Salome Schillack:

Hello, and welcome to episode number 139 of the Shine Show. Today's episode is called Design Your Office to Match Your Dreams, with Maria Husch. Maria is a close friend of mine, and she is a different kind of interior designer. She's the founder of, I Love My Home Community and Rooms for Success, combining her interior design, decluttering and coaching. Her holistic approach shows her community how to transform their homes into a place of power in their office and which is their engine for success. The main focus is gaining confidence, energy and overcoming life's challenges by putting love into your environment. In her programs, she empowers women to live their goals and their dreams.

Therefore, the vision of the membership is change your rooms, change your life, change the world. And I am very proud to introduce you to Maria, who in my view is like the Marie Kondo of Austria. Enjoy the interview.

Giving up your time and freedom to make money is so 2009. Hi, I'm your host Salome Schillack, and I help online course creators launch, grow and scale their businesses with Facebook and Instagram ads so that they can make more money and have an even bigger impact in the world. If you're ready to be inspired, to dream bigger, launch sooner and grow your online business faster, then tune in, because you are ready to shine. And this is the Shine Show.

Maria, thank you so much for coming on and having a chat with me today.

Maria Husch:

I'm so happy to be here and connect with you at the other end of the planet.

Salome Schillack:

Yes. I have students in America and clients in America and students and clients in Australia and New Zealand, and I've just recently started really talking to more people in Europe and South Africa, even, and England. And it's so nice. You and I have been hanging out for a while. Just tell everybody a little bit about where you are and what you do.

Maria Husch:

Yes. I'm here in Vienna, Austria, in the center of Europe. And in my home office, and this is the important part, I started as an interior designer and feng shui consultant and suddenly found out what happens when you change your environment and what happens in your mind, if you really love your home and make your office a place of power. And I had so many special stories in my interior design business. And then I started to blog about it, all the stories we changed desk and suddenly people had new clients. They changed their social media, whatever happened. And yeah, that's how I started my online business and now it's completely online.

I have a huge membership site on the German market. It's in German, but it's called the I Love My Home community with almost 600 people. And the main purpose is to make your home a place of power that helps you to reach your dreams and goals. And there are so many, especially women out there that really feel drained with their home. There is a lot of issues with decluttering and they feel bad. They come home and this really drains their power. And my mission is to make a change in their life and also in the world.

Salome Schillack:

I love that. And you are so good at it. I remember the other day, a while ago, I said to you, "Okay, Maria, how do I redecorate my office?" And what did you say to me?

Maria Husch:

For me, it's always a big thing to look at our rooms and at the office with a special view and to really see the power in it. Every thing, every color, every little tiny thing has a story and your subconscious will know it. If it's feels like lack or if it empowers you, if it shows your goals or if it drains you because it's all old stuff and makes you feel small. So the main thing is to start and have a look at the office.

And then I have this concept of the successful twin sister or twin brother. So if you really dive into this person, that's two years ahead or one year, and reach the goals with whatever, with the launches, with team, whatever. And this is your best interior designer. What would this person do? How would this person have the desk, whatever, and really to dive into that. And that's sometimes scary. If the rooms are a bit bigger, not in size, but in strength or in the things you use, than you are at the moment. But then they really support you to grow.

Salome Schillack:

I love that. I love that. And you know what, that made me realize that it's about more than just how having a pretty backdrop or cleaning up the cable clutter to really reassess every piece and remember that I sit here for six to eight hours a day, everything is either giving me energy or draining my energy. And you helped me realize that. That's really true.

Maria Husch:

And there are the little things, sometimes we think we can change it and everything, especially in the home office. And then there are the little things like the cups we use to drink.

Salome Schillack:

I love that.

Maria Husch:

It is empowering. Or we sometimes have pens of our old company that we really hated and they drained everything and everything is designed by that, or we use all the things from our childhood and school days and Hello Kitty stuff. And then we want to show up as a successful business woman or a business owner. And this is really the power to have an empowering office space that we can really dive into this view. I'm already bigger, I'm more successful than I am now, would this person really have this? How would the desk be if I would have 20 team members?

