What entertaining and fun conversation with Roberto Salinas of Lula and Elis Umana founder of Conexion Insurance and Agency Scriptsure. We discussed GAIL, the generative AI Tool by Lula. GAIL is a Voice Powered AI Tool to that can help your insurance agency in so many ways. It can help as an after hours call service, replace an annoying phone tree, route your calls to the correct department as well as create outgoing calls for cross sells, renewals, prospects, just about anything that you progra...
Aug 12, 2024•57 min•Season 2Ep. 87
Jessica Klatt, a human wiring specialist and founder of Be Industries to discuss all the benefits of using the unique Acumax personality assessment tool to help business owners hire, communicate and work more efficiently with their team of people. This was a really interesting discussion on how we are all programmed. Jessica is a business coach, consultant, mentor and speaker. I truly enjoyed this conversation and learned a lot. https://wiredtobe.com/services 🏢 Creating a training and communica...
Jul 22, 2024•35 min•Season 2Ep. 86
Chris Langille, founder of Advisor Evolved, is well known within the Independent Insurance space as a premier website provider. Advisor Evolved is more than just a website provider. Chris is a SEO expert, a Digital Marketer and for some a consultant. Advisor Evolved delivers on their promise to provide the white glove service and an insurance specific website that helps you grow and win. And he's one good dude. Enjoy this episode!! https://advisorevolved.com/ 0:00 🕛 Vetting marketing agencies a...
Jul 08, 2024•51 min•Season 2Ep. 85
Brett Young, President and CEO of Erb & Young does many things differently within the insurance business. With a vision from the beginning to scale their insurance business, the 3 partners of Erb & Young thought differently from the beginning. Not only were the focused on growing the insurance agency, they were focused on developing themselves. Personal development is at the core of what they do and it's a foundation through the now over 50 person company. At Erb & Young, Brett is fo...
Jun 24, 2024•53 min•Season 2Ep. 84
An absolute pleasure to meet up with Erin & Mike Richardson, owners of Richardson Insurance located in Hanover, Mass. They do it differently at Richardson Insurance. They are all in with building relationships. Not just with their clients and partners. They are all in with building relationships with their team and their community. Erin & Mike make insurance fun. Most of us know that is not easy to do. They are creative with how they take care of their team and how they work and communic...
Jun 10, 2024•39 min•Season 2Ep. 83
I had an absolute blast connecting and learning from CJ Hutsenpiller, owner of Hutsenpiller Insurance located in Mount Juliet, Tennessee. CJ always has been tech driven from automating processes, creating bots and now maximizing AI to improve efficiencies. In this episode, we dive deep into the very impressive, seamless lead process that his team uses, bots they use in the agency and how the help and all the ways Hutsenpiller uses AI to help automate tasks and improve efficiencies. 0:01 – Earnin...
May 27, 2024•52 min•Season 2Ep. 82
It was a pleasure to connect with Peter Covill, owner of Humphrey, Covill & Coleman. Peter, aka Peter Scotts, is the most recent owner of this family agency that started in 1926. This is anything but a dated agency. In this conversation we discuss how automation is used in the business, the modern culture that the business is run under and the variety of digital marketing processes that they use to grow the business. Enjoy this episode! ⏰ 0:01 - Leadership challenges & strategies for suc...
May 13, 2024•48 min•Season 2Ep. 81
Always a pleasure to connect with Tamron Manning with Integrity Insurance out of Lexington, KY. Tam is a Business Owner in the Insurance Industry. He is intentional about growing a business and not just being an insurance agent. It's unique for an insurance agent to be this proactive early in their career to focus on growing the business and not just selling insurance. Tamron is a student of Business. We discussed the ways he is developing himself as a business owner, hiring and firing, branding...
Apr 29, 2024•52 min•Season 2Ep. 80
RPA's aka Robotic Process Automation or as Mike Fusco call is Repetitive Process Automation. In most businesses there are repetitive processes that our team must handle over and over and over again. RPA's help automate this redundancy. Mike Fusco has employed a few of these RPA's to handle the mundane tasks. It saves his team time, a lot of time and a lot of money. Mike can tell you how much time and how much money. In this episode we get in the weeds on RPA's, how they help, what his team think...
Apr 08, 2024•49 min•Season 2Ep. 79
Mergers and Acquisitions is one of the hottest topics in the insurance industry. So many agency owners want to acquire another business. In this episode with Colby Allen, we cover all things in the acquisition process. Financing, what to look for in the agency, what to look out for, what to look for in the P & L, things to consider for valuations, things to consider with staffing and so much more. Colby is a consultant with Agency Focus. Agency Focus is a Business Consulting agency specific ...
