🎙️ Small Steps to Big Success: Dr. Christiane Schroeter on Entrepreneurial Growth and Confidence
Guest: Dr. Christiane Schroeter
Host: Dwight Heck | Give A Heck Podcast
What if the key to massive entrepreneurial success isn’t a giant leap, but a single, intentional step?
In this inspiring episode of the Give A Heck Podcast, host Dwight Heck sits down with Dr. Christiane Schroeter a TEDx speaker, business and wellness coach, professor, and three‑time bestselling author, to explore how small, consistent actions can lead to extraordinary personal and professional growth.
From her journey growing up in Germany to becoming a top 1% global podcaster, Dr. Schroeter shares how her Petite Practice framework helps entrepreneurs and high‑achievers overcome imposter syndrome, build authentic confidence, and create lasting success.
Whether you’re an aspiring entrepreneur, a seasoned business owner, or simply someone seeking more fulfillment, this conversation will give you practical strategies to:
- Harness the power of micro‑habits and tiny wins
- Embrace discomfort as a catalyst for growth
- Create engaging, authentic content that resonates
- Apply the Petite Practice method to your own goals
- Build momentum and clarity through intentional action
💡 Key Topics: Small steps, entrepreneurial growth, personal development, overcoming imposter syndrome, goal setting, mindset shifts, TEDx insights, business and wellness coaching, content creation strategies.
🔑 What You’ll Learn
💡 How tiny, consistent steps can unlock massive change
🧠 Tools to silence imposter syndrome and build real confidence
🔥 Why discomfort is your greatest growth partner
📣 How to create content that actually connects with your audience
🌍 From Germany to Global Impact
Dr. Schroeter’s story is one of curiosity, courage, and reinvention. She shares how her “buffet mentality” helped her explore new paths, embrace change, and build a life rooted in purpose. Her background in health economics gave her a unique lens on success—one that blends efficiency, well-being, and joy.
✨ The Petite Practice Method
This isn’t about hustle culture. It’s about intentional living.
- Learn how small wins build unstoppable momentum
• Discover how to apply Petite Practice to your own goals
• Celebrate progress, even when it feels invisible
🕒 Episode Highlights
| Timestamp | Topic |
| 00:00:02 | Why this episode matters and how transformation begins |
| 00:02:27 | Growing up in Germany and developing a problem-solving mindset |
| 00:04:22 | The buffet mentality and embracing new environments |
| 00:07:36 | Health economics and optimizing quality of life |
| 00:12:06 | Petite Practice framework: small steps, big impact |
| 00:15:23 | Building a top one percent podcast through consistency and feedback |
| 00:22:16 | Repurposing content for greater reach |
| 00:26:40 | Writing as a transformative and interactive process |
| 00:35:06 | Finding your unique voice as an author |
| 00:46:31 | Overcoming imposter syndrome in entrepreneurship |
| 00:51:48 | Staying open-minded and embracing continuous learning |
| 00:56:03 | TEDx talk: small steps creating big impact |
| 00:58:28 | Closing advice: embrace discomfort for growth |
💬 Final Thoughts
This episode is more than a conversation, it’s a call to action.
If you’ve ever felt stuck, overwhelmed, or unsure where to begin, this is your sign. Your goals aren’t distant dreams. They’re built one choice, one step, one moment at a time.
If this message sparked something in you, don’t keep it to yourself. Share it with your family, your friends, or anyone you know, or even someone you just met, who might be struggling to take that first step. You never know how far one small victory can ripple.
Subscribe to the podcast, hit subscribe on YouTube, and leave a review or rating in your favorite app. Every share helps this message reach someone who needs it.
Let’s help more people learn to give a heck, one small win at a time.
🔗 Connect with Dr. Christiane Schroeter
🌐 Website: doctorchristiane.com
📘 Facebook: Doctor.Christiane
📌 Pinterest: doctorchristiane
📺 YouTube: @doctor.christiane
📸 Instagram: @doctor.christiane
💼 LinkedIn: Dr. Christiane Schroeter
🧵 Threads: @doctor.christiane
🎧 Spotify Playlist: Curated by Dr. Christiane
🔗 Connect with Dwight Heck
🌐 Website: Give A Heck – Live Life On Purpose
📺 YouTube: @giveaheck
📱 Instagram: @give.a.heck
🧵 Threads: @give.a.heck
🐦 X / Twitter: @give_a_heck
💼 LinkedIn: Dwight Heck
🎧 Podcast Platforms: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, TuneIn, Podchaser etc.
Apple Podcast:
Spotify Podcast:
YouTube Podcast:
Full Unedited Transcript:
[00:00:02 – 00:01:42]
Host – Dwight Heck: Good day and welcome to Give A Heck. I appreciate you popping in to enjoy the fantastic guest I have on today, but before we dive into our conversation, I wanted to share something personal. Over the past few years, uncovering my purpose and breaking old patterns transformed my life. Writing my own book forced me to face my fears, celebrate progress and discover clarity I never knew I had. Today’s guest resonates deeply because she walked that journey too. This conversation is about transformation from lived experience, not just theory. Today’s guest is Dr. Christina Schroeder, TEDx speaker, business and wellness coach, professor and three time best selling author with a PhD in health economics. She teaches marketing, innovation and entrepreneurship at a top ranked US University. As host of the Healthy Happy Healthy Hustle podcast, ranked in the top 1% globally, she delivers no fluff, high energy strategies that fuse productivity, business growth and well being. Her Amazon number one new release in adult education, how to master your goals laid the foundation for Petite Practice framework now expanded in Discover your superpower and the Petite Practice Practice Planner. Get ready to design your road map to joy, clarity and next level performance. Good day. Christiana, thanks so much for coming on. Give a heck. I appreciate your time and your investment of your knowledge with my listeners and viewers.
[00:01:43 – 00:01:46]
Guest – Dr. Christiane Schroeter: I’m so happy to be here and I can’t wait to share some of that knowledge.
