Insurance, You Indemnify Me: Season 5 Ep. 1 Chris Mitchell, Owner of The Mitchell Insurance Group

Speaker A: Foreign,

Speaker B: Everybody. My name is Shawn Michael Walker, and this is the new season, the newest episode of Insurance, you indemnify Me. And today we have Chris Mitchell joining us for the podcast. It's been a long time since we recorded, so I appreciate you coming in and spending some time with me.

Speaker A: Yeah, thanks for having me.

Speaker B: So, first things first, I'm going to ask you a question that might make you giggle, but, uh, it has nothing to do with what I've prepped you with already. So.

Speaker C: Perfect.

Speaker B: You're a great golfer. And I. Trenny mentioned to me that you worked at Pinehurst.

Speaker A: Yes, I did.

Speaker B: Tell me, is that where you got your golf experience? Is that where you became a golfer? Like, tell me about your Pinehurst days. It's amazing to me that so many people came out of Pinehurst that are now, like, incredible insurance professionals. So if we can kick off the whole thing like that.

Speaker A: Um, so golfing did not come from Pinehurst? No, I worked in the food and beverage at Pine. At Pinehurst, and we did get to golf. Um, but it was one day a week, and it was on our day off. So at first it was like, yeah, let's go golfing on our day off. Why am I here seven days a week? Truly, my golfing came from just giving up, caring.

Speaker B: You got good at golfing when you stopped caring, correct?

Speaker A: Yeah.

Speaker B: Okay.

Speaker A: So I used to think about it, get over the ball, and, okay, my elbows, this, this, and this. And I was like, just get up there and hit it. I'm not. I'm not gonna make any prize money on this one, so why not just go for it?

Speaker B: Okay, well, uh, I suck at golfing, and, uh, I. I think I'm pretty good at having a clear mind and, uh, not thinking much about it. But that philosophy doesn't seem to be playing out well for me and my golf.

Speaker A: It works for me some days.

Speaker B: All right, so while you were at Pinehurst, you ran into Trenny M. Uh, she says that you love her and she loves you. But is that true?

Speaker A: It is true.

Speaker B: That's an accuracy. Is that true?

Speaker A: I truly love her as a person.

Speaker B: When she found out you were the next one on the podcast, she was like, oh, he loves me.

Speaker C: I love him.

Speaker B: You gotta ask him.

Speaker A: I'm like, okay, we'll see.

Speaker B: Yeah. And then while you were there, did you bump into Chad? I think Chad was there, too.

Speaker A: So Chad's parents were members there.

Speaker B: Okay.

Speaker A: Uh, Trini came in with a bunch

Speaker B: of, uh, riff raff.

Speaker A: Riff raff. Yeah. We can call Him. That.

Speaker B: Yeah, definitely.

Speaker A: Um, so I knew Chad coming in through his parents and Trini just coming into the. The restaurants and serving them. Weird roundabout story. Got her as a trainer and.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker A: Um.

Speaker B: Yeah, like, years later.

Speaker A: Yeah, years later.

Speaker B: You didn't. Did you know she was in the insurance industry when you.

Speaker A: I had no idea.

Speaker B: Her. At Pinehurst. Did you know Chad was.

Speaker A: I had no idea about Chad either.

Speaker B: So it's just all coincidence.

Speaker A: Yeah. Chad was trying to poach me when I was, um, with farmers initially to the independent side where he was at. And. Yeah, I just never gave him the. The time of day. And lucky for me that we're all.

Speaker B: This whole thing is all. All universes or all multiverses have aligned, Right?

Speaker A: Yes, exactly.

Speaker B: All right, cool. Well, we need to hear your story. So what's the Chris Mitchell story? How did you get into insurance? Why did you get into insurance? Tell us the story.

Speaker A: Okay. Well, it did start at Pinehurst.

Speaker C: Okay.

Speaker A: Uh, I was working there. Worked my way up from a busser to food and beverage manager.

Speaker B: And as a very young man. Like, as a teenager or, like, post college or during college or what?

Speaker A: 20, 21.

Speaker B: Okay, cool.

Speaker A: And then worked there for. I don't remember how long. Uh, six, seven, eight years. Somewhere around there.

Speaker B: Um.

Speaker A: Um. And with management came longer hours, more days. And I just got married and was thinking to myself, is restaurant life conducive for family life? I figured out real quick that it wasn't.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker A: So I threw my resume out on monster.com, if we remember that.

Speaker B: I think I do. Yeah.

Speaker A: Yeah.

Speaker B: Long time ago, I got a couple

Speaker A: calls from some real shady sales operations. Like, I didn't have a great resume.

Speaker B: Sure, sure.

Speaker A: I've worked at Pinehurst, and I worked at a party rental company. And I was like, well, who wants me to work for them with this awesome resume I have? Um, so anyway, we went to a couple of interviews, and they were like coat closets of, hey, you can make a million dollars tomorrow if you just go out and sell some stuff. I don't trust you.

Speaker B: I remember those interviews. Yeah.

Speaker A: As a kid. Insurance came a knock in. Um, farmers called me up and said, you'd be a great insurance agent. And I said, you're a liar, but I'll hear you out.

Speaker B: But we'll see.

Speaker A: Yeah. So went in and saw the spiel of, hey, you can make all this money if you just do the things and sell the things. Got, um, me thinking. I was like, well, everybody has to have insurance, right? Yeah, yeah, it's got to be Easy, right?

Speaker B: No, but yes.

Speaker A: Um, those are my thoughts.

Speaker B: Early thoughts. Early, easy thoughts. Yeah. That come quickly to my mind.

Speaker A: So I said, you know, I'll give it a shot.

Speaker B: Uh-huh.

Speaker A: If I can make about what I made at Pinehurst, we'll call it a called win.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker A: Draw less hours, less nights and weekends. And so gave it a shot.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker A: Didn't know what I was getting into. Had no idea about even an insurance policy.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker A: And I remember being guilty, trying to get my own insurance. And the agent talked to me. She's like, hey, do you want high limits or low limits? I'm like, the cheapest price possible.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker A: I'm getting into it. I was like, that was. That was the wrong. Wrong answer on that one.

Speaker B: Right, right.

Speaker A: So, yeah. Started with farmers. Beat my head against the wall. Went through all the hoops.

Speaker B: How old were you when you started that?

Speaker A: I was 29.

Speaker B: Okay.

Speaker A: At that point.

Speaker B: So Pinehurst got a good run out of you.

