Chef Christian Fischer shares his secrets to closing deals over dinner, gaining clarity and building connections.

This episode of Close The Deal Podcast is a CLARITY mindset masterclass.

Chef Christian Fischer's 10 Close The Deal Mindset Success Quotes:

1. "For me, taking somebody to dinner isn’t just about closing a deal—it’s about learning who they are."
2. "I always tell the staff: Ignore me. Take care of my client. I’ll take care of you."
3. "A meal can tell you a lot about a person—how they treat the staff, their habits, and their mindset."
4. "Most businesses and chefs are just one network connection or strategy away from a totally different outcome."
5. "If you want different results, you need different actions. If you want different actions, you need to think differently."
6. "I learned the hard way that asking for help isn’t weakness—it’s power."
7. "You are the sum of all the decisions you’ve made over the last six months, ten years—whatever the timeline is."
8. "We create in conversation—if people don’t know what you’re up to, they can’t support you."
9. "Work harder on yourself than you do on your business—because when you get better, everything else follows."
10. "I don’t want my kids to grow up without choices, so every day, I work to create opportunities for them."

Chef Christian Fischer Show Notes

ewell smith

All right, disruptors, I have a special guest. His name is Chef Christian Fisher. He he comes to us from just outside of Hartford, Connecticut in Kensington, Connecticut, and he is the CEO of Fisher Research Group.

00:15.83

ewell smith

Now, Chef, ah first, welcome to the show. I appreciate you being here with us today.

00:20.63

Christian J Fischer

I'm happy to be here. Look, I was looking forward to testing.

00:22.25

ewell smith

Man, I love work. Yeah, I love working with chefs. You know a little bit about my background. We've spoken before in your show. And um I got to ask you a question, and as a chef, this is always a tricky question, maybe sometimes for a chef to answer in their own market.

00:33.61

Christian J Fischer

yeah

00:38.92

ewell smith

What is your favorite place to take a client out? Someone to get clients coming in, maybe in from overseas, because you work with a lot of people overseas, and you can take them to lunch, maybe breakfast, lunch, or dinner.

00:51.64

ewell smith

Where are you taking them to close the deal to get the business done?

00:54.50

Christian J Fischer

Oh, that's a really good question. So for me, I learned a very long time ago when when we do do that. So we're really specific and we're looking out for the clients. So for me, sometimes it's not how great the food is. I'm more interested in atmosphere and I'm very interested in how easy is the food to eat.

01:15.22

Christian J Fischer

um I learned that going to a poke place or a taco place where you need to use your fingers, not a great place to bring a client, you know, maybe after you sign the deal. So I always go really safe. I go Italian, classical French, and we have a place not far from here, it's called a word. It's a French place. I bring clients there all the time. They have a great wine selection. the The service is phenomenal, much better than their food.

01:43.33

ewell smith

Yeah.

01:43.40

Christian J Fischer

And they always have a great way for me. I just give them a heads up when I get there and say, Hey, I'm bringing in a client. Can you make sure you pay a little extra attention to them? And for me, that, that seems to work.

01:54.40

ewell smith

I like that.

01:54.61

Christian J Fischer

So hopefully none of my clients is listening because that's my, my secret weapon.

01:55.77

ewell smith

it

02:00.30

ewell smith

Well, you're the first person to actually say that last part is where you give the restaurateur a heads up so they know that extra attention to that.

02:08.15

Christian J Fischer

Yeah.

02:09.06

ewell smith

ah That's a nice touch, actually.

02:09.72

Christian J Fischer

i

02:10.55

ewell smith

I love that.

02:10.69

Christian J Fischer

For me, it's really simple. I get there half an hour before and I say, hey, I have a reservation. Who's got to be my server? I go up to the server and say, hey, you do need to do me two favors. Ignore me.

02:21.95

Christian J Fischer

Take care of my client and I will take care of you. Simple as that. And I said, I'm here to close a business deal. You know, make sure you make my client feel like a million bucks.

02:31.38

ewell smith

And that's the key.

02:31.47

Christian J Fischer

Works all of that.

