Business Building Blocks Podcast
We’ll talk about all things that will make your business better like personal and professional development, leadership, healing, parenting, wellness of your mind, body, and spirit…What?? Not the list you expected?? Tune in and walk with my guests and I on a journey toward improving yourself that will not only get you better business results but will get you the life you want.
The Secret to Managing a Remote Freelance Team with Will Deatherage
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How do you lead freelancers, build accountability, and grow a business without micromanaging every project?
In this episode of the Business Building Blocks Podcast, Kristina Schmitt sits down with Will Deatherage, founder of Catholics for Hire, to explore how a personal passion grew into a mission-driven digital marketing and design business with more than 60 contractors and over 50 clients.
Will shares how he went from creating Catholic websites and digital resources as a hobby to building an organization that helps mission-driven organizations embrace the digital age.
But growing...
How to Stand Out as a Solo Expert with Nikhil Vaish
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Why is it so difficult to explain what makes you different, especially when you've spent years becoming an expert at what you do? In this episode of the Business Building Blocks Podcast, Kristina welcomes Nikhil Vaish, founder of BoostSolo and an experienced brand strategist who spent more than 26 years building brands for companies like IBM, Unilever, and Citigroup.
Surprisingly, when Nikhil started building his own independent business, he encountered a challenge he had helped countless companies solve: articulating his own value.
That experience led him to discover a fundamental...
Sometimes the Best Way Forward Is to Stop Pushing
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When should leaders stop pushing and reconsider their goals? Sometimes, the best way forward isn't to work harder—it's to recognize when the timing isn't right.
In this episode of the Business Building Blocks Podcast, Kristina Schmitt shares a personal leadership lesson for business owners, manufacturing leaders, and managers: knowing when to pause, reassess your capacity, and choose a more manageable next step.
After developing a big idea, delivering a successful keynote, building new relationships, and navigating an unusually demanding October, Kristina began questioning whether her next big project wa...
Why Nothing Moves Forward When You're Busy All Day
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Why do leaders stay busy all day but make no progress on their most important goals? Learn how to stop firefighting, regain focus, and improve business execution.
In this episode of the Business Building Blocks Podcast, leadership coach Kristina Schmitt shares practical strategies to help business owners, manufacturing leaders, and managers move beyond constant problem-solving and make meaningful progress on what matters most.
You can spend an entire day solving customer issues, responding to employee problems, and putting out unexpected fires—only to realize that the important work that co...
The Missing Link Between Leadership and Growth with Lindsey Binion | Kristina Schmitt Development
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Your business has grown, your expertise has deepened, and your services have evolved. But does your brand communicate the value you bring today? In this episode, discover how brand strategy supports business growth, leadership, and team alignment.
Kristina Schmitt welcomes Lindsey Binion, brand strategist and founder of Lindsey Binion Creative, to explore why branding goes far beyond logos, colors, and websites.
Lindsey helps established, founder-led, and family-owned businesses build brands that communicate who they've become. Drawing on more than 20 years of advertising and communications experience, she explains how a...
Turning Setbacks Into Strength with Cynthia Conigliaro
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What does it really mean to be a resilient leader—and can resilience actually be developed? In Episode of the Business Building Blocks Podcast, Kristina speaks with Cynthia Conigliaro, founder of Work Well Webinars, about leadership resilience, workplace wellness, burnout, empathy, and the small habits that can help people move forward after difficult situations.
Cynthia has more than 25 years of experience in health and wellness, with graduate degrees in Social Work and Business focused on organizational and group psychology. Her work brings together emotional, physical, and organizational wellness to help individuals an...
Why Great Leadership Takes More Than a One-Day Workshop
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Why does leadership training fail to create lasting behavior change? Leadership development requires more than learning new skills—it requires practice, systems, and reinforcement.
In Episode 118 of the Business Building Blocks Podcast, Kristina Schmitt explores why traditional leadership training often doesn't stick and what business owners, managers, and manufacturing leaders can do to turn leadership knowledge into lasting behavior change.
Have you ever attended a leadership workshop, learned valuable techniques, and returned to work determined to do things differently—only to fall back into your old habits?
The...
The Help Your Business Needs with Joe Valentic
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What if your business needs more expertise—but not necessarily another full-time hire?
