A place for everything: Messy desks have put Chicago-area professional organizer Eileen Parelman in the national spotlight. The answering machine on Parelman’s own clean desk in Wheeling has not stopped taking calls from editors, radio stations and companies since she appeared on NBC’s “Today” show Jan. 10 for National Clean Off Your Desk Day.
Parelman, used to advising local business clients and addressing community education classes at Hersey High School in Arlington Heights and Gorton Community Center in Lake Forest about organizing for success, had sent letters to media members alerting them of the national get-organized day. She never thought she’d end up on network television.
“When I picked up the phone, it was (NBC) New York calling. Major excitement,” said Parelman, who got the celebrity treatment: “I was flown out to New York, put up in an expensive hotel and picked up by a limo.” She even got to check out the desks of some NBC personalities, including Jane Pauley and Phil Donahue.
Asked how long she thought her celebrity feeling would last, Parelman said, “It’s not permanent. It’s not like winning the lottery. I didn’t win a million bucks.” She paused, then added, “But I felt like a million bucks.”