Confidence, Clarity, and Cookies with Christiane Schroeter

In this episode of Conversations with Rich Bennett, Rich sits down with Dr. Christiane Schroeter — TEDx speaker, university professor, entrepreneur, bestselling author, and host of the Happy Healthy Hustle podcast. Christiane shares her Petite Practice method and breaks down how small, intentional steps can create massive personal and professional change.

Rich and Christiane dive into confidence, clarity, mindset, and the realities of building a business without feeding the overwhelm. From teaching more than 10,000 students to launching a top-ranked podcast, Christiane brings humor, heart, and practical strategy that entrepreneurs, creators, and dreamers can put into action immediately.

They also explore cultural stories, cookies, German baking, vulnerability, TEDx insights, and why consistency is the real engine behind long-term success. Whether you're starting a business, launching a podcast, or simply trying to grow with more intention, this episode offers tools, perspective, and inspiration to help you move forward with purpose.

Sponsored by Freedom Federal Credit Union. Visit freedomfcu.org to learn how they support local businesses and community growth.

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Chapters

• 0:00 Opening Intro & 10-Year Podcast Milestone
• 1:29 Introducing Dr. Christiane Schroeter
• 2:29 Wearing Many Hats: Professor, Author, Coach, Podcaster
• 3:53 Launching Her Podcast & Finding Her Voice
• 5:14 Teaching Over 10,000 Students
• 5:59 Entrepreneurship and Her Books
• 6:59 Publishing With Purpose & National Days
• 8:29 Cookies, Dates, and German Humor
• 12:29 Petite Practice Explained
• 14:29 Why Entrepreneurs Overwhelm Themselves
• 17:29 The Mindset + Business Venn Diagram
• 18:59 Coaching Through Zoom and Accountability
• 20:29 Learning Through Courses & Staying Disciplined
• 22:29 Baking, Culture, and German-American Differences
• 24:59 Food Talk & Growing Up in Germany
• 27:29 What America Gets Wrong About Oktoberfest
• 29:14 Christiane’s TEDx Journey
• 33:59 Applying for TEDx & Taking the Stage
• 36:29 The Transformations She’s Seen in Coaching
• 39:29 What Listeners Say About Her Podcast
• 40:49 “How Do You Win When You’re Losing?”
• 41:59 The Struggle of Starting a Podcast
• 44:59 The Power of Having a Recipe
• 47:29 Vulnerability in Podcasting
• 49:19 New Book: Step Into Your Voice
• 53:09 Updating Books & Audible Considerations
• 54:29 Fail → Sale: Entrepreneurial Reframing
• 56:09 Fun Final Question & High-Heel Humor
• 58:59 Closing Remarks

Transcript

Wendy & Rich 0:00
Hey, everyone is Rich Bennett. Can you believe it? The show is turning 10 this year. I am so grateful for each and every one of you who've tuned in, shared a episode, or even joined the conversation over the years. You're the reason that this podcast has grown into what it is today. Together, we've shared laughs, tears, and moments that truly matter. So I want to thank you for being part of this journey. Let's make the next 10 years even better. Coming to you from the Freedom Federal Credit Union Studios. Harford County Living presents Conversations with Rich Bennett. 

Bye, I know, no, no, no, no, it's just who it is. 

Rich Bennett 1:00
Today on Conversations with Rich Bennett, I'm thrilled to welcome someone who lives at the intersection of smart strategy and real life success. Dr. Cristiana Schroeder, a TEDx speaker, full-time university professor teaching innovation and entrepreneurship, business and wellness coach, best-selling author, and host of the globally top 1% podcast happy, healthy hustle. She's taught over 10,000 students to lead to lead with clarity, confidence, and resilience. She's built a purpose-driven business while raising the family and serving in academia. And she's here today to pull back the curtain on how we can all build growth that feels good and sustained. So if you're an entrepreneur, a creator, a dreamer, someone who wants results that don't cost you your peace, this episode is definitely for you. How you doing, Cristiana? 

Christiane Schroeter 1:58
Just fine, absolutely a door, that introduction. That was very-- 

Rich Bennett 2:03
Thank you. All right, I have to start because, I mean, you wear so many hats. 

Christiane Schroeter 2:09
Look 

Rich Bennett 2:09
at that professor, author, coach, podcast host, mom, am I missing anything? 

Christiane Schroeter 2:16
The TEDx speaker, I'm pretty proud. 

Rich Bennett 2:18
TEDx 

Christiane Schroeter 2:19
It's 

Rich Bennett 2:19
speaker, 

Christiane Schroeter 2:19
happened a couple of months ago so I'm 

Rich Bennett 2:21
that's right. 

Christiane Schroeter 2:21
still like celebrating it, celebrating it every day. You've got to praise the progress, right? 

Rich Bennett 2:26
Oh yeah. So here's a scary question then. How do you describe what you do when someone asks, because of all the different hats you wear? 

Christiane Schroeter 2:35
I usually just give them a business card, then they have to read it. 

Rich Bennett 2:42
All right, that's not a business card. That's a book. 

Christiane Schroeter 2:47
Just look on page 11. 

Rich Bennett 2:50
I love that, I love that. But with your-- Actually, the podcast, you just started that not too long ago, right? You're on the-- 

Christiane Schroeter 3:04
Yeah, I mean, like now it's 32323, you know, it's pretty 

Rich Bennett 3:09
Okay. 

Christiane Schroeter 3:09
decent. Yeah, I think as far as podcasting, that was really like a beautiful thing, just to figure out confidence and clarity. So that's my getting on my third year now. Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 3:24
So what inspired you to start that? 

Christiane Schroeter 3:28
I felt like the voice shouldn't be limited just to the classroom, what people interact with me in person that it really should be a much bigger audience that appreciates the message that I want to share because I felt like-- I mean, my superpower is, I'm an educator, I love teaching, I love learning. And so why limit that to people that just see me in person? Let's go big, right? Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 3:52
I love that, I love it. And you're-- I mean, you're getting some great guests on you. Just say, you had my brother from another mother on not too long ago, Drew B Wilson. 

Christiane Schroeter 4:03
Oh my gosh, he's the best. 

Rich Bennett 4:05
He is awesome. I had him on Ed-- God, he talked just in that little time, he taught me so much. And of course, after I got this book, I learned even more. 

Christiane Schroeter 4:17
I 

Rich Bennett 4:17
Which 

Christiane Schroeter 4:18
just 

Rich Bennett 4:18
I-- 

Christiane Schroeter 4:18
talked to him this morning. 

Rich Bennett 4:19
talk-- 

Christiane Schroeter 4:19
This 

Rich Bennett 4:20
Did you really? 

Christiane Schroeter 4:21
I thought of the chances. 

Rich Bennett 4:25
No way. 

Christiane Schroeter 4:26
Yes I did. 

Rich Bennett 4:28
Wow, that-- 

Christiane Schroeter 4:30
Send that to him, let 

Rich Bennett 4:32
I-- 

Christiane Schroeter 4:32
me 

Rich Bennett 4:32
I'm 

Christiane Schroeter 4:33
speak. 

Rich Bennett 4:33
going to have to, I'm going to have to. All right, so you-- I want to get into the business part. Well, actually end of teaching because you've told over 10,000 students. 

Christiane Schroeter 4:42
Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 4:42
So, was there a moment early in your career that made you realize teaching and mentoring entrepreneurs was your calling? 

Christiane Schroeter 4:52
Yeah, because I was always an entrepreneur myself and I wish I would have had a teacher mentor myself. I think the best clients and the best client avatar is what you wish you would have had 5, 10, 15 years ago. Just design something that you wish you would have had and then you're really golden. 

Rich Bennett 5:11
All right, so you say you're an entrepreneur yourself. Serial entrepreneur, I have many different businesses. 

Christiane Schroeter 5:20
Mainly just my coaching and my 

Rich Bennett 5:22
Just 

Christiane Schroeter 5:22
books, 

Rich Bennett 5:22
coaching, 

Christiane Schroeter 5:23
right? 

Rich Bennett 5:23
okay. 

Christiane Schroeter 5:24
So a serial meaning like "I run a restaurant" little coffee shop on the side? No, I 

Rich Bennett 5:28
that. 

