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Index/Sales/Insurance Gurus Podcast with Justin Brock
Insurance Gurus Podcast with Justin Brock artwork

Ep. 72 | Should Insurance Agents Separate Politics From Business? | Tony Lani

Insurance Gurus Podcast with Justin Brock · 2022-11-14 · 31 min

0:00--:--

Key moments - from our scoring

Substance score

21 / 100

Five dimensions, 20 points each

Insight Density3 / 20
Originality4 / 20
Guest Caliber6 / 20
Specificity & Evidence5 / 20
Conversational Craft3 / 20

Tony Lani's journey from a controversial media appearance to founding America First Insurance illustrates how niche positioning based on values can become a viable business model in financial services. After expressing conservative views at a Governor Newsom recall rally in California, Lani experienced client defection and social media backlash, prompting him to start an agency specifically for customers seeking insurance solutions from companies that don't publicly advocate for causes they oppose. Rather than being a revenue-limiting move, this approach parallels successful niche marketing strategies - similar to how Medicare specialists target a specific demographic rather than everyone. America First Insurance vets hundreds of carriers, dismissing approximately 40 based on values alignment, and excludes major carriers like Progressive, Geico, and State Farm due to their public positions. Justin Brock and Lani discuss how large corporations owned by parent companies like BlackRock increasingly make visible political statements, alienating conservative customers who prefer vendors reflecting their worldview. The episode challenges the assumption that political differentiation destroys market opportunity, instead positioning values-based business as a customer loyalty driver rather than a liability.

Key takeaways

  • →Values-based positioning in insurance doesn't alienate revenue - it creates more engaged, referral-prone customers who support both the product and the company's stated principles.
  • →America First Insurance vetted hundreds of carriers and eliminated approximately 40 from consideration because their public positions conflicted with conservative values, ultimately partnering only with aligned carriers.
  • →Large corporations often make visible political statements through parent company influence (like BlackRock), pushing customers toward alternatives that don't force them to fund causes they oppose through their premium dollars.
  • →Niche marketing based on values operates similarly to geographic or demographic segmentation - focusing on Medicare customers doesn't alienate all non-Medicare customers, it simply concentrates marketing spend on a defined audience.
  • →Competitive pricing and coverage quality remain achievable with values-based positioning; Lani's example of a customer saving $250 annually on auto insurance while gaining alignment with company values demonstrates this isn't a trade-off scenario.

Guests

Tony Lani

Topics in this episode

American Family insuranceProgressive insuranceBlackRockTravelers InsuranceState FarmAmerica First InsuranceTony LaniGeicovalues-based niche marketingcarrier vetting process

Questions this episode answers

Why did Tony Lani start America First Insurance?

After expressing conservative views at a California recall rally that were published in local media, Lani lost clients who disagreed with his politics. Disgusted by the inability to hold differing opinions, he founded America First Insurance to serve customers seeking insurance from agents and carriers aligned with conservative values.

How many carriers did America First Insurance reject based on values alignment?

America First Insurance reviewed several hundred carriers through their brokerage partner and dismissed approximately 40 of them, ultimately vetting 13 carriers that did not align with their values, including excluding major carriers like Progressive, Geico, and State Farm.

Does choosing America First Insurance cost more than traditional carriers?

No - Lani provided an example of a customer switching from American Family through Costco to Travelers for auto insurance and saving $250 annually, demonstrating that values-aligned carriers can offer competitive or better pricing.

Why do large insurance and corporate companies make political statements?

Many are owned by parent companies like BlackRock that push diversity, inclusion, and progressive messaging across their portfolio companies, sometimes leading them to make visible political statements that alienate conservative customers.

Is focusing only on conservative customers limiting America First Insurance's market?

No - Lani argues this is comparable to Medicare-focused marketing, which doesn't alienate all non-Medicare customers but concentrates efforts on a defined audience, similar to how a vegan restaurant doesn't lose meat-eating customers by serving vegans.

What our scoring noted

Our reviewer’s read on each dimension, with quotes from the episode.

