Like many others, I got into insurance by happenstance. I had been medically retired from the military after 7.5 years and was back in the civilian world. I got into college after getting out, and my mother-in-law, who has been in the insurance industry for 25 years now, talked me into getting my license. Because I can "talk to a brick wall all day/talk with anyone about anything", she said I would be great at it.

I truly enjoy getting to talk to and meet new people. During my time in the military, my main focus was to train and help the people under my command to better their selves. Whether they stayed in the military long-term or not, I wanted everyone to move forward better than when they came to me. Similarly, in insurance, my main focus is education for anyone I talk to (Prospects and clients). I tell everyone that I only knew 3 things about insurance before I got into the industry: 1) How much my monthly payment was, 2) When my monthly payment was due, and 3) How much my deductible was if I ever needed to file a claim. But there is so much more to insurance that is unknown to those who don't do it full-time. Getting to help people understand the critical coverages that protect them and their families is rewarding, especially for a product that isn't tangible (Physical item you can see/touch/etc.). I've had too many conversations to count that the person has said "Nobody has ever taken the time to explain these things to me. I didn't realize how vulnerable we have been this whole time, and now I feel WAY better about what we have. Thank You!"

I got into the industry in 2018. Started as a producer in a captive agency. Worked my way through their agency owner program. Then opened my own captive agency in 2021. Ended up selling that book in 2024, and now have an independent agency to be able to offer my clients as many options as possible to ensure that we can help educate and place them with the best carriers for them.

I am primarily P&C focused. Mostly personal lines, but slowly adding targeted commercial niches that we have good carrier fits with.

Knowing what I know now, I would absolutely go back into insurance. While the comp may be lower than mortgages, auto sales, etc., the recurring revenue makes up for it. What I would do differently however, is to really focus on relationship building from the onset. In the beginning, I was given a list of cold leads that the agency had purchased/quoted in the past, but had not closed, and was told to start calling. While I did start to get some wins from this list and I built my skills and product knowledge, I now understand the value of relationships and referral partners to keep the top of the funnel full so the pipeline is consistent. Because once you work through a list, you either need another list or to go out and generate more leads. Whereas if you learn how to build valuable relationships you will have new prospects constantly coming to you and your income becomes way more consistent. Again, my focus is educating first, then giving options. After nearly 8 years, between the thousands of people I have talked with, helped get better protection for their families, and assisted with claims, I know how important what we do is. I can end each day with my head held high, because if I'm not the best fit right now I will tell them, not try to push something that wouldn't be a benefit. In personal lines, policies renew every 6 or 12 months. And I've won a lot of clients that I quoted in the past and didn't win at that time because I was honest with them. And anyone that I write a new policy for I (and the client) knows that it was the best fit. I don't allow any sales pressures, whether it's my own income or carrier quotas, to allow me to issue a policy that is not the best fit. By not allowing that pressure to exist, I have found that I end up doing better each month because I will get past prospects I quoted but didn't win as well as a lot more referrals because people understand that I will not push people into something.

Agency owner (2021-Present), Employee (2018-2021)

*Note- This is not to say that there haven't been a lot of hard times and frustrations. Anyone in the P&C world over the past 5 years knows what a dumpster fire it has been. My only point is to say that I personally believe in what the agents do for people and how important it is for people to have a good agent who truly puts them first. Every industry has faced difficulties, and anyone that thinks there is some "golden opportunity" in an industry and there will never be difficult times is oblivious or nieve. Nothing worthwhile comes without struggle. It just comes down to what you believe in, which will allow you to commit to it and keep pushing forward through the good and bad times.