Today we’d like to introduce you to Hope Vance.
Hi Hope, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
On July 31, 2013 my life changed forever. It started out as a normal day. My husband and I kissed each other goodbye and we went on about our normal day. He worked in Atlanta as an Electrician for a billboard company and I worked in our hometown of Carrollton as an Office Administrator for an Optometry practice. We were young and new parents to a three years old son and six months old daughter. Just like everyday we would check in with each other on our lunch breaks. It had only been about an hour or so since I had spoken to him. He had told me that he was going to cover for a co-worker for the afternoon meaning he would be performing a task that he had done many times before but it wasn’t his current role. Around 1PM that day, I received the devastating news. The love of my life, my best friend, my child’s father had fallen from the billboard. I didn’t know specifics and didn’t know specifics for the entire hour drive to Grady Hospital in Atlanta.
As I was pulling into the parking lot, I received a call and it was my husband. He told me that he was hurt really bad and they needed to get him into surgery ASAP. But he wasn’t going until he was able to see me. More or less the call was to tell me to hurry it up because he needed and kiss and a hug before being put to sleep before who knew how long. I made it just in time as they were wheeling him out of the trauma room up to the operating room. I was able to get that hug and kiss and for him to tell me that he was paralyzed. Here I was with two small children and a new lifestyle that I had no idea how we would navigate. But God! Jeffrey went into surgery. I went to a cold and quiet waiting room that was soon filled with friends and family. We waited. We prayed. We waited some more and prayed a whole lot more. After 13 hours a doctor finally came through the doors to tell us the tragic news I already knew deep down but hearing it from the doctor was heart shattering. My husband was paralyzed from the waist down. He has two broken ankles, shattered (described to me like a bag of potato chips that someone had crushed), his tibia on his right leg came through the side of his foot and he was banged up.
By the grace of God, he was going to live but a new way of life was ahead of us. We spent nine days at Grady Hospital. God and lots of resources worked in wonderful ways to get us to the Shepherd Center in Atlanta. We spent 59 days there under the most wonderful care. Because of family, friends and employer, I was able to step away from our then life to learn how to navigate our new one. We both struggled with what our life was going to look like. What careers would we have now? What are our children going to think of their Daddy being in a chair with wheels? What are people going to think of us? We were strong in our Faith with God but nothing like what came over us on that rainy day in July. God showed up in so many ways. He had a plan. Still has a plan. One we still question but we still have our Faith. I eventually went back to work. Part-time at first and then eventually full time. My position changed multiple times to allow for me to give my all to my employer but to most importantly give my all to my family. Jeffrey stayed home, learned how to be in a wheelchair, learned how to drive a truck with hand controls, learned how to do pretty much all the things he did prior to the accident but in a modified way.
Days were sometimes long, sad, dark, hard. But we had each other to lean on, our children to work hard for and a life to continue living because we knew there was a plan for us. I eventually decided that my focus needed to be at home with my family so I left my ten years career. I stayed home for two years. Decided to further my education and went back to college taking classes online. I graduated. Spent a year and a half looking for the right job. It never came. I finally had a position fall into my lap that I decided it was time to take. The kids were old enough and both in school. Jeffrey was at a point to where he was navigating life well. While he wasn’t back at a full time job, he was learning ways that he could work for himself and that he did. My husband is the type that if there’s a will, there’s a way. He would work day and night to find a way. The Shepherd Center say that in him while we were there for treatment and he became an advocate for the peer support group. He would go and visit with other patients they had the same interests and likes as he and help them to realize that life isn’t ending and that there’s a way to continue doing the things that you loved and did before your injury. We live in rural Carrollton. We had a home with several acres of land. We had the opportunity to purchase more land and start living out our dreams. We started building a farm.
Then we decided we wanted to flip houses. During my first stint of staying home and after graduating with my second degree, I took lots of time to reflect on what I wanted out of this life that we only get one shot at. When I was eight years old, my mom told me to clean my room because it had gotten out of hand. She gave me some trash bags and asked me not to leave my room until it was spotless. So, that’s what I did. And after that day, it stayed spotless. Not sure what happened that day but something came over me and my love for organization started. I organized everything! Throughout my childhood, high school, and college I was known as the one who organized everything and everybody. I started journaling during that downtime of having no job, no clue what God’s plan for my career was and wrote a rough draft business plan for starting my own business, Organized with Hope, as a Professional Organizer. Those dreams were tucked away because I didn’t have the courage at the time to pursue them because of many reasons. Then the pandemic hit. I had been at the job that fell in my lap for almost two years. Just like most places we were all sent home to quarantine for two weeks that turned into six weeks.
