Made to Order

Rashelle Isip ’03 caught the first whispers of her calling thanks to her least favorite aspect of junior-high curriculum: notebook checks. 

“You’d be graded on whether your notebook was neat or messy, which was completely horrible, because they never taught people how to keep a neat notebook,” says Isip, a biology major turned order-expert blogger. “If you’re going to expect someone to be better, you have to help them—show them how.”

Isip’s blog, TheOrderExpert.com, does just that for her ever-growing audience of 7,000 readers each month. Her niche career choice seems almost inevitable given that her favorite childhood pastimes included organizing her books, clothes, and toys.

Featuring posts ranging from “How to Pack a Grocery Bag” to “How to be Productive While Working From Home” to—educators and students, take notice—“How to Organize a Notebook or Journal,” Isip’s blogging and complementary social media efforts take up much of her time, though she also coaches people and businesses in time management, organization, and productivity. She has written two e-books, How to Plan a Great Event in 60 Days and The Order Expert’s Guide to Time Management, and offers freelance copywriting services at RashelleIsip.com.

When asked why she thinks organization seems to elude so many people, Isip boils it down to three pitfalls: 

• Once their belongings are organized, people believe they will stay organized.
• People misunderstand what organization is (a disordered desk isn’t, if you know where things are).
• Organizational systems often become outdated and aren’t revised. 

“This is pretty much my dream job,” says New York City–based Isip, who worked in public relations before starting her blog in 2011. “I get to use my organizing skills, I can write, and I can lay things out in a step-by-step method, which I love doing for people.”