you go as far as organizing in the home is your catchment area in philly only or a we all over i know i'm primarily in the surrounding suburbs of philadelphia so you know buck's mon principles as the first principle that we talk about is called release and honor and what that means is we really need to get rid of the clutter when we're talking about beauty in the home many times when i go to see my clients part of the problem is that they don't know how to get rid of a lot of stuff that is really weigh them down and this you know this time of the year for me amplifies organization and getting rid of that clutter i know the chinese new year rolling around which is feb sixteenth they always talk about you know cleanliness in the home and and really sweeping out all the old so tell me how do you how do you begin to work with  client and what are what are some of your first steps first step that we take is actually having a conversation over the phone you know i find out what made them reach out for help and find out what their goals are what their you know what their thoughts are on the whole process and just what they're what brought them to to that point that they're in right now you know in a way that we you know from there you know it's  know that's like a fifteen twenty minute conversation sometimes last whatever so it's not it's not too taxing and everything they get senses to what you know i'm like i get sense as to you know who they are and what their goals are and then we set up a  consultation for them and home consultation and so you know they feel more comfortable about may coming into their home and seeing the spaces that you know that they want to help with and you know one thing to stress is that i always stress with them is not to clean up the area before i come here that's always a you know tendency to be like oh i have to clean up and i always just don't don't do that because i need to see you know what got them there and see what's not working and then so i can help them to get to the point where it is working for them so i don't judge them on anything i do that is there a lot of shame in you know organizing you know i you know i love my home and i'm always organizing are times of the year where it just gets out of control and then i start to feel very guilty about the clutter is there a lot of shame is there a lot of yeah and you know judgment you know well a lot of the times when i first talk with a potential client there is that embarrassment or you know just senses some you know that i'm going to judge them on on how they got to that point and honestly i do not judge at all you know when my tagline says no judgments only solutions and you know there's a reason i do what i do is because people need help so it would serve no purpose by bringing any judgment into the whole process and i try and set their their mind at ease and i am not judging them we all need help in something you know when my toilet goes i need to call a plumber you know so there are people out there that have skills that other people need there's a lot i can't do and i realize rely on other professionals and other people to help me along the way and i'm one of resource one one of the resources to get people forget why hire a professional organizer and or you a professional organizer or coach because i hear coaching is so big now so yeah there a difference there is a slight difference but they're not mutually exclusive you know  professional organizer bringing a professional organizer into your home can you know can benefit you because we bring our objectivity to the process we don't have that emotional connection with your things and we can help you make the best choices for you right you know there is also you know we see the big picture about things so we can break it down into small manageable tasks and help you you know attack the process how that really yeah absolutely we are with you one hundred percent of the way and we you know help you and encourage you and we celebrate the successes with you and help you get over the hurdles that may come up you know  you know and you know we're great resource for you know the questions that may stop you in your tracks you know what do i do with this stuff that you you know now that i've either decided yes i still want to keep it or b i don't want the stuff anymore it needs to go somewhere else where they can love it you know i'm a great resource for that and then finally you know we teach you how to maintain the systems that we create for you you know because maintenance is huge it is huge it's a big part and if we don't make it easy for you you're not going to do it and then you're going to be back right where you were so you know the success of our industry of it is to make sure that we transfer our skills to you we get to leave you have you need to stay and so you know the big part is teaching you strategies and ways to maintain it so that it is easy and seamless for you well i did read an article once that in order to clutter there is an emotional pain that we go through and i found it very interesting that we need to understand that there is pain that's going to happen and a lot of people of getting rid of the clutter because they don't want to deal with that pain and one of the pain that i understand comes is that if there is something that i need to get rid of the first thing is guilt the guilt that comes in that i've paid a lot of money for this item and now it's no longer serving me so i'm a bad person because oh look at all this money i've spent so there is a physical pain that happens with getting rid of clutter so we have to keep sight like you mentioned you know you're not just getting rid of that item you're finding it a new home absolutely and so there's a more much more positive feeling towards getting rid of all that clutter yeah the people may not realize that there are so many options for your items to have a second life and it can be whether it's part of donation whether it's part of you know if you you can consign some items if the item itself doesn't work for you but you still you know maybe that will help alleviate some of the guilt with the money that you spent and realizing that that money has already spent whether you hold on to the item or not and then also that holding on to it because of these anxieties and stresses are just they're just building the negative energy when you're home so releasing that sending it absolutely opens it up and lets it all the good and positive feelings to fill in that void and you can move on with the things that are important to you and spend the time doing the things that make you happy and or the thing you know  and i know that once i clean out my closet twice a year people laugh at me because aleck you cleaning out your closet again there and i have to do that because then every day my life functions much better i can find exactly what i'm looking for right front and center and i'm not trying to get through all the clutter of clothes that i never wear so it does loosely it does help with function in the home and that's just a closet but the same with the office i have a home office and that seems to be a place that most people tend to forget about yeah the home office is usually a catch all for a lot of papers and and sometimes oh i'll deal with it later and everything but it has the same functionality as any other room in the home if you clear out the items that no longer serve your your needs you can then enjoy and get to and process the things that you need to and spend and you know you can get out the house earlier if you can find th paper work or the clothes that you need to just reach in what you need and go instead of spending that fifteen twenty minutes or where's that perfect you know red shirt that i want to wear with we raise pants you know so if you just remove all of that then you know all the choices that you can make are good ones are good choices right and then it's all about making great choices yes and being the best possible person we can be and all this helps you towards that so again talking about the time of the year and this is the time of the year i feel to start clattering i did start to cluttering my office again i have a lot of papers and not a lot of stuff that comes in the mail and i save it and i got rid of a lot of stuff and i pulled out all my design books and put them up front and center and i realized oh these are all my resources but there are stuff in the back that i can't have access to so i spent an entire two hours just looking at all my books reacquainting myself with all my books that that were right there but i didn't see them anymore  and so you write everything that comes forward is going to give you the positivity that you need are there special expertise like other kitchen organizers or garage organizers or how does that work do you organize every room in the house any professional organizer that you meet certainly can fill the role of a generalist and you know most of them you know can help you in any area the home from your attic down your basement and everywhere in between and  about computer organization yeah that's also included in that it is yeah absolutely you know i have a hard time with my computer everything's electronic organizing absolutely and you know there are organizers who specialize in certain areas that are  you know that they may be better at more suited for somebody then somebody else but you know one thing that you know is great that there are resources out there for for anything and as long as you're organizer that you work with is going to be honest with you and tell you that's not my best area we need to call somebody else in or there could be just you know what i can i can call somebody and find out the best way to get this you know we can't know everything about everything right so you know there are people who do specialize in areas but i don't know one organizer who who won't who won't help you in a particular area of your home yeah the kitchen organization is a big big project as well i find that we keep pots and pans for years and years and years and i mean the topple where i don't know they just grow legs i think by the mismatch live in bottoms and it's like the missing sauce so you know i mean they all have company when you're trying to put food away it's there is that frustrating moment of you trying to find something whereas if you were organized there is a sense of stressless you can just say go in this you know in the lower cabinet on the left and you'll find a container that won't quit and looking yeah so it's very you know the approach is the same in you know practically area of your home your home the results are completely different but the approach is still the same you need to you know  assess what it is that you need and what where what you need to keep and then deal with rearranging so that it functions better functions better so and do you have to carry insurance dina how does that work i mean if you coming into my house and you mov things around do you ensure yourself yeah it is it is not a requirement for anybody to call themselves an organizer and not carry insurance but it is highly recommended and it is it's you know it's the best business practice you know to do is to you know it's for your protection it's for the organizers protection it's just it's something that that is do and yes i do carry insurance yeah as an interior designer the minute i walk into someone's home i'm liable do i damage the floor  know did i say on around a break something it's better to have that protection has to have the protection and absolutely be insured as an individual so that you're not no one's coming after you personally which is which is a good thing yeah i mean things happen you know home absolutely you know the one thing that i you know i