October 14, 2025 • 59 mins
Joe is a national brokerage president whose early days cold calling in the White pages may have proven to be the perfect guide to show how insurance really works today—human first, tech-enabled, and built for the moments you hope never happen. Joe joins us to share the arc from answering a newspaper ad to leading Brokerlink’s 5,000 + person team, weaving together discipline, mentorship, and the power of community. Along the way, he explains why insurance isn’t just a policy; it’s a promise—and why that promise still depends on a person you can look in the eye when things go sideways.
We get candid about the industry’s past and future: the grind of phone-book selling, the rise of SEO and inbound leads, and how 40,000 monthly website visits now fuel local advisors across 240 communities. Joe opens the hood on practical AI—bots that compare renewals in seconds, a 24/7 chat that handles routine updates, and a client app that mirrors modern banking—while keeping cybersecurity as the first principle. He also draws a clear line between digital convenience and licensed advice, showing why younger buyers research alone but still want human confirmation before binding a legal contract.
We talk scale, choice, and trust: more markets to fit unique needs, local branches that show up at the rink and the supermarket, and community giving that signals real skin in the game. Joe doesn’t dodge the hard parts—messy connectivity with carriers, regulatory friction, and the gap in client education—then offers a smarter approach to mitigation and alerts that actually help. If you’re exploring careers, you’ll hear straight talk on recession resilience, leadership growth, and the mindset that carries you: learn deeply, take risks, and be kind. Subscribe, share with a colleague, and leave a review to tell us what part shifted your view of insurance.
Kimia Nejat of Kimia Nejat Realty
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_01 (00:10):
Nice to be with you.
Yeah.
We really appreciate you havingyou on the on the show here with
us.
We intended to have this pointin person, but unfortunately,
uh, you had a you had an injuryjust before you were coming to
visit Nova Scotia.
Um I'm really glad we couldstill make this happen, even
though it's not our normalconventional method at uh at a
bar after hours after work.
(00:30):
So thank you.
You guys owe me some wingsthough.
Next time you're done,absolutely.
So uh so Joel, tell us a littlebit about yourself and what you
do today.
SPEAKER_00 (00:39):
Uh so a little bit about myself.
Um I I'm married 35 years.
Um she's the rock behind thefamily, my wife, Michelle.
Um, two daughters.
So so very proud of them.
Um both just got married in thelast couple years.
I just had my first grandson,which I'm over the moon with.
(01:02):
His name is Joey, so yeah, kindof got there.
And um so I've been in theindustry 35 years.
Today I'm president ofBrokerlink.
I'm so grateful that I had theopportunity to be in this
position.
It's a wonderful gig.
Um, I don't look at it as hard,I just look at it as a joy, and
(01:23):
uh just thrilled uh just to bein the industry, what it gives
back.
Um I'm very grateful for what Ihave.
And uh yeah, running Brokerlinkhas been a challenge, but have
been huge rewards, and so thepeople I get to deal with every
day, um, you can't beat thatsomething different every day.
And so I'm thrilled to be here.
SPEAKER_01 (01:44):
Now Brokerlink's a pretty big organization, so for
folks that don't know exactlyhow many employees are in
Brokerlink now?
SPEAKER_00 (01:52):
We're depending on the month, because we do quite a
bit of acquisitions.
We're about 5,000 employees uhcoast to coast.
Wow.
Uh we operate in every province.
Uh we don't have a physicallocation in PEI, even though we
operate there.
Five billion dollars we hit thisyear in BWP, which is uh a nice
milestone for us.
(02:12):
And uh and so yeah, it's uh it'scool.
We're just went into BritishColumbia last year.
That was pretty cool.
First time there.
And yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (02:23):
Before you became uh president of Brokerlink, I mean
it's fair to say to anybodylistening that nobody just gets
into insurance, right?
They're uh they all kind of fallinto it one way or another.
So what was what did young Joewant to do when he was a kid?
Be a professional soccer player.
SPEAKER_02 (02:40):
Oh I heard this.
I heard that you had a a uhscholarship.
SPEAKER_00 (02:45):
Yeah, so I I did play uh soccer at UCLA for a
year or two, um, but I wasn'tgood enough for pro.
And so you get humbled realquick, right?
You you you play your wholelife.
Um, you know, I was on theall-star teams and everything in
my local local hometown, andthen you go to a Division I
school to try to play there, andyour eyes are open because
(03:07):
everybody was their uh star intheir hometown as well, right?
SPEAKER_01 (03:12):
Where was your where was your local hometown at?
SPEAKER_00 (03:14):
Niagara Falls.
SPEAKER_01 (03:16):
So you're an Ontario guy through and through.
SPEAKER_00 (03:18):
I'm an Ontario guy through and through.
Um, and so uh when I figured outpretty quick I wasn't gonna be a
pro, um, you turn your sights,okay.
Let's take advantage of this anduh let's get a good education.
And uh I got a business degreeand I majored in in economics.
And um yeah, and so that's youngJoe.
(03:40):
He always wanted to be uh asoccer player, but that never
worked out and went touniversity and then I answered
an ad.
Um it intrigued me.
I was looking for a job, Iwanted to get out of out of the
house living with my parents.
I'm in my early 20s, and um wasa management trainee uh
advertisement in the in thepaper for All State insurance.
(04:03):
And I applied.
I didn't even know what amanagement trainee in insurance
did, but it sounded good.
Got hired, and that's that's thestart of my career.
I had no idea of the it's it'sfunny.
SPEAKER_02 (04:16):
Uh a lot of people in the insurance industry uh say
that they it's very much fallenin.
If you're if your parents didn'trun a brokerage or something
like that, right?
You just fall into it.
Um but it's certainly a good uhcertainly a good career to fall
into, that's for sure.
SPEAKER_00 (04:32):
Absolutely.
And like you know, I playedcompetitive sports, you know,
played football in high school,basketball, I played soccer,
obviously.
And I just I I love the teamaspect.
Uh, I thought I was a prettygood leader, and so I wanted to
get into some managementposition where I can um where I
can lead people.
And so first that I answered wasAllstate, and the rest is
(04:54):
history.
SPEAKER_02 (04:54):
You've done a different lot of different
things kind of throughout youryour career, yeah uh and kind of
early on.
How long were you at Allstatefor?
SPEAKER_00 (05:01):
Uh five years.
I was uh again managementtrainee, became a supervisor,
got promoted to a manager, and Iwanted to climb the corporate
ladder like everybody else, butthey told me I had to go and
sell insurance, and if I wassuccessful, then I can continue
to climb the corporate ladderbecause um and so I became uh an
(05:22):
agent.
I'm a broker now, but I was anagent back then, and uh back
then at the time, All State soldlife insurance as well as uh
PNC, right?
And so I I I gotta tell you, ifyou can sell life insurance, you
can sell pretty much uhanything.
That was a tough gig.
Um and so did that and um uh didthat successfully for two years.
(05:48):
Then I got married, and I gotmarried to an American, and we
decided to start a family, butwe thought we'd start a move our
careers to the US with moreopportunity, and I thought I'm
up for it a different uhexperience, and so I left All
(06:09):
State and uh went over to the USand spent 10 years there.
How'd you meet your wife?
Oh funny story.
Um probably like a lot ofpeople, I broke up with somebody
else, and uh I decided to go ona trip with my buddies to
Mexico.
SPEAKER_01 (06:29):
Oh, yeah.
Okay, there you go.
SPEAKER_00 (06:32):
And my first day on the on the one we were there for
a week for vacation, just me andthree other buddies, and I met
her the first day and we hungout by the pool.
Cool.
A week got to know her andexchanged numbers and had a long
distance relationship for awhile until we decided it was
serious.
Yeah.
So where where's your wife from?
(06:53):
Uh when I met her, she wasliving in San Diego.
Oh, it's really long distance.
Yeah, I was in Toronto and shewas in San Diego 3,000 miles.
And um, I remember her notwanting to leave sunny
California, and I didn't want toleave Toronto because I had my
career was doing well, and umshe ended up coming my way, I
(07:16):
guess.
Yeah, I won that one, but uh Ihope she doesn't regret it.
SPEAKER_02 (07:23):
Well, I mean you did you said you you you spent some
time down in the US.
SPEAKER_00 (07:27):
Yeah, after we got married, um, so we we dated for
a couple years, and then afterwe got married, um we decided to
move, but um New York State,which was close to Ontario and
and um then Pennsylvania,Pittsburgh, but um we we did not
go back to California, which I'msure she was a little bit
disappointed in.
SPEAKER_01 (07:48):
Right on.
So go back going back to yousaying you started out as an
agent, like um, you know, whatwere some of your early
challenges as an agent?
SPEAKER_00 (07:56):
Look, I guess the pros back then, when I started,
Allstate was a brand name.
And so that was kind of cool.
You didn't have to explainyourself with a company that
nobody knew about.
So that was a pro, I would say.
The other thing back then is theAllstate booths, they were
calling booths, not offices,because it was literally a
counter with an office behind,were all located in Sears
(08:17):
stores.
There was a relationship withSears back then, and so I the
booth that I worked in in aSears store was right beside a
the the photography uh in aSears store and the appliances,
and it was strategically becausepeople that go buy appliances
usually buy their first house orwhatever, and then babies,
(08:38):
firstborns go to the Sears storeback then and get their photo,
take a professional photo,right?
Right on.
And so I'd sit up at the boothand just chat with people.
And you know, did you buy a newhouse and try to you know?
I asked, do you need homeinsurance or your first baby?
You know, like do you have lifeinsurance?
Young couples.
Um, so that was an advantage,but you know, back then you've
got you guys are too young.
(08:58):
But I was put in a room and theytore a couple pages out of the
white telephone book pages andsaid, go in the back room and
cold call this whole page.
And there's probably what, 200numbers on those old telephone
books.
Yeah, it was all cold callingback then.
Like I don't think most peopledo cold calling today uh of that
variety.
So it was a grind.
And and I remember you know, myfirst sales manager telling me,
(09:21):
I'm like, I'm going in andtelling him, man, everybody's
hanging up, or they're sayingno.
He goes, That's a good thing.
And I'm like, What do you whatare you talking about?
Well, for every 10 no's, you'regonna get one yes, and you do a
hundred calls, you're gonna get10 yeses, and you're gonna sell
four of those.
And it was a numbers game.
And so, you know, that gotdrilled into me, and it and it
works.
(09:42):
But you got to get a lot of no'sto get that that appointment to
get the the bind.
And so the it was a grind, andI'm not you know, today we don't
do that.
Uh, you know, we make our phonesring for most of our folks, uh,
and then they get referrals andthey build up a reputation and
then they go out, right?
Like, but back then is you justcall call and people hung up on
(10:02):
you.
What's this and what's that?
SPEAKER_02 (10:04):
So why do you think that shift happened in the
industry where it's like you hadto be more outbound, say in like
the 90s versus now where it'slike it's just flocking?
SPEAKER_00 (10:14):
Well, no computers back then, right?
Like today, go you you wantinsurance, you Google car
insurance, and you know, brokerlink or somebody will pop up,
you make a call, we'll push itto one of our brokers, right?
Um, there's no digital.
And so I think in the brokerspace, we were an agent, but the
(10:35):
broker space they had the littletown, the little office in the
towns, and they would writepeople in their towns, right?
They get to know people throughlittle league hockey or you
know, Sunday soccer or at thegrocery store.
Um, but there was no computers,none of that.
And so no cell phones, so youhad to call from a, you know, I
remember having the rotarynumber and dialing 50 to 100
(10:58):
calls a night.
