my journey

To Create a Life I Love

“The journey to creating your life is just that – a journey. Embrace it as such, believe in your ability to change and heal, so that you can evolve with your life, and enjoy it fully.”

my journey

To Creating a Life I Love

“The journey to create a life you love is just that – a journey. Embrace it as such, believe in your ability to change and heal, so that you can evolve with your life, and enjoy it fully.”

My journey to making meaning in and of my life has been one of transformation and redefinition. It has also been riddled – like for most people – with failure, difficulties, stress, and feeling unwell.

But I have discovered not just through certifications and degrees but through digging deep to learn about myself that it is in the willingness to transform and grow where we become well. I didn’t know all of this when I started my coursework to be a certified Holistic Health Coach through the Institute of Integrative Nutrition. And soon learned that wellness – wholeness – is more than what you put on a plate. It is all the things that support your life that don’t have to do with food. Being able to work effectively, relate intently, connect spiritually, and love deeply are all components of well-rounded wellness.

In my life, previous to receiving my certification, I was struggling with my wellness. I was anemic, hypoglycemic, had osteoarthritis, fatigue, aching joints, an irritated gut, and a seeming inability to get pregnant. I wanted to find more sustainable ways to be healthy. So when many painful fertility treatments failed and because I was feeling quite unwell, at the age of 40 I decided to dig deeper to find the root cause of what was going on. I saw a Functional Medicine Practitioner who tested me for and diagnosed me with severe Non-Celiac Gluten Sensitivity. This diagnosis was, in fact, a bright spot because it answered a lot of what was going wrong with my health. But it also propelled me to change my diet and a lifestyle and mindset that weren’t serving me.

You see, with infertility – like any diagnosis that feels heavy – it can be tough to pay attention to your self – who you are and what you want. The voices of well-meaning people everywhere seem to crowd you, leaving you feeling overwhelmed and directionless. For me, these feelings left me depressed and sad and often confused about what my next step should be. I wasn’t comfortable feeling this way. And I wanted to change. I wanted to experience life differently, and live it more fully.

Embracing a new way of thinking – a minimalist mindset – being willing to change and to continually discover more about myself, allowed me to make more meaning in my life.

Over the course of three years, feeling a need to lighten the weights that were holding me down, I went on a full purge of the noise all around me. I started with the food I was eating, which was leaving me feeling bloated, achy, and stuffed, and embraced living Paleo – which was more about creating a balance between eating, moving, sleeping, and relating well than just eating no grains, dairy or sugar. The dietary changes healed every one of my ailments and left me feeling stronger, more alert, and happier.

I continued my purge with the thoughts that were swirling in my head, leaving me feeling not good enough and unprepared to be a mother, then moved on to people in my life that were pulling me away from the path I wanted to be on. I aimed to move out what wasn’t serving me and added in what helped me grow. On a recommendation I picked up Gabby Bernstein’s book May Cause Miracles and started a 40-day meditation. That book helped me love myself more and slowed me down enough to appreciate everything around me. I also replaced my aggressive gym workouts temporarily with yoga. Yoga helped me listen intently to the messages I was getting from my body which felt like it needed softening, stretching, and opening up. I paid attention to what I was feeling – that there was more to gain with less.

This minimalist mindset I started to develop before I even named it – of deliberately adding in only the thoughts, things, and people, that informed my life positively completely transformed me. It changed how I lived my life and did my work.

And I know it was the reason I eventually got pregnant. Yes, I did get pregnant! Three years after we stopped fertility treatments and decided to look into adoption, after completely changing the way I ate and moved my body, and how I processed thoughts in my head, after hearing doctors tell me getting pregnant on my own just wasn’t going to happen, it did. And while it ended in miscarriage, it still provided a beautiful lesson. It led me to minimalism, to think more clearly and act more intentionally. It opened me up to experience more, and soon after welcome our beautiful daughter that we adopted.

While motherhood presents itself with its own set of challenges, my growing understanding and use of minimalism is my go-to tool to help me heal, solve, and complete anything difficult that crosses my path.

I know there are no coincidences in life. There was a reason I went through major lifestyle changes. It healed me and now helps me help others on their path to finding peace and fulfillment in their life.

The change I experienced allows me to teach my clients about the power of minimalism and organization to make sense of piles of paper, overflowing closets, overwhelming calendars, and unfulfilled lives.

My transformation now helps me help others create a life they love and teaches them that the road to creating that life – to feeling well, intentional, happy – involves asking questions of yourself, the same ones I asked myself: How do you want to feel? What kind of person do you want to become? What impact do you wish to have on the world? What is your purpose?

My journey to making meaning in and for my life taught me that developing meaning and purpose isn’t one, big giant thing that you discover somewhere down the road. It is a combination of things that come together to offer definition in your life. Purpose, in fact, is the dots in your life – everything that you have done, and everything that you’re going to do – that get connected over time, that bring meaning and value to you, and to others.

All of those dots join together in the creation of your life. They make you who you are.

My journey is still just that, a journey to discover and uncover meaning so I can be impactful in this world. I know minimalism – the concept and the lifestyle – offers the opportunity to create space and spaces that will help others do that as well. It positively affects life on every level and I know it will allow you, as it has for me, be more available to life and the life you want to live.

I know there are no coincidences in life. There was a reason I was going through a major lifestyle change in order to heal my body, at the same time I was going back to school to get certified as a holistic health coach. I wanted to learn about ways to more fully help people embrace the necessary changes to attain wellness like I did – not just through what they ate but how they lived.

