Episode 217: The Biggest Leap with Tim Gaspar Part 2

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Greetings, everybody. Welcome to the next episode of the Unstoppable Profit podcast. And I am proud and honored to have back again for part two, Mr. Tim Gaspar, because of overwhelming demand of all of you who want to hear more from this man who's done phenomenal, phenomenal things. And the good news is, I believe in my heart of hearts, he's far from done. Tim, welcome back to the podcast.

Awesome. Thank you very much for having me back, Mike. Really appreciate it and looking forward to the chat.

Yeah, you're welcome. You're welcome. So, in the event that you didn't see part one of the podcast, I strongly recommend that you go back and watch it. It's probably four or five episodes ago. It's in the 200s. I know that. And Tim recently published a book called the Biggest Leap. And in going through the book, I'm going through it, and I'm going, oh, my gosh. And I've known Tim for many years, privileged to have known Tim for many years in the industry. And I'm looking at the back of the book, and let me just share with you why you should get something to write with and get something to write on or type on, whatever you do, and take copious notes, because this man wrote on the back of his book and has done phenomenal things in his insurance agency business in a very short period of time. He said 80% of insurance agents never hit the coveted million dollars in gross revenue mark. Gaspar Insurance conquered that milestone in its first four years and grew 15 to 25% every year until selling to a larger firm 15 years later for over $30 million. Not bad for a guy who is bankrupt at age 20. And he's here to tell all about it and how he did it. Obviously, we don't have time in this particular podcast to go through all the details, but we shared some details in our last podcast and the overwhelming consensus we want to hear more. So, Tim, let's give them some more. You ready to go?

Oh, let's do this, Mike. I'm ready. I'm psyched.

Fantastic. And congratulations on all that you've accomplished so far. I know it's been put your head down, nose to the grindstone.

That's right. That's right.

And you know, for everybody out there, a constant reminder, the only time success comes before work is in the dictionary.

That's right.

I think Tim and I both agree it's hard work.

That's right.

We don't have any silver bullets or magic pills. So in going through the book, I've obviously got mine dog eared and highlighted and all that kind of stuff. And there's multiple chapters in the book, 20 of them to note. Today we want to focus on the power of three because we both know that simplicity and taking that one step at a time is critical, critically, critically important. And so the first thing that we want to talk about today is the one thing.

Yep, that's right, the one thing.

Because 10 years from now, with data and AI and generative AI and all that stuff, there will be one thing that nobody can take away from us.

Right.

And that's what I want to pull out of Tim and hear what he has to share with everybody. The one thing that we will always have and we have to keep building it, Tim. And it's right in chapter two.

I was going to say thumbs, but I don't think that's where you were going with this. No.

In chapter two you talk about.

It's the relationships. And it really is, it's. Look, if the book that there's, you know, the. Every chapter that I wrote in the book, I didn't do anything to fill pages or anything like that. So it's all important. But realistically, if you really could only read one chapter or prioritize one chapter, because if everything is important, then obviously nothing is important. Right. It would absolutely be the relationships piece 100%.

So what's most important about the relationships? Why is it important? And how do you build, I like to say, deep, significant, meaningful relationships with people? And I know that you're a big giver back in the communities and we'll get to that in a couple of minutes. But you have relationships with, shall we say, center of influences.

Right, Right.

And high performing people.

Right, sure. So the, the relationship piece is really the most effective way to prospect is really what it is. And so there's so many different benefits that come from having deep, meaningful relationships with people. But at the end of the day, from a business standpoint. Well, as far as like the. Why, why do you do that? It's going to be the way that you're able to prospect and get the type of business that you're not going to get from buying leads. You're not going to get it from maybe going to speak to a group of realtors or mortgage brokers or any folks like that, and you will get leads from that stuff. Don't get me wrong, but when somebody is going to introduce you to a customer for something meaningful where there really needs to be a lot of trust needed in that type of transaction or whatever it is that you're handling, the relationship is absolutely key. And if you look at any top performing insurance person, real estate person, you know, cpa, anybody who's gotten to the top of their career in regards to the type of people that they deal with, they're gonna, I'm gonna say I would make a bet that they would tell you, not 99, not 99% of the time, literally every single time, it's relationship driven. So for me, I, I'm lucky. I didn't. I love to take credit and say, you know, when I was younger I was reading books and figured out, you know, through, you know, educating myself that relationships were the important thing. But that's not true. I got lucky. I. My stepdad, who entered my life when I was 5 years old, still practices. He was a very, very successful life and benefits guy and, you know, somebody who was and still is at the top of his game. And so as a kid I just watched what he did and he was always having clients over the house and having them on his boat or having, you know, something to further and deepen the relationship that he had with these folks. And these were all clients, they were also friends, which was a key part of, you know, what I'll mention. But it was really, it was his whole strategy. The guy never bought a lead in his life and with the exception of his first six months in the business when he was 20, didn't make any cold calls. There was just no need to at the end of the day.

