Fifteen years building agencies. Field notes on how businesses actually work.#

I’ve spent 15+ years in insurance distribution, building scratch agencies and scaling multi-location operations. I’ve written tens of millions in premium. One startup agency I built wrote $8 million in new business in its first year, with new-business production among the highest in the country. I’ve hired and developed producers, and built the systems that make an agency run.

Everything here comes from operating experience, not theory. The math is real. The frameworks are the ones I actually use. If you run an agency, lead in the field, or you’re thinking about getting into this business, you’ll find something you can use today.

My wife Katlyn and I bring a combined 20+ years across captive and independent agency ownership, producer development, L&D, and operational design. That perspective shapes everything here.

Start Here#

If you’re new to the site, these are the pieces that do the most work. Pick whichever fits where you are right now.

If you’re starting (or thinking about starting) an insurance agency#

How to Start an Insurance Agency: The Complete Decision and Startup Guide

Everything I wish someone had handed me before I signed my first lease. Captive vs. independent, startup costs, carrier appointments, hiring, licensing — the full decision framework and launch roadmap with nothing left out.

If you run an agency and want to get better at it#

Your Close Rate Is Lying to You

A single close rate number tells you almost nothing about what to fix. This post shows you how to break it down by lead source and line of business to find the real problems and the real opportunities. Includes a diagnostic exercise you can do today.

If you work in carrier field leadership, or care about how it works#

The Role Nobody Designed for What Agencies Actually Need

The field leadership model was built for a different era. This post walks through what the gap between the current role structure and modern agency needs is costing carriers, field leaders, and agency owners.

Stop Telling Agencies What to Do

Why prescriptive advice doesn’t stick with agency owners, and what happens when field leaders learn to coach instead of direct.

Everything else#

Browse the sidebar for the full library. Business posts cover agency growth, sales, operations, financial modeling, and leadership.

Tools and downloads (financial models, planning guides, trackers) are linked within the posts where they’re relevant. Everything is free.

If something here is useful, share it with someone who needs it. That’s the whole point.

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About us | LinkedIn | Navy veteran. Grew up in the Fiji Islands. Currently based in Florida.