Professional Speaking, Presentations and Workshops to Declutter Your Life

Need a guest professional speaker? Julie can tailor her presentation to fit your needs.
FDIC: Ask the Experts Series: Professional Organizer
Lexis Nexis Raleigh
Living Green Lecture Series at theHenry Stifel Schrader Environmental Education Center
EMC
Coastal Federal Credit Union
Whole Foods
The William Warren Group/StorQuest Los Angeles
Brier Creek Women’s Country Club; Earth Fare; Women’s Power Networking; Chix in Business; Holistic Moms; ReuseConex; The Center for Excellence; Junior Women’s Club; Triangle Networking Group; Wild Wonderful Wacky Women of the World; Raleigh Women’s Christian Connection; Wake EAC Wilco Group; SmartMoms; A Place for Women to Gather; Our Lady of Lourdes; Private Women’s Groups; and a Birthday Party!
Awards
2011 NAPO LOS ANGELE´S GREEN AWARD FOR MOST ECO FRIENDLY ORGANIZING SERVICE.
2011 TRIANGLE BUSINESS JOURNAL´S GREEN ENTREPRENEURIAL EFFORT/INNOVATIVE IDEA OF THE YEAR HONORABLE MENTION WINNER
Interviews
I have been interviewed by a variety of blog talk radio and podcasts. Please see my media page or YouTube channel for more interviews.
Raleigh, NC
Triangle Business Journal
Premium content from Triangle Business Journal
http://www.bizjournals.com/triangle/news/2011/09/27/tbj-announces-2011-green-awards-winners.html
In the news
Location: Raleigh.
Business description: Professional organizing services for residential and business.
Number of employees in the Triangle: One.
Top Triangle executive: Julie Seibert, owner.
Describe some of the organization’s chief achievements in the Green Awards category in which you were nominated?
• Started business July 2009; January 2011, awarded the National Association of Professional Organizer Los Angeles chapter Green Award for Most Eco-Friendly Organizing Service. Highest award in industry.
• First professional organizer in state of North Carolina to specialize in green for home and business.
• Created Julie’s 6 R’s of Eco-Organization: recycle (know your guidelines & do it); reuse (give your moving boxes to someone else to use); repurpose (use an empty case of wine box to store holiday ornaments); repair (can it be repaired before tossing it and buying a new one?); rethink (Do you really need to purchase something? Can you buy in bulk to reduce packaging?); and reduce (if you don’t buy it, you don’t have to organize it).
• Comprehensive green resource online directory.
• 60+ talks on getting organized while being green. All talks feature a demonstration on being creative and using everyday items you most likely already have at home to get organized.
Have sustainable efforts produced financial benefits. Can you quantify the gains or costs? Please be specific.
• I help save my clients money by suggesting donating/selling/buying used, etc. (not having to buy plastic containers; knowing what they have so they don’t make duplicate purchases, etc.); tax write-off for donations (donating clothes to Interact); selling items (someone else sees “junk” as treasure); where they can buy what they want used (N.C. State Surplus store a good example for used office furniture).
• Instead of tracking “number of bags saved from the landfill” because size of bag/item can vary, decided to concentrate on making sure stuff wasn’t going in the landfills; educating people, and reusing/repurposing items to avoid buying plastic or new containers.
How could you afford to embark on green programs in a challenging economy?
I couldn’t afford not to do it. I do not believe that personal and professional lives are separate; to not bring green principles into my business would have been a breach of personal ethics. Because I show people how being green can also save time and money, people are more open to my ideas. The reality is, at least in my business, you save time and money in the long run by being green.
How did your employees react to such sustainable efforts?
N/A. Since being the first in the state of North Carolina to specialize in being green, other organizers have added green as a specialty. Other organizers often email me for advice and resources.
My clients have acted favorably. If they were already green, they appreciated taking it to the next level. If they were not green, they were open to suggestions, especially when it would save them money and/or time. Past clients continue to ask me for green advice.
What are your plans for expanding such programs in the coming year?
I hope to expand my speaking engagements and/or workshops to more corporations, small businesses and entrepreneurs (really any groups!) as well as reach more professional organizers, teaching them ways to be green. I also hope to grow my business to increase the number of people who are organizing/de-cluttering in a sustainable way.