Christiane Schroeter 5:28
don't do 

Rich Bennett 5:31
Well, but I mean the coaching's one, podcast versus the other, I mean… 

Christiane Schroeter 5:36
Yeah, and then speaking. Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 5:38
And an author/prenore? 

Christiane Schroeter 5:39
Yeah, exactly. Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 5:40
Hey, how many books have you ridden? 

Christiane Schroeter 5:43
Three, I'm actually working on my fourth. So I have three that are published and then three that I'm currently planning. So it's kind of a cool thing because I keep that pipeline hot. It's like a pizza up and it just keeps going. It's like, 

Rich Bennett 5:55
All right, 

Christiane Schroeter 5:56
whoa. 

Rich Bennett 5:56
so…and the books went already like self-help books? 

Christiane Schroeter 6:01
I mean there are really affluent winners, right? The first one was called "How to master your goals". Second one discovered super power and then I have a planner because of course you can hear from my accent, I'm German, so everybody's wondering why is she not publishing a planner? I mean, this lady's organized. Share a planner with us, right? And that's what happened, so I was like, I guess I have to write a planner, yeah. 

Rich Bennett 6:20
And when did you write the first book? 

Christiane Schroeter 6:24
So I love that question, which because as I mentioned 3/23/23s when I published the podcast. the book, the first book, I published 9924. So I'm very intentional about dates because I think I'll get asked these questions and you're asking me right now. And if I would have chosen some random date, I would not remember and I have to remember so many things in my life already. So make it easy for myself. I just choose dates that actually resonate with me. Right? But the next book is coming out on December 4th. National Cookie Day. 

Rich Bennett 7:00
Oh, 

Christiane Schroeter 7:00
on. Both 

Rich Bennett 7:00
come 

Christiane Schroeter 7:01
25. 12, 24, 25. It's going to be a cookie. Get yourself a treat and get my book, right? Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 7:09
All right. How do you do that? Because I am no good when it comes to, I can't remember birthdays. Well, I take that back. I remember my wife's and my daughters because it's the same day. But my sons are better. But I mean, how in the world. Somebody asked me when I started the podcast, all as I know is October of 2015. 

Christiane Schroeter 7:29
That's pretty good. 

Rich Bennett 7:30
Yeah, but I can't tell you the day. 

Christiane Schroeter 7:33
Well, 

Rich Bennett 7:33
not? 

Christiane Schroeter 7:34
why 

Rich Bennett 7:34
I mean, you remember, I don't know. I've 

Christiane Schroeter 7:39
never 

Rich Bennett 7:41
been good at that. 

Christiane Schroeter 7:41
And that's the thing, right? So we're talking about entrepreneurship. And that starts with like figuring out what resonates with you, right? So I'm like a big believer in setting yourself deadlines and holding yourself accountable for the deadline. So I look at the calendar and you could even look at like there's a thing that's called a national day calendar. 

Rich Bennett 8:05
Yes. 

Christiane Schroeter 8:05
And you could look at that calendar and just look at the national days and look at the date that resonates with you. All right. Here we go. This is going to National feel good day. And that's why I'm going to publish my whatever, my book, my coaching program, National feel good day. And even if you talk, remember the date, you know, there was a National feel good day. And you could just use it in your sales pitch. 

Rich Bennett 8:28
I never thought about that 

Christiane Schroeter 8:30
Just choose 

Rich Bennett 8:31
the 

Christiane Schroeter 8:31
something 

Rich Bennett 8:31
way 

Christiane Schroeter 8:31
that 

Rich Bennett 8:31
to do 

Christiane Schroeter 8:31
resonates 

Rich Bennett 8:32
that. 

Christiane Schroeter 8:32
with you. Choose something that resonates with you. I mean, these people go through all the trouble and they create all these days. We got to give them some credit and actually using them in our 

Rich Bennett 8:39
road. 

Christiane Schroeter 8:40
I don't know anybody else does. Right. And so 

Rich Bennett 8:43
Wow. 

Christiane Schroeter 8:43
I am a famous professor in making cookies for my students. One of my most watched Instagram Reels is when I'm loading 150 chocolate chip cookies on a tray. And people are like, oh my gosh. What is this? And everybody watched it. 

Rich Bennett 8:59
I didn't realize you were talking about real cookies you eat? 

Christiane Schroeter 9:08
What are you thinking? 

Rich Bennett 9:09
I mean, come on now. I'm saying a clause here. How come you haven't sent me any cookies yet? 

Christiane Schroeter 9:14
I know. I was like thinking, all right, if I would have sent milk and cookies, it would have been 

Rich Bennett 9:19
zero. 

Christiane Schroeter 9:21
I got it. I should have maybe prefaced that with chocolate chip cookies. 

Rich Bennett 9:28
The next book is really dealing with coming down. There is a national cookie day. 

Oh my God. That is funny. I had no idea. 

Christiane Schroeter 9:42
Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 9:42
Yeah. I feel now that I'm a professional saying, I feel bad that I didn't even know there was a national cookie day. 

Christiane Schroeter 9:49
It's okay! There's probably a second or a third one because that's the thing with the national days. Like some of these days, like for instance, there's like a national ice cream day or something, and there's probably a national vanilla ice cream day and a national chocolate ice cream day. So Rich, you choose your own cookie day. Look at... he resonates with you and I just choose that one. 

Rich Bennett 10:12
I got to find it when national chocolate covered Oreo days. 

Christiane Schroeter 10:16
There is probably something like that. 

Rich Bennett 10:18
I wouldn't be surprised. I mean, there's a national something for everything day. 

Christiane Schroeter 10:24
The 

Rich Bennett 10:25
days are getting overloaded now. 

Christiane Schroeter 10:28
Exactly, and that's why I remember. Because to me, I was like, what numbers really work well together? It's a little bit like, you know, you're painting a room, you're not going crazy with like 

Rich Bennett 10:39
water. 

Christiane Schroeter 10:39
red 

Rich Bennett 10:39
Yeah. 

Christiane Schroeter 10:39
Yeah. Then pink furniture, you're like, "Well, we're going together." Oh! The three, the 23, the 23 is when I launched podcast. And then I thought, "Oh, when should I launch my book?" Oh, nine, nine. That's easy to remember, right? And it also is a German word actually means no, which is next opportunity. No, next opportunity, right? So I was like, I got to launch it on the next opportunity day. And that was nine, nine. 

Rich Bennett 11:05
It almost sounds like you're talking angel 

Christiane Schroeter 11:08
numbers. I know. I'm like lining it all up in the sky here. 

Rich Bennett 11:12
But that's brilliant. I mean, three, 23, 23, and now that dates just, I mean, just going to stay in my head the whole 

Christiane Schroeter 11:21
Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 11:21
time now. But also, March, I mean, probably one of best months of the year because St. Patrick's Day. I'm just... That's the Irish him coming out. I'm sorry. And 

Christiane Schroeter 11:36
it's like new beginnings. It's green. Means, you're like, your PNN1's coming all over the place. For sure. That's how 

Rich Bennett 11:46
is. 

Christiane Schroeter 11:46
it 

Rich Bennett 11:47
I would get off these national holidays. 

Christiane Schroeter 11:49
Now, I like 

Rich Bennett 11:51
Willie. 

Christiane Schroeter 11:51
But the audience 

Rich Bennett 11:52
be 

Christiane Schroeter 11:52
will like, but he probably is shocking. Got 

Rich Bennett 11:54
it? I explain this the petite practice 

Christiane Schroeter 12:01
that... 

Rich Bennett 12:01
method. What 

Christiane Schroeter 12:02
Okay, so let me say it in no words. Let me show you. See that? It's this petite practice. Small steps. Big change. 

Rich Bennett 12:16
What's big? Okay, so those of you that that are listening, she's holding up a cup, petite practice. It's a little boring. What's the bottom say again? 

Christiane Schroeter 12:26
Small 

Rich Bennett 12:27
steps. Big 

Christiane Schroeter 12:28
Big 

Rich Bennett 12:28
change. 

Christiane Schroeter 12:29
change. So a petite practice petite European small practice. We are progressing, but we don't have to be perfectionist. We had us practicing we're learning and we are building. And you have to be honest with yourself that there are some days when you feel like, alright, there was a true practice. That's when the second part of the mug comes in rich. 

