In this episode of Agency Freedom Podcast , James talks with Marit Peters , Executive Director of the Independent Insurance Agents of Texas , otherwise known as the Big I of Texas. Episode Highlights: Marit explains that one of the reasons she works for the industry is because she thinks of independent agents as being so gracious in their communities. (4:54) Marit shares the fundamentals of running a successful agency, including the importance of identifying those on your team that are dragging ...
Aug 26, 2022•1 hr 3 min
In this episode of Agency Freedom Podcast , James talks with Joshua Goodman , Director of Business Development for the Kansas Big I . Episode Highlights: Josh shares his background and what led him to his position at the Kansas Association of Insurance Agents (KAIA). (4:22) Josh explains that the reason he decided to leave State Farm was because he would not have been able to take over his father's book of business when that time came. (8:38) Josh shares how he started his own agency from scratc...
Aug 19, 2022•51 min
In this episode of Agency Freedom Podcast , James talks with Andrew Correll , Director of Insurance Solutions with Security Scorecard . Episode Highlights: Andrew mentions that he began his career in the insurance market 10 years ago, mostly handling cyber insurance underwriting for technology and life sciences companies. (5:14) Andrew believes that it's up to all of us to learn the ins and outs of what we do, instead of just trying to sell a product to anyone who picks up the phone. (11:38) And...
Aug 12, 2022•1 hr
In this episode of the Agency Freedom Podcast , James talks with Jason Johnson and Katherine Jones from Coterie Insurance . Episode Highlights: Katherine discusses her role as Director of Communications for Coterie . (4:49) Katherine and Jason explain that Coterie is a managing general agency and that they do not want to be a direct to consumer company. (7:56) Jason explains his role as the Director of Agency Experience as well as his philosophy within the company. (10:50) Katherine and Jason sh...
Aug 05, 2022•45 min
In this solo episode of Agency Freedom Podcast , James talks about the possible benefits of being a producer instead of an agency principal. For many people, the producer career track may yield greater happiness, satisfaction, and personal wealth than the agency principal track. Episode Highlights: James explains that for some, depending on one's goal, and how they are wired to be in the industry, being a producer is better than an agency principal. (0:53) James shares that some benefits of bein...
Aug 02, 2022•24 min
In this episode of Agency Freedom Podcast , James talks with Erik Garcia , Certified Financial Planner and Investment Advisor with New Century Financial Group and the Founder of Plan Wisely Wealth Advisors . He is co-owner of Garcia Insurance Services in New Orleans. And, he is the co-host of the podcast Stuff About Money They Didn’t Teach You In School . Episode Highlights: Erik discusses what made him decide to enter the insurance industry. (11:16) Erik explains that there is a difference betw...
Jul 29, 2022•1 hr 9 min
In this episode of Agency Freedom Podcast , James talks with Troy Smith , Retired Detective and Hostage Negotiator with the San Antonio Police Department . Troy is now with the Black Swan Group . Episode Highlights: Troy shares his background story and how he ended up joining the San Antonio Police Department as an officer and later as a hostage negotiator. (5:19) Troy discusses what led him to the Black Swan Group where hostage negotiation skills are applied in a business environment. (6:28) Tr...
Jul 22, 2022•54 min
In this episode of Agency Freedom Podcast , James shares the second part of a special on-location recording with members of the Killing Commercial mastermind. Episode Highlights: Alan Kinney shares that before entering the insurance industry, he attended engineering school and worked for IBM for seven years doing process management work. (4:53) Alan Kinney mentions that he has a strong process background, and Drew has a strong data background, both of which have helped them operate their agency....
Jul 15, 2022•1 hr 1 min
In this episode of Agency Freedom Podcast , James shares a special on-location episode with members of the Killing Commercial mastermind. Episode Highlights: David Carothers explains that the major purpose of Killing Commercial Mastermind is to create a community of individuals who can rely on each other, learn from each other's experiences, and help each other improve. (4:52) James Jenkins recommends Killing Commercial to anyone searching for a community of commercial lines focused rockstars wh...
Jul 08, 2022•50 min
In this episode of Agency Freedom Podcast , James talks with "Broker Brett" Fulmer , Ambassador for Finaeo , Evangelist for Smart Choice and startup consultant. Episode Highlights: Brett shares his background story and how he got started in the industry. (7:45) Brett talks about his team of six agents that he has recruited for SmartChoice. (12:26) Brett explains that he has been a P&C guy but he is enjoying learning about life insurance. (16:21) Brett explains the difference between the life...