Insight Density

3 / 20

The episode is almost entirely political opinion-sharing with negligible actionable B2B content. The only embryonic business insight - that niche political marketing can build raving fans - is never operationalized, and the rare substantive moments are buried in extended tangents about AOC, Target, and abortion policy.

we probably came across probably, um, out of a couple of hundred, we had to dismiss about 40 of them through the, you know, brokerage we're working with probably dismissed 40 of them. And out of those, then we ultimately had to vet 13
Our. One of our own partners reached out. He was with American Family through Costco, and he went through the whole process online. And for his auto insurance, he's now with, um. Oh, for Pete's sakes, I just forgot the name of the company. Uh, but he. Oh, Travelers. He now is with Travelers for his auto and he's saving $250 a year

Originality

4 / 20

The core premise - niche marketing to a political identity - is a legitimate contrarian business move, but the episode never develops it beyond assertion. All political commentary is standard talking points, and the one memorable marketing quote is borrowed from Grant Cardone.

I heard, I think it was Grant Cardone that said, um, if you can alienate or if you can make half the world, um, hate you, you can be president
if you and I, Justin, wanted to open up a vegan restaurant, we're not going to have all the people who eat meat come after us and say, oh, great, now you're cutting off all your revenue

Guest Caliber

6 / 20

Tony Lani is a real founder with practitioner experience building a politically-branded insurance agency, which is a legitimate credential, but the episode never draws out meaningful operational depth, growth metrics, or hard-won lessons from actually running the business.

I came from film production, the entertainment industry
myself as heading up the um, the group is CEO, we have our partners, we're across the country and uh, we just launched on the 4th of July of this year

Specificity & Evidence

5 / 20

A small handful of concrete details exist - 40 carriers dismissed, 13 vetted out for misalignment, $250/year savings with Travelers - but these are isolated and unverified, and the vast majority of the episode is abstract political opinion with no data, timelines, customer counts, or revenue figures.

we had to dismiss about 40 of them through the, you know, brokerage we're working with probably dismissed 40 of them. And out of those, then we ultimately had to vet 13 because they were not aligning with our values
he's now with Travelers for his auto and he's saving $250 a year

Conversational Craft

3 / 20

The host dominates large portions of the episode with his own political monologues - covering abortion, Roe v. Wade, Medicare regulation, and Trump - leaving the guest as a passive affirmer. There are no probing follow-ups on how the business actually operates, how carriers are vetted, or what growth looks like.

I think abortion's going back to state rights. Uh, I think at, at worst, most of the people that are dealing with that issue probably have to hop one state line maybe to get an abortion. I don't really don't think there's like a ton of red tape
Republicans are trying to end and cut Medicare and Social Security when they have not ever. They have not said that

Conversation analysis

Computed from the transcript - who did the talking, and the words that came up most.

Share of words spoken

  • Speaker A56%
  • Speaker B44%

Most-used words

insurance28sure17agree13everybody11values11marketing11justin10somebody10left9first9beliefs9saying9friends8interesting8political8america8

Episode notes

► Justin Brock is an agent who has built a 20 Person agency that practices what they preach. If you're looking for training, look no further. From marketing to sales, we know the drill with Medicare and Final Expense telesales and in person sales. Check out the book Medicare Breakdown written by Justin Brock here: * Check below in events for our intimate Behind the Agency Sessions. - ► Need Leads or done for you marketing service, check us out here: - ► Want to attend our next event? Events: Medicare-Con 2022 Events: Behind the Agency - Text "Agency" to 662-340-8557 - ► If you'd like personal consulting text "Consulting" to 662-340-8557 - I respond to EVERY SINGLE COMMENT, so don't forget to leave a comment, like the video and most of all subscribe. a►

Full transcript

31 min

Transcribed and scored by The B2B Podcast Index.

Speaker A: What's up guys? Justin Brock here and my mic is turned up loud. Um, I'm back again with another episode of the Insurance Gurus podcast. And uh, today we have a great guest that I was just out in, uh, Vegas with at the digital life insurance agent Mastermind. And um, he had a presentation. I had heard of, uh, Tony before and uh, and seen him online, but had never really got the opportunity to see what it was that they had going on. And I was intrigued. I, I liked it and I thought we need to get him on the podcast and talk about it. So thank you for taking the time. Tony.

Speaker B: Justin, thanks for having me. It's good to be here.