Rich Bennett 12:54
Okay. 

Christiane Schroeter 12:55
Fail stands for first attempt in learning. 

Rich Bennett 13:00
Oh, I love that. I love that. Because that's something I always preach. You don't be afraid to fail. Look at it as a lesson. learn from 

Christiane Schroeter 13:12
it. 

Rich Bennett 13:13
Thanks. I love that. Alright, do you have shirts to say all this too? 

Christiane Schroeter 13:17
I'm actually just building the whole merchandise business, but just for you, I'm going to make a red one like you 

Rich Bennett 13:24
saying it's going to have his shirt. Alright. 

Christiane Schroeter 13:30
Like a sweater with like white riding and that would be gorgeous. 

Rich Bennett 13:36
I love it. God. I shouldn't. Why? Well, I was going to say never mind. Even if I didn't mention to say and I forgot. I got the beard right now anyway. So 

Christiane Schroeter 13:46
It's 

Rich Bennett 13:46
you would 

Christiane Schroeter 13:46
it 

Rich Bennett 13:46
have 

Christiane Schroeter 13:47
already 

Rich Bennett 13:47
yeah. 

Christiane Schroeter 13:47
happened. It's out there now. 

Rich Bennett 13:49
So how does the petite practice actually help entrepreneurs build momentum? 

Christiane Schroeter 13:56
No, what do you think? I mean like if you think about I want to build this business, first you're overwhelmed. 

Rich Bennett 14:03
Right. Well, 

Christiane Schroeter 14:04
you're overwhelmed because it's big. You want to build something and you look at the, you know, you look at the big idea and you're like, well, how do I actually get started with this? And there is this famous saying, like, how do we eat an elephant? One bite at a time. So you're building your business, why are we eating elephants? 

Rich Bennett 14:24
I never heard that. 

Christiane Schroeter 14:26
Oh, no. What did I do now? 

Rich Bennett 14:29
Oh, God. 

Christiane Schroeter 14:30
Yeah. Yeah. So then I didn't even come up with that. 

Rich Bennett 14:38
Oh. 

Christiane Schroeter 14:38
So now think about big idea and you're basically taking it and you're just breaking it down into small steps. And that is really what you're doing. You're actually creating momentum by doing something every day that will get you ultimately closer to your big idea because you're not just like sitting there the day before the deadline. 

Rich Bennett 15:01
Yeah. 

Christiane Schroeter 15:01
And cranking it all out, but you're actually making every day meaningful and building momentum every day by maybe parsing out 15, 30 minutes, maybe an hour in building your business. That's what it is. 

Rich Bennett 15:15
Do you, do you find that a lot of aspiring entrepreneurs just they have that big idea and they just try to go in too too much at one time. They 

Christiane Schroeter 15:25
For 

Rich Bennett 15:25
take 

Christiane Schroeter 15:25
sure. 

Rich Bennett 15:25
those giant steps instead of the little ones. 

Christiane Schroeter 15:28
Yeah, for sure. Like I mean, just think about like the season that's coming up, right? So it Black Friday is coming up. Let's just say you'll have some offers that you're currently selling through your website. And you're reaching out to people and telling them about the offers, if you have all these conversations going as like balls in the air, they are potential clients, potential leads. And then you think, well, it's back Friday. So maybe I should invest some money into advertising. Now is this going to be expensive because we're talking Black Friday? But 

Rich Bennett 16:02
Right. 

Christiane Schroeter 16:03
still you're like, well, I should probably just get ads going. So then on top of communicating with your leads, you're putting in money into advertising and you might get leads from that too. And all of a sudden you're like, hold on. What was my idea? I wanted to sell something, but I just went in so big that it became completely unmanageable. I should have just taken a small step. I should have just been happy and not greedy with interacting, you know, just organic marketing instead of thinking, well, everybody has a Black Friday thing going. And I'm looking at everybody and I'm feeling inferior, which is really what entrepreneurs do. 

Rich Bennett 16:42
yeah, 

Christiane Schroeter 16:42
So don't think like that. Just think you are moving in small steps. You are moving in the way that it's designed and it's getting to you to go, you don't need to look at everybody else and what they're doing. Because they might have been in business for 20 or 30 years and they know what they're doing. They might have a team of 30 people behind them running ads. 

Rich Bennett 17:00
And you, right. 

Christiane Schroeter 17:01
Right. So that's really what I see a lot. You're creating overwhelm because you want to be like everybody else and you have this fear of missing out if you don't. 

Rich Bennett 17:10
So the professor part, that's what your teaching is actually, 

Christiane Schroeter 17:14
Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 17:14
I guess business, 

Christiane Schroeter 17:15
exactly. Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 17:17
oh, 

Christiane Schroeter 17:18
And so the way that I look at my own super power is if think about a vend diagram and there's the business knowledge there, building a business, scaling a business, doing the marketing, doing the sales and on the other side is really your wellness, which starts with a mindset. So what I just talked to you through, the sphere of missing out, the confidence, creating momentum, sitting down and being organized is actually the bonus part. So you can't really run a business without having the right mindset. And that's what I teach my students that the vend diagram in the middle of these wellness and business circles is really where the magic happens. 

Rich Bennett 18:01
Wow. All right. So I'm here in Maryland. 

And where are you looking at? 

Christiane Schroeter 18:09
California. 

Rich Bennett 18:11
California. So are your classes online where anybody can take them or is it strictly in person? 

Christiane Schroeter 18:18
It the classes at the university in person, but I have coaching programs that are online. And of course, one on one coaching all in Zoom. I'm a zoomie. 

Rich Bennett 18:30
You know, I'm getting a lot, a lot of different punch from you today. I mean, eating elephants. the zoomie thing every time somebody says, zoomie, I think of like my neighbor's dog. He 

Christiane Schroeter 18:42
And 

Rich Bennett 18:43
always says she's got to zoom. He takes off running everywhere, huh? 

Christiane Schroeter 18:48
Wrong word. So maybe I am accessible 

Rich Bennett 18:53
through Zoom. Now you're not the only one who has said that. I've heard other. 

Christiane Schroeter 18:57
Well, and I appreciate that because I think that you know, especially if you have a coach, 

Rich Bennett 19:04
don't 

Christiane Schroeter 19:05
just buy like an online program and go through like trainings and videos. Because the weekly accountability calls, that is really what you need. At the end of the day, if you buy a program, there's always another fire you need to put out and you just don't sit down and do that. But really meeting with a coach and if it's by a Zoom, even more amazing because you can record it, that's what you need to really build momentum. 

Rich Bennett 19:31
Well, and now you think about how many people have bought online courses and they don't have that Zoom call and they never finished 

Christiane Schroeter 19:40
But for some, I can hold Graveyard in the back, like 

Rich Bennett 19:44
the course. 

Christiane Schroeter 19:44
the Graveyard. 

Rich Bennett 19:45
Me as well. 

Christiane Schroeter 19:46
I think sometimes I'd remember it, I'd say, 'Oh, uh, that name's on someone yeah, I probably bought a program some of them at Buttpoint' 

Rich Bennett 19:53
Oh, I'm so bad, I mean some of the courses I- boy, I can't even take anymore because they were- I'm so old, they were on cassette tape. 

Christiane Schroeter 20:02
I 

Rich Bennett 20:02
mean- 

Christiane Schroeter 20:02
I'm 

Rich Bennett 20:04
serious, I literally still have like courses from Zig Zinkelurn all, but they're all cassette- 

Christiane Schroeter 20:09
Oh no, that was a good one. He's 

Rich Bennett 20:11
a- Oh yeah, oh, oh, er, er, er, yeah, you can never go wrong with Zig. Uhm, so, what, actually, with the entrepreneurs- 

Christiane Schroeter 20:19
Hmm. 

Rich Bennett 20:20
What are some of the common mistakes you see new ones make when they're actually trying to scale too fast? 

Christiane Schroeter 20:29
Yeah, I would have just talked him through with that Black Friday. 

Rich Bennett 20:33
Yeah. 

