Forbes Riley, From Late Night TV Pitchwoman To An Educator On Communications

Communications play a role in every career and industry. It’s now integral to every professional as an employee and, more importantly, as an entrepreneur. Dr. Forbes Riley has perfected this art and is now teaching people how to do so themselves. Widely known as the Queen of Pitch, she’s an entrepreneur, media personality, and communication strategist who has generated more than $2.5 billion in product sales worldwide.

Her career started as an actress. Appearing in work like The 24, The Practice, and Black Creek, her pivot to pitching happened at an audition. 

“One day, I went to an audition where there was a pen sitting on a desk. The instruction was simple: ‘Sell me this pen,’” she says. “Instead of talking about the pen, I told a story about how my mother used to write me handwritten letters when I was young and insecure, and how I’d race to the mailbox to read them. I said a pen like this could reach out and touch someone’s heart. After the audition, Jacob ‘Body by Jake’ told me, ‘You’re my girl.’”

This launched her career. Over the next five years, she sold more than 1,500 products on television before the network was sold to Fox for $500 million.  “For me, selling isn’t about manipulation,” she says. “It’s about getting someone to say yes in a way that benefits both people.”

Although this was her start in sales, her childhood shaped her career in media. When she was young, she wore braces and other corrective dental appliances for eight years, including headgear, rubber bands, and a tongue thruster. She could barely speak, and other children avoided her.

“For two years, television became my companion,” she says. “I promised myself that once I learned how to communicate, I would never stop.”

Her decades of experience in pitching and selling other people’s products inspired her towards the creation of her own product. 

“The inspiration came after my pregnancy,” she says,  “My twins were both seven pounds at birth, and I wanted a way to stay fit without spending hours in the gym.”

The product itself is based on a 2,000-year-old Chinese toy. Through physics and centrifugal force, it creates significant resistance, up to 24 pounds of pull. If used for about five to eight minutes a day, you can strengthen and tone your arms, chest, abs, and core.

At the introduction of the product, nobody wanted it, but as soon as Dr. Riley got it onto a home shopping network, her biggest sales day was 64,000 units and about $1 million in revenue.

“That success came from a principle I teach in the book: Chapter D, which stands for ‘Demonstrate, she says, “People don’t buy because you explain something. They buy because you show them what it can do.”

“On television, I would demonstrate the product by having people use it so viewers could see the muscles engaging. That’s what made it successful,” Forbes concurs. 

Her pivot to teaching about pitching came during COVID. “One day, my daughter asked what I was working on, and for the first time in my life, I said nothing,” she says, “Television studios were closed, work had disappeared, and I didn’t know what came next.”

Her daughter suggested they start a business together, and although she was reluctant, the partnership has been very fruitful. 

The idea was simple: teach pitching online.

“At first I resisted because I didn’t want to share what I considered my secrets,” Riley says, “but my daughter told me something that changed my perspective. She said, “You don’t have a legacy.”

So they launched a four-week online pitch program priced at $1000. The first class brought in $25,000 in sales. Within four weeks, they’d generated $100,000. Nine months later, they built a million-dollar funnel. To date, that same funnel has generated more than $12 million. 

“I’ve taught more than 200,000 students through my online programs, and every week, thousands of new people join. All because my daughter convinced me to stop playing small,” she says. “Today, my mission is to help people communicate more effectively because I know firsthand what it’s like to struggle with communication.”

“I’ve actually written 28 books over the years, collaborative projects with other authors,” she says, “What makes this book different is that it’s the first one with only my name on the cover.”

Dr. Riley talks about not releasing a solo book sooner because she was still a little insecure about my writing. She’s now seen this as an opportunity to be a role model. 

“Every day, I meet people who tell me they’re introverted, afraid of failure, afraid of success, or simply playing small, she says, “I’ve overcome those same insecurities, and I want people to see that transformation is possible.”

Her book, Pitch Secrets A to Z, covers a wealth of knowledge, but she hopes readers walk away with the confidence to be disruptive and follow their own path. This is highlighted in Chapter O, which stands for “Open Door.” 

“The idea is simple: when you have a new idea, you need to create the right environment for people to say yes,” she says, “Most people make the mistake of telling others what they need. They’ll say, “You need this product.” But nobody likes being told what they need. Instead, you should help people recognize what they want. For example, if I asked you, “Do you feel tired at four o’clock in the afternoon? Do you ever feel sluggish? Would you like a refreshing drink with caffeine that doesn’t make you jittery, tastes great, and includes vitamins?” You would probably say yes.”

Now you want the product. When people want what you’re offering, everyone wins. 

Dr. Riley’s journey has been one of many pivots and stories, and now, she’s using her expertise to teach people how to tell their own interesting and complex stories.