Professional Organizers

Q. Describe the most common types of jobs you do for your clients.

A. My most common work takes place in kitchens, closets, and kids' areas, plus home offices. As a mom of young kids, I specialize in helping moms like me, so we often find outselves working in the "zones" a mom knows best. Tackling a pantry, refrigerator or kitchen cupboards results in better meal-planning, and organizing closets allows for easier "morning rush hours." I feel I'm suited to the task since I get daily practice in my own home! (And I'm knowledgable about home office life as well!)

Q. What advice do you have for a customer looking to hire a provider like you?

A. Don't hire based on price alone. Unlike a plumber or roofer who merely must be good at their job, a good professional organizer must be able to partner with you and serve as a coach, confidant and trusted resource. So make sure you and your potential hire "click" when you talk over the phone or via email. You'll know when there's a good fit!

Q. What important information should buyers have thought through before seeking you out?

A. Hiring a professional organizer often comes when a home owner has had "enough." Enough of the clutter, enough of the chaos, enough of the consequences that disorganization brings. For some, the threshold of "enough" hits when a transition comes along (new job, new baby, divorce or other life change). For others, there has always been some degree of disorganization, but they've had "enough" when it impacts their work, family or health. Though many relatives and friends are well-meaning in their efforts to encourage organization, the fact remains, true organization won't happen until the clients are truly ready. When they are ready to hire help, wonderful things can happen, but it usually takes a trusted partnership to achieve long-lasting results. Hiring a quick cleaning service or having friends "do it all" might be a short-term fix but the effects of disorganization will likely continue.

Q. What do you like most about your job?

A. I absolutely love the sense of accomplishment the client and I both feel when we make a change for the better in their home or home office. In spaces large and small, the impact is seen -- and felt -- almost immediately and there aren't many jobs where you can enjoy that sense of quick satisfaction time after time! I also enjoy the fact that as an advocate of "going green" my work helps save the planet. Whether it's by introducing clients to donation or re-sale resources or by preventing the over-accumulation of "more stuff" I'm helping the environment, one client at a time.

Q. How did you decide to get in your line of work?

A. My background was in marketing communications which entails lots of good writing and editing, so I know how to confront a blank piece of paper or empty computer screen, and write something down or edit what's there. My new job is actually similar -- but it's the 3D version since I tackle spaces and objects rather than words! And since I was in the advertising business, I know a lot about our consumer culture and how much we're urged to "buy more." I'm glad I can now help clients find happiness with "just enough" instead.