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Speech Transcript

Unknown Speaker  0:00  

Hey this is Samantha lane with origami day and if you really want to learn how to level up your life you should be listening to time to shine today podcast with my dear friend Scott Ferguson

Unknown Speaker  0:10  

time to shine today pockets varsity squad it is Scott Ferguson and weird Episode 193 with my good friend Samantha lane, my University of Tennessee fan alum, and I just so stoked to bring you this episode. She has a company origami day. And basically she helps you stay productive in a changing landscape A lot of things are going really tech tech tech, but she kind of brings it down to the basics to really help you with getting organized and as we all know time is a commodity we don’t get back in Samantha will definitely help you do that. So without further ado, here’s my first I’m gonna say make sure you’re taking notes because I got two pages of notes from this 20 minute interview so make sure you’re taking notes because here comes my really good friend Samantha lane from origami day. Let’s level up.

Unknown Speaker  1:09  

Time to shine today podcast varsity squad. It is Scott Ferguson and I got my UT lady my ball which people that know me know I’m a Michigan State fan because I grew up in Michigan but UT is been my favorite team outside of Michigan State forever. I’ve been to like seven or eight games and nealon Stadium. Just have a blast. She lives in my version of vacation paradise. I live on the ocean and I’m literally looking at the Atlantic Ocean but when I want to get away I go to the Smoky Mountains, where my friend Samantha lane lives with origami de Samantha is a time management guru with past work and public relations higher education wellness in 2014 she experienced a life changing surgery that shifted her perspective on life. After years of juggling full time careers and passion based side hustles I love that side. hustles Samantha started origami day to help others bring balance to their busy lives. Samantha holds a bachelor’s degree in Public Relations from UT University of Tennessee and an MBA from King University. When she’s not helping others make the most of their time Samantha spends her days enjoying life with their loved ones and winning and a painter to arrive. This Samantha thank you so much for coming on. Introduce yourself to time to shine today varsity squad. But first, what emoji Do you use most when you text?

Unknown Speaker  2:25  

upside down? smiley face

Unknown Speaker  2:27  

ups oh my gosh, I just I just literally interviewed Ben Baker 30 minutes ago, awesome guy out of Canada and he said the exact same emoji.

Unknown Speaker  2:35  

I feel like I don’t know how I would describe a smiley face and an emotion but it’s that all the time. It is.

Unknown Speaker  2:41  

Alright, so what’s your favorite color? And why? Oh, jewel tones.

Unknown Speaker  2:45  

I know. It’s not like a color but a family of colors. But I just think they’re so deep and rich and kind of flattering on me. So

Unknown Speaker  2:51  

what is the primary color of a jewel tone so like a green

Unknown Speaker  2:55  

tones? You have like your Yeah, your deep Emerald, your mustard, your fuchsia,

Unknown Speaker  2:59  

okay. Love it. Love it. There’s a reason there’s a method for that madness. And if you I’ll tell the squad like if you look at the if you go to time to shine today.com slash podcast, you’ll see all the audio grams of everybody always use their favorite color and audiogram. So but also I get a personal personality kind of perspective to why I’m doing the interviews. I’m sharing this with my time management guru here.

Unknown Speaker  3:22  

Oh, what does that mean?

Unknown Speaker  3:25  

So let’s let’s get into a little bit of your early time into that life changing surgery, which helps you level up into origami day.

Unknown Speaker  3:31  

Yeah, so long story short, after graduating from University of Tennessee go balls. And I started hustling in the creative industry locally. And I thought work life is all about work, and how far how fast. And so I found myself as a workaholic, then realized I was diagnosed with a chest wall deformity that had my sternum sitting on my heart made it very difficult for me to breathe. And so with the information I had available to me, and recommendations of my doctors, I had my chest cut open at 29 years old, and I had all the complications. And that sort of made me realize, oh my gosh, life is short time is our most important resource, and I am wasting it. And that sort of caused me to change my life and become a time management fanatic and teach other people how to be both present in life while still being productive.

Unknown Speaker  4:17  

So that fork in the road moment, I guess would be the surgery that you said, Wow, time is short life short. You need to really get organized or what did I say that correctly? And whatever.

Unknown Speaker  4:29  

It was more during the recovery. The surgery itself was complicated, but the road to recovery was long and bumpy. And it was honestly you know, people would ask me, was it one instance? Well, I definitely remember one instance when I was being readmitted to the hospital with staff in my chest and I honestly thought oh my gosh, I might die. But it was really so much more than that. It was a culmination of all the Epiphany, all the struggles all just sort of, you know when life gives us challenges, it gives us opportunities to learn and it was a time of lots of learning

Unknown Speaker  5:00  

Right, right. And then God provided that opportunity right then.