Speaker A: Absolutely. Yeah. So, uh, so Tony Lanny is, uh, you know, he, he is, uh, comes from this world. But uh, several years ago I think you were telling your story about just having kind of an experience of getting, uh, blown up on tv, uh, you know, based on your opinion and, and then people, you know, using the media to portray some of your ideas poorly. And then it just kind of helped launch you into this thing that you and several other partners are part of. So, I mean, I'm not gonna bore everybody with my take on it right away. I want you to kind of tell us that story a little bit and um, and you know, just kind of like you did in Vegas so that more people can hear about it.

Speaker B: Absolutely. Um, you know, I'm here in Southern California. Don't hold it against me. But uh, I'm a, you could say that I'm a Christian, uh, conservative, Trump supporting person out here in Southern California. So it's almost like a uh, lone voice. And you know, I attended a recall Governor Newsom rally. This was actually last year, this was last August. And you know, he's got to go and we don't appreciate, you know, his left leaning causes and kind of just, you know, slowly ruining the state. And a newspaper. Justin had interviewed me and said, you know, how do you feel about this? And I said, well, you know what? I said, we can't have them anymore. We've got to recall them. We got to get rid of them. And being in the insurance industry and having my own agency, I noticed that I had some clients kind of reach out to me after reading this in the paper. They interviewed me. It was in the paper. And they reached out to me. Not only that, but also the people on um, like my Facebook friends, they reached out to me and they didn't really agree with what I had to say and, and you know, express some of them expressed that they didn't appreciate it. And I thought to myself, interesting, I'm old enough to remember that when people could actually agree to disagree and have different opinions. You know, I have, I have friends of mine who are on the left, uh, they're dear friends of mine, but you know, because they're friends because of their character, not because of their, you know, political persuasion. So I did have a few people who left my agency who actually left as clients. And I was so disgusted by it. Um, just on a personal level, you could say that that's how America First Insurance started. Because I thought, I'm not going to be silent. I have a lot of friends, a lot of business professionals who said, oh, I can't express my opinion. I'm thinking to myself, it's interesting because if, if you want to, if you have beliefs and you're passionate about it, I want to work with like minded people who have those same beliefs. We have everybody in our agency, we have people who work for us that are not necessarily, you know, conservatives and they're great people. But if somebody's going to kind of draw the line in the sand and uh, go, oh, I'm sorry, I can't work with you because of your beliefs. You know, that's, and that's really how we started myself as heading up the um, the group is CEO, we have our partners, we're across the country and uh, we just launched on the 4th of July of this year. And I can't tell you Justin, the, the response has been tremendous because people said, I just don't want to be with my insurance, you know, group or my insurance company. And I don't believe in their values. And uh, that's how we started America First Insurance.

Speaker A: Well, that's awesome, man. So, I mean, obviously just uh, from a marketing standpoint, um, it, um, you know, it's, and that's kind of the premise, I think that we were talking about it in Vegas. It's, it's, it's, there's, there's niche marketing, there's, there's interest marketing and geo, you know, geographic, uh, marketing and all that. And so from a marketing standpoint, it's, it's great. But it's also um, you know, interesting because uh, you know, I'll get back into that marketing stuff. But it's interesting because uh, you know, there are a lot of people in areas like Southern California that have your belief, belief system or set of values, um, that maybe are surrounded by a lot of people that, that don't. And I don't experience that. You know, I'm in Mississippi, so, uh, overwhelmingly, um, you know, kind of a Christian conservative culture here. And the people that don't fit into that, they're the ones that don't talk about it because they're outnumbered. Sure. You know, and so, uh, but there's a ton of people online, um, that I imagine are looking for a solution where they can make sure that they're not putting their premium dollars that are going to insurance with companies that are supporting heavily, um, causes that they don't agree with. And I think that was something that, when you were talking about it, it was interesting because some of the largest corporations do get to the point where they start to operate like small governments and they think they have to make these, you know, political correct statements.

Speaker B: Sure.

Speaker A: And it can kind of, it can be painful to watch because it seems like I'm like, I don't know who they think they're appeasing. Like nobody cares, you know, that you're. But, but we don't, we wouldn't care what their beliefs are until they're out. Like they're really rubbing it in your face. And it's way away from what your belief system is, of course. And that's what I've seen a lot of them do. And you guys kind of pointed that, you pointed that out in Vegas. And then I've gone on your website and uh, and a lot of the content on the website is about kind of pointing that out. Like you guys are fishing through, trying to find, you know, companies and carriers that are both competitive and have product solutions that meet people's needs, that are trustworthy companies, but also aren't out there taking the money that you're giving them and investing in areas that are opposite of what, you know, that customer might want their money to go towards 100%.