So that's fantastic stuff. And I completely agree. What's going through my mind is money follows trust, right? And the only way that you can get to that trust equation, if you will, is to build the relationship, right? Because people, absolutely, they don't trust you right off the get go. They get, they need to learn to get to know you.

Absolutely right. And you know, trust is earned, right. So when I meet a client for the first time, I have no expectation that they trust me with anything. You know, why would they? If they're meeting me for the first time, then I have to start building that. But the Great thing about referral business is there's a certain amount of implied trust that comes from the person that referred it originally. And it's obviously, it's just a totally different conversation. Right. You know, as everybody I'm sure who's listening to this podcast knows from a referral versus somebody who, like. I don't know, I was going to say found you in the Yellow Pages. That's. That. That makes me feel really old.

We're dating ourselves on Google.

We are. Yeah, that's right. But and also the. As far as the caliber of the clients, there are certain types of folks, you know, for, whether it be for personal insurance or for business insurance, that the only way to get in front of these people is relationships. If it's your goal and let's say you're a personal insurance agent and you say, I want to handle the folks that are in the top 1% of my town, you know, whatever town that is and whatever folks those are, generally speaking, you know, almost, almost every time those folks are going to find their advisors through relationships with their current, you know, a bunch of connections, they're not going to find you on Google.

That's right. And the successful people, they are super, super good at managing their time choices.

Oh, absolutely.

They're not just going to talk to anybody unless somebody happens to know somebody. Then they will do the introduction because. Oh, Tim. Yeah, I know. Tim, what do you got?

Right, that's right. Yep, yep.

And that's the way to get entry into that, if you will select sphere.

That's right.

And to the next point, you know, I learned, I don't know if you've heard of this guy, Joe Gerard, known as one of the most successful car salesman in the history of car sales.

Oh, yeah.

He said years ago that everybody knows 250 people that either come to their wedding or come to their funeral.

Right.

I prefer to just make it simple and conservative. Let's call it 100. Right, right, right. But that's the important value of those relationships.

That's right.

Because they know 100 other people that could potentially be, you know, your introductions.

Right. And it's, it's typically birds of a feather and that, you know, I have a, a chapter about specialization and, and essentially picking your clients. But, you know, the point being with the relationship piece, if, if you're, you know, working with a customer who's exactly the type of customer that you want, well, who do you think they have relationships with? It's going to be people that are similar to them, which is just Another, you know, reason to pursue this strategy, and probably the biggest thing that I should mention about the relationship piece, and this is really important, probably worth mentioning at the very beginning, is what you can't do. You can't make the relationships. You can't make the primary motivation for the relationships be money. Because if you do, you're going to sort of exude that in a really negative way. You're going to come across as somebody who wants to use people or who's not being genuine, even if you're trying your best not to. People are smart. They'll pick up, you know, they'll get a sense for what you're really after. So any relationship that you're in one, it has to be somebody who you genuinely hit it off with. There has to be some common interests and, you know, things that you can talk about that you really enjoy the conversations. And then you've got to bring value to the relationship, not to get something in return. The relationship itself has to be the price. That's gotta be the part that gets you excited. You have to enjoy building relationships and liking the idea of people you love coming to your funeral. That has to be the goal. The money's a byproduct of that.

Exactly. Giving first, right?

Giving first, Absolutely. Absolutely.

That's fantastic. And yeah, they can sniff you out a mile away nowadays.

Oh, 100. 100.

In addition to that with the online platforms, I mean, people already know all about you before they even get to the point where they're having a conversation with you or learning more about you.

That's right. And, you know, I'm glad you mentioned the online piece because, look, the online piece can be fantastic for continuing to sort of, you know, build maybe part of the relationship that you already have in person. So, you know, people can say, like, oh, I saw your pictures from your trip to Hawaii, your boy, your kids are getting big, and things like that. Those are neat things. But I think a lot of times folks confuse an online relationship with a real relationship, and it's not. So meeting somebody on LinkedIn or being connected to them on LinkedIn is not. Is not knowing them in real life. And I think sometimes folks get confused and they think that, oh, I've got connections, and they're thinking about their online social media connections and it's, well, could you call that person for a favor? Could you call them today and see if they want to grab a bite tomorrow because they genuinely want to spend time with you? And if it's only an online connection, the answer's Probably. No. Yeah, that's something you got to do the work in the real world.

