Barb Schmidt
Known online as Peaceful Barb, Barb Schmidt shares practical mindfulness tools as a meditation teacher, author of The Practice and co-host of Life Happens with Barb & Michelle.
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Latest
Barb’s happenings, collected from public sources, plus her backstory and Starbook, where fans write.
Known for
Health Communications
PodcastOverview
- Also known as
- Peaceful Barb
- Based in
- Boca Raton, Florida
- Work
- Author, meditation teacher, speaker and podcast co-host
- Signature book
- The Practice (2014)
- Community
- Co-founded Peaceful Mind Peaceful Life with daughter Michelle Maros in 2011
Mini bio
How it started.
Before she became Peaceful Barb, Schmidt was a businesswoman who owned six McDonald’s franchises. In a 2014 interview with 5280, she described learning meditation during treatment for bulimia. That experience began a long search for steadiness and connection within herself.
Taking the practice beyond herself.
Schmidt partnered with Florida Atlantic University’s Peace Studies program in 2001. In 2011, she and her daughter Michelle Maros co-founded Peaceful Mind Peaceful Life to share mindfulness teachings more widely. Her teaching also became The Practice, a 2014 book organized around waking up, living present and letting go. Publishers Weekly reported a multi-city launch tour as her nonprofit’s online community passed one million fans.
A conversation with her daughter.
Fans now hear Barb and Michelle together on Life Happens with Barb & Michelle, formerly Barb Knows Best. The show took on its new name and video format in April 2025. Their conversations combine personal experiences with practical reflections on relationships, self-worth, grief and navigating change.
Creditschronological, newest first
Books
Podcasts
- 2025Life Happens with Barb & MichelleCo-host; renamed from Barb Knows Best
Community work
- 2011Peaceful Mind Peaceful LifeCo-founder with Michelle Maros
Awards
- Honorary Doctorate in Humane LettersFlorida Atlantic University, 2023, recognizing her support of athletics, medicine, and the Peace, Justice and Human Rights Initiative.
- Gloria Drummond Lifetime Achievement AwardRecognized at the 2023 Soroptimist International Women of Distinction Breakfast for service to the Boca Raton community.
Quotes
Outer peace begins with inner peace.Barb Schmidt, Florida Atlantic University mindfulness handout
The university handout pairs her reflection exercises with this guiding principle.
Trivia
- She told 5280 that her husband taught her to ski in Colorado in 1989.
- Her studies have included teachers such as Thich Nhat Hanh, Deepak Chopra and Marianne Williamson.
- The Practice divides the day into three parts: Waking Up, Living Present and Letting Go.
Find Barb
Follow Peaceful Barb, or join Barb and Michelle for their weekly conversations.
Are you Barb Schmidt?
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