Dr. Phil McGraw

Rod's mom watched Dr. Phil on Oprah. So sharing a stage with him, then seeing him backstage and getting to connect, was a real highlight.

It was also a good talk. McGraw is as well known as anyone in American media, and he spoke about how he got connected with Oprah, how he applied that to his own business empire, and the sales and marketing engine behind it.

What Dr. Phil built

Phil McGraw was a psychologist who co-founded a trial consulting firm, Courtroom Sciences Inc., in 1990 with attorney Gary Dobbs. In the mid-1990s Oprah Winfrey's legal team hired the firm to help prepare her defense in the Amarillo, Texas beef trial, brought by cattlemen over an episode about mad cow disease. Winfrey won in 1998.

After that, in April 1998 McGraw began appearing on her show in a weekly Tuesday segment. His first book, Life Strategies, followed in 1999. In September 2002 Dr. Phil launched as his own daily show, and it ran for 21 seasons, ending in May 2023.

The show was one piece of a larger operation. There were bestselling books, a telehealth company he founded in 2012 (Doctor On Demand), and the Phil in the Blank podcast. The common thread is a clear, plain-spoken personality that people trust, put in front of a lot of people by a good distribution partner.

What Rod heard

McGraw is publicly known for telling audiences to get honest about the situation and say it plainly. The way he describes his own path fits that. He did work that mattered in a high-stakes setting, delivered it well, and the right person noticed.

The sales and marketing side is the lesson Rod took home. The big break came from doing excellent work for someone who valued it, then being generous and visible enough that others wanted more. Nobody had to be talked into it.

How Rod applies it

• Do the work well, in front of the right people. McGraw's break came from a demanding client. Rod treats every engagement with a healthcare or manufacturing client as a reference, because the next introduction usually comes from the last job done well.
• Build on partners. The Oprah relationship gave McGraw reach he could not have bought. Rod looks for the same with referral partners, peer groups and event organizers who put Coulee Tech in front of more of the right people.
• One message, many formats. A show, books, a podcast and a company all carried McGraw's voice. Rod's keynotes, books and AIBMM coaching all carry the same plain-spoken point about AI and cybersecurity.
• Say it plainly. Leaders act on what they understand. Rod's talks avoid jargon and name the problem, whether it is phishing, ransomware or an AI plan that has not left the pilot stage.

Rod met each of these people at business growth events where they were the featured speaker. The lessons are his own takeaways and do not imply an endorsement by anyone pictured.