Speaker B: It's so true. And you know, when we started, Justin, we had, literally when we're looking at all of these different carriers, we probably came across probably, um, out of a couple of hundred, we had to dismiss about 40 of them through the, you know, brokerage we're working with probably dismissed 40 of them. And out of those, then we ultimately had to vet 13 because they were not aligning with our values. You know, so we're not, you know, obviously you, you see the companies like uh, Progressive or Geico or State Farm, and you know, these are companies that have been around for many years, but we don't align with their values. And we, and that's the reason why we don't have them, you know, in our stable of carriers. So we really, we always don't know what's happening behind, you know, doors closed doors. But it really has to do with what we see in the media and what, you know, what they talk about.

Speaker A: Why do you think a company that gets that big starts to make these grandiose and what always seems to me like, you know, uh, left leaning, you know, like proclamations, like they're, they like they have to proclaim that hey, we're uh, you know, we're with it. I don't understand but it's always the, you know, these big companies, you know, you see it in other companies outside of the financial services industry like um, you know, Nike and all these companies that do things. And um, you know it's like I have Nike shoes. I like, I like Nike for Nike. Right, sure.

Speaker B: Um, but a lot of these companies are owned by. Yeah, a lot of these companies. Just going to say briefly. A lot of these companies are owned by parent companies. You know, when you look at a company like BlackRock and all of the companies that they, you know, all the companies that they own and all of a sudden everybody just starts to talk about whether it's you know, inclusion and diversity and you talk about all this, you know, all these woke companies. Now, ah, you can believe in whatever you want but if somebody's going to start to push their beliefs on me or these, you know, organizations is just absolutely ridiculous. You know, I've always liked for example away from insurance, but I like the store Target. I think Target has everything to offer. I stopped going there because of some of the things that they were pushing on um, you know, with their, you know, woke. With their woke, uh, you know, beliefs in, you know, this was a few months ago, you know, whether it was, you know, um, love is love and you know, pushing all this stuff, whatever your, you know, whatever your political persuasion is or you know, whatever your sexual persuasion is. But when you start to push these things on 5 year olds and making shirts for 5 year olds with those, you know, with those slogans on it or if you're, you're pushing those things, I just said to me, to myself, I don't want to participate or I don't want to give money to an organization like that. Again, it has nothing to do with your sexual persuasion or whether you're white or black or Asian or whatever it is. But when they try to divide you and then they no longer. And then if you don't want to go along with it, all of A sudden it's, you know, you're the bad guy. I know this is not insurance talk, but this has to do as to why America First Insurance, uh, exists. Yeah, we don't want to participate.

Speaker A: I'm not, I'm not the guy to be, uh, you know, avoiding certain topics. Uh, you know, I, I would challenge anybody that, that listens to, to this, that absolutely disagrees with Tony to reach out to us, and we would have you on the podcast.

Speaker B: Please. I would listen. That would be fantastic. So again, it has nothing to do with, you know, whether, whether. I just can't be clear enough about that. And I know that, you know, I'm sure we're going to have people reach out to us, and we've already had people reach out to us that they don't agree with this and don't agree with that, and that's perfectly fine. You like chocolate, I like vanilla. You like black, I like white. It doesn't matter. Yeah, you know, we can.

