Rising Stars: Meet Sara Fort of Greater Nashville Area

Today we’d like to introduce you to Sara Fort

Hi Sara, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
Organizing has been a passion of mine since I was in grade school. I loved rearranging my room and closet as well as helping family members clean out pantries and garages. In college, I visited a friend’s home in Chicago whose mother was a home organizer and I was so excited that someone could make a job out of it! However, another friend of mine mentioned that it wasn’t a viable career which scared me quite a bit. So I followed in the footsteps of many of my peers and entered the corporate world.

After 10 years in sales, I was burnt out and miserable. The field wasn’t for me despite working for a wonderful company. I couldn’t get my mind off organizing and after the success of show’s like Netflix’s “Get Organized with The Home Edit” and Peacock’s “The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning” I realized that organizing is a viable business model so I decided to dive in!

My business is based on the mantra that most people don’t have an organization problem, they have a “too much stuff” problem. In that way, I tend to work with chronically disorganized people who are interested in putting in place a system to keep themselves organized and learn to let go of possessions. We all have hoarding tendencies. However, those tendencies tend to cause stress & anxiety rather than happiness & peace. I work with customers to understand why they hold on to items and tactics to let go of unneeded items. I then implement systems to help individuals keep their home organized once I leave. These systems sometimes involves buying new bins or baskets, but often we’re able to use products that a client already has to implement an organization system. I tell everyone that you don’t need a large budget or to buy a lot of products to get organized! It is achievable for all!

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It has certainly not been a smooth road! However, I am more happy doing something I love than I was in my past career. The joy I get from the work keeps me going. The hardest struggles are with marketing and finding new clients. I (incorrectly) assumed that 1 client would tell 10 friends, and that I’d have 10 more clients and would be fully booked within 6 months. If that’s how business worked then everyone would start their own! The struggles have been maintaining a high quality of work and focus when I’m with a client while juggling the need to continue outreach so I can support myself and the business next month, in 6 months, in one year, etc. Building a sustainable business model takes nurturing and patience!

In addition, every client that I work with is unique and has a different story as to why they ended up calling me. Respecting their values & limitations takes patience and understanding. I’m not able to move at the same pace with all my clients and that makes scheduling jobs tricky. Discovering how to manage different projects and personalities has been a learning curve, albeit a fun and rewarding one!

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I specialize in helping individuals who are chronically disorganized but want to live a simpler life. These are individuals who perhaps can’t move around their space freely because of the amount of possessions they own or have a hard time letting go of items for sentimental, neurological, or other personal reasons. I tap into client’s feelings about their possessions so that they can learn how freeing it is to bring less items into your home.

My business also takes the environment into consideration when thinking about how we discard items. More importantly, I strive to educate clients on how to use less single use products and how to stop accumulating single use products so they can free themselves of some of the guilt of letting go of them.

What matters most to you? Why?
When working in someone’s home the most important thing to me is that they feel respected, seen and not judged. When I leave I want the client to feel less anxious in their space & feel empowered to conquer their clutter on their own.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://doyouorganization.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/doyouorganization/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DoYouOrganization/