How I Became a Professional Organizer
How I Got Started in this Organizing Business
Let’s go way, way back to when I was a child, because I truly believe that the work we love and are passionate about stem from the little things we pick up along the way.
Growing up, my mom owned her own house cleaning business and I often joined her while she worked. She thought she was so clever depositing me into a playroom to keep myself entertained, but inevitably I always ended up organizing the toys versus playing with them (hey, now that I think about it, I’m pretty sure she did that on purpose - I probably made her cleaning job easier 🤔). Being a single mom, she often worked more than one job, so I would occasionally accompany her to the local grocery store where she worked in the evenings. What did I do to occupy myself? Merchandising the grocery shelves of course! Those canned good labels all needed to face out and I’m pretty sure no one else was doing it!
On the home front I was always that kid who busied myself with decorating, rearranging, and organizing my room. I guess you could say organizing was in my blood from the start!
Transforming my Passion into my Work
After graduating from college with my degree in Psychology I worked a variety of jobs, but the underlying passion for order and organization was always my motivating factor in the work I did. When my daughter was born in 2011 and my son in 2013, I took several years off to be a stay at home mom. While I would never trade those years off to raise my babies, I knew I needed a bigger and deeper purpose in my life.
I had always considered going back to school to get my Masters to work as a counselor, but the thought of going back to school with two young kids was daunting! A friend suggested I offer life coaching and I was sold! I considered all the different paths this could take me, but ultimately I kept landing on the idea of coaching people to lead more organized, stress-free lives. Even then, I knew that solid order and organization is a foundation for healthy and productive living! But here’s the thing - I didn’t just want to coach people to be more organized, I wanted to do the actual organizing alongside them to ensure their long-term success!
I didn’t even know Professional Organizing was a thing, so imagine my shock when I discovered that this was an actual career path! In my research I discovered Jen and the Pro Organizer Studio and I was hooked. Soon after, I signed up for what is now called the Inspired Organizer course where I learned so many invaluable lessons about how to run a professional organizing business.
The Inspired Organizer course, combined with this amazing book about starting a Professional Organizing business were absolutely essential to me. I went from knowing nothing about running a business to doing it all in just a few short months.
While the course did wonders for getting me ready for success in the professional organizing industry, I also found inspiration reading The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up from the master herself: Marie Kondo.
Getting Started
In the beginning days of my business I offered my services to friends and family for little to no pay. I had to learn the ropes of the business, build my portfolio, and master my techniques. These weren’t Pinterest worthy transformations, but they were essential to me and my growth. The saying, “You have to start somewhere” couldn’t have been more true! One of the traits that makes for an amazing pro organizer is also likely their biggest fault when starting a business: Perfectionism! I knew if I let my perfectionism get the best of me, I would never actually follow through with my business goals. I had to just dive in head first and let the details work themselves out along the way.
It didn’t take long for those freebie jobs to pay off. Referrals began to trickle in and within a couple of months I got my first non-referred client through her Google search for a Professional Organizer. Around six months in, the work was consistent enough for me to hire my first assistant!
I wouldn’t stop there and say the rest is history though! Starting a business was one thing, but growing it was another! We have had some major growing pains in the years that followed and I’m eager to cover that in a future blog post, so stay tuned!
So, you want to start your own business.
Have you thought about Professional Organizing as a career path? I would love to hear your thoughts or questions! Drop them in the comments below and I’ll whip up an in-depth blog post on running your own Professional Organizing business based on your feedback!