Mar 25, 2024•53 min•Season 2Ep. 78
In this episode, I connect with Daniel Metcalf, co-founder of CyberFin. Cyberfin specializes in Cybersecurity for the insurance industry. This is a solution that many of us in the insurance industry needed. We discuss how the origin and the need for a cybersecurity solution, how CyberFin protects our data, common mistakes insurance agencies make, the cyber crime that Daniel has witnessed and some of the regulations for protecting our data. This is a very informational episode for the insurance i...
Mar 18, 2024•43 min•Season 2Ep. 77
Elis Umana started her insurance business less than two years ago. She is growing and thriving early in her career. Like all of us, she is figuring things out along the way. We discussed the tech and AI that she's using to help grow her agency. We also discuss her aggressive growth plans for both production growth and agency personnel growth. Tune in to hear about some of the latest AI Tools and processes to scale a young business! LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/elis-umana-a43832a8/ 🕰️ 0...
Mar 04, 2024•48 min•Season 2Ep. 76
This was a great episode with Maverick Pitchford founder of Bison Ridge Insurance out of Coweta, Ok. Maverick started this insurance agency under 2 years ago. With 3 young kids, Maverick has been intentional about a work life balance, making sure to be present in the family. This doesn't mean Maverick doesn't have lofty goals for Bison Ridge. He is putting the work in and seeing results. Maverick is a pillar of the community. He and his wife are heavily involved in the local schools and the chur...
Feb 26, 2024•48 min•Season 2Ep. 75
Always great to connect with Zack Gould. This was a very unique podcast because we were able to discuss the entire lifecycle of the G & N insurance business from beginning to the end. Sometimes we see someone or a business that has had success and assume they have it easy or that it was always like that. Seldom is that the case. Zack and Matt at G&N had a plan, a vision when they started their business. And they went for it. A lot of us don't go for it so to speak. We want to get to a ce...
Feb 19, 2024•1 hr 20 min•Season 2Ep. 74
It was great to connect with Vonda in this episode. Vonda is an operations specialist Vonda has been working on, improving the Operations for over 20 years. In 2023 Vonda hired 17 people. We discussed at length the process of onboarding so many people in such a short period. We also discussed how she has transitioned the agency to a tech forward company. This is a great episode to hear about educating, training, improving your team. Enjoy! https://www.linkedin.com/in/vondacopeland/ 🕒 0:01 - 🏢 ...
Feb 12, 2024•55 min•Season 2Ep. 73
It was an honor to sit down with Lieutenant Colonel Oak McCulloch this week. LTC McCulloch had a distinguished Military career. When he retired from the Military he stayed very active in recruiting, teaching, leading in the community. In 2021 LTC McCulloch released a leadership book titled "Your Leadership Legacy: Becoming the Leader You Were Meant To Be" In the podcast we discussed his ascension in the Military ranks, leadership styles, what led up to authoring his first book, and how this book...
Feb 05, 2024•49 min•Season 2Ep. 72
Mercy Komar is a treasure!! Mercy has held every position in the insurance industry. She loves it!! She's got all the stories. Mercy was in the industry when there were very few women and frankly during a time when women weren't treated so well. She endured and thrived. Today Mercy is a commercial lines agent with L. Calvin Jones & Co. https://www.lcalvinjones.com/ and an educator in her specialty of Cyber Insurance. Mercy helps educate the Ohio & Pennsylvania Insurance Association. This...
Jan 29, 2024•49 min•Season 2Ep. 71
It was great to connect with Bob Klinger, founder of Klinger & Associates. He has built a great agency. We deep dive into their niche market of Dry Cleaners. How they started with this market, why they started with this market, how they target this market. We also cover Bob's leadership of his team and how he has trained others to be leaders. Bob shared his playbook of his perpetuation plan. A very detailed perpetuation plan. This is a must listen for business owners. https://www.linkedin.co...
Jan 22, 2024•40 min•Season 2Ep. 70
This episode was all about the Employee Stock Ownership Plan. How to create, what the cost may be, the endless benefits to the company and the employee. Extremely insightful. Brian Baughman is a strong advocate for the ESOP. He has seen the benefits of recruitment, employee retention, and the pride their employees take in their business. Tune in for this insightful episode and learn how ESOP can benefit your business. https://www.linkedin.com/in/brian-baughman-cpcu-arm/ ⏰ 0:00 - Introduction ESO...
Jan 15, 2024•49 min•Season 2Ep. 69
Great Episode with Jerry Conrey, Founder of Conrey Insurance Brokers and Risk Managers located in Orange, California. Jerry is a true Risk Manager. As an entrepreneur Jerry has trained and built his agency from a consultative risk management approach. If there was a PHD for Commercial Insurance, Jerry would have one. However, Jerry is anything but boring. He is passionate, entertaining and extremely gracious with his time. Jerry Conrey is someone that we need to hear more of in this industry. En...
