Your Edge in the AI Era With Michael A. Forman

In this episode of the Your Company Health Podcast, host Andre Wright sits down with Michael Foreman — executive coach, growth strategist, and founder of michaelaforeman.com — for a conversation on what it truly takes to grow a business in 2026. 

Michael shares his journey from the Air Force to owning restaurants and navigating corporate America, and how those experiences shaped his approach to coaching professionals and business owners. 

Together, Andre and Michael break down the power of active listening, the role of trust and personal branding in the AI era, and why networking remains the single most important investment any business owner can make. 

Whether you're a solo entrepreneur or leading a growing practice, this episode delivers practical, experience-backed strategies to sharpen your communication, strengthen client relationships, and take your business to the next level.

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Transcript

Your Company Health Podcast

Guest: Michael Foreman | Host: Andre Wright

ANDRE: Welcome to another episode of the Your Company Health Podcast. I'm Andre Wright, your host, and today we have an exciting guest, Michael Foreman, an executive coach and growth strategist, and my friend. Hey, Michael. How are you doing today?

MICHAEL: I'm doing just great, Andre. How about yourself?

ANDRE: I'm great. I love this time of the year, you know. It's my favorite. You know, 70-odd degrees — just the right temperature, and I'm good.

MICHAEL: Yep, not too hot, not too cold. Spring and fall, the best two seasons.

ANDRE: No, definitely. And I'm an outdoor guy. I like golf and to get out there, so perfect time. Right. Yeah. Absolutely. All right. To get things going for our audience, Michael, talk to us about your journey as an executive coach and a business growth strategist.

MICHAEL: Well, my journey began many years ago when I was in the Air Force. I went up through the ranks fairly quickly, and I soon realized that I would be telling people who were older than I was what to do. That always put something on me — I could order them to do it, but that's not the way I usually operate. After the Air Force, I had my own companies: a graphic design studio, pizzerias, restaurants. I had it all. Then I sold off those and went into corporate, into the mortgage business. I moved down to Georgia and went to a law practice. But one thing always stood out — I was always the face of the company. I always did one-on-ones, presentations, or was telling somebody else what was going on. It was always me. So I decided about four or five years ago, "I'm going to do this for myself." I know how to talk to people, but I didn't know the business behind speaking, so I went to school for that. Graduated and pushed forward. Now, about five years later, I'm represented by certain agencies, listed in who's who in speaking. I won a communication award. I have articles written about me. And all it is, is me trying to help people — help professionals turn their conversations into clients. And that applies to healthcare as well, because doctors are great, but when you get them in front of somebody and ask them to explain what they do, that's a whole other subject.

ANDRE: I agree. And I always say the best coach is the one that understands business and has been through the trenches. Just hearing your extensive background — being involved in different businesses — I think that gives you the experience to help business owners and practices. Because oftentimes I've seen people claiming to coach this and that, but when you look at their background and history, they've never owned or run a business.

MICHAEL: And one thing I can bring to the table, especially from the restaurant business, is that I had employees, customers, and vendors, and I had to talk to all three — telling them the same thing, but in three different ways.

ANDRE: Right. Awesome. So with that experience and knowledge of business, I want to ask — for the practitioners and business owners listening in 2026, if you could give one piece of business advice to help them grow, what would you say?

MICHAEL: Very simple. My first piece of advice is to listen. When somebody goes up to talk with someone, the first thing they want to do is have diarrhea of the mouth — tell them everything they know, everything they can help with. But that's the wrong approach. You listen to the other person. I call it active listening. You're a problem solver. You're going to solve one of their problems, but you're not going to meet them at that problem — you're going to meet them a little further ahead so you can solve their problem and help them along their journey. When you listen, you're not thinking about the next thing you want to say. You're formulating answers to what they're saying. You listen, then you pause — and that pause is so important because it shows the other person you're engaged. Then you reflect back what they said: "If I understand you correctly, your problem is XYZ, and I can help you with that."

ANDRE: Right. And that goes for individuals as well as businesses. I'm in the digital growth space, and it's not always the largest business that grows the fastest. It's the businesses that understand and listen to their customers — that understand their pain and devise a plan to solve those pains. Those are the businesses that take off, not the ones that are big or fancy. That ties directly into what you're saying about communication and the importance of understanding what the other person is saying.

MICHAEL: Absolutely. And you really can't focus on anything until you understand, and understanding comes from listening. Whether you're a one-person business or a 50-person operation, it comes down to the same problem. You have to teach your salespeople what to do. Everybody knows the sales cycle. Everybody knows what they're selling, but they don't know how to sell it — how to bring it to someone else and have them understand that they truly need what you offer.

