
images by kathy schuh
WELCOME,
As a teenager growing up in Philadelphia, PA, I dreamed of living a meaningful and exciting life filled with beauty, adventure, learning, and love.
For over 20 years I have passionately coached, mentored, and supported artists, artisans, and small businesses worldwide.
For over six decades, I've immersed myself in the nuances of human nature, spirituality, and diverse cultures through books, travel, art, and the fascinating people I’ve met along the way. With an eye for design, a head for business, and a heart for serving others, my career has spanned fashion, music, interiors, publishing, retail, gourmet foods, and tea.
These aspirations have guided my career, which began in New York City as a fashion merchandiser, helping jewelry designers interpret fashion trends for major department stores nationwide. I've traveled all over the world to places like Bali, Japan, Sri Lanka, Korea, Uruguay, France, and Portugal collaborating with artisans to bring their products to the U.S.
One exciting chapter involved co-launching a record label aimed at bringing world music to a wider audience. As president of Putumayo, an internationally beloved fashion and music brand, I managed a $20 million business with a team of over 50 people.
I relocated to Los Angeles and founded Algabar Home & Life. In this artfully curated lifestyle shop, I designed and sold my own brand of specialty teas, artisanal gourmet foods, bath products, home accessories, and furniture. My work as an interior designer, freelance stylist, photographer, and writer has been featured in numerous books and magazines.
I am a certified professional coach (CPC) and a Master Practitioner of the Energy Leadership Index Assessment (MP-ELI) by the Institute for Professional Excellence in Coaching (IPEC).
Meditation has been my faithful companion for over 40 years, grounding me in stillness amid life's whirlwind. As a seasoned practitioner of Qi Gong, Psych-K, EFT Tapping, and Reiki, I guide others toward balance and harmony in mind, body, and spirit. My academic journey involved studying fine art and anthropology at Penn State University and earning a BA in Marketing from Pennsylvania University.
In the kitchen, I find joy and creativity, drawing inspiration from culinary school courses and countless cookbooks and cooking shows.
Drawing from my personal experience as a first-time entrepreneur in my 30s, I understand the practical and mental challenges of leaving behind a successful career to start a business. Inspired by my own journey, I embrace the mantra that "Working for yourself does not have to mean working by yourself."
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for Professional bio and images from my previous
entrepreneurial and freelance adventures
Algabar Home & Life Retail Store - Los Angeles


images by ray katchatorian, laura hull, karyn millet

Gail Baral brings over 30 years of business experience and personal and professional development to her work as a business strategist, mindset coach, startup mentor, workshop facilitator, and speaker.
Known for her razor-sharp intuition, calm positive energy, and uncanny ability to pragmatically organize anything into a logical or beneficial structure, Gail works with clients in a collaborative coaching partnership that focuses on awareness, clarity, creativity, action, and results. Her list of clients spans the globe and includes CEO’s, founders, creative and tech entrepreneurs, designers, writers, chefs, coaches, healers, executives, and middle management in corporate, small business, wellness, and non-profit sectors.
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Fête Du Thé Catering and Events


images by cathy shambly, khali macintyre, carin krasner

With over three decades of corporate, small business and entrepreneurial experience in fashion, music, home decor, gourmet food, publishing, and event planning, Gail has expertise across all aspects of business, from new business development, hiring and training, strategic planning, operational management, international sourcing, manufacturing, and team building, to marketing, social media, and publicity, to product, package and space design.
She is certified as a professional coach (CPC) and a Master Practitioner of the Energy Leadership Index Assessment (MP-ELI) by The Institute for Professional Excellence in Coaching (IPEC), which is recognized as one of the country's top training programs for professional coaches.
As a mentor for the Albuquerque, NM-based Creative Startups Accelerator, the first in the US designed by and for creative entrepreneurs, Gail coaches and advises startup founders on their business model and strategy, operations, marketing, strategic alliances, and customer acquisition as well as visionary thinking, confidence, productivity, habit modification, and stress management.
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The Algabar Tea Collection Wholesale, Retail, Online


images by ray katchatorian, gail baral

Prior to launching her coaching business, Gail was the founder and creative director of Algabar Home & Life, a lifestyle brand with an artfully curated retail store in the Los Angeles design district, for which she designed, produced, and wholesaled her eponymous brand of specialty teas, artisanal gourmet foods, bath products, home accessories, and furniture. Algabar was featured in many publications including Oprah Magazine, Town & Country, Food & Wine, and House Beautiful, and was honored as one of the global elite “Design 100” by Metropolitan Magazine.
Driven by her passion for creating experiential events, she also founded Fête du Thé, a catering and event business whose signature tea experiences attracted an exclusive “A” list of private and corporate clients including The Montage Beverly Hills Hotel, Lexus, Waterworks, Hugo Boss and the E! Entertainment Network.
Earlier in her career, Gail served as President of Putumayo Clothing and President/Co-Founder of Putumayo World Music, as well as Vice President at Basco, a men’s and women’s designer clothing brand owned by Barneys New York.
As a freelance stylist, photographer, and writer, Gail's work has appeared in numerous books, blogs, and magazines and she has produced fashion shows, art openings, videos, and a concert at Carnegie Hall.
Freelance Stylist Books and Magazines

Extraordinary Cakes by Karen Krasne / Rizzoli
image by ray katatorian

SPA Magazine
THE PRODUCTIVITY SPACE
In a society where to-do lists seem to stretch for miles and distractions constantly pull our attention away, The Productivity Space offers practical solutions and strategies to help individuals reclaim control over their time and focus.
We do that without buying into the collective thinking that "busy is a badge of honor" and that the hustle culture that espouses "extreme productivity at all costs" is healthy or necessary to create a successful business and a good life.
Founded by Gail in 202mission is to help you get clarity on the goals you want to pursue and to support you with research-backed productivity strategies and tactics that optimize your time, attention, and focus.
The Productivity Space is a virtual Zoom co-working space where entrepreneurs gather to get to the To-Dos they can’t seem to get to on their own. We merge the energy of a group co-working experience, the guidance of a skilled coach, and the convenience of a virtual space to help people vanquish procrastination, set reasonable goals, and triumph over distractions.



BOOST ENTREPRENEURS
Be it a professional, spiritual, mental, or emotional pivot or a full-on life-shaking transformation, life after 40 feels different. It presents new challenges, raises new questions, and reveals discoveries about ourselves.
Co-founded by Gail in 2018, Boost Entrepreneurs is a dynamic LA-based community for entrepreneurial women 40+ that was specifically created and designed to support, inspire, encourage, empower, and celebrate women with a bounty of life experiences. It is a community for women reinventing, pivoting, and transforming their professional lives to meet the evolving needs of their current stage in life.
Boost Entrepreneurs was created for women determined to make a difference in their communities and the world and seek ways to find meaning and purpose in their work. Our signature event, Living Room Conversations offers opportunities to share the experience, insight, and wisdom that we've earned while at the same time finding answers, guidance, and resources for the other wise women in the room.


