Tidying up after a passing

Sica, 30, was born in Hebei province and graduated from Shanghai International Studies University in 2012 after studying English. She was introduced to the art of organizing while working in a Japanese advertising company in Beijing from 2015 to 2017.

Sica has worked part time as a decluttering consultant since 2018 and in March last year traveled to New York to study with others who wanted to become professional home organizers with certificates issued by Marie Kondo, one of the most prominent experts in the field of home organizing and tidying possessions after someone has left. Her book, The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up, has sold millions of copies worldwide and has inspired countless numbers of people to reorganize their homes and lives. Among the students in that year were three Japanese, two Korean Americans, a Chinese Canadian and Sica, the only Chinese person, she says.

Sica now owns her company and her employees are part time, all under the age of 30. Their customers are between 20 and 35 years old and include students, doctors and teachers. Services are charged by the hour and the size of the area that needs to be tidied and organized. Charges can range from 200 yuan ($30) to 500 yuan an hour for each person depending on the volume of work.