The famous comedian, Groucho Marx once said, “I refuse to join any club that would have me as a member.”

I grew up with a family of non-joiners. This got passed down to me in many ways. I never was a Girl Scout (or a Brownie) as all my friends were. I didn’t attend Sunday school.  I never played team sports, except one summer when I joined my camp’s co-ed softball team and they put me in left field hoping I’d never have to catch a ball.   I never joined clubs in high school. I didn’t even attend my high school graduation, although once I volunteered to MC a high school fashion show but was  replaced by a young Puerto Rican kid who wore jeans with sharp creases that I envied. My mother never ironed any of my jeans. She was too busy working a full-time job as a copywriter.

So when I started my own business, I learned quickly that getting business meant I was going to have to renounce my family’s anti-social culture and become ‘a joiner.’

The first group I joined was the one for my industry, the National Association of Professional Organizers also known as NAPO.  I have been a member of NAPO for almost three years.  Just learning  there was a group for organizers was a huge relief. It meant that I wasn’t crazy to think I could make money helping people avoid or at least reduce chaos in their lives.  I was always good at this, but getting paid for it? Sign me up!

Joining NAPO was a great way to embody my new organizer identity and meet other like-minded professionals who, like me, discovered their passion for helping people find the space in their homes, offices and lives to focus on what truly mattered to them.

After NAPO, I joined another related group called the Institute for Challenging Disorganization or ICD.  ICD started as a subgroup of NAPO in 1992 but eventually split off to become it’s own organization. It’s focus is education and research about chronic disorganization, more popularly known as “hoarding.” Their mission is to help people with chronic disorganization, but they are also a great resource for professional organizers and other related professionals such as mental health counselors.  ICD offers its members free teleclasses on a variety of subjects related to the understanding, treatment and support of people who have been impacted by this sometimes crippling need to acquire and hoard. For me, as an organizer, it has helped me better understand my clients tendencies toward disorganization as I believe the seeds of hoarding exist in all of us.

I am also part of a group called EBUG. For months I couldn’t remember what the acronym stood for so I just called it East Bay Uncommon Girls. It’s actually East Bay UNITED Gals though I’m not sure exactly what unites us other than we are all women looking to have some more fun and friendship in our lives.

EBUG, which currently claims about 200 members, was started by a group of four friends so they would have more opportunities to socialize and feel less isolated after a long day’s work.  EBUG is known as “the book club without the books.” It’s perfect for someone like me who hasn’t read a piece of fiction since Clinton was in the White House. EBUG meets roughly once a month for all kinds of interesting and fun member-led events such as chocolate and wine tastings, kayaking, outdoor hiking, palmistry and Tarot card readings, movie nights, barbeques and belly dancing.

I originally joined thinking it would be a great opportunity to network without the usual pressure to collect business cards but it’s turned out to be so much more. I’ve made some great new friends (who thought that would be possible in mid-life?) and after nearly 25 years of living in California actually feel part of a community, not a geographic one but a community of smart, savvy, fun-loving women. Now that I think of it, maybe that’s why it’s call United gals.

Earlier this year, I went to a networking event sponsored by the Mount Diablo Business Women, or MDBW,  a group whose mission is to enhance it’s members “business, social, professional, and personal well being.” I first learned about this group from someone I met at EBUG.

I confess,  I went initially because it was held at a really nice hotel.  I figured if the meeting was a bust I could still walk around the elegant, marble-floored lobby and pretend I was a guest. Instead, what I discovered was another great group of women, only these women, had taken the plunge to start their own businesses, like me.   MDBW is not so much about exchanging business cards as it is  about developing relationships and learning new skills and perspectives as fellow travelers on the road to success.  Besides, that the food is really good!

Then, this past September you could say I really drank the Kool-aid. I joined BNI.  BNI stands for Business Networking International.  It is the networking group of all networking groups. Their whole philosophy can be boiled down into their two word motto, “givers gain” or to give it a more street interpretation, ‘I watch your back, you watch mine.’

According to it’s website, BNI generated business referrals resulting in $2.8 billion worth of business for its’ members in the past year. It was founded in 1985 by Dr. Ivan Misner, an author, columnist and networking guru.

