Episode 69: A Decision Leads to Texas Size Action with Kim Dunahoe and Kathy Cooley

Welcome to the Unstoppable Profit podcast. Wherever you are today, if you're starting with nothing or are well on your way to the success you desire, with the right people, processes and promotions in place, you will be unstoppable. And now I'd like to introduce your host, Mike Stromso.

Greetings everybody. This is Mike Stromco coming to you live from the Living Agency Laboratory. And welcome to the next episode of the Unstoppable Profit podcast. I am proud and honored to have two ladies from, let's be clear on this, the great state of Texas, God's country, because not only did they remind me that that is 100% accurate, but I have lots of friends in the great state of Texas, God's country. But I've got two industry leaders from the state of Texas on the podcast today and I am super pumped, super excited to dive in a little bit. They have been making such cool, great progress in their agency business. So I want to find out a little bit more and share it all with you. Make sure you get something to write with and get something to write on because you're going to want to take lots of notes. They are making great progress in their venture even through this adversity. They are absolutely growing through this adversity. Congratulations to you. We've got Kim Dunoho and Kathy Cooley on the podcast today. Welcome.

Thanks.

You're welcome. So before we get started, give our listeners just a quick two to three minute intro. Kim, we're going to start with you. Where'd you start out? Go back as far as you want. Where'd you grow up and how'd you get into the insurance agency business?

Well, I grew up in a little community called Crow and went to high school in Hawkins. And so both very, very small areas and, and grew up on 150 acres of land and we had a farm and my dad was a rural mail carrier and he also sold Woodman of the World insurance on the side. And a friend of his called him and said, hey, there's this company called HO High Prairie Farm Mutual, you need to call them up. They do rural business. Well, that's all we knew was rural business, was we lived in a farm and my dad was a rural mail carrier. So it seemed like a good fit for him. So he called the president of the company up, they invited him down and he became an agent. And so that's kind of how we got into the business.

And it's just continued from there. But I'm married And I have four kids.

And.

We have seven kids together and 13 grandchildren and one great grandchild. So we are rocking the kid thing. Love each of them and it's been.

A lot of fun.

Fantastic. I didn't know that that part of the expansion of your family. So that's interesting. We have 13 grandkids, so we have one more thing in common. Right?

Yeah, Absolutely.

Fantastic. So thank you, Kim, Kathy, tell us a little bit more about you.

Well, I grew up in Lindale, which is about 15 miles just south of Mineola here where we work. And my parents and, and Mr. Everett, Nell, they all went to church together. So I've known the family for quite some time. And I started in the insurance business back in 2008. I took my test and wanted to. I had spent prior to that, I.

Spent 20 years in the legal field.

Working for an insurance group that was insurance defense. So we represented those folks that were hit in a car accident. So, you know, my thought was I think I want to see what this insurance business is all about. So me, I got out of the.

Legal field right after my dad passed.

Away and started living the life of an insurance agent. But I worked for.

A life and.

Health company in Tyler.

Bankers Life is where I started. Called Everett one day and I said, everett, we need to talk about your.

Long term care plan. And he said, sure, come on down.

To the office and we'll talk about it.

And the next thing I know, I'm hired to be a field agent for the agency.

So kudos to Everett. Pardon me?

Kudos to Everett.

Yeah.

So about 11 years later, here I.

Am now and I finished my bachelor's degree in business management back in, I don't know, I think 2014. And so I'm now the office coordinator for the office and sell what I.

Can and wherever I can.

That's a fantastic background to have in the insurance industry because I learned in my early years that if you have any kind of training within law.

Mm.

And you know, insurance policies, that's a very powerful position. You have a lot of leverage in our particular industry. So congratulations on coming out of that. And I know that Kim couldn't be more proud and honored to have you on her team because bigger than that, you're more than a coordinator. I know that you are an absolute backbone. Backbone for the organization. So, Kim, exactly where is your office located? City, state, and what's the name of the agency?