I mean, even zoom.

Right.

As an example. Right. That's a better relationship tool than, you know, maybe an email and that kind of thing.

Absolutely.

And maybe better than a phone call. But still, that face to face, elbow to elbow, human relationship will never go away.

And that's exactly right.

Still the best.

That's exactly right. Yeah.

That's still where we get the best. If we will bang for our buck relationship wise, is that face to face, you know, the body language and the reaction time and all of that, that's how you really get to know somebody.

It really is. And that's really an important message for. I think a lot of folks know that. But for people that maybe are in their first 10 years of their professional life, you hear so much about the online stuff as a way to prospect, as a way to get your brand out there, and those things are great. I'm not poo pooing any of that stuff. And there's some really great business models for that. But that has not taken the place of the relationship. If somebody says, oh, the days of you taking people out to lunch every day are gone, I'll just tell you firsthand, that's not true at all. I could completely be off the Internet and be able to, you know, run my practice the same way I do now. As far as our sales and our referrals, there's things I love about the Internet, but it wouldn't. It wouldn't affect my business in regards to the types of new business we do and prospecting talent and things like that.

I hope everybody heard or viewed and heard what Tim just said.

Vitally, vitally important to your future achievement and growth and everything else. So relationships. Great stuff, Tim. So do you have one relationship story before we move on to the next subject? The greatest relationship that you've had?

Oh, man, I've got. I've got so many stories. I mean, so I've got a lot of great relationships, but I won't say the name.

Yeah, please don't.

Yeah, yeah. But one of our largest accounts that we handle, I got the account because the person was a neighbor. So the person was not to my office, to my home. And so this was somebody that I would just see occasionally in the neighborhood and struck up a conversation, very friendly with, always no expectation for anything, and just something very small got mentioned in a conversation about the type of business that this person owned. And so I was pretty forward. I put together a proposal because it was easy to do that it was just a little bop. And just, basically just gave it to him again with no expectations, saying, hey, this is just an idea of what you should have. And you know, he knew I was in the business at that point, but that was it. I wasn't like a, obviously a follow up to see if I could sell it. But that turned into not only a bind for that account, probably two weeks later, it ultimately turned into an account that produced maybe, you know, 250, 300,000 in annual revenue annually for the 15 years after that and still does. Just from a relationship, from a neighbor.

We call that lifetime value, everybody.

That's exactly right.

You take the 250 times 15 years.

That's right, absolutely.

So if relationships are important, I hope you caught that one too. Thanks for the great share. And we've all got stories. I've got a 10 to 1.3 billion dollar revenue story. I mean it's just through relationships.

It's amazing.

Yeah, yeah. So, so as we build relationships, as we gain clients, we need other relationships. Our most important customer is the way that I think about it and you talk about it in chapter 16, which is your team.

Right.

So building your team, you need to sooner or later bring on team members or more team members.

Right.

What's the number one thing that you've learned about building your team that you can share? Tim, Tim, please.