During that time, I reflected on every aspect of my life just like many people at home for weeks wondering what was to come next. We talked about new dreams. One day I was cleaning out some things and came across that business plan. We prayed over it many times. My employer called us back to work and I struggled with it. I decided to go back, continue to pray for our future and wait for God’s nudge. We had been back in the office for two weeks and one morning, the nudge came while in a meeting. I stepped out of the meeting called my husband, told him it was time and put my notice in on the same day. This was in May of 2020. I worked a six weeks notice to help them get things in order. I then spent the Summer with my family and prayed for the courage to start my own business. If you know me, you know it’s not my nature to do something like that but the tragedy of 2013 changed something inside of me. In August of 2020 Organized with Hope was born. I am a Professional Organizer and my mission is to give my clients peace through organization in their life, home or business so they can focus on what is most important to them.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
No! Watching your spouse lose the ability to use his legs and not be able to walk, run, skip, climb a tree, play in the yard with his children, etc is not easy to watch. I’ve watched him struggle, even after almost nine years, and that is hard for me. I pray for God to give me the strength to build him up during those times but also to give me strength. We have a great relationship. We’ve always been open and honest with one another. That’s important. When we were at the Shepherd Center Jeffrey had some really hard days. One day his nurse pulled me outside our room and said we’ve got to get him out of this state of mind. She told me that she saw something in him and he had a bright future. So I walked back into our room. I prayed and prayed for God to show me ways to help him. Due to Jeffrey’s broken ankles he had external fixators on each leg.
Not only was he learning how to transfer from a bed to a wheelchair he was having to do it with metal rods sticking out of his lower half. Extra weight and plain awkward. But we didn’t let that stop us. We decided to start meeting other families going through similar situations. But quickly realized that we were fortunate. Not just because his injury was easier than others but because we had support. Not all families had the support like he had but having a wife by his side, a family at home taking care of his children, his house and to come visit often and build him up. He quickly realized that there’s always someone else that is way worse off than you are and to keep fighting no matter what. Of course, there have been other struggles along the way and up to this very day but Jeffrey and I have always worked as a team to overcome and persevere. To always find good in a bad situation. To look to God first and foremost.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
I am a Professional Organizer. My mission is to give you peace through organization so that you can focus on what’s most important in your life, home or business. A Professional Organizer is someone who has JOY in keeping their surroundings nice and tidy. A space is a space for a reason and if it’s unorganized and not functional, it doesn’t work. As a Professional Organizer, I learn your style, clean up the space and get it organized and functioning with the hope to keep it that way.
Not only do I strive to help people in their homes but also businesses. My services are for in person or virtual. I also have a growing Facebook group where I share ideas and encourage my followers who want to declutter and get organized. I help them with ways to stay organized and to have hope that they can do it. It doesn’t have to be all pretty and expensive looking, while that’s nice, that doesn’t fit everyone’s lifestyle. My goal is to help people realize that you can declutter and organize a space to be functional with what you already have. You don’t have to go out and spend tons of money on baskets/bins or remodel a space just to get it organized. There are inexpensive ways to do this and it starts with you and your mindset.
I’m also getting ready to launch OWH – The Organized with Hope Subscription Box. This will be a quarterly box that includes organizational items and tips to be used in your home, business or life. My intent is to find the best tools while not breaking the bank to help people create habits for getting and keeping an organized life.
Can you talk to us a bit about happiness and what makes you happy?
Many things. My family. Sunshine. A breathe of fresh air. Reading. Puppies. Tidyness. Hugs. Working out. Learning new things. Helping others. Smiles. Kindness. Watching my children play sports. Friendship. Traveling.
Contact Info:
- Email: hope@organizedwithhope.com
- Website: www.organizedwithhope.com
- Instagram: @hopevance24 @organizedwithhopev
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hope.vance.7 https://www.facebook.com/organizedwithhopev
- Other: https://www.facebook.com/groups/organizedwithhope
Image Credits
Megan Cook Photography