Speaker A: All the other day, that I didn't think was extremely, you know, I pretty much, I'm pretty open about it. I consider myself right of center. You know, I'm not a, ah. I don't, I don't consider myself an extremist, but I'm right. Um, but I think there's extremists on both sides that, you know, I want to try to stay away. Away from. Um, but I put up something the other day about Medicare, you know, with the, the heavy regulatory burden that's coming down. And I'm not saying there aren't agents that are doing bad things, um, but there's some heavy regulatory burden coming because we have a, you know, um, a left controlled, you know, um, House, Senate and White House. And you know, I said if you're, you know, if you're in this space and you're making a career out of it, you, you ought to, at minimum, want a gridlock between Republicans and Democrats. So you, you kind of should be pro, um, you know, a volley of at least one chamber of the government right now so that we can kind of start to change the tides of, of what you're seeing. It shouldn't. It's not even really about your political persuasion. But, you know, and I caught some flack for that, you know, because people were trying to latch on to certain issues like ab. And you know, um, uh, and, you know, I, uh, guess marriage and sexual preference and, and I. To me. And you know, of course they would probably say, well, you have the luxury of viewing things this way. But, you know, they'd probably say that I don't have to deal with those issues. Um, but, you know, I, I don't. I think that they're overplaying a lot of it. You know, even, even on some of those issues, I think, you know, abortion's going back to state rights. Uh, I think at, at worst, most of the people that are dealing with that issue probably have to hop one state line maybe to get an abortion. I don't really don't think there's like a ton of red tape that's been put in front of them. Even if I don't argue with it on merit, it's like it's really not, you know, it's not being. They act like people are using coat hangers again. I'm like, no, you're having to hop in your Honda Accord and drive to Tennessee. Like, uh, you know, it is not like he had a bunch of abortion clinics before the Supreme Court ruled, you know, to overturn Roe v. Wade. You know, and that gets pretty, you know, I'm sure even in this I'll get some flack about it. But like, uh, from a common sense perspective, like everybody's shouting from a mountaintop, trying to enrage everyone about certain political issues and it's all about controlling a voting class. We, ah, right now saying that, you know, Republicans are trying to end and cut Medicare and Social Security when they have not ever. They have not said that. They have said that they wanted to tie the debt ceiling being hit, uh, debt ceiling being raised to having to cut some program and they didn't even specify. And then Biden goes up and says they're going to cut Medicare and Social Security. They're just trying to scare people into voting and keeping their control. And I don't think it's going to work. And I know that to some people that makes me sound like a Republican. Uh, well, you know, compared to the left, I probably. So it is what it is. But you know, I try to take a, just a common sense approach to it. I try to watch multiple media sources read articles, come up with a plan. I don't try to fixate too much of my time on it because it can be maddening to be a part of, you know, the, the political world because sure, unfortunately there are bad actors on both sides that are just, you know, lifetime politicians and that's a big problem. Um, but, you know, I don't disagree with you. I think taking a stand and having a, a, ah, company where you say these are our values and if you don't want to work with us because of those values, that's okay. You don't have to. But we're not going to go and pretend we don't have values, or we're not going to go and manufacture values that we don't have just so that the public eye views us a certain way. Um, and I actually think there's a time coming where being real, even when people don't agree with you, is more appreciated than just being fake and faking some popular opinion.

Speaker B: Well, excellent. Very well said. And it's interesting, you know, especially if you're coming from the industry. Uh, insurance industry, financial services is many, many years ago. I came from film production, the entertainment industry. And I've noticed, Justin, that anything that includes, or something that constitutes a lot of money at stake. People make a lot that they're. They're scared to say anything because they think they're going to lose some sort of revenue share. You know, I was interviewed on, uh, in Insurance Journal, uh, magazine, this was about two months ago, and gave the interview. And they were very fair with it. It was really very well done from the, uh, from the writer, you know, it wasn't kind of a hit p. And then they had all these comments, you know, where some of these people, oh, great. Aren't you smart cutting out half of your revenue because, you know, you want to appeal to conservatives. It's like, no, excuse me. If you and I, Justin, wanted to open up a vegan restaurant, we're not going to have all the people who eat meat come after us and say, oh, great, now you're cutting off all your revenue of the people eating. That's perfectly fine. Yeah, but all we want to do is that we want to be able to serve people who are vegan. And I'm not vegan, but it's like, I will fight to the death to make sure that somebody's heard and somebody has their own right. So if somebody wants to come after me and they're like, you know, some sort of extremist on the left, I want to hear what they have to say. I let them come after me. I'm okay with that. Absolutely. It's. But unfortunately, when you talk about you don't believe in their values, they want to cut you off. You know, it's freedom of speech. Unless we don't like it, it's no longer that freedom. So you can't, you know, it's not. You can't just select things here, you know, so.

