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background
| professional activities & credentials
| media exposure
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community involvement
Background
 Born
and raised in the foothills of Los Angeles, Denslow became intrigued
with organizing issues when she was a teenager. Feeling aimless, it
dawned on her that to have the life she wanted, she had to coordinate
and plan. Denslow began to look for information on how to get organized
and manage time, took classes in speed-reading and how to study. She
watched for examples of good organization and situations, especially
in her own life, which suffered from
a lack of organization.
Educated
at Mt. Vernon College in Washington, D.C. (AA, Statistics, Government,
1969) and the University of California at Los Angeles (BS, Political
Science, 1971), she searched, but hadn't found a passion or clear
career goal in college. She worked in the legal, investment and mental
health fields and gained experience in both the non-profit and corporate
sectors. Each job was interesting in the beginning, but there were
no consistent bells or firecrackers.
Once
she noticed the organizing enthusiasm she brought to each job she
was able to identify what really excited her: shifting frustrating
and disorganized lives, offices and homes into pleasing and productive
ones. She started her own business as a professional organizer in
1974. Continuing to thrive in diverse settings, she enjoys a wide
variety of clients and client settings; she helps people resolve organizational
nightmares and put their lives in order so that they can realize their
goals and dreams.
 Denslow
spent the second 20 years of her life in North Carolina, Connecticut
and New York, including six wonderful years in Manhattan.
In 1989
Denslow and her partner, Linda, moved to Hawk Hill Community Land
Trust, a women's community on 300 acres of environmentally protected
homesteading land in the very rural Missouri Ozarks. She designed
and helped build their home and enjoys gardening, reading, community
activism, carpentry, kayaking and cooking. Every spring, in a major
act of organization, she cooks and serves either eggs benedict or
huevos rancheros to over 20 friends. She travels often, visiting friends,
family and clients throughout the country.
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Professional
Activities & Credentials
Denslow's
philosophy is that the best way to grow professionally is to be pro-active:
- by
learning from others,
- by
helping the field become stronger,
- by
teaching those who are new to it, and
- by
reaching out to and educating those who need our services.
Denslow's
work merges the expertise of three professional areas: professional
organizing, coaching, and Attention Deficit Disorder.
Within
Professional Organizing
- Having
started her business in 1974, Denslow is widely considered one of
the founders of the professional organizing industry and serves
as a mentor for many organizers.
- Certified
Professional Organizer by the Board of Certified Professional Organizers
- Denslow
has earned the Master Trainer (Level V) certification from the NSGCD,
the highest certification available to professional organizers.
- Professional
organizers have only one specific industry arena, the National Association
of Professional Organizers (NAPO, founded 1985). Denslow has served
on NAPO's board of directors, edited NAPO News (national newsletter),
and was a founder of its New York chapter. She is also a frequent
presenter at its conferences.
- Denslow
was awarded NAPO's President's Award in 2001 for "Continued Dedication
and Support."
- A
member of the National Study Group on Chronic Disorganization, she
works with others to examine the many causes of debilitating disorganization
and techniques to relieve it. The Group works in coalition with
health care, research, legal and manufacturing professionals to
respond to the challenges of lifelong disorganization. Denslow is
a frequent presenter/trainer for the NSGCD.
- As
founder and chair of NAPO's Quantum Leap Task Force, she leads organizers
who volunteer in their communities. They teach people in life changing
transitions (those who were recently homeless, women escaping batterers,
people in the welfare-to-work transition, etc.) how to better manage
time, paperwork and money.
- She
serves on NAPO's Nominating Committee and is a charter member of
NAPO – St. Louis (chapter of NAPO).
Within
the Coaching Profession
- Denslow has earned the Master Certified Coach designation from
the International Coaching Federation, the highest certification
available in the coaching profession.
- Denslow's training as a coach includes seminars at NAPO, Coach
U., and the Optimal Functioning Institute (OFI). She's also been
trained in career/life purpose coaching with Wilma Fellman and with
Laura Berman Fortgang (Life BluePrint Institute), in working with
entrepreneurs with David Giwerc, in developing business plans and
marketing with Barbara Luther, and in shorter courses offered by
respected individuals in the coaching profession.
- The OFI program included 18 intensive months of training in ADD
coaching. For several years after graduation, Denslow was the Director
of OFI's Coaching Lab.
- She also provides coaching training at conferences and in teleclasses.
Within
the Attention Deficit (Hyperactivity) Disorder Field
- Denslow's work with people who struggle with organization issues,
led her to the two national associations working for people with
Attention Deficit Disorder: ADDA and CHADD. She attends their conferences
regularly to both make presentations and to update her own training
in this quickly evolving field.
- Denslow has been active in both organizations, supporting them
in their diversity efforts.
- She is on the Advisory Board of Teamwork Wins, an organization
of professionals assisting individuals with hidden disabilities.
- She also teaches ADD to organizers and coaches and individuals
in large and small venues.
Professional Memberships
- CHADD, Children and Adults with Attention Deficit Disorder
- OFI, The Optimal Functioning Institute
- ADDA, The National Attention Deficit Disorder Association
- NAPO, The National Association of Professional Organizers
- Golden Circle (veteran NAPO members)
- NSGCD, The National Study Group on Chronic Disorganization
- ICF, The International Coaching Federation
- ACO, The ADD Coaches Organization
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Media
Exposure
- Appeared on Good Morning America (where she was named the "High
Priestess of Organizing") and many other television and radio
programs, including features about National Get Organized Week (which
she helped institute).
- Quoted and acknowledged in a large number of organizing books
and magazine articles and featured in New York Magazine and
The Springfield News-Leader.
- Created and authored an organizing column in a regional Midwest
magazine, Today's Woman Journal.
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Community
Involvement
- Treasurer,
Hawk Hill Community Land Trust
- Founder
and Chair, Quantum Leap Task Force of NAPO
- Coordinator,
One World: Workshops and Media, Michigan Womyn's Music Festival
- Founder,
Ozarks Permaculture Group
- Member
-
- PROMO
- Kappa
Kappa Gamma
- Ozarks
Regional Land Trust
- Yellow
House Community Arts Center
- ACLU
- Astraea
Foundation
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