Jan 08, 2024•1 hr 2 min•Season 2Ep. 68
Donald Shampine is an Insurance Agency Owner, Public Speaker, Business Coach, Business Consultant and has recently created his passion project of Want Better, Be Better. Don and I had a great conversation about leadership, coaching, creating a successful niche marketing program and how each of us approach our fitness regimen. Join us for this great discussion!! https://michiganinsurancegroup.com/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/donaldshampine/ 0:00 - 🏢 Insurance Industry Background & Positivity...
Jan 01, 2024•47 min•Season 2Ep. 67
I am always impressed with Meredith Messenger. This conversation was no different. We had a great discussion about a variety of topics, primarily the benefit of having an operations specialist in your insurance agency. Meredith and her team at InsureGood focus on Company Growth, Culture, & helping your business win. Tune in to hear how a COO can benefit your business! https://www.linkedin.com/in/meredithmessenger/ https://insuregood.org/ 🚀 0:01 - Teaching to the boardroom: Meredith's incred...
Dec 18, 2023•48 min•Season 2Ep. 66
Taylor Garcia was living the life of a musician before he was persuaded to join the family insurance business. Just a few years later he was being groomed to take over Jackson & Jackson Insurance Agents & Brokers. This a great story of earning the trust and respect of the existing employees. When you are younger, this is no small feat. Taylor did this by being the hardest worker in the room. The insurance ownership profession is a journey for most of us. Entering into the family business...
Dec 11, 2023•1 hr 2 min•Season 2Ep. 65
Mariah Gates has a great business owner story. After a very successful career as an insurance agent, Mariah developed a passion for using technology to enhance the agencies customer experience, help prospect new business and improve efficiencies. Soon she found herself helping other these processes. With her passion to help others and expand the automated process she started consulting agencies to starting a side hustle of helping agents with their tech and automation to a very fast growing busi...
Dec 04, 2023•48 min•Season 2Ep. 64
This week we connect with the owner & President of T Blackwell Insurance, Tracey Blackwell. Tracey has grown a large insurance agency and team over the course of her insurance career. She's grown each of these by building and fostering relationships. Tracey is a great leader. A natural at it. A natural at taking care of people. Tracey doesn't just talk about Servant Leadership, she lives it. I have not seen someone that is more involved in community. In this episode, we hear about Tracey's l...
Nov 27, 2023•56 min•Season 2Ep. 63
Great to have the good Dr. Billy Williams back on the show. Dr. Williams has just released Sales Objection Pocket Guide. In this episode, we discuss at length the how this can help sales professionals. This is not just a guide for insurance, but can help all professionals. We dissect the variety of common objections that we face, what our response can be for these different objections, how to turn the conversation and stay in the game. This guide provides you with the tools to close more busines...
Nov 20, 2023•47 min•Season 2Ep. 62
Many within the Independent Insurance Agency channel either know or are aware of Ciara Gravier, founder of The Bunker Insurance and Risk Management. She has been on many podcasts, attended and been a speaker at a number of industry conferences. Ciara is a worker, just like her parents are. She shows up Everyday driven by personal and professional growth. She is humble, sincere, fiery, intelligent and a joy to spend time with. We cover a lot of ground in this podcast from Scaling a Business, Lead...
Nov 13, 2023•54 min•Season 2Ep. 61
It got real with Carrie Reynolds!! I love it! So much relatable material in this discussion from transitioning into ownership of a family agency, rebranding, learning leadership on the job, managing your teams mental health, while also managing our own self care and mental health. This was a real conversation. I have all the respect in the world for Carrie to be willing to get the conversation started on the difficulties that many business owners face in a difficult market place. Lots of value i...
Nov 06, 2023•55 min•Season 2Ep. 60
The man, the myth, the legend, but more importantly a better human Billy Wagner. Great conversation with Billy as we cover a variety of topics. Sometimes we see a Giant in an Industry and think it was easy or didn't go through the struggle. We don't get to see how the donuts were made. Our discussion started with what it took to built this agency. It didn't happen over night. It took a lot of hard work, thought, planning intentionality, people, failing, learning, sacrifice, more people, learning...
Oct 30, 2023•46 min•Season 2Ep. 59
Great Episode here with Tom Larsen of Larsen Insurance Agency from Buffalo, NY. We discuss starting over as a Scratch Agency after building an agency with a "friend". Tom is a great marketer. His specialty is commercial real estate. Hear how he has become the go to guy in his community with investors. Hear how he's created Facebook groups to keep likeminded people connected and developed an online community that has continued to feed his prospect funnel for years. Enjoy!! https://www.linkedin.co...
Oct 23, 2023•46 min•Season 2Ep. 58