Salome Schillack:

Yeah. Do you think it's internal first and then external? What is that relationship? Do you change it from the inside first and then on the outside? Or does the outside change the inside as well? How does that work?

Maria Husch:

Yeah. It's both ways, for me. Most people do a lot to change the inside.

Salome Schillack:

Especially entrepreneurs, yes.

Maria Husch:

Yeah, especially. And then we come along, like things we have to work on the mindset, the money mindset. And sometimes we really work hard on the inside and that's really holding us back. My experience is sometimes it's just good to let this go and do something on the outside and really paint a new wall or declutter something and then just don't think that it's working. So you can start either side. Of course, starting with the room is also very good for people that are not open to mindset work. And also, if you have employees or even your family at home, where you make changes to the home and to the rooms to really make a change. For example, in home office, the home office design is a main major part how the family sees you as a business owner. And I have stories with two year old kids, we changed the office and they just let them really work.

Salome Schillack:

Is that because there's a better understanding of the boundary because the boundary is more visible? When I started, my office was literally in the playroom. Now my kids were a baby and a toddler and I was working in the playroom. So I failed miserably for three years while my office was in the playroom. And then when my business did take off, after I quit my job, I looked at my house and I saw that I have a guest bedroom that pretty much, that it had a queen size bed in it, which pretty much took up most of the room and I had visitors once a year.

Maria Husch:

That's a lot.

Salome Schillack:

But it was a big decision to go, I'm going to sell this bed that I keep there for when my mom comes to visit for the two weeks in a year. I'm going to sell that bed and use that as an office. But it made a big difference to me and I think it makes a mental difference for us. But also a boundary because now I have a door that can shut.

Maria Husch:

Yeah. If we work in an office downtown, we go there, there are other people around where the main goal is to be successful. And that's where we transition from mom to the successful business woman. And we have to bring this in, especially if you work at home and if you really want to start a successful business, it has to take space in our life and in our energy and also in the room.

Salome Schillack:

Yeah. I love that. It has to take up space. I love that. When we moved into this house where I live now, my office is one of the guest rooms. This house has two guest rooms. One is at the back. And this one where I am, has an en suite bathroom and a view of the pool. It has a view. And I looked at it and I was like, aside from the main bedroom, this is the best bedroom, and that will be my office. And the kids can take the smaller rooms at the back. That was pretty cool because I sometimes look out of this view and it does make me feel pretty good when I'm at work. So just hearing you talk, I'm looking around my office and I see lots of sticky notes and I see a desk.

Maria Husch:

I have same as well.

Salome Schillack:

You do? What I love about my sticky notes is the ones that I've got it up against the wall is not things that I have to do, it's little love notes that my kids wrote to me. So I need to just find a designated place for the love notes. I already know where they should go and I should just do it and get them there. But also the desk, I bought the desk. I love this desk because it's almost like a T shape. So I have lots of space to put down my arm when I'm working. But I'm thinking it's time for an upgrade just because you just said it has to take up space and this one, it takes up physical space, but it does not take up authority space. This desk, I bought it secondhand from someone who had to sell it because they were moving to a smaller house. It wobbles a bit, it got a bit of damage when we moved. I look at my desk and I go, you take up a lot of room, but you do not make me feel big.

Maria Husch:

Yeah. And this is the most important thing as we grow, that we look at the rooms every year or I make a total makeover of my home office every year. That doesn't mean that I get new furniture, but I look at each piece. If I really would buy it now to grow and for the next steps, and which are the things that are holding me back. And especially the desk position is for me the most important. The easiest way to feel successful and to have the desk in the power position of the room to really have an overview of the room and if possible, a solid wall behind and look into the room. If we think of successful people like owner of the company or a manager of a company with 1,000 people, how would the office be?

Salome Schillack:

Yeah.

Maria Husch:

The desk would be facing into the room and we know of a lot of studies, also for example, if the desk faces the window, the productivity drops by a lot.