Christiane Schroeter 20:34
Thinking they should be everywhere and satisfy everyone's wants and needs. When reality, the magic happens if you're in the valley. So don't look up at the sides, at the mountains, which are the big competitors just- Pass the valley of clarity, just get through that valley which might be like the first five years. And the thing, at the end of the valley is the light and that's maybe when I can start scaling but at the beginning you just have to be super narrow, it's just as path and you just have to stick to your path. Don't look right. Don't look left. Just keep going. You know, like in Star Wars when they fly through the mountains like really fast? Do 

Rich Bennett 21:15
Yeah. 

Christiane Schroeter 21:15
you like Star Wars? 

Rich Bennett 21:16
Oh, yeah. 

Christiane Schroeter 21:16
I like that art or top gun, top gun. 

Rich Bennett 21:20
All right. You have to write a book on it, and I'm already going to give 'em a name because all the different things you've been saying, all the different one line or something, you need a book on Christianism's. 

Christiane Schroeter 21:33
I know. Actually, one of my students said the same thing. 

Rich Bennett 21:38
Oh, come on. 

Christiane Schroeter 21:39
She said, "Call it acronyms for every day." Like a little flip calendar and you're flippered or like you read it, and it's like, "Oh my god, that's a good one." Yeah, because quite honestly, which it just happens. People ask me about it and it just comes in my mind. It's like a- it's like a two-box. You request the song, and I have them coming! 

Rich Bennett 22:01
I love it. 

Christiane Schroeter 22:02
It's like- It's like bro, 

Rich Bennett 22:04
be- Yeah, 

Christiane Schroeter 22:04
I'll 

Rich Bennett 22:04
you're like going all of it, it's like- Give me some more- and I can't get the damn elephant out of my head now 

Christiane Schroeter 22:11
I 

Rich Bennett 22:11
because I 

Christiane Schroeter 22:11
know. 

Rich Bennett 22:11
like to eat food, 

Christiane Schroeter 22:12
I 

Rich Bennett 22:13
and- 

Christiane Schroeter 22:13
know. 

Rich Bennett 22:14
And 

Christiane Schroeter 22:14
Whatever. 

Rich Bennett 22:15
speaking of food. 

Christiane Schroeter 22:16
Food. 

Rich Bennett 22:17
Because, yes. 

Christiane Schroeter 22:18
Cookies. 

Rich Bennett 22:19
On your website, yes, I take it that's- you love to bake more pastry than cooking? 

Christiane Schroeter 22:28
Yeah, it's actually true, it's- it's just something easy, you would take along, you know, and you don't need silverware. 

Rich Bennett 22:36
That is- that is true. So, did you ever think about- Like, 

Christiane Schroeter 22:42
I cook book? 

Rich Bennett 22:42
I- first of all, how long have you been baking? 

Christiane Schroeter 22:47
I don't know, my kids are mostly doing the work, I have a cookbook, if you want to see it in a little while, I 

Rich Bennett 22:52
it. You 

Christiane Schroeter 22:52
like 

Rich Bennett 22:52
have a cookbook, too, 

Christiane Schroeter 22:53
Of 

Rich Bennett 22:53
okay. 

Christiane Schroeter 22:53
course, I published a cookbook, 

Rich Bennett 22:55
Did- 

Christiane Schroeter 22:55
okay? 

Rich Bennett 22:55
did you- have you ever thought about becoming a chef, a pastry chef? 

Christiane Schroeter 22:59
No! No. 

Rich Bennett 23:00
You don't want the headaches of that, right? 

Christiane Schroeter 23:02
No! 

Rich Bennett 23:05
Alright, so now I'm going to put you on the spot. What is your favorite dish to me? 

Christiane Schroeter 23:12
Hmm. 

Rich Bennett 23:13
I'm not talking- on- tray. I'm talking about cookies, pies, whatever. 

Christiane Schroeter 23:20
go- Yeah, I have to stick to the classics. They're probably in the national- Chuck- Chuck- Chuck- Chuck cookie, they, right? 

Rich Bennett 23:26
You can never 

Christiane Schroeter 23:27
I- Because it resonates with me, when I came from Germany, believe it or not, Reds, it's not really- It- at least at that time, in 1999, when I came here. It wasn't really like a German thing to eat a Chuck- Chuck cookie. It just wasn't. Well, we had other cookies, but it was very American. 

Rich Bennett 23:49
Huh, well, wait a minute, doesn't the best chocolate come from Germany? 

Christiane Schroeter 23:53
Yeah, we just never really put them together. There are- there are cookies that have chocolate on the outside, they're coated, on the inside. But like these chips, it wasn't really like a, a super-popular thing in Germany until, like, came here, I was like, "Oh, interesting." 

Rich Bennett 24:12
All right, are you, so you came here from Germany in '99? 

Christiane Schroeter 24:15
Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 24:16
All right, I'm afraid- God, I'm afraid to- I have a funny feeling, I knew the answer already. What brought you here to- I'm gonna say what brought you to Germany? What brought you to America? 

Christiane Schroeter 24:29
Oh, boy, you're afraid of the answer, well, let me- 

Rich Bennett 24:31
Uh-huh. 

Christiane Schroeter 24:32
I was a full-bred scholar, came to study. 

Rich Bennett 24:36
Oh, okay, that's not the answer I was expecting. Look, with the Christianity on it is, I'm saying everything, I thought you were just gonna say a plane. 

Christiane Schroeter 24:43
Oh, but no! 

Rich Bennett 24:44
[laughs] 

Christiane Schroeter 24:47
[laughs] 

True. 

Rich Bennett 24:53
Oh god, you missed 

Christiane Schroeter 24:56
I know. But I will save it. I will save a few more of those for 

Rich Bennett 25:01
it. 

Christiane Schroeter 25:01
a little while, but that was a good one. Nice one. 

Rich Bennett 25:06
I love talking to people from countries especially when it comes to food. Go figure. But, eh, well, you grew up in Germany, I take it. 

Christiane Schroeter 25:19
Yep. 

Rich Bennett 25:20
So what was your favorite thing in Germany to eat that you really can't 

Christiane Schroeter 25:26
States. 

Rich Bennett 25:26
get United 

Christiane Schroeter 25:30
Oh, right. So, a little less than about the German language. We have like additional letters in German that combine like two vowels. Right? So, the 'o' and the 'e', actually have a letter, that's for instance an 'o' and it has two dots on the top. We call it an 'umlaut'. Right? 

Rich Bennett 25:51
we 

Christiane Schroeter 25:51
So, uhm, like my last name, but the 'o' and the 'e' is actually shreute, so be the 'o' with the two dots on the top instead of writing it with 'o' right? 

Rich Bennett 26:02
Okay. 

Christiane Schroeter 26:02
So, frequently when you look at the German language and you see something that has a C, H, E, N in the back, it's something small of the big version. So 'bread' means 'brod', right? B, R, O, T. But a 'brodchen', it's like a little bread and that's something you don't really see. You could call it rolls, but most of the time the rolls are kind of very soft. So, the 'brodchen', the little breads in Germany, they are like crispy and fresh and they come in all the thing kind of cupping, flavors, flowers, whatever you can think of, but myself and my family, that's like the one thing we really cannot get here very well. The 'brodchen', the little 'been'. 

Rich Bennett 26:47
Alright, so what's something that 

Christiane Schroeter 26:52
And it's like a petite practice. It's like a 

Rich Bennett 26:55
really? 

Christiane Schroeter 26:55
petite practice. Yeah, because it's small and you can eat it instead of eating a whole bread. I mean, who does that? Right? Santa? I don't know. But you can eat the little one. Are you laughing right now? 

Rich Bennett 27:07
I use, I used to. Santa's lost too much weight, so 

Christiane Schroeter 27:11
I know. 

Rich Bennett 27:12
maybe I need to start eating some more of that bread. 

Christiane Schroeter 27:15
Small breads. Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 27:16
So here in the United States, because you'll see a lot of different restaurants and everything. Say they're German 

Christiane Schroeter 27:23
restaurants. 

Rich Bennett 27:25
But what's something you've seen that is actually a German cuisine that they get wrong here in the United 

Christiane Schroeter 27:32
States? 

Rich Bennett 27:32
So they make you. 