Um, and people you call them atnight because they weren't home
during the day and uh theydidn't carry cell phones.
So and I remember um going mostof my uh appointments were at
after dinner in the in thecustomer's kitchen.
That's how we did it.
And you know, um, we we'vechanged a lot quite a bit, I
(11:19):
think.
But um it taught me discipline,especially.
Like if I was gonna make anymoney on it, if I was gonna be
successful, I you have to havethe discipline to do the the
1500 calls or and then you know,as you you guys know, as you um
as you get a bit more successfuland sell a few policies and and
treat them well and and theyknow that you know your stuff,
(11:39):
then you ask for referrals, andover time, you know, the book
gets bigger and a lot less coldcalling because then it's just
referral business based on agood reputation, right?
And so I also had the oneadvantage I had, because this
was in the the Toronto area, um,I spoke Italian.
Uh I was born in there, I cameto Canada when I was two, but I
(12:00):
that's my first language.
And Toronto had a huge Italianpopulation.
And I would put an ad in thelocal Italian paper and said,
Hey, if you guys need insurance,but you you know, my parents
always spoke broken English,were never comfortable in that
setting.
But I said, I speak thelanguage, I'll take care of you.
And so I got a lot of callsthrough that, which was kind of
(12:21):
cool, and helped give back to mycommunity back then that they
could trust someone that wouldtake care of their needs, right?
SPEAKER_02 (12:27):
I think that's fantastic.
Yeah, it's would you say thatthe industry is like because of
that, because you had to do somuch night work, the industry is
shifted now to a more likefamily-friendly environment.
SPEAKER_00 (12:40):
Yeah.
Um, well, I mean, you trycalling 50 people at night now,
you know what's going to happenwith with cell phones, they'll
block you.
And you know, they we didn'thave that technology back then.
There was no call ID.
You didn't know who was callingyou, right?
Right.
The world has changed.
I don't think that would worktoday.
What hasn't changed is uh folksstill look for an insurance,
(13:03):
someone that they can trust,someone that they know
preferably or get to know.
And so, you know, that's why ourmodel, we have 230 locations, is
different, because um we don'tthink that just being in one or
two spots and trying to sellnationally would work.
We we want to be in thecommunities, we want to be
local, you want to give back.
(13:24):
I think people appreciate thatstill and and still go to the
local insurance broker.
Um, especially, you know, welook in suburban and rural
areas, and you know, maybe theToronto area, people are fine
with digital and stuff, but youknow, some of the towns where
you guys are at in Atlanta,Canada, and some of the towns in
Alberta and Ontario, they preferjust to get in the car, drive to
(13:47):
Main Street, and speak to theperson across the way, right, if
they have a problem, right?
So I think that hasn't changed.
It's the relationship businessit was back then.
How you get those customersprobably has changed the most.
SPEAKER_02 (14:01):
That actually is a really good segue into kind of
the next part that we wanted tolike talk about, which is
breaking the stereotype um ofinsurance.
Uh as everybody knows, you know,there's a lot of uh negative uh
stereotypes that focus aroundinsurance people.
Why don't you like kind of walkus through why insurance isn't
(14:22):
just about policies andpremiums?
SPEAKER_00 (14:25):
Yeah, I mean, if you step back and and really um what
is insurance for, like peoplecan't own businesses, people
can't own homes, uh, peoplecan't drive without insurance.
That's just a fact.
Yeah.
And so you need it.
And it's a necessary evil, ifyou will say.
(14:46):
It's a product that you buy andspend quite a bit of money
because it is expensive, and youhope you never use the product,
right?
That's the premise of insurance.
SPEAKER_01 (14:54):
Pretty much, yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (14:55):
You're gonna pay a thousand bucks or whatever it is
to get protection, which isreally peace of mind.
And you hope you never use thatproduct.
Because if you do, that meansyou had a car accident, you've
had a fire, you had a burglary,you had a water loss, whatever.
I mean, same with the business,right?
And so you you you're willing tospend some money to give you
peace of mind that night if thathappens, um, that you're
(15:17):
protected, right?
And so, but you wish you neveruse it.
And so, you know, it's adifferent product.
When I spend a thousand bucks ona bike or something, it's
because I'm looking forward togetting home and using it.
And here we are saying, we hopenever use it.
So I think just the premise ofinsurance sometimes is tough.
That's why people are like, Ican't believe that it costs this
(15:38):
much, and and so forth.
But I can tell you, because I'veI I've been out to some claims
just as in my roles, man, peopleare grateful.
Uh, when something does happen,and then they call you and say,
you know, I just had a fire andand this burned down, and we
say, Don't worry, it's allcovered.
I mean, you we we only see thatlike 8-9% of the time, because I
(16:00):
think the a statistic is ninepercent of the uh people have
claims 10%, right?
But to see someone's face, um,and it goes I go back to wow,
1987 with all state, and I had Iwas selling life insurance 1988,
and I got a a note from uh uh ayounger woman in her 40s, she
lost her husband um tragicaccident.
(16:24):
And she just sent me a notesaying um she appreciated I had
sold her a life insurance and itwas their first life insurance
policy.
And I remember selling it tothem, and and the husband was
just pissed at me.
Because I was taught, you know,when you when you uh selling
life insurance, make sure mostguys back, you know, when
(16:47):
they're young, they they'refearless, they they um think
they'll never die.
They were invincible.
I think that too, so when I wasyoung, right?
And so, but it's the woman whohad the kids who was like, no,
no, we need it dear, we need itsweetie.
She kind of pushed him into it,and he probably gave me a couple
looks, like, what the hell areyou doing, man?
And um, but she sent me a note,and now it was tragic in that
(17:09):
you know he passed on early, butshe says, if I didn't have this,
I don't know what I would havedone.
And so thank you.
Um, you know, it was a couplemonths later.
I I remember, I kept that thatnote.
And and you know, I don't dolife insurance anymore, I do P
and C as you guys know, but I'vealways in the back of my mind
remembered that note.
(17:30):
And um, you know, we're here tohelp people.
I know it's just a slogan, butyou know, if you you look at our
purpose at at Broker, like we'rehere to help people, that's it.
Um, sometimes that's forgottenthrough all the all the stuff
you go through, you know, priceincreases, the missed appealing
here and there.
(17:50):
You you guys know, I mean, it'stough for customers, but when
you peel it all back andsomething happens, um most
people are just grateful thatthey had it.
And yes, it's gonna be tough toget back and rebuild and stuff,
but at least they don't have toworry how, right?
SPEAKER_01 (18:07):
100%.
Yeah.
You know, in general, the widevariety of career options within
the insurance industry.
Um, you know, it's not justselling insurance, obviously.
And how do you think um youngprofessionals or any
professional, even if they comeinto the insurance industry at
40 or 50, um, you know, howcould professionals develop and
get into leadership roles, inyour opinion?
SPEAKER_00 (18:28):
The nice thing about insurance careers, first of all,
most people fall into it byaccident.
I think we said that at thebeginning.
But it is a relationshipbusiness, and there are so many
avenues you can go into today.
You don't even want, you know,you if you don't want to sell
insurance because the purethought of selling insurance
(18:49):
with that, which I think ispretty cool, but if that for
whatever reason turns you off,we have digital, we have SEO
experts, SEM experts.
We have finance people, we havecommunications staff, we have a
marketing team, uh, we have HRprofessionals, we have legal,
and we have leaders, managers.
(19:11):
If you want to lead people, youknow, it would it help to have
insurance background?
Absolutely, but if you're astrong leader, we can develop
you courses and stuff that youcan lead people.
Um, so it's it's endless theopportunity.
So you don't have to sellinsurance to be successful.
Uh, I did it because I enjoyedit, and I think it's made me a
(19:32):
better leader because it's Iunderstand the journey of a an
account executive, what it takesto build a book, what it takes
to sell a policy.
Some people like, you know,that's not hard.
It's hard to keep customers.
That's really hard.
And I went through that, so Ithink it makes me a better
leader, understanding that.
(19:53):
But you absolutely can be a goodleader without going through
that as long as you learn thebusiness, right?
Um, but it's endless theopportunities.
SPEAKER_01 (20:01):
What advice do you have for people that don't think
insurance is an exciting career?
SPEAKER_00 (20:05):
Or like uh that that's they just don't know uh
much about it, like I didn'tknow much about it.
I thought when I answered thatad, I'll be there for two years
and get a resume going and I cando other things.
And 35 year later, I'm still init.
I people that accidentally getinto insurance, they they stay
(20:26):
in insurance.
That's why you see people having20, you know, 30, 40-year
careers.
So um it's recession proof.
Whether we're in a recession orin good times, people need
insurance.
So you're you know, when whenthere's a hard times, you get
you know different companies,whether they're
(20:46):
telecommunications or banks orsomething, there's layoffs.
We don't because we always needinsurance.
So it's recession proof ifyou're young, but you can go
into different verticals, um,not just sales.
And it's a people business, andevery day is different.
And if you enjoy people, thenwow, what a business to be in,
(21:07):
right?
So those are three thingsreasons why I think young people
coming out of university shouldthink, wow, maybe I don't know
about it, but maybe I shouldlearn about it before I decline
to even explore it, right?
You all to yourself to explorewhere you will be happy, and um
it's a good living, right?
I mean, yeah, right.
SPEAKER_02 (21:27):
You it it's interesting to say that you were
gonna be in there uh for onlytwo years, and and the fact that
you also said it was it was it'sa people business because I do
know that uh this industry hasalso given you one of your
closest friends, uh, you know,in in just in your personal life
as well.
Uh I assume that you you guysmet at Allstate.
SPEAKER_00 (21:48):
So that's I I have I have three, I mean, you you are
they best friends?
Absolutely.
I have three friends fromAllstate that I met in 1985, and
I only worked with for fouryears.
We went through everythingtogether.
They're still my best buddiesnow.
We we attend all events,weddings, and birthdays, and
(22:09):
they're my go-to guys.
Um, you know, I got a couplebuddies from high school, like
everybody does, right?
Right.
But from my career and all thefriendships and relationships
I've made since, um, I'vementored quite a few people.
I have some VPs now that mentormy daughter.
One of my daughters is in theindustry, and that's pretty cool
(22:30):
because my daughter got to meetthem just through me.
Um, so people give back.
Um, but yeah, I mean, everythingI have, including my best
friends, if is a result from uh,and things, of course, are as a
result of this industry.
And I owe it a lot, so I havenothing but uh good things to
(22:52):
say about this industry.
Um and yeah, for young peoplethat might be listening or
looking to when they graduate toabsolutely explore it.
I I don't think you will regretit.
SPEAKER_02 (23:05):
Yeah, I I've I know I've often kind of said that uh
even if you come out of schoolwith your with a degree or
something, um if you have aninsurance license, you'll never
be without work.
SPEAKER_00 (23:16):
Right.
And if you're if you have a workethic, you'll never starve.
Right.
If you have a work ethic, thereare tools and things we can do
where we can get you to make agood living.
We we can help that part.
You don't have you're not onyour own where you know we back
then they put you in a room likethey did me and said, call a
(23:37):
hundred people from thistelephone book.
That's just not the case today.
We uh we spend a lot of money tomake the phone ring for our
folks.
Um, we give them everyopportunity to succeed.
It's just amount they have tojust be willing to come to work
and work hard and be disciplinedand and and you can have a real
good living.
You guys know that, but uh ifpeople didn't know that, that's
(23:58):
that's all you need, really.