Just so we know, we're located in Minneola, Texas and it's Donahue Insurance Agency.

Okay. And about where is that In Texas, the great state of Texas. Guys country too, right?

Absolutely. We're on Highway 80. We're about 100 miles east of Dallas and 100 miles west of Shreveport. So we're kind of right in the middle there and about 30 miles from Tyler. So most people know where those three places are.

Yeah, yeah. So you gave a little bit about your story you started learning with your dad.

Yeah.

You guys were out selling policies on the road. Tell us a little bit more about that.

Well, he was a pretty smart businessman, actually, because what he did was he knew all these people that were on the mail route and just people. He lived in that same community and area forever. So on Saturday mornings he would get me up and we would get in the car and we would just start going house to house, his mail route. And we could set. I mean, insurance was easy back then. You could sit in the car and figure out the cost of the house, what the insurance was going to be. So we would sit in the car, figure that out, and then he'd go knock on the door. Well, people never.

Didn'T talk to him because there's his daughter standing there, this little girl standing there with her daddy, you know, with this end of my hand, you know, like, I do what I'm doing. Right. And so a lot of times we did that almost every Saturday morning. That's how we built our business was knocking the doors, going and talking to people, and almost they would invite us in. A lot of times we wrote a policy on the spot, or they would call us as soon as their policy came up for renewal and gave us the opportunity. So there are a lot of those first time customers that we have and still have today. And I can remember going to their houses back as a child. So that's kind of how we started. He was on the board for Hawaii Prairie and was also president of the board.

He was just a great man all the way around. Taught me a lot about people and insurance. And it was very much a learning experience. And it's something we continued throughout the whole time he was alive. And, you know, I teased even at his funeral that every board meeting we ever had was in the front seat of the car. Because when he decided he wanted to talk about something, we got in the car and drove. And so that's kind of how we built the business. My mom always said that my dad had a girlfriend and her name was Hawaiian Prairie, but that was okay because she paid the bills. And so he loved the insurance business, you know, and so he taught that love of the insurance business to me.

Yeah, yeah. I joked that I've got a mistress as well and my wife knows all about her. Her name's Audible.

She feeds me a lot of information that keeps me learning and growing.

Exactly.

And it's better to have a front seat, front seat reputation. Then I shouldn't even go there.

So board meeting is the front seat. There we go.

That's right, that's right.

So that's a wonderful history. You both got a great upbringing within the industry. Now you're doing really cool stuff. Give us a little information on your agency. So how many team members do you have?

We have eight right now.

Okay, so it's eight, including you two.

Uh huh.

So six plus two. We got eight total. And what's your mix of business roughly? Doesn't have to be exact. Personal lines versus commercial lines.

We're probably like 65% personal and the rest is commercial.

Okay, so you got a good mix there. A little diversified. And one of the things that I'm aware of you as you've continued to learn and grow within the industry and as I was speaking with you recently, you mentioned this and I said, aha, they have been taking action. Congratulations on taking massive action. So you have new team members. Tell us all about your experience. You know, in the UPP realm, we talk about people, processes and promotion in that order. You identified that people is a big component of a progressive and successful, if you will, business operation. So what have you learned about that recently and why did you do what you did?

Well, when we started upp, we knew we had an employee problem or a people problem, as you call it. And so we knew that some of the people were used to doing everything their way and that that wasn't going to work any longer because it had to be the Donahue way. And so that rubbed some people the wrong way, obviously. And some people were released back into the marketplace. Some decided to go out in the marketplace on their own. And we have hired, recently hired three new employees and we're getting them license. But what we found out is all the stuff that we were told, it can't be done. I don't have time.

All of these things magically were able to accomplish because we have a system in place, we have the processes in place and we chose people that were trainable and that were willing to show up and do the job as opposed to some of the people that we had who just weren't there anymore. And they showed up. They were great at showing up, but not so great at doing things the way we wanted them. But you gave us the tools in UPP to be able to move forward and to have a direction with the people and the processes and we are.

