Meet Mai Ingevaldsson | Home and Life Organizing Coach

We had the good fortune of connecting with Mai Ingevaldsson and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Mai, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
Since I moved to US in 1999,
I was busy in school due to visa.
I dreamed to marry a rich man within 5 years and get a green card and my life was going to be set.

However my life was not what I expected or planned..

It took me almost 16 or 17 years to get a green card.
so meanwhile I had to struggle to find a way to stay here legally and at the same time I had to find a way to support myself financially.

1968 I was born in Japan and I grew up in upper middle class family.
DAD was a Dr. I went to a women’s private school from junior high to university.
I never worried about life or money.
I could choose always what I wanted and even I traveled to different countries spent so much money parents supported me.
All my friends I grew up in the same environment had the same life style so I never felt I was a spoiled brat.

Since I was little I was always curious about foreigners and I dreamed to live overseas and marry long blond hair foreigner.

During University, I participated the short study programs in Canada and Europe.
I stupid English and also French.
it was about a month classes but each experiences gave me more desires to live overseas.

I started dating foreign guys and I felt more free being with them.
They were lot more nicer to me than all the Japanese guys.
I always had my own opinion and they all told me ” To be more quiet and listen and be part of the society”
which never made me feel comfortable.
I always wanted people to see not as JAPANESE , as me ” MAI “

After university,
even my spoiled brats school friends started going to the real world to earn money.
however, I decided to learn English more and moved to Canada for about a year and half.

This was the longest time to be away from my family and I really really wanted to stay in Canada,
no desire to go back to Japan at all, however I had to ,,,, because of visa was expiring.
the boyfriend I was with ended up becoming a bad nightmare.

After rerunning to Japan,
I was introduced to work for event company which works for foreigners, I felt like I found a place in Japan where I belong. being liaison between Japanese and foreigners.
Work was very stimulating. working for lots of events, night clubs , parties, lots of male and female dancers.
I was managing them and sometimes living with them, taking care and orgazing everyone’s lives.

I was so proud of myself and I had confident and so much respects from everyone.
Probably My English was much better back then,, ( sounds funny but.. )
it felt great to be needed from so many people.

I was having fun in a way but confused at the same time. Who am I?

Whenever I went back to my parents house, I felt more distanced from them.
I collided with them a lot , they wanted me to leave the house but..
Hainvg my own place in Japan was wasting money so I stayed at my parents.

I was never a easy daughter, always fighting with them since little kid. but more adult I become.
it was so hard for them to be with me.

So many young Japanese girls wanted to be like me because always surrounded by many foreigners and it looked cool to their eyes but I was suffering..

I can be there to help anyone but who can be there to help me?
Especially having a hard time to find good friends to understand my situation.
Everyone wanted my friendship and help. but I also wanted to be understood.

when it comes to LOVE,, it was hard.. because everyone was going back to their county afterwards.

Sometimes I traveled by myself to visit those boyfriends or friends I made in Japan.
more I did this kind of trips, I was having a hard time living in Japan.

is this what I want?? AND then ..
KOBE EARTHQAKE HAPPEND in 1995.

During the Kobe earthquake, the city I worked got the big damage. 5000 people died.
My family home was safe but the city got the huge damage
I feel so lucky that I didn’t die that time.
I got a day off from work because it was my birthday.
if I did not.. I would be on the first train back home and I would be dead at the train station which collapsed.

After the earthquake , all the American people I worked with moved back to US, my boss just dissapeered without paying anyone even now no one knows where she is .
I lost my job.

I was home about six months and felt the important of my family.
I completely lost the skills to use English. I had enough rest after the earthquake .

City life started coming back slowly so.
I started looking for jobs and working for many different places using English but it was not the same.
I was just bored.. I missed the hard stimulated life.
All the new works didn’t make me any satisfactions .

I choose to travel so I could never settle at one company, I worked as part time at many places
I worked straight 6 months and traveled for few months abroad and came back.

