Scaling Up Success Podcast

Scaling at Speed: Phil Stringer's Journey with AI

• Ryan Van Ornum • Season 1 • Episode 10

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Phil Stringer is revolutionizing the way entrepreneurs engage with artificial intelligence—not through complex technical jargon, but by making it remarkably simple and practical. His breakout moment came when he earned an impressive $267,000 in a single hour during his first webinar, prompting him to hire four team members that same day. In just 18 months, Phil’s teachings reached over 1,200 students across 23 countries. His real gift lies in breaking down overwhelming tech concepts into bite-sized, actionable steps that anyone can apply. As he puts it, he became the bridge between “confusing tech talk” and real-world business impact.

In conversation, Phil offers a refreshingly honest perspective on the challenges of fast growth, balancing family priorities, and building a strong, values-driven team. He’s known for turning down major opportunities—like a Notre Dame ceremony—to be present for his daughter’s parade, and for structuring his day with a rigorous four-hour morning routine that keeps him grounded. Rather than lean heavily on virtual assistants, he strategically hires U.S.-based employees for key roles. His advice for new entrepreneurs? Say yes often in the early days, and be generous with your knowledge—give more than others charge for. To learn how Phil can help you simplify AI and drive meaningful results in your business, visit philstringer.com or follow him on Instagram @philstringer.

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Speaker 1:

Welcome back everyone. This is Ryan Van Ornam with the Scaling Up Success podcast Today. Man, I have the pleasure of having Phil Stringer on today and a really, really amazing person. I love his story, I love what he's been building over the last few years and I'm so excited to have him on our podcast. Phil, how are you doing?

Speaker 2:

Love it, man. Thanks for having me so excited to be with you.

Speaker 1:

Absolutely so, man. We met probably six months ago down in Dallas and you're so engaging when you're on stage and I love your story. Can you share a little bit to the audience?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, so I mean as far as background. So right now, what I'm primarily doing is I'm speaking and we have a course that teaches entrepreneurs how to use AI and AI tools to save time and make more money. Right, I think there's a lot of confusion out there right now with AI, because there's so much and it's so oversaturated, because AI is the biggest thing right now, it's a marketing term, everyone's coming out with AI tools and so normal entrepreneurs, solopreneurs, business owners are getting confused on, okay, what route do we take? There's so many options, what do we do? And so really, my focus has been okay, let's help businesses, entrepreneurs, figure out what AI tools to use, and that's kind of what we've built our business around.

Speaker 2:

Now, my background isn't necessarily in technology. I've always been good with technology, but my friends are really the smart ones. I have a lot of software developers and engineers who are friends, and I remember sitting at a dinner talking with a few of them and they were talking about stuff that was going over my head. And I remember sitting at a dinner talking with a few of them and they were talking about stuff that was going over my head and I thought this is probably what most people feel like when they have a technology discussion they're just sitting there like I don't really know what's going on, and I thought there's got to be a way to take the confusing tech talk, boil it down, talk to people like they're five years old and be the bridge between the confusion and something that can actually change a business. And so I basically built my entire structure of my business around simplifying those confusing things, taking the really good stuff that's confusing, boiling it down to where anyone whether you're 10 years old or 90 years old you can understand and I tell people my, my benefit really is the communication.

Speaker 2:

It's not that I'm a developer, it's not that I'm a software engineer I have a team for that but I'm able to communicate it because I understand it and then I can bridge that gap for people. So to kind of give you an idea of like my background and whatnot, I have a sales background straight out of school, of like my background and whatnot, I have a sales background straight out of school. And then, most recently, before I launched this AI venture, I was a chief operating officer of a mega real estate brokerage in North Carolina and I built my AI systems, initially to help real estate agents, our team sell more homes and save more time. And that's when it scaled. We ended up getting 26 different industries in our real estate course and so I thought, okay, all the principles apply to anyone who wants to market or make money. So then we started helping other industries and now currently we've got over 1200 students in all 50 states and in 23 different countries in our course community.

Speaker 1:

Man, that is absolutely phenomenal. I love to see that, how quickly you scaled, because this is just a few years, man, and it is just banging every day. Man, you guys are doing your thing and I love it.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, actually it's even quicker than that so May of 2023. And so it's only been like a year and a half since we launched and it's been incredible growth very quickly. And I think it's interesting because I feel like I've had to do things backwards because we scaled so quickly that we didn't have the correct foundation set up. And a lot of times, you know, as business owners or entrepreneurs, when we're launching something we can get in our own heads about, well, this isn't perfect, we don't have this structure set, we don't have this foundation set, and so then we don't take action and I'm having to do things backwards where it's like we scaled too fast before we even had a foundation or a structure, and so we had to kind of slow down, to speed up in order to build those things later. But I think what I've learned in that is things don't have to be perfect in order to take action, and this is a more beneficial way. I would much rather have scaled too fast and then fix things later than still not be able to get anything off the ground right now. So the big thing for me, for entrepreneurs, is take action Even if you don't feel like you're ready, just do the thing that's going to move the needle and then you're going to figure out if you made the wrong mistake.

