Member Spotlight: Krisann Blair
If you love Christmas but hate the stress surrounding the holiday season, Krisann Blair is the woman to talk to.
Originally from West Virginia, Krisann grew up in White House, Tennessee and moved to Jackson to attend Lambuth University.
The writer, author, and speaker has numerous passions, and they all tie into her company Christmas Organizing. “I help people get organized for Christmas year-round though various ways.” Krisann says. “It’s all about creating a Christmas notebook... so... you have a plan for your holiday season.” Krisann guides people through minimizing the stress of the Christmastime by planning ahead and conquering tasks in small chunks throughout the year. She came up with the idea in 1998 when she was overcome by all the tasks of the season and missed out on the spirit of Christmas.
Christmas Organizing began as on online message board where Krisann would post daily Christmas tips and challenges every day. Now, the first 36 challenges have been compiled into a book, called Creating A Christmas Notebook: Krisann’s Christmas Challenges. “The goal is, with the first book, to get it in the hands of 10,000 people. So we’re giving it away for free! All people have to do is sign up for the newsletter and they’ll get it.” Krisann says. These days, Krisann has a network on Facebook, Pinterest, and Patreon where she posts new tips and continues to coach people through making their notebooks.
“I kinda took a hiatus from my Christmas organizing in order to build my doTERRA business for a while…” Krisann says. “The first Christmas that we prepared for was in 1999 so this is now the twentieth year. So I was like, okay, I just have to do it! So, I rewrote the books, I just really put all my efforts into it, and being consistent, and getting the message out there.” Krisann says.
Over the years, Krisann has been featured in Entrepreneur Magazine, USA Today Newspaper, Women’s World Magazine, as well as being chosen as “website to visit” by Reuters and speaking on numerous radio shows. Krisann also teaches at writer’s conferences and holds workshops. She’s also the Chairman of The Christmas Cottage, a local craft fair that has been going on for 39 years.
In addition, Krisann works as a travel agent. “It goes hand in hand because I do retreats and workshops throughout the US so I will use my travel agent expertise to make arrangement...” Krisann explains. She helps people take Disney cruises, which she enjoys herself, using the getaway as a place to work on her writing. “I’ve even done Christmas organizing workshops on a cruise before with the people that were already on there that I met online beforehand.” Krisann says. Lastly, Krisann sells doTERRA Essential Oils and specializes in crafting and cooking with the oils. “I share... how to be healthy and keep your immune system up and stress levels down... using essential oils and natural products for the holiday season…”
These essential oils were originally what brought Krisann to theCO. She was introduced to the Entrepreneur Center as it was downtown when she helped her friend through one of the Center’s business programs. The two later opened a brick-and-mortar shop together where they sold essential oils and taught classes. After closing the shop, Krisann needed a new space to work out of and moved to theCO, where she eventually became a resident member.
Krisann enjoys theCO’s vast array of events and classes. “Some of the workshops and stuff have really helped out... Just being able to know what’s all going on... so you can get information and be able to attend the workshops that are happening, that’s really important.” She says that the coworking environment is helpful when she’s stuck on a design or an idea. “There’s usually somebody around, who can help you get over that little stumbling block.”
Despite her variety of skills, Krisann is focused on learning new things and improving. She recently took Katie Howerton’s Hand-Lettering Workshop and is hoping to learn the skill for projects in the future. “We had a tree fall in our yard, so we have all these branches and stuff and I want to make ornaments out of the tree.” She says.
By Christmas of this year, Krisann plans to achieve three goals: learn hand-lettering, finish her books, and have 5,000 Patreon members. “I hate advertising on websites, so that’s one of my biggest pet peeves... That’s my big goal with Patreon, to give lots of added benefits to my members but also to keep the website clean and free of outside advertising.” Krisann explains. Her Patreon membership, focused around crafting the Christmas Notebook, comes as little as a dollar per month. Members receive extra resources, early access to eBooks, group coaching, podcasts, videos and more.
Krisann says if she could give advice to her younger self, she’d explain, “I went on the hiatus because I let someone tell me what I should or shouldn’t be doing, so as to stay on my path of individuality - do what it is that I love.”