While I was traveling was fun,, but it was hard to come back to Japan and face the reality,

Do I want to live like this?
more I traveled I felt like why I have to fit into the society?
what about me?
I. just wanted to get away from Japan.

And I found the opportunity to move to US as student in 1999.
I was already in 30’s. very late start.

I came to US with
my own money. I earned and saved.
but all the money was gone so fast..
I had to find a work when I just started going to community college,

Sometimes I had work visa from school certifications
but most of them time I was not allowed to work because of school visa situation,.
but, I had to because no one was helping me.
It was not easy.

sometimes worked for company who promised to offer me a green card,, one hour was about 6.75 dollars..
Can you imagine?

once I get married everything was going to be ok.. that was my dream,

but the man I fell in love was not capable.. I had to wait..
I could not see anything else.. Love was blind.

My life was not easy back then, I was into psychic and paid them so much money to save my life.
now All the stupid mistakes I learned from my life became my teaching though.. hahaha

it was not easy for me to get a green card.
there were many many struggles to go through.
I could not go back to my country Japan for 13 years because I had to keep my living status legal.

If I leave I was not able to come back here.
Only the way to stay in US was kept going to schools. from community colleges to English schools, computer schools which ever accepted my student visa.

Even though I got married to my husband,. he was not a citizen of US, I had to still keep going to schools and had to pay for schools.

I choose my path. it was my responsibility ..
but I blamed him so much of miserable life.

because I wanted to get a freedom to live in US.

it was a hard life but somehow I made it .

When it comes to jobs,
I was lucky to get jobs. people refer to me many things, many people.
I was working for so many families as their nanny or baby-sit.

One family tried to get me a green card but all the paperwork got destroyed on the way to lawyer in different state.
there were many strange things happened.

anyhow.. I was happy working for wealthy people because the experience I was getting but I didn’t like my title as
” BABYSIT or NANNY ” I looked down on myself.
I loved the people I was working for and I loved what I was doing

Even I was a babysit or nanny. I was the one choosing who I work with and everything was my choice.
I loved the freedom I had.. I felt like I had my own business .
I could not think anything else to do.. but I always wonder what else is out there for me??

NO babysit, No nanny.. what is it for me?
using my personality, my strength, something I love to do?
what is it??

Finally I got my green card in 2015 after all those years of waiting.

I didn’t know what I wanted..
I didn’t know how to go back to the real world.. I have been with kids too long..
the way I am is not the person to work in the cooperate office..

I was so lost because I was in US for so long under lots of control. I just kept doing what I was doing as babysit and nanny.
but I started saying I want to retire from this work.

And one day I was watching
Japanese YouTube about KONMARI methods created by very famous Japanese home organizer, MARIE KONDO.

She was not quite yet becoming this big at that time.
I used her methods and organized my place.
Because since I was little, I always liked my room tidy and organized.
Changing the room furniture around and painting the stuff always was kind of things I liked.
I have been helping many family children ‘s organizing and Also helped many foreigners back in Japan organizing their places.

At that time I was into kundalini yoga a lot meditating everyday..
so I introduced KONMARI methods to classmates and other friends.
They all said “it was difficult no way..”
So I suggested if I can help..
One day my kundalini yoga classmates came up to me.
” I saw your future.
I see you doing home organizing and teaching meditation..”

I was like ” ok then.. “
so I started helping friends to begin with and they introduced me to their friends,,
that is how MAI SERENITY SPACE started..

This organizing job came very natural to me, because I am so used to going to so many people’s places
because of babysitting and nannying jobs .

Initially I was just doing the home organizing and giving clients meditation and relaxing using essential oils massage and stuff
but after the COVID, I stopped the massage.

