Don Phin, Esq. portrait
About Don

Don has been selling his entire career.

First, he sold ideas to juries as a trial lawyer. Then he sold his own vision while building a company from the ground up. For decades since, he's been studying and speaking about what actually causes people to trust, decide, change and act.

Trial LitigatorFounder, HRThatWorks700+ PresentationsAuthor, The Emotional EdgeAuthor, The 40//40 Solution

The Arc

Don Phin, Esq. spent seventeen years as a trial litigator, arguing whistleblower and glass-ceiling cases to juries — learning, case by case, that facts alone never win a room. Stories do.

He left the courtroom to build HRThatWorks from the ground up, growing it to serve 3,500 companies before selling it. That exit taught him something litigation had only pointed at: no matter what work you do, you're in sales.

“Most sales aren't lost because of what happens in the room. They're lost because of what happened before you ever walked in.”

Today Don delivers his signature program, The Emotional Edge, to industry groups and company sales teams across the country — still doing what he's always done: helping people see what's really driving the room, so they can sell, lead and decide better.

“Have you ever lost a sale where all the logic was there for it to happen? The reality is, you didn't lose it logically, you lost it emotionally. As I like to remind folks, if it doesn't make sense, don't try to make sense out of it!

Highlights

17 yrs
Trial Litigator — Whistleblower & glass-ceiling employment cases, arguing to juries statewide.
Founder
HRThatWorks — Built and sold to ThinkHR; served 3,500+ companies.
700+
Presentations — Including 500+ to Vistage CEO groups nationwide.
15+
LinkedIn Learning Courses — Reaching over one million professionals.
Today
The Emotional Edge — Program and manuscript built around the Victim / Villain / Hero framework.
Author
The 40//40 Solution — Managing the Emotional Energy of Leadership and Sales.
In His Own Words — From the Room

“Don Phin presented The 40//40 Solution for Leadership in Sales. He's been wowing our members in-person and via webinars for 17 years. Catch his in-person performance. And, it's not just for salespeople. It's for life.”

Preston Diamond, President, Institute of WorkComp Advisors

Now you know where the ideas came from.

Bring Don to Your Stage