Today we’d like to introduce you to Kalia McKinley.
Hi Kalia, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
My business started as a hobby. I love organizing, cleaning, and decluttering. As a kid whenever I got in trouble at school I would come home and clean the entire house.
My mother knew immediately that when she walked something had happened. Over the years, that continue until it became second nature.
As an adult, my friends knew I had a niche for organizing so they would pay with food to come over and help them clean out their closets, help them pack, or help them clean their space.
Then one day of my good friends posed the question to me “Have you ever thought about making this into a business and getting paid for the services you offer?” I had never thought about it. Well, with that thought in mind I said I would give it a try and that’s what I did in 2016.
When I started the business in 2016, I was in Houston, TX. It was a good start and I had some momentum going then COVID-19 hit. At this time, I decided we needed to move back home to the Kansas City area.
Moving back in the middle of a pandemic was rough on the business and the fact that I had no clientele here besides my family was yet another challenge. I started just cleaning and organizing as many family members as I could at the start of 2021 to be able to take pictures and place them on my social media outlets. By doing this it did generate some buzz for the business.
While trying to gain momentum within my new target area, I join an Entrepreneur Co-Hart program through The Porter House KC which would help me become a better business owner and equip me with new tools and resources. This program was a blessing.
I was able to network and even gain more clients. During the same time, I was nominated for the Kansas City People’s Choice Award for the Best Cleaning Company in the KC metro area. This exposure sent our company into high demand. I have been able to service several individuals in our community and for that, I am very appreciative.
Since that award, I have been seen as a Greater Kansas City Chambers of Commerce Small Business Superstar and received my first grant through a Pitch Competition. I have the honor to also present my organization to the One Million Cups of Kansas City in May.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
This has not been a smooth road as I have had to deal with COVID-19 from having it twice and having to deal with the shutdowns.
I have had to deal with the high demand and not being able to keep up as a single-person operation which required hiring a cleaning attendant. Hiring has been difficult as well as a lot of the workforce is now looking for at-home/remote positions.
Another challenge has been ensuring that I am charging an amount that fits within most household incomes that would like to budget for our services but ensuring I charging enough to factor in all of my variable costs as well. I say it’s the challenges of running a successful business and this will continue as change is inevitable.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about OCD Diva & Co?
MISSION STATEMENT OCD Diva & Co. provides organizing, cleaning, and decluttering services for homes and workspaces to support individual goals and allow peak performance. We replace the clutter, chaos, stress, and mess in our client’s environment with peace, harmony, and beauty, in a way that works expressly for them.
OUR VISION
• To Stay loyal to our foundation Principles of Excellence, Integrity, Compassion, and Gratitude.
• To Consistently Deliver the Highest Quality Organizing, Cleaning, and Decluttering Results that our Loyal Clients can find in the Kansas City Area.
• To Continue Being a Reliable and Flexible Residential and Commercial Service.
• To Continue Providing Peace of Mind, Security, and Relaxation to our Customers.
• To Provide a Clean and Safe Environment and make OUR World a Better Place.
OUR CORE VALUES
• We always say we “can”
• We treat our clients with respect and integrity.
• We are constantly improving the quality and efficiency of our work.
• We walk our talk.
• We value honesty, integrity, and punctuality.
• We are very enthusiastic about what we do.
• We contribute responsibly to improving our community and environment.
We offer to organize services, cleaning services, decluttering services, unpacking services, and we will even drop off the donations for the client.
We are different from others because we have a one-stop-shop for all of the client’s needs.
So maybe we end by discussing what matters most to you and why?
Life is short and in a world of chaos, social media, and divisiveness, precious things can easily become lost.
Sometimes, circumstances out of our control cause loss, and sometimes our own choices cause us to lose the things that mean the most. We all have different needs and priorities in life, but we share one thing in common: the absence of certain things in life causes us to feel incomplete.
While our lives and priorities may differ, there are some things vital to me living a life of fulfillment… things I need to fight for… things that really matter to me. They are family & friendships, love, peace, health, purpose, time, and learning.
Family & friendship. My relationships are my foundation. They are truly the things that make my life richer and more complete. I am talking about my daughters’ they are indeed my heart and I do everything I do because of them.
