Christiane Schroeter, Ph.D.

Dr. Christiane Schroeter is a behavioral economist, keynote speaker, and Professor in Cal Poly's Agribusiness Department, where she teaches marketing and entrepreneurship. She earned her PhD at Purdue University, where her dissertation received the Outstanding Dissertation Award for its microeconomic analysis of how food price and policy changes affect obesity. Dr. Schroeter has published 33 peer-reviewed articles in journals such as the Journal of Health Economics (2009 Best Economics Paper Award in Food Safety and Nutrition by the Agricultural & Applied Economics Association), the International Journal of Consumer Studies, and the Journal for Advancement of Marketing Education.

Dr. Schroeter's research in health economics and behavioral economics examines how small changes compound into large effects on consumer behavior. She has extended this work to public and professional audiences as a TEDx speaker, where her talk "How Small Steps Create Big Change" introduced Petite Practice®, her framework for behavior change through small, repeatable actions. She is the author of five books, including Petite Practice®: Small, Steady Steps to a Life of Momentum and Real Change (2026), and hosts Happy Healthy Hustle, a top 1% global podcast named 2025 Woman Podcaster of the Year in the education category. She has spoken on stages in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Germany, and France, and has taught more than 10,000 students and professionals over 20 years. Her expertise has been featured in Newsweek, Business Insider, and HigherEdJobs.

As the first Faculty Fellow for Cal Poly's Center for Innovation & Entrepreneurship (CIE) from the College of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Sciences (CAFES), she has inspired many students to pursue entrepreneurial pathways. In recognition of her teaching excellence, Dr. Schroeter has received awards from CAFES, the Western Agricultural Economics Association (WAEA), and the North American Colleges and Teachers of Agriculture (NACTA). In 2019, her colleagues selected her for the Agribusiness Faculty Award for Service Excellence.

In her class, Innovation & Entrepreneurship in Agriculture, which also serves as an elective for the Entrepreneurship Minor, she works with many students who are interested in innovation and entrepreneurship in the food supply chain. Cal Poly's Learn by Doing approach bridges the gap between theory and application. Students first identify business opportunities based on current issues in food and agriculture. Then they work on customer development, gathering consumer insights to test their initial idea. Dr. Schroeter connects interested students to CIE programs such as Innovation Quest, the Hatchery, and the Accelerator, so they can go deeper into the entrepreneurial process and launch their businesses.

Dr. Schroeter loves spending her free time with her family on the beautiful Central Coast and traveling. She enjoys teaching fitness classes at the Cal Poly Rec Center and is passionate about helping others live a healthy lifestyle.

Education

• Ph.D. in Agricultural Economics, Purdue University, 2005
• M.S. in Agricultural Economics, Kansas State University, 2000
• M.S. in Food Economics, University of Giessen, Germany, 2001
• B.S. in Food & Nutrition, University of Giessen, Germany, 1997

Areas of Specialization

• Economics of obesity
• Nutrition labeling
• Consumer demand analysis
• Behavioral economics and behavior change