About Mike Garrison

Professional Experience Built Over Decades

I’m Mike Garrison, founder of the Strategic Referral Team. My work sits at the intersection of strategy, trust, personal experience and the simple truth that real growth comes from pursuing the right clients in the right way.

mike garrison of strategic referral teamWhen I’m not fly fishing, or wishing I were, I’m doing what I’ve done for more than 25 years: helping financial advisors, professional service firms and business owners grow stronger businesses they can actually enjoy running. I’ve worked with firms across the country and around the world, guiding them toward predictable ideal-client acquisition and healthier, more profitable operations.

My background isn’t theoretical. I’ve been a multi-unit franchise owner, a founding partner of an international training franchise, and the owner of businesses with different structures and different exit outcomes. Those real, sometimes messy experiences shaped how I coach owners today, without fluff, without wishful thinking, and with a clear understanding of what actually works under pressure.

I’m also a CEPA, Value Advisor and Growth Driver in the exit planning world. I help owners protect the legacies they’ve built by strengthening the transferable value of their companies. It’s work I take seriously. Being named the 2024 Exit Planning Institute Member of the Year and serving as faculty for their Academy, as well as speaking at the Exit Planning Summit, were meaningful acknowledgments of that commitment.

I’m also the author of Can I Borrow Your Car? How Financial Advisors Can Grow Their Business and Love Their Life, and co-author of the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, USA Today, and Amazon bestseller Truth or Delusion: Busting Networking’s Biggest Myths, as well as a contributor to the #1 bestseller Masters of Success.

The Personal Reality That Shaped SRT

Behind the credentials is something more important: my life at home. My 22 year old son Robert has multiple disabilities, and the responsibility and privilege of being present for him has changed everything. It reshaped my priorities, my time and my definition of success. It also forced a hard pivot in the summer of 2025. I couldn’t keep the relentless travel schedule common in this industry. I wasn’t willing to sacrifice my family to maintain “business as usual.”

So I rebuilt everything…intentionally.

SRT is designed around bringing the right 50 business owners to me twice a year in Roanoke. These sessions aren’t retreats. They’re deep-work intensives where we tackle strategy, execution and accountability shoulder-to-shoulder. I created a program that allows me to be fully present with my family and fully present with my clients.

Nothing diluted.

Nothing outsourced.

Nothing half-hearted.

Why SRT Exists

I wanted one place where I could bring everything I’ve mastered across my career: commercial sales expertise, referral science, ideal client acquisition, exit strategy, business growth models, accountability frameworks and relationship driven leadership and pour it into people who are ready to use it.
SRT is that place. It’s the forum where:

  • Owners get clarity on exactly who their ideal clients are by name, not just category.
  • They build a predictable path to those clients through disciplined relationship driven strategies.
  • They receive guidance from someone who has actually built, owned, exited and rebuilt companies, not someone guessing from theory, or, who took a course/certification.
  • They grow without sacrificing their integrity, their time or their sanity.
  • They learn from what I’m learning, in real time, with zero sugar coating and no guru nonsense.

What This Means for You

If you join SRT, you’re stepping into a partnership with someone who has lived the entrepreneurial grind, navigated the complexities of exit planning, built companies from scratch, and faced the personal realities that force you to choose what truly matters.

You’re joining a community built for seriousness, not crowds. For owners who value depth over noise. For leaders who want more ideal clients, not more marketing chaos.
I built SRT so I could give everything I’ve got, now and in the future, without compromise. If you’re ready to grow in the same way, intentionally and with purpose, then you’re in the right place.