02:32.62

ewell smith

that's the key And there you remember that. you know One of the chefs I worked with here and in New Orleans for many years ah brought my staff there for Christmas. And I'll never forget this.

02:43.41

ewell smith

it's it's it's how they make I can't tell you what we had for lunch, but I can tell you what we had for dessert because he wanted to make a impression on my whole team. And what he did is he sent out every dessert on the menu.

02:56.23

ewell smith

to the team. I had a team of four people. It was a small team. So we had like twice as many desserts as we had people at the table. And he filled up the whole table. But we still talk about that to this day.

03:06.51

ewell smith

It's how you make the people feel. So that's that's really that's something no one has talked about.

03:08.45

Christian J Fischer

Yeah.

03:10.97

Christian J Fischer

And for me, it became one of those things because the end of the day, this is not about me. It's about my client and ah and our potential partnership.

03:17.68

ewell smith

Yeah.

03:18.85

Christian J Fischer

And also what I realized, a lot of clients, um they know a deal is supposed to come down.

03:19.11

ewell smith

Yeah.

03:24.72

Christian J Fischer

So for me doing this, it kind of takes the edge off a little bit. And who doesn't like to be pampered?

03:28.39

ewell smith

Yeah.

03:30.37

Christian J Fischer

So if if I tell the staff ahead of time, hey, just do me a favor and I take care of you.

03:32.33

ewell smith

Yeah.

03:36.69

Christian J Fischer

And I go to these places a lot, so I kind of know the service and say, hey, And they now are, oh, he got another of one? Yes, he got another one, you yeah know?

03:44.44

ewell smith

yeah

03:45.28

Christian J Fischer

And um so it's it's kind of great. So for me, also what I love about that, um I never realized then that one client said to me once, he says, this was the most amazing dinner, not just the way the service was.

03:57.22

Christian J Fischer

And he was you know kind of raving how great the service was, you know? And he said, is he says, I loved how they connected with you.

04:01.17

ewell smith

yeah

04:05.15

Christian J Fischer

You obviously come here a lot. And there was just, I would have never known, you know, I was like, really, he kind of confirmed what I wanted to do.

04:09.17

ewell smith

Yeah.

04:13.46

Christian J Fischer

And when he was saying they were really polite, they were very, they didn't say, Oh, you come here all the time, you want to have a beer kind of thing, you know, they said, Hey, you know, he said it was just a great experience.

04:19.88

ewell smith

Yeah, it's that.

04:23.18

Christian J Fischer

And for me, that's exactly what we're going for. So that's, for me, one of the places I will go um because of that.

04:28.49

ewell smith

And what's the name of that place again? What's the name of that place again?

04:30.16

Christian J Fischer

I worked, it's in West Hartford.

04:30.65

ewell smith

so

04:32.17

Christian J Fischer

If you have it and want to go to French, it's right in the center of West Hartford. um Just tell them I sent you, but they have amazing French food. They do an amazing job, services, exquisite, and just the atmosphere is great.

04:45.56

ewell smith

Love that. And you know, I'll tell I'll mention the chef. His name was Chef Torrey McPhail, but he was with compete. He has since gone on to Bozeman, Montana. But he was the executive chef for Commander's Palace, which is the iconic one of the iconic restaurants here in New Orleans.

04:58.45

ewell smith

so And people ah people need to that's a great message. I love that message. It goes back to the Angela, Angela, my Israel.

05:03.50

Christian J Fischer

and thank you

05:06.77

ewell smith

Angela, what's her name? Uh, the, the, the, she's, she's famous for the quotes, not how would people, uh, it's how you make people feels with what people remember.

05:14.91

Christian J Fischer

Yeah.

05:15.48

ewell smith

I'm paraphrasing that.

05:16.24

Christian J Fischer

and And so for for me too, you know you got to understand, sharing a meal I think is very personal. And for me, because a meal can tell a lot about you, you know the way you treat the staff.

05:28.50

ewell smith

Yeah.

