We're All In This Together - Interview With Allison Hammons

Foreign welcome to the Agent Leader podcast. My name is Brent Kelly, your host. Thanks so much for joining me on this episode. I have a fantastic guest for you, the agency leader today that I will introduce here just in a minute or two. But before I get to my awesome podcast guest today that you're going to learn a ton from and you're really going to like, I always want to share the mission of the podcast. The mission of this podcast is to help you, the agency leader, and gain clarity, build consistency and make a commitment to become your best version possible as we get into this new year, 2023. Hard to believe, right? Like 2023, I just feel like we are all getting older. But why does it feel more real when you really do feel like you are getting older? For whatever that is worth, as we get into this year, we are continually to seek out and to find qualified growth agency partners. And you know, I've mentioned this on some previous podcasts, but if you're an agency that's really looking to take the next step, schedule a strategy call with one of our coaches. We get to know you better, you get to know us better and see if there's a potential fit for us to work closely with your agency to help you in all kinds of different areas and alignment and getting your producers producing to understand the power of retaining and replicating the high level and to give your agency a high level playbook that can be customized for your agency. So if you want to learn more about that, go to sitkins.com experience sitkins.com experience all right. I am, I am privileged to have a guest, someone who I got a chance to meet this year. Didn't know each other before this year? I don't think so. Right, Allison, that I aware of. So if you said, oh my God, she forgot. No, we didn't meet until this year. And I had, I had the privilege, I mentioned this on a previous podcast of being part of the Agency Leadership Institute, which is hosted by Cincinnati Insurance Reagan consultant. Reagan Consulting leads that. And I, as part of Sitkin's group, was truly honored to be able to present and share and have conversations with a great group of agency leaders across the country. And we had two in person sessions, one in June, one in September. And not only was this person part of the group who had great value to share, and I know she'll have great value to share today with you, but she had the privilege. Wait a second. No, no. I had the privilege of sitting at her table. She probably didn't have the privilege of sitting with me. But we were table mates as well. We had groups of five or six, so I got to know her very well and we had some great conversations. So, without further ado, Alison Hammonds is my guest here with Knight Insurance Group. She's a risk consultant. But I know you've got your fingers around different parts of the agency as well. So, Allison, welcome to the Agent Leader podcast.

Well, thank you, Brent. I appreciate it. I'm excited to be here.

Well, I want to. I wanted to bring Allison on for a number of reasons. A, she's just really likable, which you'll get to know that right away. Just has a great personality. But I, I didn't share with you before we started recording here, Allison, but I just, you know, got a chance to meet so many different people as part of that Agency Leadership Institute. And I just loved your openness and transparency and just facing things like head On. This is something we're dealing with and this is how we're doing it. And I learned a ton from you. I know the audience will as well. But before I get into some of those questions about you and what you're doing and some things that I know will be helpful to agency leaders, I'd love to. For you to share. How did you get to where you are today? Like, you're sitting there and what you do. Like, if you could share a little bit of a backstory and what you do today at night. Insurance.

Yeah, sure. So thank you. I have actually been a part of the agency for almost 23 years. I was 8 when I started, So I actually started working at the agency. My first job was a receptionist and I was 18 years old. So I was just graduated high school. And I am also a second generation, so my dad actually is in the business and I work with my dad. His name is Sam. He's the president of the agency. So I, throughout college actually worked through the. At the agency. And so that's really kind of where I got, I would say, the bug for the business. I was their first sales intern. So that is also where I got kind of the sales bug and thought, I think I want to do this. I was going to school for business, so I knew I wanted to do something business. I wasn't really sure. And so I went and actually worked for Auto Owners Insurance Company as a commercial underwriter first outside of college. And then I was ready to move on from that and so I moved back to Toledo and I actually called my dad and said, listen, I need to do something different. If I Don't, I'm going to get out of the business. And he's like, well, I really think you should be there for five years. You know, it's good to have that company experience. And I said, well, you're either going to hire me or I'm out.