Speaker A: Yeah, uh, speaking of, uh, freedom of speech. Elon Musk was wanting to, I think, propose charging $8 a month for people to maintain their blue check verified status on Twitter.

Speaker B: Yes.

Speaker A: And Alexandria Casio Cortez said it was comical that a billionaire, uh, wanted to chalk up free speech to having to pay $8 a month. So, uh, I commented on her thing. I'm sure she'll never see it, but

Speaker B: I said, yeah, she's in. Yeah, she's a. She's a nutcase. Can I say that? I think that's.

Speaker A: I think you can say nutcase about Alex. What does a blue check have to do with freedom of speech?

Speaker B: It has nothing to do with it. You know, and she was speaking at some sort of school, and she's sitting up on the stage and. And people were. I don't know if you saw, but people were coming after. They were heckling her. They were really just shouting things about, you know, basically, you know, she's an idiot. And she was mocking them, you know, dancing to their. To their chant. And she. And I said to myself, I said, there are certain people, Justin, I know that in politics that are protected, they're untouchable. It's almost like in the Mafia, you know, when you talk about, hey, that's a maid guy, means you can't touch them. So I do understand without naming names, but I would name, you know, people. There are certain, like, you know, AOC and some of these other people. You know, um, I won't even name the names because it's not the form to do it, but people who are literally, you know, it's like they're protected. And when you look at somebody like, uh, our current president, in my opinion, it's not, you know, obviously he's not fit to serve, and the man needs medical attention. But what happens is that there are people behind him who are trying to put, you know, push their agenda. And that's the reason why he comes off the way he obviously does real quickly. On the other hand, Donald Trump was a very successful businessman and is a successful businessman in New York, and everybody wanted to be around him. Everybody wanted to go to Mar a Lago. Everyone wanted to. I mean, I'm talking about everybody, uh, even on the left, where they wanted to be invited to the dinners and just be a part of him. When he announced that he was running for president, then all of a sudden there was a consensus, especially in the entertainment industry, where we have to turn on him. Why? Because he has so much power and so much influence. It's kind of like the people who say, oh, we can't talk about Jesus during Christmas. God forbid. Yeah, Jesus during Christmas. Christmas, I believe it has the worst word, Christ in it. So it's like, because they know the impact that it has and they want to control. They don't like people having that much control unless they're controlling you.

Speaker A: Yeah, no, I agree. And, you know, it's, uh, you know, it's something that you. It's sad that I think probably more people on the right side of the coin have been reluctant to talk about politics because Trump was so demonized that.

Speaker B: Right.

Speaker A: If they did support him, they didn't want him talk about it. So in the meeting, it was like, nobody supports Trump and it's. Except these crazy loonies. And I'm like, I don't, I don't think that's true because the numbers don't support it at all. Um, but, you know, it, you know, going back to the, you know, America First Insurance, um, from a marketing side, let's, let's say, let's say you don't agree with anything we're saying, and that's totally fine. You know, I will talk to anybody about it. I have many friends that don't agree with me on everything. Political. That's fine, actually. How boring. Like, everybody agrees with me on everything. Okay. No sense. Have a conversation, you know, um, but the, on the marketing side, when somebody tells you that you've alienated half of your, you know, your potential customer base.

Speaker B: Sure.

Speaker A: As if you need 150 million customers.

Speaker B: Right. You said it right on the. Exactly.

Speaker A: It's, it's crazy because if you, you know, um, I, I heard, I think it was Grant Cardone that said, um, if you can alienate or if you can make half the world, um, hate you, you can be president.

Speaker B: So very well said.

Speaker A: You know, you don't need that. And it's, and it's not that we want, you know, everyone to dislike, but by standing up for something you believe in and you're going to, you're going to create some people that like you more than ever. You know, as a typical insurance agency owner, you, uh, know my customers, some of them really love us, but I would say the average customer is just like, okay, yeah, they do a pretty good job. Uh, and that. And look, we could do a great job, but it's, it's still insurance.

Speaker B: Sure.

