Today we’d like to introduce you to Carolyn Rogers.
Carolyn, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I have been and engineer for almost 20 yrs and I still love it but professional organizing has opened up the whole side of me that I forgot even existed. I started my organizing business in 2015 after helping a friend unpack from a move and she pointed out that I have a talent for it and that organizing is a real profession. I initially thought she was joking but a brief internet search proved her to be correct and changed my life. Less than 2 months after that move Neat Nerd Solutions was born.
I am the youngest child in a large family (9 kids) and grew up in a very small house (3 bedrooms) so maintaining systems and order was extremely important in our household. My parents were masters of teaching us to be independent and organized. I never really thought of myself as overly organized or neat but I now realize that I have certain habits that keep me very organized and productive and that it doesn’t come naturally to all people. I have also realized that not only do I find organizing relaxing (yes, it actually relaxes me) but I love helping other people find peace in their spaces and their processes.
I’m currently a part-time organizer. I still love engineering. I know most people start businesses because they hate their jobs. That is not the case for me. But there are many different organizing specialties and I am learning how to feed my technical hunger and grow my business to a point where it will one day be full-time.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
The road has not been harsh but it hasn’t been smooth either. I definitely feel like it’s been very educational. No just about the profession but also about myself. In my first year, almost all of my clients as friends and family. They support that I got and continue to receive from them has been extraordinary. But in 2016, my second year, I had almost no new clients and I’d organized all of my friends and family to oblivion.
Going into 2017 I realized that I was treating it like a side gig rather than an actual business. I have an MBA in addition to my electrical engineering degree and I was not using it. I decided to use my business brain and change how I thought of what I was doing. At this point, organizing may not be my main source of income but it is a real profession and I wasn’t respecting it as such. I love to travel so in the back of my brain it was just extra money to offset my travel budget. I realized that needed to either make the effort to really grow or let it go. Once I changed the way that I thought about it and the energy that I gave to it everything took off.
My 3rd year, 2017 was a very busy and booming year for me and I really began to make connections that helped me to see how I can grow my business. This year has been amazing. Not just from having more clients, but making connections with other organizers, providing service that I hadn’t thought of like speaking and teaching, which I never thought I’d do or even want to do when I first began.
Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about Neat Nerd Solutions – what should we know?
I am a general residential and business organizing consultant. I help clients organize their living spaces (closets, bedrooms, garages, kitchens, etc.) and offices. This includes decluttering, space planning, paper management, and digital decluttering/file management. I like to think of my specializations as life management. Organization is about more than just physical space. It touches all aspects of our lives. It’s also about time and productivity. And with information technology growing every day, it’s also about cyberspace and controlling our digital lives.
I’ve very proud that I have a business that has a service that is very personal and that I treat it as such. Organizing is not one size or solution fits all. We are all unique individuals and what works for one person may not work as well for another. I am immensely patient and always aim for solutions that truly improve my clients’ quality of life and solutions that they can easily maintain. This is one business where it actually feels great to know that your clients have learned from you and no longer need you.
Any shoutouts? Who else deserves credit in this story – who has played a meaningful role?
The support that I’ve received has been phenomenal. My friends and family are my greatest supporters and I will credit them with the greatest part of my success because I’m not sure that I would have made it this far without their encouragement. And I must say that organizers, in general, are the best cheerleaders. The encouragement and mentoring that I’ve received from other organizers never cease to amaze me. I’ve never come across such a large group of people who support and encourage their competitors the way that organizers do.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.theneatnerd.com
- Phone: 678-849-6911
- Email: crogers@theneatnerd.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/neatnerdsolutions/
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