MANSFIELD — Kamryn Yahney would like to have the next 20 years of her life planned out, but after changing her major three times in one semester of college, the 18-year-old Ontario graduate believes she’s found a more fitting plan.
Yahney launched her own business, called In Its Place, offering professional organization services.
“I’d like my whole life to be planned out at least five years ahead of me, and I’m learning that it’s not always going to be like that,” Yahney said.
But, what if, she thought, her career was in planning and organizing.
The young woman came to this realization while studying education at Bowling Green State University. She was visiting a classroom as part of a field experience, when a teacher asked her about her career choice.
“It was one of the last schools we went to, and this older teacher, she asked, why I wanted to be a teacher,” Yahney said. “And I said, ‘Well, I can’t wait to organize my own classroom.'”
She talked about her detailed plans to organize graded and ungraded papers and keep lesson plans structured. Much to her surprise, the teacher told her to reconsider her studies.
It was what she needed to hear, Yahney said with some hindsight, but in the moment, she was lost.
Yahney left college and moved back to Mansfield. She enrolled in the Mansfield branch of The Ohio State University for business studies and completed a 12-week training program on becoming a professional organizer — in just four days.
“I felt passionate about it, and I wanted to finish it, I wanted to get it done,” Yahney said.
Within those four days, she made a website and filed for an LLC. Then, her step-father provided a small loan to help her get started.
“I couldn’t have done it without that,” Yahney said. “He’s very supportive of me, and so is my mom.”
She’s been up and running ever since.
Yahney’s always had an interest in organization.
“My mom always pointed out that my laundry was clean and neat,” Yahney said. “I mean, I was a kid, so sometimes I hid my laundry in my dresser, but it was organized.”
Her grandmother once pointed out her entrepreneurial spirit after she had made buckeye necklaces.
In high school, she began taking on larger projects. As a student, she organized the CamStrong basketball tournament, honoring Cameron Friend, who died in 2017 due to complications with a bone marrow transplant.
Yahney, who babysat for Cameron’s younger sister, approached the Friend family with the notion of a tournament, and the inaugural event raised more than $900 for the CamStrong Foundation.
Yahney’s business will offer services like packing and unpacking, time management advice and organizational planning for toy rooms, garages, basements, kitchens, pantries and more.
She also intends to share tips in a monthly newsletter.
“I’m just really excited to see where it goes,” she said. “I do want this to be my career. I want this to be going comfortably and smoothly.”
For more information about In Its Place, visit initsplaceorganization.com or call 567-307-3084.
