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Our story · Built by an organizer

Nothing was quite right, so we built our own.

I’m Michelle Garb. I run Free Your Space, a professional organizing business in Los Angeles. I tried every app out there, then a homemade mix of six tools. Portara is what we built to replace all of it, and it runs my business every day.

Free Your Space Professional Organizing (opens in a new tab) · Los Angeles, California

Free Your Space Professional Organizing
Michelle Garb, professional organizer and Portara co-founder

Michelle Garb

Co-founder, Portara

Owner, Free Your Space

Where it started

My system worked, until it didn’t.

I tried nearly every management app out there. Most were missing a few things an organizing business needs. Some were missing a lot.

So I pieced together my own system with spreadsheets, documents, accounting software, proposals, automations, and invoicing. It was clever, but it was fragile. Connections broke, information stopped moving, and I could never be completely sure everything had made it through.

What kept going wrong

Small gaps became expensive problems.

  1. Work was left off invoices.

    When job details and invoicing lived in different places, products and services were easy to miss.

  2. Products were bought more than once.

    I had no dependable way to see what we had, where it was, or whether it was already meant for a job.

  3. Answers lived everywhere.

    Job details were spread across apps, documents, emails, and texts, so I double-checked everything.

So we built Portara

One place for the work, the team, the products, and the money.

Every job lives on one record instead of six tools. Each piece below exists because my business needed it.

01 · Clients · Contacts · Job history

Every client, and every job for them, in one place

I needed more than an address book. Each client has their contact details, how they like to be reached, their address, how they found us, my notes, and every job we’ve done for them. Follow-ups sit right on the job, so nobody falls through the cracks.

Portara, shown with a sample job.

02 · Estimate · Signature · Payment

Clients can sign and pay right away

I wanted clients to see the job, the price, and the terms in one place, then sign and pay the deposit without another round of emails.

Portara, shown with a sample job.

03 · Availability · Offers · Schedule

Scheduling starts with availability

I needed to see who’s available, pick the right crew for each client, and send job offers without texting everyone one by one.

Portara, shown with a sample job.

04 · Schedule · Time · Payroll

Hours come straight from the schedule

When my team finishes a shift, they tap Log Time and the job and start time are already filled in. I approve the week’s hours, then send them to Square Payroll or download totals for any other payroll.

Portara, shown with a sample job.

05 · Notes · Briefing · Job log

Briefings keep everyone up to speed

Job notes build a running log, and briefings get my team up to speed fast, even when someone takes over for another organizer.

Portara, shown with a sample job.

06 · Needed · On hand · Assigned

No more guessing what you already have

I was tired of buying the same products twice. Now I can see what a job needs, what we already have, and where it is.

Portara, shown with a sample job.

The result

Less second-guessing. Fewer missing pieces. One place to check every job.

“The job tracking is just perfect. I know exactly where we are in the job, what’s needed, and what we have. It eliminates all the second-guessing I used to do because all the information was spread all over the place.”
Michelle Garb, Co-founder of Portara and owner of Free Your Space

Portara for professional organizers

Now it can run your business too.

  • Client records, job history, and follow-ups
  • Estimates, signatures, and deposits
  • Employee availability and job offers
  • Time entry from the schedule, approvals, and payroll
  • Job notes and team briefings
  • Products, invoices, and payments
Start my 14‑day free trialSee Portara for organizers

Personal setup, included

You won’t set it up alone.

A real person from the Portara team sets it up with you. You tell us how you work. We do the setup.

  1. 1

    Your customers

    Send us your list or spreadsheet. We’ll import it for you.

  2. 2

    Your services and prices

    Tell us your rates, packages, and sessions. We’ll enter them.

  3. 3

    Your products and markup

    Send us what you stock and what you charge. We’ll add it all.

  4. 4

    Card payments

    We’ll walk you through connecting your account, step by step.

  5. 5

    Your first estimate

    We’ll build it with you, for a real upcoming job.

Included during your free trial, too.

And after setup? We’re still here.

Stuck on something? We’re one email away, and a real person writes back. We’ll show you as many times as it takes. Short how-to videos cover every part of Portara, too.

Let’s get your business organized.

Try it yourself, or let us walk you through it. We’ll help you get set up either way.

Start my 14‑day free trial

No credit card. Setup help included.

Book a live walkthrough

Book a live walkthrough

Pick a time. We’ll walk you through all of the features and benefits of Portara, and answer any questions you have.

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We’ll show you how it works on a quick video call.

Michelle Garb is a co-founder of Portara. Free Your Space is her professional organizing business, and it runs on Portara.