Speaker 2:

You will figure out that you made the wrong mistake. I have made hundreds of thousands of dollars in idiot tax decisions that I'm like man. I didn't know, I shouldn't have done that. But you don't learn unless you take those mistakes. Once you make the mistake, you know that you've made the mistake. You're able to course correct, but you cannot move forward unless you actually take the step, whether it's right or wrong.

Speaker 1:

Oh, absolutely, man, and I love that that type of principle of like just taking massive action Cause like I kind of feel the same way. It's like you know, uh, you don't get the keys to a Ferrari and and stay in the slow lane. You got to go, you know, and once you get so big, it's hard to pivot. So when, when you're, when you're moving in the right direction, you know it, it's really cool to to be able just man, like full speed ahead, because you're you're passing so many other people that are like paralysis by analysis as well, yeah, yeah, 100%.

Speaker 1:

So kind of piggybacking on what you just said what were some of the biggest challenges that you faced when you were scaling so quickly?

Speaker 2:

Oh, I mean, for me it was. It was very different from probably a normal, a normal person's situation. My very first webinar that I held, we did $267,000 of sales in one hour and so we basically I remember getting off that webinar, my hope was that I sold one of my coaching program slots. I was like if I could get one, great. Well, I ended up selling 250, some it was. It was insane. And so I got off of that webinar and I look at my phone and I saw what I had done in an hour and I was like, okay, I have to hire people.

Speaker 2:

I hired four people that day because it was just me, it was just me and I was like I have a lot of stuff that I've got to get going and set up. And so again, I didn't have everything set up. I didn't have the foundation, I didn't have the infrastructure built to properly maintain 250 clients. That didn't stop me from pitching to a large audience. The audience was over 500 people. It didn't stop me from pitching to that large audience because I was like, oh man, you know I shouldn't do this. I actually had a coach at that time, a business coach and he got mad at me when I accepted the speaking opportunity to pitch in front of those 500 people. He said don't do it, absolutely not. And I said why? He said you don't have the infrastructure built to maintain if you sell a lot. And I was like, well, we'll figure it out when we get there.

Speaker 1:

You're like hold my?

Speaker 2:

beer. Hold my beer, so I get off the call. I call my coach and I was like we just did $267,000. He was not happy. He was actually, and I ended up firing him. He was like you don't have the infrastructure, you don't have staff, you can't support this. He's like 250 people are going to be emailing you. How are you going to deal with this? And I was like we'll figure it out. So I hired four people that day.

Speaker 1:

Man, that is phenomenal. What are you most proud about with this journey that you're on right now? I mean because obviously you've been scaling so quickly. But what brings the most pride about this whole situation?

Speaker 2:

to you. I get the most joy out of helping people succeed, and it's much more than a business to me, and in fact, I've never been someone who cares about money. I really don't. As long as I can eat and live comfortably, I'm good. I don't need the fanciest things, I don't need to make millions of dollars. It's nice, sure, but my number one joy comes from someone in a class or someone who I'm speaking to, when they come in and they're overwhelmed, they're confused about AI, they don't know what to do to scale, and seeing their face and talking to them afterwards, recognizing, wow, I can actually do this. And now I have clarity on what to do to grow my business, seeing the impact that it makes on people. 100%, 10 out of 10, that is what keeps me going. It's not, it's not money, it's not business. Although I love those things, it's. It's not all that.

Speaker 1:

Man, that's fantastic. So what unexpected opportunities have came from this. You know like it opens up many doors for you. You know what I'm saying. So what? What's came from this that you're just like dude, pinch me what you know.

Speaker 2:

I, you know, there, there there's a big, a couple of big things that I'm. I'm actually not at Liberty to say um, but it's bigger than I could have ever dreamed of or imagined. Like in a couple of weeks I'm going to be doing something I can't say who or what, but to me it's like biggest opportunity I could ever think of or imagine. And so it's funny because you asked that question what are the surprising things, or unexpected, ryan? Every single opportunity that I've gotten has been unexpected because I did not expect to be here. Even my very first speaking event, it was only 50 people. It was a small room with 50 people. I didn't expect that, and then it grew and it grew and then just last month or two months ago, I spoke in front of 7,000 people in a live room.

