Lelah with an h: learning every day!

Maintaining this blog helps me explore my own philosophy of organizing, helps me stay in touch with colleagues and friends who are not local, and serves to illustrate my expertise for potential clients. I have less time to write when I have more client work, which I suppose is a good thing, but I wanted to share some of the non-blog things I have been up to.

Networking
I belong to a few local networking groups. One is called NOHOpreneurs and is based in North Hollywood, California. This group is aimed at local entrepreneurs and giving us a resource for talking about and getting feedback on successes and challenges that our businesses are facing. It's run by the terrific Susan Baker, whose own business, The Escape Hatcher, helps people transition from their day jobs to their dream jobs, which is often a transition to entrepreneurship or starting a business on the side. If you own a business or are even thinking about entrepreneurship and are in the NoHo area, check out the group at meetup.com.

The second group that I'm involved with is called Biznik. It's a free site for entrepreneurs and I like the free events that members host. It's a good way to meet other local entrepreneurs, pass out business cards and practice your spiel. Everyone who comes to Biznik functions is really nice and interesting. I'm starting a monthly mixer in the San Fernando Valley area in order to keep the Biznik momentum going. Again, sign up if you're local and want to meet some great people.

Lastly, when I'm able to get there I love to attend the monthly Ojai Women's Business Social. I grew up in Ojai and it is a beautiful place to visit, even for a few hours. It's definitely worth the drive to meet and talk with so many wonderful businesswomen. Jodi Womack, the founder, has grown it into a really special event with a fantastic turnout.

Professional growth
I'm constantly learning new things about organizing strategies and the organizing industry by reading, attending workshops and teleseminars. This week I attended two amazing teleseminars that were part of the Organizing Telesummit put on by The Professional Organizer Allison Carter, who also runs Organizer U, a business for fledgling professional organizers. One of the classes (taught by Elizabeth Hagen) was on developing speaking as part of my professional organizing business, which was really inspiring and has me itching to put on my own series of free workshops. The second was on Getting Unstuck, with Ariane Benefit, which was mainly about how to approach organizing, and really, life, when you have ADD and/or are highly intelligent and creative and don't interact with life the way most people do. I learned a tremendous amount from both classes and they served to reinvigorate my love for my chosen profession.

Video blogging
I've wanted to create a video of myself illustrating organizing tips for a while now, and it hasn't ever moved to the top of the to do list, but I'm going to hold myself accountable for actually doing this by putting it on my blog. Hopefully, one of the next blog posts you see on here will be in video format. Exciting!

Client work
I have had a busy January working with fabulous new clients. I learn something new from them every day. The hands-on organizing I do really makes me feel like I'm helping people live better lives and makes me grateful for realizing that this business is what I really want to do when I get out of bed every morning. So thank you!

Creative Commons video/computer photo posted to Flickr by Jakob Montrasio

Lelah Baker-Rabe is a Los Angeles-based professional organizer. To discuss your organizing needs, call her at 818.269.6671 or email lelah@lelahwithanh.com