Behind the Scenes at Organizers Northwest

Whenever a professional organizer introduces themselves and explains what they do, they are almost certain to be met with one of the following responses:

“Wow, that’s so cool! I would love to do that job!”
OR
“OMG, my life is a mess. I need you in my house / office.”

The next thing they ask is what it’s like being a professional organizer.

I personally love this question because it allows me to talk about my job, which I LOVE. And any professional organizer will tell you that the best part of our job is our connection to you, the client. We love how your successes become our successes, how your body language and demeanor shifts as you realize that you CAN do this, how you smile when you hit a milestone on a big project.

But how to convey all of that in one response?

Not so easy.

Recently, a client wrote me a check after our work in her garage. A sweaty, dusty, backbreaking job that we both thoroughly loved due to a great jive and energy between us. When I looked at the check later, she had written “Awesomeness” on the check description line. Yes, as professional organizers, we are paid for to be awesome.

So what goes behind that awesomeness?

Here are some “behind the scenes” tidbits that might give you an idea of how we operate here at Organizers Northwest.

We like to party.
As I mentioned, we are all about supporting one another so that we can support our clients. We have a large team, and that means that collaboration and sharing of personal strengths is key to our business. We get together as a group whenever we can. We’ve had fabulous outings on the Jet Boat on the Willamette River, eating delicious lunches and happy hours outside, visiting as a group and watching each other’s families grow. We are a family, and we support one another like a family.

We share our success (ie: we love to brag).
A happy, gleeful client makes for a happy, gleeful organizer. We love sharing our success stories, tips and strategies with our colleagues so that we can ALL benefit from a new system that worked for someone. We also attend our local NAPO chapter meetings for that reason as well – collaboration is one of the ways that we learn new strategies and tools to share with our clients.

We are not perfect.
As I have lamented in past blogs (This Professional Organizer Has Something To Say), as professional organizers we often get asked if we have OCD, or if our homes are perfect. The answer is NO WAY! We don’t live in staged, model homes – that is just not realistic. However, as organizers, we understand the importance of daily maintenance. We also have systems in place to keep those crazy days (everyone has them, people!) from getting out of control.

We love organizing (but we understand that not everyone does).
I know this is not terribly shocking for anyone to hear, but we really, REALLY love organizing. Like, a lot. And yes, we love it when everything looks like a Pinterest photo (swoon) but, as Julie Morgenstern recently tweeted “There is such a thing as organized enough”.

We are trained to ask the right questions that will tell what our client’s ability and desire is, and to stop when they reach it. The systems that we help you create in your home or office are built for YOU and your family, not for us. So as much as we want to color-code your kid’s Legos, we won’t.

Here is the real truth:
We are people-pleasers and helpers. What makes our hearts soar is to make a difference. Want to make a professional organizer’s day? Reach out and ask for help. We love to show off what we know, but mostly we love being of service and changing lives – that’s just who we are.