Meet Maggie Wilde: Master organizer and de-clutterer
Maggie Wilde is a master organizer and de-clutterer. What started as a “fun” side project helping friends is now a full-time business for the Woodside resident.
“What I love about this job is the people,” she said standing amidst items to be sorted through at one of her client’s home. “No two days are alike. Some jobs are ongoing like this one where I’m here at least every other week. Others are one time, like this morning, when I helped a soon-to-be groom’s parents make order out of chaos going room to room in anticipation of a lot of visitors.”
One hallmark of Maggie’s approach is that almost nothing is thrown away. Instead she recycles the items via local second hand shops like the Junior League and Discovery shops in downtown Menlo Park.
“They get the cream of the crop,” she says. “But I also donate to Savers, a thrift store in Redwood City. They take almost everything. Wherever the donation is made, I get a receipt that my clients can use as a tax deduction.”
Professionally, Maggie has long been involved with philanthropic organizations. It was working on projects for three different organizations in Boulder, Colorado, that led to her “ah-ha” moment.
“I was working on three events all to take place the last weekend in October,” she recalls. “Someone said to me, ‘Your office must be a disaster.’ But it wasn’t at all. I had folders for everything I was doing, all color-coded. ‘How do you do this?’ the person asked, adding ‘Can you teach me how?'”
Along the way, Maggie has saved some clients from heartbreak. She was working with one client who was getting rid of almost every household possession in advance of building a new home. “A piece of fabric happened to catch my eye,” she says. “It turned out to be my client’s wedding sari, very valuable to her.”
Clients come to Maggie almost 100% word of mouth. “I don’t belong to any professional organizations and stay as busy as I want to be. My business has expanded to being come clients’ personal assistant — opening mail, paying bills, organizing vacation homes — whatever they need.”
The “busy as I want to be” is important to Maggie as it allows her to pursue one of her personal passions, Colorado Rockies baseball, a holdover from her time in Boulder. “I go to all the games they play in the Bay Area as well as 25 games in Denver!”
Maggie can be reached via email: enough.hours@gmail.com
Photo by Irene Searles
