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Toni Reece: Thank you so much for agreeing to do the project interview today, and before we go into the questions, can you please introduce yourself?

Joyce Schwarz: I’m Joyce Schwarz, and I’m an author, producer, and I guess serial entrepreneur.  My most recent book is the bestselling book, The Vision Board:  The Secret to an Extraordinary Life.

Toni: Fantastic!  Well thank you so much for being with us, and the first question that we ask in this project is, when you think about inspiration, Joyce, who do you inspire, and how do you do that?

Joyce: Who do I inspire?  That’s interesting, because when I first think about inspiration, I think about getting inspiration from others or from the world itself, or from travel.  But when I actually think about who do I inspire … well, you know, I like to inspire everybody.  I was thinking about that when I got a couple of your sample questions.

My whole thing is that I was raised in a housing project in Cleveland, Ohio, and my dream was to get on a Greyhound bus and go somewhere.  And I always figure there’s somebody else like that somewhere, and maybe probably everywhere, that I meet them throughout the day.  And so if I see somebody in a parking lot that I see has a cute dress on or has something that’s interesting, or I read something online, or I see a little video or whatever, I’ll just pick up the phone and give you a call.  So I think I did that with you …

Toni: You did!

Joyce: … or an email.  And sometimes it’s of benefit to me professionally, but a lot of times I figure, “Well, I could use that little jolt of extra energy or input or inspiration from somebody else”, and so I actually do it more of an admiration kind of thing; and then out of the admiration comes inspiration.

Toni: Oh, that’s fantastic!  So, the way that you inspire others is really just to kind of notice the small or the big things that other people are doing and to send that admiration their way in the form of whatever.

Joyce: Right, right!  Because one, it inspires me that, you know, when I read about your project; I thought “Oh, this lady’s doing this – this is fabulous!  Why didn’t I think about doing this before?”  And what was so fascinating is you found the perfect way to do it which was the blog format … of course, every day, right?  Rather than a calendar format or a flip book or, you know, a calendar – well, you could still do that, you’ve got all these merchandising opportunities.

Toni: Well thank you for that.  With the work that you do, Joyce, and how you go about it and approach inspiring others, how do you, in the work, help people to explore their potential?

Joyce: Well, one of the things that I do certainly in the book, The Vision Board book, and also in my private coaching and in my … I put about 50,000 hours of private coaching, and that’s not just one-on-one, it’s with groups of people and with companies that have started new start-ups — as we call them out here in California and in Silicon Valley — venture-funded start-ups or some start-ups that have what’s called “Angel Funding.”  And so it’s entrepreneurship in a more progressive kind of way of actually getting capital rather than … Most of us own our own business, but we don’t — or many of us own our own business — but what we go to is actually turn it into a business; we make it into a living.

And so, that’s the thing that I’ve really inspired women to do and people of all cultures and backgrounds was to actually create revenue and capital — and that’s the American system — and out of that also to tie in social entrepreneurship, which is something for something, doing some goodwill.  Obviously we know about Ben & Jerry or some of the other wonderful projects that Starbucks has done, to outreach to the community.

I’m probably best known for working with Ralph’s grocery stores as a consultant to launch the missing kids on the milk carton campaign nationally.  I’m quick to say that this wasn’t my idea — the concept itself — and it was a small dairy in Michigan.  And I think that’s part of what we do when we inspire people is we look at what they’ve done, and then they inspired me.  And in turn, Patrick Collins, who was the President of Ralph’s grocery stores, had heard about the same project; and next thing you know, we were taking this nationally.

And so that’s where inspiration really grows.  It’s kind of like a tree in us; if it’s got some strong roots, then it grows onto different branches.

Toni: And so basically what I’m hearing that you do is that you help to not only maybe plant so the roots are there, but also if the roots are there, to keep them strong.

Joyce: Right.  And also I suppose my greatest analogy is a butterfly one of finding people that maybe are old, tired butterflies … maybe they’ve been flying around by themselves, and maybe it’s just been a heck of a time out there, a lot of windy storms.  And what I’m doing is to revitalize them and have them probably come back again as new, fresh butterflies with little caterpillar stages and all of that, and the idea is to encourage them to fly.  You know, the old “teach people to fish” kind of thing.

