Date:  24-Jul-86 23:27 MST
From:  Executive News Svc. [72135,424]
Subj:  APia 07/24 BusinessTopic-Psychic

By DAVID TOMLIN
Associated Press Writer
   DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) -- Not sure if you should sign that
contract? Hesitating over hiring a new sales manager? Can't make a
decision on a major expansion? Dixie Lee Bardwell says you should
call her.
   "If you're a business person, there are many ways I can help
you save time and save money," she says.
   Mrs. Bardwell is a consultant, but not the kind most businesses
look to for advice.
   She describes herself as a psychic, and her brochure says she
can provide glimpses into the future on business trends, financial
outlooks, working relationships and employee behavior and
performance.
   "For example, when people are considering a contract, I don't
know much about legal things, but I can hold it in my hand and give
an opinion on whether it's a good thing to sign or not," she says.
   Much of her business consulting work now involves personnel.
Clients give Mrs. Bardwell the names of present or prospective
employees, and she assesses their job attitudes and performance.
   "I can help put the right people in the right jobs," she says.
   Her personality profiles have impressed at least some customers,
according to Hale Starr, who operates an agency which helps
attorneys nationwide with jury selection in an office upstairs from
the small cubicle Mrs. Bardwell leases.
   "We had a client, an attorney who wanted background
investigations on some prospective jurors, but the list came in so
fast they didn't have time to do them," Ms. Starr said. "So we
referred them to Dixie."
   Mrs. Bardwell spent two hours with the 50 names and dictated
brief sketches on each person.
   "The attorneys were very impressed with the accuracy she had on
the facts we could later verify," Ms. Starr said. "And they felt
the personality profiles she gave were highly accurate."
   Ms. Starr, co-author of a legal textbook on jury selection,
describes herself as a lifelong skeptic. "I believe in facts
brought in by research and will tell my clients that intuition is
not as interesting as the facts we can find from doing actual
research," she said.
   All the same, she often casually asks Mrs. Bardwell for a
reading on the name of an attorney she plans to approach with a
sales presentation.
   "So far, based on my behavioral training and my background in
nonverbal communication, we agree highly," Ms. Starr said. "I
work with these people for several hours and her prediction of the
description of the personality of the person has been in keeping
with what I conclude at the end of that time."
   Mrs. Bardwell has no beaded curtains or crystal balls in her
suburban business office, which looks like any other room in the
two-story suburban building where she commutes from her rural
Winterset home.
   Dressed in conventional skirt and blouse, she gives her readings
seated at her desk with a tape recorder in front of her so the
client can take away a record of the proceedings. As consultants
go, her fees are low -- $35 for a personal reading and $50 for a
business.
   She sees two or three clients daily and also gives lectures and
workshops for people interested in sharpening their own powers of
intuition and prediction.
   "I'm an ordinary woman," she insists. "I really believe that
anybody can do what I do. But most people block it out or ignore
it."
   Mrs. Bardwell has had premonitions since she was a child and has
given readings to friends and neighbors at her home for many years.
The majority of her clients are still individuals who ask for her
impressions on their health, financial affairs, family problems and
love lives.
   Traffic through her kitchen grew so heavy, she finally began
charging fees. She moved into the office and expanded into business
consulting two years ago.
   Although she's convinced she could make a fortune on her own in
investments or gambling, Mrs. Bardwell says she feels strongly that
her talents aren't intended to be used that way.
   "It's like it's a tool to use to help other people," she says.
"But I don't want anyone to use me for a get-rich person. It's to
help you with your personal problems, your business problems,
whatever will help you to cope with your life and make it better."