We were lucky to catch up with Sherry Gangel recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Sherry, thanks for joining us today. Covid has brought about so many changes – has your business model changed?

Covid has changed Bee Organized San Diego in many ways. Professional Organizers are in the client’s home working in close proximity and cannot always socially distance. Therefore, Bee Organized San Diego takes every precaution to ensure we are not exposing our clients to Covid or other airborne illnesses. Upon the client’s request, we wear N95 masks, and ask that the client do so as well. We also ensure that all our employees are fully vaccinated and boosted.

We are now offering virtual one-hour consultations for a fee via a conference call or FaceTime. This enables us to continue offering our services without endangering our clients that have compromised health risks.

We have started conducting our initial assessments, which used to be onsite, via a conferencing call service such as Zoom, or via Google Meets or FaceTime. Although some clients seem less concerned with Covid exposure, we always follow the client’s lead in taking precautions to ensure they remain healthy and are comfortable with having Bee Organized in their home.

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?

Bee Organized San Diego is a family-owned business. Paula and Sherry, sisters, were both looking for something outside of the corporate world that would offer flexibility and enable them to give back to the community. They were also seeking ways to utilize their talents and skills they obtained in their 30-plus years working for large corporations. In 2021, they purchased Bee Organized, a professional organizing company based in Kansas City. They decided to base their business in beautiful, sunny San Diego, where they had vacationed often. This fulfilled a lifelong dream of finding a way to make Southern California their permanent home.

Sherry and Paula have committed to giving back to the community by donating time and/or money to a charity each and every month. If you know of a non-profit that can use some professional organizing services, be it a classroom, office space; something as small as a closet or as large as a warehouse! Give them a “BUZZ”. (858) 255-1694 or visit BeeOrganized.com/SanDiego

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

Paula and Sherry are sisters, business partners, roommates and friends. Beginning in 2018, they had a series of unfortunate and adverse events that caused them to pause and take stock of their life. Late that year, Paula was laid off from her job, then their father became seriously ill and passed away a few months later. It was only days after his funeral services, that Sherry was also unemployed. Right after the Covid pandemic stopped the world in its tracks, their mother was diagnosed with a fatal brain tumor, and died in May, 2020. These events would have sent many, if not most, into a deep depression.

Sherry and Paula decided instead to channel their grief, loss and frustration into positive energy by starting a business together. They remind themselves to put emotions aside when there is a disagreement, and focus on what is best for their business, They have discovered that having a difference of opinion is sometimes healthy, as new ideas are formed and a new way of doing things or a different way to approach a lingering issue or problem often times comes to light.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

As sisters, Paula and Sherry grew up sharing everything. A bedroom, a bathroom, clothes, even hair barrettes! This dynamic has served them well. Just as they grew up having to share their things, they continue to share responsibilities and divide what needs to be done in order to conquer their task list daily. As grown ups and business partners, they have had to redefine their personal and business relationship over and over. The family dynamic, birth order, and habits are hard to overcome, but Paula and Sherry have done an amazing job of navigating their “normal” reactions to situations and stepping. back to understand what needs to take place to get the “to do” list complete and propel their business to the next level. They both have a passion for being entrepreneurs, and pride themselves on being a woman and family-owned small business.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.beeorganized.com/sandiego
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/beeorganizedsandiego/
• Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/beeorganizedsd
• Twitter: @shingle-gangel
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/bee-organized-san-diego-san-marcos-2?uid=T74OAUA0UiutJBnnqspskg&utm_campaign=www_business_share_popup&utm_medium=copy_link&utm_source=(direct)

Image Credits
Pictures of Paula and Sherry provided by Robin Portrait.