Well, there's. There's a few things. One I would mention is A players, like A players. And so if you're, when you're fortunate enough to land somebody who's an A player, you want to make sure that you keep that person happy. And one thing you can do, there's a couple things you can do to drive a players away. I think really there's only two that I would mention. The first thing is if you hire people that are not A players and you have them working with A players, the A players, much higher chance that a player is going to leave. Because a players don't want to hang out with people or work with people that are not as serious or effective at their jobs. Which is why it's so important. When you have somebody in your organization that's not performing up to par to make a change, you want to coach that person, bring them up, make sure that they are able to hit their maximum potential. But if it's clear that the job's not for them, or maybe they just don't want to do the work, which is fine for them to work somewhere else, but you have to make that change. And where that's most difficult is if you have somebody who's like a D or an F, like the person shows up stoned or you know, they're like stealing money or something. Like. Yeah, I'm talking about like, obviously that's an extreme example, but that's like a no brainer that you're going to hopefully let that person go. Right, right. The more difficult type of case to manage is where you have a team member who is maybe a C, where they're really not very good clients, don't love them because they're not very warm. They just kind of take care of whatever the request is. They typically take care of it. They don't do it quickly, they don't do it super friendly, but they also don't drop the ball completely. And so for, with that person, that's the type of person that ends up hanging around in a lot of organizations forever because there's nothing significant enough that happens that makes you pull the trigger on letting them go. But you're also never really thrilled with the type of work that they're doing. So the question you have to ask yourself is if that person walked into my office today and said, I'm given two weeks notice, I'm going to move on, would you have a sense of relief or would you be so scared? Because their work is so amazing. So if you'd have a sense of relief that you would let that person go, it's time to let that person go. But that's hard though, because you got to fill the position again. And it's a temporary short term headache, but it's a big headache. So I think making those changes is the first thing and the second thing that you have to know. Even though so much of the time it won't seem true to you, whenever somebody leaves your organization, you have to remember, people don't quit bad companies. They, they quit bad managers. And if somebody leaves your organization, I don't care what they told you, they might have told you they need to leave because they, you know, their, their spouse is, you know, sick and they need to help take care of them and they got a job where they can work from home. They might tell you their kids are leaving for college and they're going to be, you know, working less so they can travel to see their kids more. And you'll get, not excuses, you'll get reasons that sound like, well, yeah, of course they have to leave. And I'm gonna, I'm just gonna tell you 100% of the time, the reason the person is leaving is you. You have to own that. Even if you think like, that's not true, I'm not that bad, or whatever it is, it is what it is. So you really have to do some internal sort of, you know, seek out what the truth is when those people leave. Because a lot of times when you're a leader, that's how you know. Because unfortunately, when you're a leader, people aren't going to tell you exactly what it is that you're doing wrong. From a leadership standpoint, if you have people that tell you, you have to value that person as if they're made out of gold. But that's a rarity. So being really just sort of, you know, having a lot of self awareness as to how you're coming across and how you're being is just critical. And you got to look at the evidence because you won't have a good feeling yourself. I could promise you that.

100 agree with everything you just said. But what I wrote down that Tim just said, people don't quit bad companies, they quit bad management or leadership.

That's right.

And you know, you can't be in denial, not if you're going to have an excellent organization with high goals and expectations within the organization, full of nothing but a players. Right, right. And if you're in denial, this is one of our favorite little tools, if you will, our mirror of truth.

Yeah.

The only one person stands between you and success. Right. It's who you see in the mirror of truth. And if you're in denial, that's the first thing that we need to, you know, work on and fix. Right?

Absolutely.

I mean, give everybody a sense of what you built and you're still in the. In a leadership chair in the agency you built.

Right? That's right. Exactly right.

How many people on your team roughly right now?

About 55.

Yeah. So Tim's got some experience building quality teams up to a very high level. Congratulations, by the way.

Cool. Thank you. Thank you.

So before we move on to the third thing that we want to talk about today and share, what is your number one recruiting tip? And I know that's a big loaded question and you weren't ready for it, but. Because I pulled it out of left field.

Sure, sure.

But if you could come think back, you know, over the years, your number one recruiting tip, because that's a big challenge for people nowadays.

Yeah. Well, it for team members. I won't focus on where to find the folks because there's a lot of places you can do that. What I would say is focus for attitude. Don't focus on insurance experience. So that's like the immediate go to for people. Account manager left. I gotta fill this chair. I need somebody who knows how to do endorsements with my carriers and use my software from day one. I don't have time to train them. I need this problem solved. And I get that. And that's all true. And those are all real headaches that can really affect your business. But even with all that, if you rush to make a hire with somebody who has amazing experience, typically on paper, usually it's just on the resume. But a crummy attitude or hurts your culture, it's going to hurt you a lot more than that empty chair. I'll tell you right now. You hire somebody, you know, with a great attitude, who's smart, who wants to work, you know, and hopefully I'm not offending anybody. But what we do is not rocket science. Like, there's a lot of knowledge that you need to have, but at the same time, you know, you hire the right person who's smart and can learn and they're going to be productive before too long and, you know, and then you're going to have somebody who is, you know, it could be so valuable to your organization just by bringing up the energy level, by being excited about this new career. And that stuff is contagious. I mean, that could just be a fantastic thing. So you can teach the insurance stuff. You can't. You can't teach somebody to have a better attitude. If they have a crummy attitude, then they gotta, you know, that that's up to them to decide, but you can't force it.

Yep, yep. I. I've always thought back, and I hope I don't offend anybody either. And you did not, Tim, in my opinion. Thank you for sharing. But, you know, their DNA and what they were dealt the first 18 years of their life are really what they're going to bring to the table.

That's exactly how they were grown and.

What they listened to, the message from the bottom of the stairs and that type of thing. And if they come in with a bad attitude and a bad programming, if you will, from a mindset standpoint, with all the love in our heart, we're sorry you're in that position, but this is a business decision. We've got to protect our culture. And we as leaders have a duty and a responsibility.

To protect our culture and our teammates.