05:29.84

Christian J Fischer

Hey, i like yeah can you hold the butter? I know disperse this person is whole conscious. Hey, I'm not going to drink tonight or whatever it is. So for me, Taking somebody to dinner is not just faster, closer deal, it's for me to learn more about them.

05:43.72

Christian J Fischer

Again, for me, doing dinner with anybody or lunch in that case, um it's a very personal thing.

05:44.18

ewell smith

Yeah.

05:49.41

Christian J Fischer

And for me, i just you learn a lot about how people um act and how people behave and it gives you a great insight of who they are as a person.

06:00.50

ewell smith

I love that. All right. Speaking of appreciating people, who, or or it may be a, maybe a, or what, but who or what are you grateful for that helped you get you where you are today?

06:13.36

Christian J Fischer

Oh, there's too many people to count. But for me, why I do what I do is because of my family. And you know my story. I have adopted children, and my children are special needs.

06:22.13

ewell smith

Yep.

06:26.17

Christian J Fischer

And they ah were older as we adopted them because we knew nobody will adopt them because of their their medical history. And for me, when I peel it all back, the reason I do what I do is because I want my kids to have choices.

06:40.13

Christian J Fischer

you know For me, it goes back. My kids never had the choice that you know their parents or their parents chose to give them up for adoption. They had never a choice which which orphanage they get into. They never had a choice on how they were treated and that they had never a choice what they want to eat for dinner or what they want to do for lunch or who they want to hang out with. They never had a choice that there's a person looking different, sounding different, smelling different, so you know taking them, put them on a plane.

07:07.67

Christian J Fischer

and bring it to a whole different country. So for me, Billy Bach and the people I'm really grateful for is my family and my kids. And because for me, I learned the biggest life lessons um doing this for for my kids. At the end of the day, I want my kids and my family to have choices. And that's why I do what I do.

07:26.84

ewell smith

I love it. All right. Well, that's well said. Um, we're going to use that as the perfect segue because what you do is intriguing to me. Um, and it working with chefs is always a pleasure because the passion that you all bring to the business, but it's more than just having a passion, knowing how to run the business. And he got some incredible chefs who do not make good operators. You got some, you know, they are phenomenal. They can make anything taste good. Just about.

07:53.94

ewell smith

But it's still, at the end of the day, running a restaurant is one of the toughest businesses there are there is on planet Earth. So let's talk about your role, a little bit about your company, the background in your company, the Fisher Research Group, and how you, and let's guide people, let's give some people some guidance on some of the key things that you drive home when you're talking to folks.

08:17.28

Christian J Fischer

Yeah, so um I love that. By the way, that's that's a great question. And hopefully I do my that that the question justice with my answer. So for me, Fisher Research Group, it doesn't really mean anything. And so the reason we came up with Fisher Research Group was because for me, when I have a conversation with you, I research. but by By nature, I'm a researcher. you know That was always my thing. And for me, so what we do is everything we do, we want to make sure we do it not just because we love it that we have data-driven decision making.

08:47.07

Christian J Fischer

And so underneath the Fisher Research Grove, we have six verticals. We have our restaurant sites. We have currently a restaurant. We have our consulting site. We have our education site. So we have all of these different verticals. And so what we do is really helping the industry. So if you're a chef, we help you with our disruptive ah logo. So we want to disrupt the way you think.

09:11.66

Christian J Fischer

Because I know working with as many chefs as I did in over over my lifetime, that many of the chefs I meet, they are a skill, a net a network connection, one strategy a way to have a total different outcome in their career and their business.

09:15.81

ewell smith

Mm hmm.

09:28.71

ewell smith

Hmm.

09:30.24

Christian J Fischer

And then I also find businesses are in the same situation because most businesses are one network, one strategy, you know one little thing away to have a total different outcome. And then we started supporting chefs. That's really what we started out from. And then we realized we need to support them in their business. So we started in the businesses. Then we found that we're not just supporting businesses, we're supporting manufacturers coming into the business.

