About Lauren Williams
I'm Lauren Williams, Certified Professional Organizer®, Certified Virtual Professional Organizer®, the founder of Casual Uncluttering, and I can't imagine a better way for me to earn a living than as a Professional Organizer coming into your shelter to give you back your control, peace of mind, health and dignity. I've collaborated with clients in every room in a house, attic to basement, home office, home business, garage, shed, storage units and even a horse barn. I help with arts & crafts, paperwork, memorabilia, laundry, leftover microwaves in corners and I'm comfortable with many levels of disorganization. I also like kids, cats, dogs and more exotic pets! I've worked with hundreds of clients to get their stuff sorted and systems in place for them to use, put away and find their items again OR let go whenever necessary. Stuff management, time and stress management and space planning are all involved.
I've moved cross country three times - I understand disruption!
I'm a native New Yorker with deep Southern roots - one side of the family has streets named after it in Charleston. I have a BA from Bryn Mawr College, and an MBA from Baruch College of the City University of New York. I can proudly claim a professional history in a variety of settings, from think tanks and small non-profits to large academic institutions. I've worked with nuns, doctors, lawyers and many other demanding specialists as well. I refined my organizing skills while subscription manager for scholarly publications, office and records manager for fundraising departments, senior administrator for a university dean - a jack-of-all-trades with a mind for details.
I've been the stay-at-home parent to a special-needs child, but my young person no longer needs those supports. I am openly bisexual, out since 1982, and with equal pride, I can point to service to my community, at the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Community Center of NYC, during Pride Parades and in membership in various queer organizations. I once founded a two-person company producing gay greeting cards, several years before they were fashionable. I'm also familiar with and comfortable in the leather community.
I'm divorced and downsized from the 4,600 sq. ft. house to the 1,024 sq. ft. apartment.
I enjoy structure and organization, and combining functionality and form - I can shop at flea markets and thrift stores for hours to find the "THAT'S IT!" jewelry box, or spend 45 minutes on the floor at superstores making sure my youngster can open the plastic boxes intended for toys.
Honest Biscuits - watch my storeroom adventures part 1...Final tallies in 4 hours - 3 large bags of trash gone, 3 boxes of boxes to recycle, 15 empty milk crates uncovered, and significant sorting finished. I've also been providing some guidance to the back office, getting structures in place for easing paperwork processing. And 2!
And then there's my time helping a client conquer a Harry Potter closet.
- Certified Virtual Professional Organizer® April 2020
- Certified Professional Organizer® July 2017
- National Association of Productivity and Organizing Professionals (NAPO) Member since 3/22/2011
- NAPO WA State chapter Member since 3/22/2011 (Board of Directors May 2013 - May 2016, Board of Directors May 2018 - current)
- Volunteer BCPO Exam Development Committee Subject Matter Expert March 2020 -
- Institute for Challenging Disorganization Member since 7/1/2017
- Earned all five available Specialist Level II Certificates of Study from the Institute for Challenging Disorganization:
- Earned all 10 available Institute for Challenging Disorganization Level I Certificates of Study in: (1) Basic Hoarding Issues with the CD Client; (2) Basic Mental Health Conditions and Challenges Affecting the CD Client; (3) Interpersonal Intelligence; (4) CD Client Administration; (5) Basic ADD Issues with the CD Client; (6) Chronic Disorganization; (7) Understanding the Needs of the Aging Client; (8) Students and Learning Theories; (9) Time Management and Productivity and (10) Life Transitions and the Client Affected by CD
- Registered service provider with the Brain Injury Alliance of Washington (BIAWA), the National Multiple Sclerosis Society and Sound Generations, a social services agency for seniors.
- Member of the Northwest LGBT Senior Care Providers Network since 6/2014.
- Member of the Greater Seattle Business Association since 2/2013.
- Certified by the Institute for Professional Organizers™
- Certified by ProfessionalOrganizers.com, Professional Organizers in Canada
- Bryn Mawr College A.B. English
- Baruch College of the City University of New York M.B.A. International & Comparative Business
My interview on The SOS Show with James Lott Jr. is live! Follow this link to listen to this free-roaming conversation about my training, my emotional connection to Professional Organizing, my clients and much much more. I'm very proud of it.
Leah Farish, author, civil rights litigator, and host of the Conversation Balloons podcast, invited me to a free-ranging discussion of hoarding disorder and the people who suffer from this horrible mental illness on her May 17, 2023 broadcast on Spotify. Take a listen!