1. As a teenager back in the 90’s, while other girls tore out magazine pages of pop idols or images of pretty clothes, I saved pictures of cluttered spaces. I would look at these photos and just stare at them, my mind running scenarios on ways to fix the mess from start to finish. Years later, here we are. :-D
2. My first business name was Ripple Effect Organizing (pre 2010) and then I changed it to Space That Works Professional Organizing.
3. I have a BA in Fashion Design and Merchandising which comes in handy during closet edits. A summer course on the Introduction to Interior Design in NYSID made me realize that both courses shared the same views on the basic elements of design (colors, balance, proportion etc.) which helped in producing work that is both organized and pleasing to the eyes.
4. Phrases I hear the most during organizing sessions with clients:
• “OMG! I’ve been looking for this!" or "Yay! I found it!!!” • “I can’t believe you do this everyday for a living...“ • “Is this the worst you’ve seen?”
5. The most interesting thing I've come across so far doing this work is seeing an original one hundred year old birth certificate in handwritten calligraphy.
6. The scariest thing I've seen while working - hairy spiders (no more, please). :-(
7. My proudest moment was when my client's two year old (being in the same room with me and my client) picked up the word "edit". She just blurted it out to us as her mom and I were busily editing her piles of clothes, occasionally asking her if she wanted an item or not. I turned to her mom and asked, "Did she just say edit?" She did! And she said it twice! Then I remember she started handing me things for donation and she knew which things she wanted to keep.
8. A few of my favorite parts of my job while working with clients:
• When the client feels liberated and lighter after the decluttering sessions and hope has started to come back. :-)
• When after some time of working together, the client starts to naturally pick up the process
of organizing (yay!) and sometimes even unknowingly utters the same expressions I say as
we work together like "Ta-da"! (okay, mine has a British, operatic intonation so it is unique... lol)
• When the client is finally happy in his/her space and finds the organizing experience - tiring yes, but nevertheless, gratifying and therapeutic.
• When the client realizes that organizing their space leads to so much more life benefits that go beyond “just organizing”.
9. On my own, one of my favorite parts of this job is the space systems analysis - where I think of ways to make a space work and flow better based on the client’s preferences, quirks, lifestyle, available storage and space.
10. A blessed perk of this job is how my own life has been enriched from getting to know the many different unique, smart, interesting and wonderful individuals that I wouldn't have gotten the chance to meet if I wasn't doing this work. They too are my teachers.