We recently had the chance to connect with Marlene Clark and have shared our conversation below.
Good morning Marlene, we’re so happy to have you here with us and we’d love to explore your story and how you think about life and legacy and so much more. So let’s start with a question we often ask: What do you think is misunderstood about your business?
One misunderstanding in our business is that we are either all about people or that we are all about results. We are for both. Results are produced through people. This is regardless of how much AI you are using in your business. Also, there is a misunderstanding that it takes extensive time and investment to develop leaders and powerful relationships. We regularly create breakthrough results with teams in less than three days – accelerating human performance through enhancing the relationships needed to produce results together.
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
I was born and raised in Texas, starting in Corpus Christi, and then worked my way up I-35. I’ve always loved the water and enjoyed living near Padre Island, the Comal and San Marcos Rivers. I moved to Austin in ’86 when Craig and I got married, spent our “B.C.” (before children) period in California, and returned to Austin in ’96. Now Barton Springs is my other forever love, and this incredible living-giving spring keeps this place our home.
Craig and I created our own executive leadership coaching and consulting practice in 1995 and changed the name to Momentum Consulting in 2002 after we returned from living in Indonesia. We’ve traveled for work and play, and raised our two lovely daughters together. Next year we’ll be celebrating 40 years of marriage, which kind of blows my mind.
I love people like people love dogs. I find homo sapiens to be the most fascinating species on the planet. I never get bored with the work we do.
Thanks for sharing that. Would love to go back in time and hear about how your past might have impacted who you are today. Who were you before the world told you who you had to be?
I was a vivacious and spirited kid who asked non-stop questions and was constantly in motion. Except when I would finally get tired and look up at the sky and the clouds and wonder how I got here. At around age 25, I participated in a leadership training program in London, England. They filmed each of us at the beginning, and then we reviewed the films together about halfway through. I remember thinking, “Who the heck is that?” I did not recognize myself. That crazy, weird kid was gone and had been replaced by what I thought society wanted from me. I had been, as Miguel Ruiz states, “domesticated.” I then spent the next 25 years unlearning my domestication and allowing my free spirit to shine through once again. Now in my sixties, I feel more like a kid than ever.
Do you remember a time someone truly listened to you?
We’re in the “listening” business, and I feel pretty lucky that I experience generous listening from others in my daily life. Though one particular instance stands out for me. Craig and I had been married about a year. I was still in Austin, packing things up, and was planning to meet him in San Francisco. He had gone ahead of me, and we’d been apart for quite a few months. One day, during a coaching session with his mentor, Craig was complaining about me. That I didn’t understand him. I just didn’t get it, and how stressful things were for him. His mentor said, “You don’t listen to her.” Craig immediately began to protest and explain how he is well-trained in listening. He then caught himself and stopped. He asked him again to share what he meant. His mentor pointed out, “You are listening to her like you already know instead of being curious about what it is really like for her, from her own experience.” Craig then picked up the phone and called me and apologized, and shared what he had just learned. Later, he discovered that if he had not made that phone call, there was a good chance I might not have joined him in San Francisco.
Next, maybe we can discuss some of your foundational philosophies and views? Is the public version of you the real you?
Yes, finally. It’s been a journey for sure. This question connects back to who I was as a kid before being fully “domesticated.” I no longer hide who I am and let my freak flag fly, whether I’m with friends, family, or clients. This has been so freeing. I now experience being in true alignment with my core value of authenticity. Early on, for many years, I thought authenticity was just about free expression and saying whatever, whenever I felt like it. Now I can look back and see that behavior was about performing some role. It wasn’t actually who I am.
Thank you so much for all of your openness so far. Maybe we can close with a future oriented question. What do you understand deeply that most people don’t?
I deeply understand people. You may or may not be familiar with the methodology of Human Design. According to this line of discipline, I am known as a Projector. This design type of human allows me to see deeply into another person. It helps me understand how I ended up in this profession, as this way of being comes naturally to me. I have a great deal of compassion for what it is to be a spiritual being in a human body suit. There’s a lot to this. But I’ll just stop there for now.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.momentumconsulting.com/
- Instagram: ceo_flow
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marleneclark/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Marlenerclark/
Image Credits
photo credit to Sarah Uftring for Momentum Team photo
