Introduction My Story When people learn that I'm a professional home organizer, they always lean in and ask the same question: "So, is your home really that organized?" Spoiler alert: The answer is yes. But here's what I want you to know before we go any further. My need for a streamlined and organized home was not born out of my love for alphabetized file folders or color-coded baskets (although I do appreciate a good basket). I keep my house the way I do because of my deep desire to create order and beauty in a world that often feels fractured and painful. I grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area, the only child of colorful, creative parents who tried for years to overcome their incompatibilities but finally made the wise decision to end their marriage when I was eight. There was fighting and friction and ultimately a court-appointed joint custody schedule, which required me to shuffle myself, and my things, back and forth from house to house every other day. My father was dynamic, generous, charismatic, and brilliant but also suffered from debilitating bouts of depression and despair. I channeled my childhood anxieties into making my personal space feel good, spending hours alone in my room arranging the things I owned into pleasing vignettes. During those formative years that often felt frightening and painful, organizing my life and surroundings helped me create a sense of peace, order, beauty, and flow. Years later, when I tragically lost my father after a long battle with depression, maintaining an organized home (and helping others do the same) gave me a sense of purpose and helped me move through the crushing waves of grief. Organization became an important form of self-care, a practice I still rely upon to help restore my spirits when I feel the most broken. Once I had learned how to successfully transform my own space, I volunteered (begged!) to help my friends and family members apply the process to their homes. I was always wildly curious about other people and asked these "clients" a series of questions before diving in: What's important to you right now? How do you want to present yourself to the world? How do you want to feel in your space? Next, we would get down to work, letting go of things that didn't serve the vision and neatly arranging the keepers--often repurposing things they already owned such as bins, baskets, art, or textiles. Even my most reluctant friends gasped with delight when I helped them unlock the hidden potential of their spaces, quickly editing and organizing their closets, bedrooms, or workspaces. It felt like magic. I saw firsthand how the process of transforming one's space had the power to propel people toward their bigger goals. I realized that, in addition to improving their living spaces, I was helping them get in touch with their true passions, purpose, and potential--setting them up to be the best version of themselves. It never occurred to me that my niche hobby could become a career (I had dedicated my life to being an actor in the theater for nearly twenty years), but at eight months pregnant with my first daughter, I lost my fulltime event planning job in a wave of company layoffs and was forced to reconsider my plans. While staying home with my daughter Chloe for nearly a year, I realized that every single parent I knew was completely overwhelmed by clutter and struggling to keep up with the influx of toys, gear, and gadgets that often accompany parenthood. When the women in my new moms group asked how I managed to avoid the clutter trap, I realized that I had unknowingly defined my less-is-more home-organizing process and minimalist philosophy. My brand of minimalism confronted excess, waste, and the pressure to consume without limits--without depriving me of the things I loved. I had no business plan, no training whatsoever, truly nothing but a strong desire to help make other people's lives a little easier by sharing the practices that had become second nature to me. So, I threw together a website, sent an email announcing my services to everyone I knew, and set out on a mission to help others reduce physical and mental clutter and create homes that felt good. Within days of announcing my business, I had booked my first clients. I started off spending the weekdays with Chloe and working in three-hour sessions on Saturdays and Sundays when my husband, Jordan, could be home with her. After years of cobbling jobs together in the theater and hospitality industry, I finally felt I had stumbled onto something I loved that could have a positive impact, pay the bills, and afford me the luxury of maximizing time with my new daughter. It was thrilling. Each client I met had a new and fascinating set of circumstances and challenges to navigate, which kept the work endlessly stimulating and exciting. I worked with artists, teachers, therapists, physicians, attorneys, tech entrepreneurs, government employees, and even NASA scientists. I helped people who were navigating everything from grief and loss to anxiety, depression, and divorce. I worked in gated mansions that took up entire city blocks and tiny studio apartments in walk-up buildings. Over the course of my lengthy career, I've unearthed firearms, sex toys, precious jewelry, and wads of cash. I've found myself in the middle of marital disputes, temper tantrums, and emotional breakdowns. I've been served caviar and champagne, and I've also been invited to clean up rat droppings, cat urine, and mold. You name it, I've seen it. I've felt honored and humbled that so many people trusted me enough to let me sort through their most treasured (and private) possessions and confide in me. It's been an exhilarating ride. As my experience grew, I started to see universal themes emerge. Buried under the clutter was shame, guilt, anxiety, depression, and loss. I wanted to help my clients affect change both from the outside in and the inside out, so in 2016 I studied at the Life Coach School and received my coaching certification. I integrated the coaching I'd learned into my organizing sessions, enabling me to go deeper with my clients and give them tools to start processing whatever was at the root of their clutter. After a decade of work in the field, I was able to refine my philosophy into an easy-to-follow five-step process: Clarify, Edit, Organize, Elevate, and Maintain. My first book, Minimalista , shares my entire toolkit with readers and breaks down how to use your home as a vehicle to get unstuck, create a home you love, and live the life you want. I've also expanded my business beyond one-on-one home organizing. To help people at a more accessible price point, I created a suite of online courses that have now been taken by thousands of people all over the world. I also launched a business mentorship program to help other entrepreneurs start and scale their own successful home-organizing and lifestyle businesses. While my career has evolved to include writing books, speaking, and coaching, organizing spaces is still where I turn to find flow, purpose, and joy. The profession has provided me with the most incredible and deeply satisfying career I could imagine. Organizing combines my love for and curiosity about people with my interest in psychology, personal growth, and human development--it includes even my passion for fashion, styling, and design. Teaching others how to create living spaces that look good, feel good, and improve their lives on every level has been one of the greatest joys of my life. For this book I traveled to interview and tour the homes of twentyfive of the top organizing experts across the globe. While each organizer has their own story and set of skills and talents, they are all united by a shared desire to help people clear clutter, simplify and systematize their spaces, and transform their homes and lives. The opportunities I've had to explore other organizers' living spaces (both over the course of my career and to produce this book) have left me feeling energized and equipped with an expanded toolkit to incorporate into my work and my own home. With each connection, I realized I was in the unique position of having an all-access pass to gain inspiration and wisdom from the homes of my colleagues. This book is borne out of the desire to give others a peek into this rarely seen world: the very organized homes of people who organize others' homes. Excerpted from Organized Living: Solutions and Inspiration for Your Home [a Home Organization Book] by Shira Gill All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.