I joined BNI for one reason. I wanted more business.  The meeting format is not for the faint of heart. Some have even called it ‘cult-like.’ I prefer to think of it as enthusiastically supportive. Each group works on a one-profession-per-chapter model to eliminate competition or the perception of it within each group. Before I joined, I almost joined. Two years earlier I had learned about BNI from someone I knew through EBUG.  I submitted an application (yes, one needs to be approved by the individual chapter members) then subsequently withdrew it because I just wasn’t ready.

Membership really depends on your ability to make referrals, and that requires knowing people and being in situations to know more of them. It also means being a serious business owner. The cost to join is steep (about $1000 a year) for a sole proprietor but I expect to make back my investment soon.   So two years after I almost joined,  the stars aligned to let me know I was ready this time around.  It came in the form of another organizer who told me there was an “opening” for an organizer at my group, which by the way, meets at the ungodly hour of 7 a.m. every Tuesday. Still, I have to say that I am really glad I joined. Partly because I genuinely like the people – people’s true colors are vivid that early in the morning – and partly because they have a great track record of upholding the ‘givers gain’ model.  It’s like knowing you got the best seat in the house or got picked to play on the winning team.

Having never been on any team (with the exception of that camp softball league) I have to confess, in spite of my anti-social upbringing, I like it.  With all due respect to Groucho and my family, being a joiner, afterall, ain’t that bad.

Need an incentive to finally get organized? How about money? Of course getting organized will make you more productive at work or help you enjoy your life more at home but these days it’s all about “the Benjamins.” So because your time is money, here are just 10 simple ways you can make and save your money as you get out from under your clutter.

1. Sell your good quality, “gently” used and unwanted stuff. You can do this online such as on ebay, Amazon, Etsy, Craigslist or if you prefer a more personal approach, take it to a local consignment shop or hold a garage or yard sale.
2. Donate your stuff and get a tax deduction. Want to know how much your donated stuff is really worth? Check out Itsdeductible.com
3. Open your mail. You’ll be amazed when you find refund checks or other payments you overlooked. By doing so, you’ll avoid late fees or interest charges for unpaid or late bills.
4. Organize your paper piles.  By doing so you’ll probably find some unused gift cards or gift certificates. One client of mine discovered a stock certificate worth $5,000.
5. Organize your closet and find hidden money. It generally hides in places like your coat pockets, purses, between your sofa cushions and in those old pair of jeans you were planning to donate.
6. Organize your pantry and avoid wasting money on duplicate items.  This way you avoid having ten cans of diced tomatoes when you only need two.
7. Organize your kitchen so you can finally cook at home and avoid having to eat out or bring home expensive take-out food.
8. Host a swap party to give away things to friends and get things for free that you otherwise might have purchased.
9. Always ask yourself, “Do I really need this?”
10. Unpack that box! The one you’ve taken with you (and probably paid your movers for taking) each time you’ve moved.

I recently worked with a team of professional organizers to help a woman who was forced to leave her home because of an extreme condition she had called “Hoarding Disorder.” Her home was declared inhabitable because of the amount of clutter she acquired.

According to the proposed revision of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, Fifth Edition, (DSMV-proposed), Hoarding Disorder is a condition marked by a “persistent difficulty discarding or parting with possessions regardless of their actual value… leading to a large accumulation of possessions that fill up active living areas of the home or workplace so that their intended use is no longer possible.”

She lived in a quiet residential neighborhood just outside of San Francisco. Unbeknownst to her neighbors, every inch of her home was filled, much of it in plastic bags piled to the ceiling.  She couldn’t move from one room to the next without having to climb over literally thousands of possessions, much of it soiled by dirt, animals and mold.

When her house was condemned, she moved in with a friend.  Her family had long given up on trying to help her.  Her friend persuaded her that it was time to deal with her “hoarding”  after watching a show about others like her. It was hard to believe that she needed to be convinced. Its not that it didn’t matter to her that she had lost her home; it was the idea of letting anything go that was so too painful.  When she spotted a broken, plastic souvenir baseball cup, inadvertently thrown away by one of my colleagues, she became so angry she threatened to “fire” us all.  The only thing she bear to remove from her home was herself.

When I’m working with clients who I consider more “situationally” disorganized, as opposed to “chronically” disorganized, that is, people for whom disorganization is more related to existing circumstances, stress or learned behaviors, not an underlying psychological condition, I think about the fine line between them and this woman.