So the ultimatum, right?

Yeah, right, I know. So In January of 2006, I actually came back full time to the agency and then at that time I became full time sales, commercial sales. And so I have been doing that role for over almost Gosh, it's almost 17 years now. Have really enjoyed it, really work with a lot of really great clients. But, oh, probably about 2019, our CEO started coming to me and said, I want you to get more into a leadership role at the agency. And so we put me in charge of the business development unit, which was really the new people that were coming into the agency, new producers specifically. And you know, what can we do to get them trained, how can we help them? Coaching and mentoring. And I also, myself and another individual in the office came up with our playbook. So we have what's called the Night Playbook and it's what we put, it's what our, what we put our producers through, especially in that first year. So that was created. So I was helping coach and mentor people as well as kind of put the behind the scenes stuff in place to some of the detail stuff. And then I also became a partner in the agency just soon after that after really kind of after Covid started and then there were are now six of us that became partners, myself and Greg, who's actually another younger individual here at the agency. And so we were only partners for a few short like two years. And then this year we actually became 100% employee owned. So so we now are an ESOP. And that happened on August 1st of this year. So I'm still on the executive team and we meet, you know, still to discuss about, you know, what are we doing as an agency, what do we need, how are we moving forward? So, but I am still very heavily in my sales role and helping my clients grow and getting more clients and then as well as, you know, what are we going to do to help grow our sales team. So that's kind of where I'm at now.

I love. Well, thanks for sharing that. And I, you know, I said you had your, your finger, so to speak, or pulse on lots of stuff. Right. And you do. And you know, so many of our agency leaders that listen and those that we work with at Siskin's group. They're, you know, very similar to you in the sense they're kind of that player, coach. Right. And that's a. It's a really challenging role. So I love to get your perspective on how, you know, maybe you balance some of those things. And, you know, also, obviously, you know, so many of our agency partners are second, third, fourth generation, and I always find it interesting to hear the story. Every story is unique, but there are similarities. And I got to ask you, and I don't know if this is true or not, so I just want to get your take. Did you ever have a point, and you said you started at 18 as a receptionist and kind of growing up around the business where you were, like, made a comment, I will never be in this business. I'll never do this. Or did that never, ever happen? You always kind of like, no, I like it.

I never. I never said I would not be in the business or never do it. I don't think I ever really. I mean, my dad's been in it forever, and it's. He's had a really great career, and so. No, I never really thought that. I think he did. He's like, wait, maybe you should do something different.

I have to. I'll have to. I'll have to get him on the podcast.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, exactly. But, yeah, no, I never really felt that way. And then once I got into it, I was like, oh, this could be. This could be really great.

So, yeah, yeah. And obviously, everyone's got their own journey, but it is. It's interesting you're talking about, like, you did the company side, which was good, but you were. You were very quickly ready to, like, do. Do the other thing. But it is interesting. So many generational agencies that I know and work with of, you know, having that bit of just the company side, I think, in one way, again, a lot of ways you could phrase this, but I think it really does give you appreciation for what happens from the agency side of things. Right. I think it also gives you appreciation for all the stuff that carriers do, but, you know, sometimes it can be taken for granted of. Of how great this business is.

Yeah, absolutely.

So I appreciate you sharing that. So.

Yeah.

All right, I've got a few questions for you. I told you as we got into this, this is like us having a cup of coffee. And, you know, obviously, we're virtual, and I'd love to be in person with you, but I got my cup of coffee here just to get. Get some ideas, and I ask these questions for the audience, but Certainly I learn a ton as well. And I'm just curious, Alison, from your perspective, you know, if I ask an agency leader, what's frustrating you? I typically could, you know, could sit back and for an hour, you're like this and this and this. But I'm curious, from your perspective, whether it's individually or as your team or again, even as an industry, what. What do you see as your biggest frustration right now or biggest challenge, maybe, and what are you doing or your team doing to address that?