Unknown Speaker  5:04  

Sure,

Unknown Speaker  5:05  

absolutely. So why origami? Why that name of a company? And I’ve always wanted to ask you this, I didn’t even ask you this in our discovery conversation. So why?

Unknown Speaker  5:15  

So I love that. Because when I when I made the decision to live my life, but I really wasn’t sure how. And I looked for the magic bullet in terms of time management tools, and I couldn’t find it. So I created my own tool. And what that ended up being was a folding eight and a half by 11 piece of paper that helps me map out a whole week, but just focus on one day at a time. I also grew up in a Japanese American Home, I’m a quarter of Japanese people never believe me when I see it. Now. The other response I get Oh, no, I see. So growing up in that Japanese American home, you know, Japanese culture is very much focused on our ancestors. They are why we are here. And they are, you know, sort of who we should be thankful for. So I thought, what better way to pay respect to my family and my heritage and that culture, then having origami, which is the Japanese word for folding paper, as part of my business name?

Unknown Speaker  6:03  

I love it. Oh, that’s amazing. So what did your family think when you got this the the Bachelor’s Degree in Public Relations and the master’s degree? What did your family think really about you kind of going into your own business with folding paper.

Unknown Speaker  6:22  

So there was this, everyone kind of walked the line of support and concern, because it was a very huge shift. For me, as someone who is always kind of eye on the prize, I’m going to get it done. Sort of like the Monica friends, I don’t know if you’ve ever watched that show. But that very much that type a competitive personality. And then when I was kind of like, forget it, I’m going to completely go a different path and change things up. I think there was some confusion for my family. But ultimately, once they started using the products, and sort of saw the joy it brought into my life, and more importantly, the time I was starting to spend with them. I think they all understood that this is what I’m doing. And And honestly, now my family actually uses the products, which is really cool.

Unknown Speaker  7:00  

Love it. So do you actually consult with companies to bring in the origami into the company? Are you more one on one?

Unknown Speaker  7:07  

Both.

Unknown Speaker  7:08  

So I actually started out thinking I was only going to sell products and then realize that origami day is so much more than the the effective products, it also sort of a philosophy. And then people said, Can you help me? So I started helping individuals and then those individuals that Oh, my gosh, that’s great, can you help my team. And that’s when I realized that we can reach more people if we can go into the larger companies and help them understand how to not just get more out of their workforce in terms of productivity, but to help them retain their talent better. And at the end of the day, also, with this whole pandemic we’ve experienced, really giving employees flexibility and freedom and telling them that they’re valued as a person that really has huge returns on keeping talent.

Unknown Speaker  7:46  

So do you ever get any pushback using paper instead of digital? Because most of your stuff? Is paper? Correct? And how Oh, yeah, so I’ve just been wanting to ask you that question.

Unknown Speaker  7:56  

Yeah, I actually get pushed back on a lot of stuff that I do, because so much of it, too, is kind of going against the grain of how we’ve been trained for the past, you know, many years. But I tell people all the time, I am not anti technology, I am pro paper. And there’s a lot of reasons for that. And so usually when I get that pushback if I sort of explained to people the benefits of paper, and even more importantly, how we utilize digital and paper together to increase our effectiveness, then usually people are pretty responsive. And it’s it’s not as much pushback.

Unknown Speaker  8:26  

Um, I’m the same way I’m digital across the board. Because I have to be synced to my assistant. I mean, I even have my producer here that’s in Toronto, we do that. But I’ll tell you what I mean, I can see show you right here. I mean, I have everything paper for like when I write stuff out, people call me I write down. I’m taking notes right now on paper, so I get it, I get it. So when a company kind of brings you in to really help with their time management, what is some of that secret sauce, if you don’t mind sharing to help them find their blind spot of where they’re getting their time, which you mentioned is a huge commodity. It’s you know, that they have it’s when we don’t get back? So what’s the way that you find their blind spot? And how to get them started within your products?

Unknown Speaker  9:06  

Oh, that’s such a good question. And really, that’s very different based on the company. I’ve worked with small startups before, I’ve worked with companies that are headquartered here that have offices all over I’ve worked with, with companies across the country where I get to travel and I get to have outside eyes for them. But the long and short is I really like to start by sort of listening to what their pain points are. And then through that, helping them connect with some resources that I’ve come across. You know, I love learning about time management, work life balance. So so so much of what I bring to my clients is just resources that can apply and sort of solve the problem even if it’s not an origami day tool necessarily, you know, paper is, you know, it’s it’s different. There’s a time and place and a personality for everything. And it’s not always the exact solution that I have been helping them connect maybe with another one that is just in my arsenal or in my contact list. So so really a lot of that is more listening and then kind of helping shape the strategy. That’s that’s specific to their needs and their goals and their resources and their timeline and their team and, and all the things a long answer.

