Why I Became A Professional Organizer

Today as part of Mandi’s 31 days of organizing for a better 2010 she will be sharing some helpful information on how to start a business. Today I am sharing my story of why I became a professional organizer…

My grandmother called it plundering. As a child I would go through drawers and pull things out, rearrange and put them back. I call it organizing. I wasn’t being nosy, I just had this urge to make things look neat and tidy.

Skip ahead a decade, to a time in which I was hooked on office supplies and wire hangers made my skin crawl. Was it an obsession, or some weird control thing? Noooo. I can honestly say that my space was not always perfectly neat and tidy. Well except for my school work. Did I mention that office supplies rock? Anyhow, my organizing infatuation was with other people’s spaces.

I had a friend that constantly shoved stuff under her bed. I seriously wondered if the bed was held up by stuff or the actual legs. Papers from 2nd grade, stuffed animals, clothes, whatever you could think of was most likely under that bed. Whenever we came across something, oh, say 5 years old I would try to get her to throw it out. But no, she just shoved it back under the bed, leaving it there to be dealt with some other day. I think this friend had the largest impact on why I do what I do today. She was not about to deal with the stuff and it made me wonder why some people can let go and others can’t.

Skip ahead another 10 years or so, and I was a legal assistant. I thought this was the route I would take in my life. However, I had that nagging feeling that I was missing my calling. The legal field wasn’t satisfying me. There were certain things I loved about it, mostly filing and organizing the cases. :) I just knew there was something better out there for me.

After having kid #2 I became a stay-at-home mom. By now I was really getting a hang of this organizing thing.  One day I picked up my old copy of Julie Morgenstern’s book, Organizing from the Inside Out, while most likely sitting in front of the TV watching Peter Walsh on Clean Sweep, and I had that light bulb moment. After doing a little research online I realized that, no this wasn’t just for TV but there were these beautiful people out there called Professional Organizers and I wanted to be one! I became a professional organizer because…

I want to help people control their chaos.

I want to teach people how to set up systems that work for them.

I want to help people deal with the emotions that STUFF brings with it.

I want to help people organize the way they live, work and play!

Like I said, my grandmother called it plundering. I call it organizing. I found my passion and I am proud to say that I am a professional organizer. This July will mark my 4 year anniversary being in business!