Jul 01, 2022•1 hr 4 min
In this episode of Agency Freedom Podcast , James talks with Michael Zalle , founder and CEO of Yellowbird , an environmental health and safety consulting company. Episode Highlights: Michael tells James about the growth of Yellowbird since its inception three years ago. (4:37) Michael shares his background story, and what Yellowbird does in the industry. (11:48) Michael explains that he started Yellowbird because the concept of skill set on demand was very interesting to him and he saw how usef...
Jun 24, 2022•59 min
In this episode of Agency Freedom Podcast , host James talks with Pat Mulroy , Head of Distribution for Tarmika . Episode Highlights: Pat shares his career path in the insurance ecosystem. (4:51) Pat talks about what Tarmika is doing on the embedded side and that led to his position there. (6:25) Pat explains that Tarmika sees embedded insurance as something they can offer to both consumers and agencies as an additional distribution method, a starting point, but not something that is going to co...
Jun 17, 2022•1 hr
In this episode of Agency Freedom Podcast , James talks with the one and only Dr. Billy Willams , CEO of Inspire A Nation , an equity partner in over 100 retail insurance agencies, and an investor in many other businesses. Episode Highlights: Dr. Billy Williams talks about his background and what led him to start Inspire A Nation. (5:23) Dr. Billy Williams shares that he does not worry about a person's mindset, but what is important is discipline. (10:27) Dr. Billy Williams explains that when he...
Jun 10, 2022•1 hr 1 min
In this episode of Agency Freedom Podcast , James talks with Corina Ludwig , CEO of Function Fox , a task and project management software platform. Episode Highlights: Corina discusses her background, as well as her life vision and values. (4:58) Corina explains when they discovered that the technology they had created for themselves may benefit others in the creative industry. (6:21) Corina mentions that their group prefers to focus on what they do best: being creative rather than spending a lo...
Jun 03, 2022•53 min
In this super-packed episode of Agency Freedom Podcast , James talks with five outstanding female agency principals from across the country. They cover a wide variety of topics and provide valuable insight and perspective on the state of the industry and how we can better foster growth in our teams and agencies. A special thanks to Vonda Copeland , Ciara Gravier , Whitney Ricci , Teresa Kitchens , and Ngozi Nnaji for joining us on this episode. Episode Highlights: Vonda, Ciara, Whitney, Teresa, ...
May 27, 2022•1 hr 25 min
In this episode of Agency Freedom Podcast , James talks with Cory Schnabel , Agency Principal at KC Insurance Group in Kansas City, MO. Episode Highlights: Cory talks about how he got started in the insurance industry. (5:27) Cory shares that he bought his first Allstate agency in 2010. (6:42) Cory how he started KC Insurance Group and what helped him to get contracts with several carriers. (12:51) Cory shares that his referral partners are one of the secrets to his success. (20:46) Cory explain...
May 20, 2022•1 hr 6 min
In this episode of Agency Freedom Podcast , James welcomes co-host, Ciara Gravier , to the show. Ciara is the co-owner of The Bunker in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. Episode Highlights: James introduces the topic for this episode, Excess and Surplus insurance, and his episode co-host, Ciara Gravier. (0:11) Ciara talks about the importance of efficiency in her two person agency. (6:38) Ciara shares that one of the things she did that helped her perform more profitably was to have an underwriter on her...
May 13, 2022•1 hr 9 min
In this solo episode of Agency Freedom Podcast , James talks about key points from the first year of the podcast, what the future looks like, and addresses some lessons learned about social media and digital communication. Episode Highlights: James shares how he was invited by Jason Cass to join the AI Podcast Network and start his podcast. (3:49) James talks about how he has improved as a podcast host over the year. (6:27) James explains some of the topics that have not been discussed on his po...
May 06, 2022•40 min
In this episode of Agency Freedom Podcast , James talks with two insurance podcasting legends, Zack Gould and Matt Naimoli . Episode Highlights: Matt and Zack talk about their experiences and how they founded G&N Insurance. (8:54) Matt and Zack talk about what made them realize the value they could contribute to a channel they assumed was much smaller than it really was. (13:13) Zack shares that the BobbleOn experience was motivated by necessity. (14:24) Matt explains that BobbleOn began as ...
Apr 29, 2022•1 hr 4 min
In this episode of Agency Freedom Podcast , James talks with Peter MacDonald , Co-Founder, and CEO of Wunderite . Episode Highlights: Peter shares his background story and what led him to the insurance industry. (5:31) Peter shares that he met Wunderwrite’s Co-Founder, Joe Schnare, on his first day of business school. (11:11) Peter explains that one of the challenges the industry is facing is not having enough technology to capture underwriting data. (17:51) Peter mentions that the more interest...
