Good Neighbor Podcast: Pittsburgh

E84: Breaking Through Limiting Beliefs with Clear Intentions: How Executive Coaching Changes Lives

• Leila Carter & Dr. Barbara Schwark • Episode 84

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What makes Dr. Barbara Schwark with Clear Intentions a good neighbor?  

What does it take to break through invisible barriers and achieve what seems impossible? Dr. Barbara Schwark knows the answer lies deeper than most realize.

When Dr. Barbara discovered coaching in the early 90s, it wasn't yet mainstream. After experiencing profound personal transformation through a seminar called Insight Pittsburgh, she recognized how proper guidance could help people surpass their self-imposed limitations. Thirty years later, her company Clear Intentions International has helped over 2,000 clients worldwide make extraordinary changes in their lives and businesses.

During our conversation, Dr. Barbara dismantles common coaching misconceptions with compelling evidence. Far from being an unnecessary luxury, executive coaching delivers measurable returns—companies implementing coaching programs frequently experience double-digit growth and drastically reduced turnover costs. She emphasizes that professional coaches undergo rigorous certification through organizations like the International Coach Federation, ensuring clients receive expert guidance tailored to their specific needs.

What makes Dr. Barbara's approach unique is her focus on the subconscious mind. Whether working with CEOs seeking to sharpen their leadership or individuals pursuing major life changes like finding love or starting businesses, she identifies and transforms the hidden beliefs holding them back. This process creates breakthroughs that mere self-help books cannot achieve. As Dr. Barbara powerfully states, "Anything is possible if you're willing to do the work" to change those limiting beliefs.

Want to experience the transformative power of professional coaching? Connect with Dr. Barbara Schwark at clearintentions.net or find her on social media platforms. Her message is clear: your dreams are achievable with the right guidance and willingness to examine what's truly holding you back.

To learn more about Clear Intentions go to: 

http://www.clearintentions.net/

Clear Intentions

(412)656-8841

Speaker 1:

This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place where local businesses and neighbors come together. Here's your host, Lila Carter.

Speaker 2:

Welcome to the Good Neighbor Podcast. Are you feeling stuck and in need of an executive coach? One might be closer than you think. Coach One might be closer than you think. Today I have the pleasure of introducing your good neighbor, Dr Barbara Schwark, with Clear Intentions. Dr Barbara, how's it going?

Speaker 3:

It's going well, thank you. How are you doing today?

Speaker 2:

Very well. Thank you so much. We're excited to learn all about you and your business, so please tell us more about your company.

Speaker 3:

So thank you. I have an executive coaching and life coaching company called Clear Intentions International and I've been working with people, helping them make big changes in their life, increasing their confidence, for the last 30 years. And I actually do it globally, so I have clients all the way from Hong Kong to San Francisco.

Speaker 2:

Very good. How did you get into this business?

Speaker 3:

So I got into the business because I myself was in need of a coach and coaching didn't really exist back then and I took a seminar in the early 90s in Pittsburgh called Insight Pittsburgh, and it changed my life because I realized that with the help and the support of the coach you can actually achieve things that you didn't think you could achieve. And I changed my mindset. I did some rewiring of you know, let go of some limiting beliefs, and that's how I got started.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, what a light bulb moment for you.

Speaker 3:

What are some?

Speaker 2:

myths, or maybe misconceptions in your industry that you'd like to discuss today.

Speaker 3:

So that's a really good point. So I think some people think that coaching isn't really that effective. Or you don't really need a coach and I can do it myself. You know, all I need to do is read some of those health books and then I can, and I can change.

Speaker 3:

And and the other misconception is that coaches aren't really trained and they don't have coach specific training. Or you know that anybody can be a coach, right? So when it comes to the first, there's actually a bunch of research that has been done and you can see whether it's in the executive coaching field that when somebody in the company is being let go of and that person has to be replaced, that replacement cost is between one and seven times that person's salary, and when you coach somebody, it's a fraction of that. So you know, I work with a company in Pittsburgh and I do some management training and that helps with retention and that supports the bottom line, that helps morale. You know, really, on all areas of business, and while you can't always measure it so directly, the impact is really really great and companies that have coaches usually grow by double digits.

Speaker 3:

So that's one of the myths I like to talk about, and the other is there's many, many trainings out there for coaching. We have an International Coacheration that certifies coaches. I think they have like 40 or 50,000 members now globally. You know, in Pittsburgh you have a coaches association and people are very certified and you know, you want to make sure that if you hire a coach, that you hire somebody that's a good fit for you and that they're certified and educated. You hire a coach, that you hire somebody that's a good fit for you and that they're certified and educated and so that, um, they know what what you well, you know they know what they're doing. In addition, for it for it to be a good fit for you absolutely, that's great insight.

Speaker 2:

So, as we're thinking of marketing as the heart of any business, who are your target customers and how are you currently attracting?

Speaker 3:

them. So my customers fall into different buckets. So on one hand, I have the executives, you know, ceos of companies, international companies, or the vice presidents. They're looking to sharpen their saw, polish their diamonds and to be more effective leaders. And on the other bucket, I have my life coaching clients and they're looking to embark on big changes.

Speaker 3:

You know, it could be we want to have another baby, or I want to attract the love of my life, or I want to start a small business, and what I specialize in is looking at the way that you've wired yourself. So I look at your unconscious, your subconscious and the beliefs that are sitting there. That's holding you back. So I market myself in different ways. I have a newsletter different ways. I have a newsletter. I also have a podcast where I interview people.

Speaker 3:

Um, I, you know I do the whole social media thing instagram, linkedin, you know, facebook and then I speak, but I think the most powerful way is my word of mouth that people. You know I've coached over I probably over 2000 people by now. So you know people like, they refer me because they know me and they like how I. You know I had a big breakthrough with Barbara and you know I made a difference on my company grew, you know, like 300% in a really short period of time. So we have that. I have that personal recommendation with the, with the evidence or the results that people experience.

Speaker 2:

So outside of work, Barbara, what do you do for?

Speaker 3:

fun. So what do I do for fun? I do a lot of sort of exercise-y kind of thing. I do yoga. I like to go to coffee shops like explore new coffee shops, shops like explore new coffee shops. I, you know, I like to travel and I have a robust, you know, meditative, spiritual sort of practice, and some people might think that's not fun, but I consider that to be fun and lately I've picked back up playing the piano. Oh, very, good.

Speaker 2:

So, dr Barbara, please tell our listeners one thing that they should remember about clear intentions.

Speaker 3:

The thing that they need to remember about clear intentions is that anything is possible, that if you want to change, if you want to move yourself forward, you can do it. It might be a little rocky and it might be hard, but if you dig deep and you're willing to do the work that it takes to change your beliefs that you have about circumstance or something, you can do it, and so you can accomplish and make your dreams a reality.

Speaker 2:

I know so many of our listeners probably needed to hear that today. So thank you. And how can our listeners learn more about Clear Intentions?

Speaker 3:

That's easy. You can find me online. You go to clearintentionsnet and you can find information about my podcast. You can also google me, uh, youtube, uh, barbara schwark, and so it's. It's really easy. But just go to clearintentionsnet and you'll find all the information, or go to social clear intentions on facebook or instagram. I'm all over the. I'm all over the the internet, so it's easy to find me. Excellent.

Speaker 2:

Well, Dr Barbara, I really appreciate your time today and having you as a guest on our show. We wish you and your business the best moving forward. Thank you so much for having me.

Speaker 1:

Thank you for listening to the Good Neighbor Podcast. To nominate your favorite local businesses to be featured on the show, go to GNPPittsburghcom. That's GNPPittsburghcom, or call 412-561-9956.