09:58.89

Christian J Fischer

So, from our consulting side, for an example today, we have six international clients. We help them get a stronghold in the US. So, we actually, their USA office. And so, we help them with incorporation. We help them hiring. We get their IRS number. So, we get everything done for them and they become the physical entity ah here in the US. So, that's what we do with them. And for chefs is we just want to show that when you start hanging around people which think differently, you eventually start thinking differently. If you think differently, you have different actions. If you take different actions, you have different outcomes. If you have different outcomes, you have different results and you have different results. You have a whole different life. And what we teach in our program is that you are the collective of all of the decisions and all the choices you've made over the last time six months, 10 years, whatever the number is.

10:47.66

Christian J Fischer

And you are combined average of all of that and you can change it by just starting to think differently. And that's what the disrupting is. We want to disrupt your thinking because if we get you to think differently, everything else falls in place and we do the same thing with our clients and our restaurant spaces and we do the same without consulting clients.

11:05.84

ewell smith

How do you get them? what Is there a process that you walk them through to get them to think differently? how do you How do you break them of the habit of doing the same thing every day?

11:16.20

Christian J Fischer

um so we have yeah So we have what what we call our intake form.

11:16.90

ewell smith

or thinking the same way every day.

11:21.26

Christian J Fischer

So our intake is ba ah what what takes the most time for what we do. And from there, we we really get really clear. So what we find most of the chefs lack clarity of what they really want to do and where they want to take their career.

11:35.12

Christian J Fischer

And that transcends into businesses. How many businesses do you run into? They say, what is going on here? What do they try to do?

11:45.46

Christian J Fischer

you know um So we help but um businesses, companies, organizations to be really clear of what their final outcome is, who is the the client they want to serve, build a message around that.

11:56.46

Christian J Fischer

And then we have what but we go through it, we call it um the seven level discovery. And the seven level discovery is where we go with the leadership and say, hey, why do you do what you do?

12:05.74

ewell smith

Mm hmm.

12:07.00

Christian J Fischer

And it's a really simple process, but it's super powerful um because when you really find out what drives you, why you do, a lot of other things fall in place.

12:07.78

ewell smith

Mm hmm.

12:17.32

Christian J Fischer

And then what we're doing on exercise, we call the success loop. And the success loop is really simple. is that we all have this four steps within the success loop. Number one is, you know what is anybody's potential? The human potential is immense. They could do anything. What is the actions they take on their potential will deliver the results they have. And the results will deliver ah what they think about themselves. And that's really fast. We started out just with chefs. And what we realized is,

12:48.21

Christian J Fischer

It's even more common in in restaurants. How often have you gone to a restaurant where you see the owner working harder than the employees because he knows financially he needs to make that that that contribution to the business.

12:50.71

ewell smith

isn

13:01.60

Christian J Fischer

But that forgets really what he's in business for. so his potential do yeah A local restaurant. We just did this exercise a few days ago. A local restaurant. The chef is immensely great in Mexican cuisine.

13:17.34

Christian J Fischer

I think he he's the best kept secret in the era. He looks at Mexican cuisine differently.

13:21.96

ewell smith

Mm

13:23.24

Christian J Fischer

He grew up as a Mexican-American, so there's that American influence, that new well ah cuisine influence, but he also has is a classical French-joined chef.

13:25.34

ewell smith

hmm.

13:29.68

ewell smith

Mm

13:32.83

Christian J Fischer

But the way he looks at Mexican food is he says there's nobody who really knows how to elevate Mexican food, and he's immensely good at it.

13:33.06

ewell smith

hmm.

13:40.08

Christian J Fischer

When you go there, fantastic, just the way he runs the kitchen and everything else. But his marketing and the message he sends to the marketplace is not what it is. People come there expecting Mexican food, and they say, I don't know what's going on here.

13:52.75

Christian J Fischer

I've never seen my fajita look like that. you know and And then the service staff um are really not trained to to deliver his message. And therefore, I was telling him, hey, your potential to have the best restaurant in the area around Mexico cuisine is immensely. You can do it.

14:11.57

Christian J Fischer

The actions you take is that it's just you. Your staff is not drained. Your customer is not drained.

14:16.51

ewell smith

Yeah.

