Media and speaker kit
Everything your producer will ask for.
Photography, bios in three lengths, published writing, and podcast topics. If something you need is not here, ask and it will be sent the same day.
Bios
Copy and paste, three lengths.
Written to be used as is, in an event program, on a registration page, or read aloud in an introduction.
Short bio (about 45 words)
Chris “Shmiddy” Schmidt is an attorney, executive, entrepreneur, actor, and humorist who has spent more than twenty years in law and business leadership without letting any one of those titles become his whole identity. He speaks about building a life that gives you options.
Medium bio (about 100 words)
Chris “Shmiddy” Schmidt has practiced law for over twenty years and served as Chief Legal Officer of a health and wellness company with more than $3 billion in lifetime sales. He is also an entrepreneur, an investor, an actor, and a humorist who uses humor deliberately in his speaking. He went to law school while married and raising four children, and paid his own way.
Today he speaks to students, early-career professionals, and business audiences about a single idea: you do not need a perfect five-year plan, you need options, and options can be built on purpose.
Full bio (about 200 words)
Chris “Shmiddy” Schmidt is an attorney, business executive, and entrepreneur who has spent more than twenty years in law while building a career that refuses to sit in one lane. As Chief Legal Officer of a health and wellness company with more than $3 billion in lifetime sales, he has handled negotiations, litigation, regulatory matters, transactions, and executive leadership. He was named one of the Top 10 Corporate Counsel in the world at the 2024 OnCon Icon Awards.
He is also, in no particular order, a business owner, an investor, an actor, and a humorist. He went to law school married with four children and paid his own way, which he credits for permanently curing him of the belief that life follows a plan.
Chris speaks on building a life that gives you options. His flagship keynote, “You Don’t Need a Five-Year Plan. You Need Five Options,” challenges the pressure people feel to have their entire future mapped, and makes the practical case for building skills, relationships, reputation, financial flexibility, and nerve instead.
He lives near Austin, Texas with his wife of thirty-five years, four adult children, and a growing number of grandchildren.
Photography
Headshots and stage photography.

Primary headshot
High resolution, color. Cleared for event programs, websites, and press.

On stage
Keynote stage, full room. High resolution available on request.

The room
A live audience mid-keynote. High resolution available on request.

Mid-keynote
Working the room from the lectern. High resolution available on request.
Podcasts, interviews, press
Appearances
Published on Forbes.com through the Forbes Business Development Council, a members' community for senior executives.
- Why Serious Leaders Shouldn't Take Themselves Too Seriously
- How Meaningful Work Can Transform Leadership And Well-Being
- Working With Independent Sales Reps: Balancing Personal Branding And Corporate Guidelines
- A 4-Step Guide To Maximizing Performance And Driving Growth With Price's Law
- 5 Ways To Maximize Your Business Growth
For podcasts & media
Several conversations, not one pitch.
Topics Chris can carry for a full episode without repeating himself. Pick one, or ask for the version that fits your audience.
- Why life rarely follows the plan, and why that is not a failure of planning
- The convergence of experience: why unrelated chapters combine later
- Why you do not need the destination to start moving
- What a setback actually gives you, beyond the lesson people claim
- How to tell the difference between adjusting and quitting
- Knowing when to explore, when to adjust, and when to commit fully
- Why current performance is not a permanent identity
- How relationships accelerate opportunity more than credentials do
- Getting moving again after momentum is gone
- Why a nonlinear career may be worth more than it looks
- Building professional credibility while everyone calls you Shmiddy
Need something specific?
Introductions, a tech rider, a headshot in a particular crop, or a W-9. Ask and it comes back the same day.