Christiane Schroeter 27:34
So, frequently I would say the whole timing of October Fest is a little off. And we just in October right now. So, frequently October Fest in the United States is celebrated in October. Where in reality, October Fest actually ends on the first, I think it's on the first Saturday in October. So the, 

Rich Bennett 27:56
really 

Christiane Schroeter 27:56
Saturday ends it. So it starts like some time around the 18th or so of September and then it ends on like, let's say whatever that day falls on the first or second of October, boom done. 

Rich Bennett 28:09
Real I did not know that. 

Christiane Schroeter 28:11
Now here we go. You asked me. 

Rich Bennett 28:13
Well, the funny thing 

Christiane Schroeter 28:15
is wrong. 

Rich Bennett 28:16
Now the funny thing is a town right up the roof for me. They had October Fest in September. I'm like, it's not even October yet. Why are you having it? 

Christiane Schroeter 28:25
That would be it. 

Rich Bennett 28:26
I always thought it was the whole month of October. 

Christiane Schroeter 28:29
Mm-hmm. Yeah. So if you, if you travel to Munich, that's, there's a big, ordeal, the opening and all this. And there's, of course, a big, ordeal for closing. But it's always anchored around that second Saturday at that first Saturday in October. 

Rich Bennett 28:45
Wow. All right. So, something that you're very, very, very, very proud of. And I want you to tell all listeners about it. The TEDx talk. Tell everybody how that came about and why you decided to do it, which I'm glad you did too. 

Christiane Schroeter 29:08
I'm telling you with what we talked about earlier. The podcast sharing a message on a bigger stage. And people actually in the audience. And then via YouTube, the audience that's out there in the living rooms in the offices, wherever you watch a YouTube video. Sharing a video that is so compelling and powerful that it's going to live for eternity. 

Rich Bennett 29:33
Absolutely. Now, any plans of that actually take it into a bigger, because I know you have the TEDx talks and then you have the TED talks. I keep forgetting 

Christiane Schroeter 29:41
Mm-hmm. 

Rich Bennett 29:41
what it says. 

Christiane Schroeter 29:42
Mm-hmm. 

Rich Bennett 29:42
Any plans on doing it on a bigger stage? 

Christiane Schroeter 29:47
Yeah, so there were probably like, I mean, there was room for a thousand people where I presented, right? So it was a quite large stage, a thousand. And when I stepped on that stage, which the very first word that came to my mind was home. I was like, I feel home. Yeah, standing here, looking at the audience, presenting my talk, I just felt completely at ease. And that's what home feels like. 

Rich Bennett 30:17
Yeah. Oh, wow. And people can actually hire you to come and speak, right? 

Christiane Schroeter 30:23
Exactly. And that would be how confident I am in making them laugh, learn, and listen, and walk away with a tractionable message, right? Because I think that frequently you'll listen to speakers and you really want that moment when you don't even look at your watch, where you just completely transposed and transformed. And you're like traveling on their thought journey. I will do that for business. 

Rich Bennett 30:55
I and tell everybody that, because you speak on different topics. 

Christiane Schroeter 30:59
Mm-hmm. 

Rich Bennett 31:00
Tell everybody the different topics that you speak about. 

Christiane Schroeter 31:03
Yeah, so the one of my most famous topic really is how I felt when I stood on the stage home. So being confident in you are, finding your superpower, aligning what you are meant to do. And really figuring out what is it that I'm here to share with the world. Because once you align yourself with your superpower, that's really when you're feeling you're creating momentum. And you don't feel lost and overwhelmed anymore because you have a direction. 

Rich Bennett 31:34
Yeah. 

Freedom Federal Credit Union. You know, running a podcast involves more than just microphones and stories. It requires solid financial management. And that's where Freedom Federal Credit Union comes in. They're not just a credit union. They're a community partner that I trust deeply. Their support helps us keep bringing you the stories you love episode after episode. And what really sets Freedom Federal Credit Union apart is their dedication to local businesses. They offer everything from business loans to incredible resources. Ensuring companies like Mind Thrive, and it's all wrapped in top notch customer service. So if you're a business owner looking for a financial institution that supports your goals and invests in our community, I can't recommend Freedom Federal Credit Union enough. Swing by their site at freedomfcu. org or give them a call at 1,800 440 4120. So I've been debating whether to do a TEDx talk or not. When you decided to, how long then we rephrase this? Not when you decided to do it. But how long did it take you to actually decide to do it? And then the process of, I guess you got to what submit to do it right? 

So from the time you decided hey I wanted to do a TEDx talk but I'm kind of leery doing if I should to the tide to where it finally happened to you were on stage. What was that time frame? 

Christiane Schroeter 33:22
I think it was always in the back of my mind. 

Rich Bennett 33:25
Right. 

Christiane Schroeter 33:25
And you know, Thanksgiving is coming up and I'm from a leave on gratitude. There was a Thanksgiving dinner when we went around, we said, what is everybody grateful for? What do we really feel? 2026 or whatever the next year was called is going to bring you? And I said, I'm very grateful that I am an educator that I'm sharing my voice. And I would really think about the moments where people came back and they said transform their lives. And that I'm very grateful for all these networks that I built. And I want to take this to the next level to the bigger stage. And I set it in that moment at that Thanksgiving dinner, being grateful for this. And in that January that came, so just like a couple of ones later, right? So it was end of November, December, rolled around Christmas Santa, right? And then January came. 

January came. And I'm not a believer in like New Year's resolutions, and because I'm not, everybody kept asking me, it's like, Oh, 

Rich Bennett 34:26
maybe they're, I believe in goals. 

Christiane Schroeter 34:29
And I was like, I don't have that. And I was like, Well, why don't I have it? I mean, I want to do stuff. And then I just remember the conversation. And I was like, yeah, I'm going to apply for the next talks. And then I just started. I like it took my best petite practice. I basically just stand up on application. I mean, rich, it's free to apply. 

Rich Bennett 34:49
Right. 

Christiane Schroeter 34:50
It's always when I tell my clients and my students, always, it's my one rule in life. If it's free, 

Rich Bennett 34:57
do it. 

Christiane Schroeter 34:58
there's nothing to lose, the only thing to lose will be that you don't apply. Because then, for sure, you cannot win, right? So they said 

Rich Bennett 35:06
Yeah. 

Christiane Schroeter 35:06
apply. I just supplied. And I just, blah, put together an application, put together a video, now, the goodness takes a long time. This is not that easy, right? If... yup. And I just applied. 

Rich Bennett 35:17
It was... Where was it, Fallson? 

Christiane Schroeter 35:20
Exactly, yeah. Exactly. 

Rich Bennett 35:23
Okay. 

Christiane Schroeter 35:23
Close to Sacramento. And it was meaningful because Sacramento is the capital of California. And that's where some of my students work that took my class years ago. So that actually came to the talk. 

Rich Bennett 35:38
All right, so besides the TEDx talk, I want to talk about students and people you've coached. Um, because I always love to hear to feel good stories. Can you share a story with us about someone that you... I want to say, I don't want to say you coached. Because... I mean, you probably did coach 'em, but I believe you're a mentor to a 

Christiane Schroeter 36:01
Uh-huh. 

Rich Bennett 36:01
lot of people. 

Christiane Schroeter 36:02
Uh-huh. 

Rich Bennett 36:03
Can you tell us a feel good story of somebody that you actually helped? You don't have to use their name if you don't want to. It's up to you. Or if there's more to... I'm sure there's more to win. Share how ever many stories you want. 

Christiane Schroeter 36:15
Mm-hmm. Yeah. Well, I actually have somebody that's working with me right now. It's that feel good story, right? To where everybody that works with me, I'm using my books because they're workbooks. And that's also a create structure. So the initial thought is, all right, so I have a coach, I have a workbook, right? And I mean, this seems like... It's basically just a very traditional approach. Now what makes it non-traditional, which is that my books are full of different ways of learning. So there are word searches in there, there are personality quizzes in there, there are podcast recordings in there. These book sheets are on one page, so they're very concise, they're very impactful and powerful in terms of the colors and the layout. So that person bought the book, was in my coaching sessions. And then after three weeks came and said, I cannot believe how working with the book and with you has completely transformed my thinking. Because now I realize that sometimes it's like a lock and a key. And you just need to try a different key to unlock something because the way they've been doing before, just you went to the key and it just didn't open. So the way that when you teach it, looking at a problem from different angles, really tapping into different learning style so it's visual, it's audible, it's kinesthetic. All of a sudden I'm feeling like I'm really engaging in this in all my senses. And then I knew I have the right thing because that's the feedback I'm looking for. So I work really hard on my coaching, on my teaching, because that's really what I want. I want to unlock your superpower. 