Forever grateful for that.

No, you. Well, thank you for the opportunity, but you're the ones that took the action. So I'm going to ping pong to Kathy about the action piece in just a second. So there's a lot of people out there, some who might be watching this and, or listening to this, who might be thinking, well, that's all well and great, that's them. I can't come within myself and find it within myself to actually replace people. You know, this person has been on my team so long, etc, Etc. Kathy, what would you say to them?

Well, I would say that that's not always the case in our situation. It was not the case because you can be, you can have this job for 25 years and if you're not doing the right thing, you don't need to be a part of the team because with a team you're all playing on the same field. You're all there together. And if you choose not to be, then that's where Debbie Downer comes in. And Debbie Downer then seems to be the one to take the lead. And so we had to find somebody that was willing to participate and be a team player and.

You know, be able to make a difference.

In their position of what they were doing in order to help grow this agency and move forward to where we wanted to go.

So give us a little insight and either Kim or Kathy, whoever wants to take the question, give us a little insight, what the culture looked like before you made these changes and updates, if you will, and what it's looking like after.

Well, I'll take that question. One of the things that we were asked at upp, would you want to work for you? And man, that got me. I mean, it still gets me because the answer was no. I wouldn't have worked for me. I didn't have a direction, I didn't have a plan and I wasn't engaged in the business. And that's just the honest truth of the whole matter. However, we've gotten into this and we have identified all of those things. I'm totally engaged, totally part of the process, got a better relationship with our employees and our companies and I think getting everybody on board started with me. And once we realized who wasn't going to be on board, it was pretty easy because bottom line is it's my business, it's not anybody else's. It's mine. And what did I want from my business and what did I want for the team? And I wanted that team ability to run through our agency and everybody be on the team. So it was profitable for everybody. But I think it started with me and Kathy will agree to this, is that it started with me changing the way I thought. And you can get rid of employees. It's not easy. I let Kathy do it.

Empower and elevate. Right?

That's right. That's what you told me.

You are a great student. You're learning.

That's right.

So you can take action on those. Even though when it's hard, if it's really hard for you and it makes you feel terrible, then you empower somebody else to be the person that, you know, lowers it, that's okay, too. You don't have to be that person that does everything. And I think as agency owners, we come to the thing is, we gotta do everything. And that's really not true. You do what you're best at. I'm not good at that. That bothers me. But Kathy's pretty good at it.

It's that legal background.

That's right. That's what it is. That's what it is. Absolutely. Absolutely.

You're just dropping gold nugget after gold nugget. Thank you for sharing from the heart and transparently, more than that. You know, all progress starts by pushing into areas of discomfort. And I was talking about this on the last podcast, and it seems to be a growing trend that we've got to get comfortable being uncomfortable. It's just part of being a growing, prospering entrepreneur in today's world. I mean, we can't get around it, so we have to find a way. But bigger than that, you also shared that you should only be doing the things that only you can do and you do well and or operating in the top three areas of your personal gifts, talents, vital functions, whatever those are. And then a lot of people used to say, delegate and elevate. Well, in the UPP realm, we have updated that a little bit. Empower and elevate. So your culture is much better, eh?

Yes.

Yes.

Fantastic. So you took what you learned and you went back and took action and implemented. So, you know, a virtual high five to you for taking action, because that's where it all starts. I mean, we can think about it all we want, we can talk about it all we want, but that doesn't do jack. We've got to take the action now. You're having that experience Go ahead, Kathy.

We just did it all in like a week's time. So, you know, I mean, it was nothing different.

Yeah. So you're an underachiever.

Well, and we laugh about that, but when we sit back and look at everything that we've done since October to where we are today, like even last week, we are on a whole new realm of what we're doing, fixing to do. You know, we haven't even gone through it with you. But anyway, we have a whole new goal list at this point because we keep completing every goal that we're setting out. And is it easy? No, it's hard. And we have stumbled and we probably move too fast in some areas, but we just keep pushing on.