Yeah, I think one of the challenges is finding people, which I know that is a huge issue for many agencies, but finding people, because you know that in that realm there's. It takes so much time and effort to train somebody. And I know, I mean, we've done it. We've brought in new salespeople without any experience or even customers. On the customer service side, we've brought in new people, but it just takes so much time and effort to really get somebody going. And so it's so nice to be able to bring in somebody, but there's just not a lot of movement in that. And I think of myself too, when you've already got to book a business, it's hard to leave. It's hard to leave that comfort of like, oh my gosh, I'm going to have to start over. So we are trying to figure that out. One of the things we thought is like, okay, well, let's hire producers with books. Let's buy their books so that maybe we don't have as much concern about that. Looking to still try and find experienced account managers, like senior level account managers. One of the big things that we did this year, and actually it came from some of the training, the ali. We actually revamped our referral program, our employee referral program. And so we now are doing $1,000 for an employee referral after they stay for 90 days. And then we added, if they stay for a year, then they're getting another thousand dollars. So we did do that with one employee. So far, we kind of kicked it off with her. And, you know, so that's one of the ways that we're trying to hopefully maybe see if people know other people within the industry. I mean, people. Some of these people came from other agencies. So that's one of the ways we're trying to combat that. I would say also for me, on my own, like, business side of things with my sales is getting people to respond back. And it's not cold calls. This is. These are people that like, have sent an Email or made a phone call on my behalf as a referral or I know the person. Like I know them, they know me. It's not, you know, there's a relationship there. And so that's really been strong. I've really struggled with that this year with the, probably within the last like even six months it's been why don't people respond back? Why? What is it? And so one of the ways that I've been is just reaching out to other individuals that are not even in our same business but maybe they're in like some kind of a business development role and say, hey, what are you, what are you experiencing? What are you doing? You know, it's emails, it's calls, it's text messages. I've done all of that. What are, what's something else? And so some of it's persistence because like I, it's just persistence and being able to do that and then sometimes it's walking away too, you know, like saying, all right, I've done everything I can do. If I can't, it's not going to move forward, it's not going to move forward, it's okay, move on and get to something else. So those I would say were, are some of the things that I'm trying to change and experience different things maybe to try and help me get things turned around. So it's going to happen. You know, you just have to be. But sometimes it's just frustrating. And then I guess lastly I'm a full time working mom. So you know, the balance of being there, I mean that's the beauty of this job is I can, you know, be there with my kid is sick or if I have, they have an appointment or I'm not at work at 8am but it's also, you know, tough because you're like trying to get so much stuff done and you know, when I'm home I'm with my kids and so, and my kids are young, I have a 3 year old and an 11 month old so they need me. You know, they're not as self, self, self guided as maybe I would think so, but it's great. Like it's wonderful. It's just the whole time management and being able to figure all that out and get everything done that I want to get done. So I would say those are probably my top three right now that we've kind of been experiencing.

Well, first of all, thanks for sharing. I mean I'm sitting here going, I bet you there's some other people listening to go, I Can relate to that. Right. Maybe in some different ways, but similar ways as well. And the last part, I know you just had the, you know, because when we were there in June, right. I mean, new, new baby, the whole deal you're dealing with and which is so awesome and it's exciting. It's wonderful. You know, I share with you. I got, I got five kids. They range all over, by the way. Them needing you even when they get to college doesn't, you know, it changes different, but it's different. They just need you in different ways. Right. I don't, I don't need your time. I just need your money, Mom.

That's right.

