Mandy Thomas, Rethink Organization LLC

I got back yesterday from my 4th annual The Photo Managers conference and can report it was excellent! So much learning, connection, and laughing. This group has changed the way I approach business. This amazing group of experts share their knowledge and learning and everyone brings their best. It is so much fun! I cannot wait to see everyone again next year in Oklahoma City!

With Beth Caldwell – I just got recognized as one of their top fans! 🎉
These image choices are bananas but I am definitely a top fan of Beth Caldwell's in real life, so why not on FB, too! Hi, Beth! 👋

I don't share too much personal over here on my business page, but this one is big and is worth shouting from the rooftops.

Team Thomas is fundraising to help end Alzheimer's.

A beloved extended family member received a devastating diagnosis earlier this year. Our family continues to walk that road and are keeping most details private, but please believe me when I say that Alzheimer's is cruel.

Instead of giving up in despair Team Thomas is fighting back by joining Beth Caldwell and her incredible team of dedicated fundraisers over at Walk to End Alzheimer’s. Together, our team here in Pittsburgh's mission is to raise $10,000. We will meet that. We believe that a world without Alzheimer's and dementia is in the near future.

Currently, more than 6 million Americans are living with Alzheimer's. Your donation will help fund the research to end this devastating disease and support over 11 million unpaid family members and caregivers.

If you can, I would personally appreciate your support of this important effort.

Together we can make a meaningful difference.

Send a message to learn more

Are you watching American Experience on PBS? 🤔

Recently we've been making better use of our WQED PBS Passport and have been watching some fabulous shows. There is so much available - and this one - brought to my attention by Cathi Nelson of The Photo Managers - ties nicely to my professional work.

Organizing family photos, both digital and paper, marries my favorite activity (organizing!) with my interest in technology and ridding the world of digital chaos. (Checked your phone reel lately? 😉)

This episode of American Experience brings a third passion into the mix: social justice. This PBS feature looks at the power of photography to tell stories, preserve identity, and stand against oppression. It reminds us that photos are more than images. They can be powerful tools of memory, resilience, and change. This episode provides a moving reminder of why the photos we keep and share with each other truly matter.

Check it out.

My thanks to Cathi for sharing this with me.

➡️ If you're interested in getting your own photo history organized, preserved, and stored safely into the future, reach out to me.

American Experience | When is a photo an act of resistance? | Season 36 | Episode 7 Beautiful, intimate photographs of a society in the crosshairs of white supremacy.

How many places do your passwords live?

📝 Browser?
📱 Notes app?
🧠 Memory?
📄 A spreadsheet with a name like “passwords_NEW_NEWER_final2.xlsx”?

Been there.

I finally tackled that mess - both personally and professionally - and I’m sharing the whole story (plus tips for starting your own password cleanup).

🔗 Read the blog here.
https://rebrand.ly/5pxx4io

Come and join us on July 14 to learn more about this important aspect of organizing!

➡️Caregiver Clutter⬅️ Helping Clients Balance Organization and Disability Care with Angela O'Brien Professional organizers often work with clients facing unique challenges, but few are as complex as those of disability caregivers. This presentation will explore how caregiving responsibilities for disabled kids and loved ones impact a client’s ability to stay organized, leading to increased clutter, overwhelm, and emotional strain. REGISTER AT https://www.napo.net/event/virtual-2025-07-14 ✔️ Recognize the Unique Challenges of Caregivers: Understand how disability caregiving impacts a client’s ability to stay organized, leading to increased clutter, stress, and overwhelm. ✔️ Identify the Main Causes of Caregiver Clutter: Learn how paper and digital overload, physical clutter from medical and therapy equipment, and the emotional strain of caregiving contribute to disorganization. ✔️ Develop Compassionate Organizing Strategies: Gain practical approaches for helping caregiving clients manage paperwork, streamline physical spaces, and create sustainable systems that work within their unique circumstances. ✔️ Support Client’s Emotional and Mental Load: Learn how the unpredictability of a loved one’s condition, social isolation, and high stress levels affect decision-making and motivation, and how to approach organizing with empathy. ✔️ Provide Realistic, Time-Sensitive Solutions: Discover ways to help caregivers make progress in small, manageable steps, considering their limited time and energy. Fees Virtual Chapter Members: $0 Guests: $30 REGISTER AT https://www.napo.net/event/virtual-2025-07-14

I was lucky to have a really happy childhood.

Dad came over a few weeks ago and he and I sat down at my camera scanning rig and we scanned some slides from my childhood. I'd never seen these photos as a lot of my early childhood exists only on slides.

These beauties capture my joy in the spring of 1978.

For my 3rd birthday, my parents got me this banger of a red tricycle. ❤️ Getting this bike has to be one of my very earliest memories. But my birthday is in January and we lived in north central Ohio. No riding outside in January. So I remember first riding it in circles in the family room (we had green s**g carpet) that winter.

I bet my dad captured one of my first - if not very first - trips outdoors on that tricycle. My goodness, I STILL feel so happy looking at these photos. I LOVED that tricycle! ❤️

I get to see my Dad again this weekend to celebrate Father's Day. In fact, much of the family is getting together for the annual Truby Family Reunion on Saturday, and I am really looking forward to it. I am going to take along these scans and several more - and maybe capture some more stories at the same time.

I hope you have a Happy Father's Day. And I can't wait to see you, Dad. ❤️

Does this resonate with you? 🤔

Sometimes a project feels so big -- IS so big -- that you can't even see all of it. Maybe it goes into several rooms, or across several software platforms, or includes so many pieces you can't even find them all.

And you just really want a road map. "How am I supposed to get this all done?" 😣

Folks, Martin Luther King Jr. was a wise man, and that wisdom applies to more than just big things; it applies to small things too.

You and I, in this project, today, are only facing several rooms, or platforms, or pieces. We can do this.

Believe me, I understand the frustration. I know how overwhelming it can feel.

But just follow the formula. ✅
1) Make a list
2) Pick one thing
3) Do that

If you do even one thing every once in a while, it WILL get done.

You don't have to see how it is all going to end to get started. Just take the first step.

And remember, I can help you develop that road map. Ask for help if you can't find the path. I can help. I'm right here.

Be well, friends. ✨

Happy World Earth Day, friends! 🌍

Here at RETHINK, we love reducing, reusing, and recycling. It is part of what we do. ♻️

If you live in Allegheny County, check out this link. It is chock full of options. Just browsing it reminds me of things we could do being better here in our house.

For example, did you know that at the Bethel Park Best Buy here in the South Hills, you can recycle "TV equipment, cables, DVD players, wall mounts, computer equipment, tablets, desktops, ink cartridges, toner cartridges, printers/scanners/fax, cell phones, chargers, fans, vacuums, microwaves, refrigerators, washers, dryers, dishwashers, freezers, shredders, hair straighteners, curling irons, hair dryers, cameras, and memory cards?"

I did not know that but this website told me so! 🤓

We all have to do our part to try and make this world a better place. I encourage you to consider alternatives to the super-easy landfill. ♻️

Recycling New Recycling Drop-Off Finder This tool provides drop-off locations for recyclables that are within Allegheny County. Search for a company name, specific material or zip code, or explore material types and find the closest drop-off to you. This tool does not display local...