Some people are just born with the "organizing gene."  As I child I was obsessed with collecting: bubble gum cards, Matchbox cars (Corgis, actually), comic books, the usual.  What wasn't usual was the attention I gave to keeping everything perfectly organized.  When I discovered books, the next step, of course, was amassing a library of my own, which naturally had to be perfectly organized and displayed as well.

In college, I majored in Philosophy.  My teachers laid particular emphasis on what's called Informal Logic, or Practical Reasoning: taking your opponents words, restating them as premises and conclusion, and then evaluating their reasoning.  Again, organization!

When I began looking around for a paying job, I followed the lead of some friends and became a librarian, first for the Detroit Bar Association, and then for a series of high-powered New York City law firms.  My job wasn't dusting books, but helping attorneys perform legal and business research.  Then computerized research was introduced, followed years later by the Internet.  I excelled at both, and eventually designed the firm's web page (one of the first!) and testified as an expert on Internet research in a major copyright trial.

I've also been a freelance writer, editor and proofreader.  In fact, right now I'm an editor of the newsletter.of the local chapter of the National Association of Professional Organizers.

In 2001, I decided to start my own business, helping people find what they want in their life. 

Throughout my life, I've had to learn to apply the same set of skills: taking a mass of materials, finding what's essential, and making it accessible to others.  And that's the skill that you'll need to Straighten Up!