Welcome! I’m Sondra.
I am a professional organizer for families, helping them to create order, calm, and joy in their homes and lives.
How did I get here? A couple of weeks after meeting my husband, he brought me home to meet his mom. Turns out she was a borderline hoarder. Her mess delighted me and she quickly approved of me as her son’s partner, as I helped her to sort through piles of chaos and create order. A few days in, she said, “You are so good at every aspect of this, you should do this professionally.” My quick response was, “That’s not a job!” That night I got online and discovered NAPO (the National Association of Productivity and Organizing) and a whole world beyond that. I knew I had found my calling.
Since that unofficial organizing session in 2009, I have worked with hundreds of residential and corporate clients across the country. Over time, I found myself especially drawn to the challenge of organizing families with young kids, probably because I was living the plight myself. Today, I work primarily with families to help them achieve order and harmony in their lives.
Check out my book here:
The nitty gritty.
Before starting All Set Organizing in 2010, I dabbled in a variety of careers, mostly in service industries. My passion has always been to help people create sustainable and positive change toward success. Some of my favorite career stints include: working in homeless services and as a Life/Executive Coach, and managing hotels and health clubs. And my greatest conversation starter: owning and operating a dating service, It's Just Lunch! Los Angeles.
I received an MBA from the Marshall School of Business at the University of Southern California and a BS from the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University. I am also a certified Coach from the Hudson Institute of Santa Barbara. Back in the day, I was kind of a certification collector, and was certified to - amongst other things - teach Spinning, facilitate anti-bias workshops, and administer Myers-Briggs personality inventories. Now I am busy being a mom (not certified) and also a current member of the National Association of Professional Organizers (NAPO).
I am lucky to live in beautiful Ojai, CA with my husband Ben (who loves and hates being married to an organizer) and our two young boys (who have neatly labeled toy bins).
Why Get Organized?
I believe in you living your best life, pursuing dreams, fun, and an awesome day-to-day life. Getting organized makes room for all of that and more.
Fun Facts About Me
1. My husband and I were engaged 4 weeks after our first date.
My husband, Ben, and I were engaged one month after meeting. We both grew up in New Haven, CT, but never knew each other, even though he and my brother played on a basketball team together when they were nine and he managed my favorite ice cream store in high school. We both lived in Los Angeles as adults, me for 12 years and Ben for 7, just one mile away from each other. Still never met. He moved to New York in 2007. I got there in 2008. In 2009 a fellow New Havener set us up on a blind date (thanks Annie!). One month later, we were planning our wedding.
2. I’m really into personality typing assessments.
In 1993, I learned from Johnson O’Connor, an aptitude assessment testing center, that I have excellent tweezer dexterity. In 1996, Myers Briggs told me I am an ENFP. And in 1999, I found my personality typing home and discovered that I am an Enneagram Seven. Some of this information has been fun for party tricks, and some has seriously helped me in my life and career. I have studied the Enneagram for over twenty years, and use my knowledge for both personal growth, and to help my clients. The good news is, Sevens are fun to be with! And we are really good at making a plan.
3. I love moving.
I have always loved two of the top things that lots of people hate doing most: public speaking and moving. Since graduating from college, I have moved 14 times, all by choice. Two places in New York, one in San Francisco, the remainder in Los Angeles, until the latest move to Ojai, CA. Moving gives me the opportunity to do what I like best - setting up systems and creating fun, beautiful, livable spaces. Three of my best moving secrets: plug in a music source before all else, supply donuts and coffee for helpers, and pre-book a massage for the day after the move.