Salome Schillack:

Right.

Maria Husch:

This is a good tip also for the kids rooms because in 99%, the desk is in the wrong position. People change it and then the school grades go up right away.

Salome Schillack:

How funny. How funny. So the desk in the room, so when you say in the room, you mean looking towards the door, looking inward.

Maria Husch:

Yeah. You should see the door if possible. And rather have the windows to the side, but have it not directly in front of the wall.

Salome Schillack:

Yeah. Correct. Yeah. Okay.

Maria Husch:

Because then you have the wall in front of yourself. I don't know if you have the saying in English but in German it is-

Salome Schillack:

Yeah. You see the postman going by and you see the neighbors driving and you see the dog and everything. Yeah, yeah. Okay. And in the middle of the room or where would-

Maria Husch:

That depends how big the room is, how the shape is. If it's a big room, I have my back shelves and then I have one meter and then it's the desk. You can just try it. Some people bring in their camping tables. I have clients where this is not possible. And they started to put up folding table in front of the TV and work there because it was so small, just for one time. Yeah. Then in the afternoon the kids started to work there and the business took off and the kids in school took off and in the evening they fold it back down and put it away.

Salome Schillack:

But this is in the living room with the TV.

Maria Husch:

Yeah. If you don't have the possibility of an own office space yeah, you have to find creative ways to really feel and to step into this position of a successful person.

Salome Schillack:

Which is better than working at the kitchen bench.

Maria Husch:

Yeah.

Salome Schillack:

What do you say? So I move around sometimes. Sometimes I feel like I need my office to be productive and other times I feel like I just need to get out of my office and I would sit on the patio or sit even on my bed or somewhere. What do you think about that? Is there a feng shui thing to recovering your energy in not being in your office?

Maria Husch:

Sure. Especially if you do different kind of work. We do have to work like doing bookkeeping or doing something-

Salome Schillack:

It's usually I'm reading emails. Yeah. But when I'm reading emails or Slack or just corresponding, it doesn't require a tremendous amount of creativity or focus, it just requires absorb. Yeah. I like it.

Maria Husch:

And I do have several spots in my home and I do love also to go outside. This is one of the best tips for people that don't have all the possibilities in their office at the moment and can't afford to really grow that, or just are at home to really find places outside. I love to do my concepts for my launches in the lobby of a five star hotel. Because there, I have this environment.

Salome Schillack:

That's right.

Maria Husch:

Yeah. Or just, I have clients that rent a hotel in our home city for one night to go and step into this new environment. Sometimes it's not possible at home, but how can we do our best in this situation to grow?

Salome Schillack:

I love that. What else do you do to step into that bigger next version of yourself?

Maria Husch:

Yeah. It's not only about the office. Actually, the home is more important. Is this the home of a very successful person? Because sometimes we have a nice office, but then we go home and we feel really, really bad. It's draining us. We have a lot of problems with our relationship or whatever or with the kids or decluttering and health, things like that. And this is the big part that's also affecting our success. So with people starting out, and I would start at home. Our most important room at home is the bedroom.

Salome Schillack:

Yes.

Maria Husch:

Do I really feel successful there? Because that's the room where we are the longest. We think we just go there to sleep and some people have the old, old stuff there because no other people are coming and we cannot have all the clutter there and stuff. This really changes a lot because it empowers us.

Salome Schillack:

Yeah.

Maria Husch:

Our subconscious sees around the whole night, even when are sleeping.

Salome Schillack:

Right. And that's the place where we have no pretenses. We're not pretending to be embracing anybody. In your bedroom, you're confronted with who you really or no. Yeah, I agree.

Maria Husch:

And in the bedroom you wake up in the morning as a successful CEO of a company. Do you really stand up from the bed and step into this role because it's an amazing room and you start your day in this home. And that's why so many, any of my business clients, they are also in my home things. And yesterday I talked to a client and she had a brick and mortar business and now an additional online business within months. Super successful. But she's said it all started by changing her home.