14:16.99

Christian J Fischer

And therefore, your results you get and is that people come and pushing back and said, you're expensive. you will they will eat It's not really Mexican food anymore because you never measured that on.

14:24.68

ewell smith

yeah

14:25.97

Christian J Fischer

And therefore, you think you are failing in the industry. That's not what it is.

14:29.41

ewell smith

Yeah.

14:29.45

Christian J Fischer

So kind of re-pivoting that. So that's what we call the success loop. And then we do you know the next one for us is is We need to get you around people which start thinking like you.

14:41.97

ewell smith

Yeah.

14:42.01

Christian J Fischer

um Let me ask you for an example. Do you have kids?

14:44.59

ewell smith

I do not.

14:45.98

Christian J Fischer

Okay.

14:46.07

ewell smith

I do not have children.

14:46.64

Christian J Fischer

Do you have siblings which have kids?

14:49.91

ewell smith

I do not.

14:51.71

Christian J Fischer

Do you have friends who have kids?

14:54.13

ewell smith

Yes, I do.

14:54.47

Christian J Fischer

Really good friends. Okay.

14:56.26

ewell smith

Ding, ding.

14:56.61

Christian J Fischer

So ah so you do you know what was the very first car of your best friend? Do you happen to know what that car was?

15:03.99

ewell smith

I could name a few people whose first cars, yes.

15:07.08

Christian J Fischer

Yep.

15:08.00

ewell smith

Yep.

15:08.33

Christian J Fischer

So now when you look at your friend, their kid probably drives a nicer car than he did at that age.

15:13.94

ewell smith

Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

15:15.77

Christian J Fischer

And it's it's a very simple knowledge that we will do more for others than we do for ourselves. So if you're around people which hold you to account and that they have to support, You will rise to the level if you like it or not. And if not, you will not be part of the group because it it feels like a disruption for you. So we all need somebody who sees in us what we don't see in ourselves. And being part of a group, if you want to call it a mastermind or an advisory board, it doesn't really matter what name you give it, but we all need people which see in us what we don't see in ourselves. So if I'm really clear where you want to go.

15:48.46

Christian J Fischer

I find out real why I'm doing it. And now I know what is holding me back.

15:51.00

ewell smith

Yeah.

15:52.80

Christian J Fischer

I know exactly what are the skills I need to learn. What are some of the systems I need to acquire and who do I need to partner with?

15:57.14

ewell smith

Yeah.

15:59.94

Christian J Fischer

And for me, that's the four steps to any successful business.

16:05.03

ewell smith

I love that. I'm going to touch on a couple of things that Jim Rohn, his quote, you are the average of the five people you hang around with most. And that's so true. I mean, and and the opposite is true. i mean They can either lift you up or they can tear you down.

16:17.61

ewell smith

and mean I mean, they won't drag you down, I should say. And you won't even realize it's happening because it's happening in slow motion.

16:21.12

Christian J Fischer

hey I love that. And then the spirit of Mr. Jim Rohn, he's also the guy who says, hey, work harder on yourself than you work on your business.

16:27.88

ewell smith

Yeah.

16:27.89

Christian J Fischer

Because and for for you to do things that get better, you need to get better.

16:31.06

ewell smith

Yeah.

16:31.07

Christian J Fischer

And it's so true. Yeah, I love that.

16:34.30

ewell smith

and And also, I love the fact that you start with getting the clarity, but also they understand their potential. And when people see potential, that power I love saying this, potential powers progress.

16:47.57

Christian J Fischer

Yeah, I love that.

16:48.38

ewell smith

It it really does.

16:48.64

Christian J Fischer

I love that.

16:49.90

ewell smith

it' it And then that's where you have your action steps and it just unfolds. It becomes a loop, a circular loop, and it does power the progress. It keeps going it keeps keeps the ball moving forward.

16:58.84

Christian J Fischer

Yeah.

16:59.87

ewell smith

because If you don't feel like you're moving forward, what do you want to do? You want to stop. maybe even go backwards. So I love that.

17:06.49

Christian J Fischer

Yeah.

17:07.90

ewell smith

um so how so when so So when you get somebody in expanding the people's network, how do you, or you just, is there, and how do you expect i do that?