Yeah, well, if it's easy, everybody would be doing it, right?

Exactly.

And the iconic Les Brown says, if you want your life to be easy, do what's hard, but if you want your life to be hard, go ahead and do what's easy. So you have figured that out. And I'm here to tell you I've got this incredible freedom to be able to do this kind of thing now. And we just got done with our quarterly leadership off site planning meeting with our coach and absolutely off the charts came back. I don't have a lot to do. I've got one thing that I'm going to be focusing on, but it's the biggest thing that needs to be focused on that only I can do. So I can't wait to continue to share the future with you as you continue to evolve and get up to the next levels. So happy for you. So if you think back, so that was just a few months ago that you've made all this progress so far. Can you think back to anything else that you identified in our first meeting? Where did we first meet, by the way?

Well, I met you at a Germania convention. And I'm sitting there listening to you and I'm thinking, this guy knows the business. He's not just some guy up there talking. I mean, I've been going to conventions for 38 years and you have all these people that are in business, but they're not in our business. And you actually got it. And I thought to myself, we got to do this. I don't know what it's going to involve or what we're going to do, but we got to do this. So I signed us up and I called Kathy and I go, can you go to San Diego in October because we're going to a boot camp. And she goes, yeah, I don't know what that is. I'm sure my office thought I was nuts because I came back and I was like, woo, look at these books we got. This is wonderful. Y' all. Just can't believe what I've heard. This is gonna be great. We're gonna change everything. The bad part of it is that was in January and I had to wait till October.

So I read your book a lot. And then we finally got to October and we would go to the meeting during the day and come back to the room at 9:30, 10 o' clock at night and go, oh my gosh. Did you get all this? I got all this. What do you got? You know, I mean, we were on fire and thrilled to death and it's just been a great experience from there.

Well, thank you for the lead on. I wasn't planning on doing this at all, but I might as well because I can't resist the opportunity because the present is a gift and we always need to be opening it. Right.

We identified that as well. And so we don't want anybody to have to wait from January till October ever again.

That's a good thing.

It's upfaststart.com so if you're writing this down, just go to upfaststart.com and that will be going on consistently every single month to help people that are on fire that don't want to wait months.

That's awesome.

So it's problem solved as an opportunity for sale.

Right, Right, right.

So can you think of anything else that coming out of the boot camp you identified the first P issue. What else surrounding the three Ps did you identify that you've since solved to help other people?

The processes is the other thing because.

Like we've learned, you have to have.

The right people in the right seats and you have to have processes. We did not have any direction as far as how to do something or where to go to find it, or, you know, it was hopefully that person who had been here and in the business for 25 years could answer that question, you know, or somebody else that.

Had done it before.

But now we have processes system in place and.

We are still getting that evolved and adding to that, you know, on a regular basis. And us too. I mean, we're trying to remember where.

We put those processes.

But, you know, we've got everybody on board as far as where to locate that and what to do and we'll come across something and Kim will say, now put that in our processes. So, you know, it's something that Will continue. It's not anything that's gonna stop because, you know, the day you stop learning is the day you stop growing. So we want everybody to grow and to prosper and.

You know, to be the best at their ability, that they can be just like what we want for us in the business and for the agency as well.

Well, you made an investment in the platinum coaching program. So has anything else come out of your growth and learning so far? I mean, through the masterminds? I don't think Kathy came out for the one day, but we had the one day together. I mean, all of that in combination of. What would you say to somebody who might be watching this and if they have this opportunity to experience all of this, why should they?

Well, you know, you don't know what you don't know. And that was where we were.

I was stuck.