Speaker A: They did get a good run.

Speaker B: They got a real good.

Speaker A: I think it was eight years there.

Speaker B: That's a good run.

Speaker A: Um, and then started 29 at Farmers and didn't know what the heck I was doing, but had some awesome friends and family that were like, hey, we'll give you a shot.

Speaker B: Yeah, sure.

Speaker A: Took, um, a member list from Pinehurst and started cold calling them and was lucky enough to get a couple of them as clients right away. And stuck out six years and.

Speaker B: Wow. Six more. So six years at farmer.

Speaker A: Six years at Farmers. And thought I was doing all the things right.

Speaker B: Great years. Or like.

Speaker A: No, they were awful. It was awful.

Speaker B: Okay. Okay.

Speaker A: Didn't. Looking back, um. I mean, I wouldn't change it for. For anything.

Speaker B: Great education.

Speaker A: Great education, great stepping stones, Great what not to do.

Speaker B: Okay.

Speaker A: Yeah. And, I mean, just stuck it out, beat my head against the wall, sold some stuff, made some money.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker A: Uh, got to thinking. I mean, is this the. The end goal of where I want to be? Is farmers insurance where I'm going to retire from?

Speaker B: Was it kind of like, am I accomplishing everything I envisioned accomplishing? Or have I, like, the bill of goods that I was sold? Am I actually accomplishing what I was sold?

Speaker A: I wasn't sure at the time. Really.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker A: I. I thought I was doing stuff. Right. I was going to achievement clubs and hitting the.

Speaker B: Interesting.

Speaker A: The. Yeah, you're doing stuff. Right. But, yeah. Um, I. I just didn't. I wasn't filled.

Speaker B: Okay.

Speaker A: And I. My wife. Um, funny story. We're chatting a little earlier that she works with me now yeah, right. She despised me being in insurance.

Speaker B: Oh, really?

Speaker A: Absolutely despised. And many conversations of even still or

Speaker B: just during that chapter, that first six year chapter.

Speaker A: First six year chapter of my life.

Speaker B: Interesting. I was actually hoping she would come here. I know she came last week and we had to cancel this and, uh, do this is our second shot at this. But I was hoping to like, pull her into the camera shot and be like, you tell me your perspective of this whole thing and see what she said. But if she were here, she would say, I hated the idea of him going into insurance.

Speaker A: She did.

Speaker B: Okay.

Speaker A: She hated it. She hated farmers. She hated the. The things. Changes, the things that I was told to do as an agent.

Speaker B: Okay.

Speaker A: Um. And, yeah. And then, yeah, long story short, she's now working in insurance and left her health care career to be a part of the vision in the future for our agency.

Speaker B: Yeah. So at what point did you. Six years at farmers? At what point? So you. You started going, what am I doing here? Is. Is this. Am I going to accomplish everything I thought I was going to accomplish here? I don't want to put words in your mouth, but, uh, you know, at what point did you go, I'm gonna have to make a change here? And like, did you know independence was the change? Or were you like, something's got to change, maybe it's independence or like, what was your thought process there?

Speaker A: To be honest, I had no idea what an independent agent brought to the table compared to what farmers brought to the table.

Speaker B: Okay.

Speaker A: Uh, what really got my. My thoughts thinking. I don't know if that's the right way to share with us. My thoughts thinking.

Speaker B: I think I say something like that.

Speaker A: Yeah, sounds gq.

Speaker B: Yeah. Yeah.

Speaker A: Um, it was a bunch of.

Speaker B: It's funny. I'll probably go home and like, start saying that to my kids. Get your thoughts thinking. People you're acting at you.

Speaker A: What are you talking about?

Speaker B: It'll become like the new phrase at my house.

Speaker A: Look.

Speaker B: Where did that come from?

Speaker A: I don't know. I don't know. Um, saw some. Saw some friends online friends, if you call them that, acquaintances that were farmers went independent. And I was like, man, what do they know that I don't know?

Speaker B: Okay.

Speaker A: And just reached out to him, messaged them like, hey, do you have an opportunity for a chat?

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker A: And they're like, yeah, man, absolutely, I'll talk with you. And I started picking their brains, like, what are. What are you doing? Yeah, well, I'm going independent. Well, who are you going independent with? Because again, uh, the thought of independence. It's like, well, I have to go get all my carrier contracts. I have to go.

Speaker B: Sure.

Speaker A: Do all the things. I have no idea where to start. It sounds great, but is the grass really greener? Is it green where we water it?

Speaker B: Right, sure, absolutely.

Speaker A: And started talking to them and then.

Speaker B: And they were like, no, the grass is actually indeed greener.

Speaker A: They said it's, it's not rainbows and unicorns, but it's a lot more fun and a lot better if you were, I don't know, I wouldn't say successful at farmers by any means. Uh, um, but if you know, like, how to sell stuff, it can be a lot better.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker A: And my whole philosophy and when I got into insurance was, I want to take care of people. I don't want to be a used car salesman. I mean, our, our bar is set so low in insurance in general that if I can raise it just a little bit.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker A: Uh, then I'm winning. And at farmers, I wasn't able to help people out because I sell them a policy and they're stuck with one policy.

Speaker B: Right, right.

Speaker A: So I knew there had to be something better.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker A: I just didn't know what or where or how to obtain that.

Speaker B: Okay, so chatting with these acquaintances slash friends slash former colleagues, maybe, uh, you kind of understood that the next chapter of your insurance career was going to have to be independence. Is that kind of an accuracy?

Speaker A: I didn't understand that. I didn't know where I was. I was kind of at a. A crossroads of. Do I continue down the independent side?

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker A: Restart my book from what I had built up at farmers or New career path.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker A: Interesting. At that point, I mean, six and a half years with one company, I was like, if I go somewhere else, am I truly bettering myself?

Speaker B: Sure, yeah.

Speaker A: A totally different industry career path. I had no idea. And so being stubborn me, I said, well, I know insurance. I can try and figure this out.

Speaker B: Yeah. Interesting. Very interesting. Um, so you went independent. How long did it take you to figure it all out? What, what was this? The, the, like the most stark difference between captivity and independence?

Speaker A: I think it was the, the amount of carriers.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker A: The products that you get. Yeah. Um, I mean, my one thing at farmers was I had to know other carriers better than my own policies to just have that winning edge.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker A: So I already knew the travelers, the safecos, the nationwides of the world. I knew their policies, their coverages. It was just the systems that I had no idea about.

Speaker B: Yeah, sure.

Speaker A: And easy links again, that was a fun one. To try and figure out. Still fun.

Speaker B: It's easy. Links can be tricky.

Speaker A: It can be very tricky.

Speaker B: Um, so you knew. So that's interesting. So like, how would you describe your learning curve, going independent? Because I think a lot of people are like, duh, this learning curve is impossible. Or it's a very complicated learning curve because instead of having a tool on your tool belt, now you have a whole tool belt full of tools. And. And uh, so how would you describe that learning curve? It sounds to me like you're saying it was quite easy because I already knew those policies. Well, I knew, but I would be surprised if that's the answer.

Speaker A: It was, I mean it was steep. It still continues to. I'm learning every day.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker A: On these, ah, carriers, what they offer. Um, now it's more of the relationship with the carriers. Before it was, what's a policy type. Yeah, um, but I mean the learning curve, it was steep.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker A: I can't say it wasn't.

Speaker B: Yeah. Yeah. I think if anybody were to say, hey, Sean, what's the biggest complication of moving from captive to independence? I think my, my general response is good luck getting through the learning curve because that's going to be hell. And I, uh, don't know. Would you agree with that?

Speaker A: I would.

Speaker B: Is that the biggest complication?

Speaker A: I'm going to name drop Trinity again.

Speaker B: Okay.

Speaker A: And she was instrumental in helping me out and helping me understand. Pick your top three. Yeah, here's our top three.

Speaker B: Focus on them.

Speaker A: Focus on them, learn them and be good at every single aspect within those top three.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker A: And that really helped me understand, okay, these are my top three. I'm going to understand them, I'm going to know them and then start going, adding one at a time instead of figuring 15 out and not understanding any of them.

Speaker B: It's actually really good advice. Uh, I think the stat, um, is, um, 80% of your business is with your top three carriers. And so if you just go all in on your top three and you get that figured out, you've got 80% of your business figured out. And so then you can let the other carriers kind of backfill that last 20%. But you can make, you know, 80% of your paycheck comes from three carriers and you can just go all in on those three. So it's actually really good advice.

Speaker A: And really looking at my numbers, that's kind of where we're stacked up. I bet between four carriers is the majority of our business.

Speaker B: So, uh, I guess that dovetails nicely into like. So you've grown an incredible agency. So how long have you been independent now?

Speaker A: May of 2020.

Speaker B: May of 2020. So five years, three of which have been a horribly hard, hard, hard, hard market. The nastiest market I've ever seen. Despite that, your agency is like, incredible. Like, I look at the numbers and I'm like, good heavens, this is a great agency. So, um, can you help us understand how you grew this killer agen? You had two good years before you had three bad. Um, but can you help us understand, help the audience understand how you grew an agency in that, in that five year period of time? That's a big question.

Speaker A: I know, it is a big question. Um, the two.

Speaker B: Well, let's start with the good years. So first, let's start with the first two good years. You were probably on fire and unstoppable, um, from like a rate perspective, from a product perspective. Um, so maybe we should start with like the first two years. How did you fill your pipeline for the first two years to, to grow it as fast as you grew it?

Speaker A: So I had a lot of referral partners that I had prospected during my time at Farmers. And I mean, having the one carrier scared a lot of them off. And then saying to the world, hey, I've got, I'm independent, I've got multiple carriers. It was like floodgates open. And all these referral partners I hadn't heard, heard from in a long time

Speaker B: start showing up and saying, hey, let's

Speaker A: go, let's see if you can help me out. And so that really helped out.

Speaker B: Um, okay, so that's, let's just pause there real fast. So the referral partners, um, when you leave captive and go independent, you're not leaving behind your referral partner. So everything that filled your pipeline on the captive side came with you. So your pipeline was not dry. You had a very robust full pipeline of centers of influence, sending you a ton of leads.

Speaker A: Correct.

Speaker B: And that pipeline even got more full when they realized you were a, ah, more useful partner.

Speaker A: Correct.

Speaker B: Okay, got it.

Speaker A: And I even had one of my referral partners, uh, pretty high volume lender.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker A: She ditched her independent agent and said, I just want to work with you

Speaker B: now because, because you're working hard.

Speaker A: I trust you more than I trust the other person. And now you have the same options that they do.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker A: So that helped out, um, part of a couple networking groups too that were in the same boat, saying, okay, now we understand you can actually help people out a little more. So those referrals picked up. So I Initially started with some momentum from all these people that I had this centers of influence and just people I had networked with for a long time.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker A: And then, I mean, Covid 2020, it was.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker A: A time where a lot of people were looking to save any sort of cash.

Speaker B: Everybody had more time on their hands. So I was like, hey, I got time. Let's go shopping.

Speaker A: Yeah. And insurance is, uh, in my mind, the logical place to start. And I just had a lot of people reach out and just helping them through and understanding. I don't know. The education is the biggest piece in our agency.

Speaker B: Sure.

Speaker A: We lead with education. The rest will fall into place. In my opinion, that we're not just out there selling a. A premium.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker A: Or cut coverages or whatever, being that used car sales.

Speaker B: Right.

Speaker A: Keeping that bar low. And so one person I helped out with would tell two of their neighbors. I'd help their neighbors, they tell two. And it'd be that snowball effect of just people calling me and saying, hey, you helped out so. And so. Can you help me out too? Absolutely, I can.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker A: Like, my carriers and premiums are on fire right now. I couldn't miss.

Speaker B: Yeah. Right. And then the hard market happened.

Speaker C: Correct.

Speaker B: So, um, I just want to preface, you know, these next questions about the hard market. Despite the hard market, you have this incredibly healthy agency. It's a robust agency. It's a big agency. It's got a lot of written premium. Millions and millions and millions of dollars in written premium. Lots of clients, thousands of clients. Um, but the hard market did hit, and it was painful and it was complicated. So maybe. Maybe paint the most real picture you can possibly paint about the hard market.

Speaker A: Oh, where do we start on that one?

Speaker B: That's a tricky one.

Speaker A: Do you want to start. Keep going with some of those adjectives about the hard market.

Speaker B: Yeah, no, I'd like to just let you go from there. Like, what. What happened? Like, how would you describe how you got through it? What happened? Uh, just tell us how horrible it was, I guess, honestly, how complicated it was when.

Speaker A: When hearing the hard market was coming. Yeah. I had no idea what the hard market meant.

Speaker B: I bet. I bet.

