The hard lesson entrepreneurs need first
“Nobody’s coming to save you.” — Mike McLain
That line hit me because it is true. In this episode of The Exceptional Companies Podcast, Mike McLain and I do not offer comfort. We offer clarity. Effort alone does not move a market. You have to show the value you created, persevere through randomness, and make things happen.
I gave my team the same counsel for 2026. If you want the same life you had in 2025, keep doing the same things. If you want a better marriage, better relationships with your kids, and better finances, change the inputs. The market does not care. You have to.
A calling that would not let go
Mike spent 15 years in the military as a healthcare administrator, graduating from the Air Force Academy and rising to deputy COO of the Academy’s medical group. He had just promoted to lieutenant colonel. On paper, it was the dream job.
Yet he felt growing unrest. He and his wife wrestled with it for a year. Everything should have felt perfect, but it did not feel aligned with what he was made to do. He stepped out without knowing the end state, taking the next faithful step, then the next one after that. That posture now shapes how he builds and leads.
Identity first, then leadership
I asked a hard question about mental health, especially in southern Colorado. Is part of the strain a divergence from what people are called to be. Mike tied the unrest to identity. People who do not know who they are live out of alignment and suffer for it.
He applies the same frame at home and at work. He has three children, ages 7, 5, and 2. As a father, he sees a general roadmap in their design and gifts. As a coach to executives, he helps leaders recognize different strengths. Some lead with humanity and empathy. Others, like a CFO who is “green” in the Four Lenses assessment, lead with pragmatic decision making rooted in facts and questioning. Both can be right if they are aligned with identity.
Seeing a system, then finding the lever
Leaving the military did not mean leaving healthcare for Mike. It meant looking for the small hinge that moves the big door. In employer plans, pharmacy spend is a large line item. He highlighted a very specific lever:
- Pharmacy can be 20 to 30 percent of total plan cost.
- Specialty medications are 1 to 8 percent of volume, yet 50 to 80 percent of cost.
- Inside his firm’s portfolio, the historical average has been about 1.5 million dollars saved for every 1,000 employees.
His metaphor is plain. Many employers buy gas at eight dollars a gallon because it is labeled standard and safe. His team found a compliant way to buy the same gas for two dollars a gallon. The challenge is not the arithmetic. It is showing the value clearly enough that cautious buyers can act.
The human outcome matters most
When specialty costs fall, families stop making impossible choices. Many employees on high-cost therapies hit their out-of-pocket maximum every year and some skip treatment. Programs that can pay copays and deductibles change that behavior. CFOs see the numbers. HR leaders see relief. Both are signals that the work is aimed at the right target.
A concrete win, measured both ways
Client: Wyoming Machinery Group, a regional Caterpillar distributor with about 670 employees
Issue: A few members on very high-cost therapies, including one driving roughly 100,000 dollars per month
Outcome: Projected 3 million dollars in 2026 savings and a 13.421 ROI, with employees relieved of out-of-pocket burdens around 15,000 dollars per year
The dollars justify the initiative. The human impact justifies the mission.
Growth through community, not distance
Limitless is expanding through economic development councils and chambers of commerce, so the conversation happens locally. They were named the number one health benefits firm for the Coral Springs EDC, and have launched with three additional EDCs. People trust local gatekeepers. That trust shortens the path to understanding.
National accounts are lining up as well. The team is growing and solving in real time. Good problems.
Stewardship that starts at the top line
Stewardship is not a slogan for Mike. It is how the company runs. Limitless gives 10 percent of revenue off the top before anything else, directing funds to the causes he described. Inside the business, stewardship means allocating finite resources to mission, vision, and values. With clients, it means helping leaders steward their plans back toward clarity and value.
“We steward so that we can steward.”
Where policy meets reality
I asked why healthcare and politics are so intertwined. Mike pointed to information and legislation. Narratives shape decisions. Access to data can be obscured. He described the pharmaceutical lobby as the largest in the country. His team works with leaders to clarify employer rights, especially for self-funded plans.
His grocery-store metaphor makes it simple. If you pay four dollars for cereal, you deserve a receipt that shows the price. Employers deserve line-level pharmacy data because it is their money. Writing those rights into law is about letting fiduciaries do their jobs.
Sales without the pitch deck
Our approach is similar. I do not lead with a pitch deck. I start by understanding the client’s story and pain. If it is a fit, we show a clear process and move forward. If it is not, we refer them to someone better suited. Sales becomes service. Trust follows when you make complex things simple.
Mental models that actually help
Get neutral. Create space before big decisions so noise and emotion do not drive the call.
Fit, Passion, Market. Match expertise and gifting to the work. Check your energy. Validate that the market truly needs what you are building.
Choose what you count
Mike shared a Tony Robbins exercise. Scan a room for everything brown and you will miss the red. Attention shapes perception. Hard seasons will come. Choose what you count. Look for what is good, then operate from that place. People can feel it. It changes how you lead and how you sell.
AND MORE TOPICS COVERED IN THE FULL INTERVIEW!!! You can check that out and subscribe to YouTube.
If you want to know more about Mike McLain, you may reach out to him at:
- Website: https://limitlessrxsolutions.com/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tall-mike-mclain
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TallMikeMcLain
Connect with Chris Seegers:
- Website: https://exceptionalcos.com/
- Email: Ch***@************OS.com
Other Resources:
- Books: Selling Main Street by Chris Seegers