SPEAKER_02 (24:00):
That and and that actually is a good kind of also
segue to like the next part thatwe wanted to talk about.
You said that you make the phonering for your folks.
So that kind of leads us into areally interesting topic about
technology and how it's changedinsurance.
How do you make the phone ringfor your folks?
SPEAKER_00 (24:19):
Yeah, I mean, look, um first you need a brand name,
right?
So we're lucky enough atBrokerlink that we have a good
brand name.
People recognize it that it'sinsurance.
Uh we've been around since uh1991.
Um the web today, right?
Like anything you need, forgetinsurance for a second, but
(24:42):
anything you need, the firstthing I do when I'm looking for
something, you know, right now II I was uh just looking for some
uh shades, blinds for one of ourrooms.
I went to the internet and IGoogled uh blinds near me, um,
and then it shows up fivebusinesses, right?
For auto insurance, it's thesame thing.
(25:02):
People shop auto insurance likeauto insurance near me, right?
And so our size and scale allowsus to do so many things that
others don't.
And so we get 40,000 hits to ourwebsite every single month.
Wow.
40,000.
So we push those leads, peoplethat are asking, you know, some
aren't asking just insurance,some that some are just coming
(25:24):
to see what's on.
But the ones that are saying,I'm interested in getting some
insurance or I have a problemwith insurance or whatever.
Now we push those to ourinsurance advisors, to our our
sales teams, and to our accountexecutives.
We never had that back then, sothat's one way.
We we spend quite a bit of moneyon generating marketing leads,
(25:44):
and then we use our data to makesure that our customers are
protected.
Um so if somebody has autoinsurance, we talk to them about
their home, of course, and andwe push that.
So we push from differentplaces, and we're lucky enough
to to be um to have a parentcompany that helps us with their
uh when they have customers thatcall because they're a
(26:06):
manufacturer and and gives ussome leads from there.
So you put all that together,and we have more than uh leads
than we like.
It's a wonderful thing to have,but we we make our phones ring
all day.
We get 15,000 calls a day.
Not all sales, of course, isservice, a lot of service in
there, but um that's whathappens when you have a good
(26:29):
reputation of getting gettinggood service, that you people
are trust trusting your brand,and that when they contact you,
um you follow through and yougive them the right coverage and
things like that.
We have choice.
So we have over a hundredmarkets, which is will fit
anybody's needs with the acompany that fits their needs.
So we have all the ingredientsto do that, and um, that's why I
(26:52):
say somebody wants to get intobusiness.
And you know, um, when I wasyoung, I wanted to make money.
I'm gonna be very honest withyou.
It was it wasn't anythingnotable.
I was just I could I want tomake a lot of money, and that's
why I went into sales becausesomeone convinced me if if you
work hard.
And I I remember sitting downwith my sales manager on a piece
(27:14):
of paper, he's like, How much doyou want to make this year?
That was my first sales kind oflesson.
I go, What are you talkingabout?
And he's like, How much do youwant to make this year, right?
And so I threw out a number andhe said, Okay, you work
backwards.
I'm sure you guys have done thatroutine.
And if you work backwards, let'ssay it was 50k back then.
Okay, the average premium isthis, the average commission is
(27:35):
this.
That means you're gonna sellthree out of 10 calls, and you
have to do 100 calls to get 10calls.
He's like, Okay, you got to do82 calls a day or 120 calls a
week, and you can make your 50k.
And he says, I can guarantee youyou will if you stay
disciplined.
So just throw out a number andhow much can you make and work
(27:56):
backwards and put the effort in.
So that was kind ofstraightforward for me, right?
SPEAKER_01 (28:01):
Yeah, getting into uh this new world of AI and
automation and all that funstuff.
I'm sure you spend a lot of timejust kind of navigating through
this new uh evolution.
I mean, what are your thoughtsand feelings on it of how it's
going to impact customers andemployees?
SPEAKER_00 (28:18):
I think first and foremost, um we're we're in an
era where cybersecurity is thefor me top of mind, whatever we
do.
Um there is a lot of um there'sa lot of bad actors out there
that um you know you have tomake sure that your your systems
(28:42):
is protected, that all thecustomers' um information is
private.
And so as we get into AI and usemore technology, we you've got
to have a very strong first lineof defense.
I think all brokers, no matterwhat size, small, big, medium,
need to make sure that they'reprotecting their data and their
(29:04):
customers' data.
I think that's first andforemost in today's world.
After that, it's wow, thepossibilities, right?
Like we've introduced AI in ouroperation, as you guys know.
Um an AI can now renew, canreview someone's policy and
compare it to their new policyin about 30 seconds, come up
(29:25):
with the coverage differencesand say to one of our insurance
advisors, this you know, Mr.
Smith's uh new policy went up$100, and here's why, boom,
boom, boom.
AI can do that now.
Whereas before AI, the insuranceadvisor would have to review
last year's policy, gonna gointo the renewal, look at a
comparison, and figure it out.
We can do and take about 30minutes.
(29:47):
We can now we have now a chatbot that can do that for the
insurance advisor quickly.
And also say they're missingthis, this, and this coverage.
So that is pretty cool.
We have uh a chatbot.
Her name is Brianna on ourwebsite.
So if a customer wants to chator wants to do the change, the
the chatbot, the AI, can do itfor them.
(30:11):
One of the coolest things ismost brokers are open nine to
five, but you know, I do mybills on Sunday night, like at
10 p.m.
And if because banking allowsme.
With us now, because of AI, acustomer Saturday night wants to
do an address change or see whattheir bill payment is.
They can go into our newBrokerland Connect, which is our
(30:34):
new app, and they can look intoit with a password, or they can
go on the website and say, Iwant to change, and the chatbot
does it, uh, gives it to aperson the next day and it's
done.
So they don't even have to waittill we're open.
That's the kind of cool stuffthat AI and uh technology allows
us to do, right?
That's uh yeah, I think it'llnext five years it'll
(30:54):
revolutionize how brokersoperate, but at the end of the
day, it won't replace employeesbecause it's we are a people
business and Matt or Mike, youhave to still talk to the
customer across from you.
The AI will make your job easierand the experience better and
get give you at your fingertipswhat you need.
But at the end of the day, we'restill professionals, we're still
(31:16):
licensed, and we still have togive that advice that AI can't,
right?
SPEAKER_02 (31:21):
How do you yeah?
I mean, that's kind of aninteresting way of like kind of
balance that relationship umbetween like human relationships
and digital convenience.
Do you see at all that peoplemight prefer to not deal with
people like customers?
Do you see that at all?
SPEAKER_00 (31:39):
I I think they start, I think they do their
research now without people.
So they you know, and I'mthinking especially the younger
generation.
Like my my daughter, one of mydaughters, she's 28, she doesn't
talk on the phone, she doesn'tpick up the phone and talk, she
texts, right?
She doesn't even email anymore.
Let's just be honest.
So I think this generation isnot even the young generation,
(32:02):
what we're seeing more of issomeone is thinking of shopping
for auto, they go on theinternet and they put in all
their stuff in differentcompanies and say, give me a
quote.
But at the end of the day,before they hit bind, first of
all, most can't offer that.
But even if they could, theypick up the phone because it's
legal contract.
(32:22):
They want to make sure thatthey've got the right coverages.
And you can't do that digitallywithout talking to somebody.
You know, for me, maybe I'mold-fashioned, but I still think
before I sign on my homeinsurance and my auto insurance,
I want to, if I wasn't in thebusiness, I'm gonna want to talk
to someone that's licensed and aprofessional, just like you
(32:42):
would a bank or financialplanner to say, hey, before I
hit the button to buy thispolicy for 2,000, did I pick the
right coverages?
Am I covered properly?
Did I miss anything?
I still that I still think thatis predominantly happens.
And that's why people in that'swhy our folks are are needed
when customers get to that.
(33:03):
Now they've done a whole bunchof research that in the past
they wouldn't have.
So you have a much more educatedconsumer and they know the
ballpark pricing and stuff.
But at the end of the day, theystill want to talk to a licensed
professional to get the bestadvice before they sign on the
dollar line.
SPEAKER_02 (33:17):
And you you can you can let me know if you agree
with this or not, but I kind ofhave a belief that a big saving,
like on top of everything yousaid, uh, a big saving grace,
uh, why people still reallymatter is because when something
goes wrong, people like to yellat people.
It's not quite as satisfyingyelling at a robot.
SPEAKER_01 (33:38):
Yeah.
I get mad at my computer morethan I get mad at any person,
though.
I'll try to get mad.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (33:45):
I hope a lot of people aren't yelling at us, but
um yeah, like I think like eventhe claims, you can start a
claim online, but you're gonnaget a call pretty quick and say,
hey, yeah, I just uh I just madea claim online.
Now tell me when I somebody'scoming to my house, who's coming
to my house, and when's my housegonna get fixed, right?
Right.
Because at the end of the day,that's what we're delivering on
(34:07):
is that uh that promise to toput them back where they
started.
And so um I just think peopleunderstand the importance, you
know, we're talking about likesomeone's home is their their
most their biggest asset,probably, right?
It's hundreds and hundreds ofthousands of dollars, and they
just don't want to rely on a ona chatbot or artificial
(34:31):
intelligence to make sure thatit's covered.
And you know, at the end of theday, I I I still think people
what we sell is peace of mind.
Yeah, that's what insurance is,is peace of mind that if
something happens, we got you,and um you don't get peace of
mind without talking to anindividual that's looks across
from you and looks in your eyesand says, it's covered, right?
Uh I don't think any machine cando that.
SPEAKER_01 (34:54):
Yeah, fair.
So where do you think I I meanin terms of other brokerages,
how do you think brokerlink iskind of staying ahead of the
curve on this?
SPEAKER_00 (35:02):
I know that's something you work hard on, so I
think our scale allows us to dothings that other brokers can't,
not that they don't want to,because you know, we're just
talking about AI.
It's expensive.
And so we're lucky enough withour scale to be efficient, um,
to be more efficient because ofsheer numbers.
(35:24):
We have more markets.
We have a hundred markets, andso you know, a small broker
might have five, six markets, sowe have way more choice so that
we can fit the customers' needsinto a little, little box
compared to these five or six,right?
So scale allows you to do waymore.
I think that's first.
Um, I think second, I'm biased,and so people will laugh at this
(35:47):
one.
I still think we have one of themost talented teams in the
industry.
And so our our structure is ahuge advantage.
We're in 240 towns acrossCanada.
That's pretty cool when you lookat it.
We're not just in one town,we're not just in one province,
we're in 240 communities.
(36:09):
And um, our people live in thosecommunities, so you'll see them
at the supermarket.
They're not going to hide fromyou.
They know you, they play intheir community, you know, with
the kids and stuff, so you getto know them.
And we give back to thecommunity.
I I think over the last 10years, we've given back over 5
million through United Way backinto communities and things like
(36:31):
that.
So I think that's a pretty goodvalue proposition that we have.
I'm not saying it's better thanother brokers, but it's unique
to us because of our size andscale.
And so that's pretty cool.
SPEAKER_01 (36:42):
Cool.
Um, yeah, so we'll just get onto another section here.
Now, we'll try not to get youany trouble here, but these are
like some of the things where,you know, we kind of want to
know like, what are some of yourbiggest pain points in the
industry today?
What would you want to see kindof change about the insurance
industry as a whole?
SPEAKER_00 (36:59):
Wow.
SPEAKER_01 (37:00):
If you had a magic wand.
