Why I stopped working as a Pastor to become a KonMari Consultant

I’m so glad you’re here!

Find out why I stopped working as a pastor and started my own business as a KonMari Consultant. Do you want to know what it takes to teach people the KonMari Method and how to transform their lives by decluttering and organizing their homes? Then watch the video or read the blog post.

What does a pastor do?

• Sunday service and sermon

• Bible Study

• Kids, Teens, Youth Group

• Small Groups

• Baptisms, Weddings, Funerals

• Counseling

Strengths a pastor needs to have

• Juggling many balls

• Being organized

• Make complex things easy to understand

• Speak in front of an audience

• Charismatic personality

• Faith in God

• Theological Education and Training

• Good with people

Why did you want to be a pastor?

I love God and Jesus and love people and thought I could bring the two things together when I work as a pastor in a church or as a missionary in a different country. I think the more profound longing was to move people's hearts. I wanted to touch their hearts so they can live happier and more fulfilled life. That's my mission and my vision until today.

What is a KonMari consultant?

A KonMari consultant is a tidying coach who comes to help people declutter their home and life and organize everything, so it’s easier for them to have a good everyday life.

The word KonMari is made out of two words - the name Marie Kondo. Marie Kondo is the inventor of the KonMari method, and she does things a little bit differently than most professional organizers. Here you can read what exactly the KonMari Method® is.

What does a KonMari consultant do?

I go into people's homes, and I help them declutter and organize their home and their life. I also meet with clients online via Zoom, and it works great (definitely a shorter commute).

Usually, my clients have tried it by themselves, but they couldn't follow through as it can be overwhelming and emotional. I'm there to guide them through all of those challenges. This type of work is a mixture of consulting, coaching, and counseling.

Strengths you need as a KonMari Consultant

Being organized

You need to be an organized person and to be able to help another person to get organized.

Good with people

Good with people on a one-on-one basis and with lots of empathy. You want to challenge your clients, but you don’t want to push too hard and overwhelm them.

Good spatial vision

You have to envision what is the possibility for that specific space you’re organizing. You have to see it together with your client, and then you have to guide your client to get to that goal.

Calming and encouraging personality

To calm your client when anxiety is getting too strong, or even when a panic attack happens. Your client has to feel safe and not alone in the process.

Respect boundaries

It can be the very practical boundary of a closet door that you can’t just open but have to ask for permission. A non-judgmental attitude is essential to build trust and not project your sense of “tidiness “on your client but discover what sparks joy for them. You need to know when to speak and when to observe.

Disadvantages of working as a pastor

• Working when others have free time.

• Working on the weekend.

• Only one free day (usually Monday).

All of these things made it challenging to see my husband Daniel and spend free time with him. He has a 9-5 job, he worked when I had free time (on Monday), and I worked when he had free time (weeknights and the weekend).

Our marriage is my highest priority. Higher than managing the whole church. That was the biggest reason to quit.

Another reason was to be more location independent, to visit our families in Europe for a longer time and work from there. Being the local church pastor creates the need to be in that particular location (city, country).

I didn't want to juggle so many balls anymore. I wanted to have deeper conversations and see more transformation in people. I always organized all those groups, back and forth emailing to arrange with all the volunteers. It's not how I function in my most joyful way. I wanted to have less and go deeper. This was a big reason to stop working in a church.

What's most fulfilling to me

When I can work one-on-one with another person, we can talk about what they want for their life and see how I can support them in their journey. It doesn't matter if it's a spiritual matter or a financial, educational concern, or if it's KonMari consulting and decluttering and organizing. All of those life areas are interesting to me. But depth and transformation take time and energy, and I knew I needed to let go of the responsibility and workload of working in a church.

But why tidying and not only counseling?

Through my personal KonMari tidying journey, I realized that all of the things I owned were such an enormous burden on me - to think about them, care for them, have space for them, and move them to new spaces. That took so much time, nerves, and strength. After I went through all we owned - I felt so relieved! There were fewer things to worry about, fewer things to move, just fewer worries, and that feeling was so wonderful.

I thought, “If I now have so much more space in my mind and in my emotions to think about new topics - how would that be for other people?” I didn’t want to push more spiritual content into another person when they don’t have space.

As a KonMari consultant, I can help people get a clean slate and gain space physically and emotionally.

Disadvantages of having my own business

• No consistent income

• No health insurance (because it’s through the employer in the US)

• No pension / automated 401k contributions

• No audience /client base

However, it works for us because Daniel has a nine-to-five job and a consistent income, and that’s why I can do this. Through his job, I can also have health insurance. I have to save and invest privately for my retirement—all of this I have to consider in my pricing.

Building a client base and an audience takes time. It certainly is a marathon. Back in the church, the audience was already there each Sunday. With my business, I had to start from scratch.

Despite all the challenges, it is worth it to me. I feel so strongly about it. I want to walk this path, and of course, I have a supportive husband to make this possible, and I’m very grateful for this.

If you read this far, let me know at the very bottom in the comments.

PS: Sign up for my e-mail update to never miss a blog HERE.

More Blog Posts: