I have been organizing “things” since childhood; my brothers’ trucks, my pretty stones, and especially my mother’s cupboards. Those cupboards were probably formative in my appreciation of people’s collections and memorabilia. And they taught me the important difference between collections and clutter.

But sharing a bedroom with a very messy sibling probably triggered my initial quest for order. As an organizer, I’ve seen far greater degrees of clutter, but I know from that personal experience that diverse “organizational” styles can have a big impact on family members.

By the time I left home for college, I’d learned how to set up an effective homework and study zone that worked for me. Now I understand why each of us has unique needs and preferences when it comes to our living and working environments. I take special care in finding out what will work best for my clients and their children to learn and play and rest.

Acquiring a Bachelor of Arts with a major in art and psychology wasn’t a very strategic career pursuit, but in retrospect it has served me very well. In spite of my best efforts to simply enjoy life, I learned a lot of organizational and problem solving skills working for some very successful companies. Among them: Rock Resorts, Hawk Mountain Corp., The American Academy of Ophthalmology, Booze Allen & Hamilton and Montgomery Securities. Leaving the corporate world I went to work for myself doing event planning, catering and eventually film/photo styling. The constant demand for creative solutions, aesthetic judgment and physical endurance were challenging, stimulating and more often than not - really satisfying. What I learned in all those offices and kitchens, I share with my clients!

In 1998, I stumbled into this work while doing something else fun. I always heard “do what you love and success will follow.” As luck would have it, I simply helped a relative get her cluttered, overstuffed house sold in four days. That’s only remarkable because it had been on the market for six months without an offer. In six hours, my shang-hai’d team of three de-cluttered and rearranged and purged. It became a totally different home. It was beautiful, stylish, functional and sellable. It was also--almost ready for the move. We purged so much unwanted stuff and packed up the excess to prepare for the sale, so the move felt simple. The results were so successful that I got addicted to making houses look their best. And in the process discovered how much more functional they were. Often my clients liked the results so much they didn’t want to move. So I started helping people make their homes look and work better. I made it a goal to give my organizing clients the same experience of loving the way their home looks and functions.

I quickly found The National Association of Professional Organizers (NAPO) and then the Institute for Challenging Disorganization (ICD). They provide professional development, a certification program and a great network of colleagues with whom I share resources.

BA University of New York at Oneonta - Studio Arts and Psychology Major

Berkeley Extension and College of Marin

• Bookeeping

• Basic Feng Shui in home and garden

• Kitchen design

• Home Chef Series

CPO (Certified Professional Organizer®) In April 2007, I was one of 150 organizers worldwide who passed the exam of the Board of Certification for Professional Organizers earning CPO status. I continue to pursue learning and teaching opportunities, dedicating myself to offering the highest level of organizing service and consulting.

ICD (Institute for Challenging Disorganization) 450 members nationwide 1/3 have first level certificate in certification program Provides professional education and networking support

NAPO (National Association of Professional Organizers) 4200 members worldwide and around 200 in the San Francisco Bay Area Provides professional education and resource sharing

ADDA (Attention Deficit Disorder Association) Helps adults with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (AD/HD) lead better lives by bringing together science and the human experience for both adults with AD/HD and the professionals who serve them.

Anne Marie’s Angels A group of about 20 local volunteers who fund raise to provide caretaker hours for a young quadriplegic bankrupted by her illness.

Rebuilding Together - San Francisco Construction Captain for a remodel and reorganization at Larkin Street Youth Center Facility’s basement. Organizing consultant on projects for three private home renovations and one public school.

• November-December 2016 - The Institute For Applied Coaching - Completed 33 hours of training in their Foundation Course, Coach Approach For Organizers

• Level I - Certificate of Study Understanding the Needs of the Aging CD Client (January 2014)

• Level II - Hoarding Specialist Certificate (October 2013)

• Level I - Certificate of Study in Basic Mental Health Conditions and Challenges Affecting the CD Client (September 2013)

• Level I - Certificate of Study in Basic Hoarding Issues with the CD Client (August 2013)

• Level II - CD Specialist Certificate (March 2003)

• Level I - Certificate of Study in Chronic Disorganization (September 2002)

• May 2013 The High Risk of High Intelligence in Chronically Disorganized Clients, by Carolyn Caldwell, CPO

• May 2013 How to Make Your Craft Room Play Well, by Denise Allen

• May 2013 Accountability Essentials for the CD Client, by Cameron Gott and Casey Moore

• Sept. 2013 Celebrating Inattention: ADHD, Neurodiversity & Multiple Intelligences, by Thomas Armstrong, PhD.

• Sept. 2013 Strategies for Working With Clients With Memory Impairment, by Laurie White, MSW

• Sept. 2013 Female Treasures: What We Cherish, How we Relinquish & Why, by Melinda Barlow, PhD

• Sept. 2013 From Inside-Out The Culture of Families Dominated by Hoarding Disorder, by Suzanne Chabaud, PhD

• Sept. 2013 Living Stress Free, by Don Joseph Goewey

• Sept. 2013 The Power of Peer Support When You Have Too Much, by Lee Shuer

• Sept. 2013 Case Studies: Theory into Practice, by Denslow Brown, CPO-CD, CPO, MCC, SCAC

• Sept. 2013 Exceptional Organizing: Strategies for Decluttering People with Special Needs, by Regina Lark, Phd, CPO

• Oct. 2013 In Good Company: Professional Collaborations and Team Organizing, by Mindy Godding

• Oct. 2013 Inside America's hit TV Show "Hoarders", by Dorothy Breininger

• Dec. 2013 Case Study: Ethical Disasters in Chronic Disorganization, by Roland Rotz, PhD and Chris Sgrott-Wheedleton, CPO

• Jan. 2014 How to Assess Hoarding Before it Threatens an Elder's Right to Age In Place, by Kristin Bergfeld

• Basic Chronic Disorder Symptoms & Causes

• Pack Rat & Hoarding

• Heirs of the Chronically Disorganized

• CD, ADD, HD & OCD

• Phone Consulting

• Cooperative Collaboration with Therapists

• Personal Safety and On the Job Safety with CD clients

• Working with the Elderly

• Trends with the Elderly

• Resources for Physical and Mental Conditions

• Kinesthetic Learning Styles

• Professional Boundaries

• Understanding Mental Health Conditions Affecting the CD Client

• Tools for Working with CD & ADHD Clients

• Medications For Chronically Disorganized

• Strategies to Improve Focus

• Time Management

• Working with sight impaired & physically challenged clients

• Illnesses & organizational effects (Chronic Fatigue & Fibromyalgia)

• San Francisco Mental Health Association (mha-sf.org Hoarding & Cluttering Conferences 2005-2006)

On October 6, 2007, I was on a panel of organizing experts at the ADDA’s day-long Regional Conference in San Francisco. Each of the panel participants have successfully worked with clients challenged by ADD/ADHD. Our goal was to demonstrate that AD/HD people's "creativity" is often both the cause and the best solution to their clutter and chaos.

On October 27, 2007 the National Association of Professional Organizers’ San Francisco Bay Area Chapter offered a day of workshops to improve skills and resources for its members and other professionals providing organizational services to the public. I taught a workshop at this conference.