SPEAKER_00 (37:02):
I look, I think um, without giving into trouble or
anything, and this is not rocketscience, but you know,
connectivity with markets is uhis a pain point.
We're we're behind otherindustries, and you know, some
people have to double entry,triple entry.
So technology not in a broker'soffice, but between the broker
(37:25):
and the manufacturer, betweenthe broker and the insurance
company could could absolutelybe improved.
Now everybody has their ownunique system, but you know,
like if we want to do acommercial quote, we have to go
into three or four systems if wewant to and is I mean that's I
(37:47):
don't know if that'll ever besolved, I'll be honest with you.
Everybody's more proprietary,but there's not an uh an
industry uh um solution rightnow.
It could change with AI andthings like that.
So there there are things in inthat make it tougher on on
brokers than other industries.
(38:09):
Um other than that, I I justthink it's a great it's a great
uh community.
I I find hard to pick at well,not perfect, and and no industry
is, but um there's care forpeople I've found.
I've worked four or fivecompanies too before my IFC
(38:31):
days, right?
So it's not like I'm justlooking at it at a lens from the
company I've worked for the last25 years, but there's a care for
people uh in this industry.
It's a s even though it's a bigindustry, it's a small industry,
you get to know people, and andand there are values.
Um, you know, you guys know wehave values at Brokerlink, but
the whole industry is a smallcommunity and they take care of
(38:54):
themselves.
And even though it's hardcompetition and you want to win
and beat the guy across thestreet, but there's respect at
the end of the day, and and weget along.
And so I I just think it's socool.
I I I don't look at it as whatissues do we have more so than
um where we're at.
Maybe the other thing I wouldsay is um is the regulation.
SPEAKER_03 (39:18):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (39:19):
You know, maybe because I'm a more free
capitalist, but um I think someprovinces should open it up and
let brokers and insurancecompanies compete more.
I think companies and brokerscan win on service and
technology and experience uh andpricing rather than having
(39:39):
regulators um tell us you know,this, this, and that, and
regulating our products quiteheavily in some provinces.
So I think that could be better,but um, I understand it.
You know, they want it to beaffordable, but I think an open
market will make it affordablebecause people have to compete
harder.
SPEAKER_02 (39:57):
Yeah, I mean, BC uh has probably the highest
insurance rates in the country,and they have one insurer,
that's the government.
So yeah.
So it is there anything likeoutside of like open it up, is
there any other like regulatorything that you'd like to change
in the industry, like where it'skind of like uh I wish they
(40:18):
didn't really like bring that inor you know, or go back to
something before, or yeah?
SPEAKER_00 (40:23):
Yeah, I I'll keep that to myself for now.
I don't want to get on the wrongside of some folks that I'm
gonna be end up talking to in acouple weeks about.
I I do have a few things in mymind that I would like to see
changed.
I'm gonna be honest with you.
Um I think as a as an advisor,if someone hires a broker to
(40:45):
take care of their insuranceneeds, the broker, in
conjunction with the customer,should be able to make changes.
Um and especially if the if thecustomer agrees that let the
broker speak on my behalf.
You know, right now um theregulations hide your hands on
you can't send if you think acustomer has to have a uh a
(41:08):
water change, for example, youhave to talk to the customer
where it, you know, I think itshould be a bit more open where
the customer gives you the rightto say, hey, if there's a
change, I trust you to give methe coverage, and it's not
negative optioning and stufflike that.
It's hard to call a millioncustomers and tell them, oh,
this is a little change, andwill you give me permission to
add it?
(41:28):
I think that has to flow morenaturally, especially for bigger
brokers who have big clients andmaybe can't get to every single
one, but are still acting in thebest interest of their clients,
right?
SPEAKER_02 (41:39):
How do you how do you feel that uh DCPD direct
compensation has changed theindustry?
I'm not gonna comment on thatone.
unknown (41:48):
Okay.
SPEAKER_00 (41:51):
I think I think if I comment, it's I'm damned if I
do, and damned if I don't.
SPEAKER_02 (41:55):
That's fair.
SPEAKER_00 (41:56):
That's fair.
SPEAKER_02 (41:57):
It's true.
It's a debatable topic in theinsurance world.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (42:01):
Well, you look at um in Ontario, we're gonna get
reform in 2026, and in Alberta,the form's coming in 2027, and
that's that's gonna takethousands and thousands of hours
for both uh insurance companiesand brokers to explain to their
their clients, and there's gottabe an easier way.
SPEAKER_01 (42:27):
Right.
So, another question now,customer education, I mean your
client education.
How do you feel that is today?
And do you feel like it could besomething better, and there's
something better we all could bedoing in terms of making sure
our clients understand theirproduct?
SPEAKER_00 (42:43):
I I think absolutely that is a gap.
Um, I'm not sure anybody does itreally, really well.
I think it's a balance becauseyou know, we can send out, we
have the automation to send outa newsletter once a week, once a
month, once a quarter, once ayear.
Yeah.
But you also have to respect thecustomer where is that junk mail
(43:05):
to them?
And they're yeah, like I'm inthe industry, and when my
renewal comes and it's thisthick, you guys, I throw it in,
I look at the price, how much itwent up, yeah, I look at what my
monthly payment is, and then Ithrow the entire, I rip up the
pink slips from the one page,and then I throw the entire
document into my desk, and Idon't look at it again.
(43:28):
Now, I'm in the industry, so Iknow what's covered, what's not,
but 90% of the people aren't inthe industry, they get this big,
huge contract.
SPEAKER_01 (43:39):
Nobody reads them.
It's scary when somebody doesand they call you page by page
and they want to talk about it.
You're surprised, right?
You're surprised in that.
You're scared, you don't knowwhat to do.
Yeah, you're like, oh gosh.
So you're reading it with them.
SPEAKER_00 (43:50):
Yeah, the good thing is they trust their broker.
SPEAKER_01 (43:53):
Right.
SPEAKER_00 (43:53):
Do that for them.
And good brokers, the the peopletrust them, they should, and
that's great, and that's why youkeep customers, right?
SPEAKER_01 (44:01):
Right.
SPEAKER_00 (44:02):
So, what is that balance where we want to educate
our consumers, but still notgive them junk me, or they say,
you know what, you're myprofessional advisor, you you
let me know, and then that's it,right?
Now, I think where we somecompanies do better than others
is mitigation.
Like some companies now warn youthere's going to be a storm
(44:24):
coming, or you better do this sothere's not a sewer backup.
Here are some interesting tips.
Get your uh home ready for thewinter.
Do this to prevent water loss,do this to prevent, you know.
Those things I think can can dobetter, but we've got to find a
way to get to that customer sothat they look at it on their
(44:48):
time and their way.
So it's no longer sending,remember the bulk mails where
you send a pamphlet orsomething?
Nope, that's garbage.
That's gonna go right into therecycling, and nobody's gonna
look at it.
But can I push somethingdigitally to all my customers
and say, hey, in AtlanticCanada, we are we are looking
like in a week that we're gonnaget a huge remnant from a
(45:11):
hurricane or some flooding, dothis, this, and this, like an
alert.
I think that would be cool.
I would at least read it andsay, okay, am I in the path or
not?
And do I need to do anything,right?
So those are things that I thinkthe brokers and the companies
that do that better and reachthe customer the way they want
to be reached, I think they'llseparate themselves from those
(45:34):
that don't.
And for us, it's to, you know,we've collected everybody's
texts and emails, and for us nowis to say, okay, hey, what's the
right amount of balance thatwe'll send you?
And where do when do you want tobe notified?
And so, you know, force fires,right?
Like they didn't exist to theextent they do today, right?
34 years ago, with climatechange and everything else.
(45:57):
And so we can be an alert.
I mean, you know, we can say,hey, might not come to you, but
right now it's how manykilometers away from you?
Here's some of the things youcan do proactively to to put
yourself in the best placepossible, right?
I mean, so there are differentthings we can do.
(46:17):
Um, we've got to find the rightbalance and say, okay, how do we
reach that customer?
SPEAKER_01 (46:23):
Right on.
Now, Joe, we want to respectyour time and the hour.
So, Matt, if you're cool withit, I think it's a good time to
move along to our 10 questionsround.
SPEAKER_02 (46:30):
We, I just I just have one last question for Joe
before we do that.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, sure.
Is uh just uh because I kind ofwant to leave like the big chat
on there.
So 25-year-old starts working inthe insurance industry today,
right?
And they look up to Joe andthey're like, Holy smokes, how
do I get to be the president ofa company someday?
That's the way I want to workup.
(46:51):
Outside of the classic, justwork hard.
What's the advice that you givethem of like how does someone go
from starting to to Joe?
SPEAKER_00 (46:59):
Yeah, I mean, I never thought I'd be president
of a company.
Come on.
There's so much involved,including luck and being at the
right, yes, hard work for sure,but I'm gonna tell you guys a
funny story.
Um, and then I'll tell you whatthey think they should do.
Um, I failed kindergarten.
(47:20):
Okay.
And I got to be president of oneof the biggest brokers in
Canada.
That's pretty cool.
So when I mentor kids now, I Istart with that.
Um, I I came from Italy when Iwas two and a half years old,
and my parents didn't know manypeople, so they surrounded
themselves with other Italians.
So until I went to kindergarten,I didn't speak English because
(47:42):
nobody could teach me.
And so I I, you know, we were ina in an area where there is a
lot of Italian population inNiagara Falls, where I went to
school.
And so in kindergarten, there'sprobably eight of us that were
of Italian descent in similarshoes as I am, and then other
kids, and the eight of us got uhwhatchamacallit.
(48:03):
Back then they failed you, butthey they they left you back for
a year.
So the rest of the class went tograde one and we had to repeat
kindergarten.
I wasn't dumb, I just didn'tknow the language, and it took a
little longer.
So, but I start with that story.
I'm president of a pretty coolcompany right now, and I failed
kindergarten.
So I think the lesson there forme is anybody can do it.
(48:24):
Now, you need a lot of luck, youneed a lot of mentoring, you
need to do a lot of things.
The tips I would give someoneyoung, 25 is put your head down,
take risk, learn the business,whatever it is, insurance,
automotive, whatever you'regoing into, learn it really
well.
And take risks in your career.
You know, take an assignmenthere, get transferred here, look
(48:48):
at try to get all theexperiences you can that makes
you understand the world thatyou're working in much better.
And then with some luck and somesuccess, who knows?
Anyone can get to where I got.
That's that's that's how I wouldexplain that.
SPEAKER_01 (49:02):
It's a great answer.
SPEAKER_00 (49:04):
Great answer.
SPEAKER_01 (49:04):
All right, now we're going to get to some questions.
Some of these are smart, some ofthese are silly, okay?
So they're just fun curves.
SPEAKER_00 (49:10):
You're doing really good on silly.
I don't know about the smartones.
SPEAKER_01 (49:13):
All right, okay.
So, Matt, I'll kick it off, bud.
Um, okay, Joe, the first job youever had.
SPEAKER_00 (49:20):
Oh, laundry for a whole motel, doing laundry for a
motel.
SPEAKER_01 (49:23):
Right on.
Okay, where's that at inOntario?
SPEAKER_00 (49:26):
Niagara Falls, big uh hotels, but big uh visitor,
uh, whatchamacallit tourists.
Oh, yeah.
13 years old doing laundry foruh 28-room motel.
My mom was the chambermaid, Iwas the laundry person.
SPEAKER_01 (49:39):
Oh, that's cool.
Right on, all right.
SPEAKER_02 (49:42):
Question number two.