Right. But, but there is that, that challenge. There. There's no doubt. And you know, I think what hit me as you said that is that, you know, the, the great thing about the independent agency world is that it is flexible, right. Which is great. But it also creates challenges because you can work when you want, which can be good or bad, right? Like, yes, right. You can work when you want, which means, oh, I can go to that thing at three or the doctor's appointment at one, which is fantastic. But guess what? I also can work what I want, which could be 9pm or 11pm or 4:30 in the morning. Right. You know, so this, you know, part of that is again, I'm not going to give any band aid solutions to this other than we talk a lot about energy management. But it's just the biggest thing is, you know, prioritize and be focused where you are, which is so hard because, you know, it's like right now. And I get it, you know, we're having this conversation. I have no doubt as a human being you have a pretty good idea of what you have to do after we hang up this call. Right? Like, right. So we all that way. But it's like, you know, when you're here, you're here and that's a huge challenge for salespeople and entrepreneurs and leaders. And I want to share a couple of things too, and I don't mean to hog or take steal from what you just said, but it's interesting because you mentioned the challenge of finding people, which is obvious. We had some discussions at the Ally group, certainly about that, and I've had others. On a recent podcast, I had Art Bettencourt, who's part of a Betancourt great guy, and had some interesting solutions on that. But one thing that I'll never forget, it came up at our table. I think I asked this question to someone because I was just kind of sitting there listening, is they're talking about all the different things they're doing for recruiting. And again, there's, as you remember, there's a multiple different ways you could do this. And. But I asked the question about what are you paying a recruiting service? You know, like, well, you know, paying this and this and whatever. I said, oh, well, what do you pay if someone internally that really loves your company, that's been there part a long time and is a great internal recruiter because. Not because they know all the details, just because they believe in the culture. And it was like, oh, we only pay this. And I'm like, that was about it. And it was like, oh, my gosh, you're right. Like, you know, in essence, we're paying strangers way more than we pay the people that have been here that love our company. Now, you got to be careful with that. Right. And how that's facilitated. And you mentioned you after a certain period of time, and every agency's got to find their own thing. But it just, you know, I think what I've seen, Alison, I've seen some of the stuff that you guys have done. I know I'm talking to you at night. Is it really. Yes, there's someone in charge of recruiting. But it truly is a team culture approach that everybody in the team understands, obviously who we are and the people that we want and why we want them. And all of a sudden you've got people that are at a restaurant or at an event or at a bank. I don't know. Right. And they go, oh, gosh, you're frustrated with your job because we have an amazing career opportunity. You should talk to such and such. Right? Yeah, yeah, It's. It's, you know, that takes time and effort. But I love what you're doing there. And so I just want to share any other comments on that? I mean, again, to take what you said.

Yeah, actually. Well, one of the other things, too, that really getting people engaged. And. And it actually came from some of our. We have two younger gentlemen that actually came to us. One came through an internship program when he was in college, and the other, I believe, was the same thing, Internet. But they were. That we were talking about recruitment and they wanted to create an internal recruitment committee. So we actually do have an internal recruitment committee, too, that I head up that is made up of our employees. And so we get together and say, okay, well, what can we do? But it's also about giving them the tools. So this is what we're looking for here's. The criteria and saying. And the other thing, too, is giving them a little bit of a boost on, hey, here's, you know, some gift cards or here's some things like if you bring in, you know, and they get a. They get an take, send their resume in or something like that. So that's. I think that's awesome. Like, that is so cool that we have that. Them wanting to take the initiative to really try and help us grow. So the other thing we did, and we kind of stole it from another agency, but you borrowed it.

You borrowed it.

You borrowed it there. And. Well, I asked to borrow it. They're out of Texas, but they have a. We have a business card that we made. And so let's say you are at that restaurant or you are, you know, with a banker, and they're not happy, and they're just like, outstanding. And you're thinking, man, they would be so great, and they would fit within our culture. You give them this business card and it's got a QR code on it, and they can go click on the QR code, and then it gives them. Takes them right to our website. And they would put their information in, and then we would send them information to talk to them. So it's a really. And it says, like, you're a rock star. So it's a nice. Another nice way. And that's. That's a new thing that we've added just recently as well, so. And a lot of that came from what, again, the recruitment and what can we do differently that Ali. Leadership training.

So, yeah, that's great. And I. I guarantee you right now, Allison, that again, if you're driving, don't do this. But for those that are sitting down and listening, whoa, that's a good idea. That's a tactical idea I could do. So I appreciate you sharing that.

Yeah, absolutely.