Rich Bennett 38:07
You have many of them, what's your biggest superpower? 

Christiane Schroeter 38:11
Well, listen now. I think that's important. Most people. Most people just talk. 

Rich Bennett 38:21
That is, that is true. That is true. And it takes some people need to practice to learn how to listen. And then some people also need to practice to learn how to talk. To talk, when to talk, 

Christiane Schroeter 38:35
Beautiful. 

Rich Bennett 38:37
we're not to talk, but I'm, I'm going to get back to the podcast as well because you've been doing that for three seasons now. But with the podcast, say with the book, because you've gotten a lot of good reviews on your books. 

Have you, and I don't know if this has happened yet and I'm sure it has. What's one of the biggest, I guess, responses that you've gotten from your podcast that just really filled your heart from somebody? 

Christiane Schroeter 39:09
When somebody listens to the podcast and already looks forward to the next episode. So it's every other week I released it on Fridays. And then they reach out and share with me. That really made my Saturday special and they brought a smile to my face and that's cool. That's good feedback because it doesn't even have to be like, oh, I listened to this and you know, changed my life, but just the fact that I made like a little piece of their day. And I was in their ears. Or maybe they watched it on my YouTube channel because I always published the podcast there. That's cool. Yeah, no, that's an honor to share the Saturday with them. That's really cool. That's exactly what I want. Yeah, that to where they continue in any time, anywhere and on their own schedule. 

Rich Bennett 40:01
Alright, I'm going to put you on the spot now about your podcast. I'm going to ask you one simple question about an episode and it was a short episode. So it should be an easy answer. How do you win when you're losing? 

Christiane Schroeter 40:20
That's being vulnerable and being authentic. Yeah, just actually in that moment, let down the guard and show you truly are because you're winning confidence, you're also winning somebody's, else's believe in you because they get to know you better. And even though you feel you're maybe losing a mask and, you know, some, some, you know, role you have been playing reality, you're just actually winning because people get to know the true you and they love you even more for that. 

Rich Bennett 40:55
Those of you listening, if you haven't listened to her podcast yet, you have to, and of course you got to get her books too. You also got to watch the TEDx talk. You also got to get her as a coach. You got just, look, I'm going to make it simple for you, everybody. Just go to drcrishiana.com. I'll have the links in the show notes, but yeah, just there's so much you need. Trust me, if you want to start your own business or podcast, actually, yeah, I want to hit on that because I get this question a lot from people that want to start a podcast. 

What's been your biggest struggle with the podcast? 

Christiane Schroeter 41:38
That's a great question. I think you need to figure out when the good time is to launch it. So for me, it was smart to launch. And I am, I have a really hard work, I think. So I'm really holding myself accountable. I wouldn't have started it if I wouldn't have known that I can continue it. I think that's what the biggest struggle is. A lot of people have to where they're looking at the content. And I was like, oh my gosh, I guess I have to release an episode here. So it took off fast because I was consistent, 

Rich Bennett 42:10
right? 

Christiane Schroeter 42:11
Very much following my recipe. Like we talked recipes earlier, but I had a recipe I used it consistently and I didn't look right and I didn't look left and because it took off so fast, rich, my biggest problem has been I get so many applications for guests. That actually switched off the guest applications because I was like, I would love to have you and I know you're amazing, but I just can't because people reached out to me speaking out the feedback and they said, we want to hear you, because you're funny and that we want to hear you talk and we love the guests. But we also, it's just 50 minutes long each episode. It is not very long. So if I share that with the guest, that might be like three minutes of my talking time. And so people were like, can we alternate it or can you just pull back a little bit more than the guest thing? And so that's what I ended up doing. That's my biggest struggle. Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 43:04
But you have a lot to offer? 

Christiane Schroeter 43:06
I know and I like I like it too. That's like the thing. That the the 

Rich Bennett 43:11
share 

Christiane Schroeter 43:12
is going along with educating. 

Rich Bennett 43:14
Yeah. I mean, I love having guests on, but every once in a while, I will do that solo episode. But with there are certain podcasters like yourself and several other ones, I don't want to use their names right now, that they could do that solo podcast and be successful doing it because they have so much to offer and people learn from it all the time. And you're that way. You can do that. Great. You do have great guests on like I said. Yeah. Drubion. So, I mean, 

Christiane Schroeter 43:48
well, it's that. 

Rich Bennett 43:50
Yeah. I mean, you can't get wrong wrong with Drubion. But no, I think it's important because I see too many people that they just want to start a podcast because they want a podcast. That's it. They have no idea what they want to talk about. And then even when they do know what they want to talk about, they're not doing something that you said. And I like this. And I'm bringing the cooking aspect into it. But I have a funny feeling that you do this with your teaching, with your business, definitely with your cooking. And you are. You say you do it as your podcast. And I'd love this idea. They don't put the recipe 

Christiane Schroeter 44:35
together. Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 44:36
And I mean, whether you want to call it a recipe or a business plan or a plan, they don't put that together. And that's why you see so many podcasts fail. They don't. They don't put that together. And I think that's where a lot of them are messing up or they think it's easy. It's not. Now, are you doing anything and everything yourself or do you have somebody that does it for you? 

Christiane Schroeter 45:02
I do it myself. And the main thing is because I am a speaker, it helps me listening back to how I lead a conversation whether it's with the guest or talking myself. to learn from it. And I think that is important because you need to kind of realize, all right, so this is maybe how I structure this in the future. And I feel like, you know, it's kind of like, if I'm in charge of it, I know how to design my future episodes. 

Rich Bennett 45:33
Yes. 

Christiane Schroeter 45:34
Much better, much better. 

Rich Bennett 45:36
Yeah, and I think that's what a lot of people don't realize. And it takes time. I mean, granny your episodes aren't that, you know, you said 15 minutes. 

Christiane Schroeter 45:44
Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 45:45
Unless you have a guest on. But you're right. I mean, one of the things that I know is gonna happen when I do this. Well, first of all, I'm probably gonna be lay for my ass off with the elephant reference still. But when I go back, when I go back to listen to it and edit it, it's, I'm just gonna learn all over again. It goes back to like a lot of times you have to read, when you're reading a book to learn something, sometimes you'll go back to it or you'll start a chapter over again because you just wanted to sink in. And I think that, well, I'm thinking, I know that's something that I do when I edit it. I just learned even more because granted that listening aspect, you're hearing different things as we're talking, but as you're editing, it's like something you may have heard now strikes a different chord, if that makes sense. 

Christiane Schroeter 46:43
And it's also because I edit and I watch the video. So I can see the person's reaction. 

Rich Bennett 46:49
Right. 

Christiane Schroeter 46:49
And I'm a little bit more tuned in with the emotion that they show. And some people cry. Some of my guests cry on the podcast just because I ask them about certain experiences, and it's very vulnerable. And I love that. You know, earlier we asked me what do you gain? I mean, how do you win when you're losing that really winning? Yeah, they're sharing their message, which is a very important message on a podcast. It's, it's tremendous. Like, maybe they have been an alcoholic and they're talking about that and it's exceptionally, you know, brave to share this in my podcast, how they overcame that struggle. But now think about my podcast being the vehicle to maybe changing somebody else's life that has the same struggle. And that's really how I look at that. So I still want to make sure that I honor the guests vulnerable story, but also presented in a way that they know that was not easy for their guests to share this, right. 

Rich Bennett 47:47
Oh, I can't tell you how times I've had a guest on, and I literally have just started crying. 

Christiane Schroeter 47:55
Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 47:56
Myself hearing their stories because especially when we're talking to people that are in recall, you know, addiction 

Christiane Schroeter 48:01
recovery. Exactly. 