It's a key thing. And one thing I'd add to that Mike, Mike, one of the things that you're really great at is you're an amazing coach. And so people listen to you for inspiration. They're listening to you to learn and to be coached. And in being in a leadership position you have to do that. And that includes sometimes when you have somebody who walks in the door that maybe doesn't know a lot, but they have a great attitude. You have to see something in them that sometimes they won't see in themselves. Sometimes you have to give people a reputation for to live up to because they, so many people are capable but they just, they just don't know. They just don't realize like how amazing they could be if you know, unless somebody shows them like holds a mirror up to them in a positive way and says like you always say like, you know, you got this. I believe in you. People move mountains if you believe in them.

Praise and recognition.

That's right.

So it's, it's the two things that people want more than sex and money. And frankly, I learned that from the Nordstrom company.

Oh, wow. Yeah, great.

So I first learned that. Right. I mean that's the two things they wanted, you know, we all glamor to be, you know, appreciated and praised just a little bit.

That's right. Absolutely.

Elevates us to that next step. And yeah, people do business with people they know love and trust. And that's not a learned skill. It is who you are.

That's right.

Great, great stuff. And I 100 agree. And I sit there listening to you agree with the training aspect as well. If they've got character and coachability and all that kind of stuff and a great attitude, we can train the rest. And I'll suggest you have a great training program in place.

Right.

To train those kind of people. And the late, great Zig Ziglar said, the only thing worse than training somebody and they leave is keeping somebody and not training them.

That's right. That's right. So. Yep, that's right.

Just so you have to have that training aspect in place in your business as well to train these people. And you got to have it ready just like recruiting and interviewing everything else. And we're getting off track. Great stuff, Tim. Thank you.

The last thing I'll mention, and I swear I'm not just saying this because it's a plug for you, but honestly, like, look, if you're smaller and you say like, I don't have the ability to have a full on training program, you know, you know what resources are available to you. Send People to courses like the Unstoppable Profit Producer Program. You know, you know, things that exist in the world that can train your people on so many of the important things within our business. There's some amazing trainers and material out there. You just have to take the time to put it together. You don't have to have your own university built out in your agency. You'll get to that point if you hire the right people.

Thank you. Appreciate that. But let's keep giving. That's. That's why we're here today. So speaking of Giving, in chapter 15, you talk about giving back to your communities. We were talking about how fortunate we are, you and I, both, to live in the state that we live in.

Right.

And I'll throw something way out of left field here, if you don't mind. And I want to sense that you probably know this gentleman as well, one of my friends from the East Coast, Mr. Paradiso. Yeah. He's. He's got a shirt that says don't California my usa.

Right, Tim?

Yep.

Yeah. They're just jealous of what we've got out here. But anyway, it is what it is. So anyway, with that regard, we live in, in the state of California, which has got phenomenal weather. It's also got a lot of people. So in the communities that you live and work around, primarily, there's a lot going on. And I know I've seen you out there giving back to your community in so many different ways. So share why you found after a period of time, or maybe you started here in the first place, why is community involvement so important in the growth of your agency and evolvement of who you are as a business?

Sure, sure. So. Well, you know, I'll start with the most important thing, which is definitely something I didn't realize when I was like, you know, 21, starting to do personal lines. But, you know, like a lot of 20 year olds, I wasn't really thinking about at the time, like my own mortality and, you know, the things that are really important in your life. Right.

It was invincibility.

No, I was invincible at the time.

Exactly.

Right.

