EPISODE 1: What is organizing and what it is not
Jill Nicolini Interviews Libby Saylor Founder & Professional Organizer at Anchor Girl Organizing
Transcript
From Manhattan, this is the New York executive podcast, the Voices that Move markets the conversations that shape the boardroom.
Live from our studios in midtown Manhattan, here is today's program.
We are so excited to have our next guest joining us.
It's Libby Sailor.
Yes.
She's the founder and professional organizer of her own company called Anchor Girl Organizing.
And boy, oh, boy.
As a mom with kids, as a working mom, I need help.
I am overwhelmed.
Unorganized, piles around my house of mail, of clothes, you name it.
I have an issue with clutter.
So you are the lady in charge, and I think a lot of us out there can relate.
And I am so excited to have you here today.
You have no idea.
Libby, how are you?
Hi, Jill.
Thank you so much for having me on.
I'm excited to, you know, describe to your listeners basically what a professional organizer can bring to you and sometimes what an organizer is not.
I think there are a lot of misconceptions out there, and so I'm really excited to shine the light on the positive changes that an organizer can bring to someone such as yourself, like a mother who's just working full time, busy, and also professionals that just don't have the time.
And so some folks just also don't know where to start.
So let's get into it.
All right.
We're gonna dive into organization and everything in just a moment.
But before, I like getting to know you on a personal level.
So first and foremost, you're down in.
You're in Leland, North Carolina, Right outside of Wilmington.
Right.
I am just here a year.
Oh.
My niece.
My niece and my.
Is down there.
So in Wilmington.
So I've been there one time, so I love that connection.
I want to know how you became Libby, this amazing organizer.
Talk to me about your background, where you grew up, and I guess you probably always had a knack for this, right?
I did.
I did.
So I grew up in the Philadelphia suburbs.
Okay.
And born and raised Philly girl.
And my initial career entry was in corporate executive assisting.
So I started out originally, you know, just as an administrative assistant.
And then I quickly got into C suite support, which is CEO, cfo, CEO.
Anything is chief is in front of it.
And once you're up at that level, you really have to be attuned to.
To the person that you're supporting.
Number one, you're almost anticipating their needs before they have them and being prepared.
And the other aspect of that relationship is it's once you have an executive assistant that you know and trust, that's a very important relationship.
And so I think the trust building, the anticipation really set me up to be able to do it also in people's homes.
Covid hit as Covid hit and my only child went off to college and so the house was very quiet, very, very quiet.
And so I had to do some real deep dive, some soul searching.
I was a single mom.
What am I doing?
What do I want to do with my life?
People would come into my house and they would say, libby, can you do this at my house?
I love it.
And I would downplay it.
Honestly, Jill, quite often I just didn't really want to step into owning One of my greatest superpowers that comes to me naturally, which is spatial reasoning, color pattern, organization, anticipating people's needs, building trust, being approachable, all of those things, they kind of just came together under Anchor Girl Organizing's mission.
It's how I enter every individuals home when I meet them for the first time.
And so I was organizing in the Philadelphia suburbs for about, I want to say, six years.
And then my husband retired last year and so we started to seek where are we going to go to next?
What changes do we want to make?
And we decided to get out of Philadelphia and come down to where it's warmer and it's coastal and the beach is right there.
I probably in that move went through one of the most complex moves I've ever actually orchestrated in the sense of moving parts.
We stayed in three different temporary housing before we got into our home.
We built our home here in Leland.
And so it was quite a process.
I really had to put, put the, you know, the rubber to the road and, and practice what I preach to others.
And there were several times, Jill, in the middle of this move that I just thought to myself, wow, this is a lot harder what I ask of people than I even really, initially, wow thought.
And so my empathy actually went up for people that are moving because it just really, really is hard.
And so while moving was a large part of my organizing business, I think that moving myself really allowed me that viewpoint that I go home when I'm helping somebody.
I go home to my organized home and my things are where they want, where I leave them, and they're living in the chaos.
And so once I was living in the chaos, that's when I thought, and I'm also helping my husband through the chaos, who is absolutely not accustomed to all of the moving parts of a complex move, storage, interstate, multiple stops along the way.
So that's really, you know, what got me into organizing.
It was actually taking My skills out of the corporate office and taking it into people's homes.
Amazing.