In Episode 117 of the Business Building Blocks Podcast, Kristina Schmitt talks with Joe Valentic, Founder and CEO of Catholic Fractional Executive Services, about a different way businesses can access experienced leadership and specialized expertise.
Joe shares how fractional executive services can help organizations bring in experienced professionals on a recurring or project basis, whether they need help accelerating growth, filling a leadership gap, strengthening a specific function, or supporting a founder who has reached the point wh...
Why Being Too Busy Is a Leadership Problem
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Too busy for leadership? That may be exactly why your business needs leadership development right now. In this episode of the Business Building Blocks Podcast, Kristina Schmitt explores what actually changes when a business gets serious about leadership—and why waiting for things to “settle down” can keep you stuck in the same cycle of chaos.
Many business owners say they’ll work on leadership after the next project, after hiring another employee, after the busy season, or when the equipment problems finally calm down.
But what...
What Would Fall Apart If You Left Your Business for 30 Days?
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Every business runs on systems — whether you built them intentionally or not. In this episode, we explore the hidden leadership systems already shaping how your team communicates, trusts, and performs — and why most leaders don't even realize they're missing one.
Using the "dark hallway" story, we illustrate what it feels like for employees when feedback and direction are inconsistent: stress, hesitation, quiet quitting, or going rogue. Then we walk through what changes when a leader builds a real rhythm of check-ins, feedback, and follow-up — and why that rhythm (not more meetings) is the...
Why Strategy Isn't the First Step in Business Growth
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Everyone says to start with strategy — figure out where you're going, then build the plan. But there's a problem: the people creating the strategy are part of the system they're trying to fix. In this episode, we explore why leadership development has to come before — and continue alongside — strategic planning.
— Why "start with strategy" is incomplete advice
— How self-awareness changes the strategy you create
— The problem with generic core values
— Why strategic anchors should reflect who leaders actually are
— How leadership shapes the quality of the strategic conversation
Why Self-Awareness Is a Competitive Advantage
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The best leader is the self-aware leader — it's a concept Patrick Lencioni and John Maxwell have both talked about, and in this episode Kristina Schmidt breaks down exactly what it means, why it matters, and how to actually build it.
You'll learn:
✔️What self-awareness really means (hint: it's not a checklist)
✔️Why chasing other people's definition of success leaves you unsatisfied
✔️The four stages of emotional intelligence: self-understanding, self-control, understanding others, and building relationships
✔️How your blind spots and natural reactions to stress and feedback shape the way you lead
✔...
Why Your Business Growth Is Creating More Work for You
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Leadership Ceiling is the hidden barrier that prevents many business owners from scaling their business. In this episode, leadership coach Kristina Schmitt explains why growing your business requires growing as a leader—and how to stop becoming the bottleneck in your organization.
If you're a business owner, manager, or manufacturing leader who is working longer hours but not seeing greater results, this episode is for you.
In this episode of the Business Building Blocks Podcast, Kristina introduces the concept of the Leadership Ceiling—the...
What Systems Should Every Leader Have in Place? | Kristina Schmitt Development
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We've been talking about scaling and chaos over the last few episodes — and the antidote to chaos is systems. In this episode, Kristina Schmitt breaks down exactly which leadership systems you need to grow your business without losing momentum or your best people.
You'll learn:
Why dashboards, annual reviews, and yearly strategy sessions are events — not systemsThe 3 Roles of a Leader: creating and communicating a vision, developing your team, and getting resultsHow SIPOC (Suppliers, Inputs, Processes, Outputs, Customers) helps you build a true closed-loop systemWhy James Clear's "systems over goals" idea...Why Good Leaders Keep Hitting the Same Wall (And What Fixes It)
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Leaders and business owners often solve the same problems over and over because they're treating symptoms instead of the root cause. In this episode of the Business Building Blocks Podcast, leadership coach Kristina Schmitt explains practical leadership problem-solving techniques that help you eliminate recurring issues, strengthen your team, and create lasting results.
If you constantly feel like you're putting out the same fires every week, this episode is for you. Learn how to identify what's really getting in the way, uncover the root cause of recurring challenges, and build a culture...
