Her Story
About Barbara
Barbara Zuleger has been in the consulting industry since 2008. She serves as founder and strategic advisor to business owners, working from an office out of her home. Her practice focuses mainly on coaching women who own more than one business, providing weekly calls to review plans, offering guidance on issues that arise, and acting as a partner to help them navigate challenges within their businesses. She is a certified business coach through a franchise she bought into after her own earlier businesses did not succeed as expected, and she is also a certified exit planner who helps businesses accelerate value and prepare for exit options. Zuleger does not hold a college degree; her education has come from running multiple businesses, including one started nearly 30 years ago that began as a part-time venture. She attributes her success to persistence and problem solving, helping clients get clear on real problems, identify roadblocks or bottlenecks, and move beyond them by bringing systems to their work. Her mission centers on improving quality of life for business owners through businesses that are sustainable, leveraged, and profitable, with family and quality of life coming first so the business supports that balance rather than the reverse.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Barbara
01What do you attribute your success to?
I attribute my success to persistence and problem solving. It's about helping clients stay persistent, getting clear on the real problem, identifying the roadblock or bottleneck, and figuring out how to get beyond that. I bring systems to my clients.
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
Always remember that with my experience and history in the workforce, I have something to offer within that room or to that client. People will pick up what it is that they're needing. Not trying to solve 10 years of problems in a 2-hour meeting, but bringing forth the possibilities of where that business could go first.
03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
Make sure they know their why. Why are they doing this work? Why does it matter to them? There has to be a depth of reason behind it. For me, it's about businesses that I ran years ago that didn't do well, and that's what got me into this business. I wanted to know why this wasn't working for me, and how could I help somebody else to avoid the same challenges I faced.
04What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
The challenge is that when I first started, people didn't know what a business coach was. Now everybody's a coach, so being able to define what a business strategist does and how it's different than a life coach is important. It's much more structured around my own proprietary systems. The opportunity going forward is that more people running businesses are open to working with a partner who can help guide them and be a sounding board.
05What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
It's family first. It's quality of life first for people and then build that business so that it supports that, not just building a big business. My mission is improving quality of life for business owners through businesses that are sustainable, leveraged, and profitable. It's about helping them find that balance by getting clarity on what they're doing and when they're doing it.
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