November Challenge…for My Cyberville Staging Peers
Without the home stagers I “met” here on ActiveRain and others when I began my career as a Home Stager, I’m not sure how I would have made it through my first year.
Though I took a staging course through Barb Schwarz, you and I know that the real learning comes when you’re in the field.
In 2007, we were still explaining what home staging was to agents and sellers. There weren’t many of us around. Other than some of the stagers who had been in my class, I had no one to bounce things off of.
Fernando Rosado was a stager on ActiveRain who lived in Palm Beach County. We met at a local meeting of stagers (a small group), and I often called him with questions. I told him about one of my stagings, and he said, “Why don’t you write a post about it?”
He was always ready to share his knowledge or offer help. Once we both interviewed to stage a luxury condo. In fact, I ran into him as I was leaving. I knew immediately that I did not want the job, but knew he would be perfect for it. He said…If I get it, I’ll want you to help me. As it turns out, neither one of us wanted or got it.
Sharon Tara …I don’t know what I would have done without her. We both preferred occupied staging jobs, but I kept getting vacant stagings. If I had a room that was unusual in shape, I’d pick her brain. Even from a distance, she kept me in check. On the phone, she’d say, “Walk away,” whenever I started eyeing everything at HomeGoods for my inventory.”
My fondest memory is meeting her in 2015 when she was in FL visiting her parents. It was as if we’d known each other forever.
I can’t leave out Roger Mucci. If you wanted a straight answer…unvarnished…he’d give it to you. I got to meet him more than once, and he is exactly as you saw him in his post.
Believe it or not, there used to be many home stagers on ActiveRain, and I learned something from each one.
Maureen Bray, Linda Pufford, Janice Ankrett, Cindy Bryant, Shar Sitter, the late Kathy Nielsen, Sally Weatherley, Ginger Foust, Julia Maher, Karen Otto, Lori Kim Polk, Anna Dovger…and more.
To every stager who helped me decide where to place a sofa in a bowling alley room or what to do with a seller’s unusually shaped room…I owe you a debt of gratitude.
This is my fourth entry in the WELCOME To November 2025 Challenge - Thankfulness For Fun and Points hosted by Lynn B. Friedman.
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