Becky Schmooke

Name: Becky Schmooke
Address: 4139 Crosheck Road NE, Solon, IA, 52333, US
Telephone: 3193253464

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Solon, IA
Becky Schmooke

Leadership Consultant & Speaker- providing on-site team building retreats & private parties/events.

New Book: “Choose the Handle That Hold: A Guide to Living, Leading and Owning the Moments That Matter” available now!

11/07/2025

I could hear my tone- and didn’t like it. So I paused and told my teen-

“Hey, I’m at a boil, I can hear my tone, it’s not about you. I just need to spend some time outside to lower the temp.”

I spent the next four hours with my version of “ice” to cool down: a pickaxe, shovel, and rake, knocking out the second-to-last digging project here at BMK before the ground freezes solid.
More importantly, aside from checking in here and there (and grabbing candy when low blood sugar hit), I stayed in my self-imposed time-out until I came down—from a boil to a simmer to something close to room temp.

It doesn’t usually take me long to cool off, and I don’t hit that level often—but this time, I did. It had been a day stacked on a week, topped off with a month.

But after four hours of shoveling dirt and rock, swinging my favorite pickaxe, and marveling for the 389 millionth time at how little a bag of mulch covers, I went inside grounded in that way only physical exertion can give and I got the sweet satisfaction of checking something off my fall list.

Nothing that had gotten me to the boil had been solved. The weight of it all was still there. But it was, for the time being, a load I could carry.

For you, “ice” might look like listening to music, reading a few pages, taking a longer-than-normal shower, twenty push-ups, or a call to your best friend.

There’s a quote often attributed to Viktor Frankl:
Between stimulus and response, there is a space. In that space is our power to choose.

That’s what those four hours gave me—space and enough room to respond instead of react.

(Swipe for the before/after)

11/06/2025

We live in a headline world.
Confidently half-informed.
Certain enough to argue, not informed enough to understand.

I sent this article to my husband to read because I’m flying to San Diego and then LA this weekend.

Later, while talking with my sister and brother-in-law, I mentioned my flight might be tricky with “10–40% of flights being canceled.”

My brother-in-law corrected me: “10%.”
I said, “Well, 10–40%.”
Bill jumped in: “Becky, it’s 10% at 40 airports.”

I’d sent him the article, then forgot to actually read it myself—something that was painfully clear by that point.

Owning my mistake, I laughed and said, “Well, I guess if you only read the headline, you miss the full story.”

It’s obvious.
But obvious is where most things fall apart.
Because we assume if something’s obvious, it’s automatic.
And it’s not.

The obvious still takes effort.

It takes pausing before judging, asking one more question, reading one more paragraph.
The headline might be enough to keep us talking
but it’s rarely enough to keep us understanding.

And lately, it feels like we’re doing a lot more talking than understanding.

11/05/2025

The minivan didn’t ask for this life.
But it’s officially moved from mom van to hay van until a replacement truck is found.

I listened to the Vikings home radio broadcast while unloading said hay on Sunday, and couldn’t stop thinking about how hard that job must be.

To make a game meant to be seen feel completely alive through sound alone.

They make you feel like you’re there, even when you’re covered in hay a few states away.
It’s a skill and tradition that’s been keeping people connected to the game long before screens ever did.

So thank you to all the great commentators out there and congrats to the for a fantastic game!

(I was able to watch the game later as those who saw Hazel the goat’s photo on Sunday and can’t wait to spend time with them next week- send me your LA recommendations on how to promote the book while there!)

11/03/2025

Hazel believes two things:
1. She has horns
2. Therefore she is a Ram

I was hustling to finish outdoor project number… honestly I’ve lost count… while streaming the game on my phone. But Hazel screamed at me until I sat down and watched the last ten minutes with her properly.

I’ll be back in LA next week. The culture inside that team — from the players to the staff — is built on real character. Looking forward to digging deeper into leadership with the players. Hazel, though, will have to stay home.

10/31/2025

Came across this video from last spring and had to share… ants know what teamwork, hustle and hard work looks like!

10/30/2025

We had an hour to fill between things, so I took my youngest out for wings.

It also happened to be happy hour.

The waitress mentioned drinks were half off. I asked if that included everything or just alcohol.
“Just alcohol,” she said.

I drink alcohol, but not when out solo with my kids. So she got a root beer and I stuck with water.

Margins aside—and I say that as someone who doesn’t pretend to understand the numbers behind running a restaurant— the message I got was clear: If you don’t drink alcohol, you pay full price.

If you’re the driver, you pay full price.
If you’re sober, you pay full price.
If you’re there with your kid and not about to order a cocktail at 4:30 in the afternoon, you pay full price.

It’s not the end of the world.

And I’m not saying anyone’s doing it wrong or that restaurants owe anyone a discount.
But these days, with the rise of mocktails and people rethinking their relationship with drinking, it looks like an opportunity.

A chance for leadership.

Not because it’s required, but because it’s right.
Anyone can follow once the world decides something’s safe.

