SPEAKER_00 0:35

Welcome to Amplify Your Authority, the podcast where innovative marketing meets art-centered entrepreneurship. Join Marissa Shadrick, an award-winning international speaker, Ray Edwards certified copywriter, and personal brand expert. You'll gain insights into the external strategies for business growth and how to navigate the internal journey of entrepreneurship. Now get ready to amplify your authority in a competitive digital world. And now, here's your host, Marissa Shadrick.

SPEAKER_01 1:01

Hello and welcome everyone to another episode of Amplify Your Authority. I'm Marissa Shadrick, your host, online marketing consultant and certified copywriter. And today I have a very special guest, Christiana, and I would have her introduce herself. I think you're going to love some of the things that she's going to share with you today. Welcome.

SPEAKER_02 1:22

Well, thanks so much for having me here, Marissa. My name is Dr. Christiana Schroeder. I'm a professor. I'm also a podcast host of the top 1% ranked Happy Healthy Hustle Podcast. And I am an author. So I'm actually going to add that right there to the list because I just launched my book on September 9th, 9-9. Congratulations. That's wonderful. You can tell by that fun date. I am a professor. I teach marketing, innovation, entrepreneurship, and I'm a firm believer in the power of deadlines and hustling to stay happy and healthy, which is also the name of my podcast. And I'm really excited to be here today.

SPEAKER_01 2:07

So it's happy, healthy hustle. Hustle is Did I say that right? Happy, healthy hustle. So I love that because sometimes hustle has a negative connotation, but you've created a twist here. You're saying happy and healthy hustle. So what brought you into this space? Obviously, you have a marketing background, but this seems to be something that's very much a passion of yours about health and taking care of yourself. What led you to this? I know you do multiple things, but just a little bit of background on that.

SPEAKER_02 2:38

Oh, I love that question. And the Happy Healthy Hustle podcast is somewhat a child of my overarching company that is called Hello Happy Nest. And I'm really focusing on the nest part right there. Because when you think of nest, you think of this comfort, you think of coziness, you think of just feeling yourself being authentic and in tune with your very best self that you could be. And it has the hello happy with it as well. Because frequently, when we do feel we are the best, our best selves, we are essentially happy because that's kind of like we are feeling we can just say and and feel and do whatever is really striving to be our best. So the podcast was born out of that hello happiness company, where I saw a lot of women came to me and they said, I have confidence issues with regard to expressing myself. I don't even know really what my superpower is. And I feel that in general I keep going up the career ladder, but the higher I climb, the unhappier I get. And I thought I don't want to discourage people of going up the career ladder. Clearly, we need women in power. However, we need happy, happy eaters. Yes. We need hustlers that when they when they go for it and they reach that corner office, they can actually say, I feel like I did a great job in hustling, but I also feel I reached my happiness and I didn't put my health on the back burner.

SPEAKER_01 4:25

Yeah, and it's interesting because women especially, they wear many hats, not just in their careers and in their business. They wear many, many hats. Now I know men do too. I'm not going to say men don't, but typically the women, you know, if they're raising kids and just trying to take care of a home and they seem to carry a lot. Maybe it's self-imposed, I'm not sure, but maybe you have some insight on that. So I love that you're addressing this for women to be able to have what should what word should I use? Is there such a thing as balance? Or is there a way to integrate your work and life in a way that's healthy?

SPEAKER_02 5:04

Oh, that's a great question. And actually, just watched this amazing interview this morning with Meryl Streep, whom I'm deeply admiring. Meryl Streep is definitely one of my absolute favorite actresses. And she said that women, when especially when they are in leadership roles and they work in corporate business or they even are solopreneurs, that they know how to speak the language of man. They have a little bit more of that male-dominated terminology when they lead their business, right? And that means that they're female leaders, but they are using terminology that's maybe more business-oriented. And so she said women know how to speak men. The issue really is that men frequently don't know how to speak women, that they just don't understand really what's on our plates because there are so many thought processes that go into making decisions. And you mentioned already whether it's being a mom, whether it's running maybe even a second business. Just the thought process that goes into his has much more emotions and feelings, and maybe even this dwelling that sometimes comes with it, that we are kind of like really looking at like, is it a different language, or is it maybe just coming from a different upbringing and cultural background? Right. You can hear from my accent as well. I'm not born in the United States. So I'm bringing that whole facet to my business as well, bridging the European background that I have with the American background.