Oftentimes I will throw people in a pool a bit, but I always figure the most important part of this inspiration kind of concept is not necessarily to be loved and to be adored and to be a guru or an expert, but to really inspire people to reach their own personal potential.

Toni: Well, let’s go with that.  As far as inspiration for you, Joyce, what do you need to be inspired?  What do you reach for when you know, “You know what, I need to fill myself up a bit”, or just something that inspires you on a daily basis?  What is that?

Joyce: Well, part of it is I do look for these other things that are unusual or different.  And I started my career at the magazines in New York, and I remember I used to read 10 or 12 different magazines or 6 or 8 newspapers — and obviously that used to be kind of the rich person’s prerogative, but now of course with the internet, we all have that option — is to get out of our own lives and to look at something different.  And that’s one of the things that I constantly have to remind myself to do is to get out.

And maybe it’s just, you know, you’re going to actually look at a motorcycle magazine if you’re totally working into the fashion industry.  Or if you’re going to be climbing mountains, you’re going to be looking at an underwater video or something.  So that it’s really almost the opposite of what you’re doing.  So this is part of really following your own path and doing it your own way.  Then, searching and looking for what’s innovative, different, and also with old, because you know, the cycle returns.

Toni: So the way that you stay inspired is to continuously seek something different to bring to your attention, to bring something else to life by looking at different mediums and so forth?

Joyce: Right.  Every three months, I like to do something totally different with my career or with my income streams and so I know this sounds a little outrageous.  But I challenge myself every three months to take on some new project that’s totally different and hopefully maybe even in a different area.  Like right now, I’ve spent the last three months working a lot on speaking and being out there and speaking with my book, The Vision Board, and sharing that at the Body-Mind-Spirit Expo and elsewhere.

And now I’ve just taken on a new project which is to work with the Show Biz Expo in New York and in Los Angeles and to open doors for new filmmakers in the show business arena.  And so It’s just one of the many paths that I’ll have that will bring income in, but it will also keep me fresh and keep me inspired, and I think that I’m looking …

I’m very visual, very kind of multisensory kind of person, kind of very multimedia.  That whole world opened up to me in the early 90s, and I realized that I did have film, I did have video, I did have the writing background, and the moving image and all of that, I felt, was crucial to our futures.  So I’m always looking for something that’s quite a bit different to do and challenge myself within every three-month period.

Toni: So when you are going through all of this, then how does that … I think you’ve explained it in a bit here … but how does that also then help you to continue to explore your own potential in other areas?  Is that what you do when you try these different things and you go down these different paths?  Does that also help you to dig down and continuously explore this potential within yourself?

Joyce: Well, I think it’s not only exploring it, but developing it.  It’s kind of like developing new neural pathways in our brain, or talking a walk, or drive, as they often say, you know just drive home a different way or drive to work a different way, or whatever it is, or eat dessert first.  It’s that sense of surprise, that sense of wonder, that “Aahh!”  And I think that’s what really encourages me.

The other thing, of course, is to bring out the kid in me.  When I went to Bogotá, Columbia, I actually went to the Children’s Museum, and the cab driver was just having almost a little fit because he goes “No, no, it’s for ninos, ninos, for kids!”  And I go “No, no, I’m going, I’m going!”  And I went over there, and I just had a ball with the interactive kind of things and watching the kids and playing and sitting down and coloring, and whatever.  I’m going like, “Well, I’m sure some people think I’m probably nuts.”

But one, I think it’s, you know, the next generation of education, of who more than … who better to bring us inspiration than children and who better for us to inspire than is children.

Toni: So Joyce, when you go through this to not only explore but then to experience — as you’ve said, to develop your talents and keep moving in these different directions and go through all of this — how does all of the inspiration you receive plus the way that you translate that into your work in the different revenue streams you said that you generate, how does that then translate into how you inspire?

Joyce: Well, I think that, one, it gives me a broad background in a lot of different industries.  And that’s one of the great opportunities that I’ve had is to work with, I must say, I’ve worked with people with 82 different professions, I once counted up, from astrologers and astronomers to zoologists.  I’ve actually worked with people at the San Diego Zoo.

