Values Jammer in the Spotlight

Biliana Barker 

Who are you?

I’m Biliana Barker, co-founder of Five Sense Life, a sensory mentoring practice I created with my partner, Nigel. We work with entrepreneurial couples who live and work together, helping them reconnect, realign and create a relationship and business that can thrive together.

My background is in journalism, communications and change, but these days I’m most interested in what happens when we slow down, become more present and look at life through a different lens — often through our senses, curiosity, conversation, creativity and a good dose of fun.

What are your core values?

Love. Trust. Honesty.Generosity. Curiosity and  Fun.

For me, values aren’t just words on a wall. They are the principles that shape how we make decisions, how we treat people and, importantly, how we show up for the people closest to us.

Why did you join the ValuesJam community?

Because I love the idea of making values something you experience and explore, rather than simply something you define.

Values are at the heart of so much of our work with couples — particularly couples who are also business partners. When you understand what really matters to each person, you can make better decisions together, navigate differences with more curiosity and build a shared vision without losing your individuality.

ValuesJam brings a playful, human and experiential way of having conversations that can otherwise feel quite abstract.

How are you using your ValuesJam card decks?

We use the cards as conversation starters — both in our own work and in our own relationship.

They are particularly powerful for couples because they create a little space between “this is what I think” and “this is what you think.” That space allows curiosity to come in.

We use them to explore individual values, compare what matters to each of us, uncover differences and then ask: What do these values mean for the life and business we are creating together?

Fave rock n roll moment of magic from a ValuesJam session?

The magic for me is when a seemingly simple card suddenly opens up a much bigger conversation. 

You think you’re talking about a word like freedom, success or security — and suddenly you’re talking about a childhood experience, a dream for the future, a disagreement you’ve been circling around, or something your partner needs that you hadn’t really understood.

That moment when someone says, “I never knew that’s what this meant to you” — that’s the magic.

How could more focus on VALUES improve the world?

For us, values are the fundamental assessment tool for both relationship and business — and for life itself.

They give us a language for understanding not only what we believe, but how those beliefs show up in our decisions, our behaviour, our relationships and the way we build our lives.

Bringing values into the conversation does much more than create alignment. It educates us about each other, challenges our assumptions and nurtures growth. It helps us see where we naturally agree, where we differ, and where those differences need to be understood rather than resolved.

Values also connect the everyday with the bigger picture — our mission, our purpose and the kind of life and business we want to create.

For us, values are both a compass and a manual.

A compass because they help us decide which direction to take when the path isn’t obvious.

A manual because they give us practical guidance for how we want to behave, communicate, make decisions and show up for each other — especially when things get difficult.

Contact details / website / social media

Five Sense Life
Website: https://fivesenselife.com
Instagram: @fivesenselife
Facebook: @bilianabarker
LinkedIn: Biliana Barker