the history of the international association of home staging professionals®
Founded in 1999, The International Association of Home Staging Professionals® (IAHSP) was the FIRST industry trade association established to help guide the Home Staging Industry. It was modeled after the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR®) and the National Speakers Association® to provide benefits, guidance to and resources for industry professionals. To date, it remains the ONLY industry association requiring credentials to join, which means all our members have foundational education in home staging. In 2018, IAHSP officially launched in Europe and today has members numbering in the thousands around the globe. IAHSP® truly is a global force for the Home Staging Industry. Our association provides members with resources to help them grow and thrive. From our regional IAHSP Chapters to annual Educational Conferences to our online education and website resources available to all members, IAHSP’s mission is being fulfilled. The public needs to have a place to go if they have questions about the industry or a business provider, and because all members adhere to a strict Code of Ethics, they are held accountable. Our Association has an outstanding Board with members who serve the association, their regions and colleagues with pride. All our IAHSP Association Leaders own and operate successful Staging Businesses. It is our firm belief, “You cannot teach what you do not know,” and being IN the industry we serve and guide is crucial to understanding WHAT the members deal with and need as they grow their businesses. We have a vested interest in the success and longevity of the industry, not solely from a standpoint of association viability, but from the perspective of working IN the industry as business owners where we derive our income to support our families, team members and clients.
meet our chairwoman
Decorated with honors such as Innovator of the Year, six consecutive Best of Home Staging Awards, multiple individual awards for her Staging work, and the only two-time winner of the Staging Award of Excellence, to say that Jennie Norris lives and breathes the art and science of home staging would be an accurate statement about a woman who has had her hands in over 6,200 staged properties and dedicated 20 years of her life as a preeminent authority in field. She is a changemaker, a torchbearer, and a champion of the industry. Recognized as one of the Top 100 Most Influential People in the Home Staging Industry and Top 100 in the Real Estate Industry in 2021, Jennie
is an international expert and speaker on the subject and the author of the go-to sourcebook for anyone working in the field: "Marketing Made Simple – The Key to Succeeding in the Home Staging Industry," and the upcoming "True Confessions of a Home Stager." She is an Accredited Staging Professional Master® (ASPM®) Stager, and part of the elite group of professional home stagers to have earned the rare double certification of ASP® and ASP® Master. Jennie holds multiple industry certifications specialties for niche specific services such as Short Term Rental, Color Expert, Luxury Properties, Senior Staging, Investor Properties, Marketing & Sales, and Cultural Diversity. As Chairwoman of the International Association of Home Staging Professionals® (IAHSP®), Jennie is the energic, passionate force driving the largest home staging industry trade association in the world—and she’s determined to help its over 4,000 members of real estate professionals and stagers across the globe to thrive in ways they never imagined. For 22 years, the IAHSP® has been dedicated to advancing the education and staging excellence of the home staging industry—and it’s the only association that requires quality education to join. It’s also the only organization led by home staging experts who currently own and operate their own successful businesses—Jennie among them. She is also the President and CEO of the world’s leader in home staging training and education—StagedHomes®. It goes without saying, if anyone knows the intricacies of the industry, it’s Jennie. She owns and operates a successful staging company in Denver where her team stages between 350-400 properties per year.
IAHSP® Leadership
about our founder
In 1972 Barb Schwarz entered the world of residential real estate as an agent in Bellevue, WA. Prior to real estate Barb had owned her own interior design business. She recognized the challenge that existed for all agents of how to help Sellers prepare their homes for sale without upsetting or offending the owner. Barb started educating her sellers on how to set the scene and how to set the Stage® to get their properties sold for top dollar. She coined the phrase “Staging the home for sale,” and holds the Federally Registered Trademark on the word “Stage” in the US and Canada as it pertains to preparing a house for sale.
At the same time, Barb understood the need for an association to help guide and govern the Home Staging industry. As a member of both The National Association of REALTORS® and The National Speakers Association (NSA), Barb saw the value in having an association that provided educational opportunities, standards and ethics, and professional networking for its members. In 1999, Barb founded The International Association of Home Staging Professionals® (IAHSP®) as the first industry trade association. Since 1999, IAHSP® has grown to include thousands of members worldwide. Being a true visionary, in 1999, Barb named it “International” as she saw the future of Home Staging would be global, and today it is. In 2018, under current Chairwoman Jennie Norris' leadership, IAHSP expanded to over 20 foreign countries. We have affiliate Home Staging associations around the globe that partner with IAHSP for success and support. Another part of Barb’s vision came to fruition with the launch of Worldwide Staging Service Week® where our IAHSP® Chapters give back to their communities. For years, Barb incorporated charitable work and donations as part of her business model. Giving back to others is gratifying on many levels and she wanted our IAHSP® members to incorporate the spirit of giving as part of their membership in IAHSP®. Since 2004, IAHSP® Members have come together to help benefit those in need, collectively donating millions of dollars in time, services and products as part of their WWSSW® projects. Barb Inc. holds the US Federally Registered Trademark on Stage® as it pertains to preparing homes for sale both in the United States and Canada Unfortunately there are several websites owned by other people that state, incorrectly, that the Stage® Trademark is not valid and that it was abandoned by the US Government. The US Government has renewed again the Stage® Trademark with Stagedhomes.com and it stands valid as of this day. The government abandoned the applications for Staging, Staged and Stager trademarks as Stagedhomes.com already has the basic service trademark on ‘Stage®‘. You can see the current US Federally Registered Trademark on Stage® by clicking the links to the left on the flags of each country, which will take you to the government site where it is shown. Please be advised that the Stage® Trademark is real and active despite what misinformation another website might advertise. It is the only US Federally Registered Trademark on the concept and service in existence today. It covers teaching sellers how to prepare their homes for sale and video instruction as well.