So, one, it’s giving me a commonality with that and, of course, we’ve all learned that from social media; and we should have learned it from life, too, of always looking for something that’s in common with the other person so that you can begin to relate.  Because if they can’t relate to you, they can’t be inspired by you, and so I think the important part is to be able to give, but to be able to share, and I’m always looking for that opportunity to share something and to learn something from the other person so that then we can work on a project together.  And I always say that, you know, never underestimate the person’s title, their age, their sex, their race, how well they speak the language that you speak, or whatever, because you don’t know.

I mean, when I was in the advertising business and a big mucky-muck Vice President for big international advertising agencies, I’d often find that my greatest ideas would come from the guard at the front desk downstairs in the building, or a secretary, or a receptionist, or someone else, because it was very different.  They didn’t have all of the facts, all the figures; and what they had though, was a sense of wonder or awe, and I’m always looking for that; and I’m always looking to perhaps open that up to other people.

Now that doesn’t mean that everybody kind of goes “Oh, Joyce is so inspirational all the time!” – they might go “Joyce is like really tough sometimes.  She wants us to do things differently.  She wants us to do it our way.”

When I teach my certified vision board counselor classes around the world, I go “Well, you have to have your own spin.”  And people go “What do you mean?  Can’t we just teach the way you teach?”  “No!  I want you to add something special to it.”  And they go like “Wow, that’s interesting.”  And so I’m not for the cookie-cutter kind of person, the person that wants to stay the same.  They are going to be more than inspired by me; they are going to be challenged.

Toni: Which also drives personal control, which sounds absolutely very powerful, not only in what you create but what you do.  And the people who have listened to you today and are reading your interview, you’ve given such a wealth of information nuggets, I think, that when you string all that together, what a great value and gift that you’ve given the people who come to the Get Inspired! Project.  And I know that we will post how to reach you and how to learn more about you, but Joyce, I can’t thank you enough for what you’ve given today in this snapshot of time for the Get Inspired! Project.  We are so grateful to you for that.

Joyce: Oh, well I’m so grateful for the opportunity.  And I guess, you know, if I’d end with anything, it’s “of the people, by the people, for the people”, and the whole idea is we’re working together.  No man, no woman is an island.

Toni: Thank you so very much.

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For more information about Joyce Schwarz:  www.ihaveavision.org, www.hollywood2020.blogs.com

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Toni Reece: Thank you so much, Bob, for agreeing to participate in this project and before we go into the questions, can you please introduce yourself?

Bob Doyle: Sure.  My name is Bob Doyle, and I’m one of the featured teachers in the film “The Secret” and I’m also the creator and the facilitator of the Wealth Beyond Reason program which is an online curriculum in the Law of Attraction.

Toni: Well, thank you!  Let’s go to the very first question of the project, which is, in the work that you do and that you’ve done, who do you think you inspire and how do you go about that?

Bob: Well, my goal is to inspire, I think, people who are a lot like me, or at least who I was.  I’m a person who kind of grew up definitely a mainstream thinker, kind of an analytical, skeptical person who always wanted more in my life but wasn’t quite sure how to get that.  And so once I started learning about the Law of Attraction and how that had been in play in my life and had kind of put me where I was and then was able to make a change, it inspired me definitely very strongly to share that with other people who were like me, because I know a lot of people who are from that kind of background.

You know, we’re somewhat jaded, and when we hear about this possibility of living your life by design and creating your own reality, we’re kind of like, “Yeah, right” or “That sounds good, but how can I do it?”  So once I realized some truth about that and how I could teach it, that’s what I want to do.  I want to inspire in other people a sense of possibility and the ability to tap back into their sense of purpose and passion, and I do that through the various endeavors I have online like the Wealth Beyond Reason program or various other programs or things that I do out there.

Toni: Are there techniques or methodologies, tools that you use when you are inspiring others?

Bob: Well, obviously we teach Law of Attraction techniques and there is a whole slew of those.  You hear about things like creating vision boards and making lists and things like meditation, visualization, so we teach those things.  But even more importantly in our work is helping people get past limiting beliefs and other forms of resistance that stop them, that cause them to have a problem even seeing a bigger picture for themselves.

