Author Marie Kondo makes millions from cleaning tips After having kids, she changed her philosophy and started cleaning less often Medusa reveals how Kondo allowed herself to not be perfect

Japanese writer Marie Kondo is famous for her books and shows about home organization Basically, she advised getting rid of "unnecessary" things, leaving only those that bring joy - and countless people around the world followed her recommendations.

Now Kondo has become a life coach and invites the audience to focus on the "spiritual order" and, apparently, has seriously changed the attitude to the organization of everyday life In a recent webinar, according to the Washington Post, the most famous cleaning expert admitted that her house is often a "mess".

Who is Marie Kondo Marie Kondo graduated from the sociology department of Tokyo Women's Christian University - in her thesis, she explored the relationship between gender and cleaning: does gender affect the way a person organizes the space around Kondo concluded that it does: although cleaning should not be considered the prerogative of women, in her opinion, they still tend to do this job better.

In 2011, Kondo wrote her first book, Magic Cleaning The Japanese art of putting things in order at home and in life.

In 2014, the book received bestseller status: a year later, Kondo was included in the list of the 100 most influential people according to Time magazine, and The Magical Cleanup was translated into 44 languages ​​and sold 13 million copies around the world According to Kondo, she first became interested in organizing space at the age of 15 through a book by Japanese journalist Nagisa Tatsumi.

At that moment, Marie felt that "to clean up means to throw away " Kondo explains the emergence of his method as follows: once she had a nervous breakdown, during which she lost consciousness.

When Marie came to, she "heard a voice" telling her to "look closely at the objects" It was at this point, Kondo claims, that she realized that instead of looking for reasons to throw away the item, she should look for reasons to keep it.

Thus was born the concept of house cleaning, which Kondo would later patent as the "KonMari method": objects around should bring joy - or they must be disposed of How the KonMari Method Works Marie Kondo advises followers to look at each stale item individually and ask themselves if it brings joy now.

If not, the item should be disposed of: donated to a sale, donated to a charity, or simply thrown away Cleaning should be carried out not by room, but by category of things: start with clothes and shoes, then move on to books and documents.

Then there are personal things, cosmetics, household items, products The final stage is to put in order the so-called “sentimental things”: these include, for example, children's toys, postcards, memorabilia, crafts.

You also need to store things according to the “KonMari method” by category: all clothes should be in one closet, books should be on one rack, and toys and children's things should be in one chest of drawers The Kondo algorithm assumes that a lot of time and effort will have to be spent on cleaning.

To make the process not so tedious and complicated, Marie suggests following a few more rules Before cleaning, she advises to "visualize the desired lifestyle in order to accurately achieve the result.

" When putting things in order, unsorted things of one category - for example, cosmetics, must first be put in one place - and only then choose the unnecessary Marie also does not recommend involving relatives in cleaning, because only the owner of the space "can know for sure what he needs.

" In the book, Kondo promised that this technique would help to sort out unnecessary things once and for all - after that, the owners of the house would only have to maintain order, and in this, Marie promises, "there will be no difficulty " How the Netflix show that cemented Kondo's global success Marie Kondo's ideas first hit the screen in 2013 when she wrote the screenplay for the Japanese TV movie Life is the Thrilling Magic of Cleaning.

According to the story, Japanese Kaori wants to deal with the mess in the apartment, because she is ashamed to invite a young man to visit The cleaning lady Makiko comes to the rescue, she is convinced that the order in the house is the work of its owner.

In 2016, the American company Jackal Group acquired the film rights to Kondo's book, and in 2018, Mari signed a contract with Netflix According to producer Gail Berman, the online cinema initially planned to make a feature film or a directed show, but eventually settled on a reality format, abandoning the standard script: “There were ups and downs, but we always thought that there was something in Marie and her message.

something special,” said Berman All eight episodes were released on January 1, 2019, a period that many people associate with the beginning of a new era in their lives.

During filming, Kondo visited eight families who were having trouble keeping their homes in order and introduced them to her author's technique In places, the series went beyond an interactive reality show.

For example, one of the characters named Margie lost her husband nine months before filming and kept his things because she was not ready to part with reminders of him In the process of working with Marie, Margie got rid of her husband's things in order to "move on" - Berman called this episode one of the most touching in the project.