[00:01:47 – 00:02:26]
Host – Dwight Heck: That’s fantastic. So one of the things I mentioned before we hit record is I like focusing on a person’s origin story. It can be a third of the podcast or half of it, especially when it’s very detailed in the sense that we’re vulnerable and share with people what transfigured within our youth into our adulthood that really impacted us. Maybe we didn’t realize it till we were older and that’s fine. That is life. So Christiana, let’s rewind to the very beginning. What are some of the earliest memories growing up in Germany? Moments that shaped how you thought about ambition, health and creativity.
[00:02:27 – 00:03:42]
Guest – Dr. Christiane Schroeter: Love that question. So yeah, you can hear from my accent and of course you know that I grew up in Germany just based on my background bio. But I think what really drove me that I’m kind of a problem solver and so I’m trying to look for certain ways to help others in how I solve problems that I’m struggling with myself and I think looking now what I do is I teach innovation, entrepreneurship, I help other businesses. That’s really what always shaped my life that I thought about. Huh. I’m struggling with something and I’m probably not the only one that struggles with that. So once I figure it out a way to solve this, I’m going to share that. And there might just be this other person out there that experiences the same issue, and I might just help them too. And I think that has always been who I was and is who I am today, that I’m very much a catalyst for change in figuring out what helped me, myself, and sharing that in a vulnerable way and also sharing what maybe didn’t help myself.
[00:03:45 – 00:04:20]
Host – Dwight Heck: So that’s a great, great answer. But what was it actually like growing up in Germany? Like, there was there things that you experienced as a child that you look back on now that are specific to a. To a memory that really has helped you move forward? Because we all, you know, I agree with you. We help people out via the fact that we’ve gone through that journey. We’re maybe farther ahead in the journey and we’ve figured out the school of hard knocks part of it. So it makes us a great person to relate and empathize with others, to help them. But what was your childhood like?
[00:04:22 – 00:05:53]
Guest – Dr. Christiane Schroeter: Well, I. I mean, I think in. In terms of, like, again, who I am today and what I do, I think the reason why I live in California now is probably experiencing in Germany, one thing that I personally don’t care very much about. There was a lot of, you know, cold weather, maybe it was a little bit gray. And I think that that’s how you need to look at life. I also taught in Arkansas. You know, we will come to that journey as well. But frequently in Arkansas, I taught, I told my students, you know, if. If you don’t like this area here, you can leave. You know, you have the ability in your life to set your own path. So when I was in Germany, I always thought of the world as like a little appetizer plate. And I try a little bit this and I try a little bit that. And not everything might be an appetizer that I want to eat the whole meal off. But I always thought, you know what, I’ve lived in Germany and there are certain things I really love here, but maybe there’s something else out there that I might even enjoy more. And that’s, you know, what happened for me. I was like, I don’t really care for the cold, I don’t care for the rain, I don’t care for the gray weather. So growing up, I, I basically, in my mind, determined that I wanted to learn other languages with the goal of going to those countries and actually speaking them there.
[00:05:54 – 00:07:35]
Host – Dwight Heck: Wow, that’s awesome. Can you talk about, you know, the things that we have to choose. And you tell, you’ve told students, like, listen, you can go wherever I call that and coach on the buffet mentality about everything in life. You approach a buffet, a real buffet. You don’t eat everything at the buffet because maybe you’ve been there before and you know, what tastes good and what doesn’t, or you like something and then you go back for seconds and you leave the thing that you just tried that was disgusting. Well, I know people that have moved around the world until they found the. Their happy place, their place where they. They felt comfortable. And you’re going from Germany, like you said, the cold and the gray to California, which can have its moments, right? But at the end of the day, completely polar opposite in regards to weather. So that’s good, though, for those listening and watching, you know, buffet mentality is a good thing. It’s not a bad thing. It’s just you got to be open to being honest with yourself. And you were at a very young age, which is fantastic, Right. I used to. I’d leave Canada where I. Where I am, because we go through the four seasons, but as I get older and I watch my grandkids play and, you know, I can’t imagine leaving to go to another place, even though I would like to, based on the weather, Right. So even my buffet has different dishes that come into life, right. From our children to grandkids. So I appreciate that answer. That’s fantastic. So how did. Did any of your childhood experiences guide you toward your PhD in health economics? Did it drive you to go that route?
[00:07:36 – 00:10:16]
Guest – Dr. Christiane Schroeter: Yeah, because I think if you think about your own health, a lot of it comes from the environment where you are. Because, of course, your environment also determines how you can move your body. Right. Can you go outside and go for walks, or is it too cold? Can you eat healthy food that is in grocery stores, or is it not available because it’s just not grown there, or it’s not the right season for it? So health has always been a driving factor in determining what I personally do and how I take care of myself. And I think it also should be. Any business owners should be passionate about their own health, because the health. The more you take care of yourself, the healthier your business will really be. Because at the end of the day, you are human and you are, you know, the face of your business is really determined in how well you take care of yourself. So for me, it was always, I take care of myself, and I figure out certain things I Try this, I try that. And I’m very open minded in terms of trying different methods in different ways. And that probably helps if you have that buffet mentality. It’s like, well, that didn’t work so well. But at the same time I knew I wanted to study something with regard to economics because I also think that at the end of the day trying certain things, traveling around the world also comes with a price tag, right? So you could say, oh yeah, I want to live on this island over here. We don’t have the means to do this. Right. So how can you live healthy while still sticking to your budget? So health economics really is exactly that. So I want to optimize my health subject to the money that I have and the income that I earn. And that is health economics in a nutshell. And so that’s really like my life in Germany. Many Germans are very frugal, you know, if you think about that. And that’s, you know, one thing that if you look at them, you know, people think I like their engineers and their efficiency. Yeah, that’s, that’s probably it. But at the end of the day, you also have to think I can only be efficient if I’m really economical with the means that I have and I don’t waste anything and really optimizing what the outcome is. So, and to optimize my quality with the means that I have, and that means I don’t, it doesn’t need to be perfect, but I’m basically making it the very best with what I have right now. And I think that’s, that’s really how I always led my life.