Speaker A: But I think what, you know, America First Insurance is doing is you're going to have more of those raving customers because they're going to come to you for A purpose. You're going to, you're going to solve the insurance problem. But also they're going to be like. And I feel like I'm supporting something I believe in and I'm not getting. So, so the, the referral side of it, I think it'd be extremely strong for you guys. Um, you know, just like, uh, just like the cigar guy, that was, that, that was in Vegas. You know, it's a, it's a micro interest. Um, your, your guys, this is, I would consider a macro level interest. So it's still a huge market. I mean, I market to Medicare. We can help with health insurance, life insurance, you know, uh, other things, but we market Medicare. Am I alienating most of my customer base because I really only target Medicare in my marketing, or am I. Or am I focusing in on what I'm trying or the. That message being, you know, beat, beat, beat into their head? Um, so I just think that whoever said that has probably doesn't own a business like, or. And they've definitely never successfully marketed anything.

Speaker B: No. And I just got an email from someone. You know, we get emails every day. And I got an email that I personally responded to. She said, I'm looking for, you know, auto coverage. And I said, we can help you with that. I went ahead and sent her to the link and the phone number and the whole thing. And then like, literally within two hours later, she sent me an email. She said, thank, thank you so much. I got my auto done, I got my homeowners done. And a lot of people, somebody had interviewed me a month ago and they said, now I had imagined that, you know, with this freedom and your beliefs comes a price. Like the coverage is more money. I said, actually, it's not. Our. One of our own partners reached out. He was with American Family through Costco, and he went through the whole process online. And for his auto insurance, he's now with, um. Oh, for Pete's sakes, I just forgot the name of the company. Uh, but he. Oh, Travelers. He now is with Travelers for his auto and he's saving $250 a year. So it's not a matter of, you know, people are willing, Justin, to pay more for their beliefs and for what, you know, their values. But the nice part about it is, is because we work with so many great carriers and carriers who are on the same page as we are, you know, we are many times saving them money and getting them stronger coverage.

Speaker A: Yeah, yeah. Have. Have your cake and eat it too, which is wonderful.

Speaker B: It's frosty on the cake. That's right. Exactly.

Speaker A: Well, no, that's good. Yeah. You definitely don't have to. You know, sometimes people think that about agents in general. Right. With an agent it's going to cost me more money. Um, but you know, typically not the case. And uh, and even when you have to narrow down to certain, uh, certain carriers, you can still pick an array of carriers that aren't out there, you know, um, donating to whatever calls you don't support. I won't name them. I try not to get too political, but at the same time I don't want to. I also don't want to minimize, you know, any. I don't want to not say something, um, because I'm afraid that I might get backlash because, um, I, I found that most of the people. I will say this, most of the people in our following, uh, in the agent community, um, I would say a lot of them agree with things that I'll say out there. Uh, but a lot of the ones that don't agree with everything we say verbatim are still not, you know, militantly against us for saying it. It's really only a handful. You know, you see like two or three when you say something that's maybe a little charged to one side or the other and they'll uh, you know, two or three that'll be like out. You know, uh, like when I said that the other day, literally if you go and look at the, the post, Tony, I said, I said I think we'd be better off in a gridlock if we could get, you know, part of. I didn't even say I want the Republicans to control everything. I wasn't saying.

Speaker B: Sure, of course.

Speaker A: I was just saying like we just don't need a complete. And I was chalking it up to the um, the regulation stuff that's already happening and we're seeing in the industry and you probably three or four people just started bringing up abortion and um, and, and sexual orientation.

Speaker B: Sure.

Speaker A: Posts and I was like, I just. And, and then it was one of them said something that really bothered me because it was, it alluded to, um, like our, like, like the right side of the Republicans were.

Speaker B: Sure.

Speaker A: You know, not for like gay people being a lie. Like it almost. It was so dramatic. Like. And, and I've seen that before and I gotta tell you, I, I don't, I don't think that there's a, A lot of Republicans that just outright are, you know, anti gay people, you know, tied to their religion and about, you know, homosexuality. But I Don't think most of them are even putting it into policy. They might be putting a policy of like, we're not gonna force feed our kids these concepts that they really don't even need to be worried about right now. Um, but I don't think they're really over. I don't think, uh, even. I remember Trump when he had his store on, on Facebook, uh, years ago, I saw it said he had a gays for Trump hat on there for sale. And they were still saying like, oh, you know, he's, he's supporting gay genocide or something. I just don't, I don't know. I think that's just completely manufactured, you know.