17:18.65

ewell smith

How do you get people to do that?

17:19.96

Christian J Fischer

Yeah, so um meet we have that this simple thing.

17:20.51

ewell smith

I'm curious.

17:23.63

Christian J Fischer

I always said, look around your network, and and hopefully none of my friends hear this. You put them into one of three buckets, okay? You do bucket one is um when I need somebody to agree with me because I'm feeling self-pity, this is the person I call.

17:38.13

Christian J Fischer

The second bucket is if I need somebody to lift me up on somebody who encourages me, this is the person I call.

17:38.59

ewell smith

Gotcha.

17:44.27

Christian J Fischer

And then the third bucket is, his you know I value their friendship, I value their input, but those guys know so many people, I don't know, and they are connectors.

17:44.57

ewell smith

Right.

17:54.07

Christian J Fischer

So you put people in three buckets.

17:54.59

ewell smith

Yeah.

17:55.98

Christian J Fischer

And for me, um i know when when you know I know exactly.

18:00.23

ewell smith

Mm

18:00.75

Christian J Fischer

If my day doesn't go the way I know, it should have gone. I know exactly who I could call because they say, Christian, you work so hard.

18:04.95

ewell smith

hmm.

18:08.80

Christian J Fischer

It's not fair. They're not looking out for you. know Getting self-pity.

18:11.92

ewell smith

Yeah.

18:12.94

Christian J Fischer

But I also have ah a group of friends when I call them, they say, okay, Christian, you know what? You just got to suck it up. Take a hard look at what didn't work today and make sure you don't make the same mistake tomorrow.

18:23.43

Christian J Fischer

I don't like those people, but you need those people, you know?

18:25.16

ewell smith

You need him.

18:26.32

Christian J Fischer

And yeah, and those are the people I call when I say, hey,

18:26.65

ewell smith

Yeah.

18:30.38

Christian J Fischer

Let me ask you something. This happened today. Why do you think you know me?

18:34.34

ewell smith

Mm hmm.

18:35.50

Christian J Fischer

So it's that. And then the final thing to overlay it is, it's called the Five Friends Law. Have you ever heard of that?

18:41.94

ewell smith

Okay. No, but um I would like to hear about that.

18:44.14

Christian J Fischer

So it's really simple.

18:44.75

ewell smith

That's interesting.

18:45.86

Christian J Fischer

So i i we do this as part of our our exercise with the intake. We want you to go to buy five really good friends. And the good friends need to be really good friends.

18:56.62

Christian J Fischer

They can't be family or relatives because we found it doesn't work with that. And it's really simple. ah You sit down with them and say, hey, You know, yeah I meet you ah saying, hey, I want to really appreciate our friendship.

19:10.03

Christian J Fischer

Can you honestly tell me why we friends? so And so i I, my very first friend, his name is Jason.

19:12.89

ewell smith

Ah.

19:15.54

Christian J Fischer

And so I did this with Jason and he says, so you, the only chef I know. Okay. I was like, hu come on, why are we really friends? And he says, because the goofiest guy I know.

19:26.86

Christian J Fischer

Okay. And he says, you're so easy to make fun of because for 60% of your life, you were an apron as a chef, you wear clogs. He says, that's the easy to make fun of. And I was like, why are we really friends?

19:38.25

Christian J Fischer

And then we kind of go this down and we ask this question seven times. And at seven times he says, you know why Christian? When I have a bad day and I talk to you, you have that innate ability to make me feel better and you never realize that.

19:51.39

ewell smith

Wow.

19:51.42

Christian J Fischer

And I was like, it was, ah by the way, this is, by the way, it's not an easy thing to do. It was for me, be very hard to hear this from my friends, how they feel about me.

19:58.65

ewell smith

Yeah.

19:59.05

Christian J Fischer

Somebody else I call. And I went in and that person, she said to me, Christian, you're the only person I trust. I was like, oh shit, I don't even trust myself. How dare you? You know, kind of, you know, how we feel about ourselves.

20:09.79

ewell smith

Wow.