I must prioritize time with family, loved ones, and friends to foster my relationships with each of them. Being busy is normal, but why not try to be busy with the people that mean the most to us?
Having people in my life that I can call family is priceless. Knowing that I have someone who cares for me and will always be there for me is the type of support we all need, even if we don’t always admit it. But it is so easy to forget just how much family means to us.
They’re the people we typically take for granted because, at the end of the day, we know they will still be family. Always remember, your family is irreplaceable. You must devote time, love, and energy to nurture your family relationships – not just for the sake of your family, but for yourself.
You can’t choose your family, but you can choose your friends and make them members of your family. If you know a person you can call your best friend, then consider yourself blessed. Make the most out of your time with your friends and, more importantly, be the best friend you can be.
The unconditional love of family is an indescribable feeling and although I may not always see eye-to-eye, I respect others’ uniqueness and do my best to show my love more often.
Love. I have always said, I wasn’t put on this earth simply to love. Love one another, love what we do, love the Earth, and love each moment we are blessed to experience. Love is the most powerful force in the universe.
The real mark of greatness is shown through love’s actions of kindness, compassion, helpfulness, and caring. Learning how to love my place in the world helps create a positive, healthy attitude toward life.
Through love, I receive understanding, mercy, joy, and forgiveness. Through love, most of my emotional needs are met. Through love, I feel worthy and valid. Through love, I serve a higher purpose and unite in a higher calling.
The energy of love is the highest energy I can experience and acts of love raise my consciousness of the world. My ability to approach the world with love sets an example for others to aspire to while teaching compassion, forgiveness, tolerance, and peace.
Peace. I protect my peace. I used to become really affected by my surroundings. If my space was negative, I had to work hard not to spiral into a negative mindset.
The truth is, life isn’t easy, and remaining in our quaint comfort zones doesn’t open the window for change. The more confident you grow in the love you have for yourself, the more you realize that you are strong enough to walk in a room where the tension is thick and maintain your internal peace.
When you protect your peace, you can then balance your emotions and manage relationships and stressful situations effectively. This will help you develop self-confidence and come to terms with yourself so that you can achieve inner peace and cultivate a more positive attitude towards life.
I choose to love myself enough to treat myself. This is not selfish, it is self-preservation and self-love. I love myself enough to protect my peace.
Health. With good health, anything is possible. Without it, I cannot live life to its fullest. It is vital to take care of my mind, body, and soul. Though I may be a caregiver for my girls, I need to focus on my own health – and mental health.
Purpose. The purpose is my “why.” It drives my every action and fuels my passion. My, why are my daughters? I want them to see they can do anything that they put their minds to with a purpose and passion. It encompasses my work, my relationships, and my approach to living my best life.
My purpose wraps around everything I do in my life. To live a fulfilling life, I must have a purpose – a goal, an outcome I want to achieve as I walk this Earth. I feel like I truly started living when I found my purpose. It’s a never-ending journey that I wake up excited about every single day. Ultimately, my purpose becomes my legacy.
Time. Time is a limited resource; once it is spent, it’s gone forever. We cannot ever get time back, but we can be intentional with the time that we have.
We all have the same number of hours in our day, hours that are filled with responsibilities and obligations. Managing time often comes down to choices. The problem is, I say “yes” far too often. This is where I lose balance. Each time I say “yes” to something, I am saying “no” to something else.
Instead of feeling in control of my schedule, I feel my time is not my own. I rush from one commitment to the next, never feeling truly present at any of them. I cram more into my days but feel I have less and less time to do the things I really want to do or to see the people I want to see. I have less space left for myself.
Learning. Life is a gift and it is my responsibility to get the most out of it. It is critical that I always invest in developing my knowledge and skills. One day, I think I am an expert in an area, and the next day I am faced with a challenge that teaches me otherwise.
It is to my benefit to approaching challenges as a learning opportunity. Discover and cultivate my talents through continuous learning and I will add great depth and meaning to my life.
The more I expand my learning, the more invaluable I become.
Contact Info:
- Email: ocd_diva@yahoo.com
- Website: www.ocddivaandco.com
- Instagram: @ocddivaandco
- Facebook: OCD Diva
Image Credits
Headshot photographed by Tee Ervin