I mean, you think, oh, she's been in the business all this long, she already know everything. Y' all said stuff I had no clue about. I'll just tell you up front. I'm a little country girl from East Texas and I just didn't know all this stuff. And you people from California are smart and I'm learning. I have learned so much. But the deal is, is that you help get us on a path and then you help keep us there and encourage us, very politely, I may add, to go for those goals and achieve those goals. And the one day session is amazing because you get to drill down with just you and work through all the things that you're working on and whatever problem. And to know that I could pick up the phone at any time and call you and say, hey, my, you know, this is what's going on. How do we handle that? But, you know, the thing is, is that I don't always feel like I have to call you because you've given us so many tools. I mean, he sends his books all the time. If you're on the phone with him for your, you know, call, he go, oh, let me get you this, and send you all this stuff. He sends me so much information. Sometimes it's more than I can do with, you know, But I so appreciate it because if I don't have time to mess with it right then I can always go back. It's the resources that never go away. And the fact that you also get other agencies that you have as resources and that you meet with them once a month on a zoom call and then you meet with them at masterminds and boot camp is unbelievable experience and knowledge that you gain from all of that. If you're not doing it, you're probably not doing your business justice or yourself. It's a chance to grow yourself and to grow your business and to grow your team. And if that's truly what you want, all of those end up with being promotions and more money from the companies and everything else because you've got a solid foundation to build on.

Yeah. Does Kathy know about the emergency calls about Kathy?

Yes, yes, yes. We haven't had one yet.

I know, I'm just joking. I'm just joking. But there's no need for one because I know she is, you know, making as much progress as you are. You are both putting in the effort that is necessary to reach the goals that you set out to reach. And you know, as we also talk about, commitment is the thing that you said you were going to do long after the mood you set it in has passed. You have made the commitment and you are fulfilling that commitment. Could not be more proud of you, could not be in more admiration. By the way, it is not California. It is all over the nation. I mean, we have some super sharp people up in Oregon, west Minnesota, down in Florida. I mean, they're from all over the country. We just have to be residing out here. But thank you for the compliment, by the way, as we begin to move towards the end today. So as a result of the investment in yourself and your business, because we talk about growing your business, creating wealth and bigger than that, having more freedom because the balance wheel is always sitting out there. We want to have that balanced wheel life. What's the result been for you so far and what can you envision into the future once you start really getting these things further locked into place?

Well, I'll tell you, the past vision has been that we are working from can to cane. I'll just tell you straight up, that's what we're doing. Kathy works so many hours, she'll stay late at night. I'm kind of more of the morning person. I'll start at home and work on things. And we usually end our day on a telephone call for an hour or more. So right now it feels like a whole lot of work. But our vision is to be able to have more time, get these people trained and have more time for our personal lives. You know, right now our families are kind of like, really? But we see what's going to happen in the end and we know it's going to be great for ourselves and for the business and everything. And we're just waiting for that time right now and moving along as we train other people to do what we need done.

Honestly, you know, the one thing is that Kim and I are here for each other, and we.

Talk.

We don't make decisions, usually without conversing with each other, because, like, she's one of those that, you know, wants it and wants it now, and I do, too. I'm kind of.

I want it, and I want it.

Now, but I'm kind of the reserve one. You know, I'll let her go, but then I'll pull the reins back and I'll say, why don't we think about this? Or, we need to reevaluate that. But what it boils down to is the fact that we are sharing this together.

As a team. We're passing it on to the rest of the employees in the office.

We're giving back.

To help the others learn and grow and be consistent. And.

It all comes into play when that customer calls or that customer comes.

In and says, I got a letter.

In the mail from your office, and.

I've got a question about this coverage.

Or I've got a question about this. And they're so happy to hear from us, because.

It'S one thing to write a policy, but it's another thing when your customer comes in and says, because of you. I learned what that means because you took that time and that effort, and you explained that to me. Thank you for letting me know. So I feel like we're not only helping protect their assets, but we are also educating them, and they're grateful because nobody else has taken the time.