SPEAKER_01 6:58

Gotcha. So were you always happy and healthy and hustled well in your life? Is that why you felt you needed to share this with other women and to the world?

SPEAKER_02 7:09

So when I lived in Germany, I actually struggled with some digestive issues. And deep down I knew that there must be a solution somewhere. And I also wanted to gain some more experiences and study abroad. So I applied to different study abroad programs. I looked into Spain, I looked into France, and you can already tell I'm super passionate about languages. And of course, I looked at England and I looked at the United States, and actually ended up in the United States, uh, studying here and loving the language, learning a lot about the culture, the country, and meeting my husband along the way. And now I'm here and feeling like that's really what my happiness is. And I learned a lot about how I can heal my body. I struggled with digestive issues and have really since then completely changed my nutrition, the way that I lead my life. And I think that aligns much more with the American culture. And that overall, I would always encourage people if you are struggling with certain health issues, don't ever stop. There is a solution out there for you. Don't stop sharing it either. Don't ever be embarrassed if you have any health issues and sharing it, because there might just be that one person out there that had similar issues and could help you or might point you in the right direction, which is what it happened to me. And that's really when I started my company, Hello Happiness, because I was like, I reached that point of intersection of happiness, of where my health is thriving, but also where my business is growing and now I'm raising my family.

SPEAKER_01 8:51

So that's interesting because you're connecting something that was a physical symptom to perhaps a way of thinking or a way of living or a lifestyle or attitude that actually helped you overall and also transferred into your physical health. Is that true?

SPEAKER_02 9:10

Yeah, because if you think about it, if you're not feeling well, everything else is really going to suffer. You are essentially just kind of like think about like running a fire or a stove on like you know, half fuel. You're really just not yourself, you're not aligning yourself, and your focus is on one hand and struggling with a pain or the physical setbacks, and on the other hand, you're trying to get things done, which is going to take even more energy because you're struggling with the pain. And so, whatever you might get done might not even be as amazing as it could be if you would just have 100% of your focus. So I always feel that we frequently underestimate how important our health really is for performing our best, that we tend to put ourselves on the back burner and thinking it will all work out somehow and just put the business first. But in reality, really the health overshadows it all. Because if you think about we juggle all these balls, if that ball of the health falls down, it does break, and you can just pick it up and say, I'm just going to continue. Right. Unfortunately, that's you know, that's the the the one you really always need to keep close by and dear to your heart. And you definitely have to keep juggling that one. And if that's the only one left, that's the one that must be the most important one.

SPEAKER_01 10:46

Right, right. So it's really kind of taken a broader perspective of emotional health, physical health, overall health. And I think that's what probably brings the happiness, right? When it's not just physical, because you could have physical health, but still be stressed and you know, other things can happen. In your experience, since you deal with a lot of women, what are some of the common things that they struggle with that perhaps would not lead to happiness or would lead to an unhealthy lifestyle? What are some of the things that women struggle with?

SPEAKER_02 11:21

I kind of see that very frequent loop of first feeling that you have dreams, but you put them on the back burner. It's this backburner mentality that one day I will do this, but it's not today. Maybe that's going to be when my children leave the house. Maybe that's going to be when I retired. Maybe that's going to be when I feel I can leave my job. And unfortunately, that day may never come. That someday might never come. And I always say there's never a bad day to start living your dreams. Because you always need to think that you always want to look back and think, I did everything that I could to really accomplish my goals. And that bucket list is not there to be put aside for 10 to 20 years from now, but it's actually to be there to kind of like sprinkle a little joy into your everyday life.

SPEAKER_01 12:30

Yeah, yeah. And your kids, depending on how old they are, they could actually be supportive. Because I know in my case, when I was a stay-at-home mom and I wanted to start writing, just writing, not even thinking about copywriting yet. Um, I wanted to go back to school and I wanted to learn about Shakespeare and all types of different writing, creative writing, and everybody was on board. My kids were like junior high and high school, my husband, they bought me a little journal, a special pen. They were like cheering me on. And I would have never thought that. I just said I would love to just do some writing, maybe publish some articles. And they actually surprised me because they were so supportive. They thought it was really cool that I was gonna go back to school and start writing. So you never know. There is a way, because oftentimes I know women think, no, I gotta put everybody else ahead of me right now, and then it's gonna be too difficult, and it may not be. It's just there is a way if we just think about it, right?