Speaker 2:

And I'm just like, every single time I get an opportunity, it has been unexpected because I really didn't try to get to where I am. I worked very hard, but it wasn't like I started off with the intention of my goal is to become an influencer in the space or a thought leader in the space. I wasn't trying to do that. I really just wanted to see if I could build something and help people, and I truly believe that if you set out to solve a problem for someone and you truly care about actually solving the problem and not just doing a money grab, that you will succeed and you will go much further than the people who just try and get a money grab. If you truly care about figuring out what problem you solve and then exploiting that in the service of others, that's when you win.

Speaker 1:

Oh, a hundred percent. That's, uh, you know, some of the stuff that we're doing on the backside of stuff too. Man, it's really cool to just be able to help people and see them grow and, uh, you know, we get so much joy and pride from seeing other people's success, you know.

Speaker 2:

So what habits have you had to like? Either break or make new ones? To's better to do that than to make every single thing perfect. That is something I still struggle with, but there's no sense in spending a lot of time to make something a hundred percent perfect when you can do it.

Speaker 1:

you know shorter and less perfect, but it's still great Right.

Speaker 2:

So that's one thing. Um, I have really focused on my health. Um 2024, I made it a year of focusing on my health, my mental health and my physical health and my spiritual health. Um, I was at a place in 2023, before this launched, where I was not healthy in in my physical, mental and I remember I scaled so quickly and I knew that I wouldn't be able to sustain this unless I made some drastic changes to my routine and my health.

Speaker 2:

I hired a health coach. I hired a meal prep service where every single meal I have is exactly what I should be eating. I do blood work every quarter. I have supplements based on my blood work. I work out six days a week. I wasn't doing any of that before, but I have really realized the importance of mental health and physical health and spiritual health, how that can affect business. And so I have and you're going to laugh at me Everyone laughs at me because it's so specific but I have a four hour and 12 minute morning routine and I do it every single morning, whether I'm home or whether I'm traveling. Hardest thing for me, and I think for a lot of people, is maintaining routine and health on the road If you're traveling.

Speaker 1:

Oh, absolutely yeah.

Speaker 2:

It's so hard, right, and so I have been laser focused and I've gotten it down to a science now where I can be on my exact same routine. I don't miss a beat if I am traveling, you know, in a hotel I've got, I think, seven different cities in the next two weeks that I'm going to be in and I won't miss a beat. Every single thing is planned ahead. Now it does take some prior planning and it takes some effort, right, but that effort is so worth it when you think of the mental health and the physical health of being able to maintain that routine. So that four hour and 12 minute routine has has been something I've had to implement for sure.

Speaker 1:

Man. That's, that's, that's awesome, man, and just being able to be that purposeful about what you do on a daily basis, it changes the game. It really does, and I'm I'm starting to see that stuff. You know, as we continue to grow and what we're doing as well. So, um, uh, one of the things that you talked about briefly was you know, you, you had, uh, you had your your first webinar and you had 250 people and then you had to hire. So how now, when you're building that team because it's becoming a very large team of what you're about to be able to engage, to be able to grow this business out, how have you been able to build and maintain, like, a quality company culture through this whole aspect of growth?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, that's a great question. It's something I'm still working on because I'm so new to it, but I will tell you a couple of the mistakes that I made. First off, the very first hire I made was a COO, and I should not have done that. I should have hired an admin who could have taken small tasks off my plate. The COO was fantastic and I loved her to death, but she was not a doer, she was a manager.

Speaker 2:

She was someone who was good at managing other people and delegating, but when it came to the small tasks like booking my flights and booking my hotels and answering my emails and I mean my email inbox after that one hour webinar I have not been able to manage it since because we get so many I get so many texts, phone calls, DMS and emails that I have to hire that out now and literally it's just overwhelming. Which is great for business. But when I hired the COO, my thought was, okay, they can take care of this and then we'll hire someone else and they'll manage them later. Not a good move. First hire needs to be an admin who can just take those tasks off your plate. I learned that the wrong way, obviously. And then scaling a team this is totally my opinion and this is what I've done. I'm not saying it's the right way, this is just what I have done.

Speaker 2:

Personally, I have shied away from hiring overseas virtual assistants I know a lot of people do because it's very affordable.

Speaker 2:

I'm not saying I won't ever do that. We've hired several VAs for projects, but all of my hires in the last year and a half, as far as salaried positions, have all been local hires, salary US-based, and it's not because, oh, I have to have them in the United States. It's just I want people who are in my time zone and I want to be able to fly them to me quickly if I can, if we need to do quarterly planning or whatnot, and so that was my thing. I was like I'm going to not go VA heavy, I'm going to go more salary US-based employees of people that I go through the whole process and interview, and that's been my version of keeping a high quality level. Now it is much more expensive, obviously, so you kind of have to pick and choose what tasks you hire VAs for versus what needs to be a US based hire for me that's really poignant and I love that you're saying you know how you pick and choose which roles to be able to accommodate for those things.

