Meet Christel Ferguson

We recently connected with Christel Ferguson and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Christel, really happy you were able to join us today and we’re looking forward to sharing your story and insights with our readers. Let’s start with the heart of it all – purpose. How did you find your purpose?
I found my purpose in stages. I think we often want to be something when we grow up, and as we get older, we have this voice telling us that if we don’t become that, we have failed. I think it’s so important to normalize changing our minds or discovering a path we didn’t know existed.

I wanted to be an actor! I took the classes, went to the auditions, and booked gigs, but on the side, I was working “survival jobs” to pay my rent. I was a wedding planner, I was a bartender, Head Sales Associate at an interior design retail store, and I would help my friends and family organize their closets because I enjoyed it and was good at it after living in tiny apartments in New York for most of my 20s.

I realized I really enjoyed organizing, and while acting was fun, it was no longer the greatest passion in my life. Not realizing that organizing was an actual profession, I started to look online to see if anyone else did this sort of work. The first site I clicked on was NAPO (National Association of Productivity & Organizing Professionals), and my life changed forever.

Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?
I am a professional organizer. I specialize in walking my clients through the (often) emotional process of purging items that are storing negative energy in their closet and their life and transforming their space for comfort and productivity.

My motto is “Change your space… Change your life!” because physical and mental clutter intertwine. Organizing and decluttering your home or office is a tangible and active goal that will allow you the space and freedom to evolve into the person you always wanted to be.

Because a large part of my work involves decluttering, I donate a lot of items that my clients no longer need. Over the years, I have gotten to know the many donation centers in Los Angeles, including The National Council of Jewish Women (www.ncjw.org) & The Goodwill (www.goodwillsocal.org), which I highly recommend.
I have also worked with clients that have had more specific items in larger quantities that turned into a greater opportunity for impact. For example, in 2021, I had a client who had boxes of beautiful costume jewelry that she was ready to let go of; I saw this as an opportunity to give back to the community differently than the usual donation runs I do for my clients. I decided to throw a fundraiser and sell the jewelry to benefit the East Los Angeles Women’s Center (www.elawc.org), an organization that I have always been a supporter of.

This amazing organization is a leading voice and advocate for survivors and their families affected by sexual, domestic, and intimate partner violence, HIV/AIDS, and the intersection of homelessness. Fundraising is essential to their housing services for clients rebuilding their lives after trauma.

I have the opportunity again to throw another fundraiser for the ELAWC. This time from a client that needed to part with their wine collection. With their donation, we are able to have a summer evening soiree with a wine and food pairing to continue to support the organization. As a WSET level 2 graduate from the Napa Valley Wine Academy I am looking forward to this event and sharing my wine knowledge with everyone.

Please join us on August 20th at 5:30 pm for a fun evening for a great cause.
More information here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/shine-bright-summer-soiree-tickets-667899715027?aff=oddtdtcreator

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
Listening, patience, and understanding.

On the surface, I organize and declutter someone’s home, but what’s inside the home is so much more personal. People have attachments to their belongings- we all do! They tell our story, our experiences and often hold our memories in a way that we don’t even realize. It can be painful to let things go, even if necessary, for our long-term health and happiness. I go on that journey with my clients, reworking the brain, changing their relationship with what they have collected, and making room for new memories and experiences.

Before we go, any advice you can share with people who are feeling overwhelmed?
Break things down into small manageable tasks. I know it sounds simple, but I do it as an organizer every day. It’s important to break big (overwhelming) projects into small doable tasks! Create a to-do list, schedule those tasks (I mean it, actually put them on your calendar), and make sure you follow through.

I promise once you complete that first manageable task, it’s so much easier to keep going!

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