Rich Bennett 48:03
It's just wow, wow, wow. All right. So, excuse me, God, before I get to my last question and I have no idea what it's going to be, is there anything you would like to add, like a recipe? No, I'm joking. 

Christiane Schroeter 48:19
But 

Rich Bennett 48:20
is there, is there anything you would like to add? Of course, if you want to share a recipe for them chocolate chip cookies, I mean, that's 

Christiane Schroeter 48:27
I will. I yeah. 

Rich Bennett 48:29
My daughter cheats and uses toehouse. 

Christiane Schroeter 48:33
Oh, the makers. 

Rich Bennett 48:36
Oh, I'll be I would you give me true from scratch cookies. I'm going to be happy. I'm 

Christiane Schroeter 48:46
to 

Rich Bennett 48:46
going 

Christiane Schroeter 48:46
love it. 

Rich Bennett 48:47
Oh, yeah. But no, is there anything you would like to share with the listeners before I get to my last question? 

Christiane Schroeter 48:53
Well, I think that that was the perfect transition to what I wanted to share that I'm working on my book. Step into your voice, which will come out on December 4th National Chocolate Chipy Day. 

Rich Bennett 49:07
Chocolate? 

Christiane Schroeter 49:08
I was like, that's actually not that none of the chocolate chips in there. National cookie day step into your voice and I'm working on that right now. So if the audience listens to this before December 4th right, they can already mark their calendars, obviously, but they can also think a little bit about are you aligned with your voice? Do you feel confident, you know, sharing your ideas? Do you feel sometimes don't speak up? Because that's basically going to be the book for you then. 

Rich Bennett 49:37
Are any of your books in audible form or strictly paperback? 

Christiane Schroeter 49:43
I actually started recording it. And so it's just like basically who I am. So I recorded it, but the thing for me is I keep going back to the books and updating them to and I don't want that they are just like sitting there and they know they're basically as I discovered things like, oh yeah, maybe I could have like this tomato sauce example. There's a tomato sauce example. I could have maybe explained that a little bit differently, and then I'm going back and I'm maybe editing some of the wording. So if I were to the audible, then I would have to update it. But I could. I like that. Could be fun. 

Rich Bennett 50:21
I never thought about that, though. Be, I mean, because you... I always ask authors if they didn't in an audible form. Now if it's a novel, I guess there's really nothing to change, but with what you're doing, you're right, there's updates. 

Christiane Schroeter 50:39
And 

Rich Bennett 50:39
that could be a hassle updating the audible. 

Christiane Schroeter 50:42
Exactly. 

Rich Bennett 50:43
Time. Wow. 

Christiane Schroeter 50:45
That's why. Yeah, I like, you know, like even my first book, and again, this goes back to my coaching. I always say progress, over perfection. I said myself that date 99 published the book, and then I was using it in my coaching program, and I looked through it. And yeah, I mean, I discovered things, I was like, oh, you know, I mean, this actually would be better over here. And you don't have to be the perfectionist at that point, but just like, all right, so I'm realizing as I'm using this now in an applied case study, they can make some little tweaks. And that's the beauty of this is. That's what a good entrepreneur does. They're launching it. And then I come back with an improved version, right? I mean, that's why we always see new phones coming out and new cars coming out because you're learning. And that's what basically is my advantage that I can upload a new book, a new version, and I'm not like limited with this audible that I recorded. But I'm sure I couldn't use AI or something just recorded. It just wouldn't have my sexy German accent. 

Rich Bennett 51:49
Now you gotta keep your voice. Yeah, no, no, 

Christiane Schroeter 51:51
that's 

Rich Bennett 51:51
no, 

Christiane Schroeter 51:51
a bummer. I mean, people will be like, I don't even know 

Rich Bennett 51:55
Yeah, 

Christiane Schroeter 51:55
why. 

Rich Bennett 51:55
now you gotta have your voice on there. 

Christiane Schroeter 51:57
Yeah, I try to get rid of my accent, but then my husband 

Rich Bennett 52:00
said, something 

Christiane Schroeter 52:01
that's sexy. No, like that's a really good question. 

Rich Bennett 52:06
Yeah, don't get rid of it. Your husband's right. 

Christiane Schroeter 52:11
I know. 

Rich Bennett 52:12
That's 

Christiane Schroeter 52:13
fabulous. 

Rich Bennett 52:16
All right. I was get ready to ask you one last question, but something you mentioned there, especially talking about the audible books and having to redo them. And with you being a professor, teaching business and everything, and I think this is very important because I don't think a lot of entrepreneurs or podcasters do this. How often should you go back and look at your business plan and make changes to it? 

Christiane Schroeter 52:44
On a monthly basis, it's probably good. Or you could do every three months. Yeah, I think examining what works, what felt good, and what didn't work is one of the best practices in your business. You could do, I mean, look like you're you're break it down to maybe four parts or maybe look at your, you know, like when is like a sales season and when do I have some recovery time. So you could anchor it around that. It doesn't have to be four parts. Maybe it's two parts or three parts, but it's so important because again, speaking about how I approached that with a book, only then if you do that, you can make adjustments for the future, you don't want to you don't want to listen to your own learnings. 

Rich Bennett 53:29
Right. 

Christiane Schroeter 53:29
Because remember, your first attempt in learning was just learning. So by looking back, you're like, oh, let's do it the second time, a little bit different and you adjust. 

Rich Bennett 53:43
Wait a minute, I was just trying to say the fail part. If you 

Christiane Schroeter 53:46
it 

Rich Bennett 53:46
replace, 

Christiane Schroeter 53:46
would be sale. 

Rich Bennett 53:48
It would be sale. Do you 

Christiane Schroeter 53:50
It's 

Rich Bennett 53:50
sell? 

Christiane Schroeter 53:50
beautiful. 

Rich Bennett 53:51
You know, you're saying your second attempt in learning. Then you're selling away. 

Christiane Schroeter 53:55
And 

Rich Bennett 53:57
see another Christianaism. 

Christiane Schroeter 54:00
First you're failing. Then you're gonna say, oh my 

Rich Bennett 54:03
god. 

Christiane Schroeter 54:03
It's so good. 

Rich Bennett 54:05
I cannot wait for this new book come out about all the isms. 

Christiane Schroeter 54:11
Accrims every day. I like it. 

Rich Bennett 54:15
All right. So Christiana, this last question is all up to you. Pick a number between one and a hundred. 

Christiane Schroeter 54:23
What? They share it with you or do I just pick it? 

Rich Bennett 54:27
Well, no. Tell me the number because I don't have cards in my hand. That's going to determine what question 

Christiane Schroeter 54:32
you. Oh, I wasn't sure how it was like to actually ever share. That's the only way such as 

Rich Bennett 54:36
I ask 

Christiane Schroeter 54:37
something how we end this show. It's like, all right, I think that's you later. Okay. 

Rich Bennett 54:43
All 

Christiane Schroeter 54:45
right. So I picked it. Now I have to tell you, oh, I do have to 

Rich Bennett 54:47
Yes, 

Christiane Schroeter 54:47
run. 

Rich Bennett 54:48
of course you have to tell me. 

Christiane Schroeter 54:50
Sure. I wrote it on the bottom of my mug. Okay. 

Rich Bennett 54:55
I'm not a magician. 

Christiane Schroeter 54:57
Oh, I wasn't sure. Okay, so I'll tell you right now. Okay. It's 11. 

Rich Bennett 55:02
Why, why 11? 

Christiane Schroeter 55:04
It's actually good number two ones. I mean nothing wrong with 

Rich Bennett 55:08
it. It 

Christiane Schroeter 55:09
is strong because 

Rich Bennett 55:11
what's better than being number one, be number one twice. 

Christiane Schroeter 55:14
I know. 

Rich Bennett 55:15
11. 

Christiane Schroeter 55:15
I was like, it looks kind nifty. 

Rich Bennett 55:17
It's another word for you. Another Christiana is 

Christiane Schroeter 55:22
It's the 

Rich Bennett 55:23
okay. 

Christiane Schroeter 55:23
fail in the sale. Oh my god. 

Rich Bennett 55:27
Oh, this is a good question, and in a way, this can really go with what we've been talking about. What is something you're still unlearning from your past? 

