Keeping your room neat may be a challenge for most-- but not for Marie Kondo!
When asked about her occupation, Marie Kondo calls herself a “tidy-things-up consultant”. You may raise your eyebrows and ask, “So…what exactly does she do?”
She has conjured up a lovely job description for herself, thanks to the lack of an official title for someone who advises how to arrange rooms. Having honed this skill during her university days, she now organizes private lessons and seminars for people who can’t find the time to clean the mess in their private spaces.
Did she choose this path just because she happened to do it during her student days?
The answer is no. This 26-year-old says she simply likes– or is rather obsessed with– housekeeping.
As a five-year-old, housekeeping magazines were her favorite reading companions. She has also been into cooking, sewing, cleaning as well ever since she was in elementary school– which made her feel more like a housewife than a kid.
When she discovered a book about room arrangement when she was 15, she realized that her main interest involves tidying things up, and not just cooking nor sewing. She started cleaning all around her house, even helping out her friends clean their homes, and did further research on the best methods to organize stuff the fuss-free way. She officially became a qualified adviser on room arrangement while studying at the university.
Her satisfied clients only have positive feedback for her work. “If you learn how to tidy things up from her once, your room never gets messy again,” they say.
Her stint as a room organizer didn’t end after graduation. Even after she started working in a human resource company, she still found the time to clean up her clients’ offices on weekends. Demand for work as a “tidy-things-up consultant” grew, and this prompted her to take the plunge to work full-time on what used to be a mere hobby.
Without establishing a company, she has worked individually by conducting seminars as well as private lessons, attracting followers from her blog, with reservations fully booked 3 months ahead of schedule.
“Tidying up your room can change your rest of your life, but cleaning should go beyond that. I want to show people the most effective way to organize so that they can sparkle for the rest of their lives,” Marie says in her book, in which she dishes out helpful advice to those whose rooms remain a mess.
Her books have sold more than 100,000 copies!
Isn’t it wonderful that she can help people through she something genuinely enjoys doing? Just like a ballerina who inspires others and enjoys the spotlight at the same time. Only a more organized one.
Check out Marie Kondo’s blog (only in Japanese) and her book on tidying things up, “人生がときめく片づけの魔法”
Picture are from interview by Rakuten Books