So, what is a risk that you tookthat really paid off?
SPEAKER_00 (49:48):
Uh, I left a real good job to start a brokerage
from scratch with three others.
And no money.
SPEAKER_01 (49:59):
No money, okay, and no bunny parts, the scary part
there.
My gosh, yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (50:05):
Starting a broker from total scratch.
SPEAKER_01 (50:08):
Yeah, wow.
SPEAKER_00 (50:09):
You have to raise money, everything.
SPEAKER_01 (50:11):
Right, yeah.
Your opinion, what's the mostunderrated Canadian city and
why?
SPEAKER_00 (50:17):
Underrated city.
Oh, wow.
SPEAKER_01 (50:23):
Could be anywhere in Canada, just surpass your
expectations.
SPEAKER_00 (50:26):
You know what?
Um I'm gonna go back to uh I'mgonna I'm gonna do a province
because it's as big as a city.
Prince Edward Island.
We we went there with my familyuh and spent a week there.
It was so peaceful, so relaxing.
I we thought we were back in the70s.
(50:48):
Um what a cool place.
And I I know it's a province andnot a city, but it's it's small,
and we saw a lot.
We had some great seafood, butwe connected as a family, played
board games and stuff becausethere were you know, we had
rented a house near the waterthere.
There wasn't a lot to do, therewas no nightlife.
We weren't right in the likeVancouver's a cool city,
(51:10):
Toronto.
They're all cool cities, butman, that was just just
connecting, and that was a realcool experience for me.
So that one comes to mind.
SPEAKER_02 (51:19):
That's a great answer.
So, question number four if youwere an animal, what animal
would you be?
SPEAKER_01 (51:29):
Lion.
Lion, okay, lion, all right.
SPEAKER_00 (51:33):
I'm gonna be king of the jungle.
SPEAKER_01 (51:35):
There you go.
Okay, are you a beer guy, wineguy, cocktail?
What's what's your drink ofchoice?
This is uh founding on beer.
SPEAKER_00 (51:44):
I'm all you know what, this is uh it's not this
isn't a sellout, it's it's thetruth.
I'm uh all three.
SPEAKER_03 (51:50):
Oh, yeah?
SPEAKER_00 (51:51):
With my buddies on a hot afternoon, pound a couple
beers, no problem.
Go to a nice dinner restaurant,a couple couples, nice glass of
wine.
And um when you're really havingfun, like they did uh where was
I?
Uh, we were at a wedding and acouple of my best friends were
(52:11):
there.
We did some pounded some shotsand cocktails.
Good stuff.
Good stuff.
I think it's because I'm not abig drinker, I'm a social
drinker, and so it depends onthe audience and what I'm doing
and where I'm at.
So I don't discriminate.
SPEAKER_02 (52:25):
That's great.
Question number six.
Uh, what is a movie or book thatyou really enjoyed this year?
This year.
SPEAKER_00 (52:36):
If I go back a few years, yeah, sure.
Um there's um I like um I likemovies that are based on uh real
life, but they they add somedrama to it.
And so um, I watched it a coupleyears ago.
It's an older movie.
Have you guys ever watchedInvincible with Mark Wahlberg?
(52:57):
Yep.
Based on just a normal Joe guywent on as a walk-up, a walk-up
at a Philadelphia Eagles camp.
No college, no university ball,nothing, just high school, and
made the team.
And Disney did a movie on thestory, and um, it's just one
(53:18):
where you know someone workedtheir ass off and threw all
kinds of doubters and stuff andstill got to play in the NFL for
a couple years.
Just uh a feel-good I'm notgetting all mushy, but it's it's
it's just a feel-good movie.
SPEAKER_02 (53:33):
It was a great movie.
It hurt my soul as a Patriotsfan to see another Patriots fan
play of character who played forthe Eagles, but other than that,
great.
Yeah.
Mike 97, over to you.
SPEAKER_01 (53:46):
Yeah, something you're surprisingly bad at.
Something you just suck atdoing.
It could be any in any any anyfacet of life.
SPEAKER_00 (53:55):
Yeah, reading my reading my wife.
I get into so much troublebecause I'm like, I shouldn't
have said that, right?
SPEAKER_02 (54:06):
I don't think that's necessarily specific to you, but
sure.
SPEAKER_00 (54:10):
Yeah, that's what I suck at.
Sometimes I read totally wrong,and uh, yeah, okay.
Missed on that one.
I have I I'm gonna get introuble for saying this.
My two girls when we weregrowing up, they would text me,
Dad, mom got her hair done, justremark at dinner that it's
there.
So they always had my back,which is kind of cool, but that
stuff just gets just flies rightover my head.
(54:30):
I just wouldn't think of stufflike that, right?
SPEAKER_02 (54:33):
All right, so question number eight, and this
is really important.
So you've been in riskmanagement pretty much you know,
that career most of your life.
How much would you wager thatthe Blue Jays are gonna win the
World Series?
SPEAKER_00 (54:49):
You want a percentage instead of a dollar
amount?
Sure, sure.
However, you want to answer.
I think they're going.
I I would I I would wager highpercentage that they're gonna go
to the World Series.
I'm uh like you know, they justcrushed the Yankees, and um
Yeah, it was wonderful watchinglast night.
I I think they'll they have ahuge leg up on whether it's
Seattle, Detroit.
(55:10):
I think they'll crush them.
I am worried about the Dodgers,guys.
Okay, that team is that team isjust based on money.
Like they're you know, theirpayrolls, I don't know how many
hundreds of millions more thaneverybody else, because baseball
is one of the few sports withouta cap left, right?
And so that one worries me, butyou know what?
(55:31):
So what?
I'd like I give them a 50-50%chance of winning against the
Dodgers.
If it's any of the other teams,like if the Dodgers get upset,
uh I like I like their chances.
I I I think they got some mojogoing.
I think they're like a team ofdestiny, nobody expected them.
So I'm hoping, guys.
SPEAKER_01 (55:48):
Good answer.
We're all hoping.
Yeah.
One of your favorite meals.
This could be from any type partof the world.
SPEAKER_00 (55:55):
Oh, yeah.
A meal?
Like a favorite meal.
I'm a big pasta guy.
SPEAKER_01 (55:59):
Oh, yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (56:00):
My my waist says to me you can't eat it a lot.
But man, good pasta, yeah.
Something in particular, like aplate.
No, my my wife actually makeshomemade pasta with the machine
now.
She learned that's mom, which isoh, cool.
That is just a melts in yourmouth when it's fresh.
Yeah, 100%.
Way better.
SPEAKER_01 (56:19):
Milky, how's that for a oh yeah, yeah.
A kid loves that now.
Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (56:26):
So, question number 10 before we get to the last
call here.
So, why kind of quickly sum itup?
Why do you feel that peopleshould consider working in
insurance?
SPEAKER_00 (56:38):
No regrets.
No regrets.
Okay.
Sorry, just to sum it up, you'llhave no regrets.
SPEAKER_01 (56:46):
Awesome.
I like it.
Cool.
All right, this is what we uh wecall this the last call.
It's a question we ask every oneof our guests.
I don't know how many episodeswe're in now.
125, Matt, roundabout?
125?
Something like that, yeah.
Okay.
So we uh we say, What's onepiece of advice you were given
in your life um that you'd liketo share with us and others
listening today?
SPEAKER_00 (57:05):
Yeah, um just be kind.
Um, you don't know what peopleare going through or their
journey.
People struggle, don't knowwhere they're coming from.
And I think this world is justtoo quick to now judge and hate.
I someone once told me just bekind.
(57:27):
They told me if you walk into aroom of a hundred people and
everybody puts their problems ina bucket, you wish that you took
yours back, probably 99% of thetimes.
Because people are goingthrough.
So I just be I thinkunfortunately in today's world,
be kind is kind of the minority.
(57:49):
So it's it's simple, but I Ithink it's it's more appropriate
today than it has ever been.
SPEAKER_01 (57:55):
Agreed.
Love it.
Yeah, yeah.
Well, Joe, this was awesome.
Uh cheers to you, my friend.
This was a great conversation.
And thank you for having me.
I appreciate it.
Thank you very much.
And uh come back for a secondround any time.
There you go.
We appreciate it.
Thanks again.
SPEAKER_00 (58:14):
Take care, okay.
Nice to be with you.
Yeah.
We really appreciate you havingyou on the on the show here with
us.
We intended to have this pointin person, but unfortunately,
uh, you had a you had an injuryjust before you were coming to
visit Nova Scotia.
Um I'm really glad we couldstill make this happen, even
though it's not our normalconventional method at uh at a
bar after hours after work.
(00:30):
So thank you.
You guys owe me some wingsthough.
Next time you're done,absolutely.
So uh so Joel, tell us a littlebit about yourself and what you
do today.
SPEAKER_00 (00:39):
Uh so a little bit about myself.
Um I I'm married 35 years.
Um she's the rock behind thefamily, my wife, Michelle.
Um, two daughters.
So so very proud of them.
Um both just got married in thelast couple years.
I just had my first grandson,which I'm over the moon with.
(01:02):
His name is Joey, so yeah, kindof got there.
And um so I've been in theindustry 35 years.
Today I'm president ofBrokerlink.
I'm so grateful that I had theopportunity to be in this
position.
It's a wonderful gig.
Um, I don't look at it as hard,I just look at it as a joy, and
(01:23):
uh just thrilled uh just to bein the industry, what it gives
back.
Um I'm very grateful for what Ihave.
And uh yeah, running Brokerlinkhas been a challenge, but have
been huge rewards, and so thepeople I get to deal with every
day, um, you can't beat thatsomething different every day.
And so I'm thrilled to be here.
SPEAKER_01 (01:44):
Now Brokerlink's a pretty big organization, so for
folks that don't know exactlyhow many employees are in
Brokerlink now?
SPEAKER_00 (01:52):
We're depending on the month, because we do quite a
bit of acquisitions.
We're about 5,000 employees uhcoast to coast.
Wow.
Uh we operate in every province.
Uh we don't have a physicallocation in PEI, even though we
operate there.
Five billion dollars we hit thisyear in BWP, which is uh a nice
milestone for us.
(02:12):
And uh and so yeah, it's uh it'scool.
We're just went into BritishColumbia last year.
That was pretty cool.
First time there.
And yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (02:23):
Before you became uh president of Brokerlink, I mean
it's fair to say to anybodylistening that nobody just gets
into insurance, right?
They're uh they all kind of fallinto it one way or another.
So what was what did young Joewant to do when he was a kid?
Be a professional soccer player.
SPEAKER_02 (02:40):
Oh I heard this.
I heard that you had a a uhscholarship.
SPEAKER_00 (02:45):
Yeah, so I I did play uh soccer at UCLA for a
year or two, um, but I wasn'tgood enough for pro.
And so you get humbled realquick, right?
You you you play your wholelife.
Um, you know, I was on theall-star teams and everything in
my local local hometown, andthen you go to a Division I
school to try to play there, andyour eyes are open because
(03:07):
everybody was their uh star intheir hometown as well, right?
SPEAKER_01 (03:12):
Where was your where was your local hometown at?
SPEAKER_00 (03:14):
Niagara Falls.
SPEAKER_01 (03:16):
So you're an Ontario guy through and through.
SPEAKER_00 (03:18):
I'm an Ontario guy through and through.
Um, and so uh when I figured outpretty quick I wasn't gonna be a
pro, um, you turn your sights,okay.
Let's take advantage of this anduh let's get a good education.
