Organizing for Life's Biggest Challenges with Wendy Hanophy

If something happened to you tomorrow, would your loved ones know what to do? If your home and possessions were impacted by a disaster, could you prove your losses?

No one likes to think about or discuss death and disasters, but let’s face it – they happen. Organizing your vital documents, having an inventory of your possessions, making sure you have the necessary estate documents in place - and that your family and loved ones know where they are - is probably the most important organizing task you can do. I consider this task vital and sacred. I’m not a lawyer or insurance agent. I have only your best interests in mind. Why? I’ve been widowed, have lost friends that didn’t have life insurance and left their families destitute, have had my home flooded, and have assisted clients trying to find important documents after the loss of a loved one.

It’s not comfortable to talk about these things, but I can gently guide you through the process. We can discuss what documents are crucial, where they should be kept, and how to communicate this location and information to someone you trust. This includes wills, living wills, POAs, digital assets and passwords, including social media and online accounts, important contacts, financial accounts, insurance, personal property and assets, loans, business records, medical information and funeral plans.

Wendy is passionate about helping people organize and simplify their lives. In this fast-paced stress-filled world, assisting people in creating a supportive space where they can find what they need when they need it is her contribution to a more peaceful world.

She has a very unusual background for a professional organizer –a former wildlife biologist, educator, and writer, but each experience contributed to my unique and heartfelt approach. As a field biologist, she shared a camper trailer or bunkroom with other biologists for seasons lasting up to 9 months and had to keep things tidy to keep the peace! Now that experience provides insights to help others find and use space they never thought they had. Teaching high school for a decade instilled lessons in managing paperwork (and learning people’s names!) and writing taught her to get her thoughts organized, and have a plan to meet deadlines. And, at one point in her career, Wendy managed a team of 13 individuals and ran the largest environmental outreach program in the nation – serving 30,000 children in 7 grades in 29 schools. She’s a great program manager and logistical whiz kid!

More to the point of this presentation, Wendy has been through many life transitions. From raising a child to losing a spouse, each transition required finding a new equilibrium. That’s why she focuses on wholistic organizing, getting people prepared for whatever life might throw at them, not just the “stuff.”