By the way, I had a flood in my house in February.
I'm in New York.
I live on Long Island.
And my son's pipe burst in his bedroom, so it left his whole room destroyed, sunk into the garage.
And my garage was like my storage unit with my carpets, my clothes, my furniture, and I.
Most Americans, it is now August.
Carpet still half ripped up.
His furniture's still downstairs, wrapped.
It's just nothing is done, and I can't get things done.
I'm living in an overwhelm of a company.
Took all my stuff out of the house, brought it to their warehouse, never did the right thing.
They were supposed to immediately take it out, take pictures to see what's salvageable, what's not developed all mold.
They didn't do anything.
Big fight.
They come drop it off at my house.
It sat in my yard, wrapped up into my living room.
Took me until July to unwrap everything and deal with that.
But it is such a process.
It is such a. Oh, my goodness, I wish I knew now what I knew then.
We shouldn't have as much stuff, which is hard.
But you also got to learn how to pick and choose and to eliminate, which I find is to be very hard for people who are, like, borderline hoarders, like myself.
Like, I just.
Like.
I keep a lot of things.
I don't throw my clothes away.
I don't.
You know what I'm saying?
So that.
That does make me struggle with their organizational, you know, process.
And I think a lot of us have this problem.
So let's get started, because I don't want people to know again, we're here with anchor girl organizing Libby, by the way, you're working with people in person in North Carolina, and you're doing virtual work, too, right?
I am actually.
I am doing in person, and I will be getting certified in virtual organizing this fall.
I'm waiting for the certification class to open for students, but I'm very excited about that opportunity, and I'm really interested in learning how organizers connect with people when they're not standing right there.
I'm also very interested in the coaching aspect of it in that there are a lot of people that do want to do it themselves, and there's nothing wrong with that.
But due to the overwhelm, they just don't know where to start.
And so if they had somebody, I like to say, in the trench with them, showing them, okay, this is how we're going to get Out.
I think that that's an invaluable service that many people would definitely benefit from.
All right, well, let's break it down.
What exactly is professional organizing and what is, isn't it?
Okay, so you know, the first thing for an organizer is to basically understand the why.
Why is somebody picking up the phone and calling you?
Is it somebody like yourself that just had a flood and they're overwhelmed with all of the moving parts of the flood and the furniture's going out and how do they pack up things to preserve things that weren't harmed by the flood?
And it could also be helping with any level of coordination of getting the furniture back and keeping things on.
Organizers also really can assess someone's pain points, pain points that they might not even know that they have.
Because once the stuff starts to feel like it's closing in on you and the overwhelm and the chaotic viewpoint enters your home, oftentimes people's minds get chaotic and they just can't make that decision.
Sometimes we're dealing with things that are very sentimental and there needs to be be another option as to what we can do besides either keep it or just get rid of it.
Then we look at systems, systems that are created for the individual based on where they are.
So I choose to enter everybody's home with an open mind and absolutely zero judgment.
One of the most common things I hear is, oh, should I clean up before you come?
No, please do not.
By all means, don't.
Do not.
I need to see what is the reality of where your systems either are non existent or where they might be coming off the track.
And oftentimes once the person has taken the courage, because it does take courage to call an organizer.
Because let's face it, what is your home?
Your home is your most intimate and private place.
And especially as women, women, I believe, carry the responsibility of how their home appears to the outside world.
Not husbands, women, wives, girlfriends, always.
Yep, whatever you want to.
However you, whoever you are in that system, as the top female.
Oh yeah.
People come into your house and they say, wow, it's beautiful.
Deep down I think we all know that that's her touch.
It is.
And so when it's failing, that is very, very hard for someone to pick up the phone and say, you know what, I need help and this isn't working and I'm overwhelmed and what do I do?
And I'm afraid you're going to judge me.
And I'm, I feel shame inside because I'm not producing.
What is some of those Traditional mindsets that women are supposed to produce in the home, especially when they're out of the office, out of the home, excuse me, working full time.
They've got multiple kids with a variety of needs and activities and stuff.
They've got a husband that they're trying to support as well.
And then there's also them themselves.
And so I really come in with an empathetic and non judgmental viewpoint.
The other thing that's really, really important when you invite an organizer into your home is confidentiality.