And uh I got a business degreeand I majored in in economics.
And um yeah, and so that's youngJoe.
(03:40):
He always wanted to be uh asoccer player, but that never
worked out and went touniversity and then I answered
an ad.
Um it intrigued me.
I was looking for a job, Iwanted to get out of out of the
house living with my parents.
I'm in my early 20s, and um wasa management trainee uh
advertisement in the in thepaper for All State insurance.
(04:03):
And I applied.
I didn't even know what amanagement trainee in insurance
did, but it sounded good.
Got hired, and that's that's thestart of my career.
I had no idea of the it's it'sfunny.
SPEAKER_02 (04:16):
Uh a lot of people in the insurance industry uh say
that they it's very much fallenin.
If you're if your parents didn'trun a brokerage or something
like that, right?
You just fall into it.
Um but it's certainly a good uhcertainly a good career to fall
into, that's for sure.
SPEAKER_00 (04:32):
Absolutely.
And like you know, I playedcompetitive sports, you know,
played football in high school,basketball, I played soccer,
obviously.
And I just I I love the teamaspect.
Uh, I thought I was a prettygood leader, and so I wanted to
get into some managementposition where I can um where I
can lead people.
And so first that I answered wasAllstate, and the rest is
(04:54):
history.
SPEAKER_02 (04:54):
You've done a different lot of different
things kind of throughout youryour career, yeah uh and kind of
early on.
How long were you at Allstatefor?
SPEAKER_00 (05:01):
Uh five years.
I was uh again managementtrainee, became a supervisor,
got promoted to a manager, and Iwanted to climb the corporate
ladder like everybody else, butthey told me I had to go and
sell insurance, and if I wassuccessful, then I can continue
to climb the corporate ladderbecause um and so I became uh an
(05:22):
agent.
I'm a broker now, but I was anagent back then, and uh back
then at the time, All State soldlife insurance as well as uh
PNC, right?
And so I I I gotta tell you, ifyou can sell life insurance, you
can sell pretty much uhanything.
That was a tough gig.
Um and so did that and um uh didthat successfully for two years.
(05:48):
Then I got married, and I gotmarried to an American, and we
decided to start a family, butwe thought we'd start a move our
careers to the US with moreopportunity, and I thought I'm
up for it a different uhexperience, and so I left All
(06:09):
State and uh went over to the USand spent 10 years there.
How'd you meet your wife?
Oh funny story.
Um probably like a lot ofpeople, I broke up with somebody
else, and uh I decided to go ona trip with my buddies to
Mexico.
SPEAKER_01 (06:29):
Oh, yeah.
Okay, there you go.
SPEAKER_00 (06:32):
And my first day on the on the one we were there for
a week for vacation, just me andthree other buddies, and I met
her the first day and we hungout by the pool.
Cool.
A week got to know her andexchanged numbers and had a long
distance relationship for awhile until we decided it was
serious.
Yeah.
So where where's your wife from?
(06:53):
Uh when I met her, she wasliving in San Diego.
Oh, it's really long distance.
Yeah, I was in Toronto and shewas in San Diego 3,000 miles.
And um, I remember her notwanting to leave sunny
California, and I didn't want toleave Toronto because I had my
career was doing well, and umshe ended up coming my way, I
(07:16):
guess.
Yeah, I won that one, but uh Ihope she doesn't regret it.
SPEAKER_02 (07:23):
Well, I mean you did you said you you you spent some
time down in the US.
SPEAKER_00 (07:27):
Yeah, after we got married, um, so we we dated for
a couple years, and then afterwe got married, um we decided to
move, but um New York State,which was close to Ontario and
and um then Pennsylvania,Pittsburgh, but um we we did not
go back to California, which I'msure she was a little bit
disappointed in.
SPEAKER_01 (07:48):
Right on.
So go back going back to yousaying you started out as an
agent, like um, you know, whatwere some of your early
challenges as an agent?
SPEAKER_00 (07:56):
Look, I guess the pros back then, when I started,
Allstate was a brand name.
And so that was kind of cool.
You didn't have to explainyourself with a company that
nobody knew about.
So that was a pro, I would say.
The other thing back then is theAllstate booths, they were
calling booths, not offices,because it was literally a
counter with an office behind,were all located in Sears
(08:17):
stores.
There was a relationship withSears back then, and so I the
booth that I worked in in aSears store was right beside a
the the photography uh in aSears store and the appliances,
and it was strategically becausepeople that go buy appliances
usually buy their first house orwhatever, and then babies,
(08:38):
firstborns go to the Sears storeback then and get their photo,
take a professional photo,right?
Right on.
And so I'd sit up at the boothand just chat with people.
And you know, did you buy a newhouse and try to you know?
I asked, do you need homeinsurance or your first baby?
You know, like do you have lifeinsurance?
Young couples.
Um, so that was an advantage,but you know, back then you've
got you guys are too young.
(08:58):
But I was put in a room and theytore a couple pages out of the
white telephone book pages andsaid, go in the back room and
cold call this whole page.
And there's probably what, 200numbers on those old telephone
books.
Yeah, it was all cold callingback then.
Like I don't think most peopledo cold calling today uh of that
variety.
So it was a grind.
And and I remember you know, myfirst sales manager telling me,
(09:21):
I'm like, I'm going in andtelling him, man, everybody's
hanging up, or they're sayingno.
He goes, That's a good thing.
And I'm like, What do you whatare you talking about?
Well, for every 10 no's, you'regonna get one yes, and you do a
hundred calls, you're gonna get10 yeses, and you're gonna sell
four of those.
And it was a numbers game.
And so, you know, that gotdrilled into me, and it and it
works.
(09:42):
But you got to get a lot of no'sto get that that appointment to
get the the bind.
And so the it was a grind, andI'm not you know, today we don't
do that.
Uh, you know, we make our phonesring for most of our folks, uh,
and then they get referrals andthey build up a reputation and
then they go out, right?
Like, but back then is you justcall call and people hung up on
(10:02):
you.
What's this and what's that?
SPEAKER_02 (10:04):
So why do you think that shift happened in the
industry where it's like you hadto be more outbound, say in like
the 90s versus now where it'slike it's just flocking?
SPEAKER_00 (10:14):
Well, no computers back then, right?
Like today, go you you wantinsurance, you Google car
insurance, and you know, brokerlink or somebody will pop up,
you make a call, we'll push itto one of our brokers, right?
Um, there's no digital.
And so I think in the brokerspace, we were an agent, but the
(10:35):
broker space they had the littletown, the little office in the
towns, and they would writepeople in their towns, right?
They get to know people throughlittle league hockey or you
know, Sunday soccer or at thegrocery store.
Um, but there was no computers,none of that.
And so no cell phones, so youhad to call from a, you know, I
remember having the rotarynumber and dialing 50 to 100
(10:58):
calls a night.
Um, and people you call them atnight because they weren't home
during the day and uh theydidn't carry cell phones.
So and I remember um going mostof my uh appointments were at
after dinner in the in thecustomer's kitchen.
That's how we did it.
And you know, um, we we'vechanged a lot quite a bit, I
(11:19):
think.
But um it taught me discipline,especially.
Like if I was gonna make anymoney on it, if I was gonna be
successful, I you have to havethe discipline to do the the
1500 calls or and then you know,as you you guys know, as you um
as you get a bit more successfuland sell a few policies and and
treat them well and and theyknow that you know your stuff,
(11:39):
then you ask for referrals, andover time, you know, the book
gets bigger and a lot less coldcalling because then it's just
referral business based on agood reputation, right?
And so I also had the oneadvantage I had, because this
was in the the Toronto area, um,I spoke Italian.
Uh I was born in there, I cameto Canada when I was two, but I
(12:00):
that's my first language.
And Toronto had a huge Italianpopulation.
And I would put an ad in thelocal Italian paper and said,
Hey, if you guys need insurance,but you you know, my parents
always spoke broken English,were never comfortable in that
setting.
But I said, I speak thelanguage, I'll take care of you.
And so I got a lot of callsthrough that, which was kind of
(12:21):
cool, and helped give back to mycommunity back then that they
could trust someone that wouldtake care of their needs, right?
SPEAKER_02 (12:27):
I think that's fantastic.
Yeah, it's would you say thatthe industry is like because of
that, because you had to do somuch night work, the industry is
shifted now to a more likefamily-friendly environment.
SPEAKER_00 (12:40):
Yeah.
Um, well, I mean, you trycalling 50 people at night now,
you know what's going to happenwith with cell phones, they'll
block you.
And you know, they we didn'thave that technology back then.
There was no call ID.
You didn't know who was callingyou, right?
Right.
The world has changed.
I don't think that would worktoday.
What hasn't changed is uh folksstill look for an insurance,
(13:03):
someone that they can trust,someone that they know
preferably or get to know.
And so, you know, that's why ourmodel, we have 230 locations, is
different, because um we don'tthink that just being in one or
two spots and trying to sellnationally would work.
We we want to be in thecommunities, we want to be
local, you want to give back.
(13:24):
I think people appreciate thatstill and and still go to the
local insurance broker.
Um, especially, you know, welook in suburban and rural
areas, and you know, maybe theToronto area, people are fine
with digital and stuff, but youknow, some of the towns where
you guys are at in Atlanta,Canada, and some of the towns in
Alberta and Ontario, they preferjust to get in the car, drive to
(13:47):
Main Street, and speak to theperson across the way, right, if
they have a problem, right?
So I think that hasn't changed.
It's the relationship businessit was back then.
How you get those customersprobably has changed the most.
SPEAKER_02 (14:01):
That actually is a really good segue into kind of
the next part that we wanted tolike talk about, which is
breaking the stereotype um ofinsurance.
Uh as everybody knows, you know,there's a lot of uh negative uh
stereotypes that focus aroundinsurance people.
Why don't you like kind of walkus through why insurance isn't
(14:22):
just about policies andpremiums?
SPEAKER_00 (14:25):
Yeah, I mean, if you step back and and really um what
is insurance for, like peoplecan't own businesses, people
can't own homes, uh, peoplecan't drive without insurance.
That's just a fact.
Yeah.
And so you need it.
And it's a necessary evil, ifyou will say.
(14:46):
It's a product that you buy andspend quite a bit of money
because it is expensive, and youhope you never use the product,
right?
That's the premise of insurance.
SPEAKER_01 (14:54):
Pretty much, yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (14:55):
You're gonna pay a thousand bucks or whatever it is
to get protection, which isreally peace of mind.
And you hope you never use thatproduct.
Because if you do, that meansyou had a car accident, you've
had a fire, you had a burglary,you had a water loss, whatever.
I mean, same with the business,right?
And so you you you're willing tospend some money to give you
peace of mind that night if thathappens, um, that you're
(15:17):
protected, right?
And so, but you wish you neveruse it.
And so, you know, it's adifferent product.
When I spend a thousand bucks ona bike or something, it's
because I'm looking forward togetting home and using it.
And here we are saying, we hopenever use it.
So I think just the premise ofinsurance sometimes is tough.
That's why people are like, Ican't believe that it costs this
(15:38):
much, and and so forth.
But I can tell you, because I'veI I've been out to some claims
just as in my roles, man, peopleare grateful.
Uh, when something does happen,and then they call you and say,
you know, I just had a fire andand this burned down, and we
say, Don't worry, it's allcovered.
I mean, you we we only see thatlike 8-9% of the time, because I
(16:00):
think the a statistic is ninepercent of the uh people have
claims 10%, right?