Many of us have an inexplicable attachment to objects, behaviors, ideas, memories and even people that don’t serve us (or no longer serve us) and yet we can’t seem to free ourselves of them. It’s not until the pain of these attachments exceeds the pain of letting them go that we begin to find the readiness to open ourselves up to the possibility of something better.

Despite the pain of losing her home, this woman had an enormously high threshold for the pain caused by her own behaviors. Her attachment to her objects, the memories they evoked, even the parts of herself they represented were more important to her than the possibility of a life filled with meaning rather than things.  It was the things themselves that gave her meaning, or more accurately, she gave them meaning. She could not let go of her possessions because they were the symbols (both real and imagined) of a life she once had and probably lost.

So if you are reading this and thinking, “I’m nothing like this woman,” ask yourself, “What are the things, behaviors, ideas, memories or people in my life that are holding me back?” Are you ready to shed them to make room in your life for something more meaningful, a greater connection to yourself perhaps? If so, consider yourself fortunate. You may want to reflect on  feeling gratitude for having more than you need. It’s unlikely that this woman will ever feel that way.

I was dropping off boxes of items that are typically tough to recycle at my favorite recycling center, Universal Waste of Oakland, CA. Usually this is a stop, drop and go experience for me but today for some reason I decided to look around their “sale” area.  What I found inspired me to write this. I feel fortunate to live in a city that has a resource like Universal Waste that gives people and businesses an alternative to disposing this stuff in a landfill.

1. The Internet and specifically Google: Love it. I can’t imagine life without it. The other day I needed to explain something to someone who only spoke Spanish. I used an English- to-Spanish translator tool I found online and bingo, communication received and understood. ¿Qué más se puede decir?
2. Obsolete hardware, especially gaming devices, old computer monitors and cables: Hate it. I just came back from a local electronic waste-recycling warehouse that was filled with every kind of hardware imaginable. The waste produced by this stuff is overwhelming. The cell phone manufacturers are the worst. Every time they upgrade their phones, you need to buy a new charger cable.
3. Smart Phone: Love it. Here are two random reasons why:
Reason 1: I’m at the bank to make a deposit, realize I forgot to make a copy of a check, take a picture of it using Evernote and print it when I get home for my records.
Reason 2: Was shopping at my local grocery store when I see a type of olive oil I’m not familiar with. I “Google it,” read what it says about it and decide whether or not to buy it. I did and it was great!
4. People with smart phones: Hate them: Tried to cross a street yesterday and couldn’t get by because there were three people standing on the curb all looking at their smart phones instead of looking where they were going. Dumb.
5. Access to Technology: Love it and hate it. While a Twitter feed can ignite a people’s revolution, it’s created a bigger gap between the ‘haves’ and the ‘have-nots.’ I don’t see a lot of working poor walking around with ipads or ipods.  When they do need access to a computer, they generally can only get one at a local library, assuming budget cuts have not shut it down.

What are 5 reasons why you LOVE/HATE technology?

I’d like to tag Cheryl over at the Breakfast Blogging Club since she gave me this idea, as well as Quinn’s blog, These New Boots, Margaret’s New Leaf & Co. Blog and Kristine’s Entrepreneurial Mindset

By the way, if you’ve been tagged, then write a post with your list of 5 reasons why you LOVE/HATE technology. As a courtesy, link back to the person who tagged you, (in this case, me) and then tag 5 more people you’d like to see answer this question.  Till next time…

How many times have you walked past the piles of clutter in your home or office and thought “I’m going to get that organized….some day.”

Embarking on a large organizing project can feel overwhelming and for good reason. It is.  Staying organized is easier than getting organized. Why? Because for most of us just looking at a huge pile of mess makes us want to close the door and pretend it’s not there.

A few people can play the pretend-game for a long time. Eventually though there will be a consequence; finance charges from a bill you can’t find, time spent looking for a vital document at a moment when you don’t have the time to spare (say the night before your income taxes are due) or sometimes worse things if you let it go too long.

So if you’ve finally made up your mind to organize that pile of papers and other junk on your desk or realized you can’t go another minute with the clutter creeping upstairs from your basement or out of your closets and into your living room, don’t just dive in blindly. If you do, within a short time you’ll want to give up and you’ll be back to square one.