20:10.88

Christian J Fischer

Somebody else says to me, Christian, you always shoot it to me straight. And, you know, and and for me doing this, if you do this with six, seven friends, you know, it's called the five, but i I say, if you do six or seven, and it doesn't matter.

20:16.02

ewell smith

Mhm.

20:23.97

Christian J Fischer

But a minimum of five, you will know what other people think of you. And sometimes we don't do a good enough job to highlight the things we actually really good at.

20:30.25

ewell smith

Wow, that's interesting.

20:36.81

Christian J Fischer

And it's really hard, especially from a friend you really value.

20:40.73

ewell smith

Yeah.

20:40.76

Christian J Fischer

And they are by, I always say, the first four is all BS because it comes from here. Okay.

20:46.32

ewell smith

Yeah.

20:46.49

Christian J Fischer

The moment you move question five, six, and seven, it comes from here. And most of the time call me this, you know, or say, Hey. i I trust you. You, the guy with the most integrity. And I was like, oh shit, I just let myself down this morning. You know, how do you think I have integrity? Yeah, it's it was really hard for me to hear. And for me, we just did this just ah like a week and a half ago. I called some of my other friends and they gave me the same thing. So for me to be building this into our organization and who we are and how we come to the market. But I encourage everybody to do it because then you know, what do your friends think about you?

21:21.88

Christian J Fischer

And for me, that's super powerful to start out being really clear of what you want to do. Then really going to the roots on why do I do what I do?

21:28.10

ewell smith

That's really interesting.

21:31.83

Christian J Fischer

Why do I get up at six o'clock every day?

21:32.48

ewell smith

Yeah.

21:34.25

Christian J Fischer

Why do I choose not to work out? It works for anything.

21:37.54

ewell smith

Mm hmm.

21:38.99

Christian J Fischer

And then you find out, hey, what are the things which are holding you back? You have a group of people which hold you to account and then sometimes you need the other people, which is the final thing. Number five is, is for me, that's my Northern start.

21:49.99

ewell smith

z

21:52.48

Christian J Fischer

This is my, whatever you want to call it. Because when I, and I have those actually written in, in our office on the wall, what those five things are, because sometimes I need to remind myself, this is who I really am.

21:59.41

ewell smith

isn

22:04.96

Christian J Fischer

And if I believe this about myself or not, but this is how the world sees me and it's easier to execute on that.

22:13.23

ewell smith

I think the word that would thread this entire podcast together is clarity. I mean, because what you're bringing is clarity to people to give them a pass so they can see that potential so that they can move forward and grow better as a person.

22:23.09

Christian J Fischer

now

22:26.80

ewell smith

understand that network, expand that network, be challenged, all these things.

22:27.36

Christian J Fischer

No.

22:30.28

ewell smith

I mean, this has been a perfect place for us to land this. I've got a couple, one more question for you and then the call to action for people to find you.

22:38.67

Christian J Fischer

Yeah, yeah, sure.

22:41.23

ewell smith

But first the question, what is something that you did in the past that you would like, wish you could undo and that you would coach people on today?

22:51.89

Christian J Fischer

hu That's a really easy question. um and I think it's an industry habit. um ah The industry habit is I always compare chefs to the military. We always feel, show no fear. you know Don't ask any question. Don't show any weaknesses and just suck it up and get it done. and For me, I was in that boat for a very long time. and For me, to to finding out that there is really power in saying, hey, I'm not 100% sure if I understand that.

23:22.89

Christian J Fischer

I'm not sure if i I need some more clarity. Can you give me some more context on this?

23:26.89

ewell smith

Mmhmm.

23:27.22

Christian J Fischer

ah Or, hey, I really need help here. And being or getting to a level that you allow yourself to have other people contribute to to ah your well-being and to your business, for me, that was the hardest thing.

23:41.63

Christian J Fischer

And it's still very hard for me, and I'm still working on it. i still have a hard time getting compliments. I still have a hard time mean with with promoting myself in the marketplace because I feel like it's touting.

23:53.35

Christian J Fischer

and for me so That's for me the one thing. I try to instill this in my kids.