Why Growth Creates Chaos (Even in Healthy Businesses)
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Growth is supposed to be a good thing — so why does it so often feel like chaos? In this episode of Business Building Blocks, we unpack why change triggers real stress responses on teams (fight, flight, freeze, fawn), what stages people move through during transitions, and why struggling through growth doesn't mean anything is broken.
You'll learn practical ways to lead your team through change with less chaos:
Staying focused on one goal at a timeKeeping goals small — think quarterly, not annualRunning weekly check-ins that actually drive executionCommunicating constantly, even when...Why "Winging It" Stops Working as Your Business Grows
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You've outgrown winging it — and that's not a failure, it's a growth milestone. In this episode, learn the six clear signs your business has hit that point and exactly what to build next.
What used to work — quick decisions, verbal instructions, instinct-driven leadership — starts to break down as your team grows past a certain size. The result is confusion, missed communication, and mistakes the business can no longer absorb.
In this episode, you'll learn:
How to Prepare Your Team for Change
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Growth doesn't just bring opportunity — it brings chaos. Every step forward introduces a little bit of the unknown, and if you don't prepare for it, that chaos compounds fast.
In this episode of the Business Building Blocks Podcast, Kristina Schmidt breaks down the four things (plus one powerful underlying force) that every leader needs in place before introducing change:
Leading Change with a Kaizen Culture
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Leading change with a Kaizen culture is one of the most effective ways for leaders to build engagement, ownership, and continuous improvement inside their teams.
In this episode of the Business Building Blocks Podcast, leadership coach Kristina Schmitt explains how leaders can move from doing all the problem-solving themselves to creating a culture where teams actively drive improvement.
This episode is for leaders, business owners, and managers who are responsible for implementing change but want more buy-in, less resistance, and stronger team ownership.
You’ll learn:
Why...Are You Building Culture or Just Creating Compliance?
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Are you building a workplace culture that creates ownership—or unintentionally training your team to wait for instructions? In this episode, leadership coach Kristina Schmitt explores how leaders can move beyond compliance and build a culture where people think, problem-solve, and take responsibility.
If you're a business owner, manufacturing leader, manager, or people leader who feels like every decision still lands on your desk, this episode will help you create a healthier leadership approach that develops people instead of dependence.
In this episode of the Business Building Blocks Podcast, yo...
The Early Warning Sign Most Leaders Ignore | Kristina Schmitt Development
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Leadership boundaries are often the early warning sign most leaders ignore.
In this episode of the Business Building Blocks Podcast, Kristina Schmitt explains how weak leadership boundaries contribute to employee burnout, resentment, poor accountability, and unhealthy workplace culture.
If you’re a business owner, manager, or team leader trying to create a healthier and more sustainable workplace, this episode will help you recognize burnout warning signs before they become bigger organizational problems.
Drawing from real experiences in automotive manufacturing, Kristina breaks down why overworking is rarely just a pr...
How Do I Stop Answering the Same Questions Every Day?
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Repeated questions from your team are often a sign of broken systems, unclear processes, or missing development.
In this episode of the Business Building Blocks Podcast, Kristina Schmitt explains how leaders can stop answering the same questions every day by building better systems, improving coaching, and developing more proactive teams.
If you’re a business owner, manufacturing leader, or people manager constantly interrupted by emails, meetings, and repeated team questions, this episode will help you identify hidden operational waste and create systems that free your team to think and solve pro...
Do Leadership Assessments Actually Help? | Kristina Schmitt Development
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Why do leaders keep getting asked to take personality and leadership assessments?
In this episode of the Business Building Blocks Podcast, Kristina Schmitt explains why tools like Working Genius, StrengthsFinder, and MBTI can help leaders improve self-awareness, emotional intelligence, and team performance.
Many business owners and managers feel skeptical about leadership assessments—especially when they feel repetitive or unnecessary. But the real value of these tools is not labeling people. It’s helping leaders recognize the patterns shaping how they think, react, communicate, and lead under pressure.
In this...
Improve Less to Grow More With Chad Bareither | Kristina Schmitt Development
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Many organizations believe growth requires moving faster, doing more, and constantly reacting to problems.
But sustainable business growth often comes from improving fewer things with greater focus, operational clarity, and alignment.
In this episode of the Business Building Blocks Podcast, leadership coach Kristina Schmitt sits down with Chad Bareither to discuss how business owners, manufacturing leaders, and operations teams can build systems that create scalable growth without burnout, chaos, or “hero leadership.”
