Meet LeeAnn Kreischer | Mom, Wife, Podcaster, COO, Producer

We had the good fortune of connecting with LeeAnn Kreischer and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi LeeAnn, how has your work-life balance changed over time?
“Work life balance is a myth.” My friend Rachel Hollis enlightened me with this statement, and I have adopted it entirely. I have always been an “all-in” person, but it’s hard to be all-in, everywhere, all the time. And this left me feeling a bit of a failure everywhere. Suddenly after Rachel spoke that simple statement, I was free of feeling a failure in either my work or my life. The truth is, work and life ebb and flow. Sometimes work has most of my focus, and other times life has most of my focus. It’s ever-changing, and you just have to flow with it. I do have some key, non-negotiables in place to keep life always a priority in a manageable way. I work out with a trainer 3 days a week, with 2 of my closest friends. This keeps me laughing with some of the people I love most, and keeps my body in shape. Even though my high school aged daughter can take a bus to or from school everyday, I choose to drive her to, or pick her up from school (half hour commute each way) every day. My husband and I have a date night every week, and I never miss my weekly therapy session. I have organized these non-negotiables to be flexible, so they can ebb and flow with my ebb and flow, but I almost never miss them. So when life or work get to be too much, I have these “taking care of me and mine” moments in place.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
As a podcaster and a producer of stand up specials, I think what sets me apart is how I listen. I am naturally quite curious, and to fulfill my curiosity, I like to listen. I like to talk too, don’t get me wrong, but listening is such a skill. As a podcast host, if you’re really listening, you can learn so much about the person you’re talking to which would lead you to more curiosity and questions. I seem to listen in such a way that people tend to open up and have great, meaningful conversations, which I love. As a producer of stand up specials, I not only watch a special, I also listen to them, without watching. Rhythm is so important in good comedy, and when you listen only, you can shortcut where the rhythm might not be optimal, which can cause you to stop listening. Because stand up is a verbal medium, for the most part, the audio portion is so important. If you get the words, the rhythm of the stand up right, the visual is really the icing on the cake, so listening is my best friend when I’m going through a special in prep, or sitting with an editor in post.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I love LA. Here’s a list of where to go, what to see, in no particular order. The Santa Monica Pier, Olivera Street, Phillipe’s French Dip, Rustic Spoon for excellent Thai food, In n Out, obvi!, Mann’s Chinese Theatre, Fryman for a hike, lunch at the Polo Room at the Beverly Hills Hotel, Lawry’s the Prime rib, See the observatory, Union Station, Venice Beach, Grand Central Market, Space Shuttle Endeavor, Hollywood Bowl, Drive up PCH to Malibu, Rose Bowl Flea Market,

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I have to have to have to shoutout my husband, Bert Kreischer. I was writing comedy screenplays (with some success) when we met and fell in love. He is a stand up, and has always asked my creative input. This lead to producing 3 of his stand up specials, and a 4th special for Shane Torres. He also encouraged me to start my own podcast. I was feeling like “who wants to hear what I have to say” and he said, EVERYBODY. I love my podcast, it brings me so much joy and it absolutely would not exist without Bert. We started a production company called BertyBoy Productions, for which I am now COO. I had no intention of becoming COO, but shortly after forming, Bert and I decided that he did not become a stand up to become a CEO or a COO. We decided I would take on that roll. We have 13 employees now. I have to say, I had no idea how to be a COO. Girl Scout troop leader, sure, but COO? Bert trusted me to take this on, was patient with me as I made mistakes, had my back when I needed him and has shown me such gratitude, he has given me the confidence to lean in to this role. Bert’s always been fearless in his own career, which gave me the courage to be fearless in each new step I have taken along my life’s journey.

Website: http://wifeotp.com.s3-website.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/#top

Instagram: @leeannkreischer

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Image Credits
Grettel Cortes, Troy Conrad, Todd Rosenberg