What’s In a Name?
Catalogued by Mal is an entity that may have been formed recently in a formal, legal, business sense, but it has certainly been in the works for well over a decade. Actually, let’s be honest, it probably started in the womb.
I am certainly my mother’s daughter in terms of my love for organization; in fact, I still have strong memories of her meticulous coupon keeper in the pre-internet and loyalty card days. I’d say that college, however, is where my skills truly started to shine. From making the most out of my dorm room, to creating endless flash cards for my art history major, to learning the art of folding jeans during my stint at an on campus boutique, I learned the beauty in order and maximizing space during those years. After college, a few jobs in the retail sphere, mostly in jewelry, helped me hone in on these skills. If you are not already an organized person, let me tell you, selling jewelry during the holiday season will certainly make you one! It is utter madness; a beautiful adrenaline rush that will turn mere colleagues into families in a snap.
It was during my six years at Sotheby’s auction house that I learned that organization was truly my super power. For most of my days there I proudly served as the cataloguer for the Jewelry Department. That meant that any item that came up for auction had to pass by my desk to get a catalogue entry written, and then sorted for photography. After photography, I then had to organize and route all of the pages of the catalogue for the editing phase. Some auctions would have about 250 items, some larger estate sales may have closer to 500. The system I inherited and built upon had to be constantly edited and adapted to suit the needs of each auction - so much so that some of my colleagues started calling me ‘The Enforcer’ because they knew I ran a tight ship! No two sales or seasons were ever the same - and the incredible jewels and equally incredible team I worked with were a huge part of my love for this time of my life.
Flash forward to 2022, and naturally the first thing I did when exploring company names was look up synonyms of organization. When I stumbled upon the word ‘catalogue’ I knew that was it. Being a cataloguer was such a proud and important part of my career. That role required equal uses of my right and left brain at all times, a skill I use when organizing for clients. Much like the one-of-a-kind jewels I worked with, each client I meet requires their own solutions, systems, and style, and my multi-faceted background makes me flawless fit to help.