If I go into, say, your home, Jill, and then I go out and I say, oh my God, I can't believe what I just saw at Jill and Nico.
No, it just doesn't work that way.
It doesn't work that way.
And when I was in Philadelphia, I had the opportunity to partner up with another organizer who had really, she was an organizer of 20 plus years, very, very, what's the word I want to say, experienced.
She had tapped into the luxury market of the Philadelphia market and that's the main line.
And there was no way I was going to get into those homes without her.
Because that type of client requires that confidentiality at such a high level that if you don't have your ethics and morality together, they can really let someone in that could do a lot of damage to them personally and to their things.
And then, you know, finally we work together to help you see what it is you covet and want to keep and what you actually can let go of.
I think another misconception is that people think that an organizer is going to come into their house and tell them to get rid of everything.
And that's not going to happen.
Oftentimes in relationships I find that a husband and wife, marry, meet or boyfriend and girlfriend.
And then when stuff gets overwhelming or one person wants to burn the house down and get rid of it all, and then the other person is so panicked because of that thought process, they cling to everything.
So it's a real push and pull.
And so when a non biased, nonjudgmental person comes into the mix and we start building that trust over time and sessions together, sometimes people can learn to let go.
Other times people can learn to ease up on their partner a little bit.
It's a lot to go through the stuff.
It is a lot.
But then you also, I love you know that.
I know you're open, you're not judgmental, but it's hard to feel judge.
I walk and people come in my house and it's like there's stuff Everywhere and all the flood stuff.
And I'm so embarrassed and humiliated.
And to find someone that you could trust that's non judgmental is.
It would be such a good feeling because my family is like judgmental.
Like you need someone on the outside who does this for a living.
And I mean, when you, I love when you see your, you know, pictures like before and afters, there's, there's a light at the end of the tunnel.
I mean, and I want to know specifically what areas of organizing do you do?
Because are we talking everything from basements to kitchens to garages to sheds to drawers to kitchens?
Tell me your specialty.
Well, I think I honestly excel when I do strategic move planning.
That's a very niche aspect of organizing that not all organizers do, but inside the home that.
And you're not moving.
Yes, I do all spaces.
I can do all spaces.
I think another hesitation that people have to pick up the phone is that they think, oh, does my house at the end need to be, you know, Pinterest perfect?
And how am I going to live up to those images on social media that I see now?
I love when design and organization meet and they get married and they create a beautiful space.
That's fantastic, but it's also not, not realistic.
The key component is function.
So when, if I'm going into your closet or I'm going into your pantry, or I'm down in your basement, or we're crawling around in your garage, we're always going to be talking about your functioning and how is it currently inhibited or pain point.
And what do we need to do to get you to the point where it's the system is now working for you rather than against you.
So I do every space.
I mean, some spaces I enjoy more than others, but I do every kind of space.
And I want to sort of say that while you can go into your directory and you can look up a professional organizer in your area.
I can't stress enough my professional society.
I'm a member of the national association of Productivity and Organizing.
That is short or long for I should say Napo.
And when you go on to napo.net you can find me obviously and search for me.
I would love to obviously work with as many of your listeners as I could.
But given if you want that in house touch, if you go to Napo and you search the directory for an organizer in your area, you are going to have somebody come that has basically committed to the ethics and the code of our professional organization.
So while there are organizers that aren't NAPO certified.
If you're going to take that step and invite someone into your home, you should definitely go to that resource first.
And if you want to do something virtual, obviously I would love to hear from listeners about what's going on in their house and how I can help.
Beautiful.
And I wanted to point out there's some great testimonials.
I mean someone here is telling us, I think it's a Greg that you're absolute joy to work with.
Beginning to see the light of the end of the tunnel, really.
You get a five.
Our recommendation.
They moved across country 4,000 square foot home to a 2500 square foot home.
We're surrounded by sea of boxes and furniture.
They said you've been helping them transform their home from chaotic to comfortable.
Your guidance experience, energetic work really has helped them concentrate and really get everything done.
And they love your work as an interior designer.
There's so many more amazing, you know, testimonials I want to talk about.
But there's home organization, move management.
You also do home staging.
So again, it's our first show.
We do, we have if hopefully we have more shows.
We do.
Oh, good, good, good.