I want to flip. I mean, part of that. That is an example of a success. So if you want to elaborate in that you can't in my next. You can in my next question. But, you know, obviously, in talking to you and what you're doing as an agency, you mentioned some of the things that you're doing. What do you believe? And again, this could be for you, could be your team, maybe even through an industry. But what have you. What do you believe? And you can look at this. Last year has been one of your greatest successes. Why was it success? And what are you doing to maintain the momentum in that? Because that's something that can happen as you get a success and you know, the joke we always have in our trainings, Allison, is like, it works so well that I stopped doing it. Right, so what have you done that's worked, why has it worked and what are you doing to continue to make it work?

I would say that we are, we're doing really well with culture. And I bring that up because I think it's really important because it's what, it's really what defines us as an agency and who we are and what we do for the people that we work with, whether it's, you know, a home and auto client or if the commercial lines client. And everybody really lives it and breathes it when they're here and they work it. And so yes, we are, you know, a 40 person, you know, company. And we're, you know, we feel like a family though too. And so I think having those in front of everybody and really trying to share with everybody what are we doing, how are we doing it? And that's been really successful. One of the things that I also added, we use Microsoft Teams as of course, which many people probably do since COVID We, we put in a appraise board on teams. And so now that is like anything, you know, someone completed a class and they received their CIC or they did an outstanding job for a client, it was, you know, outside of the box thinking, or they did something with our, and I'm looking over here because we have our core values actually on our computer. You know, something that they did that really just, you know, made someone's day. I mean, it could just be a kind word. And so that was something that we've added. And I think that has been just a really nice addition. But, but it's just a continuation of the success of our culture, I think. And so I think that has been really one of the things this year that, that I like to highlight.

Yeah, I, I, and I, you know, it's one of those things you said this like, you know, I don't say culture is a buzzword because it, but it's just culture, culture, culture. But I think, you know, and I can see it too, Allison, and talking and working with different agencies and you know, again, everybody's, I think we're all in evolution, so to speak, of what want the culture to be. And you know, whether it's, whether your culture right now as an agency is, for lack of better term, stinky or it's like flourishing, you know, there's always improvements we can make. Right. The next step, the next step. And you know, we define Culture as the language of behaviors that are normal in your agency. Right. It's. It's. What are people saying? What are people doing? Like, you don't have to make it confusing. Like, is that a. That's a culture? And it's just. But what I love about that, what you said, and it's a huge thing I want to highlight, is there's a. There's a quote that I share all the time in our trainings, whether it's with account managers or producers, and you hit it in a different way. It's this. Silent gratitude is no gratitude at all. Silent gratitude is no gratitude at all. And I think sometimes because. And this is not because I think agency leaders or agency personnel are mean or they've got malice. They're just busy and they're distracted. Right?

Absolutely.

It is. Right? And so it's one of those where, like, oh, I really appreciate Allison doing that, but we just move on to the next, and then two days later, it's gone. And at some point. Right. I'm just using you as an example. You're gonna go, man, I've done a few things. Like, it would be nice to be acknowledged for some of that. Right? And just little things. Like, it's amazing, and I'm sure you see this at. At night, right, when you guys do this, but it can be, like, it could take literally five seconds, and you just change somebody's day.

Yes.

Right. And. And then it goes back to, like, and obviously being consistent. And we don't do this to manipulate. It's because we truly care about the people and want to acknowledge them and share their success. And I love the praise board to make it visible. Right. That people can see that. But, like, just think about the. You know, think about dropping the pedal in the pond and the ripples. Right? That analogy. Like, those things build. And then you wonder, like, why is my agency or why is our agency more excited to bring in other cool people where some agencies aren't? Well, could have been because of a simple thing like praise. Right? And, you know, we look at. We have a lot of acronyms. I don't know if you remember this, Allison, but one of our acronyms is art, Right? The art of communication. And it's just, you know, is there a level of appreciation? Are we doing things to respect the roles that we have within each other? Because the same goal, different roles that we have, and are we keeping our word that honors and builds trust, like art and things that people hear all the time, but, man, we can forget about them. If we're not careful.