And so yes, we call these tools releasing techniques because you’re literally releasing energy that is affecting what you’re putting out there from a Law of Attraction point of view and what you’re able to create.  So yes, we have a tremendous amount of tools that we provide.  Things like something called the Emotional Freedom Technique; there’s something called the Sedona Method.  Again, meditation is certainly a tool that we use along those lines.

Toni: I see; and when you’re working with these types of tools or you’re using your own experience of where you’ve been to where you are now, how do you think that that helps explore the potential in others?

Bob: Well, you know, what it does is it opens them up to extensive possibility that they perhaps have never had before, and that is really … As adults who are just sort of learning, as a society, we’re just sort of learning about this whole Law of Attraction.  It’s a conversation that’s been around for literally hundreds of years but in terms on a scale that we’re knowing about it now, we’re kind of learning about this as adults.  And what I run into is a lot of people who really truly had lost touch with their sense of purpose and vision in their life.

And so I’m hoping that these tools allow them to shake off some of those limiting beliefs that they’ve had, the thought patterns that have kept them stuck, and then that they inspire themselves and be able to get inspired by seeing other people to follow their passion.  Because I know a lot of times … I know my experience was that when I would see somebody who was really living their passion, I did feel inspired but I also felt a little depressed because I was not doing that, and I really wanted to know how to do that.  And so, when you can go from kind of feeling like beating yourself up for not living your dream to seeing possibility to do that, I think that changes lives in a very powerful way.

Toni: How do people come to you?  How do you find people that might have lost touch with their sense of purpose so that you can help them to explore that potential of possibilities?

Bob: Well, virtually all of our work is done is online, on the internet, and so we share our program that way; and there is a lot of word of mouth because obviously when people have that kind of shift in their life they like to tell people about it.  From a Law of Attraction point of view, who I am being is a person who … My intention is to attract these people, and so all of the actions that I take online or the content that I create or the things that I teach will hopefully reach those people.  It’s just a natural process of attraction.  My message should resonant with those people who I’m trying to reach.  So it just sort of happens.  The internet is, for the most part, the channel through which it happens.

Toni: So when you are trying to look for your own inspiration and filling yourself up so that you can stay inspired to help others to explore this potential, what do you need to be inspired?

Bob: You know what inspires me, and I kind of touched on it before, is people who live their passion.  That is what always drove me because I saw that it is possible, you know.  It is actually possible for a person to live the life of their dreams regardless of their past.  I’m very fortunate.  Last year we created something called the Balanced Living Challenge which, in a nutshell, has resulted in an online community filled with people who are dedicated to living a life of passion.  And we provide the Law of Attraction and resisting releasing tools I talked about before so that these people can actually do that.  And right now that community is something like 13,000 people.  If I ever need inspiration, I can just go there and see what these people are up to and see how they’ve transformed their lives.

But really, truly, I am inspired by a person who plays full out.  And it can be a musician who just really plays full out or some other creative artist or a person who has a dream for a business that they’ve wanted to do that is an extension of who they are and they go out there and do it.  That’s what inspires me to keep doing the same thing in my life because you know, we all, no matter who you are, we do get sometimes mired in our stuff and we start focusing on things that really aren’t in alignment with our dreams.  And so it’s necessary to check in with your sources of inspiration just like you’re alluding to.  So I find my inspiration in other people who are taking on their lives in a big way.

Toni: People that are reading your interview or listening to your interview, they’re going to be taking away learning from this and benefit by it because you’ve given so much information so far.  But what seems to be coming out of these interviews is when a person goes back to what they were like before they started living their sense of purpose and where that inspiration came from so that they knew that this is where they wanted to be.  So I’m wondering if there was some sort of an “ah-ha!” moment for you that you said “You know what, this is what I need for inspiration to move me to that potential of possibility so that others can learn from that as well.”  Was there a turning point for you?

