Meet Clarissa Schmieg

We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Clarissa Schmieg. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Clarissa below.

Clarissa, thanks so much for taking the time to share your insights and lessons with us today. We’re particularly interested in hearing about how you became such a resilient person. Where do you get your resilience from?

I didn’t learn resilience from a textbook or a training program. I learned it growing up in a house where survival was the default mode. My mother struggled with addiction for most of my childhood, and my stepdad had a temper; many times, chaos felt more normal than calm. I learned to read moods like weather patterns, to prepare for storms without flinching, and to find light in places others didn’t even look.
Resilience came from learning how to navigate, peeling your mother off the floor, or comforting your baby brother, despite the holes in the wall. It came from adapting to never knowing when you would eat or have a roof over your head, because you moved around so much and things were uncertain. The idea that I had to keep going forward to get out of it, to make something of myself, and not end up a statistic like them, kept me going.

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?

I’m the Founder of Executive Author House, where we focus on Storytelling Strategy and Creative Visibility Consulting for professionals, entrepreneurs, and mission-driven leaders.

Everything I do is rooted in one simple truth: stories changed and saved my life.
I grew up surrounded by instability, scarcity, fear, and long stretches of uncertainty, which included periods of homelessness. As a child, I didn’t have adults to teach me who I wanted to be, but I did have books like Little Women, and I carry a piece of each March girl in my heart to this day. Later, when I couldn’t afford therapy, self-help books taught me how to heal. These stories became my mirror, my map, and my mentor. That’s what I try to offer others now.

Whether I’m co-authoring a memoir, writing a grant with heart, or helping a client clarify their brand voice, I’m here to make sure their message doesn’t just sound good but it lands, it resonates, and it opens doors. I believe that it’s more than words, it’s their legacy, and it’s up to me to do it justice.

What lights me up most is watching someone see their story laid out on the page, clearly and powerfully, perhaps for the first time, and then watching what happens when that story gets out into the world. It might launch a book tour, a podcast, a speaking platform, or a significant shift in how they present themselves professionally. That’s the ripple effect I live for.

Right now, we’re expanding into a full-scale creative hub, not just writing and editorial (although they will always be our heartbeat), but the support systems that surround a message: digital strategy, podcast development, PR, branded content, and a growing team that fills in the gaps so our clients don’t have to piece it all together themselves. We have been gradually implementing this over the last few months for a select group of clients and look forward to the official announcement, which will include all the offerings and the completed website launch this fall.

My goal is to help people not just tell their story, but own it, and build something meaningful from it. If one person feels less alone, learns something new, or sees themselves differently because of a story we helped bring to life, then we’ve already made an impact. And that’s the work I’ll keep showing up for, again and again.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

I have so much to say, but I will give you the advice that took up most of my time at the beginning of my journey and stopped my progress.
1. Know your finances and legal basics- seriously. I cannot stress this enough: financial literacy and legal business setup matter so much more than people think at first. I’ve seen so many people make mistakes that could have been avoided with the correct information- myself included. My advice? Learn the basics of taxes and bookkeeping, set your business up correctly, and get your paperwork in order early. You don’t have to do it alone; you can ask for help, use resources like Udemy for cheap courses, and don’t be ashamed if you figure it out as you go, but have your foundation. Once that is solid and done, you won’t be constantly worrying and thinking about all the things you need to do for taxes and what lies ahead, because you have the information and it’s taken care of. You can focus on doing what you love.
2. Trust your gut and protect your time. One of the most important things I have learned is to build on your intuition. It’ll teach you when to say no, when something feels off, and when a client or opportunity isn’t worth it. There will always be people who try to take advantage of your time or talent, especially early on. You don’t have to slam every door shut, but it’s okay to step back and pause. That time and energy is better spent growing your craft or opening space for the right people to find you.
3. Don’t focus on selling- focus on relationships. Honestly, this might be the biggest one. Stop worrying about landing every sale or sounding perfect. When I stopped panicking about everything sounding right and started showing up as myself, that’s when my business began to grow. People remember how you made them feel. Build genuine connections, plant seeds that matter. The people who believe in you will become your biggest supporters, and you’ll do the same for them. That is where your real moment comes from.
And remember, you wouldn’t have to do it all alone. Books, podcasts, and networking. Surround yourself with people who get it, that’s how you keep going and grow with less burnout.

Tell us what your ideal client would be like?

I want to highlight my ideal client because it does matter who you work with, it’s a representation of yourself. My ideal client is someone who is kind, genuine, and hits the ground running. They respect my time, they are understanding, and they have a mission that resonates with me as a person. The reason I discuss this is that, initially, I would work for anyone, which led me to collaborate with people I didn’t align with. This experience highlights how you are perceived, which can harm both your business and personal reputation. Whatever your values are, it is okay to accept clients based on those

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.executiveauthorhouse.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/officialexecutiveauthorhouse/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/feed/

Image Credits

Myself and Spouse Brandon Fischer took them