EXM Certified Business Coach · Phoenix, AZ · Serving the Western US

Deric Keller

Certified Business Coach · Leads the Western Division

I turn chaos into clarity for $10M–$50M+ owners. I take the overwhelming problems that come with fast growth, break them into clear systems your team can run, and hold the standard until the machine runs without you.

Marine Corps combat veteranSerial entrepreneur · grew a venture past $10MFounder · Battlefield Boardroom
Deric Keller, Certified Business Coach · Leads the Western Division
Meet Deric

Meet Deric, in his own words.

Who Deric works best with

Let me save us both some time: I'm not for every business. I'm for a specific kind of owner.

I work best with owners of $10M, $20M, $50M-and-up companies that are growing fast, and getting buried by it. You know the pattern, because you're living it: revenue climbs, you add people, you add locations, you add complexity… and now the whole thing runs through you. Every fire lands on your desk. You're working harder than you ever have and it's getting heavier, not lighter. Here's the part nobody tells you: that's not a sign you're failing. It's a sign your business has flat outgrown the structure holding it up. And you will not fix that by working more hours, you've already proven that.

You're my kind of client if:

You're Deric's kind of client if:

 

  • You're scaling a real company, $10M and climbing toward $20M, $50M, and beyond, with a team, real revenue, and complexity that's outrunning your systems.
  • Growth turned into chaos. More volume means more fires, and you can feel the operation straining under its own weight.
  • You've got the drive and the work ethic in spades, you just suspect you're aiming all of it at the wrong things, or the right things in the wrong order.
  • You actually want a coach who's clear, holds a real standard, and gets in the trench and works the problem with you. Not a binder. Not a cheerleader.
How Deric coaches

Here's the truth most owners don't want to hear: you don't have a problem problem. You have a too-many-problems-at-once problem. My job is to break the overwhelming thing into pieces small enough to actually execute, in the right order, so the whole machine starts running differently.

I learned this the hard way, so I'll just tell you. I had the drive. I had the work ethic. I had the discipline the Marine Corps drilled into me. And for a long time I was firing all of it at the wrong targets, or doing the right things in the wrong sequence, which feels exactly like running full speed and going nowhere. Then the framework clicked. Once I understood how to structure the week, structure the quarter, structure the conversations I had with my team, the entire machine started running differently. That's what I hand every client. I call it the lightbulb moment, and watching it land on an owner's face is the whole reason I do this.

The other half of how I coach is straight Marine Corps, and it's the part people get wrong. They hear "Marine" and brace for brutal. It's the opposite. The Marine Corps teaches you the mission matters more than your comfort, which means you get clear. You set a standard. Everyone on the team knows exactly what it is, and everyone gets held to it. Drop that into a business and you're not creating pressure, you're finally creating a place where people can perform, because they know what's expected, they know what winning looks like, and they know somebody cares enough to hold them to it. Most teams have never had that. It changes everything.

The whole model, every coach: every EXM coach works the full 3D Momentum Model: Direction, Design, and Dynamic. Deric goes deepest on systems: clear structure your team can run, and the standard held until the machine runs without you. See the 3D Momentum Model →

Deric's background

I didn't learn this in a classroom. I learned it in the Marine Corps, on a car lot, and in the operator's chair, including as an Exit Momentum client before I was ever a coach.

My entrepreneurial run started by accident. After serving as a combat veteran in the United States Marine Corps, I came home looking for direction and took a reluctant job in automotive sales. What I found was an industry full of broken, and instead of going along with it, I built something different: a model grounded in transparency, accountability, and values. That discipline pushed multiple ventures past multi–7-figure revenue. And the more complex it got, the more I leaned in, because I'd found the thing I'm wired for: taking a large, overwhelming problem and breaking it into structured, manageable systems a team can actually execute.

And here's the part I lead with, because it's the most honest proof I've got: I found Exit Momentum as a client. During the growth of one of my companies, I ran this framework hard, and we scaled my medical testing laboratory past $10 million in revenue. I felt the lightbulb come on in my own business first. That's exactly why I joined the team to coach, I'm not selling you something I read about. I'm handing you the exact thing that worked on me.

