What I Learned from the 2025 How To Summit: Building a Sustainable, Profitable, and Purpose-Driven Organizing Business

Every year, the How To Summit brings together some of the brightest minds in the professional organizing industry and 2025 was no exception. The sessions were packed with strategies to strengthen systems, deepen client relationships, and build a business that lasts.

Here are my biggest takeaways from this year’s event; insights every professional organizer can use to create a more sustainable, profitable, and purpose-driven organizing business.

9 Top Takeaways for a Sustainable, Profitable, and Purpose-Driven Organizing Business

1. Client Experience is Everything

Beautifully organized spaces might draw clients in, but what keeps them coming back is an exceptional client experience. Susie Salina reminded us that the organizing business isn’t just about bins and labels; it’s about relationships and trust.

Her team sees an 82 % repeat-client rate and 69 % membership retention, and she credits that to consistency and care.

Key takeaways for your business:

• Track repeat clients and watch for dips, they signal when something’s off.

• Create a maintenance or membership program for predictable recurring revenue.

• Make it easy to say “yes”: streamline your proposals, contracts, and onboarding with a CRM.

• Communicate clearly, set expectations early, and always follow up.

✨ Action step: Audit your client journey. Is it easy, warm, and consistent from first contact to follow-up?

2. Define What Success Means to You

One of the most empowering reminders came from Melissa Klug: “your business doesn’t have to look like anyone else’s.” Whether you want to lead a team or work solo, charge hourly or by package, or focus on decluttering versus design, define your own version of success.

She also challenged us to stop letting perfectionism stall progress. Many organizers delay launches or updates because they want things to look “perfect.” But perfection doesn’t build revenue, action does.

Key takeaways for professional organizers:

• Stop comparing your business to others.

• Build a solid digital foundation: website, SEO, Google Business, email list, and blog.

• Social media is optional—own your audience with your website and email marketing.

• Build community. Other organizers aren’t your competition; they’re your support system.

3. Turn Consultations into Booked Clients

Melanie Summers reframed consultations as conversations, not just data collection. Her advice for professional organizers, especially those serving high-end clients, was to focus on connection, confidence, and clarity.

Luxury clients want turnkey solutions, not long checklists. They value trust, emotional intelligence, and clear communication over “options.”

Key takeaways for organizers:

• Lead consultations with curiosity (listen more than you talk).

• Sell transformation, not time.

• Follow up quickly and confidently (avoid “just checking in” emails).

• Use empowering language: “Let’s book your first session,” not “Would you like to?”

✨ Action step: Review your consultation flow. Are you creating excitement and trust or simply delivering information?

4. Add Senior Downsizing to Your Services

Tracy McCubbin opened many eyes with data: by 2025, 73 million Americans will be over 65, and most will eventually need downsizing support.

Downsizing is an emotional and logistical service that perfectly aligns with organizing skillsets. The work is slower and more sensitive, but it’s deeply rewarding—and it’s an enormous market opportunity.

Key takeaways:

• Approach with compassion and patience; emotional intelligence matters.

• Get certified through NASMM to build credibility.

• Know who the decision-maker is and communicate clearly with family members.

• Market this as stress relief for adult children who can’t manage the process themselves.

5. Build a Business That Lasts

Liz Jenkins shared wisdom from over two decades in the field. Her biggest message? Sustainability depends on knowing yourself and building systems before scaling.

Key takeaways for growing organizing teams:

• Hire intentionally and build a clear culture.

• Define roles and responsibilities.

• Create support positions (shopping, admin, and donation logistics) to reduce burnout.

• Keep six months of reserves before expanding.

• Outsource legal and accounting to professionals.

✨ Action step: Evaluate whether your business supports your life or drains it. Longevity comes from alignment, not hustle.

6. Organize for Transformation, Not Perfection

This session was a needed reset for our industry. Tracy McCubbin reminded us that our work isn’t about “Instagram perfection.” It’s about emotional transformation.

Clients don’t just hire us to make things look pretty, they hire us to help them reclaim their lives.

Her reminder to recognize “clutter blocks” (like guilt, nostalgia, or fantasy-life items) was a powerful call to empathy. The real transformation happens when we help clients let go emotionally, not just physically.

7. Serve Clients with ADHD Thoughtfully

As more clients are diagnosed (or self-identify) with ADHD, organizers need to adapt. Melanie Summers’ advice is to keep it visible, simple, and flexible. Avoid lids, use open storage, and structure sessions with movement breaks.

Key takeaways:

• Use timers and short bursts of focus.

• Avoid perfectionism: ADHD clients need ease, not aesthetics.

• Create accountability through weekly or seasonal check-ins.

• Protect your boundaries and team from burnout.

✨ Action step: Add “ADHD-friendly organizing” to your website and materials, it’s a major SEO and service niche.

8. Harness the Power of AI (Without Losing the Human Touch)

Melissa Klug showed how AI can simplify the backend of your professional organizing business (drafting content, creating templates, and analyzing data) without replacing the human connection that makes our work so meaningful.

Practical AI uses for organizers:

• Write and edit blog posts and social captions.

• Create SOPs, onboarding templates, and job descriptions.

• Research partnership opportunities with realtors and designers.

• Audit client data to find upsell opportunities.

✨ Action step: Start small. Use ChatGPT to draft your next newsletter or client welcome email and then edit it in your own voice.

9. Luxury Moves Require Trust and Excellence

Home+Sort’s presentation was a masterclass in luxury service and brand consistency. Their full-service move management process, from packing to unpacking, proved that high-end clients aren’t buying boxes; they’re buying peace of mind.

Key takeaways for organizers expanding into moving services:

• Control every touchpoint, don’t outsource your client’s trust.

• Invest in quality supplies, professional labeling, and detailed inventories.

• Present polished, all-inclusive proposals that reflect your brand.

• Lead with transparency about budget and scope.

Luxury organizing is about how you make clients feel: respected, cared for, and confident.

The 2025 How To Summit reaffirmed what many of us already feel in our work: professional organizing is evolving. It’s about connection, systems, empathy, and sustainability. Whether you’re building a team, adding new services, or simply refining your client experience, every improvement you make is part of a larger transformation for you and your clients.

At Reset Solutions Consulting, we help professional organizers create strong foundations, build systems that work, and grow businesses that last. If you’re ready to refine your organizing business and find clarity in your next steps, schedule a consultation to see how we can help you reset your business from the inside out.

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Stephanie Sikora

Stephanie Sikora is Owner of Sikora Solutions, Professional Organizer, Life Systems Expert, Speaker, and Author of Simplified: A Real Life Guide to Organizing Your Space and Saving Your Sanity. For nearly two decades, Stephanie streamlined life-saving healthcare procedures and high-stress operating room processes. Now, she helps leaders, business owners, real estate agents and parents cut time-wasters, clear the clutter, and simplify the way they do business—and live life. Stephanie runs Sikora Solutions out of Denver, Colorado.