Speaker A: I. I don't think in my time being an insurance agent that, uh. Yeah, I mean, we. Some people had talked about it, and I was like, what does this mean?

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker A: And then carriers would shut off new business. It's like, okay, what does this mean? Uh, like, how. How can they do that? Aren't they needing.

Speaker B: Don't they want to premium?

Speaker A: Don't they want Us to sell their. Their product. And then quotas would happen. Uh-huh. And then percentage deductibles, deductible changes would happen.

Speaker B: And I was like, okay, pre buying.

Speaker A: Uh. Oh, the pre buying. I forgot about those.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker A: And it was just navigating that. And it's like, okay, what is going on?

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker A: And I mean, carrier reps were fantastic. Chatting through, like, okay, what's going on? What's our future look like? Uh, and having, I mean, a couple carrier reps that were able to tell me, like, this is not going to go away for a while. You need to figure out and pivot.

Speaker B: Right.

Speaker A: With your internal processes. Um, and just, I mean, sales tactics, if you will.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker A: Of how to position yourself in a market that a lot of, in my opinion, a lot of people had. Were caught off guard with their pants down.

Speaker B: Yeah. You were leading with property. Right. Like, most of your quotes were property first quotes.

Speaker A: Correct.

Speaker B: Um, as you had those conversation with reps and. And as you got an understanding of what was happening specifically to the property market, did you change where your leads came from over the course of the last three years, or did you just go, hey, I'll still take all those at bats. My conversion ratio might suffer. This might just be a hard period of time. But, um, what happened there? Did you pivot your lead sources or anything, really?

Speaker A: No, Because I had a lot of lender referrals.

Speaker B: Huh.

Speaker A: That were still coming in. And those are home. Home first.

Speaker B: Yeah. Yeah.

Speaker A: But having that extra conversation now that carriers wanted the package business, uh, it was. Well, I can offer you this.

Speaker B: Yeah. But I'm gonna have to talk to the client and I'm gonna have to get the auto.

Speaker A: The auto in there.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker A: So that did help having those conversations getting. I mean, home and auto compared to just a home.

Speaker B: Sure, sure.

Speaker A: Um, I think that really the biggest thing that changed for us with the hard market as it evolved was focusing on our retention and making sure that that was. We're not bleeding out the back door.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker A: Leading with, hey, we hear

Speaker C: Safeco's, um,

Speaker A: going to a 1%.

Speaker B: Sure.

Speaker A: So letting our Safeco book know, hey, at renewal, you're going to a 1%.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker A: So there's no surprises.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker C: Ah.

Speaker A: And they come back and say, well, you didn't tell us. Actually, we did. We let you know six months ago that this is going to happen. Or when XYZ carrier would come in and say, we're do. We're changing this. Hey, just a heads up, put a blog post out there, whatever, and we could reference all this, all the foreshadowing of.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker A: What the carriers are telling us of. Hey, be prepared for this.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker A: Here's your 100% rate increase. You're not alone in this.

Speaker B: Yeah, don't. You can be upset but yeah, everybody is experiencing this. So um, don't be upset with me and my agency. I suppose try to.

Speaker A: Yeah, I mean um, I felt it worked.

Speaker B: Sure, sure.

Speaker A: But at the same time we still get some people complaining.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker A: Everybody.

Speaker B: You still got clients that said this

Speaker A: is, this is crap.

Speaker B: Yeah, yeah.

Speaker A: Like we have control over the rates over here. Like I need a new pair of shoes and we go raise your rate $50.

Speaker B: Um, tricky, tricky time, tricky time. Um, how do you think the hard market has made you a better professional? Like I, I really believe 2026 most carriers Ah have made a lot of money in 2025. It was a light storm season across the United States. It was a very light storm season in Colorado specifically. Um so I believe the hard market's coming to an end. There's even some, some property carriers that will be coming to Colorado in 2026. All carriers that I've done annual plan pedal to the metal. We're going for it. We're going to take some rate decreases. We're going to get back into the ballpark. Some are talking about deductible changes in the positive. All of them have lifted their pre buying pauses. Almost every carrier is like we're back in and we want to grow, we want to go.

Speaker C: Um

Speaker B: the question isn't so much what are you going to do about that. The question is what have you learned during the hard market that will make you a better professional? Like after this hard market wraps itself up and stops rearing its head.

Speaker A: I think it's really the systems and processes we've adopted over the last couple years. No more shooting from the hip.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker A: No systems in place, no follow ups. Um, I mean data to me is, is king and having the automations and the touch points and um, just I don't know. I, it, it's been three years of a hard market so I don't, Yeah, I mean I remember the, the good years and over the last three years we've been told just wait till next quarter, wait till next quarter. So until it is full force again it's like do I trust all the people telling.

Speaker B: Well that's a great point because uh, because even though I'm saying things will loosen up more in 2026 what I can't say is you know, state Farm will, you know, drop rates by X percent. You know, what I can't say is, uh, the industry is going to get, uh, easy again. That's the important part is like, even though we're going to have access to more products and the carriers are going to make it easier to do business with them, what I can't say is, um, it'll be a slam dunk win every single time. And it will be a piece of cake again. That day is coming again. I just don't know if it's coming in 2026 or if, if uh, the insurance carriers start exploring the power of their distribution channel again. But they don't really rev the engine up, if you will. So, you know, stick it in six years. Yeah. Yeah. So, um, having said that, the levers that I always mentioned, a lot of those levers are being lifted up. Like, okay, lift up the levers, let's go. Let, let water flow through these pipes again. So, um, that's definitely coming. The, the question is, is what does that mean for the insurance agency owner at the desk?

Speaker A: You know, um, I'm ready for it.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker A: I'm excited for it, of course.

Speaker B: Yeah. Tech, um, stack. What does the tech stack look like, uh, in your agency?

Speaker A: Um, I mean, obviously we have a decent tech stack, but it's not as robust as some of the other agents out there.

Speaker B: Sure.

Speaker A: And that's Easy Links. We, we utilize. Do we utilize it 100? No. Yeah.

Speaker B: Ah.

Speaker A: Um, we've got some zapier integrations. We've got, uh, some. Typeform is one of ours.

Speaker B: Type form.

Speaker A: Type form. It's like a wufu Google. Anyway, Type form. Um, we have a phone system that integrates with Easy links really well.

Speaker B: What's that called?

Speaker A: It's called Pure Phone System.