It was also no coincidence how much organization for me – in my work, my own space and with my thoughts – played a major role in going through this drastic change successfully. Everything came full circle, and beautifully into focus at that time. I could see quite clearly the connection between attaining wellness and organization. I lived it, and could see how the two fed each other. And today, I am so happy to be able to help others become more holistically well through organization.

My wellness philosophy is simple: Wellness is a state of mind that is cultivated and created by how we choose to live life. And what we choose to have in our life.

I believe when we are clear on who we are and want to be and consciously choose the contents of our life we can build it on more solid ground. When we are deliberate to let into our head, heart, home, and body what nourishes we gain physical energy, and mental clarity to make positive lifestyle choices, and create a life we truly love.

SUCCESS STORIES

I highly recommend Francesca to anyone who wants to move past the piles of paper towards a well flowing and organized office. Francesca is a powerhouse of energy and creativity. She has a true passion for her work. She not only put together a great system for my home office but also helped me put those same principals into place in all areas of my home. If you are looking for a partner to help you get organized, and learn how to stay that way, look no further than Francesca! The bonus is the she is great fun to work with!

Gillian
Thanks to Francesca, I confidently invite clients, friends, and family members into my office/living space. Before Francesca’s intervention, the mere thought of going into my space had me feeling anxious, stressed, and suffocated. I had accumulated so much “stuff” because I did not know how to let go of things. Remarkably, I was not getting rid of anything and was still trying to fit even more stuff into my space. Francesca coached me and helped me see that it was okay and healthy to let go of things, that taking shelves off the wall opened up the room and took the metaphorical weight off my shoulders, relocating collectibles and trinkets uncluttered my mind and room, throwing away and donating items lightened my load, and rearranging the furniture in my space improved its functionality as well as my own. It is hard to put into words what is profoundly emotional, but without Francesca’s compassion, understanding, motivation, and professionalism, I would still be sitting in the middle of my floor clueless as to how to help my business and myself. What she does for you, your business, your family, or your personal life is amazing.

Alexandra
Working with Francesca remotely to get me out from under years of clutter has been a god-send. She not only has a lot of information about how to declutter and organize but she has a caring, honest approach to motivate and support me in doing the work. It is such a relief working with her because she has the plan of action all mapped out and guides me to see my next steps more clearly, in a systematic and empathetic way.

Patty
Francesca is a problem-solver like no other. If you want to solve your clutter problem; she has the solution. I was overwhelmed with my home office and had no a clue where to start or how to make progress. Francesca was methodical in teaching me the step-by-step process to let go with ease. And set up some efficient systems that are still working for me today!

Sarah
Francesca made the foundation steps of my academic journey manageable and we set specific, realistic goals each step of the way. She held my hand through the scariest of times in this journey and gave me the support I needed to step into my truth. She is generous in spirit and wisdom to help clients walk the path towards their highest potential.

Karen Ashby, MA
The day you left my reorganized house I absolutely felt lighter and more in control of my space and my life. I will never return to the chaos of before because now I have systems in place to help me stay organized.

Kimberly Chicago, IL
You have been the guiding influence for this year of “living life lite” for my family. I can’t thank you enough for all of the inspiration and coaching on living verri well.

Jessica Charlotte, NC
Francesca brings a positive energy and boundless enthusiasm to her work. I intended to put my home on the market, but the chaos of our accumulated stuff made that impossible. After several sessions with Francesca, I couldn’t believe the progress!

Steve Concord, MA
Francesca, thank you for making me whole again!!! You showed up at every meeting ready to guide me on this empowering journey with passion, wisdom, patience and thoughtfulness. It’s still unbelievable how much progress our family has made.

Bianca Westford, MA
Francesca Verri is exactly what I needed to begin to view my life differently and make positive changes in the right direction. ! The process of streamlining my life by letting go of what doesn’t work and organizing what does is making me see all the possibilities ahead.

Esha Acton, MA
I went to Francesca because I was living in constant chronic pain and was at my wit’s end. My body responded very quickly to the diet and lifestyle changes she recommended. I’ve noticed a ton of positive changes: steady weight loss, clearer skin, no pain, no diabetes, normal blood pressure readings, better digestion. I can’t say enough of what this has done for me!

Jacky MA
To say that Francesca saved my life would be understating the fact that she added years to my life. By following Francesca’s instructions, I am on my way to a cleaner, healthier life.. The changes have been dramatic. I feel amazing, mentally and physically.

Keith Westford, MA
Francesca Verri saved my business! My systems were failing; I couldn’t get caught up with clearing the papers – they were everywhere; and I didn’t know where to start in getting organized. She worked side by side with me to organize my office and provided me with valuable tips and skills on staying organized so the systems we set up are still running, still efficient and have increased my productivity 10-fold!

Jean Bedford, MA
Francesca taught me how to think differently, and helped me change years of unproductive habits — all with compassion, kindness and good humor. I started out wanting to gain space in my home, but what I really gained was space in my brain. Now I can use my mind to think about the things that really matter.

Laura Hollis, NH
Without Francesca’s compassion, understanding, motivation and professionalism, I would still be sitting in the middle of my floor clueless as to how to help my business and myself. What she does for you, your business, your family, or your personal life, is nothing short of amazing.

Alexandra Concord, MA