Unknown Speaker  10:07  

So know that I appreciate it. It was detailed and in my squad appreciates that. So when you’re starting to consult with them, is there any good question that you wish they would ask you, but never do?

Unknown Speaker  10:20  

Hmm, um,

Unknown Speaker  10:23  

that I wish they would ask me but they never do. I guess the question would be how, how do we get from point A to point B? Because I think some people forget that that’s really what we’re all doing. Is this this work? You know, I love to think about a staircase. And it’s like a weird thing. But I think about so many problems as like you and I here, Scott, we’re standing on the bottom of a staircase. And we’re we’re trying to go with the top. And I think sometimes that is what we have in our days and our actions and our goals. But what we forget to do is identify each step and then put it in a proper place to get there, because then all we’re doing is taking one step at a time. And that is one of my favorite things to do. And I think sometimes companies don’t think about that. They think about the what’s the equivalent of jumping that staircase. And so I really believe in in sort of taking it step by step and so I guess I wish more people would ask sort of, you know, where are we where are we trying to go and just what’s what’s absolutely friggin love that it’s

Unknown Speaker  11:16  

like we say it time to shine today was passed out she was passed on to me by my coach, the inch by inch, it’s a cinch by the yard. It’s hard. You just said, Wow, that staircase, right? So it’s like, step by step. I love that. That’s fantastic. So when Okay, let’s go this way with it. Let’s get into a little bit of the past of Samantha, and getting that DeLorean with Marty McFly from back to the movie. Yeah. All right. So let’s go back there in, in what kind of knowledge nuggets are you dropping on? We’ll say the 22 year old Samantha. I don’t know if it was laying them. But Samantha that would help her level up last through in shortener learning curve.

Unknown Speaker  11:58  

It was demand. And that’s why she’s knowing. Let’s say she wasn’t an ambitious girl, even then I would probably I wouldn’t want to stifle her ambition, because I think that’s how we got to here. But what I would probably want her to know is that you can still plan for the future while living fully in today. And I don’t think she knew that. But I think she should have known that. If that makes sense.

Unknown Speaker  12:21  

Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. I mean, stay mindful of your area, or where you’re at and in the present. But still, you know, it’s another way to say is like, yeah, you plan to live to 100. But maybe kind of live today as if it’s your last in the sense where you have that right.

Unknown Speaker  12:38  

And I’m not against planning, which I know right now a lot of people are but but let’s not let our plans for tomorrow. take away our moments for today. And I was I was bad about that in the past.

Unknown Speaker  12:47  

Love it. I love it. So what keeps you up at night? Samantha?

Unknown Speaker  12:52  

This is gonna be a terrible answer. But I kind of Time, Time keeps me up at night. I think I had you know, we think about our origin stories and what how every little every little cut gets us to where we are. And there were so many instances in my life that led me to realize time is fleeting. And it really was that surgery where I find that it was undeniable. But you know, my father died. Suddenly, when I was a child. I broke my back when I was 21. Like, there’s been a million things that taught me Hey, girl, hey, it’s, it’s finite. And so time is that thing that keeps me up? Because I’m planning to live to 100? I don’t know that I’ll get to and so that that worries me, not for me, but for who I might leave behind? And have I done enough for them. And what is that legacy and have I set my husband up for success and things like that, it’s time

Unknown Speaker  13:39  

I see about you is like we always talk about here is like overlapping happiness. It’s like you and your hubby might be going on a vacation to Cracow or wherever, right and you’re so excited, you’re happy, but that vacation is gonna end, you know, so it’s like you always have to do things every day. That’s we I coach my clients do some every day that makes you happy because even the bad times are finite. You said the word finite. And they’re finite, just like good times are finite. So might as well just overlap and just be happy. You know? And that’s how I’m sure yes, because you just said time is finite. So if I’m out at a networking event, which here in South Florida, I believe in Tennessee, you can a little bit too but like presence of flesh meat and some people kind of things Am I hearing that would make them a good prospect contact a referral for origami day?