Speaker B: Okay. Never heard of it, but that's fine.

Speaker A: Don't know where we found that.

Speaker B: Everybody likes to imagine that like their phone system is like this magical phone system and they're like, mine's the best, you know, and then I hear about some random one. I'm like, okay, cool. You know, and it's like. And it's uh. And it's probably does the same thing as everybody else's, you know, but, uh, it's just funny. The, the phone system is a funny one because folks will be very passionate about their phone system. It's like, all right, it's just a phone system, right?

Speaker A: Yeah. Um, to me, our phone system, it connects to Easy Link. So yeah, that's a nice. We can save text automatically, voice, uh, recordings automatically.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker A: Write notes and it integrates. Anyways, an agent out of California created it so his agency could use it. And then he's like, hey, other agents need to know about this. Have no idea where we found it.

Speaker B: Sure. Interesting.

Speaker A: Um, that. What else?

Speaker B: Canopy Connect.

Speaker A: We have salt.

Speaker B: Salt.

Speaker A: Okay.

Speaker B: How'd you make that decision between the two?

Speaker A: Um, what's the other one besides Canopy Connect?

Speaker B: Canopy, uh, Connect. Salt.

Speaker A: And, um, we had the other one for a little bit.

Speaker B: I know what you're talking about. It'll come to me later, but I know what you're talking about. There's a third one.

Speaker A: Yeah, we had the. The. The third one that we can't remember.

Speaker B: Yeah, yeah.

Speaker A: Um, we didn't love it because it didn't give us a lot of the data that we wanted. Slash didn't. I don't remember if it integrated with Easy links at the time or not. So it was just multiple steps of data entry.

Speaker B: Okay.

Speaker A: So we went to salt. Um. I like it. I enjoy it.

Speaker B: Yeah. Salt is different because the. The way they charge the agent is different. Right. The cost structure is different. They charge you per poll versus, like, groups of polls. Right.

Speaker A: So they do charges per poll, and then if we want to use their internal data so they have some connection with, like, the county assessor's offices. Okay. So if somebody puts in a home lead, we can bring up all the. The home data on it.

Speaker B: Interesting.

Speaker A: And put it into easy links accordingly.

Speaker B: Interesting.

Speaker A: Um, the deck pages, you can automatic. It's like Canopy Connect, where you can request deck pages, or you can put it into your form and say, okay, now upload deck pages while they're going through the. The cadence of.

Speaker B: Okay.

Speaker A: Um, I've really enjoyed it because it seems to me it's a little more on the forefront of what I'm looking for than the Canopy Connect and other one we can't remember.

Speaker B: Yeah. Right. What else? Anything else in the tech stack?

Speaker A: We're working on some AI stuff. Um, just a lot of data entry with our renewal process we send out. Um, you were at that conference in Texas when CJ talked about his renewal process. We've adopted that.

Speaker C: Yeah.

Speaker A: And it's. I mean, it's been amazing for our retention.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker A: So having that data that we pull from Easy links, put it into the type form, send it off to the insured. Why do we need a human doing that?

Speaker B: Right.

Speaker A: So we're working on building that out so we can automate that process. Um, C.J.

Speaker B: is smart. As long as we're name dropping every time I Hear him speak.

Speaker A: I'm always like, yeah, better listen.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker A: He's doing some stuff that's way ahead of everybody else.

Speaker B: 100%. Yeah. He's a smart guy. Guy.

Speaker A: He is a smart guy.

Speaker B: He's a very smart guy. I think, you know, I think carriers are listening to cj. I think everybody's listening to CJ and going, okay, let's just listen to this guy. Yeah.

Speaker A: Yeah. Ah. So we took that one little nugget, and, I mean, our retention went up 7 or 8%.

Speaker B: Wow.

Speaker A: After that?

Speaker B: Just from that?

Speaker A: Just from that.

Speaker B: Wow. Cj, you should charge him some money for this. Like, uh. Be like, hey, uh, 7 or 8% is an insane increase in retention. That's a, uh.

Speaker A: You.

Speaker B: You're making way more money now because of whatever C.J. taught you.

Speaker A: Yeah. And that was middle of the hard market, so that helped out immensely on. On our retention, that we weren't bleeding out the back door while not being able to replace that on the front end. Wow.

Speaker B: That's. That's, like. That's, like, an incredible stat. Like, that's a perfect testament to, like, why agents should show up at these conventions and show up at these things. Because you learned something from somebody standing on a stage, uh, increased your retention ratio by 7 or 8%.

Speaker A: Yeah.

Speaker B: During the hard market.

Speaker A: During the hard market, yeah.

Speaker B: Wow. And it also goes to show how smart you are to implement what you learned. Right. So, hey, I learned something. I can't implement everything that I've learned on this stage at this conference, but I can implement something. I'll do what C.J. told me to do. And you did it. That's incredible.

Speaker A: I mean, it spoke to me. It was like his one question to the audience was, how do you determine who you shop? I was like, yeah, that's a great question. I don't.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker A: We just kind of shoot from the hip, and everybody. We're like, oprah. You get a renewal quote, you get a renewal.

Speaker B: You don't. Maybe you do. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Speaker A: You're my family. I don't think you're going anywhere.

Speaker B: Yeah. Interesting.

Speaker A: Yeah. We took that, and it was. What, uh, is most important to you, I think, is, uh, my favorite question. There is a rate. Is it coverage? Is it. Or, um, a blend of both.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker A: And so they're telling us what they want.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker A: Or do you want low deductibles when those deductibles are changing?

Speaker B: Sure.

Speaker A: It's like, well, we can have that conversation. Hey, if you go over here, deductibles Changing. But you said you don't want.

Speaker B: Right.

Speaker A: Those deductibles to change.

Speaker B: Yeah. It's also interesting, like, especially now because of inflation, like, the value of money has changed so much over the course of the last 10 years too. You know, like a $500 deductible, given that the change in the value of money over the course of the last 10 years is like, kind of like, hey, you don't need a 10, a $500 deductible anymore. You know, like, uh, it's perfectly logical for you to have $1,000 or $2,500 deductible, because $2,500 dollars today isn't what it was, um, you know, 10 years ago. So it's like. Yeah, like, that alone from a, from like a customer education perspective seems like a great place to start as well.

Speaker A: Yeah. And also having the conversation of, is it worth it?

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker A: Because going through the hard market, that's one claim. And. Yeah, you were done.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker A: Almost across the board.

