Her Story
About Michelle
My degree is in psychology with an emphasis on organizational psychology. From there, I was in the childcare industry. I ran my own business from home for a little while, and then I ran some larger childcare centers. I was a teacher, and then I was a center director, and I did that for about 10 years. Then I kind of burned out of that. I loved learning and loved teaching, but I decided to reinvent myself after that. I changed gears and went back to get some additional education, and for about 15 years I was working in the IT industry as a software developer. It was a complete different shift, but it still used my creative problem solving. After being laid off several times, I decided to take my destiny into my own hands. I found out about professional organizing and productivity consulting, and that really just brings all of my experience and skills together - teaching people, the logical part of it, and the psychology background. I found my people and just started my company from there, and I haven't looked back. I started out hiring other professional organizers as independent contractors, and then eventually I hired a team that I work with that are my employees, but I continue to work with other professional organizers in my industry who have their own businesses as well.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Michelle
01What do you attribute your success to?
I think I just don't give up. There are hills and valleys, and so when you're in the valley, you just have to keep your eye on the next hill, because it's always there, and even if it's foggy and you don't see it, it's still there. I think it's important to have a purpose and to believe in what you're doing. It's okay to question yourself, you just don't give up.
02What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
I think one of the challenges as a professional organizer is that if you own your own business and you're a solopreneur, it can be kind of a lonely type of job. So making sure that you're connected with other professional organizers or productivity consultants is important, because they all understand what you're going through. I think just making sure that you're continuously learning new things, not getting stuck in a rut, and keeping your mind open to new ideas and trends. But not being too trendy - you want to make sure that you're being open to what your client's needs are. They may need to do something different than the way you do something, so being able to kind of see the other side of the mountain.
03What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
My proudest moment happens over and over, which is whenever I see someone happy, whenever I see someone smile, and that includes my employees or other professionals that I'm working with. That, to me, is the most important part of what I do, so it's not necessarily a monetary thing. That's important too in order for me to stay in business and help people, but I have a philosophy of happiness, and so I want to be able to spread that around. I'm really looking to make a quiet impact in letting people know that they can move on from any circumstance that they're in, that there's a mindset that they can adopt, and that they can change, and they're not stuck. I just want to get that message out there, that we have one life to live, and to try as much as possible to just be happy as much as possible, because it's not a dress rehearsal. If I can help anyone along the way, that's what I'm here for. I just feel that that's my calling. My organizing business is just kind of like my hammer to the nail - it's my tool.
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