Rachel Rosenthal on Her Path to Organization

Rachel Rosenthal

Organizing Expert and Mom to Identical Twins

What do you refuse to give an f about?

At this point in time, what people think of me. I'm just over that. And especially in the day of social media and putting myself out there, I've just gotten to the point where I'm like, "You know what? There are too many opinions and I just don't care." So love it or hate it. And especially with raising two girls, I want to give them an example.

Best gift you gave or received?

I would say the gift of travel. I think that's the most special time for us as a family—when we're able to explore together. And even if we're repeating the same trip, just being able to have that time away for ourselves. 

What’s one well-publicized piece of advice about organization that you wish people would ignore?

That things need to be in rainbow order. With all these shows and what people see on Instagram and Pinterest, it's always out there that everything needs to be color coded in a rainbow. It aesthetically does look pleasing at times, but that's not the same as organization and functionality for a lot of different things. Take books, for example. Yes, it makes sense in some homes. But in other homes, you need to categorize by the type of book. 

Organizing the essentials: mind over matter.

I started out as a lawyer and practiced for a very short time. I knew that I didn't enjoy what I was doing and I wanted to use my type-A personality to figure out something else. I saw a very clear connection between my physical space and how to function better to be more efficient in my day. To me, it came naturally. I had a neat desk, I had things in order; that made me feel more efficient at work and I did better with my time management. And then I started talking, giving speeches at law firms, and then going, "Oh, you know what? I actually can turn this into a business." I just took a leap and I started working at night and on weekends before realizing I was much happier being able to impact people's lives this way. The rest is history for Rachel & Company, now 13-and-a-half years later. 

I love order. I would never be an artist, per se, because I don't like the gray areas. I'm a black-and-white type person; I like to know that there's an end and a rationale. I love to research how I'm getting from point A to point B. Our clients are looking at their spaces and feeling lost. When I look at it, I see the path to getting it in order. I love that they let me help get there, and trust me with their spaces. I try to strip away the clutter from people because it really does affect their mental state, whether they're stressed or overwhelmed, the physical clutter creates that mental clutter in the end.

When I found out I was pregnant with twins, that was a shock. I knew once they came, I wouldn’t be able to control anything so I really took the time to set up systems and stations with the things I would need. When I nursed, having things next to me, with stations set up all around the house, helped me function better as a new mother than it would've without them. I think it actually helped me get through that first year of having them. And maybe I'm a control freak, and that's why I went into this business; I wasn't so regimented that I couldn't ebb and flow with the babies when they got up and all that. But having those systems is what kept me more sane in the end.

And more in the department of things out of my control, I found out that my then-husband was an alcoholic. He went through rehabs, but finally when my girls were in kindergarten, I made the decision to leave. It was really more of a fleeing situation, and I really had to think hard about what was essential for me and my children. I remember just taking some clothes for them, my business papers and my clothing. We left everything else in the house and stayed with my parents for a year. That year was complete chaos, and just thinking, what is essential? Here I was back in my parents' house, in my childhood room, living with my twins, going through this divorce where I literally was in court every other month, having to keep myself organized and running my business. I used to say if we make it through the day, that's a good day. And if I got to shower? Wonderful. All that mattered at that point was that my kids and I were safe. When safety becomes an issue, that's the only thing that's essential. We're fed, we're happy enough, we're safe. As things got a little bit better and more settled, we moved out to our own rental house. And again, it just was like, what am I filling my own surroundings with? Because everything for the girls had been so chaotic and I only wanted to bring in the essentials for us.

I always say that without my business, I would not have felt secure enough to be able to leave. I was in therapy, obviously, during this whole time and when I began to date again, my essentials were he has to be kind to me and has to love my children. My list was so short at that point because I felt like we were okay on our own. And so then, when I met my husband Jon, I knew he would be additive to our lives—and I was right!

My girls are fantastic organizers, and have even been featured in the press. I think having such a traumatic childhood, it was essential for them to feel some sort of control over something. So being able to control their space, whether their desk area or their room, was very soothing to them because the rest of the world around them was not. Now that their world is much more calm and they are teens, they're still organizing. They know where to find things. How do they study better? What does their notebook setup look like, their binder, their desks? They understand how your physical surroundings really impact your emotional state. 

Just so no one thinks I am perfect, there's one closet in our guest room that has our sentimental items. Despite creating this guide to sentimental clutter for Verse readers, my stuff is in bins, but it's really not organized. And I kept saying it was going to be a summer project, but here we are. I know we all like to make New Year’s resolutions around organizing, but if I could give you one piece of advice it would be to stop making your organizing an overall project that you are going to do one day or over a weekend. You can just put a timer on for 15 minutes, and work in one area. Rome wasn’t built in a day. Think about this as a way of life, rather than this one-time event, because you don't get organized and then you stay organized for the rest of your life. It is a lifestyle—things happen and you make tweaks as life unfolds and your needs change.