So really, like, when you think about what legacy do you want to leave and how do you want people to remember you and what would people say about you if they, you know, if there was a eulogy for your funeral? And that's really, that's obviously really heavy stuff, but, you know, that's just the reality for all of us. Right. So I know for me, I got to a point where I just didn't see any value in people. And I appreciate so much the opportunities for business success and being able to grow my business, but if that was my only legacy, I'd be so disappointed in that because, you know, that's not really, you know, it's all about making an impact on the world and doing things for others. At the end of the day, that that's my value. I don't think I'm unique in that regard, though. I think most people do want to be remembered as somebody who was a good person who gave back and the, you know, the amount of money that you made or the size of your house and these things are, are things that the further you along you get in life, you really realize that's not the stuff that, that's important. I mean, that stuff is, is great and all, but that's not stuff that when you're old you're going to say, well, I'm sure glad my house was, you know, this number of square feet and not smaller. I mean, and I think people sort of know that, right? So I kind of fell into non profit work. I got recruited to be on a, on a board for the YMCA when I was 21 or 22 and thought why, why would what, like why would this organization pick me to be on a board? I don't know anything about charitable work. And, and of course I had imposter syndrome because I walked in there and all these people were older than me and successful and I thought, oh man, like I'm gonna embarrass myself. I don't bring anything to the table in regards to this, but I just showed up. Most importantly, I showed up, right? I didn't get intimidated and decide not to do it. So that's like probably the most important thing is you get into this stuff. And I made friends and I enjoyed the work that we were doing and I just progressed. As I spent more and more time doing these things, I liked how it made me feel at the end of the day. It wasn't always easy to carve out the time for these things, but I felt useful and productive and believed in the mission of the organization. Whatever organization that was, that was the important thing. And it just so happens that the further upstream you move with nonprofit work, and it's not a hierarchy, but just like with any work, the type of work that you're doing, the organizations will get bigger and bigger and the types of folks that are on those boards will get further and further up in their own careers. And so now some of the boards that I Sit on. I've developed relationships with people that I would never have any way to meet these people outside of this work. I mean, it just wouldn't be possible. Right. These people are so much more successful and accomplished than me. By, and I'm not being humble. I mean, I mean that, I mean, people that are just really, I'm in awe of, and I learned so much just by being in these rooms and seeing just what's in, you know, what gets talked about and what's important and, and then, you know, developing a relationship, which was the first part that we talked about. I mean, so talk about a win, win. Doing great work, helping the community, doing work for a good cause, and then creating relationships with people that are enormously successful, but also really, really good people. And I've honestly found that without exception, at the top are some of the most honest, hard working, ethical people that I can even, you know, that I've even remember meeting in my Life.

It's amazing 100%. And I just wrote down a couple of things to share in support of that. And I have found the same thing.

Awesome.

Because people that have had any type of achievement in their life, whether it be business or maybe otherwise, they have a heart and they want to give back. I mean, Andrew Carnegie, right. Maybe over a hundred years ago, but Carnegie hall on the east coast and everything else, I mean, he actually intentionally, and I'm not sure if you've heard this story or not, Tim, but he intentionally wrote down a note that he wanted to, you know, earn or make X amount of money by a certain age. And he put it in his desk drawer. What happened?

It happened.

It became reality.

Sure, sure. Absolutely.

So I mean, by, you know, age 40 or whatever he made, I don't remember the exact number, you know, and this is a hundred years ago.

So it's like today's dollars.

Billion dollars or something.

Billions of dollars in today's dollars for sure.

Yeah, exactly, exactly. And so the next half of his life, his plan was simply give it all away.

That's so awesome.

And, and that's the kind of people and the mindset that you find in these circles.

That's right, that's right.

You're getting out there and back to giving back. Right.

You realize there's other people that are like you. So if you're somebody that likes to learn, you like to do good, you like to work hard, when you're like, you know, maybe you go to a barbecue of a family and stuff, or you know, things that are just more of like an Average community member, and that's not a bad thing. But the conversations that you have with people at those types of events, they're not going to be the same. And so if you want to talk about these things, they won't resonate with everybody. Right. And these rooms, when you talk about things like we're talking about, like everything we've talked about today is the type of conversation that if you were in a room, it wouldn't be, you know, something like this probably wouldn't be on the agenda. But the, the type of, you know, energy and what we're talking about, there'd be so much value that just gets added to that on top of what we're talking about. You wouldn't have anybody who would say, oh, I don't, you know, care about this kind of stuff. It's all people that have the same belief system.

Bingo.

I had, I wrote a check to myself for a million dollars, I think, when I was probably 14 or 15, and I had it taped above my bed, sort of the thing, same type of thing as Andrew Carnegie. And I'm such a big believer in just sort of what happens from a subconscious standpoint when you do that. It's kind of the same idea as having like a vision board. And people might say that stuff is hoity toity or, you know, they don't see the scientific value of it. I don't need to know how it works. I just know it works.

I 100 agree. In fact, you know, we have this little joke in our marketing circles and along the same lines, it works so well, we quit doing it. Right?

That's right. Yeah, that's right. Exactly right.

Yeah, I've done that same thing. In fact, thank you very much. I'm going to get right back to that. And when we get done sometime later today, I'm going to write a check to myself and I'm going to give it to somebody that I trust. I'm going to say, mail this to me about December 1st.

Awesome. That's awesome.

And if I've done what I need to do from a goal standpoint and otherwise.

Right.

And giving back to other people and helping other people, it may just be be able to be cashed, right?

That's right.

Or you can get a little more strategic and say, Tim Gaspar, I'm going to give you a check for, you know, five or $10,000. And this is my goal this year. I want you to check with me in December. And if I've not done what it takes to get to that Goal, I'm going to allow you to cash that check or to give this to your favorite charity.

