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Interview With . . . Renee Belisle Clutter Rehab(TM), LLC Scottsdale, AZ by Maria Gracia 1. What is the name of your company? Where are you located? How long have you been in business? My name is Renee Belisle and my company is Clutter Rehab(TM), LLC. I'm located in Scottsdale, AZ. I have been in business for two years. 2. Is this your primary business, or a part-time business? It is my primary business. 3. Are you a member of NAPO? (Please indicate if you're an officer.) Yes, and a member of the Policies and Procedures Committee. 4. Why did you become a professional organizer? I had a successful 25 year career in human resources management. When the last company where I worked closed, I had attained all the goals I had set for my HR career and was ready to make a change, but I wasn't sure exactly what I wanted to do. I wanted something that would utilize my knowledge, skills, and experience obtained in the corporate world and something that would be fun to me. While thinking about what in the world that was, I kept busy decorating my house and helping my friends and family members to organize their homes. A couple of them suggested I should do that for a living, but I didn't think there was a market for it. One day I happened to turn the television on in the middle of the day and a program called Mission Organization was on. I got excited and immediately recognized that's what I wanted to do. I started doing my research on the industry, joined NAPO, and launched my business. I love what I do--I'm absolutely passionate about it! I can't adequately describe the restful satisfaction and feeling of pride I get when I've helped another individual get better organized in some area of their life. 5. What type of organizing do you specialize in (home, office, etc.)? I conduct individual, residential, and business organizing. 6. Do you sell products, services, or seminars? Please describe. I have a couple of products I sell. I also do public speaking on getting organized. 7. Have you written a book(s)? If so, what is the title(s)? I have started writing a book on organizing. 8. Do you publish a newsletter? If so, is it a print newsletter, or an e-zine? Is it free, or is there a charge? I have a free monthly e-zine called 'The Clutter Cure.' 9. Do you have a web site? If so, what is the address? Establishing http://www.clutterrehab.com was one of the first things I did when I decided to start my business. 10. Is travel a big part of your business? At this time travel is a small part of my business. However, I am looking to expand, primarily for speaking engagements. 11. Who is your primary target audience? Any individual or business that is losing time and money through disorganization and is ready to make changes is a potential client. In my initial consultation, I try to make sure they are really ready to take the necessary steps to get organized. I have declined a small number of jobs because I didn't feel the individual was there yet. They were doing this because someone else was making them do it rather than wanting to make the changes themselves. 12. Describe your typical workday. It depends on my schedule. If I don't have a morning client, I get on the computer, check e-mails and phone messages, do some administrative work, planning, etc. During this time I'm also making phone calls. If I have a client in the morning, this routine takes place in the afternoon after my last client. Overall, each week I spend about 40%-50% with clients, 30%-40% on marketing/networking, and the remainder on administrative details. 13. Every person interested in entering the professional organizing field is wondering, "Can I make enough money doing this?" What is your outlook on this question? Absolutely! I am not married and have no other job so this is my sole source of income. Like any business, it does take some time to get it up and running and get a sufficient flow of revenue. The amount of time it takes for you to get to that point depends on how much time and effort you put into building your business. You should have some reserve funds or some other source of income to live on until you get to the point where you can rely on the income generated from your revenue. 14. Which of the following marketing vehicles have you used to help you grow your business (direct mail, newspaper advertising, free workshops, radio, television, web site, e-zine, telemarketing, yellow pages, joint ventures with other professionals, publicity, other--please describe)? I've tried many marketing vehicles including door hangers, newspaper advertising, free workshops, web site, e-zine, networking, yellow pages, publicity, gift certificates. I keep trying different methods and track my response rate from each one, then determine if I will continue with it. I think your success with different vehicles depends on the community where you live. I can see different methods being effective in different areas. 15. Which one marketing technique have you found works the best for you? Please describe. Networking has been the most productive for me. I am out there as much as possible meeting and talking with people about what I do and how I might be able to help them improve their life. I belong to several groups and am active in them, serving on committees and in leadership roles so people can get to know me. 16. Describe a successful, creative marketing technique that you use, or that you've used in the past. I offer a gift certificate for free organizing time when someone sends for information from me. This helps me get the consultation and about 99% of those turn into jobs. 17. Do you feel that networking plays a big role in growing your business? It's my main source of getting clients. 18. What do you do to generate referrals? I rely on doing a good job for my clients. If they're happy with the outcome, they'll tell others. 19. What do you find to be the most exciting part of your business? The end result of not only seeing a difference in the way the space looks, feels and functions, but the difference I've made in someone's life. By helping them get organized, they are now in a better position to move forward into a more positive future. 20. What do you find to be the most frustrating part of your business? It's very frustrating when I encounter a client who doesn't want to try something different from what they're currently doing to see if it will work better for them. I have to work hard to get them just to try it for a while. I tell them if it doesn't work for them, they can always go back to the way it is now. I've never had anyone go back, but getting them to the point of trying something different can be very challenging. 21. Describe your greatest success in this field. I had a client who was very disorganized in every part of her life. I started by clearing the paper clutter. While setting up a file system, I noticed there had been some previous attempts at establishing a system. When I commented on this, she told me she had tried to work with three other professional organizers before, but didn't like working with them. She said she wasn't comfortable with their approach and they were too inflexible so she never got very far with them. We had already had several sessions before this and she said she really liked the way I worked with her, asking questions and listening to what she said. I was able to get her house organized, some decorating done and help with her time management. I feel I succeeded where others had not. 22. As a professional organizer, do you have a funny story to share? I worked with a client who had a garage full of boxes she had not looked in for three years. As we went through each one, most ended up being trash. However, when I opened one box I found it full of old pay stubs going back 20+ years, in order by when they were received. When I suggested that she shred them all, she told me she wanted to keep them because they were her history. I tried every rationale I could think of as to why she shouldn't keep all this paper. I suggested maybe she keep only the ones that reflected a change so she would still have her history, but not the tons of paper from keeping them all. She wanted them all. The next session with her, I told her about how I had told her story in a presentation I had done and that it got a good laugh from the audience. On the next visit, I found out she had gotten rid of her checks, keeping only those that showed a change in salary. She did not like being an example of what not to do! 23. As an organizer, what professional organizing information or tools are you always on the lookout for? I am always on the lookout for new tools and information that will benefit my clients and help grow my business. I read all the time, watch programs on television, talk with other organizers, browse through stores, search the Internet--whatever I can think of to keep on top of things. NAPO is a great source for staying on top of what's happening in our profession. 24. Looking ahead, what do you see as your greatest challenge? Right now my focus is to grow my business to that next level. I've attained the results I needed to support myself, but I want to grow to the level where I need to hire people to help me because I have so much business! Crossing that threshold is definitely a challenge. 25. What is your best tip for people interested in becoming professional organizers? Be persistent and consistent with your efforts to get your business at the level you want, whether it's part-time or mega-corporation. Seek advice from people who have experience you can learn from, but don't let anyone's advice hold you back from fulfilling your dreams. I think the bottom line for an organizer is to remember that you are here to help others. Keeping that in mind above all else will serve you well. 
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