CEO | GREAT THINGS HAPPEN LLC
Phil Barth
For over 20 years Phil has spoken to audiences around the world on goal achievement and stress management.
For his 15 minutes of fame, Phil won $32,000 on the TV game show “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire”.
Phil, his wife Beth, three sons and dogs live in the greater Cincinnati area.
Online Presentation: The Heart Attack That Saved My Life – How One Moment Changed Everything I Knew About Stress, Resilience, and Results
What’s the cost of unchecked stress?
For me—one “small” heart attack.
For my employer—over $100,000 in lost productivity, insurance claims, and extended absence.
For most organizations? Research estimates stress costs U.S. businesses up to $1,900 per employee per year in health costs and lost productivity.
This keynote is a personal story with a strategic takeaway: How emotional intelligence (EI) became the tool I wish I’d built earlier—and how it now drives performance, decision-making, and resilience on any team.
I walk through what stress did to me—like the time I spent 10 minutes looking for my glasses… while wearing them. Or when I tried to call my son and cycled through two other sons and the dog first. And eventually? A heart attack.
That wake-up call led to what I now call the Three Ls of Stress Management:
Laughter – because humor rewires the brain for resilience
Love – because relationships make or break mental fitness
[Redacted] – join the session to find out the third
You will walk away with tangible strategies you can use immediately, including ways to:
Recognize stress before it hijacks performance
Apply EI to team dynamics and communication
Create a culture that supports well-being and results
And yes, there’s a rubber chicken. But there’s also a measurable takeaway: more clarity, more energy, better teamwork.