‘Cheaper than Therapy’: The Life and Times of a Professional Organizer
By Kim Thomas
“Cheaper than therapy,” is how Sarah Michul characterizes her business model for DeClutter with Sarah.
The obvious question is, do people tell a professional organizer things they wouldn’t tell their therapist? She says, “I think clients feel a bond with me because I’ve seen their most personal possessions usually at their most vulnerable moments. A lot of my email inquiries come in the middle of the night when people are not able to sleep because they are stressing over the current state of their home. A lot of time something has set them over the edge, whether it was a divorce, a move or maybe an unexpected guest came over and saw how messy their house looked. Then when we start to go through personal belongings it brings up old feelings and memories and the stories just start pouring out of them.”
“Clients have told me everything from secret money they are hiding from their husbands, to the year-long depression they just went through to where that scar on their arm really came from.” Does confidentiality apply to professional organizers the way it does for priests and lawyers? She says, “I’m taking it all to the grave!”
Michul got started in the business in 2009 after graduating from UK, while she “was working at a job I didn’t love. I wanted to be able to love going to work everyday and not feel like I was ‘working.’ I started DeClutter with Sarah on the side and within about six months I quit my other job and have been doing this full time ever since. I have worked for every type of client from hoarders to busy family’s trying to spend more time together and less time stressing over the house.”
When she began, she admits she was “basically working for free just trying to let the public know that hiring an organizer was even something that could be done and now I’ve built DeClutter up enough to have clients that include pro athletes and celebrities.”
The job was in her blood. “Organizing is something I’ve always enjoyed doing. Before becoming an organizer I would de-stress by coming home and re organizing closets or kitchen cabinets. It was my therapy. They always say do what you love and that’s exactly what I’m doing, and so it never feels like work.”
She cites her mother as inspiration. “Not only is she my role model for all things organizing but her her office looks just like a Ralph Lauren ad, so sophisticated and classic. It’s not only extremely organized but beautiful as well.”
There have been a few challenges and surprises along the way. She says, “Before starting my business I thought organizing was going to be making closets and pantries picture perfect with pretty baskets and bins. My very first client ever was a hoarder and when I walked through their front door I thought to myself ‘Oh no Sarah. What have you got yourself into?!’ I seriously considered running. But the couple was so nice and so eager to change the way they were living that I decided to stay. It turned out to not be much different than any other organizing I had ever done. I used the same principles and concepts, just on a MUCH larger scale. They were so appreciative and it turned out to be one of the most rewarding things I’ve ever done. I still keep in contact with that couple and think of them as good friends.”
Also from the early years, she says, “One of my first clients was a witch. That’s right a witch, spell books and all. She was downsizing and instructed me to throw away this particular box of things and when I looked at what was inside it was all of these little baggies of locks of hair with people’s names written on them! And yes, there was a Sarah bag with brown hair in it!”
Another time, she says, “I was at a client’s house and she didn’t want her husband to know she had hired an organizer so we kept it a secret and I came while he was at work. One day he called and said he was running home to grab something he forgot and we both panicked. We quickly made up a full detailed back story of ‘who I was’ in case he asked. I was scared to death. Lucky for me what he needed was outside so I never had to meet him and pretend to be someone else.”
A relative newlywed herself, Sarah married Jake last August (and even managed to work in a plug for her business in the wedding announcement). Is he as organized as she is? She says, “Jake does what I refer to as his Trail of Tears. It’s basically the trail of clothes he leaves from the front door to the bedroom everyday that makes me want to cry! Everyday when he comes home from work it starts with shoes and briefcase by the door, then his coat gets laid over a chair in the den, then his tie gets draped over a dining room chair then wallet and keys go onto the kitchen counter then shirt gets put over a chair in the bedroom and leaves his belt on the bed.”
What’s it like when a Professional Organizer plans a wedding? She laughs, “If anyone ever tells you they weren’t a crazy person while planning their wedding they are lying to you and I’m no exception. I hired a professional wedding planner who was absolutely amazing and I couldn’t have done any of it without her, but still did the majority of the planning myself. I put together a wedding binder that in the end was 11 inches thick! I had this thing down to a science and could retrieve anything from any vendor in seconds! Being organized was literally the only thing that kept me sane during the entire process.”
“The hardest part for me was trying to relax and enjoy the process. I’m very Type A and a perfectionist so staying stress free was challenging.”
She admits that what we would find on her desk right now (if we launched a sneak attack) would be “the last few thank you notes I need to write from my wedding. I HATE clutter so I made a promise to myself that I have to be annoyed by looking at them everyday until I sit down and finish.”
When it comes to clients, are men and women different in how they tackle chaos in the home or office?
She says, “When a woman is ready to DeClutter she usually also wants make things look pretty and it involves a little decorating in the process. When a man is ready to DeClutter he comes armed with trash bags,” she says.
“When it come to having clutter women are no more or less likely to have clutter than men. But when it comes to getting rid of it women are typically much more emotional and sentimental about objects than men. Parting with things like baby gear, clothes, etc can be traumatic. Men are usually puzzled by this and unsympathetic.”
And as for Hoarders, the TV show? She says, “I watch it, and live it. My first clients I ever had were hoarders, and sadly it’s just what you see on TV. However it doesn’t move that fast. The show gets it done in a weekend while in real life, a home of that magnitude could take weeks or months. But the hoarding clients I’ve helped have been the most rewarding and in the end it makes taking their case on worth it.” She adds, “My husband can’t stand to watch it.”
So what about the rest of us… the non-hoarders who still might be harboring a guilty secret or two. What is her professional position on junk drawers, for example.
“I think everyone is entitled to one junk drawer, but not two and definitely not six. And this doesn’t mean a drawer filled with who knows what that’s just been thrown in.”
Her advice: “Drawer dividers are a small investment that make a huge difference! It takes less time to put a pencil in the pencil divider than it does to dig through a mess looking for a pencil.”
That’s a simple place where we can all start today.
Spring Cleaning Tips with Sarah
It’s easy to get stuck when trying to de-clutter and organize.
Sarah mentions three areas:
- The main place is with paper. Not only is it scary to throw something you think is important away, but it’s also a very boring tedious process and most people just give up.
- The second would be getting rid of things you inherited from a deceased relative. There is so much guilt and sentimentality that is associated.
- When someone who has lost or gain weight and they are keeping multiple sizes in their closet. I tell clients if you lost weight that’s great and you should celebrate that! Don’t let yourself ever need those fat pants again! Gaining weight isn’t always so great, but I just remind them they have to only keep the things that are for your current lifestyle not the lifestyle you wish you hadn’t.
Does she recommend Spring Cleaning?
Her answer is: “For organizing to be easy it has to be kept up constantly, but once a year is better than never!”
“Spring means tax time, and that’s when I tell clients to go through all of their paperwork and get rid of everything that’s not needed for taxes or anything else vital. It’s a simple thing that really needs to be done every year. It’s amazing how much they probably kept and can easily throw out.”
- Start small and manageable
“If you’re not someone who usually organizes or enjoys it can be very easy to be overwhelmed by something like a master closet. Start off slow and tackle the hall closet instead.”
- Start a ‘Donation Station’
“Have a donation station that you keep all year long for the things you no longer need. Get a Christmas present you don’t like and can’t return? Put it in the donation bin. Realize those shoes you love give you a blister every time you wear them, so you don’t actually wear them? Put them in the donation station.”
- Ask yourself three questions:
Do you need it?
Do you love it?
Would the world end if you no longer had it?
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This article also appears on pages 14 and 15 of the March print edition of the Hamburg Journal.