Real leadership is doing what’s right for your people,your customers, your community—before it’s popular to do it.

That kind of leadership builds trust that lasts long after the happy hour ends.

10/29/2025

(These photos are from four years ago- the last one was from this fall.)

I was spending my days and nights in mud and chicken p**p, hauling fifteen tons of field boulders down the hill so the goats had something to climb and people wouldn’t slide down a hillside of mud and p**p. I’d load them into the wheelbarrow at the top of the driveway, roll them down, lift them over the fence, and dig them into the slope—rinse and repeat.

During those long days, I listened to Ryan Holiday interview Rams GM Les Snead on The Daily Stoic. I remember thinking how great it was to hear someone in football take such a Stoic approach to his work—and how much sense it made. I also remember thinking how incredible it would be to bring Stoicism to athletes someday. But that world—NFL front offices, professional players—felt far from mine.

Fast forward to this fall. I was pressure washing those same rocks, cleaning off algae so no one would slip, when it hit me that the following week I’d be walking into the Rams facility—talking with their players about leadership, Stoicism, and Choose the Handle That Holds.

A week later, sitting in Les Snead’s office, I told him that story—how I’d first heard him while kneeling in mud. I also told him how much I appreciated one piece of his advice I still need to put into practice: that work after 9 p.m. is rarely our best work. My time would be better spent learning how to finally rest—so I’m calling that my next goal.

That moment in his office reminded me how much life can change in ways we never see coming—that what feels out of reach today might one day feel completely normal.

This is for anyone who struggles to stop long enough to see the growth that’s already there—too focused on the heights they haven’t reached yet to notice the ground they’ve already built.

Sometimes the view only shows up once you finally look back.

Can’t wait to be back in LA next month!

10/28/2025

My editor told me Choose the Handle That Holds was greenlit — ready for print.

He was wrong.

When I told my sister, she didn’t hesitate.
“Becky, you don’t sound confident.”

She was right.
The book wasn’t ready — not even close.
That weekend, my sister and I pulled an all-nighter. Then another.
It turned into a nonstop, marathon edit with my whole family jumping in.

Every page. Every word. Every decision.
We tore it apart and rebuilt it until it finally matched my standard.
The book that exists today — the one I’m proud to have my name on — exists because of that weekend. Because of them.

If I ever write another, I know exactly what I’m looking for in an editor—someone who meets my standard, not one who tells me I’ve met theirs.

Surround yourself with the people who will tell you the truth, even when it’s inconvenient. The ones who care enough to hold the line with you.

That’s just one of the behind-the-scenes stories, including how I ended up in front of NFL teams, that I share in my interview on Profiles in Leadership — a conversation that’s raw, vulnerable, and full of laughter in between the lessons.

Queue it up for your drive tomorrow, and if you have already read Choose the Handle That Holds and left an Amazon review- thank you!

Listen and discover more interviews here or find Profiles in Leadership on your favorite podcast app:

https://www.beckyschmooke.com/inthemedia

10/27/2025

Everyone says it, but that doesn’t make it less true. Time is going by at a speed that feels impossible to keep up with. So while I can’t slow it down, I can take a moment to appreciate the change.

10/26/2025

Social media vs reality…

A picture may say 1,000 words BUT…. it rarely tells the whole story.

What you see here is me coming upstairs to find my youngest taking the hinges off her old wardrobe on her own. A story of independence.

But that would be leaving out the next chapter, a story of learning how to handle a stripped screw.

Nor would it include the chapter titled, “Screw it, where’s the hammer?”

And that would still be leaving out the following chapter of teamwork. Of appreciating not being the only leader on the team.
The chapter titled, “Hold on, let’s just wait for your dad to get home.”

Rarely do we get the full story, only a very edited version of a single chapter.

So give yourself and others a bit more grace, and don’t waste so much time on judgment. Life is full of much better things to use our time for.

Address

4139 Crosheck Road NE
Solon, IA
52333

Telephone

3193253464

Website

http://beckysmindfulkitchen.com/, http://beckyschmooke.com/

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FREE ONLINE CLASSES ARE NOW AVAILABLE https://beckysmindfulkitchen.com/online-cooking-classes-kids-adults/

Escape to a countryside oasis at BMK (Becky’s Mindful Kitchen) and Cooking School, where joy, laughter and delicious foods can always be found. BMK is a place to come cook, connect and create; be it in private groups, business team building groups, kid classes and camps, date nights and more.

BMK provides an escape to nature with a timber adventure playground, treehouse, ninja obstacle course, and art installations. Practical and manageable mindfulness practices and themed connection classes are offered in a safe non judgmental setting. Laughter and fun are the driving force behind the farm fresh cooking, soap and art classes. Our goats and chickens will greet you upon arrival

BMK Cooking School goes above and beyond a normal cooking class by offering a beautiful setting to enjoy the food you prepare. Personalized classes are available for individuals and groups, perfect for business Christmas parties, bridal parties, anniversaries, birthdays, and family reunions.