Instead take a little time to plan.  With the right conditions you can be successful. What are the right conditions? As a professional organizer, I believe they include Support from others, adequate Time to accomplish your goals, a willingness to take Action, an incentive or Reward to keep you motivated and the Tools to help you get the job done efficiently.  If you forget them, just remember the word START.

Support
Organizing a large project can be lonely, tedious and overwhelming.  Start by setting a small, manageable goal and ask a supportive friend or family member to help you. You can do this in one of two ways. The first way is to ask them to be your “accountability coach” by helping you stay on track. The second is to engage their help as a “clutter-buddy.” The best candidates will have a knack for organizing and will not be judgmental or critical.   Before working together, tell them what you need (“I need support to help me meet my organizing goals”  and what you don’t need (I would like your advice about what to keep, what not to and why, but I prefer to make this decision myself.” Finally, once you’re work is done, acknowledge and thank them for their help. Take them out for a great meal or offer to return the favor.

Not surprisingly most of us can organize someone else’s things better than our own. If your home or office have become so cluttered that you are ashamed or embarrassed, consider talking about it to a counselor,  professional organizer or join an online support group such as “Messies Anonymous”

If you are a parent with young children, ask your spouse or a family friend to support you by taking the kids for the day so you can focus on organizing.

Time
You don’t need money to get organized but you do need time. Consider dedicating some time each week to your goal. For large tasks such as organizing your garage or closets, you’ll get a jump start if you set aside a few half day sessions at first. Then taper down once you have control of your space.

If you can’t imagine squeezing one more thing into your hectic schedule, consider the alternatives and what your disorganization is costing you in terms of lost time,  money or joy in your life.

You may also wish to consider using a couple of vacation days productively. Better to come home from a real vacation with your home or office in order than to have to face chaos the minute you walk back in the door.

Action
Wouldn’t it be nice to wiggle our noses and have all the clutter be gone like Samantha Stevens, the young witch from the movie and TV show Bewitched? Alas,  just like starting an exercise program,  you’ll find getting organized is both a physical as well as mental process that take effort. The good news is by taking action your own momentum will increase.  Physics has proved this. “A body in motion tends to stay in motion,” said the English physicist, Isaac Newton.

One important note: Don’t forget to take care of yourself while you’re organizing. Keep some water nearby and munch on healthy snacks or listen to music to keep your energy up. If you have limited mobility, consider asking a friend or professional organizer to help you. Organizing can be good exercise too so if you’ve been sedentary, getting organized can get you moving again.

Reward
Before you even begin, think about what will be different and how you will feel once you have everything just the way you want it. Ask yourself, “why do I want to get organized in the first place?” To entertain more?  To feel in control of your life? To gain a room of your own to pursue a new hobby or an old interest? Yes, your newly organized and clean space will feel like a reward in itself but don’t stop there.  Imagine what it will mean to you.

Every one of my clients has discovered a side of themselves they didn’t know they had before they got rid of their clutter. Getting organized is not only about clearing the physical space around you, it’s about opening up the space in your mind for other ideas and unrealized needs to emerge.

Tools
Finally, make sure you have what you need to sort, move or dispose of your stuff.  There are certain tools that are indispensable when it comes to starting a large organizing project. I recommend the following “tools.”

* Trash receptacle, a large one, preferably one on wheels for big jobs such as your garage.
* Heavy duty trash can liners that fit the receptacle
* Cardboard boxes, collapsible storage cubes or paper shopping bags for sorting – each one labeled for things you plan to keep, donate, shred, repair, recycle and one more for things that go elsewhere
* A few basic office supplies such as envelopes and file folders
*Permanent markers for labeling
* A rag or dust cloth for wiping off sticky residue or dust. (Note: Consider hiring a professional cleaner for the nitty-gritty stuff when you’re done.)

Once you’re done, be sure to regularly maintain your changes because clutter has a way of creeping back.  That’s because organizing is not a destination, it’s a practice.  Practice and before long you’ll not only be more organized, you’ll be more of who you are and you may even discover who you were meant to be.

One of the most common causes of paper clutter is simply not knowing what to keep and what can safely be tossed. Inevitably, it’s common to keep much more than we need, “just in case.”

To hold on to something when you don’t know if you will need it or not, is like carrying an umbrella with you every day “just in case” it rains.

