Hi, I'm Dr. Christiane Schroeter.
But you can call me... |
Professor of Marketing and Entrepreneurship at Cal Poly. Keynote and TEDx speaker. Author of Petite Practice®.
Bridging the Gap Between
Knowing Better & Doing Better
Lasting change is about so much more than a bigger goal and a better plan. The real shift happens when the step is small enough to survive a bad Tuesday, and you repeat it until it is simply who you are.
A team that actually does the thing on Monday. A leader who is still moving in week three. That is the good stuff, and I am here to help you have more of it.
My Story
1999
Fulbright scholar beginnings:
On August 2, 1999, I flew across an ocean to a country I had never seen, to live on the other side of the world away from my family and speak a language I had only used in a classroom. I knew nobody. I carried two suitcases and a piece of paper with the name of a student coordinator I had never met.
As soon as I stepped off the plane, I felt free. Freedom, and the pressure of living up to what the Fulbright program and a top-tier graduate program expected of me.
That first Christmas I had nowhere to go, so I emailed a Fulbright researcher I had met in Germany and traveled to another top-tier university, The Ohio State University. His family took me in: a very cold state, and a very warm family.
2005
Deeper questions:
I earned my Ph.D. in applied economics at Purdue, with a dissertation in health economics built around one question: what actually moves people. Not willpower. Not a bigger goal. Structure that fits the person and the day she is having. That work grew into thirty-three published papers, including an article in the Journal of Health Economics that has been cited over 300 times.
2012
Where theory met reality:
A full teaching load, a young family, and a plan for my own life that fell apart roughly every third week. The strategies I taught were sound. They were built for someone with more room than I had. That is the year Petite Practice® started: the method behind the book, a way to grow that honors your energy, your season, and your pace.
2023
The mic goes on:
March 23, 2023. A Saturday afternoon, at my desk at home. I just felt like I needed to do it, so I pressed record. Happy Healthy Hustle reached the top 1% of podcasts worldwide, and I was named 2025 Woman Podcaster of the Year.
2025
The red circle:
I believe in saying yes to opportunities, in showing up instead of showing off, and in the power of connection and following through. On August 16, 2025, all of it turned out to be true for a lifelong dream: standing on the TEDxFolsom stage with a talk called How Small Steps Create Big Change, twenty years of research said out loud in twelve minutes.
Jen Oliver, Executive Producer of TEDxFolsom, chose it as the kick-off talk for the day. It is the talk the book came from, and the talk every keynote still comes from.
Today
Walking the talk:
I still teach at Cal Poly. I still teach fitness seven hours a week, including four classes back to back every Friday, and I work out in every one of them. The rest of my time goes to presenting keynotes and workshops, writing books, and coaching leaders and entrepreneurs who want to get clear, get moving, and keep moving without burning out.
Twenty years in, I can tell you success does not feel like arrival. It feels like alignment. Quieter than I expected. Steadier than I imagined. More my own.
By the Numbers
Some Non-Negotiables In My Life & Work
Small over big
If the step will not survive a bad Tuesday, it is too big. I shrink it until it does.
Honest over hyped
I will tell you what the research says, what it does not say, and what I do not know yet.
Practice over performance
Nobody leaves my rooms with a feeling. They leave with the thing they do on Monday.
Listen first, then speak
I believe in the power of reading, listening, and thinking before you speak. For twenty years I have taught students to become better listeners and more confident speakers, in that order.
"We selected Christiane as our TEDx kick-off talk. Top-notch. Consummate professional. She reflects the TED ethos: ideas change everything."
"Her session was engaging, practical and extremely well received, giving attendees clear, actionable strategies they could immediately apply."
Behind the Stage
Most excited about right now...
Petite Practice® out in the world in hardcover, and the rooms it is starting to open.
Lowkey obsessed with...
Scout Coffee in San Luis Obispo, strolling through Paris, a beach walk in my home state of California, and a long walk with an audiobook.
You probably wouldn't guess...
My father called me Kleine Gewalt, German for little force. It still fits. I need fifteen minutes alone before every talk and every class, a quiet setup, and then I walk in.
Bring me to
your room.
Before your event we get on a planning call, and I write the talk to the room you actually have. Emails get a personal reply within two business days. And I am glad to stay for the day: a breakout, a panel seat, a book signing, or the hallway conversations.
The Small Steps Doctor, Answered
The quick answers to who she is and how she got here. Tap any question.
Who is Dr. Christiane Schroeter?
Her name is pronounced kris-tee-AH-nuh.
Dr. Christiane Schroeter is a behavioral economist, TEDx speaker, and leadership strategist known as The Small Steps Doctor. She is the host of Happy Healthy Hustle, a top 1% global podcast named 2025 Woman Podcaster of the Year, and the creator of Petite Practice®.
She has taught more than 10,000 students and professionals over twenty years.
What are her credentials?
She holds an award-winning PhD in applied economics from Purdue, with a dissertation in health economics, is a Fulbright Scholar, and a professor at Cal Poly with 33 peer-reviewed articles, including in the Journal of Health Economics.
Her research is on how a one-percent change ripples through an entire system. Small steps compound is her own finding, published and peer reviewed.
What is Petite Practice® and the STEP System?
Petite Practice® is her method for change through small, steady steps. Its engine is the STEP System: Simplify, Tell, Examine, Praise, Repeat.
Its edge over habit-only approaches is awareness... the pause-and-examine step that automation skips.
What does she speak about?
She speaks on leading through change, communicating with confidence, and building momentum through small steps.
Her TEDx talk is How Small Steps Create Big Change, the talk that introduced Petite Practice®.
Want her on your stage?
Explore her keynotes →A 3-Minute Diagnostic
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