Interview with professional organizer Laurie Palau

My special guest today is professional organizer and writer Laurie Palau. She’s talking with me about her new non-fiction book, HOT MESS: A Practical Guide to Getting Organized.

During her virtual book tour, Laurie will be awarding a FREE 30-minute phone consultation to help address specific organizing challenges to a lucky, randomly drawn winner. To be entered for a chance to win, use the form below. To increase your chances of winning, feel free to visit her other tour stops and enter there, too.

Bio:

Laurie Palau is the founder of simply B organized, host of the weekly podcast, This ORGANIZED Life, and author of the book HOT MESS: A Practical Guide to Getting Organized available in paperback and kindle on amazon or Barnes & Noble.

She is a go-to Organizing Expert whose advice has been featured in The New York Times Parenting Section, Family Circle, and Home + Table Magazine.  Laurie can also be seen sharing tips on the CBS Philadelphia’s Morning Show & WFMZ in Allentown, PA. Whether speaking or working with clients Laurie is authentic, relatable, inspiring, and highly entertaining.

When not organizing the world, Laurie can be found at home in Bucks County, PA with her husband Josh, 2 girls (Zoe and Logan) and 2 dogs (Jeter and Oliver).  She loves coffee and Tito’s Vodka (not together), and in her spare time she is actively involved with The St. Baldrick’s Foundation, which raises money for Pediatric Cancer Research.

Visit www.simplyBorganized.com for a complete list of service offerings including free organizing checklists, links to her podcast, blog and social media.

Welcome, Laurie. Please share a little bit about your current release.

It’s a quick-read survival guide to helping you get to the root of your clutter issues so you can focus on specific strategies to navigate through the chaos of clutter. It’s peppered with real life stories and anecdotes, keeping it lighthearted, humorous, and informative.

What inspired you to write this book?

Over the years I’ve read lots of books about organizing, and the common theme was either get rid of everything, or that you had to do something a certain way.  I wanted to write something that was practical and relatable so the reader could go, “now THAT I can do!”

Excerpt from HOT MESS: A Practical Guide to Getting Organized:

Before we get too far, I think it’s important that we all get on the same page. For most people, the word clutter conjures up scenes from Hoarders, or Grey Gardens with its mazes of magazines lining the hallways. You may even imagine feral cats, rodent droppings, and indistinguishable mounds of who-knows-what.

I’ll be honest; I can count on one hand (with three fingers to spare) how many times I’ve encountered a true hoarder. Yup, twice—you guessed it! It was very early in my career as a professional organizer, and it didn’t take me long to realize it wasn’t the right fit for me. It’s not so much that I was in over my head (no pun intended); the reality is that their struggles go deeper than piles of paper, overflowing loads of laundry, and rooms filled with toys. I am not a licensed psychologist, although I often like to think of myself as one, and the level of help they need is beyond what I can offer.

The majority of my clients are like you and me. Their days are spent running between work, school, PTA meetings, soccer practice, dance lessons, grocery shopping, overseeing homework, making dinner, looking after ailing parents, and whatever else we can fit into our days.

The result of all this life-madness is often a cluttered home, and with that, I can help.

What exciting story are you working on next?

My next book will more than likely focus on digital clutter, since we are all inundated with emails, photos, and social media overload!

When did you first consider yourself a writer?

I suppose when I started writing a column in 2010, but as far as considering myself an author, that’s still a little weird to say!

Do you write full-time? If so, what's your work day like? If not, what do you do other than write and how do you find time to write?

During the day I run my professional organizing business, Simply B Organized and host a weekly podcast called, This ORGANIZED Life.  I do a lot of my writing at night and on the weekends, which is why my book took so long to finish!

What would you say is your interesting writing quirk?

Sometimes I talk to myself while I am writing.

As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?

I wanted to work in a flower shop like Janet in Three’s Company

Anything additional you want to share with the readers?

If you want to get an idea of what my book is about, check out my podcast, This ORGANIZED Life!

Links:

Simply B Organize | Podcast | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Amazon

Thank you for being a guest on my blog!

a Rafflecopter giveaway