Speaker B: So it's the, it's to hate. It's basically to hate. You know, the, uh, the obviously, you know, people want division and the bad people. And it's interesting because I have dear friends of mine. I don't care if they're gay. I don't care what their sexual orientation is. I don't care what color they are. I'm old enough to remember that, you know, everybody when, if you're in, working in the workplace, everybody got along because everybody cared about the person with their character. Again, whether you're gay and you're transgender, do whatever you'd like to do. Uh, it doesn't mean, uh, I still. You can still be my friend. We may not understand. I may not understand your values or your thought process, but I do draw a line with going to Target and their marketing. Love is love and it shows transgenderism and everything. For five year olds. These were for five year old kids.

Speaker A: No, I've seen some of that. And I'm.

Speaker B: Personal level, I'm not going to. And I don't want to participate in it. People will then be upset because I don't want to participate in it. But these are my beliefs.

Speaker A: I mean, I have many friends that don't. That don't support that. Like, I'd say that are like, uh, we don't want them shoving it down. Kids. Kids should be worried about playing and their school grade, not, you know, what, what, uh, sexual orientation they are because.

Speaker B: Right.

Speaker A: Honestly, they're not going to know what sexual orientation they are. Five years old, they don't even really understand it. They need let that play out, you know, and, um, and you know, deal with that, you know, down the road. And I'm not saying like, um, you know, I think that there's a lot of that goes into the, you know, that conversation get really deep. And I don't think it particularly relevant because it's not up to me and you to be the psychologist or the, uh, you know, or, or, or insert some sort of understanding of divinity where we can, you know, say what homosexuality is. It doesn't, doesn't matter. But it certainly is going to confuse children at five years old, correct?

Speaker B: That is correct. It's not, it's not the time to do that.

Speaker A: Yeah. And for people to say it confuses me and you to talk about it.

Speaker B: Yeah. And I won't back down. And I. And if people don't want to. It's funny because, I mean, people who know me over the years, they know that I, I truly like people, I truly care about people, and I want to make sure that on a business level that they're put in the best position as possible and they know that I've got their back. They know that I'm trying to help them. But if you have the people, the militant people, and say, oh, I'm not going to work with you because I don't appreciate your fantastic, listen, sorry we couldn't help you. Have a nice day. And they're upset that they can't affect you. They're upset that they can't control you. And then that's when they really start to come after you or they start to come after your circle and of people to kind of, you know, to disparage your character and just to say about what a terrible. All of a sudden I've changed. I haven't changed. It's because they're upset that I'm not doing what they want me to do.

Speaker A: Yeah, no, I get it. Well, hey, I'm sure we'll get some interesting comments on this video, so.

Speaker B: Awesome.

Speaker A: But that's. That's what it's all about. Anybody that has any, you know, curiosity about America First Insurance or Tony, you can go. What's the. What's your web address again?

Speaker B: Sure, it's www.americaf first insurance.org. again, not.com but it's America first insurance.org and you'll be able to go on the website itself and everything from life, uh, auto, home, commercial insurance. We're also going to be coming out with cancer insurance, pet insurance, and we were not. We. We were not able to get involved with the, uh, Medicare space this year. But I know that we will be getting involved with that soon and also be, you know, ready for aep. AEP next year.

Speaker A: Perfect. Yeah. Well, hey guys, if you guys want to check it out, America First Insurance.org and, um, you know, and also if any of the topics we're talking about or something somebody wants to talk about, you can comment on it. You can reach out to us@info justinbrock.com we're happy to, uh, have anybody on with a differing opinion or the same opinion. We don't. We're not a mouthpiece for one side. I'll, I'll talk to anybody about this stuff because I think most of the time if people can have a cordial conversation, they'll find out they agree on more than they disagree on. Right? Most people, there are some wackos on both sides, but most people are in here somewhere and they can agree on 90% of things really. Um, and they get us divided and arguing over small misunderstandings or smaller topics. Um, you know, and even me saying that somebody will say it's not a small topic. Okay, well, let's talk about it. Don't just comment on me. And that's right. So. All right, well, we're gonna wrap it up here and I really appreciate you being on. Tony, you guys go and check out americafirstinsurance.org and uh, we'll see you next time.

Speaker B: Thank you, Justin. Take care everyone.

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