Who actually comes into your home when you work with Float On Organizing? Read on to learn about Megan!

Hello, lovely readers! I'm Megan, your go-to professional home organizer, and I'm thrilled to share my story with you. So, grab a cup of tea, get comfortable, and I'll take you through my journey to to the world of decluttering and creating functional spaces with my company, Float On Organizing.

The Basics: Who Am I?

As I said, my name's Megan Pilquist. I'm 30 years old and I live in Chicago, IL with my wonderful partner of 3 years, who I refer to online as N. I grew up in Stillwater, MN with my parents, sister, and brother (I'm the middle child). I moved to Chicago in 2011 to attend Loyola University where I got degrees in Political Science and International Studies. I'm not particularly passionate about those topics, but didn't know what I wanted to do with my life and figured those were interesting and relevant enough to spend 4 years diving into.

What did I do before starting my business?

During school, I worked at the National Runaway Safeline and was a part-time nanny. After I graduated, I began nannying full-time and only lasted about 9 months at that. As much as I loved those kiddos, the mental load and constant stimulation was not sustainable for me. I worked at the Uptown Salvation Army store, then served 2 years with Americorps at Youth & Opportunity United in Evanston, IL. That role burnt me out a little bit, so after my second year ended, I opted to teach ESL online to students in China. I was very lucky to already be working this remote job when Covid hit, but I was getting pretty tired of working between the hours of 7p and 6am. So in 2020 I became a Covid19 case manager for a tech company (basically HR work). A zigzaggy path, but what I learned from all of these roles was that I am happiest and most effective when I work a physical job, a combination of 1-on-1/small groups and independent work, and when there's direct and visible impact from my actions to someone else's day.

So how did I come to professional organizing?

In 2021 my college roommate was living in New York. She had had a roommate and a fairly large apartment for a few years, but her roommate was moving out of state and my friend was moving into a studio apartment with like 90% of the furniture and belongings that they had accumulated over a few years. It was a little chaotic, but she was living on her own for the first time and I was so excited for her! At the time I was a huge proponent for living alone and had loved the process of making my own studio apartments cozy and perfectly mine. So, I flew out and helped her unpack, declutter, and set up the studio one weekend. And, oh my goodness, it was the most fun! I completely fell into a flow state and stayed up all night organizing everything.

On my 5am Monday flight home to Chicago anticipating sitting in front of a computer for 8 hours, I resolved that I had to find a way to "set up people's apartments" as a job. I didn't even have the words of "professional organizer" yet. But after researching and dipping my toe in working with clients as a Taskrabbit, I took the leap and started my business, Megan Pilquist LLC.

Wait - Megan Pilquist LLC? I thought this was Float On Organizing!

After two years of being in business, taking any job just to see if it was a good fit, joining organizing networks, completing trainings, going to conferences, experimenting with being on social media and off, in 2024 I finally felt ready to "niche" down and "brand" my business, as they say.

Float On Organizing is a recognition that the reason I love this work is because I believe so strongly that our homes and our stuff should be there to support us, not the other way around! Our homes are our raft or boat or cruise ship, and they are doing the work so that we can focus on enjoying our lives. So if you've ever felt underwater just being in your home, or avoided returning to your space because of the stress of being there, then I'm here to help repair that relationship with your home and your stuff so that you can just float on.

Do you have more questions or want to chat?

Visit my contact page and send me a little message! I'm literally a 1-woman show here, so nobody but me will see what you say. And I get such a thrill when I see a new message come in!

Or, you can read some more of my blog posts. I'm a bit of a chatter, but I try to keep them sweet and to the point. I recommend reading the one about my clutter vs. mental health experience or the one about my process when working with clients.

If you have to run, but want to stay in touch, I recommend signing up for my newsletter. My goal this year is to send these emails out weekly, but sometimes life happens and it's less often. But they are alway chock full of organizing tips, mindset shifts, blog updates, service updates and deals.

Thanks so much for being here!