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

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

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place
where local businesses andneighbors come together.
Here's your host, Lila Carter.

Speaker 2 (00:14):
Welcome to the Good Neighbor Podcast.
Are you feeling stuck and inneed of an executive coach?
One might be closer than youthink.
Coach One might be closer thanyou think.
Today I have the pleasure ofintroducing your good neighbor,
Dr Barbara Schwark, with ClearIntentions.
Dr Barbara, how's it going?

Speaker 3 (00:34):
It's going well, thank you.
How are you doing today?

Speaker 2 (00:36):
Very well.
Thank you so much.
We're excited to learn allabout you and your business, so
please tell us more about yourcompany.

Speaker 3 (00:51):
So thank you.
I have an executive coachingand life coaching company called
Clear Intentions Internationaland I've been working with
people, helping them make bigchanges in their life,
increasing their confidence, forthe last 30 years.
And I actually do it globally,so I have clients all the way
from Hong Kong to San Francisco.

Speaker 2 (01:09):
Very good.
How did you get into thisbusiness?

Speaker 3 (01:13):
So I got into the business because I myself was in
need of a coach and coachingdidn't really exist back then
and I took a seminar in theearly 90s in Pittsburgh called
Insight Pittsburgh, and itchanged my life because I
realized that with the help andthe support of the coach you can

(01:35):
actually achieve things thatyou 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 gotstarted.

Speaker 2 (01:49):
Yeah, what a light bulb moment for you.

Speaker 3 (01:52):
What are some?

Speaker 2 (01:52):
myths, or maybe misconceptions in your industry
that you'd like to discuss today.

Speaker 3 (01:59):
So that's a really good point.
So I think some people thinkthat coaching isn't really that
effective.
Or you don't really need acoach and I can do it myself.
You know, all I need to do isread some of those health books
and then I can, and I can change.
And and the other misconceptionis that coaches aren't really

(02:23):
trained and they don't havecoach specific training.
Or you know that anybody can bea coach, right?
So when it comes to the first,there's actually a bunch of
research that has been done andyou can see whether it's in the
executive coaching field thatwhen somebody in the company is

(02:44):
being let go of and that personhas to be replaced, that
replacement cost is between oneand seven times that person's
salary, and when you coachsomebody, it's a fraction of
that.
So you know, I work with acompany in Pittsburgh and I do
some management training andthat helps with retention and

(03:05):
that supports the bottom line,that helps morale.
You know, really, on all areasof business, and while you can't
always measure it so directly,the impact is really really
great and companies that havecoaches usually grow by double

(03:26):
digits.
So that's one of the myths Ilike to talk about, and the
other is there's many, manytrainings out there for coaching
.
We have an InternationalCoacheration that certifies
coaches.
I think they have like 40 or50,000 members now globally.
You know, in Pittsburgh youhave a coaches association and

(03:46):
people are very certified andyou know, you want to make sure
that if you hire a coach, thatyou hire somebody that's a good
fit for you and that they'recertified and educated.
You hire a coach, that you hiresomebody that's a good fit for
you and that they're certifiedand 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 tobe a good fit for you absolutely
, that's great insight.

Speaker 2 (04:07):
So, as we're thinking of marketing as the heart of
any business, who are yourtarget customers and how are you
currently attracting?

Speaker 3 (04:19):
them.
So my customers fall intodifferent buckets.
So on one hand, I have theexecutives, you know, ceos of
companies, internationalcompanies, or the vice
presidents.
They're looking to sharpentheir saw, polish their diamonds
and to be more effectiveleaders.
And on the other bucket, I havemy life coaching clients and

(04:43):
they're looking to embark on bigchanges.
You know, it could be we want tohave another baby, or I want to
attract the love of my life, orI want to start a small
business, and what I specializein is looking at the way that
you've wired yourself.

(05:03):
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 differentways.
I have a newsletter differentways.
I have a newsletter.
I also have a podcast where Iinterview people.
Um, I, you know I do the wholesocial media thing instagram,
linkedin, you know, facebook andthen I speak, but I think the

(05:27):
most powerful way is my word ofmouth that people.
You know I've coached over Iprobably over 2000 people by now
.
So you know people like, theyrefer me because they know me
and they like how I.
You know I had a bigbreakthrough with Barbara and
you know I made a difference onmy company grew, you know, like
300% in a really short period oftime.

(05:47):
So we have that.
I have that personalrecommendation with the, with
the evidence or the results thatpeople experience.

Speaker 2 (05:56):
So outside of work, Barbara, what do you do for?

Speaker 3 (05:59):
fun.
So what do I do for fun?
I do a lot of sort ofexercise-y kind of thing.
I do yoga.
I like to go to coffee shopslike explore new coffee shops,
shops like explore new coffeeshops.
I, you know, I like to traveland I have a robust, you know,

(06:26):
meditative, spiritual sort ofpractice, and some people might
think that's not fun, but Iconsider that to be fun and
lately I've picked back upplaying the piano.
Oh, very, good.

Speaker 2 (06:39):
So, dr Barbara, please tell our listeners one
thing that they should rememberabout clear intentions.

Speaker 3 (06:44):
The thing that they need to remember about clear
intentions is that anything ispossible, that if you want to
change, if you want to moveyourself forward, you can do it.
It might be a little rocky andit might be hard, but if you dig
deep and you're willing to dothe work that it takes to change
your beliefs that you haveabout circumstance or something,

(07:04):
you can do it, and so you canaccomplish and make your dreams
a reality.

Speaker 2 (07:12):
I know so many of our listeners probably needed to
hear that today.
So thank you.
And how can our listeners learnmore about Clear Intentions?

Speaker 3 (07:21):
That's easy.
You can find me online.
You go to clearintentionsnetand 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 toclearintentionsnet and you'll

(07:44):
find all the information, or goto 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 (07:56):
Well, Dr Barbara, I really appreciate your time
today and having you as a gueston our show.
We wish you and your businessthe best moving forward.
Thank you so much for having me.

Speaker 1 (08:10):
Thank you for listening to the Good Neighbor
Podcast.
To nominate your favorite localbusinesses to be featured on
the show, go to GNPPittsburghcom.
That's GNPPittsburghcom, orcall 412-561-9956.