Yeah.

So I love what you guys are doing. I love.

Yeah, I think it's just a nice addition to, you know, what we're already doing. But you're right. So many times it gets done and nobody ever knows about it because they get so busy. And it's just, like, we should let people know that they, like, this person did this. Whether it's this teeny little thing, it could be huge to that person. So I think it's really important.

Well, and I know we're. You know, we were talking before we started recording about getting out and seeing people and doing that. Right. Which I think most people say, everybody like that are glad we're doing that. But especially, like, with some of the virtual stuff still, like, there's a lot of things that go on. We typically look at the negative of things, which is fair. There's truth to that. Like, what aren't people doing? There's also, what are people doing that sometimes no one ever notices. Right. Or ever appreciates? And. And those are things that can definitely cause animosity and frustration over a period of time. It's like, I'm working my tail off here, and I'm not saying you have to, but, boy, it'd be nice to be acknowledged for some of those things that I've done behind the scenes, so to speak, or whatever it may be.

Yeah. So love it.

All right, so I want to ask you specifically, you mentioned a few things. I'm curious to get your perspective, because as we met each other through this agency leadership institute, Ali and Cincinnati, Addie and Reagan and Sitkins being part of that. What. What was your biggest takeaway? I know there's a lot of different things, and I had to interject my question here, because I sat by you at the table. I always appreciate note takers. And so here's Alison. She's just. Just blazing down notes, right. Then she's got stars and circles, and then you're categorized. And I'm like, oh, I love this. Like, she's just thinking about this. So of all the stuff you wrote down and did, what's. What's your biggest takeaway from that program?

Oh, gosh, my biggest takeaway. The first thing that kind of pops into my head is that we're all in this together. I don't. I. You know, there was so much that you could take from other people. Like, we're. None of us are perfect. Nobody's doing everything, you know, great. Everybody has an avenue that they want to, like, grow in and I think, you know, like, we're doing some really great things, but we're also not doing other things that great. And so being able to be there and hear what another agency is doing and be able to also help each other. Why would you try and recreate the wheel? There really is no reason to, especially if it's. People are willing to help you. And I know you got to think about competition and whatnot, but none of these people were in my realm of competition, being in the same state or whatever. But I just think that we're all in this together and we. If you need help, it's there for you. And I. And I. I knew that, but I think it even just became even a little bit more visible and I think just, like, credible for me, too. I mean, I learned so much from that training, so it's really hard to say, like, what was the one big thing, But I think just being able to be a part of that and see that, like, we are in this together. And if you need, you know, I would love. If someone contacts me and says, hey, you know, can I talk to you about this? I'm like, yes, absolutely. Like, how can I help? And so, yeah, I think that's probably one of the biggest things that I took away.

I love it. It's. I know it's a hard question because there was. I mean, you put all the days together and all that. Yeah, a lot of stuff, but I think you really hit on something important. I know I've shared this with different people or different episodes of this podcast, but, I mean, what I wrote down is the power of the collective genius. It's a term that we use all the time. And again, this is a bit of. Again, this is a different question, but I mean, what we do, there's other places that do it as well. But what we do in our Sitkins Network, a big part of that is we. We align people to have conversations. They go, I'm not the only one dealing with this. Right? And whether it's through a coaching call with me or, you know, for example, or having a direct conversation with someone that's part of the network, they're going, oh, not only am I not the only one, but there might be other people that have potential solutions for things that I'm struggling with, or I may have potential solutions for stuff they're struggling with. Right. We all have our chinks in the armor. I think you said that is really, really well. And here's another thing that's interesting, too. It just, like with our Network and Ali. I mean, there are agencies from a variety, not only of geographical areas, but size of agencies and things they focus on. And what's interesting is that whether it's a $3 million revenue agency or $100 million revenue agencies, yes, there's differences, obviously, but there's a lot of similarities in some of the frustrations and challenges they're dealing with. So I love it. And you know, to me, what's really cool. My last comment, if you have anything else you want to add, Alison, please do on this, is that not only is there a collective genius in groups like that of committed growth agencies, but we talk, problems are addressed, but the discussions around the solutions. And, and there is a difference, right? I mean, there, there are some groups, I'm not naming a group, but just groups of people, so to speak, that it's more about a venting session than solution seeking. And when you get abundance thinkers who know there's real issues, but they're going to talk about solutions to it, there's some pretty magical stuff that happens.