Speaker B: Yeah. And. And. Or like you have a deductible that is insane. You can't get this again. If you leave this current carrier and go somewhere else, like, you'll never get this deductible back. So. So enjoy what you got and keep it.

Speaker A: Exactly.

Speaker B: Yeah. Of course it's costing you an extra X a year or whatever, but keep it, trust me. You know, and that gets back to like, kind of like, you know, how do you, um, how do you create this, um, this education moment with the client, where the client goes, I trust you, Chris. Uh, I'll go with what you're saying. You know, how do you do that?

Speaker A: How do we do that? It's been, it's evolved over the years. Yeah. Uh, I mean. Oh, actually, I really don't know the answer.

Speaker B: I would assume you'd have to do it from call one. Right. Like from the very first interaction with the person. Like, this is how we do it at our insurance agency. This is what we do. This is, this is, this is how we approach this process. And I would think from like call number one, the customer starts going, I'm in on that philosophy, you know, because if somebody calls up and just goes, slash all of my coverages, slash my price. Drop me down to like the bare bone minimums, you know, any insurance agency that goes, okay, I'll do exactly what you're asking me to do versus. Hold on, what are you talking about? You own a $2 million home, you own three Mercedes Benz and six whatevers. And have you ever Heard of. You've never heard of an umbrella? Like, hold on. You have minimum limits, and you own a $2 million home and $400,000 in cars. Nobody's ever educated you before that you shouldn't have more than what you currently have? Like, I would think that that would be the first moment where your customers start going, okay, whatever you say. I'm going to start trusting you.

Speaker A: M. I don't necessarily know if it starts. Call one.

Speaker B: Okay.

Speaker A: So call one is info gathering. And then one thing on our tech stack is, uh, loom videos.

Speaker B: Okay. Yeah. Good, good. Thank heavens.

Speaker A: So we have really leaned into loom.

Speaker B: Oh, you're speaking music to my ears.

Speaker A: So to me, an email, a text message, you don't know tone. You have no idea what is trying to be implied one way or the other.

Speaker B: So I'm glad we've uncovered this today.

Speaker A: Having the looms in our new business quotes and even our renewals or even policy changes, like somebody asking to cut coverages, it's like, yeah, we can show you. If we cut every single coverage, it drops your premium.

Speaker B: 30 bucks.

Speaker A: 30 bucks.

Speaker B: Right.

Speaker A: But now we're able to talk through our thoughts on why it's a bad idea.

Speaker B: Yes.

Speaker A: And they can see it on the screen with them. Yeah. Or on the new business side, we can discuss deck pages up side by side. Here's your current. Here's what we're proposing. These are where they. They differ significantly. And it's not just about this bottom number.

Speaker B: Right.

Speaker A: With the price.

Speaker B: Right.

Speaker A: And then if we're sending it to a wife or a husband.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker A: Now they become the insurance agent.

Speaker B: Sure. Yeah.

Speaker A: And they have to figure out how to explain it to their other half or whomever they're with. And instead, it's just, here's a video now.

Speaker B: Right here. Just watch the video with me, honey.

Speaker A: Yeah.

Speaker B: And let the agent explain it to both of us. Exactly.

Speaker A: And now we can ask questions about it to each other and get back with them. And now it differentiates us on being an advisor, if you will. Um, above everybody else. That's just. Here's your quote. Here's a couple sentences.

Speaker B: Here's a little paragraph.

Speaker A: Your coverage, A is X.

Speaker B: How long have you been using loom? Because I've been. I've been banging this drum for years. Like, please, please, please do video presentations. Video presentations will change everything. So I want you to ask. Answer that question. But before you do, it's so funny, because even just now, when you were pretending or acting like you were on a loom video, like, you could change coverages, but the tone that you used when you said that was kind of like you didn't even have to say it, but it was like, this is a stupid idea. But if you want to, you know, and the customer hears that and goes, oh. Uh, the tone that he used conveyed something.

Speaker A: Mm.

Speaker B: The idea of dropping coverages is a bad idea without you even saying it's a bad idea. I mean, you probably even get to saying it. It only saves you $30, and it, um. And you cut your coverages dramatically and blah, blah, blah, blah. But just them hearing that tone also conveys the message, which is, this is not a good idea. You would be, uh, an unwise customer to do this. Or unwise consumer of insurance to do this.

Speaker A: Yeah.

Speaker B: So how long have you been doing the who?

Speaker A: Probably two years now.

Speaker B: Two years. Congratulations. That's smart. Um, has it ever bit you in the butt? Has there ever been one loom video where you're like, my customers? That didn't go well?

Speaker A: If it doesn't go well, you can record it, rerecord it.

Speaker B: No, no, no. I'm saying, has the customer ever received the loom video and gone. You foolish fool. Why. Why did you send me a video? Have you ever gotten negative feedback for sending a video? Video?

Speaker A: No, we haven't.

Speaker B: Okay.

Speaker A: Not that I know of. Not that I can think of off the top of my head.

Speaker B: I think. I think the. The video presentation is what differentiates, uh, your. Your average insurance agent from. From a really elite, awesome insurance agent. So I'm really glad to hear you doing that. I know this would be hard to, uh, to measure, but have you seen your conversion ratio jump at all after using loom versus not.

Speaker A: Yes.

Speaker B: Using conversion ratio. Excuse me. Using video presentations versus, uh, not video presentations. Yeah.

Speaker A: Because to me, the early days of, you throw out a quote, you get bank account numbers. Um, Right. My biggest thing was calling them on the phone and just talking through it. It was like, why am I spending time on the phone?

Speaker B: Right.

Speaker A: Or calling them four or five times when I just send a video, I could just record, have the same exact conversation with them. Um, but, yeah, I mean, the conversion ratios have definitely increased. And even in the hard market. Ah, that's the little differentiator that people saw in us. That they're like, nobody else is doing this. Yeah, we got very similar quotes, but you guys explained it. You told us what we have.

Speaker B: Bingo. Bingo. Awesome. That makes me really happy to hear. So one other thing I'm dying to ask you is, um, your Your. Your parting story. I don't know if you're. You're willing to answer this question, but, uh, how was leaving Farmers? Was it a smooth transition? Was it, uh, what, like, what conversations were had as you were leaving Farmers?

Speaker A: So going back to chatting with a bunch of, uh, a handful of agents that had left Farmers already, um, kind of getting their tips and tricks on what they didn't do or what they wish they would have done better on their exit, on their exit upon leaving, which, um, helped me. I mean, it was a. It wasn't a smooth. It wasn't smooth at all.