[00:10:17 – 00:12:04]
Host – Dwight Heck: That’s fantastic. You talked about the fact of Germans being frugal. Well, my parents are first generation Canadians, so they’re both sides of the family are from, from Europe. So I, I get that. I see that in my own father. But he was one of 18 kids too, during depression. Didn’t help. Right now in his 80s, he’s still living like he was, you know, like you have to search for potatoes to make potato soup because there’s nothing else. Right. So he’s still got that mentality Even in his 80s, very successful businessman, has money, could do whatever he wants. But you know, that, that learned behavior from childhood from his parents obviously coming over and you know, farming, became very successful farmers here and you know, broke the land pretty much never even broken before where their homestead is. So that same sort of idea, being frugal and living intentionally was for them was a health issue. Just having food on the table. It Wasn’t even about eating healthy. So today you’re right. We have such a more buffet mentality or a buffet world where we can feed off of so many things. Try something out, try a new book, try a new podcast, try a new whatever. Communication with a new person. Write something different. You know, just comment on, be positive, somebody you don’t know and say, hey, you know, this is really interesting. Get to know people. You don’t like it, leave it at the buffet. So I like that. So how does this. Did this, this eventually became and inspired you in, in the petite practice framework, did it not? So that you teach entrepreneurs today. How does that tie into it? What was the. What was the initial start of you doing this?
[00:12:06 – 00:13:54]
Guest – Dr. Christiane Schroeter: When I look back, my life was always built around taking small steps that create big impact, which is petite practice. And petite means in French, it means small. And practice means that it doesn’t need to be perfection. And I always was that person. I like to take small steps and I like to try things. I don’t know what the outcome is, but I’m just going to see how it works and how it feels. And so when we just talked about the fact that you think about the mentality of trying new skills at the beginning, you’re not going to be amazing at it because you’re just trying them. But with practice, you will get better. And the practice doesn’t even have to involve a lot of time or a lot of effort. Effort. It just means that you’re sticking to it consistently. And I think I was always that person that more prioritized, taking small, consistent steps and really celebrating the little wins along the way than being hard on yourself. Because I maybe didn’t spend all day doing it on one day of the week, but I more practiced seven days during the week for 15 minutes. I was always that person that really appreciated the small things. And that’s exactly when you, when you just mentioned that earlier, that’s exactly how my business is built now that I teach people. You’re just overwhelmed because you’re looking at this big thing. But why don’t we break this down and just start with one small step and you will see it. The momentum will build that you eventually tackle the big goal. But we just have to get you started, you know?
[00:13:55 – 00:15:22]
Host – Dwight Heck: Yes, I do know, actually. I like that. Thank you for that breakdown. We all take too much on. You know, I remember this old story I was told to me probably in my twenties when I first started personal development. A speaker that I went over to and started talking to that was at a conference. He said to me, you know, he says people can have 15, 20, 80 things on a list, and they all try to do a little bit of everything, and they never succeed at anything. What if they really just started at the top of the list and had their priorities and worked through it as they accomplished and went on to the next? But so many people are like that around our planet. They take one, they sign up for a course, they sign up for another thing. They can’t keep their family daily life and their work life balance anywhere close to being able to invest time. And they spend all this money, they get discouraged, they don’t see results, they blame everybody else but themselves because they never, ever learned that petite mindset, that one small baby step to success. So I really enjoyed that. Thank you so much. So we’re going to talk, we’re going to get into a little bit more about your, you know, your books and stuff, but I want to talk to you about your podcast, climb and high performance habits. Can you share the journey of how your happy, Healthy Hustle podcast climbed into the top 1% globally and the key lessons that you learned along the way of creating and starting and continuing on with your podcast?
[00:15:23 – 00:18:36]
Guest – Dr. Christiane Schroeter: Yeah, beautiful question. I think coming back to the petite practice, the small steps leading to a big impact, I thought podcasting is a neat way. How I can reach more people and share message and maybe share their lives. How can I serve more people around the globe? At the same time, I told myself, I’m going to not go out and buy a fancy microphone or some kind of fancy headset, mixing tables, who knows what, maybe even hire somebody that does that for me. I’m just going to try it because guess what? I might not even like it. Right? And I always leave that door open. And I always tell my clients, too, I will always give you the whole pass that you tell me, you know what? It’s not my thing. That’s great, you know, good that you discovered that. So, yeah, one day took off my phone and recorded basically on. I think it was just a voice recording. And I thought, well, I probably need to start with three episodes. So the first one was just me. And then I thought, well, I think I need to have a guest. And so I looked around at my house and my husband was right there. And I was like, well, do you want to be a guest on my podcast? He’s like, oh, you’re starting a podcast? And I was like, yes, you’re at my biggest right now. So I interviewed my husband and then the third one was about something that people kept on asking me about and I had to repeat myself and explain it. So I had listened to my audience, what they were struggling with. I interviewed my husband because, you know, he’s my family right there, and it was convenient. And then the first episode was basically just kicking it off and explaining my intention behind it. And then I launched it. Right. And at the beginning, I really thought the main thing for me is it needs to be consistent. Am I going to do this every day? Nope. Am I going to do this every week? That still sounds kind of stressful and overwhelming. Maybe every other week. Awesome. Twice per month. I can do this and I’m going to keep it small, quite petite. 15 minutes, 15 minutes, 20 minutes, 30 minutes max. That’s how it was. That’s honestly how it started and that’s how it continues to this day. And it was my recipe for success because I never felt it was a burden. It was overwhelming. I basically started and I immediately gave myself the hall pass. If I don’t like this and I feel it’s becoming something that is not me and I’m feeling like I’m like performing, then I’m just going to stop. And that’s okay, you know. But I’m not immediately saying, oh my gosh, let’s aim for the 1% top podcast. Because that was never, ever my. My story. My story was always, how can I help others with my message that are not sitting right in front of me or not. My current clients right now, people that can just tune in for free and get some fun wisdom from me all over the world.