Unknown Speaker  14:23  

Hmm. You know, I actually think when your recent guest said this well is people who are looking for change. I can’t help someone if they don’t want to be helped. And so it’s really great when you hear someone who’s kind of starting a new habit like especially this time of year, they’re they’re trying to run they’re being intentional about their days and their time and their lifestyle. Those are the people that I can really help because they’ve already shown that they care and everything in life comes down to care and competency. As long as they’ve got the care I can help them develop that competency.

Unknown Speaker  14:50  

while carrying competency you hear that squad? actually taking some notes here with my good friends. So

Unknown Speaker  14:56  

that’s a double edged sword

Unknown Speaker  14:59  

so Let’s talk about that little dash in between your incarnation date and your expiration date your life during that day. How do you want, since you kind of almost met that last stat, you know, that last dash before? So how do you want your dash remembered?

Unknown Speaker  15:15  

So I’ve already written my obituary, and I hope to live up to it. And for me, it’s to be a distribution center. I explained to someone sort of my life goals, and they gave me that phrase, and they said, Oh, it sounds like you just want to be a distribution center. You want to take in the things and you want to give them back out. And I loved that, that that’s what gave me the good. Let me let me give it back out. I don’t, there’s there will not be a u haul. Following my hearse. I don’t need stuff, I don’t need money. I want to take the resources so I can give them back out to the causes. And I know you appreciate connect to that. Because there’s a lot of filan philanthropy and what you do with this podcast? Absolutely. It’s that same thing like we’re put here to give. And so my goal is that dash should be symbolic of a distribution center.

Unknown Speaker  16:00  

That’s frickin awesome. That’s amazing. Amazing, amazing. Oh my gosh. So let’s go this route. If you had lost everything that you built through origami Do you had to start over? What would be the first thing that you would do?

Unknown Speaker  16:19  

I would probably actually allow myself a little wallowing period, just so I

Unknown Speaker  16:23  

knew that morning.

Unknown Speaker  16:26  

Just a once it was done that once that wallowing was behind me, and there was no more of that than it is let’s look forward. That’s probably what I would do.

Unknown Speaker  16:36  

That’s fantastic. So what is Samantha’s definition of a life well live

Unknown Speaker  16:42  

I think I love the idea of in times of need there has there I’ve been so blessed with people around me to give me advice to bring a glass of wine to deliver a meal to donate to a cause. And I think to me, that’s a life well lived is to be that person back. And so I want to be that person who you know, drops off the fresh flowers after a funeral or the person who is there to talk you off a ledge when you’re having a bad day. I think alike will love just to be there for the people that you care about. And

Unknown Speaker  17:13  

that’s amazing. You’re such a go giver So, so amazing in Hey, time to shine today, varsity squad. It’s Scott Ferguson and I’m back with my good friend Samantha lane. And we’re going to go into our leveling up lightning round and what they have for you Samantha is five or six questions. No explanations. Okay, we’ll beat you. I’m just kidding. We won’t know explanations. First thing comes to your head and I’ll be on to the next one. You ready to level up?

Unknown Speaker  17:40  

I’m ready. All right, let’s

Unknown Speaker  17:41  

do it. What is the best leveling up advice Samantha’s ever received?

Unknown Speaker  17:45  

Oh, you will never get more than you can handle.

Unknown Speaker  17:47  

Beautiful. share one of your personal habits that contribute to your success.

Unknown Speaker  17:52  

planning my week, every Friday.

Unknown Speaker  17:54  

That’s beautiful. Excellent. So other than your own website. And of course, I’m going to say that websites I’ll make sure I say it right or gami.com, which I can’t believe you got that URL, which is amazing. outside of your website, and of course time to shine today.com my shameless plug what is another website that you go to to level up?

Unknown Speaker  18:13  

Honestly, it’s proverbs 31 ministries. It’s a daily devotional.

Unknown Speaker  18:16  

Nice. I’m gonna have to check that out. If I’m in my doldrums just not feeling it. You’re like Fergie read this book. What is it?

Unknown Speaker  18:25  

I just I’m gonna tell you when I just finished our explanation, chasing the bright side by Jess eckstrom. It’s all about optimism. Absolutely. We’ll put that in the show notes. So who had the most profound impact on your life? My mother in law.

Unknown Speaker  18:38  

Beautiful. That’s awesome to have a mother in law to do that, because no one’s ever good enough for their sons. Okay, so if you could be one agent Don’t bullshit me on this. Okay? If you could be one age for the rest of your life, keep the wisdom you’ve garnered and still continue to learn? What age physically which you stay for the rest of your life.

Unknown Speaker  18:57  

21

Unknown Speaker  18:58  

Okay, fair enough. That’s cool. I say 32. But that’s just like, cuz Yeah. 21 is good for me, too. I was in Iraq, but

Unknown Speaker  19:05  

I have an explanation for that. But we don’t

Unknown Speaker  19:07  

know. Let’s hear it. Let’s hear we got fine.