If your team is constantly firefighting, struggling with operational clarity, or relying too heavily on key...
Shift That Most Leaders Avoided
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Leadership growth often requires a shift that most leaders avoid.
In this episode of the Business Building Blocks Podcast, leadership coach Kristina Schmitt explains the leadership growth shift that helps business owners and managers scale their teams without staying the bottleneck.
You don’t have a knowledge problem.
You have a growth problem.
If you’re still the go-to person, the problem solver, and the one everyone depends on, your leadership hasn’t evolved—and your business feels it.
This episode is for business owners, manufact...
Why Leadership Feels Hard (And How to Lead Your Way)
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Leadership feels hard when you’re trying to lead in a way that doesn’t match how you naturally operate.
In this episode of the Business Building Blocks Podcast, leadership coach Kristina Schmitt explains why leadership feels harder than it should—and how leaders can shift toward a style that actually works for them.
If you’re a business owner, manager, or leader who has ever felt like leadership should be easier—but isn’t—this episode will help you understand why.
In this episode, you’ll learn:
Why leadership...Where to Start When Everything Feels Overwhelming
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Leadership overwhelm doesn’t come from doing too little—it comes from carrying too much for too long.
In this episode of the Business Building Blocks Podcast, leadership coach Kristina Schmitt breaks down why leaders feel overwhelmed and where to start when everything feels urgent.
If you’re a business owner, manager, or leader who feels stuck in the day-to-day—despite doing all the “right things”—this episode will help you reset your approach and lead differently.
Lately, overwhelm isn’t just about being busy.
It’s the constant feeli...
What Should a CEO Actually Be Doing? (Without Losing Control)
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The CEO role is often misunderstood, especially by leaders who feel like they need to stay involved in everything to keep control.
In this episode of the Business Building Blocks Podcast, leadership coach Kristina Schmitt explains what a CEO should actually be doing and how to lead without losing control.
Most business owners, manufacturing leaders, and managers don’t struggle with effort—they struggle with letting go.
If you feel like your business depends on you being in everything, this episode will help you step back without things falling apar...
Do You Actually Need a Business Strategy?
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Leadership strategy often fails not because it’s wrong—but because it’s never used.
In this episode, we break down leadership strategy that actually works and how to turn it into consistent action.
If you’re a business owner, manager, or manufacturing leader who has spent time defining vision, mission, and purpose—but rarely revisits them—this episode is for you.
In this episode of the Business Building Blocks Podcast, Kristina Schmitt shares a practical approach to strategy built for real-world leadership, not theoretical planning.
You’ll learn...
How to Manage Problem Employees Without Frustration
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Managing problem employees is one of the most frustrating challenges leaders face.
In this episode of the Business Building Blocks Podcast, leadership coach Kristina Schmitt explains how to deal with problem employees by focusing on behavior, not labels.
If you’re a business owner, manager, or team leader feeling stuck, frustrated, or drained by someone on your team, this episode will give you a practical and effective way forward.
Instead of labeling someone as a “problem employee,” this episode introduces a better leadership approach—one that creates clarity, accounta...
You Copied a “Best Practice”... So Why Isn’t It Working?
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Leaders often try to copy best practices from other companies—but still struggle to get results.
In this episode of the Business Building Blocks Podcast, leadership coach Kristina Schmitt explains why best practices fail for leaders and how to make them actually work in your organization.
If you’re a business owner, manufacturing leader, or manager who has ever implemented something that “should have worked” but didn’t—this episode is for you.
After visiting high-performing facilities and bringing back proven systems, Kristina shares what actually went wrong—and what leade...
Leadership Overwhelm: How Leaders Reduce Stress
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Leadership overwhelm is real. Many leaders feel like they must handle everything at once—strategy, team management, operations, and constant “fires.”
In this episode of the Business Building Blocks Podcast, Kristina Schmitt shares practical strategies for leaders dealing with leadership stress and overwhelm. Drawing from her experience as a plant manager and business owner, she explains why high achievers often try to carry too much—and how to reset your leadership focus.
You will learn:
Why leadership overwhelm happens when everything feels urgentHow clarifying your leadership role reduces decision...Employee Engagement: How to Get Employees to Care More
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You built your business with passion, grit, and long nights.
