How did you become known as The Miracle Worker?

Long before I started my business, I offered to help  a friend organize her extremely cluttered apartment.  She’d warned me, “It’s such a mess–it would take a miracle to get this place organized!” After I’d worked with her for a few hours, she was amazed by the results and started calling me “The Miracle Worker.”  Something clicked– I decided that if I  ever started a business I’d use that name.  Since then, I’ve lost count of how many clients have said to me, “You really ARE   The Miracle Worker!”   It’s still my favorite compliment for a job well done.

What did you do before starting your organizing business?

Mainly I worked as an editor for several types of publications: copy editor for the Journal of Immunology for five years; managing editor of a community newspaper; freelance editor for a variety of clients.  Editing and organizing have something in common: both involve weeding out redundancy and excess, identifying gaps, and putting things in the most effective order. So in a way, it wasn’t that big a leap for me to go from editing words to editing time, space, and matter.

What is your educational background?

I majored in Comparative Literature at San Diego State University, where I received my B.A. in 1979 at the age of 19 (I was already putting my time management skills to good use!).