Bluma – conversation with Francesca Pansadoro

B. - How did you begin to build your relationships with other foreign Professional Organizers and what opportunities or events allowed you to connect with them?

Since the inception of APOI in October 2013, I have always felt it was very important to look out into the international world of the profession, which originated in the U.S. in the 1980s. It was in 2014, on the occasion of the National Event of APDO - Association of Professional Declutterers and Organisers held in London, that I took the opportunity to participate in a prestigious event, whose guests were famous Professional Organizers, with long working experience, and from different cultures. At the time APOI had just under 10 members and the case was limited, but my strong belief in how important it was to preside over an international event of that caliber was the big push to have friends host me, requesting from the Association only reimbursement for airfare. It was a very important occasion, both to initiate the first contacts with high-value professionals, but also to officially present the birth of the first Italian Association to a large international audience. On that occasion I met, in addition to Karen Kingston, author of "How to clear your clutter," several P.O.'s with whom I have woven friendships that last over time. Representing the Association was a great satisfaction, as much as touching the world of P.O.'s that was booming abroad, reinforcing more our intuition, we were on the right track, to grow Professional Organizing in Italy thanks to the great outreach and field work. That trip was the first piece of a big puzzle, which led me later in 2020 to create the "APOI international Guest" project, creating international webinars, which gave members the opportunity to meet top P.O.'s who generously shared their professional and life experience.

B. - Have you noticed any significant differences in the methods or approaches used between Italian and foreign Professional Organizers?

Each culture expresses diverse characteristics in its approach to the profession; this is the great strength in creating a fruitful exchange among professionals. The Americans were the first to face the market, and they sowed a solid foundation and viable alternatives in creating diversified offerings. But subsequently each P.O. belonging to a different back ground and culture developed offerings that met the needs of potential clients. Suffice it to mention how in the U.S., the P.O. specializing in "downsizing" was born, that is, accompanying the client, generally of advanced age, to recreate for himself a more streamlined sphere of life in terms of space but also in terms of habits, more suitable for a new lifestyle. The methods and approaches are generally similar; what changes is the culture of origin, which dictates different living demands. In Italy, for example, the enthusiasm toward the world of fashion is well known, consequently it was natural that closet organizing was met with particular enthusiasm, while in the United States and the Anglo-Saxon world, moving is a very in-depth area of specialization, being cultures where moving for business reasons happens with great frequency, an American, in a lifetime, can deal with as many as twenty moves.

B. - Are there any strategies adopted by foreign Professional Organizers that you have found particularly inspiring or innovative?

With Dorothy Breninger, a well-known American P.O., , I had confirmation of how long the relationship between client and P.O. can endure. Dorothy told me about a client she had been following for a good 16 years, and not because she had not been able to transfer to him organizational methods and strategies that had certainly improved his lifestyle, but simply because an ongoing consulting relationship had been established, which over time went on to touch various crucial phases of her client's life. Organization goes hand in hand with change, and for those without natural organizational skills, being able to engage with a professional in the field becomes meaningful counseling that facilitates the processing of important decisions, such as a change of home, an inheritance to manage, a birth or bereavement to deal with, or simply letting go of items that carry with them difficult-to-manage hooks. In Dorothy's story, I found confirmation to a way I live the profession, to become a point of reference over time for the client, who can create a relationship of trust and confrontation to deal with the various stages of life.

B. - Have you ever collaborated with Professional Organizers from other countries on international projects or joint initiatives?

I have several international relationships with professionals in the field, which over time have brought both professional growth exchanges and clients. In particular, with a British colleague we follow the same client who has a home in Rome but lives in London, two parallel projects but managed by two P.O.'s in the field who collaborate in jointly managing the lifestyle of a person moving between two different realities. As for professional exchanges, I often compare myself with foreign colleagues who are ahead of their time by developing experience, having started their business well in advance. They have experienced attempts, successes or failures before me, which can only be teaching; they are always inspiring comparisons that enrich me greatly. I also enjoy connecting Italian P.O.s traveling to foreign countries, it has happened several times, and I do the same for those coming to our country from abroad, creating valuable liaisons. I for one, living in Rome "Caput mundi," have had the good fortune to meet American, Spanish, French, Mexican, and Dutch Professional Organizers.The famous saying all roads lead to Rome also applies to P.O.'s!

B. - How has confronting Professional Organizer foreigners influenced your view of the profession?

Comparing with different Professionals around the world, who have created successful businesses and who have experienced different paths, failures and successes has always been a great enrichment, because it is from their experience and generosity that I have been able to develop even more my own vision of the work to be carried out in Italy, of what to propose and how to grow the profession's notoriety. And it is on this personally experienced privilege that I built the idea of bringing their know-how to Italian professional organizers. Seeing and touching that those who started before us have achieved success is a driving force to do better and more in Italy as well, to reach out to all those who need the advice of a Professional Organizer.

B. - How do you see the role of international relations in the development of the Professional Organizer profession?

We have already had a tangible example of how unity is strength, on the occasion of the birth of the IFPOA - International Federation of Professional Organizing Associations. From these meetings came the idea of establishing the World Organizing Day - WOD - World Organizing Day, an initiative that was welcomed with great enthusiasm by the 16 international member Associations, and each of them made a great campaign of dissemination by growing the culture of organizing in the world. A single international voice, which is declined in each country, accelerates the knowledge of the profession, to reach the ears of all potential clients who are waiting to meet a P.O. to improve the course of their lives both in private and work. With Organize Italy I am thinking of implementing a new project to give continuity and value to international contacts, strong nourishment for the evolution of the profession "world wide" and in our country.