Now I am expanding my home organizing more for TRANSFORMATIONAL HOME AND LIFE ORGANIZING

we all have some life struggles ..
when it comes to life struggles.,. I could say I am the expert.. hahaha..
so I teach from my own experiences how I overcame and also the coaching sessions I learned from many teachers.
I am putting all. together in my home organizing sessions.

some clients just ask for home organizing
but some asks for both. and I enjoy being part of thier life transformation .

I was diagnosed cancer in July 2024.
Currently I am undergoing chemo due to stage 3 cancer,.
At first, it was not my option to go through the western way but I surrendered.
there are many more things I am learning right now from internal work ,
I would like to use all the things I am learning right now to add to my transformational home and life organizing session in a future,.

Since I cannot be physically too much right now,. I also started doing the transformational coaching session through calls.
I use very interesting vibrational devices to detect some of the clients life. issues and we. work on together to overcome.

Since I have my own business now I can expand. whatever I want.
I didn’t know what I wanted. I lived in the limited life situation but now I am doing whatever I can do to help others to expand their horizons , I truly believe My home and life organizing session can help many people.
It was very hard to get here but I am very proud of myself.

All the obstacles because my strength, currently dealing with cancer issues ( I call it Mr. C) is not easy but I know there is a god lesson again and I can overcome this.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I became who I am through life experiences, work experiences with clients.
When I started it was all the friends references but slowly. started getting clients from yelp and google.

so dealing with total strangers.
All I keep doing is giving my best and listens to the clients needs and give them satisfactions.
sometimes of course I can not give total satisfactions and I learn from it.
sometimes I enjoy the challenge
or sometimes I have to say no to the project.

I am always being myself and doing my best to giving the satisfaction.

when I started I wanted to help everyone who comes to me.

so I dealt with some ” not too clean ” people who I was not able to help..
My nature wants to help anyone who needs help but..

I had some extreme people..
who have boxes from bottom to the top
I could stand up only in 1/4 of the yoga mat spaces.
client wanted to go through each boxes so we did.

I could not breath and when I got home I was so angry toward my husband hahaha..
because I can never say bad stuff to clients..

one client , no door was going to open, bathroom was not capable to use.

trash was everywhere.
clients lived with many bags, and didn’t care. so I got some skin diseases,

client didn’t care about children’s poo diapers are everywhere..
I worked for few times but client’s mom came and yelled me that. I am too expensive and stuff.
( I was so shocked and I almost cried from her yelling )
but at the end she apologized to me big times and we all cried..

clients husband came home and he was so mad at me because the place was lot messier than before..
( I didn’t explain things get worse to begin with .. )

when I was having some difficulties I really worked on my internal belief.. what is my subconious belief is attracted those people?

more I worked internally my own belief and thoughts, I started attracting clients who just hit it off and easy. to work with.

nowadays no one complains..
I give enough explanations before I show up and talk a lot and they send me pictures too.
so I know what to expect.

So now, I choose clients who can understand what I teach and able to learn to transform.
when we both parties work together toward the client’s goals everything works.

Most of my clients hire me more than one time.
they want to finish the entire house.
they also become my friends. so I enjoy the friendship I create with them.

I feel blessed what I do and I just love my work.. I am proudly able to say what I do for living .

I want the world to know.. home organizing is not just decluttering your belonging and reorganizing.
it is a lot of internal work..
it is the best way to get. to know yourself.. so I love to mix not only decluttering your belonging. also decluttering your unwanted thoughts and beliefs.

so my organizing session involves lots of writing work too..

you gotta try and see how you feel…

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I do love to get into the ocean to surf..
so I would take them to beaches from orange county to Ventura beach areas.

when it comes to food. I am Japanese so I love japanese food..
also I am into vegan food now.. I would like to take them to some nice vegan places ..

I cannot believe how my body reacted since I started eating vegan..
my body gets so excited and my body talks to me..
it is so good… it is so tasty..

Website: https://maiserenityspace.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/maiserenityspace/

Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/mai-serenity-space-home-and-life-organizing-gardena-3

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0EDD-Kf16yOcOxDOm7nruA