First, an Introduction Into My Personality and Why it Matters

What I’ve learned about helping businesses get systematized and organized is that the most important factors to their success are how well their business systems honor and align with their personalities, work habits, and beliefs.

If your systems don’t feel orgasmic and don’t get you all hot and bothered, you’re not going to be excited or inspired to use them every day. Period.

Discovering and understanding how you work; what you believe; and how you see the world is the first thing to systems success. Always. We never skip this part; it’s your guiding light, your Biz DNA.

So, it’s important for me to show my personality (the good and the bad) and beliefs to give you an understanding of why I love Trello so much:

• I am at heart a pen-and-paper person — Anytime I start something, I look forward to staring at a blank piece of paper with a Sharpie in hand (or a whiteboard!!) versus staring at a blank Google Doc. With a notebook and a whiteboard, I can be dynamic (draw circles, arrows, put words in the center or in the corners) much easier. As much as I love technology, analog still goes first.
• Whiteboards and sticky notes are life — I love to write information down on a sticky note so that I can move them around easily and group things together when needed. I’m a very visual and kinesthetic person. It’s how my brain best works and processes. I need to see it. I need to interact with it. I need to touch it for it to process and analyze well in my brain.
• I have LOTS of ideas that I want to execute on all the time — I may be biased, but most of the time when I have an idea, I think it’s BRILLIANT. So, having a place to store all my ideas is a must, so that I can go sort them out later.
• I’m a linear thinker — I calm the chaos by taking information and turning it sequential steps and categories. This is how I create logic and control for myself.
• I’m pretty Type A — I’d like to say it’s who I am and also further shaped by my anxiety.
• I have anxiety — My therapist and I have worked together to discover that the two biggest sources that trigger it comes from hypervigilance (if I’m not (thinking) 5 steps ahead something bad is going to happen) and self-worth. The moment I think I’m not good enough or worthy enough, shit hits the fan.

So, with all that being said above, let’s dive into why I love Trello.

Why I Love Trello and Recommend It So Much

I could go on for days about why I love Trello and how it’s helped me grow my business SO much. In short, it really checks the boxes on two of my core values, freedom and ease, which then leads to it ticking my third core value’s box, too: joy!

• It’s multi-purpose — I have so many things outside of my businesses that I like to plan for and be organized about too, like planning what I’m going to cook every day for dinner to planning my next destination birthday party. It’s SO nice to be able to see everything so well organized in and out of business.
• It’s flexible — Whether I’m planning content for my membership site or am working with a team to launch a live event with vendors, Trello lets me set up my board and lists exactly as I want to meet my needs.
• It’s intuitive and easy to use — Don’t feel like things are laid out properly? It’s so easy to drag and re-organize your lists and cards. Or, if I need to create subtasks, Trello’s checklist feature is right there. I don’t need to jump through hoops to figure out how things work. And let’s not forget how amazing their mobile app is!
• It’s visual and tactile — I’m a very visual and dynamic person. Being able to see everything from a birds-eye-view to zooming down into the minutiae of checklists make me feel in control and on top of things. Plus, being able to move my cards from one stage to another makes me feel like I’m still using sticky notes to an extent because I. Love. Sticky. Notes. Period.
• It’s easily collaborative — Inviting people into your Trello board takes a few clicks. You can assign members tasks inside a card or with a keyboard shortcut. Or, you can even create them their very own workflow stage (a Trello list) so that they know when cards are in that list, you’ve passed the torch to them!
• It’s minimalist — One of the things I love about Trello is that at its core, it’s minimalist until you need more.

Why I Don’t Recommend Trello to Everyone

I’m head over heels in love with Trello because it simply aligns with how I work, think, and feel in control. Its capabilities and set-up (before I did my thing) reflect how I see I’ve always envisioned my teams working together. I feel less stress, more ease, and at peace knowing Trello has my back.

That being said, I would never force people to use Trello simply because it’s orgasmic to me. If it’s not your jam or doesn’t align with your working style, I’m not going to force a square peg into your round hole. (Oh, that got kinky really really fast!) Given that my brand is about seeing, accepting, and loving you for who you are—because you are enough just as you are—my biases cannot cloud this.

I’m all for experimenting with different apps, of course! That’s what test driving is for. Be careful of switching from one app to another often, because it means that you’re more than likely going to have start from scratch—or at least close to it—when you sign up for a new platform every time; and that’s just a HUGE time waster for your business. My suggestion? Be really honest about yourself and what you’re looking for. Go in with a checklist of things you need to feel successful from a platform based on your work habits and business goals.

It’s been instrumental in helping me generate revenue, manage all my (client and non-client) work, and scale my business without the fear of dropping balls or missing deadlines. Use it as inspiration to make it your own!