Bob: You know, I think it was a series of things.  I was so miserable in my career choices, and I was disillusioned because I thought that they were all things that I really wanted to do.  But during that time, that’s when I would see … I have actually a particular story, and it seems kind of silly, but there’s a band out there called Cowboy Mouth, and the lead singer of that band is a guy named Fred LeBlanc, and his message … You know, you go to a rock show, you think you’re going to hear music and all that.  This guy would deliver a message about living your passion and how precious life is in a way that it really pulled at me.  I was that person I was describing before; so inspired to see this person live full out and have such an impact on this group, and it hurt me because I hadn’t figured it out.  But I did make a commitment to myself every time I would see them that “I will find my inspiration and I will live my sense of purpose and I will be successful at it.”

But I’ve had lots of turning-point moments, a lot of “ah-ha!” moments because there was that … there was the commitment to absolutely not settling for anything less than a life that I absolutely loved.  And then there was the huge turning point when I discovered the Law of Attraction and was able to see why so many attempts that I made turned out into what I interpreted as failure because I was limited by my beliefs about money, about success, about what I could do, about what career could be, even though I consciously wanted more money and I wanted a career that I really loved.

What I had learned growing up was that you had to do whatever it took to earn money; it didn’t matter if you liked it.  So once I discovered that that wasn’t true, that I actually had a choice in how I could create the rest of my life – major turning point.  It was a major turning point because instead of just taking the concepts that I would hear about creating your life by design or anything like that, once I understood the science of it, that was what I needed.  I needed to know what this Law of Attraction thing was all about and how energy worked and how our thoughts actually had an impact on our experience of reality.  Once that happened, then everything I had learned about living your life by design and creating your reality suddenly made sense.  It didn’t seem so new-agey or woo-woo or even just out there.  It was just scientific and I could see how changing my thoughts would change my life.  And so I immediately stepped into being somebody who was much more powerful than who I had been being, and that made the difference.

Toni: How does that then turn into continuously exploring your own potential?

Bob: Well, because what you understand is that once you arrive at that next step where you think that’s like the ultimate, you’re gonna soon realize that, although that’s awesome, your vision grows.  It expands.  The universe expands.  It’s the nature of things.  It’s the nature of the universe.  And so, our vision will expand, too.

I’m always looking to stretch past my next comfort zone or my next level of what I consider to be success or whatever.  But that only occurred because I was able to do it that first time and then see how it was possible.  So if I can do this, what else can I do?  And I think that’s a really valuable lesson that I learned early on is that you’re never really done, you know?  So there’s always a reason to keep growing, keep getting inspired, keep learning, and keep making a difference in the world because it’s through sharing what you’ve learned and putting your value out there in a big way that you attract the things that are going to then help you get to your next level.  And it becomes this ripple effect, and it’s cyclical, and it’s ever expanding.

Toni: Well it sounds really exciting, and you have shared a lot of information here.  And I’ve heard a lot of key phrases from your own personal needs for inspiration and exploring your potential which, from what I understood with what you’ve said here, is that you have to make a choice, then make the commitment to understand that you can get to that potential of possibilities.  Did I capture that correctly?

Bob: Yeah, that’s correct.  But in reality, that understanding that you can is sometimes a very big leap for people.  You know, they might have a vision, but understanding that they can actually do it is the piece that’s really missing for them.  And that is really the basis of what our work is all about is showing them not only that they can do it, telling them that over and over, but showing them exactly why they can do it, and then how.

Toni: And they would use the tools that you have used in order to get there.

Bob: That’s correct.  Or tools that they hear about as a result of starting down this path in the first place; because my tools work for me and a lot of people like me, but they may or may not be effective for a particular individual.  However, once you start down this path and are committed to that kind of growth in your life, then you will attract what you need as long as you hold your vision.

Toni: As long as you make that commitment as well.

Bob: Correct.

Toni: I tell you Bob, you have been incredibly generous with your time and providing these nuggets of information for people that are reading and listening to this Get Inspired! Project.  And the reach that this project is taking so early on has really just been overwhelming to us.  And to have you be part of this and to share this with those who are listening all over the world, we can’t thank you enough and for that.  We are incredibly grateful.

Bob: Well thank you, Toni.  I appreciate being asked in the first place.

Toni: Well thank you and take care, and I hope that we connect soon.

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For more information about Bob Doyle:  www.wealthbeyondreason.com

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