always treat every client as if it was working you know with my parents and stuff so highly respectful and courteous and careful and everything yeah so yeah and connecting you have to connect with your client because it is a personal space absolutely so you have to really make sure that you know what the needs are of your client how do you stay current how do you find the most you know i know i have to go i'm actually going to high point market in april and i keep myself current as far as what's going on in the industry how does a professional organizer stay current basically through networking opportunities i mean part of our  national chapter of nato which is our national association of productivity and organizing professionals and we have our local chapter which i'm highly involved in and so with access to everything they offer it provides monthly meetings so you're you know i'm meeting with you know sixty seventy of my colleagues on a monthly basis and for me and sharing you know oh my god i have this great product that i was start use we have so necessary yeah we have this message board online which is nationwide and you know all the great things that are out there with somebody finds a great product you know they share it you know there's no sense in not sharing the information because it can just strengthen our industry and with all the education and all the the updates and stuff like that and then it's talking talking talking talking with people and and as you're going through stores and as you're going online  do you give them a list of stuff that they have to buy look how do you work yes so it depends on the area that we're working in there are i i'm not a big proponent on getting everything that you need that you think you might need you know before you start ok but there are basics that you can have on hand and i always tell michel you know clients make sure you have you know trash bags lots of trash cans lots of you know so for trash and then we have recyclables and then we have boxes for redistributing items things are going to keep things you may want to consign or donate to the shredder and yes and so you know we have all that on hand and then there are other areas that you know if you're working on a closet i may suggest if they're interested in replacing hangers to better suit their needs you know i may suggest getting those on hand in everything and anything that i do suggest that we get before hand i always say keep the receipt you never know if we don't use it and then as we're working on things we make a list of things that some products that will help them and we can either purchase them during the session or in between sessions i always give homework you know and it does nothing but you know benefit the client to work on that and it may be getting the containers that they need or working through some you know sorting through some papers or other purge items or something that in order to we're going to stop for a moment and maybe take a look at some of your slides and while we show some of the slides we could talk about what kind of effect do you think that you have on people's lives when you w emotional effects yeah so you know it's a lot of you know just a sense of you know before they call me there is usually in some fashion a sense of overwhelm you know that you know i don't know what to do anymore because they don't even know how to start yeah i thought you know i get calls that i don't even know if you can help me or i know you can help me i just need to in that office no if i have to try to pay a bill i don't even know what the computer is what i do see a screen there but i don't know where my keyboard is yeah there's actually two computers in there there's two office spaces you know and it's just too much yeah there's so much going on that this is the primary work area in the home and it needed to be more efficient so she could function this was a situation where she had  sick husband and working full time she needed to make the most use of the time at home and this was taking up way too much time in order to do what she needed to do and it's a beautiful space that oh that's the amazing thing yeah you know  for after all this is the before and i mean and they're really after ok so there is to desk yeah yeah and so we got support you know we're it's a functioning space she would come home do the things that she needed to do in order for the family management skill to happen right you know and then she was done and then she could spend the time with her husband and make sure that he was situated in what he needed to do and then do the things that she actually wanted to do i don't know anybody who's ever said i would love to spend a couple hours paying bills so we want to make it as quick and it looks like it's called even find the bill yeah this was also you know every treat craft area for her as well to kind of have some downtime and and she was thrilled absolutely thrilled with the results and she still maintains it to this day so do we have another before yet is this the same room this is the same room this is in the other area and so this is what she walked into every time she walked into the room and it was just utter chaos stressful you know cause anxiety didn't want to be in there any longer than she needed to be and this is a room where she needed to be in  so you know and with this after you'll see that it becomes a place beautiful you know of functionality you know we want to we want to transform any space from the who you know to the you know yes so the benefits the benefits of organizing is really about health yes yes absolutely you know it is it does nothing but benefit yourself and your family to be better organized it doesn't you know there's no other need and reason for it if you want to function as a family unit and everything like that you want to be the best possible person you can and do the things that you