Yeah, that's motivation. That's you're putting it out there in the universe and you don't know how to. It's like the marketing stuff, Mike, you don't have to be an expert on how this stuff works to just do it and just have faith and just have a good attitude. Have faith. And 99 times out of 100, it's amazing what happens. All of a sudden the results are even more than you thought it could potentially be.

Just to remind everybody out there, we're talking with Tim Gaspar who was bankrupt at age 20 that built an agency. Fifteen years later he sold for $30 million. And, and these are basic business principle that Tim has used. And he's still involved with the agency as a leader today, but used to build his business. And as you said earlier, Tim, anybody listening or watching this podcast can do it, correct?

Oh, absolutely. And I'm not. Look, if you would have met me, I wish I could be here on like another split screen as like a 20 year old Tim. Because you'd be like this. This guy.

Yeah.

You know, like I was just like anybody else. But, you know, I believed in myself and I knew insurance was a great business, which is probably the biggest thing, frankly. And that wasn't even my own thinking. It was just a business that I was aware of growing up. But really, yeah, as long as you don't cut corners and as long as you're willing to do the work, absolutely, anybody is capable. And those are two pretty easy things, right? Not easy to do the work, but you know, it's not complicated.

No, no. And you know, back to your story about the YMCA. You went in there in your early 20s, etcetera, etcetera. These successful, high achieving, established people, they're always looking for somebody who might be younger. So I'm sharing this intentionally for people that might just be starting out in the industry as an example, right. They're looking for the next up and coming young potential entrepreneur to mentor and to help and to stand by their side because we all know that we're, you know, our day is going to come sooner or later, right?

That's right.

And we want to be able to pass the torch on to somebody else, Right. Who is capable and willing to take it. And that's just not everybody.

I'm not sure if every generation feels this way, but I'll tell you right now, a lot of the talk that happens in these rooms is about where do we find these young people that are motivated, that we can talk to about bringing into the fold? And there seems to be a shortage of just young people that these folks have been able to identify. And I think in reality, I think young people are just as talented as they've ever been. It's just a matter of putting yourself out there to be seen. And back to that relationship piece where if you're a 22 year old starting out in the insurance business or 30 or whatever it is, call the 70 year old that you've been following that's a very successful business person and just ask, you know, if they can get a cup of coffee with you so you can pick their brain. And this won't surprise you, Mike, but if you make that phone call to that, that person that's already been successful, they're going to take the coffee invitation 99 times out of 100. Very seldom are they going to say they're too busy. The people like that, they just love to give back and be able to.

There is nothing better than helping and inspiring somebody who wants to be taught and inspired.

Absolutely. It's fun.

Yeah, yeah. I mean, and ultimately, when you lay your head on the pillow at night, you just have that piece about you knowing that you've helped somebody else's life.

That's right. That's right.

And when you get words back, I got an email yesterday from somebody that we don't work with anymore, but used to work with. He said, mike, I was thinking about you this morning and I just have to let you know I set a BHAG goal like you taught me a couple years ago.

Awesome.

Just starting out in business, right. Less than three years old. Less than a three year old agency. He goes, we hit it.

Oh man. How cool is that?

Oh my gosh. Doesn't get any better.

Yeah, yeah.

Doesn't get any better because he's a family guy and I know what it's, you know, gonna do for his family. So. You're right, Tim. And I know you have a lot of the same stories and your teammates and other people that you've inspired and motivated and affected in a big, big way. So, Tim, thank you, thank you for coming back and, and sharing some more of your wisdom and knowledge and experience as we wrap it up today. Do you have anything, one last thing you want to add?

You know, just to. Yeah, the one last thing I would add is right now. So, you know, we're doing this podcast In June of 2023 and in California, but I know not only in California, It's a very, very, very hard market. Personal insurance is really difficult in a lot of places. Commercial insurance for a lot of types of businesses is also very difficult. And the one thing I would say is it's not permanent. Nothing lasts forever. Whatever you do, don't look at the challenging environment with insurance and decide to take a step back. Don't, you know, decide you don't want to do personal lines anymore. Now's the time to be able to show your value. Stick with it. That's just, you know, my only message is it changes. It gets easier. Stick with it. This is not the forever for our business. This is just right now. This, too, shall pass. That's it.

I could not agree more. I've been through a lot of tumultuous times in the industry, back to the 1980s and the 90s and all of that.

I will suggest that this time, right now is probably as tough as it's been.

Oh, yeah, sure.

