WOODROW WILSON HIGH SCHOOL Alumni
PORTLAND, OREGON
ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT
VICKI (GILLAM) NORRIS '91
Vicki (Gillam) Norris '91 restores order as the President and Founder of her company, Vicki Norris' Restoring Order®, an organizing services and products company based in Portland, Oregon. Vicki is celebrating her 10th year in business as a national organizing expert. "I’ve been “in the trenches” of people’s stuff and paper for the last 10 years," states Vicki. She has been an expert featured on HGTV’s Mission: Organization, authored two organizing books, spoken on organizing and life management nationally, designed a branded line of organizing products, and serves as an industry spokesperson for organizing products and services.
Since leaving Wilson, Vicki graduated with honors from the University of Puget Sound where she majored in Communications and minored in English-Professional Writing. After graduation she went into non-profit work for three years, held her real estate license for five years, and in 1999 Vicki followed her life-long skill set and passions and opened her own business "Restoring Order®", hanging out my shingle as a professional organizer. In 2003, she became so busy that she hired her first employees and has pioneered the concept of a professional organizing firm with a trained team of organizing consultants in an industry of solo-operators. Vicki now has six employees and five business divisions at Restoring Order®: hands-on organizing consulting, organizing products, speaking & workshops, books, and brand. She adds, "In 2001 I married Trevor Norris (after meeting on a cruise ship) and we have been married almost 8 years. We have two beautiful boys Nash (2) and Brock (8 mo.)."
When asked about her time at Wilson, Vicki was quick to tell us that, "One of my favorite teachers at Wilson was Mr. Basaraba who was an excellent, challenging, and highly-respected English teacher. One that took a personal interest in me was Mr. Scott McDermott who used to allow me to come in early and work through math equations with me to make sure I understood the problems. Recently I tracked him down to thank him for his impact on my life. As captain of the dance team I enjoyed all our competitions and even our grueling workouts at Mary Rieke. Being tall I was always center in the kick-line and helped to hold a long line of kicking dancers together…the most continuous kicks we ever did was 92 in one routine! My dearest friend from high school Jen Deas (Miller) became Rose Festival Queen –such a thrill - and believe it or not is now working with Restoring Order!" Vicki's brother is Rob Gillam '90 and her parents are Jean and Bud Fischer.
Find out more about Vicki and Restoring Order®: http://www.restoringorder.com, http://restoringorder.com/professional_organizing_about_us_vicki_norris.html, or check out her new blog at: www.VickiNorrisBlog.com.