that this would eventually be my career. When I finally realized that being an interpreter wasn't exactly what I wanted to be, I was terrified. What was I going to do? I was embarrassed, frustrated, and lost. This was the furthest I could be from successful.
Panic mode. 😳
What do I do now? I had convinced myself for the last 10 years that I wanted this career. I told everyone I knew that this was my career path. It's all I had ever thought about doing. What were my parents going to think?
Once again, I asked myself how do you decide what you want to do for the rest of your life?
I hadn't been in this position since I was 18. Now, I was nearing 30 with no plan, no goals, no career.
Well, I had to figure something out so it was back to the drawing board. What gives my life fulfillment? I really like helping people, lifting people up, and changing people's lives. I knew there HAD to be something out there that I could do that would achieve those goals. Think. Think. Think.
My friend Devon was going to school for psychology and she LOVED it. That's it! I should become a psychologist. I had toyed around with the idea before, I've always enjoyed providing my friends with advice, whether they wanted it or not. But the more I thought about it, I wasn't sure how I would deal with the people that I couldn't help.
As an Enneagram 2, I lead with emotion. I love helping people but I can struggle with the not-so-happy moments. I don't think I could be a psychologist because I wouldn't be able to leave those client's struggles at the door. It would tear me apart. So I needed to find a good balance. How can I help people get past mental blocks, feed them positivity, encourage them to grow, and thrive - - all while feeling the satisfaction of a happy ending?
Well, this might come as a surprise to you but Professional Organizing was the exact career I was looking for. 💁🏽♀️
I have always loved organization but I had NO idea that it could be a career.
I used to joke about being an organizer when I would organize the boxes of supplies at a restaurant I used to work at. It was my favorite part of every week. Toward the end of February 2020, I started looking pretty heavily into what I would need to do to become a Professional Organizer. A few weeks later, quarantine hit, I knew that THAT was my golden opportunity to invest in myself. I would finally have the time I had always wished existed in life that I could dedicate to designing my dream life.
So with a little bit of ✨fairy dust✨ and lots of hard work, HERE WE ARE! 🥳
I am still in disbelief that I am here, to be honest. I had no idea how to create or run a business when I started this journey. I never in a million years would have imagined that this would be my career path. It feels so good to have finally found my calling. Helping women feel empowered and inspired by creating a functional home is more than I could have ever asked for. I am obsessed with inspiring others and I can't wait to see where we go!
Now, I define success as happiness and fulfillment. I want to wake up every single day knowing that I am helping women all over the world take their space back. And that's exactly what I intend to do.
I also just want to say thank you from the bottom of my heart for being here and supporting my dream. I couldn't do it without you! 💛