Apr 22, 2022•52 min
In this special on-location episode of Agency Freedom Podcast , James shares a series of brief conversations with attendees at the Better Conference in Phoenix, Arizona on April 8-9. This is part 2 of a two-part episode. Make sure to catch the first half that was dropped a couple of days ago on our episode feed.
Apr 18, 2022•56 min
In this special on-location episode of Agency Freedom Podcast , James shares a series of brief conversations with attendees at the Better Conference in Phoenix, Arizona on April 8-9. This is part 1 of a two-part episode. Make sure to catch the second half that will be dropping a couple of days after this episode.
Apr 15, 2022•59 min
In this episode of Agency Freedom Podcast , James talks with Aaron Gordon of the Gordon Companies. Episode Highlights: Aaron shares that he is the second generation to work for their family-owned and operated independent agency. (4:53) Aaron mentions that some of the customers they have now were names he heard at the dinner table with his family while he was growing up. (7:27) Aaron mentions how fortunate he was to start with a book of business in front of him, which enabled him to try a few new...
Apr 08, 2022•1 hr 9 min
In this episode of Agency Freedom Podcast , James talks with Brian Fritton , CEO of Havoc Shield , a cybersecurity-focused consulting firm. Episode Highlights: Brian explains that the reason they have built the business is that they care about keeping people in their jobs. (6:33) Brian shares how Havoc Shield was created and what they do as a cyber security company. (8:34) Brian discusses that they are transparent about their company and is aware that there is still much to learn as to what they...
Apr 01, 2022•52 min
In this episode of Agency Freedom Podcast , James talks with Will Shaw , CEO of Better Agency on a variety of nuanced topics in the agency accounting and cashflow side of our industry headspace. Episode Highlights: Will shares that Better Agency focuses on the CBO and they are an agency success platform. (8:48) Will elaborates on how to define what an expense is and what revenue is in terms of cash flow and accrual basis. (12:01) Will discusses how the data they get comes directly from the carri...
Mar 25, 2022•1 hr 7 min
In this episode of Agency Freedom Podcast , James talks with Mike Creamer . Mike is an Executive Underwriter and the 2021 winner of the Small Business Underwriter of the Year award from Chubb . Episode Highlights: Mike shares his journey to becoming the Small Business Underwriter of Chubb. (9:25) Mike elaborates on the practice of underwriting, how they analyze business, and what constitutes good judgement in terms of underwriting. (14:58) Mike explains some unique traits that he would consider ...
Mar 18, 2022•58 min
In this episode of Agency Freedom Podcast , James talks with Tyler Asher , President of IA Distribution for Liberty Mutual and Safeco Insurance . Tyler oversees billions of dollars in written premium and is a critically important player in the IA insurance game. Episode Highlights: Tyler discusses his role as the President of Independent Distribution for Liberty Mutual and Safeco Insurance . (6:31) Tyler explains how he got to where he is today. (7:12) Tyler explains what Liberty Safeco's unique...
Mar 11, 2022•1 hr 2 min
In this episode of Agency Freedom Podcast , James talks with Erik Sjolie , the agency principal of Sky Insurance Brokers in Sacramento, CA. Episode Highlights: James encourages listeners to join the Live Coaching Calls every Wednesday at 11:00 a.m. CST. (2:27) Erik discusses his background and what led to his decision to leave the corporate world. (17:15) Erik believes that failing is the best trainer in the world. (19:58) Erik discusses the thought process behind making the shift from Life &...
Mar 04, 2022•1 hr 13 min
In this episode of Agency Freedom Podcast , James talks with Miles Merwin , Agency Principal of Advisors Insurance Agency in Greenville, SC and founder of the Producers to Principals coaching program. Episode Highlights: Miles mentions the first time he met James and shares a little bit about his background. (9:05) Miles discusses a few of his hobbies, including musical instruments, kayaks, classic cars, and golf. (11:33) Miles shares why he always retrains himself to stay focused on the things ...
Feb 25, 2022•1 hr 10 min
In this episode of Agency Freedom Podcast , James talks with Scott Elliott, former City Councilman of McKinney, Texas, and the Executive Director of One Heart McKinney. OHM is a non-profit organization designed to coordinate and direct traffic for a variety of services to the community. Learn more at https://www.oneheartmckinney.com/ Learn more about the Save A Suit organization, championed by Rob Bowen, Chris Paradiso, and others at: https://www.saveasuit.org/get-involved/ --- Visit our website...
Feb 18, 2022•55 min