SPEAKER_02 13:28

Yeah, I actually use this acronym a lot in my coaching, in my teaching, and also with my family, and I call it market, which stands for M, is the mindset and the action, then are the resilience that we really need to have, maybe from action, action that might not have worked out the way that you thought it would, right? But how do we ever know, right? If we don't take action, and then you gain that resilience. And then we have the K for knowledge. So if you take action, you gain resilience, you also learn things, things that might not have worked out, things that you might actually enjoy. And you will meet people. That's also knowledge, right? Your network is expanding. And then you have E, which is you know, the different experiences you gain along the way. Always say that, you know, the older you get, the more experiences you want to collect, and you're more into making memories instead of collecting physical things. So it's your experiences, your education that goes along with that, right? And then lastly, really, you're looking at transformation because the person that you are going to be by going after your dreams is not the person that's actually going to sit on the sidelines and just watching others take off because they're no smarter than what you are. They might just have more of that resilience, or as you mentioned, that support team that really keeps them going. So when when I was in my PhD program, they immediately told us the people that finish are usually not the smartest ones, they're usually just the ones that kept going after they fell down. And I thought that is really great because a lot of people that I work with doubt their their smartness, they doubt the education, they doubt that what they do is interesting enough, or will somebody buy this, and they have all these doubts and fears. And the people that actually succeed, they just don't even think about those doubts and fears.

SPEAKER_01 15:50

Yeah. That's the same same way with online. Same way with the online business, right? It's the same thing. Um, yeah, so I can see some similarities there. So you are a very accomplished woman. I mean, you are a professor, you've written a book, you are a coach, you do a lot of things. So, how do you find time for you to recharge and reset?

SPEAKER_02 16:14

So this is actually a great question, and I get that question a lot. And I there is a famous saying that's essentially if you reach what you truly enjoy, it never really feels like you're working a day in your life. And I can't emphasize that enough. I think if you're really loving what you do, then one empowers the other. So it's it's truly where I am right now. So my podcast allows me to connect with others and some of my best friends I met through podcasting. As a professor, I feel I'm changing lives of students, and uh what I'm learning in the classroom is absolutely empowering what I put into the book that I wrote. I would have never written the book without my podcast or being my life as a professor. And then I take care of myself. I'm a fitness instructor as well. So the fitness instructor allows me to coach and empower others that might have never come to the recreation center if I wouldn't be there. And I they tell me that all the time. I came because of you, and I knew you would wait for me, so you held me accountable for showing up. Oh, that's beautiful. It's it's beautiful, and I think all these elements just kind of work together where one feeds the other, and I'm now feeling it's a patchwork of joy. It's I call them petite practices, it's all these little things that I do that spark my life and keep me going. And it's essentially really what I feel the way that I enjoy leading my life, that I have all these experiences that make me me. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 18:10

They say it's better to give than receive. And I can tell that you give, but that brings back joy in your life. So that's beautiful to see how that comes back as joy because you love to give in the teaching and the fitness and everything that you do. And you probably have a very supportive husband, I'm gonna guess. And you have a couple of kids too.

SPEAKER_02 18:33

I do have two teenage daughters, yes.

SPEAKER_01 18:35

Oh, wow, that's awesome! That's awesome. Two teenage daughters, so they're pretty active, I imagine. And then your husband is very supportive as well.

SPEAKER_02 18:45

He is, and what I like is that we are both quite different, all right. So I am definitely appreciating his feedback, which always comes from his own honest perspective. And I think that you have to have these partners that resonate with you, and at the same time, the ones that you can tap into. And there's actually a famous saying in entrepreneurship that's called the mom test, which means that you reach out to your friends or your family, and maybe even to your mom, and you ask them, What do you think about that? And they're not giving you their honest opinion, they're basically saying, Oh my gosh, I love it. And that's you know, like kind of like a little child shows a drawing to the mom, and the mom says, Oh my gosh, it's so beautiful. So my family does not do the mom test. When I throw them something, they're basically going to tell me, I think this is good. I think this could really be amazing if you would do this and this. And I appreciate that because I think that if you really ask for feedback, it always should come from a point of pointing out positives about it and then maybe pointing out their perspective of how they see you and what else you're capable of, kind of like trying to get even even a little bit more out of you that would enhance that. And I appreciate that. So my family is definitely they are my supporters, and they're definitely also my my biggest uh feedback loop.

SPEAKER_01 20:27

Yeah, that's wonderful. My husband's like that too. He'll he'll give me the whole truth and nothing but the truth. So, yeah, for sure. So wonderful. So, in the time we have, I would love for you to talk a little bit about your book because you've just published a book. So, tell us a little bit what led you to do this book, and we'll just talk about a little bit about what's in it and maybe a way that people can access this book.

