ABOUT

I am a singer-songwriter, author, and decluttering coach.
But because I’m a whole person in the world, there’s a little more to the story than that. Sometimes I’m a visual art hobbyist, sometimes I’m an actor or spoken word performer, sometimes I’m an activist. And the title “decluttering coach” has been swapped out for “decluttering pro”, “professional organizer” and “organizing expert” over the years through iterations of my business New Order.
My original songs [link] have become my primary mode of therapy over the last decade and a half. [And then more about what I’m doing now and other art projects I’m interested in doing. Maybe the part below about artist residencies.] Having a handle on where things are and a modicum of control over things like my task list and email inbox have allowed my creativity to exist more fully and my stress to release _________. Thus, my work in the world of decluttering has been a way to help others get a better handle — on _______. And please note I say a “better” handle, not a perfect handle. I’d say the big Aha of my life came years into running New Order, and realizing that my people-pleasing and perfectionism was not serving me, my art, my work, or my clients, their art, and their work. So Imperfection is one of the biggest totems (dif word?) of what I teach.
What over the years has felt like the clutter of too many paths, I now honor as simply a…Life.
I’ve written so many bios over the years - some that leaned more toward being an artist, some that leaned more toward being a decluttering pro. What makes most sense these days is to sprinkle in a little of everything. Career-wise, in short,

Being on stage as an actor is what I grew up doing the most. So I went to college for it. (Boston University College of Fine Arts + London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art.) We learned how to breathe properly and become feeling adults. It was a grand time. My first television job was on a soap opera, where I gave birth inside a cabin in the middle of the woods. (Yes, there was a candlelight musical montage.) I've had the good fortune of working on stages across the U.S. and on some mostly fun TV/Film projects since. In 2012, I put my “professional auditioning actor” life on pause to focus on making music + writing my decluttering book. Now I dabble.

In 2018, I began writing + performing spoken word pieces—based on themes of identity and where I fit in as a biracial bi/pan/queer “half”-Jewish woman in the world. Looking to create shareable versions of this work—and drawing on a background in dance to explore movement-based pieces as well.

What excites me about performance (in any form) these days is finding and sharing what’s weird, what’s tender, what’s funny, what’s true. If I could spend all my free time at underground artist residencies across the globe, learning from strangers, making oddball art, telling the truth, and cooking hot meals, I really would.

For a handful of years, I played steady music shows around Los Angeles (+ NYC + New England). I’ve found I enjoy being in the recording studio most, but I still play the occasional live show.

Find a little more “About” info on my Music + Now pages, and my Decluttering site. Thanks.

[Photograph by Rebecca Sanabria.]

CV

Albums + Singles

Book

In Español: Un Nuevo Orden available from Oberon Libros

Course

New Order®: An Online Decluttering Course for Creatives, Free Thinkers, and Everyone Else

Selected Music Placements (as artist / songwriter)

Devil In Ohio (including Official Soundtrack)
Pretty Little Liars (including Official Soundtrack)
Grey's Anatomy
Vampire Diaries
Covert Affairs
Chasing Life
Carrie Diaries
The Fosters
Rizzoli & Isles
Holy Ghost People
One Tree Hill

Selected TV/ Film Work (as actor)

Superstore
Unbelievable
2 Broke Girls
Children's Hospital
Bones
NCIS: Los Angeles
Law & Order
Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles
Ghost Whisperer
Just Another Story
Numb3rs
IMDb Page

Recent Speaking Engagements + Keynotes
(on decluttering / productivity / creativity)

Etsy Up Conference, New York, NY
LA Times Festival of Books, Los Angeles, CA
Random House Headquarters, New York, NY
NAPO Conference, Atlanta, GA
Red Door Playhouse, Roswell, GA
Cuyana Fewer Better Series, Venice, CA
Soho House, West Hollywood, CA

Selected TV Appearances (as decluttering pro)

Home Made Simple (OWN Network)
Hollywood Today Live (nationally syndicated)
Apartment Therapy (One Minute Tip series, online platforms)
Easy Does It (Yahoo TV)
Bones (FOX; appearance of #NewOrderBook)

Recent Alt Music Projects (as composer)

Composer/performer for the USC MFA Year 3 Actors production of Swimmers by Rachel Bonds, directed by David Warshofsky.

Recent Spoken Word Performances

Opening for Hanna-Lee Sakakibara’s Improbable at Thymele Arts

Selected Press + Links of Note

New York Times Book Review
Voyage LA Interview
Pretty Little Liars Music Interview
New York Times using my decluttering methods
Apartment Therapy Decluttering Videos
Music Videos
10 Habits of a Highly Organized Person
Nate Corddry's Reading Aloud Podcast Interview
Inside Acting Podcast Interview
Better Homes & Gardens Stylemaker Cover
PopMatters Music Review
"Order, She Wrote" with Emily Deschanel
That time I got slapped in the face on Chappelle's Show.
For comprehensive press about the new book New Order, please go here or here.

Artist Residencies + Retreats

The Wayfaring Band, Zion Trip, 2017
Reciprocity, Asylum Arts + Institute for Jewish Creativity, 2017

Education

Bachelor of Fine Arts, Boston University

Memberships

SAG-AFTRA, AEA, BMI, NAPO

Geography

Based in Los Angeles, California, USA.

Credits

Logo + Batman Tee photo: Garrett Dorin. Homepage + Performance photos: Rebecca Sanabria. New Order Book Trailer: Directed by Kelly Nyland | Song by FW + Rob Kleiner. Individual music video credits on respective YouTube or Bandcamp pages.

Thank you.