Hey y’all! I’m Amelia.

I’m a Certified Life + Clutter Coach, Organizing Expert, and Certified Fair Play Facilitator. I’m the CEO + Founder of A Pleasant Solution. I believe that mindset is an essential part of an aligned + sustainable lifestyle.

I’m from a tiny town in West Virginia.

I have one older brother. When I was little, I loved playing in the dirt, climbing trees, and exploring the woods. After school, I took ballet classes.
My dad was highly organized, time aware, + academically driven. I learned to mirror these skills + learned to love predictability.

I met my husband at age 19.

I attended Wellesley College which is outside of Boston. My husband went to Morehouse. He’s originally from Boston. We’ve been “following the adventure,” (aka taking risks) + making bold choices together since 2000. To date, we’ve intentionally moved over a dozen times.

We lived in Cape Town.

Our first adventure was buying a house, shipping our belongings, + moving to South Africa from 2002-2004. I went to graduate school. I interned in paintings + sculpture at the Iziko: National Gallery of Art. We traveled to Namibia, Kenya, and all throughout South Africa.

Our first round of long distance parenting + marriage: Boston to Chicago.

In the mid-2000s, we decided to start a family and both apply to graduate school. First, we moved back to Boston (with a baby) for his MBA at Harvard. After one year together, I moved solo (with our toddler) to Chicago to pursue my PhD in Art History at Northwestern.

I chose to stay at home with my kiddos for 12 years.

I made the hard decision to leave my PhD when my husband took a position in Detroit. I chose family over distance + had 3 kiddos in 4.5 yrs. I‘ve raised them to be self-sufficient. I invested a lot of time teaching them how to do home + life tasks themselves. When they were young, we traveled with them to France, Spain, + Italy. We encourage them to dream without limits.

I chose to become a caregiver.

My mother began showing signs of dementia in her mid-60s. She was a life-long educator and loved to visit us for weeks at a time. In 2019, in collaboration with her, I downsized her in 2 weeks + moved her to MI into a care community. Now, I happily manage her household too. I‘m her legal responsible party, and partner with my brother to support her.

Our second round of long distance parenting + marriage: Detroit to Florida.

After virtually homeschooling our kids during the pandemic, we decided to sell our house in 2021, downsize 60% of our belongings + split into two to support my son’s soccer. My husband + I swap parenting between two households. Our girls lived in our apartment in Detroit, our son in our apartment in Sarasota, FL.

We’re raising an elite athlete. (Round 3: Detroit to Ohio)

My son has loved soccer since he was 3 years old. His dedication + passion is what drives our intentionally split household. We’re on Round 3 of long distance living between Detroit + Columbus, OH. He‘s currently signed to play for a Major League Soccer Academy. We‘re playing the long game, yet take it one day at a time.

We lived in Barcelona in the summer of 2022.

In the summer of 2022, the 5 of us lived + worked from Barcelona for five weeks. We’re still “following the adventure.” Over the last few years, I‘ve traveled over 150K miles. Between managing multiple households, family time, + business, I‘ve learned to be successful from anywhere.

I’m unavailable… a lot.

I’ve learned to center myself in my life + family, and this has been revolutionary. I have clearly defined working hours. I believe free time doesn‘t have to be earned. Sleep is my secret weapon. I also have become a runner, love visual art, podcasting, nature, books, and meaningful conversations.