ANDRE: Definitely. And that's where you come in. A perfect example is LinkedIn — I get all these pitches in my inbox selling me things I don't need, because they're just shooting their shot and I may not be their target market. But if a salesperson goes through my profile, understands what I'm doing, identifies my pain points, and shows how they can help me grow — I will listen to that person.

MICHAEL: Exactly. Especially with LinkedIn — it's strictly business. If you want to connect with somebody, don't just come out there and sell. That's the worst thing in the world. Think about it at a networking event — a guy walks up and says, "Here's my business card. This is what I can do. Give me your info and I'll follow up." You'd think, "Whoa." You have to bring value to that connection. Let's say I connected with you on LinkedIn and I know what you do. I found some articles about medical facilities or how AI can be introduced. I'd offer them to you: "Andre, I came across these articles. I thought of you. Maybe you'd be interested." Do that three, four, five times, build up that value — and then say, "You know what, I've been sending you articles. I think we should grab a cup of coffee." Start that way.

ANDRE: Of course. That's always the best way in. You touched on AI, and that's the big conversation everywhere. I want to ask you — with the advent of AI and these new LLMs and platforms, from your standpoint talking to business owners across different sectors, how are you seeing it change businesses? And if you can touch on healthcare, but feel free to speak broadly.

MICHAEL: It's interesting because some people look at AI and go, "Oh my gosh, I don't know anything about it." And others think they know a lot about it when they don't. It really depends on what you want to use AI for. I use it for branding — getting my name out there. A doctor could do the same thing. It doesn't have to be about his practice specifically; it could be about him as a whole. So his name gets out there, and someone in another conversation says, "Oh, I've heard of him. Where did I hear him?" If your name circulates enough, people begin to recognize you — and that's just the beginning. In Atlanta, when you drive down the highway, you see those billboards with injury attorneys — just a face and a name, no contact info. That's branding. Doctors can do the very same thing. Then they can take it further — if they have a procedure nobody else offers, they can brand that procedure. And that's how you slowly but surely use AI. A lot of companies also use it for note-taking, simplifying long documents, extracting key information. You can use AI for so many different things. But you have to know what you're talking about. My suggestion: get help. Don't do it on your own. Especially with healthcare AI — use someone like Andre, because he knows what he's talking about. You need someone with that depth of knowledge to get you going. Once you're going, you'll know what you need more or less of. Don't jump in both feet first. Start small and build from there.

ANDRE: Great point. And that's what we've been seeing when auditing accounts. Some people jump into AI without the proper structure to accommodate it. It's like compounding systems on a bad foundation. As you mentioned, you have to know what you're using it for. It could be note-taking, branding, or front-desk automation to communicate with customers. There are different ways to approach it. But as you said — it's here. Even in my space, it used to be all about clicks and showing up on the first page. Now it's about trust and authority. It's not just traffic anymore. Who is the person people trust? You mentioned the billboard — "I see this guy everywhere, there must be something to him. I'm going to look at his page, check his reviews." So the key now with AI is: how can a doctor or business owner stand out and become the face of their industry?

MICHAEL: You hit on a core networking principle: know, like, and trust. People have to know you, like you, and trust you. If they don't trust you, it's over — you'll never do business with them. Think of a building. You have a beautiful structure, but it's built on straw. That's a bad foundation. Or consider the reverse: a steel base with a straw hut on top. You may not have everything figured out yet, but you have a great foundation to build on. You can always build onto a strong foundation; you can't build onto straw. So when bringing in an authority — whether that's someone like you or me or anyone else — look at their credentials, but also consider whether you like them as a person. They can have the best credentials in the world, but if you don't like them, you won't do business with them.

ANDRE: And that's spot on. It compounds even more in healthcare, because you wouldn't want someone to operate on you that you don't know. You might take a risk getting someone to fix your roof or your plumbing, but when it comes to healthcare, trust is even more critical. If I'm looking for a dentist or a chiropractor, I'm going to their page, reading their reviews, checking their background, looking at success stories, seeing what other people say about that doctor. That's why in this day and age you have to work on your reputation management and cultivate raving fans for your practice. That will definitely take it to the next level.

MICHAEL: There is a book called Raving Fans, written by Ken Blanchard. It's out of print, but I used to buy them 50 at a time and hand them out with my business card to realtors when I was in the mortgage business. I'd say, "Read this. It'll take you 45 minutes. When you're done, you'll have the foundation of great customer service." And One Minute Manager, also by Ken Blanchard — both are fantastic. They're so simple you'll think, "Well, of course I know that." But you don't, because you don't practice it. How many people know what they should do, but when it comes down to it, they don't do it?

