Meet Janice Rostron of Just Focus and Reorganize

Today we’d like to introduce you to Janice Rostron.

Hi Janice, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Before becoming a Professional Organizer, I was a public elementary school teacher. I went to grad school for Education, earned an M.Ed., and thought I would be teaching until retirement. However, after a few short years, I became physically and mentally exhausted. I started teaching in 2006. In 2008, the financial crisis hit and districts had to start laying off teachers. Since it was a “last in, first out” system I received a pink slip four years in a row. Each year, I was eventually re-hired, but it had already taken its toll on my morale. Once my job was secure, I realized how burnt out I really was. During one of my pink-slipped summers, I started working for my friend’s small business. He needed help creating a paper filing system, as well as a system for going paperless. After each day, I had a great sense of accomplishment and satisfaction with my work.

When I was telling someone about this work, they asked if I had ever considered working as a Professional Organizer. I had never heard of such a thing. Some quick online research led me to the National Association for Productivity and Organizing Professionals (NAPO). I started going to their local chapter meetings to get more information about the industry. It was such a welcoming and supportive group that I did not hesitate to become a member once I decided to resign from the school district. I launched Just Focus and Reorganized in 2015. I worked as an Assistant Organizer and Lead Organizer for a few NAPO members while I was getting my business off the ground. Now, I work for myself full-time and am happy to say that I was able to hire my first Assistant Organizer in 2019. Although 2020 is not the year any of us expected, I have been able to adjust my services to provide Virtual Organizing and Online Productivity Courses.

I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
It has not been a smooth road, although there have been a lot of smooth stretches along the way. I am grateful for that! The biggest struggle for me is marketing. I am good at what I do and confident in the services I provide, but knowing that I am presenting the right message to the right audience can be difficult.

As you know, we’re big fans of Just Focus and Reorganize. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
Just Focus and Reorganize helps people declutter and organize their homes, offices, and home offices. I work with both physical and digital clutter. Most of my clients are busy professionals, small business owners, solo-preneurs, and mom-preneurs. That, along with the fact that most people are working from home these days, has allowed me to really hone in on home office organizing and productivity systems. I am very proud of the online course that I am launching in January 2021 called Time to Power: Productivity for Small Business Owners. This project has allowed me to combine my passions for teaching and organizing!

How do you think about luck?
Good luck has definitely played a role in my business. I do believe that sometimes you are just in the right place at the right time. For example, I was at a dinner with some acquaintances a few years ago. Not wanting to turn the outing into networking, I casually mentioned my business in passing. I soon received two long-term clients referred from people at that dinner table. Those clients, in turn, have given me other client referrals and opportunities for speaking engagements. Of course, there is a lot of hard work behind all that luck. If I wasn’t doing my best work, that luck would have been fleeting.

Contact Info:

• Email: [email protected]
• Website: http://jfnr.net
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/justfocusandreorganize/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/justfocusandreorganize/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/justfnr
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/just-focus-and-reorganize-los-angeles?osq=just+focus+and+reorganize
• Other: http://timetopower.com

Image Credits
Headshot credit: Jane Houle