Speaker 1:

So that's wonderful, one of the things that I know about how, how you pick and choose which roles to be able to accommodate for those things. So that's that's wonderful, One of the things that I know about you and we we've talked about this. You know, when we, when we met in person before was I mean, you're a very dedicated father. So how, how do you deal with that work life balance? Because you know that's a kind of a buzzword and I kind of feel like sometimes it's more of a pendulum swing than it is like like actual just right in the middle. You know what's your thoughts.

Speaker 2:

For me, my kids take priority. So so God is going to, for me, god is going to take number one priority. And then my kids are right after that. And so, uh, I have canceled major events, not canceled, but said no to major events because of a soccer game or because of a parade or a dance recital. I will not put something ahead of my time with them and to some people that might seem silly, like, oh that you know, I actually had one person.

Speaker 2:

I was in Paris just recently and they just opened up the, the Notre Dame, you know from the, from the fires, from a few years, yeah, and I was there and I got invited to the opening ceremony. Donald Trump flew in and I had a notification that my daughter decided to be in our town's little parade and it was going to be the same day as the opening of that ceremony. I flew back early, skipped the ceremony and went to the parade and a friend of mine was like that's insane. You had a once in a lifetime opportunity, invited to this thing, and you fly back for a small town parade and she's just like walking and you see her for 10 seconds. Well, some, some celebrations, even if they're small, mean more than the large ones, because to me, my daughter seeing me there means more than the reopening of the Notre Dame right. And so, just for my core values, family's gonna come before business, even if that means I'm gonna lose some money. There've been some massive opportunities that I've said no to because I wanna put my kids first.

Speaker 1:

Oh, absolutely no, that's. That's phenomenal man, and I love, I loved hearing that story. So when, when, when you were starting out, there was always, you know, those bumps in the road. So how, how, what advice can you give somebody when they're beginning their entrepreneurial journey? What? Some of those just like little hacks or nuggets that you would want to pass on to somebody if they're kicking it off?

Speaker 2:

A couple of things that changed the whole world for me. One say yes to as much as you can say yes to at the beginning for exposure. Obviously, I can't say yes to everything. Now. It's very rare that I do a free event, but at the beginning, when I didn't really have a presence or a name, I said yes to everything. Saying yes to everything isn't going to grow your business. It will give you exposure, but if what you present isn't excellent, then it really doesn't matter, because the exposure that you get isn't going to be rave reviews. So say yes to everything, but make sure that what you give and what you present is overwhelmingly high quality or generous, and by generous I mean give more away for free than other people charge for, and that was a pillar of my business.

Speaker 2:

Not only did I say yes to doing any event I could, but when I went to that event, no matter how small or how large, I gave so much stuff away for free that it scared me because I was like, should I be giving all of this away for free?

Speaker 2:

You're going to have a lot of relational equity that you put into that room and those people, and you're going to build fans that will appreciate you and trust. You know you like you, and so it's really a long play. You know you can go for the cash grab and I could have done the same thing. I could have gone into these rooms, sold something, tried to get a couple of sales to make a quick buck, and I've seen a lot of people do that. Or you can go for the long play, which is give as much value as you can for free so that you get this relational equity and this trust from these people. You build raving fans and then later down the line you're going to create customers and people who purchase things and stick with you for life. And that's the route I went and I'm so glad that I did, because now it's built on a strong foundation of a lot of people who are raving fans.

Speaker 1:

Man. That's absolutely phenomenal man and thank you for sharing some of your insight, your experiences, a little bit about who you are. I know you're a very busy person and we appreciate your time today. Phil, how can people get ahold of you if they're looking for any services that you offer?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, philstringercom is the best place to go. We basically have three main services. We have a digital course, which is our community of people that's the 1200 students we have in our community teaches people AI. We have one-on-one coaching, which is by application only. But if people want a one-on-one coaching, which is by application only, but if people want a one-on-one coach that's certified in our AI to kind of help them, guide them, give them accountability, we have that option.

Speaker 2:

And then the third option that we do is more for businesses. We do business consulting. We have a dev team that can build any type of software, any type of tool. We go in, we assess all of their systems, all of their processes, and we say, hey, you've got this 11 minute process that you do 20 times a day. We can make that 22 seconds by building the software. And so, between the course, the coaching and the consulting, that's our three main things. You can find all of them at philstringercom. And then social media. I reply to all the DMs and I help people out as much as I can on Instagram and it's just at philstringer.

Speaker 1:

Oh, phenomenal man. So I thank you again for sharing some time, sharing some wisdom, and look forward to seeing you in person the next time that we meet up at the next conference. Man, thank you so much, love it. Thanks, ryan. All right, take care.

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