“Better safe than sorry, ” we say to ourselves and end up cluttering our surroundings, drawers or surfaces with piles of paper. Then, when we do need that important document, we end scrambling and making ourselves crazy, “I know it’s here somewhere!” Keeping more than we need actually ends up costing us more, both in time and money.

A common example I see as a professional organizer is receipts.

If you buy an item and pay cash, you only need to keep the receipt as proof-of-purchase based on the store’s return/exchange policy – generally not more than 30 days and typically less.  If you pay by credit card, the same applies and your credit card statement will serve as your proof-of-purchase.

If you make it a habit of checking your purchases (receipts) against your credit card statement, you shouldn’t have to wait more than 30 days to view it as the majority of credit card (and debit) purchases are posted within a few days or less.  After 30 days, you can recycle these receipts as well.

The only exception to the 30-day system is if you bought the item with cash for a business expense (not for personal use) in which case you can record it in whatever bookkeeping system you use (ask the advice of your bookkeeper or tax adviser) or follow your organization’s policies for submitting business-related cash expenses you expect to be reimbursed for. Hold on to it until you are reimbursed by your organization then recycle or shred it if it contains personal identifying data such as a Social Security Number or account number.

In summary, if you don’t own a business or submit receipts for reimbursement, there really is no reason for you to keep cash or credit card receipts past 30 days.

For those who are self-employed, simply file the cash receipt with your other business-related expenses, by month.  I use a letter size accordion file such as this one from The Container Store.  Until you are ready to toss them, you can keep them in your wallet or in a small container or desktop file with the most recent on top. Just remember to go through them every month or so.

Recycle them once their purchase date exceeds 30 days (same goes for ATM receipts too). One final note, since you paid cash they shouldn’t contain account numbers or identifying information but if they do, then shred them.

Interested in more time- and money-saving organizing tips? Subscribe to Back On Track, the e-guide to organized living from LET’S MAKE ROOM

When I first launched my company, LET’S MAKE ROOM, several social networking experts (still can’t believe there is such a thing) told me that by adding dynamic content to my website, aka a “blog,” it would improve my ranking in Google and thus, in theory, help people in need of my professional organizing services find me on the web.

My decision to start blogging was a business decision that I didn’t take to very willingly.

What I didn’t know at the time, was that websites themselves would soon be superseded by blogs.

The solid foundation that I thought would attract new clients to my website was fast becoming a kind of electronic fault line, something I know a little bit about living in Northern California.

It’s nothing short of ironic that I heard someone mention this recently on the very same day I finalized all the changes on my website. It reminded me of President Obama’s recent state of the Union speech in which he spoke about how innovation and technology has caused some of us to “feel like the rules have been changed in the middle of the game” or as the saying goes, “Just when you think you have all the answers, they change the question.”

Starting a small business in midlife in the 21st century has forced me to think about innovation and what role it plays in my business, even when it sometimes makes me feel like George Jetson on his out-of-control treadmill.  My blog is a perfect metaphor for this love/hate relationship to technology.

When I first started blogging, I thought it was dumb. Why would I want to spend my time reading some stranger’s  inner musings let alone expect someone to read mine? My husband has to listen to me on a a daily basis and it’s no day on the beach for him either.

It was marketing expert Cheryl Liquori, founder of the Breakfast Blogging Club who really changed my mind about blogging.

Every week for nearly a year, Liquori has done for beginning bloggers what Julia Child did for Julie Powell. (Powell’s blog, the Julie/Julia Project, documented her daily experiences cooking each of the 524 recipes in Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking which later inspired Nora Ephron’s acclaimed movie, Julie and Julia starring Meryl Streep.)

For the past 30 weeks, Liquori has been sending out engaging tips, hints and gentle nudges to aspiring bloggers everywhere. She gave me what four years of journalism school could never do. She got me writing every week (or almost).

Now, I have complete strangers from all over the world commenting on my blog (yes, Mr. Friedman,  the world is indeed flat, as you proclaimed) and this completely astounds me since it never occurred to me that anyone would.

The Breakfast Blogging Club is true to its mission. It offers a supportive, creative, productive and fun way for entrepreneurs to build awareness for their businesses. But more than that it has helped people like me feel connected to the world in a much bigger way.

So with more than six month’s worth of blogs behind me, I am dedicating this blog to Cheryl Liquori.

Now, if I could just learn to cook Julia Child’s recipe for Sole Meuniere.