So for today, do you want to talk about maybe more misconceptions that people have about hiring the professional organizer or about maybe how it's not about perfection, it's about creating systems that reduce stress and make everyday life easier.
Yeah, we can definitely dive deeper into that.
I think too people fall into the misconception that if they just buy one more organizing item from Amaz, all going to get better.
If they buy one more bin or they buy one more drawer, whatever it is, oftentimes it's the clutter.
And so the edit portion, the decluttering portion is the first step.
And so oftentimes I like to say, and it's not my phrase, but clutter is delayed decisions.
It's decisions that we just couldn't make at that point in time.
And then they pile up and they pile up and they pile up.
And so I will mention too, as far as being interested in an organizer, you briefly mentioned hoarding.
A lot of people, you know, in their shame announced they are near hoarding.
Yes, I have worked with some hoarders.
Hoardery hoarding clients require even more patience and understanding.
It really is a mixture of environment and mental health issues.
They aren't as common, I think as the show would like us to believe.
But I think that's also a roadblock for people that they think that they're going to be labeled a hoarder.
There are just people that are chronically disorganized and just don't know the systems to implement.
It could be some executive function, brain, just.
It's not.
They just don't see it.
They just, they just can't see their way either out emotionally or through the clutter.
But I've been in people's homes that have been extremely filled with clutter.
And if I ask that person if they know where, okay, where, where do you keep your scissors?
They know.
They do know.
And so if you go in with that judgmental lens and you go, oh, well, this is like, this is just completely out of control.
Well, that's not giving the person enough credit that they're living in a way that has function to them, that works for them.
And while it may not be how I choose to live or somebody else, there isn't necessarily something wrong with that.
And so it's really about determining the individual's function and where they want to get to and how to help them get to the life that they want to be leading in their home.
So does that mean, does Jill get out the door quicker?
If we create a system by the back door that has, you know, the keys, the backpacks, the shoes, the this, the that, and then that's it, you know, and part of when we work together, I find that clients and I kind of start to build off of each other.
Okay, well, I can do this to keep this going and I can ask my husband to do that.
And sometimes that's all that it is, is that once the system is in place, they run with it.
Some people need check ins.
And so some people will have the organizer come or have myself come, and we'll do a deep session.
And then a couple weeks or a couple months will go by, and then your phone rings again and they say, hey, Libby, I need you to come back.
I've made it a mess again.
So everybody is different.
And, you know, some people want everything, you know, Pinterest perfect.
And some people don't care if you reuse a file or, you know, and relabel it or turn it inside out.
They just don't care.
They need it to function.
And so it really is important to honor the client.
And that's what I enter every home and eventually every session virtually is learning about my client.
And what do they need?
Oh, my goodness.
I love it.
I love it.
You clearly are passionate about this work that you do.
And for people out there who, you know, are really kind of stuck, like myself, Right.
Let me ask you, how do you help them let go of the things that is also cluttering them?
Right.
Because it's hard to let go.
So do you individually take their hand, work with them, whether it's going through a closet, through a drawer, or do some people give you that freedom?
Or do a lot of people kind of want to work with you?
You know, how does that work of, you know, kind of letting it go work for someone?
Yeah, it really honestly depends on the space.
I mean, I've been left in a pantry to make decisions that I feel comfortable with.
Oftentimes in the pantry spaces they get so fil, especially with the kids snacks and all of the stuff and nobody puts anything away exactly like the other family member.
There could be a lot of expired food.
That's obviously a no brainer.
But to go into someone's closet and start to edit for them, I really can't do that.
We wear 20% of the clothing we own 80% of the time.
So if you think about that.
So there's a very small amount of clothes that you actually wear.
Yes, so true.
80% Of the time.
So we have those things that we've bought and hung, particularly us as women, in our closets and they mean more than just the garment.
Maybe it means, oh, wow, I've made it, I can afford that now.
Oh, and I'm gonna, you know, I'm gonna hang that in my closet.
Or maybe it was an impulse spy and you just needed, you know, some retail therapy.
But we, we as women, I think in particular really kind of create this emotional attachment to the stuff a little bit more often than men.
I have definitely met some men that have a very hard time.
Don't, don't get me wrong.
But I think what's important there in Spaces is yes, working together to get through that edit.
And how does that work?
That gets done by creating that trust, learning about my client and asking maybe some hard questions.
