Entering people’s lives as a “trusted person”
26 March 2023
A “P.O. buddy” to be more efficient
23 April 2023
Our wonderful roundup of international guests who provide valuable and informative moments of sharing for APOI Associates continues. We are in the third year of the #APOIinternationalGuest initiative, and the enthusiasm of professional organizer members is growing as they find value in this opportunity for their professional growth to engage with P.O.'s of international caliber.
Our first guest speaker for 2023 is a distinguished figure: Amy Tokos. Since 2021 NAPO President, a prominent figure in the world of the profession in the U.S. and beyond. Meeting Amy meant not only getting to know an exceptional, helpful and generous woman, but also touching on the history of the world's first and most important association, NAPO.
How I choose our guests
APOI was born and I boarded this beautiful adventure right away, it was 2013. It was natural to devote my attention to the international world, convinced of the value of weaving constructive relationships, which after some time gave birth in me to the desire to create #APOIinternationalGuest, to bring all members closer to professionals of experience and cultures different from our own. Comparing andlistening are both an inspiration and a strong stimulus for us all.
I began to select guests starting with the most famous P.O.'s, also trying to get a broad view of the different cultures in which the profession has developed. Among the various I also approached our "European cousins" who are part of younger associations, with fewer years of experience behind them, but who certainly do not lack enthusiasm or resourcefulness. Stay tuned for our next guest from 2023, the president of the Francophone FFPO association, Pauline Levasseur.
Joining theIFPOA was another big step for our association: being invited to a high-level international table where the best representatives of the profession in the world sit allowed me to broaden my and our outlook , and it was on this occasion that I met Amy. I had the opportunity to listen to her and discover her vision of work and professional growth.
When I contacted Amy, I was not sure if she would accept my invitation. In fact, in addition to being very busy, she is an official speaker, that is, a professional who charges a fee to share her knowledge, whereas we as an association instead invite our guests to get involved for free. In this regard, I will never tire of thanking every single guest who generously accepted our invitation.
However, Amy pleasantly surprised us by accepting our request with enthusiasm, generosity and a strong spirit of sharing.
Amy represents the institutionality of the profession
Amy Tokos, really struck me as calm and centered. In her early professional life she was an engineer, specializing (not surprisingly) in making manufacturing processes easier and more efficient. She has worked in top-tier companies in the U.S. (Quaker Oats and General Motors), where the expectations are for a high degree of productivity and professionalism. So her professional background was a top-notch training ground for the professional organizer she later became.
When she became a mother for the first time, as happens to many women, she questioned her lifestyle: reconciling being a mother and an engineer did not make her feel comfortable because of too demanding work schedules and rhythms.
After a few years, however, he felt the need to get back on track: in 2008 he founded his first business "Freshly Organized" and at the same time became a member of NAPO, from there it would be a succession of successes and important engagements in various roles within the Association.
The roles he has held within NAPO:
2008 NAPO Associate
2010 Attended his first conference and joined the Virtual Training group
2012 Elected director of professional development
2013 Elected President of Virtual Chapter
2014 Elected National Co-President of NAPO's "Golden Circle"
2016 Elected National President "NAPO Cares"
2017 NAPO National Chair in Marketing.
2018 Joins the NAPO Board of Directors.
2021-2023 Elected NAPO President.
As of December 2022, a new challenge was born for Amy: she moved to Kansas City and started a new brand, "Amy Tokos Productivity." New city, new business, new start-up, with her enormous wealth of professionalism, ability to focus and reengage with new tools and a clear vision of her professional future.
With "Amy Tokos Productivity," she is in charge of helping small businesses get off on the right foot, i.e., the organizational one, curating her very successful podcast, "Your Real, Your Ideal, with Amy Tokos," being a speaker.
What we learned from listening to Amy
Amy is a tangible example of how a woman can successfully fill the various roles of everyday life. She is a mother of four children who has chosen to grow up with commitment and presence without sacrificing notable success in her professional life, both as an employee of large corporations and as an entrepreneur. She has also been able to combine her remarkable commitment as a professional with a presence and participation in association life, which has enabled her to cultivate and grow her know-how with great success giving considerable prestige to her figure, in the US and internationally.
A real incentive to give oneself new goals, to always look further ahead, not to be frightened by changes and to participate passionately in association life, because the growth of an association means the growth and recognition of the profession.
I like to be able to describe our guests in a few words, and for Amy I would choose: softness and authority.
Once again #APOIinternationalGuest gave us a great growth experience.
Thank you Amy!