SPEAKER_02 20:51

Sure. So, my book is called How to Master Your Goals. And it probably came from the fact that most times I get that question, how do you do it all? Can you write that down for me? How do you lead your life this way? And then I thought, well, we all have goals. My goal was to be a professor, a mom, maybe write a book or have a podcast and be a public speaker. But how did I reach those goals, right? How do I master it? And the fact also, of course, is that because I do teach marketing and innovation entrepreneurship, that I found a whole lot of tools, but I wasn't able to reach other female entrepreneurs or solopreneurs that were not going to university, that work from home, or that might have, you know, found some satisfaction in doing a little side hustle, but wanted to make that side hustle a main hustle. So I wanted to write a book for them that gives them tools and worksheets that they can do in the spare time. And the way that I created the book was it's not a chapter book where you sit down and you read it from the first page to the last page. It is a curated collection of worksheets. Oh work through the worksheets, it's hands-on. And the worksheets that allow you to grow yourself. You will learn a lot about yourself, but it also gives you the very best tools in marketing, innovation, entrepreneurship, in sales, in public speaking. You create a brand kit, you learn how to do an elevator pitch. So you can see I'm guiding you through all the steps, really, from the ground up to build a business, but to also learn about yourself. So there's one fold section just dedicated on finding your own superpower. Beautiful. The goal is really you're mastering your goals, but you're doing that. And while you do that, you also learn what is it really that I have that I haven't shared with the world? Because the world is actually going to be a better place when I tap into my superpower and when I start sharing that.

SPEAKER_01 22:59

Yeah. And when you start a business, it really becomes a journey of self-discovery because you discover a lot of things about yourself as you get knee deep in it. So that's wonderful. So where is this book? How can people access the book?

SPEAKER_02 23:13

Yeah, so the book launched on September 9th on Amazon, and that's where it's available. It's a 8.5 by 11 paperback, the collection of worksheets. And it goes along when you order the book on Amazon, you get a special bonus. There's also a template pack that you electronically then get, a playlist that you can tap into, and there's a community. So there's templates, accountability, and the playlists that you get in electronic delivery as well after your purchase of your book. And of course, what's amazing is because the book is so hands-on that so many people asked me about it that after it launched, it immediately became the number one new release in adult and continuing education on Amazon. So it's been just out for just a week now, and it's been doing really well. And I'm glad that it found its niche and it's going to help others in mastering their goals.

SPEAKER_01 24:14

That's wonderful. Congratulations. I love the whole concept of the book. That it's a workbook you can work through. You begin to learn a little bit about yourself, but also some practical things as well. So that's a beautiful combination. That's great. So congratulations on that. Thank you. Yeah. If someone is interested to follow you maybe on social or connect with you in some way, uh, do you have a website? What's the best way for them to reach you?

SPEAKER_02 24:41

My website, hello happy nest.com. And that's also where you can find out more information about the book, which is called How to Master Your Goals. You can also check that out on Amazon. My podcast, Happy Healthy Hustle, is available wherever you would listen to a podcast, but you can also watch my podcast on YouTube with at Hello HappyNest or watch me on Instagram. I post on a pretty regular basis on Instagram, fun little videos about my life. And that's hello.happy.nest.

SPEAKER_01 25:20

Wonderful. And we'll make sure to put all those links in the show notes for everyone so they can follow along and access the book as well. So thank you so much for being on the podcast. Do you have any final words? Anything that you'd like to share as a word of encouragement to everyone?

SPEAKER_02 25:38

I just created yesterday a little thing because we're moving into the fall. And sometimes the fall people like kind of like think, oh, I'm going to wait until January 1 to maybe kickstart any goals or any dreams. And right now I'm just going to kind of finish off the fourth quarter. I always encourage you, there's not really a good day or a better day or the best day to get things started. I would say the very best moment is probably now. Just start going for it, right? And if you feel that you tried something and it didn't really work, always think that was just your first attempt in learning. That's failure.

SPEAKER_01 26:25

That's great. Thank you so much, Christiane. I really appreciate you being on the podcast, sharing all your wisdom. And I know people want to access that book and follow you on Instagram and connect with you because you have a lot of wisdom. You're a professor, my goodness, because you you teach this. So you have a lot to share to the world. So thank you so much for being on the show.

SPEAKER_02 26:45

Thank you, Marissa.