Speaker B: Yeah, sure, sure, sure.

Speaker A: Um, so I approached my DM and said, hey, I'm looking to get out of Farmers. And he said, where? What are you thinking about doing? I was like, honestly, I have no idea. Yeah, I had independent in my head.

Speaker B: Sure.

Speaker A: My dad.

Speaker B: But you hadn't started that.

Speaker A: I hadn't started the process. Right. My dad had a company that he was selling software. I was like, I could probably go in and do that as well.

Speaker B: Sure.

Speaker A: Um, so I said, hey, what is it going to take for me to get out? He said, well, let me try and sell your book for you.

Speaker B: I said, cool.

Speaker A: I have no idea what that even looks like, what that entails, but, uh, I'm willing to trust you on this one. I'm willing to get out.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker A: So I started that conversation. I don't know. September ish. Of 2019. By December, I kept getting the. We don't have a buyer. I found a buyer. Oh, wait, they backed out. Oh, I don't have it.

Speaker B: Do you feel like that was delay tactics?

Speaker A: It was, yeah. Okay.

Speaker B: Um, I often get the sense from, like, my side of the equation. I always go these. This feels like delay tactics.

Speaker A: And I like to think I'm not a dumb person. And I started asking just some prying questions and found out that his bonus was tied to having so many agencies under him at the end of the year.

Speaker B: Sure.

Speaker A: So if my agency went into another, bigger agency, he would have lost it anyway. Um, so then, uh, I mean, I started thinking, I asking, yeah, have my

Speaker B: best interest in selling my agency and

Speaker A: getting me out or getting me out of here. And it turned into, so September of 2019. And he said, I won't have anything available until October of 2020. I was like, wait a second. You told me it would take like two, three months for me to get out of here. I can't. Uh, one, I'm already checked out.

Speaker B: Right.

Speaker A: Like, I'm done.

Speaker B: Yeah. Yeah.

Speaker A: Um, and so Just I went to a business lawyer. I was like, hey, this is my contract. Like, what are, what does it say in here that I need to know?

Speaker B: Right?

Speaker A: And he said, okay, if you want out, you have to put in your 90 days. I said, okay, cool, I'll do that. Yeah. So started thinking about, okay, when, when is the right time for the. The 90 day.

Speaker B: Sure. Party window to start. Yeah, yeah.

Speaker A: And started talking to him and said, hey, I'm looking at putting in my 90 days. And he said, are you sure about this? We can't take it back. I was like, uh, well, let me think on it for another week.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker A: January 31st, I said, I'm done. Here's my 90 day notice. I'm out.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker A: So April 30th will be my last day. Um, and then still had to maintain my book and start to sell some things and make some money.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker A: Along the way. And then still had to have the conversations with the DM and his staff of, hey, your numbers need to be this. They need to be this. And I'm like, I'm already checked out.

Speaker B: Yeah. You guys know my stuff.

Speaker A: Exactly.

Speaker B: Yeah. I'll be gone in 60 days now. Exactly 60 days and counting.

Speaker A: Yeah.

Speaker B: 59 days and counting.

Speaker A: Yeah. And then the conversations of, well, we need some more life insurance. Are you willing to write some life insurance on yourself?

Speaker B: And I was like, no, no, I'm leaving. Yeah. Ah, now 42 days.

Speaker A: Like, why, why would I be helping you guys out when. Yeah, you're not helping me out. There hasn't been a whole lot of. It's been a one sided.

Speaker B: Yeah. Help.

Speaker A: I'm helping you guys out. There hasn't been a whole lot coming down the pike from you, except for spend more money, hire more staff, and you'll make more money. And again, kind of reading through the lines of who really makes the money? And in this, totally my opinion, but the DM in that situation made money. Made the money.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker A: And he was directing us and our, our money on how we had to spend it because it wasn't his son. Anyway, going back to when you say

Speaker B: that, like, you refer to like, like advertising dollars and staff and uh, furniture packages and things like this, like, is like office space. Office space.

Speaker A: How many staff you needed to have, how many producers, how many, um, Internet leads you needed to buy per day? Um, spending my money.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker A: Not.

Speaker B: Yeah, this is how you have to spend your life.

Speaker A: Exactly.

Speaker B: Yeah. Versus how would you like to spend your money?

Speaker A: Yeah. So on, um, during that 90 day out period, had, um, conversations with him and just making sure all the loose ends were tied up. And the last parting conversation, which I can't remember how long it was before May 1st.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker A: Came around.

Speaker B: Yeah. Was it 10 days before the end? I can't remember the day before the end. Who knows?

Speaker A: It stuck with me and I had lunch with you and, uh, let you know this one, but he looked at me in the face and said, you were never cut out for this industry anyway. I said, wow, six and a half years that I have busted my butt at your discretion.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker A: And that's the words you say to me.

Speaker B: Wow.

Speaker A: Going out. So it just gave me. It gave me some fire coming out.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker A: Like I'm prove this dude wrong.

Speaker B: Yeah. Yeah. Well, boy, you have so. It's, it's so. It's so fascinating to me. I mean, that's not a unique conversation. A lot of people have that conversation, um, and it fills their gut with fire. And they're like, okay, I'll, uh, go prove you wrong. And then they go independent and they find this whole new equation of how it works. Right. Lots, uh, of carriers, lots of commission, lots of support from the companies, companies that want to buy in business versus companies that might be slowing down business or whatever. And, uh, then guys like you go, okay, well, let's go see if your words are true.

Speaker A: Correct.

Speaker B: And they couldn't have been any more false because you're now growing an incredibly healthy insurance agency, making incredible money, and, uh, proving that guy wrong or that gal wrong day after day after day. That's pretty cool.

Speaker A: It was kind of funny. I was still on the email, the district emails of the numbers, the sales numbers, uh, for probably the rest of that 20, 20 year. Sure. And I was putting up numbers that his top dogs were putting to.

Speaker B: Oh, really?

Speaker A: Well, I was his very top agent.

Speaker B: I see what you're saying.

Speaker A: I was going head to head with him.

Speaker B: I see what you're saying. So when you became an independent insurance agent, you were still getting the numbers

Speaker A: I was still getting.

Speaker B: And you're going, my numbers as an independent agent are as good, if not better than your number one. Correct producer.

Speaker A: His number one agency with 15 staff. And I was a one guy.

Speaker B: Yeah. Yeah.