[00:18:38 – 00:20:36]
Host – Dwight Heck: That’s awesome. My podcast itself, again, it was the same sort of idea. Do the intro, do a couple. I put a lot of thought process because of my analytical nature, because of my finance business. So before I started mine, I had done major intros, I had done outros, I had done takes, I had worked, found a publisher, production house and was getting referred and recommended and pushed toward all of it by a person that gets a quarter million episodes downloaded every time she opens her mouth. And she had become a friend of mine. I was on her podcast. So I looked at it and I was scared of it. But I took that little petite step, that little baby step, and started doing it right. 256 episodes later. Mine are longer than yours. I went and looked yours up. Some of yours, you got seven eight minute podcasts. Whereas I have my average podcast as an hour, right? Mine isn’t specific to, again, people that want a podcast. It can be specific to your niche or you can do like mine is completely about everybody, Very little bit about finance. I do have people on about finance and, you know, having a better mindset in regards to your money monsters and stuff. But most of it’s about just, you know, amazing people like yourself just sharing where you’ve been, how you went through maybe some valley despairs and up to the plateaus. And now you’re teaching others to get past their own stuff. Like you mentioned earlier, we go through these journeys and then we become teachers of it, if we so choose. Right? And we can actually be good at articulating what we’re trying to get across. So that is great. Do you ever think to yourself that your podcast will become something that is in collaboration with other people? Like, you’ll have a co host. Are you just going to keep it status quo?
[00:20:37 – 00:22:03]
Guest – Dr. Christiane Schroeter: Oh, the sky’s the limit. To be honest with you, I think that I have guests on my podcast. I did. So I think the main thing is with the podcast is you have to figure out what your audience really wants. Right? I mean, at the end of the day, you are serving them and you want to entertain them and you want to educate them and you want to make sure that they keep tuning in. And so it’s not like, oh, let’s talk about me. It’s basically, all right, so who could help you with your current struggles? And I think having guests is amazing. My audience told me that we want to hear more from you because at the end of the day, they were like, no, it’s like, you know, we love the guest episodes. It’s maybe pull that back a little bit more. So then I had more solo episodes and then sprinkled in a guest every so often. And that seemed to be the magic sauce, really, that really propelled the podcast to the first 5%, two and a half percent, and then top 1% to where I found that balance. That works for me. But change is great too. I mean, maybe in the future will be different. Right now I’m sticking to the system because it works. And it’s. It’s not really like an area that I want to mess around with, and I’m. I’m just happy with how it works and it brings me so much joy.
[00:22:04 – 00:22:15]
Host – Dwight Heck: That’s fantastic. So along the climb of your podcast, what expected lessons or was there any failures that turned into a great opportunity for yourself?
[00:22:16 – 00:23:59]
Guest – Dr. Christiane Schroeter: Yeah. So one thing was that I immediately noticed that there is so much more in a recording than just recording the audio. Right. So my. My original recording on My phone. I was like, well, I guess I could have recorded that on video and then shared it on YouTube. Why didn’t I? It’s that efficiency I talked about earlier, taking a small step and getting a big impact when you already spent 15 minutes with an amazing individual. Why not share that to a person that’s on YouTube? Or why not share it on a blog post to somebody that likes to read about it? And so all of a sudden, this recording, the precious time that this person spent with me, reached more audiences than just as somebody that stumbled upon my podcast on Apple. Right? And that’s really how I started looking at it. Like, where is the opportunity really, in getting your audience to tune in from different angles? It’s nearly like, you know, you’re driving on a highway and there’s this cool little rest stop right there. Instead of just saying, oh, you know, there’s some bathrooms right there. I’m also saying, or you could sit outside and just enjoy some fresh air, or you can go for a quick walk. And by the way, we also have this amazing little cafe right there. And it’s still this rest stop, but I just started looking at a little bit more of, like, there’s opportunity right there for you to stop and pause, and everybody takes something away from it. And it’s not really creating more work for me. It is making it more efficient.
[00:24:00 – 00:25:08]
Host – Dwight Heck: Yeah, that’s. That’s. That’s great to hear, though, that you talk about the fact of some people like to read. I talk to people that all the time. And. And some people are visual learners, some are auditory, some are combination of both. And if you really want to get a message out and help serve others, you have to try different avenues, like blog posts or articles that you write, post to the website, post to LinkedIn, post to wherever in order to get to the masses, especially with all these algorithms that we have to deal with. Even blog sites have algorithms, and we simply just have to, in some regards, throw spaghetti at the wall and see what sticks until we figure out this is really working for me. Just like you did with your podcast. You found the niche and what you’re willing to do and not willing to do and slowly seeing your growth. So I like that response. You know, just get it out there and don’t think about it as work. Think about it as enjoyment for others, which should give you joy. Right? So put in the effort completely.
[00:25:09 – 00:26:39]
Guest – Dr. Christiane Schroeter: And I also want to add something to it, like a little secret of some sort. Sometimes we are so hard on ourselves or we feel overwhelmed because we don’t know what we should talk about. I can honestly tell you some of my most downloaded podcast episodes are the ones where I talk about those little mundane things that I do in my day-to-day life. Because those are the moments that really create joy for somebody else that might have experienced those same moments in life.
It doesn’t always have to be, “Oh, two days ago I stood on a TEDx stage and I shared my message with hundreds of others.” It doesn’t have to be that. It could even be like, “Well, let me tell you about when we eat dinner at home. We have this little habit of going around and sharing our favorite parts of the day, and we’re calling it dinner downloads.”