But to see someone's face, um,and it goes I go back to wow,
1987 with all state, and I had Iwas selling life insurance 1988,
and I got a a note from uh uh ayounger woman in her 40s, she
lost her husband um tragicaccident.
(16:24):
And she just sent me a notesaying um she appreciated I had
sold her a life insurance and itwas their first life insurance
policy.
And I remember selling it tothem, and and the husband was
just pissed at me.
Because I was taught, you know,when you when you uh selling
life insurance, make sure mostguys back, you know, when
(16:47):
they're young, they they'refearless, they they um think
they'll never die.
They were invincible.
I think that too, so when I wasyoung, right?
And so, but it's the woman whohad the kids who was like, no,
no, we need it dear, we need itsweetie.
She kind of pushed him into it,and he probably gave me a couple
looks, like, what the hell areyou doing, man?
And um, but she sent me a note,and now it was tragic in that
(17:09):
you know he passed on early, butshe says, if I didn't have this,
I don't know what I would havedone.
And so thank you.
Um, you know, it was a couplemonths later.
I I remember, I kept that thatnote.
And and you know, I don't dolife insurance anymore, I do P
and C as you guys know, but I'vealways in the back of my mind
remembered that note.
(17:30):
And um, you know, we're here tohelp people.
I know it's just a slogan, butyou know, if you you look at our
purpose at at Broker, like we'rehere to help people, that's it.
Um, sometimes that's forgottenthrough all the all the stuff
you go through, you know, priceincreases, the missed appealing
here and there.
(17:50):
You you guys know, I mean, it'stough for customers, but when
you peel it all back andsomething happens, um most
people are just grateful thatthey had it.
And yes, it's gonna be tough toget back and rebuild and stuff,
but at least they don't have toworry how, right?
SPEAKER_01 (18:07):
100%.
Yeah.
You know, in general, the widevariety of career options within
the insurance industry.
Um, you know, it's not justselling insurance, obviously.
And how do you think um youngprofessionals or any
professional, even if they comeinto the insurance industry at
40 or 50, um, you know, howcould professionals develop and
get into leadership roles, inyour opinion?
SPEAKER_00 (18:28):
The nice thing about insurance careers, first of all,
most people fall into it byaccident.
I think we said that at thebeginning.
But it is a relationshipbusiness, and there are so many
avenues you can go into today.
You don't even want, you know,you if you don't want to sell
insurance because the purethought of selling insurance
(18:49):
with that, which I think ispretty cool, but if that for
whatever reason turns you off,we have digital, we have SEO
experts, SEM experts.
We have finance people, we havecommunications staff, we have a
marketing team, uh, we have HRprofessionals, we have legal,
and we have leaders, managers.
(19:11):
If you want to lead people, youknow, it would it help to have
insurance background?
Absolutely, but if you're astrong leader, we can develop
you courses and stuff that youcan lead people.
Um, so it's it's endless theopportunity.
So you don't have to sellinsurance to be successful.
Uh, I did it because I enjoyedit, and I think it's made me a
(19:32):
better leader because it's Iunderstand the journey of a an
account executive, what it takesto build a book, what it takes
to sell a policy.
Some people like, you know,that's not hard.
It's hard to keep customers.
That's really hard.
And I went through that, so Ithink it makes me a better
leader, understanding that.
(19:53):
But you absolutely can be a goodleader without going through
that as long as you learn thebusiness, right?
Um, but it's endless theopportunities.
SPEAKER_01 (20:01):
What advice do you have for people that don't think
insurance is an exciting career?
SPEAKER_00 (20:05):
Or like uh that that's they just don't know uh
much about it, like I didn'tknow much about it.
I thought when I answered thatad, I'll be there for two years
and get a resume going and I cando other things.
And 35 year later, I'm still init.
I people that accidentally getinto insurance, they they stay
(20:26):
in insurance.
That's why you see people having20, you know, 30, 40-year
careers.
So um it's recession proof.
Whether we're in a recession orin good times, people need
insurance.
So you're you know, when whenthere's a hard times, you get
you know different companies,whether they're
(20:46):
telecommunications or banks orsomething, there's layoffs.
We don't because we always needinsurance.
So it's recession proof ifyou're young, but you can go
into different verticals, um,not just sales.
And it's a people business, andevery day is different.
And if you enjoy people, thenwow, what a business to be in,
(21:07):
right?
So those are three thingsreasons why I think young people
coming out of university shouldthink, wow, maybe I don't know
about it, but maybe I shouldlearn about it before I decline
to even explore it, right?
You all to yourself to explorewhere you will be happy, and um
it's a good living, right?
I mean, yeah, right.
SPEAKER_02 (21:27):
You it it's interesting to say that you were
gonna be in there uh for onlytwo years, and and the fact that
you also said it was it was it'sa people business because I do
know that uh this industry hasalso given you one of your
closest friends, uh, you know,in in just in your personal life
as well.
Uh I assume that you you guysmet at Allstate.
SPEAKER_00 (21:48):
So that's I I have I have three, I mean, you you are
they best friends?
Absolutely.
I have three friends fromAllstate that I met in 1985, and
I only worked with for fouryears.
We went through everythingtogether.
They're still my best buddiesnow.
We we attend all events,weddings, and birthdays, and
(22:09):
they're my go-to guys.
Um, you know, I got a couplebuddies from high school, like
everybody does, right?
Right.
But from my career and all thefriendships and relationships
I've made since, um, I'vementored quite a few people.
I have some VPs now that mentormy daughter.
One of my daughters is in theindustry, and that's pretty cool
(22:30):
because my daughter got to meetthem just through me.
Um, so people give back.
Um, but yeah, I mean, everythingI have, including my best
friends, if is a result from uh,and things, of course, are as a
result of this industry.
And I owe it a lot, so I havenothing but uh good things to
(22:52):
say about this industry.
Um and yeah, for young peoplethat might be listening or
looking to when they graduate toabsolutely explore it.
I I don't think you will regretit.
SPEAKER_02 (23:05):
Yeah, I I've I know I've often kind of said that uh
even if you come out of schoolwith your with a degree or
something, um if you have aninsurance license, you'll never
be without work.
SPEAKER_00 (23:16):
Right.
And if you're if you have a workethic, you'll never starve.
Right.
If you have a work ethic, thereare tools and things we can do
where we can get you to make agood living.
We we can help that part.
You don't have you're not onyour own where you know we back
then they put you in a room likethey did me and said, call a
(23:37):
hundred people from thistelephone book.
That's just not the case today.
We uh we spend a lot of money tomake the phone ring for our
folks.
Um, we give them everyopportunity to succeed.
It's just amount they have tojust be willing to come to work
and work hard and be disciplinedand and and you can have a real
good living.
You guys know that, but uh ifpeople didn't know that, that's
(23:58):
that's all you need, really.
SPEAKER_02 (24:00):
That and and that actually is a good kind of also
segue to like the next part thatwe wanted to talk about.
You said that you make the phonering for your folks.
So that kind of leads us into areally interesting topic about
technology and how it's changedinsurance.
How do you make the phone ringfor your folks?
SPEAKER_00 (24:19):
Yeah, I mean, look, um first you need a brand name,
right?
So we're lucky enough atBrokerlink that we have a good
brand name.
People recognize it that it'sinsurance.
Uh we've been around since uh1991.
Um the web today, right?
Like anything you need, forgetinsurance for a second, but
(24:42):
anything you need, the firstthing I do when I'm looking for
something, you know, right now II I was uh just looking for some
uh shades, blinds for one of ourrooms.
I went to the internet and IGoogled uh blinds near me, um,
and then it shows up fivebusinesses, right?
For auto insurance, it's thesame thing.
(25:02):
People shop auto insurance likeauto insurance near me, right?
And so our size and scale allowsus to do so many things that
others don't.
And so we get 40,000 hits to ourwebsite every single month.
Wow.
40,000.
So we push those leads, peoplethat are asking, you know, some
aren't asking just insurance,some that some are just coming
(25:24):
to see what's on.
But the ones that are saying,I'm interested in getting some
insurance or I have a problemwith insurance or whatever.
Now we push those to ourinsurance advisors, to our our
sales teams, and to our accountexecutives.
We never had that back then, sothat's one way.
We we spend quite a bit of moneyon generating marketing leads,
(25:44):
and then we use our data to makesure that our customers are
protected.
Um so if somebody has autoinsurance, we talk to them about
their home, of course, and andwe push that.
So we push from differentplaces, and we're lucky enough
to to be um to have a parentcompany that helps us with their
uh when they have customers thatcall because they're a
(26:06):
manufacturer and and gives ussome leads from there.
So you put all that together,and we have more than uh leads
than we like.
It's a wonderful thing to have,but we we make our phones ring
all day.
We get 15,000 calls a day.
Not all sales, of course, isservice, a lot of service in
there, but um that's whathappens when you have a good
(26:29):
reputation of getting gettinggood service, that you people
are trust trusting your brand,and that when they contact you,
um you follow through and yougive them the right coverage and
things like that.
We have choice.
So we have over a hundredmarkets, which is will fit
anybody's needs with the acompany that fits their needs.
So we have all the ingredientsto do that, and um, that's why I
(26:52):
say somebody wants to get intobusiness.
And you know, um, when I wasyoung, I wanted to make money.
I'm gonna be very honest withyou.
It was it wasn't anythingnotable.
I was just I could I want tomake a lot of money, and that's
why I went into sales becausesomeone convinced me if if you
work hard.
And I I remember sitting downwith my sales manager on a piece
(27:14):
of paper, he's like, How much doyou want to make this year?
That was my first sales kind oflesson.
I go, What are you talkingabout?
And he's like, How much do youwant to make this year, right?
And so I threw out a number andhe said, Okay, you work
backwards.
I'm sure you guys have done thatroutine.
And if you work backwards, let'ssay it was 50k back then.
Okay, the average premium isthis, the average commission is
(27:35):
this.
That means you're gonna sellthree out of 10 calls, and you
have to do 100 calls to get 10calls.
He's like, Okay, you got to do82 calls a day or 120 calls a
week, and you can make your 50k.
And he says, I can guarantee youyou will if you stay
disciplined.
So just throw out a number andhow much can you make and work
(27:56):
backwards and put the effort in.
So that was kind ofstraightforward for me, right?
SPEAKER_01 (28:01):
Yeah, getting into uh this new world of AI and
automation and all that funstuff.
I'm sure you spend a lot of timejust kind of navigating through
this new uh evolution.
I mean, what are your thoughtsand feelings on it of how it's
going to impact customers andemployees?
SPEAKER_00 (28:18):
I think first and foremost, um we're we're in an
era where cybersecurity is thefor me top of mind, whatever we
do.
Um there is a lot of um there'sa lot of bad actors out there
that um you know you have tomake sure that your your systems
(28:42):
is protected, that all thecustomers' um information is
private.
And so as we get into AI and usemore technology, we you've got
to have a very strong first lineof defense.
I think all brokers, no matterwhat size, small, big, medium,
need to make sure that they'reprotecting their data and their
(29:04):
customers' data.
I think that's first andforemost in today's world.
After that, it's wow, thepossibilities, right?
Like we've introduced AI in ouroperation, as you guys know.
Um an AI can now renew, canreview someone's policy and
compare it to their new policyin about 30 seconds, come up
(29:25):
with the coverage differencesand say to one of our insurance
advisors, this you know, Mr.
Smith's uh new policy went up$100, and here's why, boom,
boom, boom.
AI can do that now.
Whereas before AI, the insuranceadvisor would have to review
last year's policy, gonna gointo the renewal, look at a
comparison, and figure it out.