Salome Schillack:

Wow. Do we need a lot of money to change our homes?

Maria Husch:

No. You don't need any money. We have so many things at home. Yeah?

Salome Schillack:

Yes, we do have stuff. Lots of stuff.

Maria Husch:

It's about rearranging, having new views in your places, bringing out the good stuff. We bring out the fancy things for Christmas, the fancy cutlery and the dishes and things like that. But what if we are the people that use that just for us every day to feel great when we have a great breakfast with our family?

Salome Schillack:

I love that. That's one thing that I do that I am good at. I use the expensive glasses to drink out of and I use the expensive crockery. I have crystal glasses that my husband inherited from his mother that I drink with on a daily basis. And they break, luckily she collected a whole lot. But they and I go, "That's too bad. You gave me good joy." And then I take another one and I drink from the next one. I think for me, one area where I'm aware of improving that is bed linen. I am not as good at changing the bed sheets as I should be. Little bit spoiled South African girl that grew up with people doing it for me. And now I have to do it for myself. I don't do it quite as often as I should. And I know. When I get in that bed at night and I'm like, okay, these sheets are ready for the wash, and I still see sleep in there, I don't wake up feeling like a successful entrepreneur.

Maria Husch:

Yeah, of course there are, especially as an entrepreneur, things where we could look at to really invest into something.

Salome Schillack:

What would you say are the first things that we should invest in?

Maria Husch:

Yeah. That's more a personal thing. Go through your home and what feels draining and poor to you? I had a story about when I was a teenager, I always flew to Canada and I changed in Frankfurt at the airport. And for me this was the shops there and the trends area. This was where I had the feeling if I can shop there, oh my God. And I feel really good. So it was more about going there to buy something. It's about the feeling we have with the things. If you really love and feel empowered, if you use nice glasses, you should start there. If you feel empowered to have a special shower gel or something, you start there or whatever it is. Of course, the bed sheets are very good, but it can also be, there is this one green chair I saw somewhere and it gives me a good feeling. And if I would sit there, I would feel different. Because that's the magic that it's not the change in the room, it's the feel we have. When we change the room, that's really then attracting more wealth and success.

Salome Schillack:

That is so true. And then we just breathe into it, we live into it and it comes. Speaking of feelings, I wanted to talk to you a little bit about the feelings you had about your membership and what you're doing about it. So tell us about how was your membership making you feel before you started, before you realized you need to change some things?

Maria Husch:

Yeah. I started the membership and it felt good. Of course, it was very basic back then. And then I improved it with all the things I learned and improve it there and make it more streamlined there and there and retention strategies and things like that. But I forgot to really look at my feelings and then I have fun with it. I love to be very continuous in my business and I love to do things live. So of course, I started to prerecord everything because there is always the lack of time.

Salome Schillack:

Yeah? Lack, yeah? Lack.

Maria Husch:

But actually, with all that, I came to more lack and more lack and more lack. So I really look what's fun for me and my team. What do I love? And I'd rather have spontaneous events, workshops. I love to do things together with my members. With all the prerecorded and the Q&As always the same, it was like people didn't show up. They felt my energy.

Salome Schillack:

Yeah. Yeah.

Maria Husch:

And it was really draining and it didn't grow. Of course, then I did big launches and it grew, but still didn't feel good.

Salome Schillack:

Yeah.

Maria Husch:

So I looked more into what feels really good for me and what would I like to have in a membership, or in an experience. Also, if I think of being a member of an offline club or something. There is twice a year, this fancy, super big event. And then there is one, two day event on that. And then there is just a newsletter with a little input and then there is a little present and there are different things. And I really changed that and now it brings so much more joy to me and my team. And of course, then we can talk about it. Today we started our events for Christmas decorations. I just talked about it on social media because I prepare for it and then people trying.