Those moments are really what resonate with my audience. They’re like, “Dinner downloads — that’s kind of snappy.” And so don’t overthink what you actually need to share with an audience in terms of the content. Just share what you do and who you are. That really makes you resonate because people want to connect more with you, and you have to actually let them into your world. I think that sometimes we are so hard on ourselves and feel, “Well, nobody cares.” No — they do care. You just have to let them into your little world.
[00:26:40 – 00:28:02]
Host – Dwight Heck: I agree. I like that. And one of the things that I’ve been thinking of myself — at one point in time, I used to do daily live videos. They’d be anywhere from as long as 10 minutes down to three minutes. And I’ve got 837 of them that I did in a row.
So I’m actually getting a lot of people that want me to go and start making those into small podcast episodes. So I’m going to look at doing a spin-off of my own show where it would be like, you know, “15 Minutes with Dwight” or whatever — “15 Minutes or Less to Give a Heck.” Who knows?
But there’s always so much we can try. The key is to try — to do something. So I appreciate that.
We’re going to get into talking about your books. Writing isn’t just about strategy or filling pages. It can be profoundly cathartic, offering clarity, emotional release, and unexpected insight as you translate your thoughts into your own words. Let’s explore how putting pen to paper became a transformative act for you and how it can be for others.
So during the process of writing How to Master Your Goals, how did you experience writing as a cathartic practice?
[00:28:03 – 00:30:29]
Guest – Dr. Christiane Schroeter: For me, it was tremendously helpful because I finally felt, because I am a visual learner, that I was able to put down what I always saw in my mind onto a piece of paper and help others follow that same system and change something small in their world. I always think books are really like little change makers. Your little corner of the world, you are changing, and then they become the vehicle to change something much bigger in a person.
It’s like a little candle, like a little light you flick on, and then somebody can take that and carry that with them. And I think that’s the magic, really, of something tangible as a book. So I very much use my book — the paperback version — as a workbook, that they can actually interact with. So they’re using a pencil and writing notes in it. There’s word searches in there.
I have some students in my classroom that are very much doodlers. And while they focus and listen, they’re doodling, and I tell them, “Just doodle in the book.” You know, there’s a word search right there. And let’s take a quick little break and all do the word search right now.
There are podcast episodes in there for the people that really like to listen. And then, of course, there are worksheets in there. I knew I wanted to create something that’s really interactive, that really taps into who we are in the 21st century. We don’t just do one thing. We do so many different things, but sometimes we don’t know what that is. So how can we master that? By trying out different things.
That’s really what the book is — it gives you the opportunity to try them all out and then figure out, “How do we master our goals?” Oh, maybe I follow this path over here, and I experience those little episodes and events right there. That’s how I set it up. When I wrote it, I was really sharing my knowledge from teaching more than 10,000 students and putting that into a visual format, into a written format, and sharing that with my students.
[00:30:30 – 00:30:55]
Host – Dwight Heck: So that’s how — because it is a workbook — you are able to help people. You created it based on what you went through and transpired, and now you’re utilizing it to help others apply it in their own lives. What has been the overall response to the process of it? What have you found?
[00:30:56 – 00:31:45]
Guest – Dr. Christiane Schroeter: It’s actually really beautiful that you asked this question, because the main thing is, for the students or for my clients or for people that purchase it on Amazon, is just joy. To be honest with you, they just have fun with it because it’s so uncommon from a marketing or entrepreneurship textbook to see a word search in there or to see a fun little flowchart that you can follow.
It’s a little bit like a BuzzFeed flowchart — a personality type quiz. It helps you discover a little bit more about your own superpowers. And it just brings joy. Because reading is joy, knowledge is joy. But you actually need to do something with it.
[00:31:47 – 00:31:51]
Host – Dwight Heck: You have to apply. You have to actually apply, interact with it.
[00:31:51 – 00:32:34]
Guest – Dr. Christiane Schroeter: And because of that, because I knew that I didn’t want people to just be empty consumers of pages and then sit there and think, “What did I just read?” I didn’t want to write that. I wanted to actually make them work with the material — try it on, take a pencil and circle something or write something in the margins. Let’s create some really fun little charts that help you discover how to build a business from the ground up.
How do we create an elevator pitch? I always knew that’s what I wanted — that people get messy, that it’s alive, that it’s evolving, and that people interact with the material.
[00:32:34 – 00:32:40]
Host – Dwight Heck: So is that some of the self-discovery you had too? That things can just be messy, right?
[00:32:40 – 00:32:41]
Guest – Dr. Christiane Schroeter: Oh, yeah.
[00:32:41 – 00:35:05]
Host – Dwight Heck: As you put it together yourself — the transformation — because I know when I did my book, my little exercises at the end of the chapters and stuff that we utilized, the publisher and I talked about it. As I went through it, it caused a transformation in me in the sense that I hadn’t given myself a pat on the back. There were points in my life where I was successful, but was I really?
I missed little journeys along the way. I knew the starting line and the ending line, but the journey along the way — the transformation — I let slip by. Writing my book transformed me and made me realize there were things I was weak in as well that I thought I was good in.
Because now I’m putting pen to paper — the same sort of aspect of journaling, why people will journal for self-discovery. So I like how you put that. It makes me smile because really, at the end of the day, us putting ourselves vulnerable on paper to what we’ve utilized because we didn’t have that, to now give it to others and see the joy in their face — as I mentioned, like, what’s it like — is amazing.
It’s like an energy source that we can tap into just by thinking of that positive thought. Or maybe somebody comments about how fantastic your book is and how it’s elevated their lives or they’ve reached out to you. I’ve had that myself with my book. And it was worth every single moment, every single tear I shed as I wrote my book — because I did. Some of mine was about history, origin, and the struggles.
