Business coach, mentor and advanced Meta ads strategist Gwen Baird has spent more than 20 years helping business owners find clarity and create businesses that fit the lives they want to lead. Her own path to that work, however, was shaped by family, devastating loss, serious illness and a determination to keep choosing what came next.

Gwen talks with Ian about the childhood ambition dismissed by a careers officer, the freedom she found working for herself, and how a diagnosis of dilated cardiomyopathy brought her travelling sales career to an end. She explains how discovering social media opened another path, eventually leading her from social media management into business coaching and Meta ads.

Along the way, Gwen shares direct advice about asking for the sale, finding the real reason behind a business, creating a practical 90-day plan and implementing what you learn. She also challenges the idea that marketing begins and ends with social media—and explains why a business should be built around your health, energy and needs.

### Chapters

00:01:05 Who is Gwen today?

00:04:54 Young Gwen

00:08:09 Childhood dreams

00:09:59 Entrepreneurial nature

00:13:05 What is law accountancy?

00:15:21 Becoming a business coach

00:24:45 Who does Gwen help?

00:25:16 Why Gwen resonates with her audience

00:26:09 Common client struggles

00:40:01 What clients think their problem is

00:42:06 Are people surprised by this?

00:44:09 Mindset vs marketing

00:45:26 Marketing themselves consistently

00:49:46 Common marketing mistakes

00:52:50 Why business feels complicated

00:53:55 What separates success from stagnation

00:54:54 Advice to her younger self

00:56:37 One lesson everyone should know

00:57:15 What life has been teaching her

00:57:32 Quick fire questions

00:57:43 Superpower question

00:58:19 Dinner with three historical figures

01:00:00 What's on the menu

01:00:50 Changed her mind about

01:01:06 Most impactful habit

01:02:07 Common misconceptions about her

01:02:51 What she's most grateful for

01:03:27 Question she wishes she'd been asked

01:04:07 How she wants to be remembered

01:05:07 Meaning of working at the coalface

### Connect with Gwen

Website: https://gwenbaird.com/

The Align Method with Gwen: https://www.facebook.com/groups/thealignmethodwithgwen

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/G.I.Baird/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gwenbairdonline/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gwenbaird/

Paraag Amin spent much of his life moving from one goal to the next. Academic achievement led to investment banking, senior leadership and the appearance of success—but the feelings he expected to come with those milestones gradually disappeared.

In this episode of Coalface Stories: 60 for 60, Paraag talks about growing up as the mature child who felt he had to work harder, the pressure to follow a secure and successful path, and the personal cost of losing himself in work and expectation.

A health crisis on his 40th birthday became a wake-up call. Paraag began rebuilding his life around freedom, peace, connection and choice. He and Ian discuss why people can outgrow the lives they created, how work becomes an escape nobody questions, why freedom needs structure and what it means to live without masks.

The conversation also turns to AI, human connection and the need to protect our humanity in a rapidly changing world.

00:00 Coalface Stories - 60 for 60 Series: Paraag Amin

00:30 Intro & Welcome

01:00 Who Are You Today?

08:13 Childhood

14:49 Career in Business & Finance

20:50 Defining Moments in Banking Career

30:45 Turning Point & Escaping the Corporate World

53:36 Helping Others Escape the Programming

57:43 Quick Fire Round

01:03:23 Working at the Coalface

01:05:18 Closing & Where to Find Paraag

Website: https://alifethatfits.today

LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/paraagamin/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the_paraag/

What if the book that changes your life is not the one you read, but the one you write?

Jonathan Clark is a bestselling author coach and small business marketing adviser whose career has taken him from NLP and hypnotherapy to training, digital marketing and helping experts turn their knowledge into books.

In this open and energetic conversation, Jonathan talks about growing up shy, introverted and frightened of people; discovering confidence through martial arts and personal development; and building a career around helping people solve problems.

He explains how he uses AI to research books without allowing it to replace the author’s voice, why the 2008 recession forced him to reinvent himself, and how the loss of an early publishing venture became fuel rather than a reason to stop.

Jonathan also explores what people misunderstand about success, why action matters more than promises, and why meaningful relationships and good health matter as much as money.

Chapters / Highlights

• 00:00 CFS- 60 for 60 -Jonathan Clark
• 02:02 Who is Jonathan Clark today?
• 12:34 Tell us a little bit about young Jonathan. What sort of kid were you?
• 24:54 Reinventing the wheel vs. modelling success?
• 32:13 Toughest chapter in your business journey?
• 46:13 A client success story that makes you smile?
• 50:16 What do most people get wrong about success
• 51:56 Has your definition of success changed?
• 52:59 One lesson everyone should know?
• 54:55 Quick fire: superpower?
• 55:30 Quick fire: three people to dinner?
• 56:25 Quick fire: changed your mind about?
• 56:56 Quick fire: what people assume wrongly?
• 57:20 Quick fire: most grateful for?
• 57:45 Quick fire: unanswered question?
• 58:19 Quick fire: How do you want to be remembered
• 58:55 Quick fire: What does 'working at the coalface' mean to you?
• 59:56 How can people find you?

How to find and connect with Jonathan Clark

Fully Booked Thought Leaders: https://www.facebook.com/groups/fullybookedthoughtleaders/
LinkedIn: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/thejonathanclark
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thejonathanclark/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thejonathanclark/

What does working at the coalface mean to you?

It is the question at the heart of Coalface Stories — and one Ian Wilson has asked every guest taking part in the 60 for 60 series.

In this special pre-launch preview, the first guests offer their own interpretations. For some, it means showing up, getting their hands dirty and being close to the work. For others, it is about understanding people, facing the realities of life and choosing to live with purpose.

Different lives. Different perspectives. No single answer - but each one offers a glimpse of the conversations to come in Coalface Stories: 60 for 60.

Episode Highlights

• 00:00 Ian Wilson | Introduction
• 01:09 Jonathan Clark | Showing up and using your time well
• 01:52 Jonathan Clark | Getting your hands dirty and learning the work
• 02:20 Paraag Amin | Getting into the weeds and supporting others
• 02:56 Gwen Baird | Memories of a coal-mining family
• 03:20 Anida Westlake | The untold lives behind the coalface
• 04:13 Permjeet Kainth | Understanding people and helping them move forward
• 04:52 Anke Herrmann | Being in the thick of it
• 05:08 Melinda Abbott | Living the life that lights you up
• 05:59 Michael Laws | Working with the nuts and bolts of people’s lives
• 06:50 Bogna Zofia | Every person has a journey and a story
• 08:25 Margaret Sinclair | Being upfront, exposed and close to the action
• 08:41 Lianne Byrne | Meeting people where they are
• 09:05 Charlotte Elliott | Finding purpose beyond the graft