ANDRE: You're completely right. And in healthcare specifically, doctors are great people — they've gone through years of school and are excellent at what they do. But when it comes to the business side, they often shy away. They don't want to do a video. They don't want to put their face out there. Even as a coaching expert, you and I have to push our clients: you have to be the face of your business. People want to see you. People want to know their doctor. A video here or there on Facebook, a post on LinkedIn — you don't have to hide behind the scenes, because trust signals are more important than ever in 2026 in this AI era.

MICHAEL: And I think a lot of the doctors you're talking about are introverts who don't want to put themselves out there. Half of my business is helping introverts step up and do these things. Whether you're an introvert or an extrovert, it's definitely possible to take your business to the next level. And if you want to do that but are afraid to start, talk to Andre, talk to me — we can help you get there.

ANDRE: Perfect. Michael, I can't believe how fast the time has gone — we could easily go another hour. But to wrap up, I know you have a wide range of clients, and I want to ask you about your tracking mechanisms. What are your key KPIs when working with small businesses and clients?

MICHAEL: My KPIs are very simple — nothing I put on a spreadsheet. I have a collection of emails from CEOs and company presidents. I do workshops where I train salespeople, back-office staff, warehouse teams, and customer service teams on how to relate to the public. I go into doctors' offices — smaller groups of five or six people — and show them the right way to communicate. My KPI is the emails I receive from them. I sent one out strictly to existing clients — no new ones — and in the last four months they raised their ROI by $25,000. Another one came from the CEO of a roofing company in Ohio: "Mike, we structured things the way you told us — customer service, warehouse staff — and we increased our ROI by $50,000 in six months." That's what I use as a KPI.

ANDRE: Awesome. Spot on. Now, oftentimes people see coaching as a luxury. Talk to our audience about why it's important to have a coach today.

MICHAEL: Everybody thinks they can do it on their own — and honestly, they probably could. Bad for my business, but they might get there. It would just take six to eight months longer. Coaching is about mindset. If your business is stuck at a certain level, you need a coach to help you break through. When I coach a company owner, they usually have me coach their whole team afterward, because they see the value in shifting mindset. I tell clients: within 30 days, you'll see an increase in your ROI. And they're skeptical. But it happens 99.9% of the time. Coaching is no longer a luxury — it's mandatory. In today's environment, everyone is using AI and cutting corners somewhere. You need an edge, and having a coach is that edge.

ANDRE: I totally agree. I always ask people: why do you think professional athletes still need coaches? They have all the money in the world, but why are coaches important? Because they prevent you from encountering problems and guide you in the right direction. We all need coaches.

MICHAEL: You're laser-focused when you have a coach — and your coach is laser-focused on your specific problem. You can't just say, "My business is the problem." There must be something within your business that needs to expand. That's where your coach is zeroed in. That's what you're bringing in that expertise for. I have clients I've put through a three-month program who still call me a year later once a month, just to check in on where they're going and how far they've come.

ANDRE: Agreed. Hey, Michael, I want to tell you — you're spot on, and I'm a strong believer in coaching. If you're a practice owner listening and you don't have a coach, reach out to Michael. But Michael, one last question: if someone is listening right now, what is the one thing a business owner should be investing in for growth? Just laser-focus on this one thing.

MICHAEL: Whether you're a solo entrepreneur or you have five salespeople, it comes down to the same answer: network. Go out and find a network. I belong to the Chamber of Commerce — that's a standard meeting. I also have a separate networking meeting every Thursday night. That's two networking meetings every week, and then I pick a third. I'm always out there networking, spreading the word. Because listen — the first time you go, you're going to stumble. It's going to be rough. But the second time, you'll be better. The third time, even better. By the fourth or fifth time, you'll think, "Hey, this isn't so bad. I could do this all day." When you network, you get the word out and your product out. And here's the thing — you never know who you're going to run into. I'm not just talking to Andre right now; I'm talking to Andre's entire network. It's not just one person — it's their network of people, and then someone in that network may know someone else. The only way to tap into that is to start, go out, and network.

ANDRE: Awesome. A mentor once told me that as a business owner, you need three types of networks: an open one, a closed one, and one specific to your niche.

MICHAEL: He is absolutely right. My Thursday night group is an open networking event. The Chamber of Commerce is open as well. But if you join something like BNI, that's your closed group. My coaching business does better in an open group, but there's definitely something to be said for the closed group dynamic.

ANDRE: Definitely. All right, Michael — I love this conversation. You're so experienced in this space, and it shows in everything you share. Before we go, tell our audience how they can find you.

MICHAEL: I'm easy to find: michaelaforeman.com. My website has two very important things. One, eight digital courses you can explore. And two, a contact form. If you fill it out, I'll get back to you within 24 hours, and I would love to start a conversation. I've been on over 125 podcasts and have hosted 250 myself — so I'm well-versed in connecting and conversing.

ANDRE: Michael Foreman, thank you so much, sir. It has been a pleasure, and until next time — we'll talk soon.