But agree, show your value.

Right.

And show who you are. Because, I mean, the word that they're probably looking for is either a C or an E. Right? Compassion or empathy.

Absolutely. That's exactly right. And that's another thing AI can't do, Mike.

That's right.

Yeah, exactly. So great stuff. Great stuff. I agree. And just keep caring about people. Keep caring about people. I was on with an agent yesterday. He said, mike, we're keeping our mindset positive. We're just caring about people. We're just helping people. And that's what we tell them. We say, look, we know. We know that the bill causes pain.

Yep.

We realize that ours, too, is causing pain. But we are here for you, and we want to help you through this in any way we can.

That's right.

Even if you just want to talk through it, we want to listen.

You know, that's one item that you can't do that in an email. And that's something that you either have to do in person or you have to do it via Zoom phone call. You can. You can communicate a lot of empathy via phone calls to. But that's so important that will, in 80% of cases, I think, if not more, keep the client when otherwise, they would have seen the rate increase and they would have left. Regardless of what you said in an email about I shopped and this and that, if you communicate that kind of empathy and that you care, that's like the beginning of our conversation. It's really what people want. You know, just being seen, being noticed is just what most people are searching for, and they're going to stay right there. And it's worth the time to do that and to take the energy to do that.

I've told my teams over the years, part of your commission dollars are because you're a counselor. You're just listening.

That's right. Yep. That's a good way to put it, Mike. I love that. That's awesome.

Yeah. So I feel the need to share this, and I apologize. You have kids, right?

Yeah.

Yeah, I knew that. But anyway, one of the things I learned as a dad is, and a good friend of mine reminded me of this in our driveway last night. I was out, you know, with some of my buddies, and he said, mike, one of the things that you said to us, and I'm glad he said, because I had kind of forgotten about it, and he has daughters and I have daughters, and it was in that context, but it works for any situation. I think you say, just say when they're having a bad day or whatever, they want to talk and you have something you want to add as a parent, but that's not what they want.

Right, right, right.

They just want you to listen. So I learned from somebody else who cared enough to say it to me. Would you like me to give you my feedback or would you just like me to listen?

Right. That's a great question. I love that, you know, and.

And he reminded me of that. I'm glad he did, because I kind of forgot about it. Because ultimately, they just want you to listen.

That's right. That's right.

And they don't. You've got feedback, of course, but they. And it's the same thing with our clients.

Right.

Or other people out there.

That's right.

They just need somebody who's willing to hear them. It's one of the basic human needs in Maslow's hierarchy of needs. Right.

So the great thing, Mike, is not for the listeners on this podcast. Most insurance agents, I hate to say it, they probably won't do the listening they need to do. But if you're listening to this podcast, you're already the type of person that is probably a listener because you're somebody who loves to learn. You're going to set yourself apart, and, boy, isn't that a great opportunity.

100% agree. So we. We shared a lot and probably went over on our sharing. So, Tim Gaspar, thank you.

Awesome. Thank you again, Mike, for the opportunity.

Please keep in touch. I can't wait to continue to share with people and help them learn. And if this is your first time on the podcast. Welcome. My name is Mike Stromso. I'm widely recognized as the leading author, speaker and coach for the independent insurance agency. But I better keep my game up because Tim Gaspar is nipping behind me as an author and a leader in the industry. In all seriousness, there's plenty out there to help other people. You can learn more about what we do@unstoppableprofitproducer.com and if you're interested in one of our live events, please go to be unstoppablebootcamp.com or one of our virtual events is@uppfaststart.com everything we do is designed to share with all of you some of our best money making strategies developed over 35 years as a 100% of the time proud independent insurance agent to help you grow your business, create wealth so you too can have more freedom to live life on your own terms. And if you got great value from this podcast today, which is our number one goal, please go to Unstoppable Profit podcast.com share the link with somebody else you care about so we can help them get better and to continue to grow as well. And if you haven't done it, go to unstoppable podcast.com, go up to the top and click subscribe. And of course, we're out there on all the channels, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, our YouTube channel, and Amazon podcasts and more. So we just want to help people grow, create wealth and have more freedom. That is our sole goal. And we are privileged and honored to have people on the podcast such as Mr. Timothy Gaspar. Tim, congratulations. Keep helping people, man.

We'll do, we'll do.

I know you will. All right, thank you everybody for joining us. Until next time, get out there, make a difference, be unstoppable, leave no regrets. And as a reminder, and Tim reiterated this as well, you got this. We believe in you and we know you can do it. Right, Tim?

That's right. 100%.

All right, everybody, we'll see you on the next episode.

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