Yeah, that's so true. And I think, you know, you mentioned in the beginning, too, that I'm pretty, pretty much, I'm a pretty open book. I get pretty. I can get pretty. I just feel like, you know, being vulnerable. And so when, I think when you do that, too, then you can be open and people can. I mean, they might have something really great to give you because sometimes we have our blinders on. You know, it's just like we have. We're like that horse that has the blinders on and you can't see outside of it. And so to be able to be in part of that group and then, like you said, not just be like that, you know, session of just getting all out, it's. There's some really great feedback and some help that can come out of that.

Yeah. And the vulnerability thing is, is a big issue. And Alison, I'm going to go ahead and say this, right, like there are more. This is going to be a shock to you when I say this. There are more males in the industry in those positions than there are females. Is that, am I okay to say that? Is that true?

That's very true.

And I will tell you, and again, I'm not. It's interesting because obviously, you know, I'm passionate. Like, I want. We want more females in leadership positions, and I think it's happening slowly and maybe we can have a separate discussion on that. But one thing again, maybe I'll just, I'll talk from the male Perspective. Sometimes males don't like to share weaknesses because it feels like we're giving weaknesses. And I would never tell someone about what we're not good at. But when you get in the right room and it's certainly smaller groups and you know that trickle effects of wait a second, this person shared this, I guess I can share this. That's when you actually get to solutions. Right. Versus masking everything. Ah, we're good here and this is good. And we're fine here and right. You're, you're lying to yourself. Right. When you go, the truth of it is we're really struggling with this. What could I do? And you know, that's, I don't know where I was going with that other than you were very vulnerable and open to different stuff. And it really opened great conversation. So.

It did. Yeah, absolutely.

Thank you for that. All right, last question. I know we're going a little longer than I, that if you have to, I'll be brief here, but my favorite question is this, and I try not to put a timeline on this. But, but, but because you mentioned you started at 18 as a receptionist. Right. So. And now you're where you are today. So let's just say in this imaginary world I'm making up here that the 18 year old Allison runs into the today Allison and the 18 year old Allison says, experienced, awesome Allison. If there's one piece of advice you could tell me right now as I begin this career, it would be what.

To have mentors. To have mentors. I think it is one of the only. It helped, it helped me tremendously because especially when you're young and you're new, you, you don't, you don't know, you're learning a business, you're learning the, the education even behind the business. And so to have those mentors that you can lean on that can help you, guide you, give you advice, coach, mentor, I mean all of those things. But also maybe opening doors for you too, you know, being able to help with that as well. And it gives you that person too to go to. But they're also going to be, they're not just going to be like your friend, you know, they're going to give you some constructive, you know, like feedback and say like, look like why did you do it this way? Or but, but, but again, it's all about how to help you get you to that next, you know, step in your career. So yeah, I think mentors are huge. So that's one of the things I now that I'm in this part of my career, I love to be able to help like other, especially young women in our, in, in the business because there is not a lot of women that do commercial sales especially. But for me in general, it doesn't have to be insurance. It could be any, you know, anybody. But yeah, I think mentor mentors in the business and out of the business.

First of all, there's never a bad or wrong answer to that question. But I always have to. I, it's just my favorite question to ask. I learn a ton. And then I just, I think about things in different perspectives because I agree. I mean, there's so much with that. And I think sometimes with younger people, maybe there's a level of fear or hesitancy. Right. I'm nervous. I'm not worthy. But I think you expressed it really, really well. So here's. If you're, you're listening here and you're a young person getting in the industry or, I mean, I don't care, you can be experienced in this as well. Like, you know, to me, I'm always looking for people that are 5, 10, 15, 20 years ahead of me. Right?