Salome Schillack:

And so I just want to make sure everybody hears this. You started the membership, you grew it. You were using big live launches and you were successful at your big live launches. You did well with your big live launches. I remember that little counter you had behind you. Maria had the most fascinating, I didn't know how you did it. It's like a little clock radio kind of thing, that drops the-

Maria Husch:

Yeah. Yeah. You can order this and you can connect it to Facebook or Instagram or we have it connected to active campaign. So if a new person joins and this was amazing at the launch, because then in the Q&A in the launch and people join and then-

Salome Schillack:

And the number behind you goes up. It's amazing. That's an amazing-

Maria Husch:

Crazy. Who is number 600?

Salome Schillack:

Yeah, it was great. And then I would be having a meeting with Maria or we were doing our mastermind and Maria's talking to us, masterminding and the numbers behind her just keep going up. And she's like, "I made another sale, I made another sale. I made another." It's like three, four, five during an hour. Maria's sitting at the mastermind and the sales are happening behind her. It's amazing. You were very successful at your big live launches. But I think when we start out, we do what people tell us to do. There is a certain point where we get to where we go, "Well, hang on, I've done what people told me to do. It's worked. But in the process, I've lost a little bit of my own passion and I've lost a little bit of my own drive. And I have gotten out of touch with what lights me up and made me do this in the first place." And that's when a lot of people quit because they burn out and they get tired. But you didn't do that. You decided to lean into finding a new way that works for you.

Maria Husch:

Yeah. And we all know that if things really light us up, it's not a thing of energy or time, we just do it. If I do three life things a month in my membership, yeah, that's three hours. I have the time.

Salome Schillack:

Yeah.

Maria Husch:

Yeah, of course. And it lights me up, it gives me power. And preparing the videos and the prerecorded videos and this drained me and then I didn't do it, I didn't do it. I needed to light. Then I got stressed. Then I was not at the perfect energy. Then I was on the video and bad energy. And now I really look and all the things I do more into the things that are really light me up, do more of those. And it's really people are just coming.

Salome Schillack:

That's amazing. And can I ask you, when you made the change from doing big live launches, the way that we all know, love and have done them, the Stu McLaren style launches, the Amy Porterfield style launches, the Jeff Walker style launches, going from those big live launches to doing a smaller monthly event or regular event and then just casually inviting people to join, was there at any point, a little voice in your head that went, "Oh, Maria, you're not going to make as much money," or "You're not going to get as many students"? What was that like needing to overcome the voices in your head, if you had any? I don't want to say you did have, but I know I would have. Were there any voices?

Maria Husch:

The voices are that, I guess that's what we signed up for being an entrepreneur.

Salome Schillack:

Yeah.

Maria Husch:

I do have voice. Of course, they do come up.

Salome Schillack:

You know what? You ignore the voices.

Maria Husch:

Yeah. I still do big launches, but I also looked at the launches more with this view to have fun. And I do have less people, but they're so much more engaged and there is no trouble.

Salome Schillack:

That's lovely.

Maria Husch:

People that write tons of emails. And at the end for me, the business is to have fun and make a change for me, for my team. It's not about having 5,000 Euro more. My business is amazing and I make a big profit and it's great. And it's great to inspire people also in the way I do business.

Salome Schillack:

I love that.

Maria Husch:

And that's really what came with that change because people see outside, that I have online business, that I changed also in social media postings and in doing launches. And now they approach me to get one on one coaching or whatever.

Salome Schillack:

That's fantastic. And it's because you, I can really see, you own it so much. And you radiate just this joy. And like you say, you do it because it's peaceful and it's fun and it brings you joy and it lights you up. And it absolutely shows. And I know that it's a more feminine way to launch really. It's a more feminine way to run a business than these big spikes, right? It's more like a cycle of up and down, up and down, up and down. And over time, we know that the consistency of that is a lot more sustainable than the big spikes. Just like you say, it brings more engagement because the students are better and you get better testimonials and the energy is better and you love showing up. That's fantastic.

Maria Husch:

Yeah. I love it like that. And now really start to also change the platform for a new system because it was only small changes. And it really shows in the show up rates are so much higher and I didn't do anything. Just go into it with a different energy and to be more flexible and to have more a hype around the event. Because I love it, my team can't wait to get started. And the feeling of that shows in the social media and in the emails and everything.