So I appreciate you sharing that. And the genuine feeling of the book comes across in your smile. Those listening to this, jump onto YouTube when you get a moment and take a look. It’s just been so much fun. My energy level is right above
[00:35:06 – 00:37:55]
Guest – Dr. Christiane Schroeter: No. That’s a great question. Well, I’m a firm believer that you kind of need to look a little bit as, like, there are these different people that I really appreciate and that I like, but at the same time, you can’t look too much at them because you also have what I call unique value. And so I didn’t want, like, necessarily to think, “Oh, I’m going to write a book just like that,” because you’re not that person.
So I knew that when I wanted to write a book, I wanted to keep it really interactive, like a workbook. I looked at some other workbooks, and I would encourage everybody that wants to become an author: go to some bookstores — they are still out there — and just sit down in the area of the bookstore where your book is going to be featured. Take a look and flip through some, then create a little pile and say, “Alright, I kind of like these.” Then figure out, “Okay, why do I like these? What is it that resonates with me?”
Then you need to put them away because those people are done. They already published their book. That’s done. Then you go home and figure out, “Alright, what is it that I want to bring to the table that’s different from what I saw?” Because you’re not going to write a book like these people — that’s already done. You’re going to write your own book.
Sometimes when I work with my clients, they say, “Well, there’s already this thing out there.” I say, “No, it’s not, because you haven’t written it yet.” So yes, there is a marketing book out there and there’s an entrepreneurship book out there, but it’s not your voice and it’s not the way you express and explain it. I’m sure we are just missing that particular book on the shelf right there.
Think about it like an art gallery. You walk through it and it’s so beautiful, but it’s just missing your particular masterpiece. That’s what helped me — I looked at different things early on, then I knew, “Alright, this is what I want to do,” and then I didn’t look at them anymore. You have to do that because otherwise you get overwhelmed and intimidated by people already on the other side of the journey. I just put my head down and kept building. That’s what helped me — I didn’t compare myself constantly to others who were already done. I just kept putting one small step, one petite practice, in front of the other.
[00:37:56 – 00:40:20]
Host – Dwight Heck: That’s an awesome explanation. I agree. I looked at other people’s books. I’ve been in personal development for 32 years. I’ve read so many books, and I thought, “This person did that, this person did that.” Then I had friends at my publisher I was looking at using who said, “Well, look at this person, look at that person.”
Once you decide, you’re going to take all this buffet — you take a little bit, maybe sample — and then just ignore it all and move forward. Start doing your thing. Get things done. Here’s the template, here’s our format, here’s what we’re going to do, here’s why you need to do that. Then, like you said, you’re in the messy stages.
I had other people that started before me whose books were coming out, and I felt a little overwhelmed until I just had to block out all the noise and realize, “This isn’t about them, it’s about me.” I like how you put it — I don’t know if you meant it this way, but when I think about people reading my book, it’s no different than people reading a text, an email, a newspaper article, or a social media post. They read it based on what’s going on between their six inches between their ears.
I was really cognizant and read quite a bit of my book out loud because I wanted to see how my brain would interact with something without keeping it between my ears. I had other people — there were certain sections of my book they posted on Amazon, and other people even messaged me — their interpretation of a specific section or chapter was different than I thought it would be. But they interpreted it the way they needed it to be for their buffet to work.
So many people don’t realize everybody reading isn’t going to interpret it exactly as we intended. All we can do is hope to make it so self-explanatory they can read it and enjoy it the way they need to. I used to think they had to enjoy it “this way.” Now, four years later, I don’t care — enjoy it the way that makes you happy. Initially, it was how I felt, but once you start getting messages and seeing how people interpret it, my number one goal is that it changes their life.
[00:40:21 – 00:41:36]
Guest – Dr. Christiane Schroeter: Oh, I completely agree with you. I frequently talk about, when people ask me, “Why are you overwhelmed?” I say the biggest obstacle is just that area between your ears. You’re overwhelmed because you’re too hard on yourself. You just have to let that go.
In my classroom, reading out loud is the number one thing I really appreciate. I’ll go around and say, “Alright Sarah, you get started — first paragraph right there.” Then we continue: “Anthony, you continue.” I intentionally want it to be this way. First of all, I put people on the spot and pick someone to start reading. Then, after three people read, I say, “Alright, in your own words, what does it mean?”
Then I get back, as you mentioned, something quite different. And I think, “Okay, cool — that’s what you took away from it. That’s awesome.” It’s like, “You see how you would use that?”
[00:41:36 – 00:41:37]
Host – Dwight Heck: That’s great.
[00:41:37 – 00:42:09]
Guest – Dr. Christiane Schroeter: Everybody has their own little unique spin. That’s beautiful. I didn’t even think about this, and it’s beautiful that you took something away I had no clue you would take away. I love that. It’s not about you — it’s about the audience. If they figure out a way to use your book as the key to unlock something special, you did it.
[00:42:09 – 00:44:06]
Host – Dwight Heck: Oh, yeah. I’ve had people reach out — I have a lot of American friends. I’ve been speaking and attending conferences for 30 years in the US. I had a friend who moved, went through a divorce, started a business in a completely different state, and publicly acknowledged me on social media. I didn’t even have a clue. I knew he bought my book — I’d met him at conferences, we’d become friends — and he said, “You’re the biggest reason. These specific chapters created the drive for me to be my own entrepreneur at the level I’m at. Thank you.”
Another person reached out about how the book influenced them differently. I get that warm, fuzzy feeling. I love it. It’s not because I’m an ego person and need it to fill my ego — I need it to fill my love tank, my appreciation tank, my love language tank.
When people love our books, no matter how they interpret them and how they help them, I say to listeners and viewers: tell people you like their stuff if you really like it. Be genuine. Realize that person put in all that effort. You enjoyed it — why can’t you leave a little comment? A little, “This podcast is great,” or “This book is fantastic.” Two little comments, five stars — it can make the difference. It can give us enough fuel to continue our perpetual motion.
