In this episode of Great Friends, John Wheeler welcomes Doug Cartwright, sales coach, author, and founder of Alchemy Sales Coaching, for a masterclass in practical selling and emotional regulation. Doug begins at 16, working retail in a Utah mall, where he discovers that genuine connection (“Who’s your team?”) consistently outperforms the standard “Can I help you?” He carries that lesson through a door-to-door career that spans a quarter-million knocks and thousands of trained reps.

Doug frames success with a simple ratio: State (80%) + Story (15%) + Strategy (5%). He maintains that leaders cannot out-strategize a negative state, so they must prioritize energy first, then narrative, then tactics. He offers fast state-shifters that any founder or operator can deploy: cold plunges, exercise, breathwork, time in nature, gratitude sprints, and his Triple C checkpoint—Calm in the body, Confident in oneself, Clear in thought.

Inside the sale, Doug shows how trust becomes the real objection. Through a role-play, he demonstrates isolation (“Other than price, what else would hold you back?”) to surface the true concern, then closes with buyer-empowering language (“Would you be opposed to…?”). He also reframes “I need to think about it” as a signal to get curious: “You must say that for a reason.”

Throughout, Doug returns to a throughline: manage systems, not moods. Leaders who codify inputs—sleep, training, diet; discovery questions; objection playbooks—outperform those who ride emotional waves. And when stories spiral, he advises rewriting them on purpose, choosing narratives that keep teams open, optimistic, and effective.

This is a high-leverage conversation for CEOs, entrepreneurs, and clinicians who sell solutions every day and want to do it with more clarity, humanity, and repeatability.