We recently connected with Erica Miller and have shared our conversation below.

Erica , thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. What was the most important lesson/experience you had in a job that has helped you as a business owner?

Before becoming a business owner and professional organizer, I spent my days as an elementary school teacher. While in the classroom my students were constantly being introduced to new concepts and having to use different learning strategies to make connections and foster understanding. It’s not always easy learning something that is new and unfamiliar, but my job as a teacher was to provide a variety of methods to help each student achieve understanding, master grade level content, and provide a fun and safe learning environment to ultimately succeed in the classroom. I always encouraged my students to embrace these new learning opportunities and exercise patience in the learning process no matter how difficult it may seem at the time so let’s just say I’m taking my own advice these days as I navigate my role as first time business owner. I honestly feel like I’m back in school myself, figuring out my footing as I learn the ins and outs of operating a small business. I learn something new everyday!

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

Organizing and creating functional spaces is something I have done for family and friends for as long as I can remember. I’m a very Type-A personality so being organized and having a plan is just who I am. I’m also your typical Enneagram 2, so helping others is something that brings me joy and purpose. I love creating livable and lovable spaces for our clients and helping transform their homes from chaotic to composed. I believe my role as a classroom teacher helped prepare me for entering into the professional organizing world in part due to the immense planning, preparation, and organization that is required to successfully manage a class full of students. Like a lot of other women, I wear many hats – daughter, wife, mother, teacher, and now business owner & professional organizer. After our youngest child went off to Kindergarten in 2022, I decided to end my teaching journey and began exploring the idea of transitioning into the professional organizing industry. At the time, I followed NEAT Method on social media and one day I reached out to a friend of mine from college who is a fellow NEAT owner and organizer. She encouraged me to consider opening the Memphis market and let’s just say the timing was right so I seized the opportunity to join the family of 100+ NEAT franchise owners and haven’t looked back since! NEAT Method Memphis launched in August 2023 so I’ve been operating my business for a little over one year now. It’s been a fun and exciting ride!

NEAT Method is a lifestyle service committed to providing a more luxurious and smartly appointed living space. We recognize that life gets hectic and maintaining an organized home can be a challenge. NEAT can design a customized solution that is not only effective but sustainable. Expect an honest approach, a sharp eye for detail, and a personal sense of refined style. We believe that once your life is clutter free and well arranged, you will have a new appreciation for the importance of living NEAT. NEAT Method offers a variety of services that include:
-Design-focused home organizing services for a variety of spaces including kitchen, pantry, closets, bathrooms, garages, kids spaces, and home offices.
-Commercial organization for businesses, offices, and retail spaces
-Moving support in the form of full or partial unpacking services for clients
In addition to our services, NEAT offers our own line of beautiful organizing product that was thoughtfully created to compliment the design aesthetic of the home. This helps us differentiate our brand amongst the competition.

Many of our clients have a hard time seeing through all the clutter that crowds their spaces and it leaves them feeling overwhelmed and unsure of where to begin the organizing process. We take time to talk through their concerns and identify the necessary pain points so that we can create and design a customizable solution for the space. NEAT Method has a very simple “method” and approach to any organizing project:
1) take everything out of the space first
2) sort & categorize
3) edit & review belongings
4) implement product
5) label for sustainability
The goal for maintaining a well-organized home, or any space for that matter, is to keep it simple. If your space is easy to maintain, provides structure, and can adapt over time then it’s a recipe for organizational success.

What sets us a part from the competition? NEAT Method is the largest in home organizing company in the industry with over 100+ franchise owners across the US and Canada which makes us able to provide support for clients all over the country. Like I mentioned above, NEAT Method has our own line of beautiful and sustainable organizing product available on our website as well as with some larger retailers like Crate & Barrel, Bloomingdale’s, and Food52. And our most exciting news yet! Our NEAT Method co-founders just wrote a book! It will hit the shelves Jan. 7, 2025. The NEAT Method Organizing Recipe Book features over 70 step-by-step projects for transforming every room in your home. It is essentially a how-to guide that gives you the steps & ingredients you need to take your space from chaos to composed. Pre-sale is available now on Amazon.

What’s been the most effective strategy for growing your clientele?

In a service based industry like this, our business thrives on client referrals and word of mouth. Once we assist clients in bringing their spaces “back to life”, they naturally want to tell other about their experience so we have garnered a lot of business from great reviews on Google and shout outs/shares on social media. I consider it a privilege to get to do what we do for our wonderful clients and nurturing those relationships is high priority.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

NEAT Method is a lifestyle service committed to providing a more luxurious and smartly appointed living space. Over the last several years, our brand has left its mark on the home and design industry as well as the organizing world. For instance, NEAT Method has been featured in several big name publications like Southern Living and Real Simple magazine. Last year in 2023, NEAT Method and its products were included in the Southern Living Idea Home and this year NEAT Method staged several spaces for the 2024 Real Simple Home in Brooklyn, NY. Some of our owners even serve celebrity clients like Jason and Kylie Kelce, Sara Foster, and Mandy Moore, just to name a few. Publicity such as this give our brand recognition and help us stand out from our competition in every market, including here in Memphis.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://neatmethod.com/locations/tn/memphis
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/memphisneat
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61550579169317
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/erica-miller-92bb81287/
• Yelp: https://biz.yelp.com/biz_info/nwKXZC83gAFyWFjLhmJ7gA
• Other: https://www.neatmethod.com

Image Credits

Jennifer Saltsman Photography