I love my book for that. And I don’t expect to get a comment or an email saying, “I bought your book, thank you” — but when I do, first and foremost, thank you for buying it, and thank you for getting something out of it and sharing it with me. That being said, I’ll get off my soapbox. I like what you had to say.
[00:44:06 – 00:45:39]
Guest – Dr. Christiane Schroeter: Yeah. I also want to echo that — we all love reading comments, feedback, and reviews. If you like reading reviews and seeing how people use the product, how it helped them, and even what they didn’t like, think, “Oh my gosh, it’s amazing that I like reading reviews — maybe I should leave a review too, to help others do the same.”
Especially if you have something positive to say — don’t only look at reviews as a place to complain. You can also just praise it. And it doesn’t have to be long — it could be one sentence, or even one word: “Great!” We sometimes feel it needs to be long and drawn out, but it doesn’t. It would mean the world to someone else looking for a podcast
[00:45:39 – 00:46:31]
Host – Dwight Heck: Oh, exactly. Especially when people scroll on social media for two, three hours, but yet they say they don’t have time to leave somebody a comment about anything. I’m just like, okay, whatever — teach their own. I’m looking for the tribe of people that will do it. And there’s always a small percentage that will. The rest, I just give it up and think to myself, “I hope I helped one more person today” with what I had to say in writing or verbally.
So I love where our conversation is going and has been going. I want to talk to you a little bit about entrepreneurial challenges. You deal with entrepreneurs, obviously. What has been the most common challenge that the entrepreneurs you’ve dealt with face?
[00:46:31 – 00:48:03]
Guest – Dr. Christiane Schroeter: Imposter syndrome. Thinking they don’t know enough and that they don’t have the confidence to do what they do know. Whether they are a real imposter and just pretending to know something, or they are struggling with confidence — they do know a lot but still struggle with confidence.
If you think about it like two axes — high ability/low confidence, or low ability/high confidence — most of the time I see people in one of those. The people who really make it are high ability/high confidence. To get there, you have to reverse that axis. Start as the humble student with low ability and low confidence, then build both.
To build it, maybe you share with others what you want to learn — that builds confidence because you talk about it. It also makes you feel like you’re educating yourself as you formulate your words, and you figure out who can help you build your knowledge and confidence. That’s how you eventually become that very confident superstar. So yes, imposter syndrome is by far number one.
[00:48:04 – 00:51:47]
Host – Dwight Heck: That makes sense. I hear that a lot. I’ve felt it myself. Not that I was an imposter, but we let little things creep in — negativity, a negative comment, or someone not appreciating something you did. Instead of being kind about it or ignoring it, or being inquisitive and asking a good question, they’re keyboard warriors and destroy others.
Imposter syndrome can be real, even when you’ve been doing something for 23 years like I have. There are moments where I’ll have that fleeting thought — hopefully fleeting — “Can I actually make a difference?” Then I think, “I’ve been doing this 20-some years, I’ve touched and influenced thousands of people. Maybe I’m not an imposter.”
But society can be hard on us — family members, outside influences, demeaning comments like, “I have my stuff in order, I don’t need your help,” or “You couldn’t help me.” There are so many obstacles that keep entrepreneurs stuck. A lot of it comes from extraordinary circumstances — family constantly barraging them, friends or co-workers if they’re in a career instead of their own business. They just don’t know how to deflect.
I’m here to say: add more personal development into your journey. Learn to read 5–10 pages a day if you’re not a reader. I used to be — now I use Audible all the time. Love it. If you struggle with both, use both. I have clients and friends who buy the book and the Audible. Yes, it’s a little more costly, but it keeps them on track.
Do what you need to do. Find your reason for wanting to grow and pick up a book. Doesn’t have to be either of our books, but I’d recommend adding them to your reading list. Add books like How to Win Friends and Influence People — one of the all-time greats. There are so many good books. But again, check out Christiana’s and my book — we have things that can help you as an entrepreneur or if you’re just stuck in life.
It could help you elevate yourself to being the best in your career. Maybe you want to change your career. Maybe you just need to change the stinking thinking between your six inches. That may sound harsh, but I had that stinking thinking. Personal development has been my savior because it makes me think outside my own thought process and challenges me to ensure I’m not stuck in a rut of old information flow or old habits.
Success is never created inside your comfort zone. Reading a book is outside your comfort zone if you don’t do it now.
So, one of the last things I want to talk to you about — do you have any real-world examples of a client (no names) who transformed their business or life by honoring the tiny steps, the petite steps you talk about?
[00:51:48 – 00:53:13]
Guest – Dr. Christiane Schroeter: Yes. I had a client walk into my workshop and I could immediately tell they thought, “Who is she to tell me what I really need?” That’s one of my favorite things — being underestimated. People don’t think I have knowledge or a degree or know what I’m talking about. It’s actually a lovely skill because you don’t get kicked off tables or stages — people just don’t have a high opinion of you at first.
So this person walks in — wearing sunglasses indoors — and I’m teaching. As I continue talking and explaining something, I can see the wheels turning. Eventually, the sunglasses come off. They move seats, closer to me. I could see it — the “aha” moment.
[00:53:14 – 00:53:14]
Host – Dwight Heck: Wow.
[00:53:15 – 00:54:52]
Guest – Dr. Christiane Schroeter: We often feel we need to be “so cool” and think, “Who are you to tell me?” Just keep an open mind. You don’t know where or how knowledge will happen — maybe in a coffee shop, maybe in a workshop. There’s always something you can learn, but you have to be humble and use every human interaction as a way to grow.
That was a petite practice — all I did was talk about tapping into a unique value proposition and how to do that. I could see it — that moment changed that person’s life. They’re now running a successful business and feeling that was the pivotal moment. Someone exceptionally skeptical turned into a complete fan favorite. I saw it happen in front of me, and it still brings a smile to my face.
You have to be okay with the fact that some people might not get that moment, and some people do. If you create momentum and share your message authentically, you can change lives.