Cleaning with Marie Kondo was nominated twice for a major television Emmy Award, in the Outstanding Reality Show Host and Outstanding Reality Show categories, but did not receive any awards In 2021, Netflix released the Sparks of Joy mini-series.

This time around, Kondo helped clean up a private garden and coffee shop, arguing that "purity and harmony must be present in all areas of a person's life " This project still received an Emmy - albeit a minor version of the award, Awarded for Daytime Achievement—and helped condo build on its success in the US market.

How Much Kondo Made From Cleaning Tips A year after publishing her first book, Kondo registered KonMari Media with her husband, Takumi Kawahara: Kawahara left his job as an HR consultant and took over as CEO of his wife's startup As her business grew, Mari tried to popularize her method: for example, in 2016 she announced the launch of courses for those who want to become a “certified KonMari consultant and tidy up other people's houses.

” At the end of the course, trainees are encouraged to conduct at least 10 hands-on sessions with different clients, submit cleaning reports, and only then become an official "KonMari method bearer" The cost of such a course is 2.

25 thousand dollars According to KonMari Media, Since launch, more than 700 people have been certified "KonMari Consultants" and now work in 54 countries.

In addition to her two Netflix shows and courses, Marie is monetizing her method of getting rid of unnecessary things with the help of an author store Those who wish can even buy containers and organizers that supposedly correspond to the "KonMari method".

In the new book, Marie writes about rituals that help her "rebalance" and "spiritually cleanse" such as drinking matcha tea, wearing robes made from natural fabrics and lighting scented candles - and, of course, these products are also available to order online .

Back in 2019, Forbes estimated the capitalization of all Marie Kondo's commercial products at $8 million - the media still operate with this indicator Its full-time team in Los Angeles employs more than 40 people.

Why the "KonMari Method" is Criticized After the first series and its subsequent popularity, the Marie Kondo Method was regularly criticized For example, Elizabeth Roth, author of Garbage Land: On the Secret Trail of Garbage, suggested that drastic disposal of all secondary items would only lead to additional purchases: from things, say her followers.

For example, Martin Lowe, a graduate student at the University of Cambridge, told The Atlantic that he got rid of all the items that, according to the ideas of the method, "did not cause him joy " Soon, the man began to bring home new household gadgets and interior items to replace the old ones, and two years later he returned to the starting point.

“My house is probably no better than it was,” he concluded A similar conclusion was reached by The Guardian columnist Zoe Williams, who conducted an experiment and invited Marie Kondo to clean up her house.

In practice, according to Williams, to take each thing in hand and ask the question “does it bring me joy?” was not only tedious, but also unproductive In addition, the journalist noted that the Kondo method is extremely difficult to apply to her own category of "sentimental things", because an outsider can hardly help put things in order in subjects that relate to personal memories.

Most of the questions from the audience of the series, which talked about the "KonMari method", were caused by Kondo's attitude towards paper books According to the writer, she keeps no more than 30 books and recommends regularly reviewing and reducing the home library.

According to Kondo, one almost never goes back to unfinished books Many viewers of the series found this rule absurd.

How Kondo's philosophy changed after the birth of children In the early books, Kondo often turned to parents: she told how to clean up the children's room and how to help the child take apart toys She emphasized that organizing space according to the KonMari method, being a parent, is quite realistic, despite everyday difficulties.

Now Kondo is positioning himself more as a life coach In November 2022, a cleaning specialist released a new book that is built around the Japanese concept of "kurashi" - supposedly "the perfect way to organize your life.

" According to Marie, the book reflects the changes in her life after the birth of children: “little joys” came to the fore, for example, from trying on new cotton pajamas or having tea in silence With the advent of children - and Kondo has three of them - her requirements for cleaning the house have softened.

After the birth of her first child, the entrepreneur “could not forgive herself” for losing the ability to manage her own life as before “But over time, I relaxed,” she notes.

So, after Marie gave birth to her second daughter, she completely abandoned the "need to be perfect " The third child, born in April 2021, has completely changed Kondo's attitude to cleaning: she says she is now trying to focus on the "pleasure of raising children" and not on the mess around.

In order to still maintain cleanliness in the house according to the KonMari method, its author recommends that parents involve children in the cleaning process,.