NEW YORK--There are two things that struck me when I met Mary Carlomagno: She had a perfect, classic orange organizer with a little matching pen and she told a story about how when she was a young student she loved her Trapper Keeper.

All of which led me to wonder, who better to help organize your space?

Sometimes it is those seemingly innocuous qualities in a person that tell a ton about who they are and what they should be doing with their life. And the smart ones pay attention and follow their bliss, which I venture to say then makes them happy as well as smart.

One thing I set out to do in this column is highlight inspirational people or situations that have come from my life coaching practice. The other is to feature individuals or organizations that exemplify how I feel life should be lived – passionately, meaningfully, thoughtfully. Carlomagno is in the latter category.

A former book publishing marketing executive for 14 years, Carlomagno is the founder of Order, a company that specializes in clutter control, urban apartment solutions, office spaces and life transitions. In short, she is the Great Simplifier. But what particularly strikes a chord with me is her philosophy, which goes much deeper than surface clutter issues.

“You have to identify the root problems, the motivation,” Carlomagno says. “It’s not, where do you put your 50 pairs of shoes? It’s, why do you have 50 pairs of shoes and why are you on your way to DSW this afternoon?”

As a life coach, if I have a client who needs hands-on help with physical space organization, I prefer to refer him or her to someone who will address the core problem rather than help tidy up and then go home. Carlomagno’s approach is very much aligned with my own when dealing with people’s excesses. Getting to the root of the problem is essential to long-term success. Her current New Year’s Resolution Package even includes unlimited email support after the initial purging and sorting is done.

Plus, this is a woman who walks her talk. She brings her own personal simplifying experiences to her business, a journey she has chronicled in a book called, Give It Up! My Year of Learning to Live Better with Less.

“I wanted to get more enjoyment out of life,” she says. “So instead of adding something, like taking a class or going on a retreat, I decided to move away some obstacles. I gave up my vices and started helping other people get rid of theirs.”

By the time she was laid off from her corporate job in early 2004, Carlomagno had already been planning to start Order. By July of that year, she had her company and she had sold her book to Harper Collins. A nice little lemonade from lemons story, yes?

And she believes, as I do, that clearing physical space makes room for new, better things to come in. As it turns out, the Great Simplifier is also a bit of a philosopher.

“When you walk into a room and can’t see the floor, how can you see your path?” Carlomagno says. “If you can’t see the floor, you don’t know where you’re going. You want a clear path.”

It makes it easier to follow your bliss.

Nancy Colasurdo is a practicing life coach and freelance writer. Her Web site is www.nancola.com. Please direct all questions/comments to FOXGamePlan@gmail.com.