Unknown Speaker  19:09  

I broke my back at age 22. And it changed my my life physically in a good way. It made me a healthy person. But it was that I probably got to 21 because I was still like young and unbreakable.

Unknown Speaker  19:19  

Gotcha. So what is your favorite charity and organization you’d like to give your time or money to?

Unknown Speaker  19:24  

leukemia Lymphoma Society?

Unknown Speaker  19:25  

Thank you for saying that. Beautiful. And last question. You can elaborate just a little bit on this one. But what is the best decade of music? 60s 70s 80s or 90s?

Unknown Speaker  19:35  

Ah, that’s hard.

Unknown Speaker  19:39  

Seven D Okay. Very good. That was hard though. 5060s are good too.

Unknown Speaker  19:45  

They’re all good. It’s like I’m an 80s guy was born in 72. So like the 70s remind me of all the music My parents would play. So I always when I’m working I put on classic 70s but when I’m just like, I love the big hair. Don’t care. You know the British invasion rap music, all that stuff that kind of came to me and I was like my teens and stuff in the 80s

Unknown Speaker  20:04  

Oh, there was good and ABS too.

Unknown Speaker  20:06  

Yeah, absolutely. So how can we find you?

Unknown Speaker  20:09  

Um, well, it’s easy. These amantha Wayne or my origami day those handles will will get you or get me on all the social channels,

Unknown Speaker  20:17  

love it, and squat, all of those links will be in the show notes below. Feel free to visit them. And if you’d like a warm introduction to Samantha, just please let me know. And Samantha, leave us with one last Knowledge Nugget you’d like us to take with us internalize and take action.

Unknown Speaker  20:33  

Oh, my favorite. I say it all the time. Anything is possible. It’s just a matter of how you get there.

Unknown Speaker  20:39  

Yes. I love that. And I just got pages of notes with my good friend here. Samantha lane. She was the old Monica Geller from friends how far how fast. That’s how, although I’d love to see her with a turkey on her head doing the dance, that’d be a lot of fun. You know, she’s gonna tell us a time is our most important resource. She’s not anti tech. She wants you to utilize both technology and paper just her through her origami day her it’s just patented, perfect. And how you can really level up your day. You know, listen to the pain points. That’s what a good coach or consultant will do. And then put those they’ll put you together with the right resources. You know, and she’s gonna say how do you get from A to B identify the steps Natalie navigate your way there. She likened it metaphorically to a staircase. She doesn’t want you to jump the staircase. She wants you to go step by step like we say inch by inch. So she will get you there just I will. I’ll put you in touch with some out there. If you’re struggling with time management, please let me do that. You know, she doesn’t want to stifle your ambition. She wants you to plan to live long, but stay in the present and be mindful because time is finite. I love that. She said that. You know she wants to work with people that want to be helped willing to be helped and will take action on the consulting that she puts them and she’s going to be remembered as a distribution center. Honestly, this is one of the best answers I’ve ever gotten to the dash question she wants to take in what she’s learned regurgitate it in a sense and give back and that is that that’s just fantastic. In the times of need. She wants to be that person that will have a glass of wine with you drop off baked goods. Just have fun with you. She wants to be that person that wants to help you level up she’s a total good go giver. She wants to remember anything’s possible if you take the right action, the right steps. And that’s what my good friend Samantha lean does. She’s amazing. She’s beautiful. She levels up her health levels up her wealth. Total go giver. Thank you so so much for coming on time to shine today. You are again, just amazing. I can’t wait to collaborate with you in the future.

Unknown Speaker  22:40  

Thank you.

Unknown Speaker  22:41  

You’re very welcome. We’ll talk soon, Samantha. Looking forward to it. Hey, thanks so much for listening to this episode of time to shine today podcast proudly brought to you by southern New Jersey real estate real estate excellence that can be reached at 561-249-7266 and online at www dot Sutter and Nugent comm if you’re a business owner or professional who would like to be interviewed on time to shine today, please visit time to shine today.com slash guest. If you liked this episode, please subscribe on Apple podcasts, Google podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify, I Heart Radio or wherever you get your podcasts. There’s a link in the show notes to our website. Also there you will see our recommended resources. We hope that you will support our show by supporting that. If you like what you have been listening to, it’d be great if you could just give us a five star rating and tell your friends to subscribe while you’re at it. I’m your host Scott Ferguson. And until next time, let’s level up it’s our time to shine.

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