[00:54:54 – 00:56:03]
Host – Dwight Heck: That’s awesome. I visualized all of that. I’ve been that person — walking into a room, putting on a facade, pretending to be a big shot. You need to understand that to learn, you have to stay humble, be open-minded, and realize there will be things that make you uncomfortable.
Unless we step outside our comfort zone and drop the facade when we go to conferences to learn, all we’re doing is becoming conference junkies — sitting, pretending, leaving, putting no action in, and staying stuck.
It’s good that your powerful conversation broke down those walls. That says a lot about you. Did you want to touch quickly before we wrap up on your TEDx talk you just finished?
[00:56:03 – 00:56:38]
Guest – Dr. Christiane Schroeter: Yes. I talked about my petite practice and the step system I use to create small steps that lead to big impact. I shared that on stage, and it was beautiful because the audience interacted with me. Some people laughed, some even shouted little words of approval. As I practiced the talk, some people even had tears in their eyes.
[00:56:38 – 00:56:39]
Host – Dwight Heck: Eyes.
[00:56:39 – 00:57:00]
Guest – Dr. Christiane Schroeter: It reminded them of something personal and vulnerable in their own journeys. That’s what it’s about — getting on stage and helping someone discover something about themselves and solving a unique problem. The title is How Small Steps Create Impact.
[00:57:00 – 00:57:03]
Host – Dwight Heck: When will that be available for people to watch?
[00:57:03 – 00:57:49]
Guest – Dr. Christiane Schroeter: I just presented a couple of days ago. It might be out in a few weeks. I can’t wait to share it — and you can share it with your audience. It’ll be short — a 15-minute video — and I hope it helps you take something away from it. There are personal stories, some jokes, maybe it’ll bring a smile to your face. My goal was to make life a little simpler because we tend to overcomplicate things. At the end of the day, it’s just life — enjoy the ride.
[00:57:50 – 00:58:26]
[00:57:50 – 00:58:26]
Host – Dwight Heck: Right on. Congratulations on doing your TED Talk as well. I look forward to seeing it and that’s the reason why I asked. So when it does come out, fire me an email, let me know because your episode will be a few weeks out yet before it gets released. And if I can, I will put that link in the show notes so that people can easily access it.
I really love this conversation. So Christiana, if you could leave our listeners one piece of encouragement — something from your own life proving it’s always worth giving a heck and never giving up — what would that piece of advice be?
[00:58:28 – 00:59:12]
Guest – Dr. Christiane Schroeter: I would say get out and do stuff. Really, you need to leave your comfort zone and become comfortable with being uncomfortable, because when you do that, you will grow. Growth is not always beautiful — it tends to be messy, it tends to be something you might not necessarily appreciate in the moment. But that’s how you grow.
When you grow, you learn. That’s really the best message I want to give you: try certain things, but you have to get out and actually do it.
[00:59:13 – 00:59:21]
Host – Dwight Heck: No, that’s exactly it. That’s a great closing message. What is the best way that people can reach you, Christiana?
[00:59:21 – 01:00:01]
Guest – Dr. Christiane Schroeter: So we talked about my podcast called Happy Healthy Hustle — you can tune into that. That’s also a way for you to get that TEDx video. My last episode that I dropped on Friday actually interviewed one of the other speakers that was on the TEDx stage as well. So you can already get a little glimpse of some of the other amazing people that were there.
I want to share their joy too and highlight their amazing talks as well. So check that out. My website is doctorchristiane.com and then, of course, all my books are on Amazon under Dr. Christiane Schroeter.
[01:00:02 – 01:00:40]
Host – Dwight Heck: Fantastic. For those new to the Give a Heck podcast, go to giveaheck.com, go to “Podcast,” click on it — you will see a picture of Christiana as well as all the detailed show notes, chapter summaries, and a full unedited text of the show. Some people, as Christiana mentioned earlier, like to read versus listening, so I give them access to both.
I appreciate anybody listening to the show. If you enjoyed this episode, please share it. Any last comments before I wrap up the show?
[01:00:41 – 01:01:36]
Guest – Dr. Christiane Schroeter: Well, I would really encourage you — and I love that you brought up Audible. Sometimes we feel, “I just don’t have time to read” or “I don’t have money to buy books.” Most libraries will offer you audiobooks for free.
Sometimes we just have these excuses when in reality, we are in the 21st century — things are much simpler. I would strongly encourage you, before you say you don’t have time or you can’t do this or that, try to explore a little bit more because it’s frequently much easier than you think. I’m a huge fan of Audible as well. I read about a book per week and I can honestly say it changed my life.
[01:01:37 – 01:03:41]
Host – Dwight Heck: Yeah, it definitely has helped me too. Even the books I originally read back in the ’90s when they came out on Audible — it was such a different experience compared to actually reading it. I may be reading it in my mindset, but when I’m listening to it, it’s a different adventure I’ve found.
So thank you so much for being on the show. I appreciate you.
One last message, listeners and viewers, before we close: remember your happiness and goals aren’t distant destinations, but choices you make every moment. Clarity comes from movement, no matter how small. Whether you write a sentence of your story, implement a micro habit, or speak your truth aloud — give a heck. Give it loudly. Momentum follows commitment.
This has been Dr. Christiana bringing authenticity, energy, and evidence-based strategies from her own transformation. If this conversation sparks something in you, share it with someone who needs to hear they’re not broken — they’re becoming. Their difference is their strength, and their purpose is waiting for them to show up.
If this episode resonated with you, please subscribe to the podcast, hit subscribe on YouTube, and leave a review rating in your favorite app. It helps the program get out more so that other people too can learn to give a heck. Every review sends a signal. Platforms have algorithms — the message truly does matter. But if we don’t learn to share, like, and review, it will be stuck. And it doesn’t need to be stuck. This message needs to get out there.
I appreciate everybody that listens and watches the show every week. I look forward to seeing you next week. And remember — it’s never too late to give a heck.