want and you need to do without having the barrier of your stuff so you're things that are in your life should be supporting everything that you want to do not be that barrier to that great life is the same thing as entertaining i love to entertain and so many  people this here's another before so many people don't invite people you know don't invite company because they're so afraid of the clutter or the methods in their home so the minute it gets the credit it's almost like they want to have a party right right there's an acronym  i've been using for many years i'm not even sure where to ridge unaided it didn't originate with me it's called chaos and it's the can't have anyone over syndrome right we all suffer from that like wait don't go over yet i need a day or two or a week to get organized right and so you know now it should be like if someone's going to come over and you don't you know things need to be put away it should take like minutes right to do that it shouldn't take hours and days so that you know how much time that you're you're spending doing that you know it should be a lot easier for you to do that yes yes and you know i'm going to just tell you a little story about my organization i had a client who called me and who wanted to update her kitchen and when i got there she had clutter everywhere all over her kitchen now she had a special needs child and she had a daughter who was in the girl scouts and she used to be the girl scout leader so you could imagine between the special needs child and all the sick when that she needed for him  and all the girl scout stuff it was everywhere and behind all this clutter she had a gorgeous kitchen so i go in there and she says please help me with my kitchen and we start talking about how to organize her stuff  told her move this to the basement do this here do this that i am not an organizer but i just gave her a few tips and said even before we talk about your kitchen do me a favor and just get rid of all the clutter so she worked two weekends in the row  organizing all the stuff that i told her to get rid of and she calls me up and she says i love my kitchen i didn't do anything to your picture but people don't see what's right underneath their noses because clothes and it's not clutter see the thing is is all the arts and crafts equipment that she had she didn't see that as clutter she saw that as supplies that she needed right but the supplies don't have to be out for everyone to see every stuff we all use our stuff but when we're not using it is to put it away say mike in my office i have a lot of papers in front of me but i don't need to see them all the time you know i they could be away in a file cabinet somewhere and i could access them when i need to write you know but going back to our home dino one of the things i love to ask my guest is what in your home makes you happy well this shouldn't come as a surprise but all my organized spaces really make me happy you know i mean i have been i have a dog we live in our homes right so not i don't live in a magazine spread nobody should feel like they live in a magazine spread it gets used in an area like that but  what makes me happy is the areas that i know even you know my husband can put things away and it looks exactly the way it did was make it easy for him to keep yes organize you know we've been in our home seventeen years in my pantry and my master bedroom closet are exactly the same way with you know oh you're running things here and when we moved in and it's because it's a system that worked for us right and that's what i strive with my clients is to get something that works for know one of those places that i go downstairs to i'm like who that's yeah to me and again i work a lot with fun sway yeah and you know really when you when you deal with the chinese new year and when you deal with the asian influences you really need to understand that even the basement is negative energy and it's affecting the flow absolutely not you just for the whole home yes you know so absolutely the basement and storage areas are absolutely critical for making the rest of the house function as a really good yes absolutely and has so do you do you know how can we get ahold of you tell us about your website how long have you been a business so i've been in business for eight testimonials and a contact form you can either reach out through that or you can just give me a call i have my cell phone with me all the time reach out it's just a conversation and i would love to talk to anybody who has a question or cares about how the process works  and everything like that so one quick last tip before we go for our viewers do you have anything you want to add to that i know there's a lot of stuff out there well the biggest thing that i tell everybody is label label label ok and i a label so that everybody is on board with the same process and you're not you know shoving things in places that don't need to be and everybody can find something and put it back where it should be and i always say colored folders for my for my office yeah that's one of my has to be a different color so if i pick out a folder and it's red i know what that red folder stands for yes and if i pick out you know a blue folder i know that that's bill's or business yes so you know i don't know your filing system is important with that label yes and absolutely make the process fun for you and whatever makes you happy is the right way yes ok there is no one way absolutely i've never used the same solution with any two  clients yet and there's always an option b c and d and keeps going until you run out of letters and then you can double up but our homes are very individual to who we are yes living thank you so much dina thank you for being with us today and i thoroughly enjoyed talking with you and i hope you come out and see the enough get out there or start to organize your space and we'll see you on