Speaker A: One guy shop.

Speaker B: Yeah. Incredible.

Speaker A: And so that, I mean, it was incredible. It was just another fuel for the fire.

Speaker B: Right.

Speaker A: Hey, I'm putting up. I am cut out for this industry.

Speaker B: Sure. Yeah.

Speaker A: That's your top guy and me. We're going head to head on this one.

Speaker B: On numbers.

Speaker A: On numbers.

Speaker B: Yeah. And a lot of times those numbers on that side of the equation, I think, correct me if I'm wrong, but they also include like, um, what did somebody say to me one time? Uh, they also include like the downline too, of those producers. If. If I remember correctly. Does that make sense? Um, maybe not.

Speaker A: It was a total agency. Like. Yeah. I mean, policy count is all.

Speaker B: But I guess what I'm saying is it counts all of their producers, all of their producing staff. So if their number one agency that you were going head to head with as a one man shop, you were going head to head not not only against that one producer, you were going head to head against that one producer and his 15 staff members. And so if they sold, let's just say $250,000 in written premium in that quarter or whatever, where you went, hey, I wrote $250,000 premium in that quarter too. Uh, they did it with 15 people doing it. You did it with one person doing it. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Speaker A: And so looking at the numbers and they do an annual thing every year of.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker A: This is our top.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker A: Personalized producer. And they did X amount of premium.

Speaker B: Right.

Speaker A: And I was like, I've done that.

Speaker B: Yeah. Yeah. You're like, piece of cake.

Speaker A: Yeah.

Speaker B: Did that with my eyes closed as a one man shop.

Speaker A: In the fun market, obviously.

Speaker B: In the fun market. Let's preface that.

Speaker A: Yeah.

Speaker B: Um, all right, so I say we wrap it up. Uh, I'm gonna try and keep these shorter this time around, everybody. So, um, I say we wrap it up. Uh, let's wrap it up with. What would you tell your younger self? So let's go back to the kid who's starting on day one at Pinehurst. Okay. We'll just bring this thing full circle. The kid who's just starting in the food and beverage industry, uh, on, ah, day one, going into Pinehurst, going, I'm flexing some adult muscles. But, uh, you know, I don't have all of my adult muscles functioning all at once yet. What would you tell that kid if you could go back in time and say, hey, hey, buddy, do this. Or what would you tell.

Speaker A: I would tell that kid, starting day one at Pinehurst, go through what you're about to go through. It's going to make you a better person.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker A: You're going to understand you're going to like the winds a lot more and understand that the losses are going to happen, but you can still push through them.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker A: Um, but I would tell them, get out of Pinehurst or get out of farmers. Two years earlier.

Speaker B: Ah, okay. So go through the Pinehurst chapter. Go through the learning young adult things that you need to learn. Um, and go to farmers, because that was a good chapter too. But just get out of there sooner.

Speaker A: Get out of there two years sooner.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker A: Um, because like I said, I learned a lot. I understand the. The highs and the lows. And the highs are that much sweeter.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker A: Now that I. Now that I've been through all what I've been through, I mean, if I. I can't sit here and say go independent when you're 21 years old. Because that's not the founder.

Speaker B: That's not the right answer.

Speaker A: No, no.

Speaker B: If you said that on film, I'd be like, that's not. Yeah, do it again. Yeah, that's really not the right answer.

Speaker A: Answer.

Speaker B: But. But your answer was great answer. Like go, uh, through young adulthood.

Speaker A: Yeah.

Speaker B: Experiencing highs and lows. Yeah.

Speaker A: Go through it.

Speaker B: M. Get a tough job that requires you to work till 2:00am um, you know.

Speaker A: Yeah. Do some stupid things along the way and realize that that's not. That's not your life anymore. Now you have to be, uh, an agency owner.

Speaker B: Right.

Speaker A: And do things the right way.

Speaker B: Yeah. I have young kids call me frequently. You know, I don't know how they find me, but I have young, you know, 20 year olds calling me up and going, hey, I think I want to become an insurance. An independent insurance agent. I'm like, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. Go become a captain for a while or go get some life experience first. And, um, it's the best industry on earth, but just don't do it yet. You know, Go get some life experience first and then come join us later. Yeah.

Speaker A: I think another thing I would have told younger me is, uh, go purchase degree in college. Understand the other side of the agency side.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker A: Understand the carrier side a little more.

Speaker B: Yeah. That's good advice too. Um, I often say. I often say claims adjusters make really great insurance agents, you know, and a lot of kids fall into the insurance industry out of college, like, and become claims adjusters right out of. Right out of the gates. I personally think it's a great place to start because you're getting good industry knowledge in a different, uh, in a different discipline, you know, so there's the claims discipline, the underwriting discipline, and then, uh, and then sales and distribution. But, uh, but, uh, I think there's a lot of value in getting some other experience somewhere else, whether that's a risk management degree or claims time or underwriting time. Absolutely. That's good advice. Too.

Speaker A: Yeah. Yeah. I think I really wish I would have done that.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker A: Instead of the school of hard knocks and.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker A: Understanding what I understand now could have fast tracked that a little bit. But like I said, I'm happy with the steps I've.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker A: I've taken to get where I'm at now. And the, uh, words of wisdom that some people have given me, like, you're not cut out for this. Anyway,

Speaker B: that's. That's some rough words of wisdom.

Speaker A: Um, fuel to the fire.

Speaker B: Yeah. Right. Absolutely. Anything else that you want to say? What else? Anything else? Any other wisdom you want to give the world?

Speaker A: Oh, uh, we don't have enough time for that.

Speaker B: We don't? No, I guess not.

Speaker A: I guess.

Speaker B: I guess not. They're gonna have to get all of the nuggets of wisdom that they could possibly get out of these 45 to be determined.

Speaker A: I don't know.

Speaker B: Okay, well, thank you very much for your time, Chris. Thank you so much. Thanks, everybody. We'll catch you all later. Bye. Bye.

Speaker C: Premier Group Insurance is providing this podcast for informational uses only. This podcast should not be relied on as legal or medical advice. Reference to any specific product or entity does not constitute an endorsement or recommendation by Premier Group Insurance. The views expressed by guests are their own and their appearance on the program does not imply any endorsement to them or any entity they represent. Views and opinions expressed by Premier Group Insurance employees, I. E. Sean Michael Walker, are those, uh, of the employees and do not necessarily reflect the view of, uh, Premier Group Insurance. Copyright.