24:00.53

Christian J Fischer

If somebody celebrates you, celebrate with them.

24:04.15

ewell smith

I love that.

24:04.42

Christian J Fischer

If somebody has compassion for you, have compassion with them. and If somebody needs support because they reach out, anger, whatever it is,

24:16.66

Christian J Fischer

It's for me a sign for help and you know, be there and be that help for them. And for me, I wish somebody would have had taught me this, you know, 30 or 50 years ago. um For me that was the turning point of everything.

24:31.28

Christian J Fischer

Because if I had my network and I was vulnerable and said, I just don't understand this.

24:31.43

ewell smith

Yeah.

24:36.29

Christian J Fischer

i I'm not sure if I'm made for this. And somebody said, Christian. And I have it here. And that's my very first business coach or my mentor said, that's a a Christian progress of our perfection.

24:43.55

ewell smith

Yep.

24:47.86

Christian J Fischer

And I have it here as a reminder.

24:47.97

ewell smith

Yeah.

24:49.58

Christian J Fischer

He says, you just got to do. And it's so true for me, if I look back what we started back in 2011, as I started all of this, it's totally different than what we do today. And I know what we're doing five years from now will be totally different than what we do today. Because the more I learn about me and the more I learn about the industry and how we can support the industry, we will evolve. And for me,

25:11.89

Christian J Fischer

All of this is, you know, we have you create on the back.

25:15.98

ewell smith

Yeah.

25:15.97

Christian J Fischer

And for me, create is a reminder every time I'm on a podcast or on a Zoom, that we create in conversation. And you and I, this conversation, there might be somebody listening today, tomorrow, a year from now.

25:23.41

ewell smith

Yeah.

25:29.40

Christian J Fischer

where they said, I never really thought about that. And then i maybe I need to have a conversation because I know, and I honestly believe we create in conversation, the chair I'm sitting on.

25:40.24

Christian J Fischer

Somebody came to somebody and said, I have this amazing idea.

25:40.31

ewell smith

Yeah.

25:43.44

Christian J Fischer

I put chairs on wheels. Can you think I have a chair on wheels? And people go, this is mind-blowing. Why would you put wheels on a chair? And you know, not only that, I have it reclined. And it has arms you can adjust.

25:54.11

Christian J Fischer

And people said, this is just mind-blowing. This is crazy. you know And then there was somebody else who said, This is amazing. I want to build that, share with you. And for me, we create a conversation.

26:04.23

Christian J Fischer

And if people don't know what you're up to, people can support you. If people don't know what you're struggling with, people can support you.

26:08.41

ewell smith

That's right. Hmm.

26:12.40

Christian J Fischer

And if people don't know what you love to celebrate, people don't know how to celebrate with you. So we are creating conversation. That's my reminder. The end of the day is all about conversation and create create a new life, create a new relationship, and create a new impact in anything you do.

26:24.86

ewell smith

oh

26:29.97

ewell smith

I love that. When people don't see what happens with podcasters like yourself and myself, is the conversation that we had, that 20 minute plus conversation we had before this, just talking based on our previous conversation. And then that led to some creative ideas we were talking about doing going forward. So I love it. I love it. All right. Call to action. ah How do people find you? What's the best way for people to find you?

26:54.50

Christian J Fischer

Um, so, uh, everything, if you go to ChristianJFisher.com, uh, we have all of our stuff out there um on the on Facebook, LinkedIn, TikTok, we everywhere just hit us up, tell us that we, um, or they met us through you and we will make sure we take care of them and be here to support. So if you ever need anything, um, we only need a phone call or DM away.

27:18.11

ewell smith

All right, Chef, I appreciate your time here. Folks, i'll and Chef, I'll have you link the main links sters to yours too on the landing page for this for this podcast.

27:22.28

Christian J Fischer

Yep.

27:26.71

ewell smith

And I really do appreciate your insights. It's very helpful and some very wise insights. I love it.

27:33.27

Christian J Fischer

I really appreciate it. Thanks for having me.

27:35.31

ewell smith

Yes, sir. Thank you.