Might be, you know, what does this mean to you?
And I've heard many, many stories.
Anything from, you know, oh, well, that doesn't mean anything to me.
That was just an impulse buy.
We can get rid of it or.
No, that was my mother's, I don't know, coat or whatever.
I cannot get rid of it.
It's very important to me.
So you really have to spend the time to allow that person to let you in.
I think most often when someone books a couple of sessions with me, we start off very, very professional and then we're on.
You know, obviously best Behavior.
And by like the third session, I'm almost a member of their family and I'm in all of their business and they're like, oh, Libby's here.
Libby's going to make this go away.
And so, you know, I. I really have to say, how do we get through the edit?
We create the relationship so that I can go through it with you and that you can trust me.
And that's okay if I'm not for everybody.
It's just like that relationship, I told you, with the CEO.
If you guys don't, you know, vibe together, well, there's.
It's not going to work because the arrangement requires an intimate relationship that you know them somewhat deeply.
And that is the same when you enter someone's home and go into their personal spaces.
I know.
I love it.
I love it.
I love what you do.
My mom, by the way, cleaned homes for a living.
She's unfortunately passed now.
And she's the most amazing organizer.
So I lost her when I have a 9 and 11 year old.
So I have two boys.
It's hard to keep up.
And I always thought I'd have her and here I am now without her.
And it's like, oh, my goodness.
My biggest problem is the mail.
I just want everything electronic.
There's piles of mail, then the piles of clothes and the laundry and have trouble of starting a project and finishing it.
I think it's mental as well, like you mentioned before.
But the how good I feel like last night I stood up until, you know, 11:30.
It was kind of late.
We were in the Bahamas.
My kids took a vacation.
I did all the laundry.
We got home early yesterday, did everything.
And this morning I woke up feeling like a million bucks.
That feeling, that sanity of when something's organized, tell me.
I mean, there's nothing better than that.
No, it's.
It's a real feeling.
It's palpable and it does build off of itself.
Sometimes folks just need a little bit.
You know, they get really pumped up and excited.
Maybe they'll, you know, the sale will, you know, diminish a little bit and then you just need to give them a big gust of wind to get them off to the races again.
But I would find too, that for someone like you and talking about your kids and their sort of additional things and just sort of additions to your day that all kids bring to the table.
I've only had one child, so I can't even imagine what two are like.
I met someone with five and I'm like, wait, excuse me.
Five.
Yeah, right.
God bless.
But creating a system that almost like, okay, Jill, you loved how it felt to have the laundry done on Monday morning.
How can we make Sundays laundry day?
How can we create a system even that simple, that we assign certain tasks to certain days so that you don't get the Sunday scaries, that you wake up Monday ready to face the week and you're like, I feel great because I have my stuff together.
This is awesome.
Or, you know, we get your home to the point where I want to have people over.
I'm excited to have friends over.
That's a wonderful, wonderful feeling.
And so that is, obviously, that's the end game.
That's.
That's the final product.
Well, thank you so much.
Pleasure having you here, getting to know you.
I'm so glad we're going to do more shows.
And by the way, if we are, I would love for you to share your screen to see some of the before and after photos, like on your social media.
We could show that next time.
So how can we contact you?
Tell us, please.
Yes, you can go to my website, anchorgirlorganizing.com you can see me on Instagram, Anchor Girl Living.
And I also have the same handle on TikTok, and it's anchor Girl Living on social media because there it's just a little bit more of an encompassing of me as an individual, all the things that I like, and that includes interiors, clothes, lifestyle, everything.
And so you'll see my organizing and lifestyle there and get a total picture of me.
Beautiful.
Thank you so much.
Pleasure having you here today.
Cannot wait to speak again.
And yes, thank you.
Give you an update on my chaos soon, too, but thank you.
Yes, I'd love to appreciate it.
All right, you have a fantastic day.
Enjoy the feeling.
Are you looking for calm in the.
Middle of a cluttered home?
Are you ready to replace stress with.
Order, beauty and function?
Hi, my name is Libby Saylor, and I'm the founder of Anchor Girl Organizing.
I help individuals and families navigate the storm of clutter with personalized organizing solutions designed around the way they really live.
Visit anchorgirlorganizing.com and let's create a home that supports you.
Get anchored and get started today.