Now you're asking:
“Why don’t my employees care like I do?”
In this episode of the Business Building Blocks Podcast, leadership coach Kristina Schmitt breaks down the real reason employee engagement drops — and it’s not laziness.
When teams feel:
Unclear about directionDisconnected from meaningful goalsUnrecognized for consistent performanceThey disengage.
Kristina shares 3 leadership shifts that increase employee engagement immediately:
1️⃣ Provide consistent direction and communication
2️⃣ Connect individual roles to goals tha...
How to Involve Your Team in Decisions Without Losing Leadership Control
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Want to involve your team in decision making… without losing leadership control?
In this episode of the Business Building Blocks Podcast, Kristina Schmitt shares how leaders can invite team input while still maintaining clear direction for the business.
Because here’s the reality:
You can ask for feedback
You can listen to concerns
Your team can disagree
…and your leadership decision can still be right for the company.
In this leadership development episode, you’ll learn:
✔️ How to involve e...
Decision Making Under Pressure for Leaders
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Decision making under pressure for leaders is one of the hardest parts of leadership.
When you're making 100+ decisions a day, clarity matters before the stress hits.
This episode is for business owners, manufacturing leaders, and people managers who need to make aligned decisions — even when there’s no perfect answer.
In this conversation, you’ll learn how to:
Make better leadership decisions under pressureAlign choices with personal and company valuesUse strategic anchors to simplify tough callsBalance consequences when there is no good optionAsk simple questions that improve decisi...Team Discord Is Costing You More Than You Think | Leadership Alignment
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Your team is capable.
Your strategy is sound.
So why does progress feel harder than it should?
In Episode 89 of the Business Building Blocks Podcast, Kristina Schmitt unpacks how team discord—both loud and quiet—can slowly damage performance, morale, and results.
You’ll learn:
Why division distracts teams from real issuesHow ego and self-protection stall progressWhy “agree to disagree” is a leadership red flagWhat aligned, high-performing teams actually look like“A house divided cannot stand.”
🎧 This episode is for leaders who feel the tension—but a...
Why Successful Business Owners Feel Miserable (And How to Fix It)
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Your business is growing.
Your team is expanding.
From the outside, everything looks successful.
So why are you exhausted, frustrated, and quietly miserable?
In this episode of the Business Building Blocks Podcast, leadership coach Kristina Schmitt addresses a truth many business owners and leaders are afraid to admit:
👉 Success without alignment leads to burnout.
Using real client stories—and her own leadership journey—Kristina breaks down:
- Why successful leaders feel trapped in their own businesses
- How Working Genius reveals hidden...
Why Employees Avoid Responsibility and How Leaders Fix It
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Why won’t employees take responsibility—and why does it keep falling back on you?
If you’re working harder than everyone else and constantly fixing what your team should own, this episode is for you.
In this episode of the Business Building Blocks Podcast, Kristina Schmitt unpacks a question leaders ask behind closed doors:
“Why won’t my employees take responsibility?”
The answer may be uncomfortable—because it doesn’t start with your team.
Through real leadership examples, cultural patterns, and practical mi...
Follow Up on Goals to Drive Team Success | Kristina Schmitt Development
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Struggling to move your goals—or your team’s goals—forward?
In this episode of the Business Building Blocks Podcast, Kristina Schmitt shares actionable strategies for leaders, managers, and business owners to set goals that actually work and follow up effectively to ensure results.
You’ll learn how to:
Set SMART goals that actually workStay focused on priorities without getting distractedFollow up with your team to move goals from plan to actionCreate accountability without micromanagingWhether you’re leading a small business, managing a team, or d...
Leadership Clarity for Better Decisions & Growth
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Leadership clarity is the difference between working hard and actually moving the business forward.
In this episode, we break down why many capable leaders still feel stuck—and how closing the clarity gap leads to stronger decisions, aligned teams, and sustainable growth.
This conversation is for:
Business owners who feel stretched but not scalingLeaders and managers navigating complexity and competing prioritiesExecutives who want clearer strategy without more noiseIn this episode, you’ll learn:
Why strategy is often mistaken for tacticsHow unclear markets, products, and messaging slow...