Christiane Schroeter 55:40
Mountain'. It's a bit of a high yields, because there's 

Rich Bennett 55:45
an-. 

Christiane Schroeter 55:45
just 

Rich Bennett 55:51
Oh my god, I was not expecting that. 

Christiane Schroeter 55:56
You told me this is say what comes to my mind, Rhett. 

Rich Bennett 56:02
Oh my god. Oh, yeah. 

I did. I did. 

I'm sorry, I mean, why do 

Christiane Schroeter 56:13
you want a yields, Rhett? 

Rich Bennett 56:16
No, I tried. No, no, wait a minute. OK, I gotta explain why I tried. So we- I'm in the lines called here, and we had a ugly waitress spaghetti dinner, where the guys dressed up as waitresses, and we had a competition between us all. Who was the ugliest and who could raise the most 

Christiane Schroeter 56:34
tips? Oh my gosh. 

Rich Bennett 56:36
And I tried to put the heels on there and I would have broken an ankle. I don't know how 

Christiane Schroeter 56:41
And 

Rich Bennett 56:42
women- 

Christiane Schroeter 56:42
really ugly. 

Rich Bennett 56:44
I don't know how women do it. It's just... No, I can't. Yeah, no way. It's bad enough wearing a skirt. 

Christiane Schroeter 56:53
Oh. 

Rich Bennett 56:54
Do you have 

Christiane Schroeter 56:55
a tray too? 

Like carrying something and with a- 

Rich Bennett 57:00
Yeah, I think we did. I think we did. Yeah, and I was- I didn't wait a minute. Let me tell you something. Some of the guys in the club, they were ugly. Where they dressed up as women, they were ugly. 

Christiane Schroeter 57:15
Oh. 

Rich Bennett 57:16
My wife and daughter insisted on putting the makeup on me. I was like, "I don't need makeup, yes you do." And I had a, you know, a were wig and 

Christiane Schroeter 57:23
This 

Rich Bennett 57:23
everything. 

Christiane Schroeter 57:23
is beautiful. This is 

Rich Bennett 57:25
It was fun. It was 

Christiane Schroeter 57:26
beautiful. 

Rich Bennett 57:26
fun. And we- The competition we had, it wasn't- we didn't do the competition really to raise money for our club. Each of us picked a non-profit, a local non-profit and I think the the guy that won it, so the money raised, hit the non-profit hit, he picked was St. Jude's. So we donated the money to them. We had three, the three top winners. So it was St. Jude's, I think the local Humane Society and another animal shelter. 

Christiane Schroeter 57:58
Beautiful. 

Rich Bennett 57:59
Yeah, so it was fun. It was, I would love to do it again, but I definitely would not wear the heels. 

Christiane Schroeter 58:08
I know, so we have that in common. 

Rich Bennett 58:13
Oh God, Christianity. I want to thank you so much. It has been a blast. Those of you listening. Again, go to DrChristianity.com. And I will have the link in the show notes, purchase our books. When you purchase our books, make sure you leave a full review and listen to the podcast. Happy, healthy hustle, and you can listen to it anywhere. Good pods. God, I'm just a spotifying. I can't believe I'm throwing a bike away. 

Christiane Schroeter 58:47
I'm still thinking about the view. 

Rich Bennett 58:49
Oh, yeah. Yeah, it's like, oh God. I mean, now, okay, why am I pithering an elephant in high heels? Thanks a lot, sir. 

Christiana, thank you so much. It's been a true honor. 

Christiane Schroeter 59:05
Well, and then, of course, now I have something for you, Rich. 

Rich Bennett 59:11
Uh-oh, I didn't do it. 

Christiane Schroeter 59:13
When you watch the Ted X talk, look at my shoes. I'm giving you a homework right now. Watch the Ted 

Rich Bennett 59:20
Uh-oh. 

Christiane Schroeter 59:20
X talk and look at my shoes because they're heels, but they're, they're quite, they're very low to the ground. So I was very grounded. 

Rich Bennett 59:30
I was going to say the pants are covering the back of them. 

Christiane Schroeter 59:32
You can see it a little bit when I'm like walking around a little bit, but they're 

Rich Bennett 59:36
Okay. 

Christiane Schroeter 59:36
golden. And again, they were there to keep me grounded. 

Rich Bennett 59:41
And those of you listening, it's on YouTube, went big change, start with small steps. And you can listen to that. Hey, look for the heels and then comment about the heels. 

Christiane Schroeter 59:54
Exactly. 

Rich Bennett 59:56
Or the hair or my God, you got long 

Christiane Schroeter 1:00:00
hair. I know that you ain't even coming. You jealous. 

Rich Bennett 1:00:03
I am. I am very jealous because my, the longest my hair was at one point was down to the top of my rear end. 

Christiane Schroeter 1:00:12
Oh, here we go, 

Rich Bennett 1:00:14
which was a very, very, very long time ago. 

Christiane Schroeter 1:00:18
Um, 

Rich Bennett 1:00:19
yeah, with that. look 

Christiane Schroeter 1:00:21
We 

Rich Bennett 1:00:21
christiana, thanks so 

Christiane Schroeter 1:00:23
Thank 

Rich Bennett 1:00:23
much. 

Christiane Schroeter 1:00:23
you. That was amazing. I really appreciate you audience. I hope you have so much fun as we did. And of course, share your best takeaways with us. That's always the best. 

Rich Bennett 1:00:33
And I want to offer this to you, the door is open anytime you ever want to come back because I had a blast. 

Christiane Schroeter 1:00:40
I love it. Yeah, 

Rich Bennett 1:00:42
I 

Christiane Schroeter 1:00:42
I think need to create a, uhm, more like holiday season situation, you know? It's a cooking, with a baking, and I'll like really get people ready mentally for what's going to come. Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 1:00:56
You just want, you just want me to put the light back on 

Christiane Schroeter 1:01:01
and 

Rich Bennett 1:01:02
it 

Christiane Schroeter 1:01:03
didn't work. 

Rich Bennett 1:01:08
I 

Christiane Schroeter 1:01:08
it. 

Rich Bennett 1:01:09
like 

Christiane Schroeter 1:01:09
I actually, Rich, I have to tell you, I was in this podcast earlier this week, and they, I like this natural banter, like it was the, the host, but then you had kind of like this, the sidekick. So I could be like your, your angel, or you, don't know, you call that on Christmas, you know, 

Rich Bennett 1:01:27
elf. 

Christiane Schroeter 1:01:27
the 

Rich Bennett 1:01:27
My, 

Christiane Schroeter 1:01:30
uh, 

Rich Bennett 1:01:30
An elf's don't wear high heels. 

Christiane Schroeter 1:01:32
mate. 

Rich Bennett 1:01:32
I just, 

Christiane Schroeter 1:01:35
I could be a elf. Let me just have pointy ears. 

Rich Bennett 1:01:43
Oh god, I better stop on this one. 

Christiane Schroeter 1:01:45
Okay, that was good. Thank you, audience. 

Rich Bennett 1:01:49
Thank you for listening to conversations with Rich Bennett. I hope you enjoyed today's episode and learned something from it as I did. If you'd like to hear more conversations like this, be sure to subscribe to the podcast so you never miss an episode. And if you have a moment, I'd love it if you could leave a review. It helps us reach more listeners and share more incredible stories. Don't forget to connect with us on social media, or visit our website at conversationswithrichpenet.com for updates, giveaways, and more. Until next time, take care, be kind, and keep the conversations going. You know, it takes a lot to put a podcast together, together. And my sponsors help out a lot, but I also have some supporters that actually help me when it comes to the editing software, the hosting and so forth. There's a lot that goes into putting this together. So I want to thank them, and if you can, please, please visit their websites, visit their businesses, support them however you can. So please visit the following, Full full circle boards. Nobody does charcuterie like full circle boards. Visit them at fullcircleboards.com. Sincerely, Sincerely Sincerely Sawyer Photography. Live in the moment, they'll capture it. Visit them at sincerelysoyer.com. The Jopitan Lines Club, serving the community since 1965. Visit them at JopitanLinesClub. org. And don't forget to e at the end of Jopitan because they're extraordinary.