April 24, 2017

Meet Regina F. Lark, Ph.D. of A Clear Path: Professional Organizing and Productivity in West Los Angeles

Local Stories

Today we’d like to introduce you to Regina F. Lark, Ph.D.

So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
I like to call this story, “My Journey into Junk”. In 1999, I graduated with a History Ph.D. from the University of Southern California. For two years, I taught seven classes at 4 different colleges and universities in the greater Los Angeles area. My professional goal at that time was a tenure track teaching position at a local community college. After two years on the job market, I was hired to work as the Assistant Director of Women’s Studies at UCLA and for a variety of reasons I decided that an administrative track in higher education was a good fit for me. Four years later, I applied for and was awarded the position of Director of Humanities, Social Sciences, and Languages for UCLA Extension, the for-profit arm of the University. The salary jump was huge – the fit to my personality…. not so much. During the third year in that position, budget cuts hit Extension and my unit was dismantled, my position eliminated, and for the first time in my life I didn’t have a plan for the “next thing.” I applied for several jobs – both teaching and administrative – and was a finalist for two community college Dean positions. I’m a working person and I had to have a job and/but the 2008 recession was in full swing. Consequently, through a series of bizarre coincidences, I decided upon an entrepreneurial life and within three months of my lay-off, A Clear Path: Professional Organizing was born! And now… my PhD stands for, “Piled Higher and Deeper.”

Has it been a smooth road?
The road was completely unknown. I had spent the majority of my adult life in higher education – in pursuit of my degrees, or working in the so-called protected environment of university life. I had never experienced self-employment. I didn’t have a road-map for an industry made-up of self-employed entrepreneurs.

So, I had to start from scratch.

Early on, I had the great good fortune to read, Napoleon Hill’s, “Think and Grow Rich” – an inspiring book which affixed my thinking about all that was possible. It was Hill’s book that really set my course. I adopted the mantra, “Conceive, Believe, Achieve.”

In my new professional life, I had to learn marketing and the fine art of networking. I feel like I earned the equivalent of an MBA as I learned how to grow a business from an idea. I read everything, found courses in the local business community, and joined local networking groups. I went to every free or $10 networking breakfast I could find.

I contacted my former UCLA colleagues to de-clutter their offices and departments. I created, “Clear the Path” day for larger departments. I talk with human resource directors for workshops and training. I was entrepreneurial in my thinking. My years as a college professor taught me that I can teach anything.

We’d love to hear more about your business.
A Clear Path specializes in working with Chronically Disorganized people and families. I have earned my Certification as a Professional Organizer, as well as Certifications, through the Institute for Challenging Disorganization, to work with people who hoard, people with ADHD, and the chronically disorganized. Our company also specializes in moves and relocations. I created the 4-step process for the smoothest move – de-clutter/pack/unpack/organize – for the smoothest move and began operating a new division of A Clear Path, “Silk Touch Moves and Relocations.”

We have a team approach to most de-clutter and organizing jobs. Within one day, or five, Teams of 2-5 “Ninja Organizers” will approach any cluttered and crowded space with a calm, thoughtful, and goal-oriented approach and make any space livable again. We clear chaos, we create calm.

Is our city a good place to do what you do?
Every city has a lot of people with a lot of clutter. Disorganization and clutter lead many people to feel overwhelmed, frenzied, chaotic, depressed, and anxious.

So yes, Los Angeles, like any city, is a good place for a business like mine. But in order to make this business into a profitable and healthy company, the owner must employ many skills that fall outside of what it takes to organize a kitchen.

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