Blog
Pursuing Purpose and Intention: A Q&A with Allie Casazza
Happy Monday, beauties!
I am thrilled to share a new “Real Women, Real Balance” interview with you today.
Allie Casazza is wife to her junior high algebra partner and mom to their four young kids. She is the creator of Your Uncluttered Home– an online decluttering course that earned her national attention for her philosophy of simple motherhood.
Allie has been featured on Good Morning America, The TODAY Show, The Jenny McCarthy Show, ABC News, and other popular media. She and her husband work together in her blog-turned-business, which you can check out here.
I first met Allie when she reached out to guest blog here on The Balanced Life. 99% of the time, I say no to guest blogs. But something about Allie just felt right. She wrote a post titled, “How Decluttering Saved My Motherhood” and within days, it went VIRAL. So viral that my web hosting company was tracking me down trying to figure out what was going on.
Allie and I have stayed connected ever since and I’m thrilled to have her here on the blog again today…ENJOY!
Pursuing Purpose and Intention: A Q&A with Allie Casazza
Hi Allie! Will you start by telling us a little bit about yourself?
I’ve been married for ten years, I’m mom to four kids ages two to eight, and live in Southern California. I run an online business where I help overwhelmed moms pursue purpose and intention in their role. I love what I do!
What inspired you to start your business?
My business was born out of my story, as I think most passion projects are. I used to live every single day in survival mode. I was fighting depression, waking up already too tired to do my day, and feeling like I didn’t enjoy motherhood. It was a very dark time in my life that led me to search for a better way.
On a particularly low day, I had what can only be called an epiphany, and realized that most of what I spent my time doing was managing stuff we didn’t even need – clutter in the house that wasn’t serving us, obligations on my calendar that weren’t purposeful ways to spend our time, etc.
I purged my home, my schedule, and my life; everything changed. Now, I help my fellow women live the same story by giving them shortcuts to that journey.
What does a typical day look like for you?
An early wake up call of about 5:30, quiet time with my Bible and coffee followed by some household rhythms like unloading the dishwasher and starting a load of laundry. My kids wake up at 6:45, get ready for school and are out the door at 7:50. Then, I get ready for the day and start working.
I usually work from about 8:30-11:30, except for Tuesdays which are my “mega days” where I batch a ton of writing and work until about 2:00.
My husband, Brian works at home with me (he’s my media guy) so we usually have lunch together and collaborate over upcoming photo shoots and video projects for the business. I think having time during the day to focus on moving forward, not just staying afloat and getting tasks done for right now is really important when you run a business.
I usually get a little housework done in the afternoon then listen to a business podcast while I drive to pick up my kids from school. We do homework, chores, and if there are horseback lessons for my daughter that day, we head to the ranch for a bit.
I start dinner around 4:30 and we always eat together, connect with one another, and talk about our day. The kids are in charge of after-dinner clean up, but we all help. After the bedtime routine is underway, I go through the house for a final tidy-up, the kids get tucked in around 8:00, and another day is conquered!
I usually go to bed around 10:30 after some quality time with my hubby.
I’m curious, what do you do when you’re not working?
I’m always reading something, I enjoy yoga, I play baseball with my boys, and Brian and I are religious about our Thursday night dates – best night of the week!
As you know, The Balanced Life is all about empowering women to approach health & fitness with a balanced mindset. How do you handle the pressure as a woman to look or act a certain way?
This pressure has been huge in my life. I remember once my blog reached a certain level of popularity, I started receiving messages from women who all assumed I’m perfect, and that sat on me like a weight for a long time. They would ask me things like “how do you get intentional with ______________?” and it would be an area of my life I’d never given much thought to – something really small.
I would feel like a fraud, like I was now expected to be extremely intentional about every single part of my life. But that’s not the image I’ve put out into the world – I’m very real in what I share, very transparent. Any ideas that I’m perfect are from their incorrect assumptions, and I do not need to live up to that standard. I remind myself of this often!
What does balance mean to you during your current season of life?
I love the way you phrased this question because it is about the current season! I’m just leaving a season where “balance” was just taking things one minute at a time as we traveled the U.S. in our camper with the kids while continuing to run the business and homeschooling. It was total chaos! Balance meant something very different than it does now.
At this time in my life, balance means rhythms. Having our kids in school is new, and I’m thankful for the rigidity of time it gives us after such a sporadic year. However, if I don’t stick to my rhythms in my role, things get too crazy for there to be much joy. If the laundry gets backed up, the kids can’t find clean underwear for school, and that makes for a rough morning – not a good start to the day! I find balance by knowing what my pillar rhythms are and keeping those going above all else. If something needs to give, it for sure isn’t my rhythms. They provide peace and functionality in our home, and that makes life a lot happier for our family!
Who/what inspires you to keep living well?
My Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Every day I bring what my day holds to His feet and He gives me the grace and stamina I need to be a conqueror. He equips me to “do it all”, it’s not about me or what I’ve done to build any of this. These kids are His, and this is not my business, it’s His.
I also look at my kids and think, I was chosen out of every woman who ever lived, in any generation to be their mother. That powerful reminder always keeps me pushing forward on the hard weeks. I want to do this life well, for them!
What is your best tip for maintaining a healthy lifestyle in the midst of a busy life?
Block out time to get prepared. Healthy living boils down to good choices made on a regular basis. With four kids, a business and a team of people to run, those good choices can’t be made if I haven’t prepared for them. I keep healthy snack bars, paleo jerky and water bottles with me at all times, and meal plan every Sunday so I know what’s going in our mouths ahead of time. There are blocks of time on my calendar each week dedicated to planning, preparing, and stocking up on the tools needed to make healthy choices. It matters!
What projects are you currently working on that you’d like us to know about?
I just launched a new course, Unburdened: the overwhelmed beginner’s guide to a simpler life. I am so excited for what this project will do and is already doing for moms across the globe! This is minimalism for your life, not just your home. It’s the how-to of simplifying the things that have you feeling scattered, cluttered, stuck and overwhelmed.
Thank you, Allie! It’s an honor to have you here on the blog today. Thank you for the work you are doing to inspire others!
Allie is social! You can follow her on Instagram, where she is most active and shares her day-to-day life via her Instagram Story at @allie_thatsme, or by clicking here.
share this post
Helping You Break Free!
Get your weekly delivery of inspiration—Pilates, nourishment,
& mindfulness—changing your relationship with food and your body.