Yep.

And sometimes it could be not even age. It's just other walks of life, like as you mentioned, and just surround yourself with this because I will tell you, this is not a hundred percent, but when you find the right people and you seek the people that are successful, successful people are generally successful for a reason. And it's not because they were just lucky. All right? They approach things the right way. And again, there could be people that are great mentors in relationships and business and finance. Right. Find different scopes of this. But Generally, if you're 18 years old, just using your example, and you come to someone and say, listen, I'm really looking to grow and develop, I really respect what you've done in this particular area. If I can find some time either just to kind of see what you do or how you do it or ask you questions. There are very few true mentors that will give some level of response to that to help you.

So true.

Do you agree with that?

Oh, my gosh, it's so true. But you're right. I think that younger individual is like, they're nervous. They're like, oh, they're busy. They're so successful, they don't have time for me. But we all choose how we spend our time. And so most of the time someone's not going to say no. Like you said, you can't say 100%, but yeah, majority of the time people are going to say, yes, I would love to help. How can I help? And you know, it's a coffee, it's a breakfast, it's a lunch, whatever it is, they usually are saying, yes, let me see how I can do. Let me see what I can do.

I think back and I had a conversation with an agency we work with. There was five young producers at a producer academy and we did like two days and we're talking about some different stuff and sometimes their eyes are rolling back in their head, right? You try to slow things down. There's a lot coming at them. And I said, listen, we can sit and have this conversation again and again, again. And we will. I said, we'll follow up because it's important. I said, but the most important thing you can do is you're at an agency with some really cool people, like, go connect with 2, 3, 4, 5 of them. Be open, be transparent and say, listen, if you truly desire this to grow and develop in, you know, this realm of business, for example, like, and you approach that with vulnerability, honesty, they're going to help you in some capacity, right? And, and, and by the way, as a mentor. And that's kind of where I'm at, like both sides of this. Just like you were talking about, Allison. Like, I, I'm still a mentee in many, many different areas where it's books, podcasts, people, relationships, and I'm also a mentor. Now it's kind of that middle. Like you learn a ton by mentoring too, because sometimes you get a zeal or a zest back that maybe you've taken for granted because you've been in it so long. So it really is a win, win. So my last take on this from an agency, I know you guys do a great job at night is like, have conversations with people that can be mentors. Say, don't miss that opportunity. Talk to the younger people and say, please reach out to that. Right? Foster that mentorship environment because you know, the 18 year old Allison is there somewhere and can really benefit from that. So, Alison, any, any final comments before we wrap up here? Thanks so much for being on here today.

No, I don't think so. I think this was so awesome. Thank you so much for asking me to be a part of it.

Well, I knew you would bring great value and you did not disappoint. You exceeded expectations which were already very. Yes, I didn't tell you that because I didn't want to put any pressure on you, but thanks so much, Alison. I know we will stay in touch. And for the agency leaders out there listening, thank you for being a listener at this podcast. Whether it's this episode or others have helped you, inspire you, giving you some tools, love a rating and review or share it with other agencies out there. Again is our mission to make an impact to build clarity, consistency and a commitment to be that best version possible. And if you are a growth committed agency that wants to see what we're all about, please schedule a strategy call. There's a no obligation just so we can get to know more about you, get to know about us and see if there's a long term fit. So with that, thanks for being a listener and wish you all the best in your success. The Agent Leader Podcast is brought to you by the fine folks the Rough Notes Company. They are publishers of the insurance industry's leading magazine and technical insurance content. Roughness Magazine Profile successful agencies plus keen insights from respected experts on a host of must know topics. Rough Notes Advantage plus provides the tools to help your agency grow, providing authoritative information on complex coverage issues. Visit them and learn more@roughnotes.com.