“What is necessary to change a person is to change his awareness of himself.”
-Abraham Maslow, Psychologist

Several months ago some marketing experts told me that it would help people find my organizing business, LET’S MAKE ROOM,  on the internet more easily if I had content on my website that changed periodically.

One of the ways they suggested I do this was to create a blog that was viewable from my website. This, they said would make my website more “dynamic” which I guess is like superfood for Google and other search engines.

What they didn’t tell me was that it would necessitate a complete revision of my site design, not to mention, an overflowing fountain of brilliant ideas and stories to share on a regular basis.

Well the good news is I did revise my website. As for the brilliant inspirations that translate into daily blog posts…not so much. It’s more like biweekly (or is it bi-weekly?) Anyway, I don’t even think Hemingway could have lived up to today’s standards when it comes to opening our minds to the masses.

As a self-funded, small (but growing) business I have learned being an entrepreneur is as much about personal growth as it is about learning new skills.

One of the first decisions I made was to not run away from technology. I resolved to “feel the fear and do it anyway.”

If you’d told me then that in less than two years I would be saying things like search engine optimization, web strategy, hosted links and plug-ins, let alone have a clue about what they meant, I would have thought you were, in the words of Robin Williams, “one sandwich short of a picnic.”

The other day I was meeting with a group of Graduate Students in Marketing who are helping me by developing a public relations plan for LET’S MAKE ROOM.  They are all as comfortable in technology as somebody my age would expect. So imagine how flattered I was when they told me I had done a great job saturating the world of “Social Media.”  It wasn’t so hard really. I just linked my Facebook site to show my ‘tweets and ensure my Yelp reviews would translate to my Google analytics page and I was all set.

OMG, did I just say that?

I guess it’s never too late to be a student again.

Have you ever wondered why you can’t seem to get organized?

You’re an intelligent, productive, talented human being.

The truth is organization has less to do with your space and every thing to do with your mind.

What you believe?
What you feel?
What you assume is the correct way to live and work?

At LET’S MAKE ROOM, I work with you to understand what keeps you stuck and disorganized. We do this work together by talking about the beliefs and assumptions you hold onto about your living and working spaces and yourself.

I invite you to talk about how you feel about your disorganization and what you think would make a difference. Then I work with you to implement a system you can maintain because it reflects how YOU think and work.

A “one-size fits all” approach to organizing won’t work over the long term. It’s not just about putting things in pretty containers. If you’re feeling unproductive and unfocused, your space will reflect that. Just organizing a specific space alone may temporarily treat the symptoms of disorganization but not the cause. Before long you’ll find yourself back where you started.

My training is in Psychology, Behavioral Health and Human Development and my expertise and understanding can help you transform your personal beliefs and habits so you will feel motivated to finally get your life and space in order.

I can help you transform your space in a way that fits you.

Here’s a true story about one of my clients.

Julie, a Leadership and Organizational Consultant, helps other businesses become successful. But when it came to her own office, Julie was feeling overwhelmed and it was starting to impact her productivity.

Julie hired LET’S MAKE ROOM to help her organize her office. She had stacks of piles on a small desk that were creeping on to her floor. She was losing focus and worried about it impacting her business. Before consulting with LET’S MAKE ROOM, Julie considered investing in a bigger desk and possibly even an entire new “office system.”

I asked Julie about her space and how she liked to work. It turned out Julie did her best work standing up. She described the way she worked much like a modern artist paints; creating ideas across a wide canvas. It became obvious that a desk of any size was just not the right “canvas” for Julie’s creativity.

So I found a dry erase wall covering to fit the way Julie actually worked – in images, words and color. Our goal was to create a space that could both free her mind to create, as well as function as a professional space to conduct her business.

Julie’s previous “belief” was that she was not productive unless she was sitting at a desk. Yet, sitting at her desk she would find ways to get off-track and distracted by all her clutter.

Through her work with me and LET’S MAKE ROOM, Julie came to realize she was a creative person who felt better working another way. This “new belief” freed her up to think creatively again.

She told me, “working with you was truly a transformative experience. I had a huge “aha”about what I need and how I need to work to be productive and successful.”

“I could have moved my furniture or bought new furniture but I couldn’t have discovered how to be truly engaged and productive without you. Now I have a whole new framework for how I work now that frees up my spirit, my creativity and my productivity.”

Music to my ears.