Salome Schillack:

Yeah. Oh I love it, Maria. So you so much for sharing that with us.

Maria Husch:

Thank you.

Salome Schillack:

Yeah. I love your journey. I love that you're in Europe and you have this little niche there in the German speaking countries and you are doing exactly the same thing we're doing and you're doing it just in a different language with a smaller group, a different friend group on the other side of the world, Maria. It is so nice to hear your story and to hear how you grow. And I'm really happy to be a part of that and to see how it evolves for you.

Maria Husch:

Yeah. Thank you so much. Yeah, I love it. And this is maybe also if you have other listeners in other languages, the thing that really drives me to stay in my language, there are 120 million people speaking German. So I always say if half of them join my membership, that's good for me. So it's enough. But I really love to bring the online business and everything also into other countries because it's really hard for me. There are not really coaches in German. I always have to go into other languages and if I really stay also with my power and my language, it's also, for me, a big power to make a change also there, the way the online business and to empower more people also to grow.

Salome Schillack:

Yeah. I love that. I love that. And that goes out to all of my South Africans listening who think they need to be selling in America or in Australia or somewhere else and anyone else listening. The other day I looked at my podcast downloads and I'm getting a lot listeners in Portugal and listeners in Greece and listeners in Sweden and everywhere. And if you are wondering if you need to switch to English and you don't want to, you don't have to. Maria is proof of that.

Maria Husch:

Yeah. And I know people also in very small countries with a much smaller amount of people that speak the language that really... And there is also an advantage because there are less people of course, on the market.

Salome Schillack:

Yes. Yes. And as long as you're aware of what people need and what people want and you can provide that you to them, then you'll be all right. Maria, where can people learn more about you and your work, if there's any German speaking listeners who wants to learn about this? Because your stuff's not in English anywhere, is it?

Maria Husch:

Yeah. Most of the stuff is in German, but I do have one little thing about this power position. So if you want, I can give it to you [crosstalk], you put it in the show notes.

Salome Schillack:

Yes, please do. Yes, please do.

Maria Husch:

I have a drawing of that also, to get an idea. And yeah, my website is www.mariahusch.com And yeah, we do of course have one on one also in English. I already had some clients in America.

Salome Schillack:

I would encourage anyone to talk to Maria and get Maria to-

Maria Husch:

Just write an email. I guess you'll just give all the connections in the show notes.

Salome Schillack:

Yes. And I love that. It's the diversity that we have in getting exposure just to each other's culture and each other's languages. It's like we look at things a little bit differently because we were raised in little bit different ways. And just speaking different languages means we think about different things. And really, if everybody just starts by embracing that level of diversity, then we're making the world a better place.

Maria Husch:

Yeah. And in social media, Facebook, Instagram, it's easy because there are just the translations. So I do follow some people in different languages.

Salome Schillack:

That's true. I sometimes have to hit translate on your posts, even though I'm going to try this, ich verstehe. I understand a little bit. I took German in school, so ich verstehe. Eine kleine deutsch. That's not right. I just messed that up. All right, so we will have all of Maria's links in the show notes for you as well. You can go and find it there and find her on her website. And if you want to step up your power, design your office so that it reflects who you want to be two years from now, then you can look a one on one session with Maria. Maria, thank you so much.

Maria Husch:

Thank you for having me.

Salome Schillack:

You're welcome.

Well I really hope you enjoyed my interview with Maria. Please go and say hello to her on Instagram. She was very proud to tell her audience that she is being interviewed by an Australian. She's spreading her wings to Australia. And I was happy to say that when you're on my show, you also spread your wings to the US and Canada and Europe and South Africa. So if you are listening from anywhere that is not Austria, please go and say hello to Maria and tell her I sent you. 

Thank you so much for listening. If you had fun, please come back next week and remember to hit that subscribe button so you never miss a thing.