In this Business Blast Podcast episode, host Tyler Wagner interviews business coach Claire Sewell, founder of Swell Coach. Claire shares a defining personal story of climbing Mount Kilimanjaro, illustrating how an inner quiet voice helped her push through physical hardship and reinforcing her belief that we are not our thoughts. She explains her core coaching concept: the "mental operating system," which posits that individuals create their moment‑to‑moment experience through thinking, and that shifting this perception drives better leadership, innovation, communication, resilience, and overall performance in organizations. Claire emphasizes that great relationships are the foundation of business, noting that each of the 6.5 billion people lives in a unique reality shaped by culture and experience, so listening to understand rather than to respond transforms team dynamics and can turn dysfunctional groups into high‑performing ones. She offers personal advice to her younger self—"you are enough"—and frames happiness as an inside job, rooted in self‑knowledge and present‑moment awareness. The book that most impacted her is Eckhart Tolle’s The Power of Now, which taught her the power of being fully present, likening it to being "in the zone" for peak performance. Her favorite quote from Amelia Earhart underscores the importance of decisive action and tenacity over fear. The episode closes with Claire’s contact information: Swell Coach website (swellcoach.co.uk) and her LinkedIn profile.
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Welcome to the Business Blast Podcast. I'm your host, Tyler Wagner. This episode is brought to you by Authors Unite. Authors Unite provides you with all the resources you need to become a successful author. You can learn more about Authors Unite and join the free community at authorsunite.com. Now let's jump into the episode.
All right everyone, welcome back to another episode of the Business Blast Podcast. I'm your host Tyler Wagner. Today I have Claire Sewell with us. She is a business coach and she is the owner of Swell Coach, which is a coaching consultancy. So welcome to the show, Claire.
Thanks so much, great to be here.
Of course, great to have you here. And we'll dive in. The first question I have for you, Claire, is what is the best story from your life that has an underlying valuable message?
I've had about 5 defining moments in my life where I've been utterly broken, either physically, emotionally, or financially. Physically, for example, was when I was climbing Mount Kilimanjaro. It was the final day, we were heading up to Uhuru Peak, which is the summit. I had a blister on the heel of my foot, so I'd been limping for about 4 hours. The air was thin and I was struggling to breathe. It was minus whatever degrees. I was freezing and my head was screaming to stop from exhaustion. But underneath all that was a quiet voice just telling me to keep moving, put one foot in front of the other, and that's how I made it to the top. And that's been true for all my defining moments. I've just kept taking the next step despite my thinking. And what I've learned from that is that I'm not my thoughts. There's something behind that constant noise, that often negative chatter that wills me to keep going, and that's who I truly am.
Mm, I love that. Thank you for sharing that. The next question I have for you is what is the most valuable piece of information we should know that's within your expertise or industry?
I work with leaders and their teams helping to change the way they see and perceive various challenges so they can positively affect outcomes. And the way I do that is to share how our mental operating system actually works versus how we think it works. For individuals to see that they're creating their own experience moment to moment through their thinking rather than things happening to them reconnects them to the, to the driving force behind human potential. And for businesses, it leads to sustainable results in the areas of leadership, innovation, communication, resilience, and overall performance. It's a game changer.
And what is your best piece of overall business advice? So not necessarily industry specific.
Well, for me, great relationships are the foundation of business. Well, not just business, but that's our focus today. So whether it's colleagues, clients, suppliers, senior leadership team, the board, connecting with others on a deep level is vital. So to understand that we live in a world of 6.5 billion separate realities, that everyone sees things through their own personal filters, which is developed over time by their culture and upbringing and experiences. And that changes your approach to conversations. So I'll never see things exactly as you see them, Tyler. We may agree on things, but the specific way you came to think about that will be different. So there's always variances. And understanding that when you enter into a conversation with someone changes the dynamic of the interaction. You listen to understand, not to respond or get them to see your viewpoint. And for teams and businesses to see that one insight makes a huge impact. I've seen dysfunctional teams turned around, sales teams increase their performance. It's a small insight that packs a massive punch.
Yes. And if you could give your younger self one piece of advice, what would that be?
Probably that you are enough. I spent a lot of my younger life trying to be more, do more, and have more, thinking that when I got that or achieved this, that I'd be I'd be good enough or I'd be happy or successful. And I know that chasing happiness or success, however you perceive it, through goals or material things is like a cat chasing its tail. So when I learned that it's an inside job, that all experiences are created through my thinking in the moment, I mean, the chase was off. It was a bit of an aha moment for me. Although I'm pretty sure if I told that to my younger self, she'd tell me to rack off.
And it might tie in, but in your opinion, what is the key to happiness?
To understanding just who you are, who you truly are, and that, you know, we create our experiences moment to moment. It doesn't happen outside of us. It all happens from within.
And what is the best book that you've read and what was the number one thing you learned from that?
I love this book I read about 10 years ago. It's called The Power of Now. It's by Eckhart Tolle. I highly recommend it to anyone. It's all about living in the now. It talks about that the past is exactly that, it's gone. And the future is an illusion. There is only now, this moment. And yet, reading this book, it was fascinating to me to see how much time I actually lived in the past and the future. He gave one of the examples, the author gave us a practice to just try cleaning your teeth and do it being present. Within seconds, I was off thinking about the past or what I needed to do that day or conversations I needed to have. We're built for reality. We perform at our best when we're present in this moment. Sports industry refers to it to being in the zone. And when we're fully present, it's like the clogs kind of click into place and we're our most productive and creative and powerful selves. It's an awesome book. It's a change in the way I saw things.
And what is your favorite quote and why?
Amelia Earhart. She, she had this great quote. She said, the most difficult thing is the decision to act. The rest is merely tenacity. The fears are paper tigers. You can do anything you decide to do. I think I love that because, because fear is simply thinking in the moment about the what-ifs of the future, which, which is an illusion. It's all made up. Greatness comes from making a single step consistently, consistently. And like she says, the rest is tenacity.
Thank you so much for coming on. The last question I have for you before we let you go is where's the best place for people to find you online?
Swell Coach, swellcoach.co.uk, or you can find me on LinkedIn, Claire Sewell. That's S-E-W-E-L-L.
Perfect. Thanks again for joining us.
We really appreciate it. Thank you so much, Tyler. It was awesome.
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