And the other thing, our employees are really grateful at this moment. I sent them some thank you cookies this week, which is a whole long story. But anyway, sent them some cookies to say just basically thank you. I had a couple of them come in here and go, we've never worked for anybody who just does random things for us and is willing to come in and work beside us and train us and help us and. And answer any of our questions. And even if we make a mistake, you don't go off the deep end. And, you know, we should be thanking you. We thank you so much for everything you do. And then we had one that sent us a text this week thanking us for everything that we had done and how they had never been on a team before like this and how wonderful it is. And so we feel like that our team is doing really good things, and our customers are learning a lot more and more. We feel like we have it figured out to Some degree that we're making strides in the industry and what we're doing.

And if you look back roughly 12 months before or back 12 months ago, was this happening?

No.

Yeah.

Not at all.

So how does that make you feel as team leaders?

I'm so proud. I'm just so proud of everything that we've accomplished. I'm proud of the people on our team. You know, there's more than just Kathy and I, but we've all worked really hard, and I certainly appreciate everything that they've done. And I think it's. It's just gratitude, you know, we're happy.

Yeah. I just pulled out my gratitude calendar because of what you said. Thank you for sharing that. That's what it's all about. I mean, that is what it's all about because we are building up leaders beneath us.

You were dropping nugget after nugget about leadership earlier, Kim, because what you were talking about is, you know, a leader, a leader in place, continuing to grow. And then Kathy's. You know, I know spending one on one time with Kathy at Mastermind, and you weren't there for whatever reason, Kim. But, you know, Cathy's growing as a leader. I can see that developing as well. So kudos to both of you. But, you know, gratitude turns what we have into enough. Right?

Exactly.

So you are making that part of your culture. And I know that sometime in the near future, we are going to help you with core values, and it will be the reason that, you know, Donahue Insurance exists, and you are all built around your core values. So I couldn't be more excited about your future. Congratulations on taking action. So even though with all the hurricanes going on down around there and everything else surrounding you, because it just happens to be that time of year in the great state of Texas, God's country, as we wrap up today, anything else you'd like to add?

No, we just. I think we just want to thank you for everything that you've poured into us because, you know, we took it to heart and we've worked on it and we've accomplished it, and, you know, we're truly excited. And the video starts Aug. 7 to work on it. So I know you asked us that. The whole team asked us to do the video. So August 7th, we're kicking it off and getting it started. So I want to share that at Mastermind.

Way to go. Proud of you guys.

Super excited.

Yeah. Yeah. It's just action. And so, you know, if you get stuck, just call me. And we're good.

Fantastic. Well, Kim and Kathy, thank you so much for investing just a few minutes to share your journey so far as part of UPP and what you've learned over the less than 12 months. And more importantly than that, taken action upon the greatest encouragement I've got. We can talk about it all we want, we can think about it all we want, but it's only action that's going to lead to the next win or the next lesson. Would you agree with?

Absolutely.

Yeah.

Fantastic. Beautiful ladies. Thank you so much. So very proud of you. I can't wait to see the videos. I can't wait to see you at Mastermind coming soon. And please be safe in the weather that's going on there and keep taking action. You guys rock. Thanks again.

Thank you.

Appreciate it.

All right, everybody. Hey, get out there and make a difference. Be unstoppable. Leave no regrets. We will see you on the next episode of the Unstoppable Profit podcast. And if you got great value out of this podcast, please share it with anybody and everybody that you know. It's unstoppable profit podcast.com that's unstoppable. Profitpodcast.com don't forget to subscribe so that you'll automatically get notified about the next podcast. We've got some incredible other agency professionals and other industry people coming to the podcast very, very soon. But what I hope you got great value of what these ladies shared today. And if you didn't, I would strongly recommend because I get to, you know, hang out and learn from agency entrepreneurs all over North America. These ladies doing great things. So if you didn't get it all, please go back and watch it again and take more notes and most importantly, take action. All right, everybody, until the next episode, we will see you soon again. Thank you, ladies.

Thank you.

Thanks.

Bye. Love y'.

All.

Take care.

You too.

Thank you for listening. If you would like to listen to more episodes or share this podcast with someone you care about, please visit www.unstoppableprofitpodcast.com now go out and make a difference. Be unstoppable and leave no regrets.