Marine Corps combat veteran, highly decorated. The discipline, the clarity, and the standard all start here.

Serial entrepreneur, reinvented the automotive sales model around transparency and values; built multiple ventures past multi–7-figure revenue.

Client-turned-coach, scaled my medical testing lab past $10M with the EXM framework before joining as a coach.

Large, complex operations, ran teams of 500+ people across 14 locations and organizations generating up to $500M annually, so I know exactly what rapid growth does to leadership, culture, and operational discipline.

Founder of Battlefield Boardroom, helping military veterans transition into civilian leadership and entrepreneurship.

Results

The proof is the work. Judge it there.

Coach-specific client results publish here as Marki validates attribution, quotes, and permission from the proof workbook. Until then, the firm-level bar stands.

★★★★★  Exit Momentum holds a 4.97 average across 189 Google reviews, one of the strongest review profiles in the category. (Attributed to the firm, never to an individual coach.)

What working with Deric looks like

No mystery and no pressure. Here's exactly how it goes.

1

We start with a conversation

You book a call with Deric, and you get honest, fast, about whether the fit is right. If it isn't, Deric will say so.

2

The 3D Diagnostic

A focused session, just you and Deric, digging into your Direction, Design, and Dynamic. You can't see how big the mountain is while you're climbing it.

3

The Leadership Lab

Your leadership team in the room. Momentum is a team sport. You walk out with a clear, honest picture of exactly what to fix first.

4

Ongoing coaching

A steady rhythm: clarity of direction, systems and cadence, and the leadership development that sharpens you and your team.

Questions people ask about Deric

Straight answers.

Who does Deric Keller work best with?
Owners of $10M–$50M+ companies that are growing fast and feeling the strain, more revenue, more people, more locations, and a lot more chaos. Deric's specialty is turning that chaos into clear, repeatable systems, so the business can keep scaling without breaking. Industry matters far less to him than whether the owner is done muscling through the fires and ready to build something that runs on a system and a standard.
Where is Deric based, and who can he coach?
Deric is based in Phoenix, AZ, and leads Exit Momentum's Western division, serving clients across the Western US. Coaching is done in a rhythm that fits a busy owner's schedule. (⚑ Confirm whether to advertise strictly "Western US" or open the territory wording, since coaching is delivered remotely.)
What is Deric's coaching style?
Direct, clear, and built on a real standard, without being harsh. As he puts it: "The Marine Corps teaches you that the mission matters more than your comfort. And that doesn't mean you're brutal, it means you're clear. You have a standard. Everyone knows what it is and is held to it." He works the problem with you, breaking the overwhelming stuff into pieces you can actually execute, in the right order.
What framework does Deric use?
EXM's 3D Momentum Model, a triangle of Direction, Design, and Dynamic that all have to hold. Deric is strongest on the Design side (the systems, structure, and cadence that turn chaos into a repeatable operation), with a heavy emphasis on the Dynamic side too, getting the right people clear on the right roles and holding the line on accountability. Inside the Leadership Lab he pressure-tests people, purpose, process, and performance through that 3D lens.
Why should I trust Deric, has he actually run a business?
Yes, and he was an Exit Momentum client before he was a coach. Deric is a Marine Corps combat veteran and serial entrepreneur who scaled his own medical testing laboratory past $10M using this exact framework, and has overseen teams of 500+ across 14 locations and up to $500M in annual revenue. He's handing you the thing that worked on him, not theory from a book.
What happens on the first call?
A straight, no-pressure conversation about where your business is, where you want to take it, and whether Deric is the right coach for the job. If he's not a fit, he'll tell you. If he is, he'll walk you through how he'd approach your situation, starting with the 3D Diagnostic.

If any of this is hitting close to home, let's talk.

The owners Deric works with are usually doing the work only they can do, because the business still runs straight through them. That's the real ceiling, and it does not break by working harder.

(225) 351-7878

Book a call with Deric.

A straight, no-pressure conversation about where your business is and whether Deric is the right coach for the job.

No pressure. No pitch. Just a straight answer.
4.97 average · 189 Google reviews