We can do and take about 30minutes.
(29:47):
We can now we have now a chatbot that can do that for the
insurance advisor quickly.
And also say they're missingthis, this, and this coverage.
So that is pretty cool.
We have uh a chatbot.
Her name is Brianna on ourwebsite.
So if a customer wants to chator wants to do the change, the
the chatbot, the AI, can do itfor them.
(30:11):
One of the coolest things ismost brokers are open nine to
five, but you know, I do mybills on Sunday night, like at
10 p.m.
And if because banking allowsme.
With us now, because of AI, acustomer Saturday night wants to
do an address change or see whattheir bill payment is.
They can go into our newBrokerland Connect, which is our
(30:34):
new app, and they can look intoit with a password, or they can
go on the website and say, Iwant to change, and the chatbot
does it, uh, gives it to aperson the next day and it's
done.
So they don't even have to waittill we're open.
That's the kind of cool stuffthat AI and uh technology allows
us to do, right?
That's uh yeah, I think it'llnext five years it'll
(30:54):
revolutionize how brokersoperate, but at the end of the
day, it won't replace employeesbecause it's we are a people
business and Matt or Mike, youhave to still talk to the
customer across from you.
The AI will make your job easierand the experience better and
get give you at your fingertipswhat you need.
But at the end of the day, we'restill professionals, we're still
(31:16):
licensed, and we still have togive that advice that AI can't,
right?
SPEAKER_02 (31:21):
How do you yeah?
I mean, that's kind of aninteresting way of like kind of
balance that relationship umbetween like human relationships
and digital convenience.
Do you see at all that peoplemight prefer to not deal with
people like customers?
Do you see that at all?
SPEAKER_00 (31:39):
I I think they start, I think they do their
research now without people.
So they you know, and I'mthinking especially the younger
generation.
Like my my daughter, one of mydaughters, she's 28, she doesn't
talk on the phone, she doesn'tpick up the phone and talk, she
texts, right?
She doesn't even email anymore.
Let's just be honest.
So I think this generation isnot even the young generation,
(32:02):
what we're seeing more of issomeone is thinking of shopping
for auto, they go on theinternet and they put in all
their stuff in differentcompanies and say, give me a
quote.
But at the end of the day,before they hit bind, first of
all, most can't offer that.
But even if they could, theypick up the phone because it's
legal contract.
(32:22):
They want to make sure thatthey've got the right coverages.
And you can't do that digitallywithout talking to somebody.
You know, for me, maybe I'mold-fashioned, but I still think
before I sign on my homeinsurance and my auto insurance,
I want to, if I wasn't in thebusiness, I'm gonna want to talk
to someone that's licensed and aprofessional, just like you
(32:42):
would a bank or financialplanner to say, hey, before I
hit the button to buy thispolicy for 2,000, did I pick the
right coverages?
Am I covered properly?
Did I miss anything?
I still that I still think thatis predominantly happens.
And that's why people in that'swhy our folks are are needed
when customers get to that.
(33:03):
Now they've done a whole bunchof research that in the past
they wouldn't have.
So you have a much more educatedconsumer and they know the
ballpark pricing and stuff.
But at the end of the day, theystill want to talk to a licensed
professional to get the bestadvice before they sign on the
dollar line.
SPEAKER_02 (33:17):
And you you can you can let me know if you agree
with this or not, but I kind ofhave a belief that a big saving,
like on top of everything yousaid, uh, a big saving grace,
uh, why people still reallymatter is because when something
goes wrong, people like to yellat people.
It's not quite as satisfyingyelling at a robot.
SPEAKER_01 (33:38):
Yeah.
I get mad at my computer morethan I get mad at any person,
though.
I'll try to get mad.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (33:45):
I hope a lot of people aren't yelling at us, but
um yeah, like I think like eventhe claims, you can start a
claim online, but you're gonnaget a call pretty quick and say,
hey, yeah, I just uh I just madea claim online.
Now tell me when I somebody'scoming to my house, who's coming
to my house, and when's my housegonna get fixed, right?
Right.
Because at the end of the day,that's what we're delivering on
(34:07):
is that uh that promise to toput them back where they
started.
And so um I just think peopleunderstand the importance, you
know, we're talking about likesomeone's home is their their
most their biggest asset,probably, right?
It's hundreds and hundreds ofthousands of dollars, and they
just don't want to rely on a ona chatbot or artificial
(34:31):
intelligence to make sure thatit's covered.
And you know, at the end of theday, I I I still think people
what we sell is peace of mind.
Yeah, that's what insurance is,is peace of mind that if
something happens, we got you,and um you don't get peace of
mind without talking to anindividual that's looks across
from you and looks in your eyesand says, it's covered, right?
Uh I don't think any machine cando that.
SPEAKER_01 (34:54):
Yeah, fair.
So where do you think I I meanin terms of other brokerages,
how do you think brokerlink iskind of staying ahead of the
curve on this?
SPEAKER_00 (35:02):
I know that's something you work hard on, so I
think our scale allows us to dothings that other brokers can't,
not that they don't want to,because you know, we're just
talking about AI.
It's expensive.
And so we're lucky enough withour scale to be efficient, um,
to be more efficient because ofsheer numbers.
(35:24):
We have more markets.
We have a hundred markets, andso you know, a small broker
might have five, six markets, sowe have way more choice so that
we can fit the customers' needsinto a little, little box
compared to these five or six,right?
So scale allows you to do waymore.
I think that's first.
Um, I think second, I'm biased,and so people will laugh at this
(35:47):
one.
I still think we have one of themost talented teams in the
industry.
And so our our structure is ahuge advantage.
We're in 240 towns acrossCanada.
That's pretty cool when you lookat it.
We're not just in one town,we're not just in one province,
we're in 240 communities.
(36:09):
And um, our people live in thosecommunities, so you'll see them
at the supermarket.
They're not going to hide fromyou.
They know you, they play intheir community, you know, with
the kids and stuff, so you getto know them.
And we give back to thecommunity.
I I think over the last 10years, we've given back over 5
million through United Way backinto communities and things like
(36:31):
that.
So I think that's a pretty goodvalue proposition that we have.
I'm not saying it's better thanother brokers, but it's unique
to us because of our size andscale.
And so that's pretty cool.
SPEAKER_01 (36:42):
Cool.
Um, yeah, so we'll just get onto another section here.
Now, we'll try not to get youany trouble here, but these are
like some of the things where,you know, we kind of want to
know like, what are some of yourbiggest pain points in the
industry today?
What would you want to see kindof change about the insurance
industry as a whole?
SPEAKER_00 (36:59):
Wow.
SPEAKER_01 (37:00):
If you had a magic wand.
SPEAKER_00 (37:02):
I look, I think um, without giving into trouble or
anything, and this is not rocketscience, but you know,
connectivity with markets is uhis a pain point.
We're we're behind otherindustries, and you know, some
people have to double entry,triple entry.
So technology not in a broker'soffice, but between the broker
(37:25):
and the manufacturer, betweenthe broker and the insurance
company could could absolutelybe improved.
Now everybody has their ownunique system, but you know,
like if we want to do acommercial quote, we have to go
into three or four systems if wewant to and is I mean that's I
(37:47):
don't know if that'll ever besolved, I'll be honest with you.
Everybody's more proprietary,but there's not an uh an
industry uh um solution rightnow.
It could change with AI andthings like that.
So there there are things in inthat make it tougher on on
brokers than other industries.
(38:09):
Um other than that, I I justthink it's a great it's a great
uh community.
I I find hard to pick at well,not perfect, and and no industry
is, but um there's care forpeople I've found.
I've worked four or fivecompanies too before my IFC
(38:31):
days, right?
So it's not like I'm justlooking at it at a lens from the
company I've worked for the last25 years, but there's a care for
people uh in this industry.
It's a s even though it's a bigindustry, it's a small industry,
you get to know people, and andand there are values.
Um, you know, you guys know wehave values at Brokerlink, but
the whole industry is a smallcommunity and they take care of
(38:54):
themselves.
And even though it's hardcompetition and you want to win
and beat the guy across thestreet, but there's respect at
the end of the day, and and weget along.
And so I I just think it's socool.
I I I don't look at it as whatissues do we have more so than
um where we're at.
Maybe the other thing I wouldsay is um is the regulation.
SPEAKER_03 (39:18):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (39:19):
You know, maybe because I'm a more free
capitalist, but um I think someprovinces should open it up and
let brokers and insurancecompanies compete more.
I think companies and brokerscan win on service and
technology and experience uh andpricing rather than having
(39:39):
regulators um tell us you know,this, this, and that, and
regulating our products quiteheavily in some provinces.
So I think that could be better,but um, I understand it.
You know, they want it to beaffordable, but I think an open
market will make it affordablebecause people have to compete
harder.
SPEAKER_02 (39:57):
Yeah, I mean, BC uh has probably the highest
insurance rates in the country,and they have one insurer,
that's the government.
So yeah.
So it is there anything likeoutside of like open it up, is
there any other like regulatorything that you'd like to change
in the industry, like where it'skind of like uh I wish they
(40:18):
didn't really like bring that inor you know, or go back to
something before, or yeah?
SPEAKER_00 (40:23):
Yeah, I I'll keep that to myself for now.
I don't want to get on the wrongside of some folks that I'm
gonna be end up talking to in acouple weeks about.
I I do have a few things in mymind that I would like to see
changed.
I'm gonna be honest with you.
Um I think as a as an advisor,if someone hires a broker to
(40:45):
take care of their insuranceneeds, the broker, in
conjunction with the customer,should be able to make changes.
Um and especially if the if thecustomer agrees that let the
broker speak on my behalf.
You know, right now um theregulations hide your hands on
you can't send if you think acustomer has to have a uh a
(41:08):
water change, for example, youhave to talk to the customer
where it, you know, I think itshould be a bit more open where
the customer gives you the rightto say, hey, if there's a
change, I trust you to give methe coverage, and it's not
negative optioning and stufflike that.
It's hard to call a millioncustomers and tell them, oh,
this is a little change, andwill you give me permission to
add it?
(41:28):
I think that has to flow morenaturally, especially for bigger
brokers who have big clients andmaybe can't get to every single
one, but are still acting in thebest interest of their clients,
right?
SPEAKER_02 (41:39):
How do you how do you feel that uh DCPD direct
compensation has changed theindustry?
I'm not gonna comment on thatone.
unknown (41:48):
Okay.
SPEAKER_00 (41:51):
I think I think if I comment, it's I'm damned if I
do, and damned if I don't.
SPEAKER_02 (41:55):
That's fair.
SPEAKER_00 (41:56):
That's fair.
SPEAKER_02 (41:57):
It's true.
It's a debatable topic in theinsurance world.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (42:01):
Well, you look at um in Ontario, we're gonna get
reform in 2026, and in Alberta,the form's coming in 2027, and
that's that's gonna takethousands and thousands of hours
for both uh insurance companiesand brokers to explain to their
their clients, and there's gottabe an easier way.
SPEAKER_01 (42:27):
Right.
So, another question now,customer education, I mean your
client education.
How do you feel that is today?
And do you feel like it could besomething better, and there's
something better we all could bedoing in terms of making sure
our clients understand theirproduct?
SPEAKER_00 (42:43):
I I think absolutely that is a gap.
Um, I'm not sure anybody does itreally, really well.
I think it's a balance becauseyou know, we can send out, we
have the automation to send outa newsletter once a week, once a
month, once a quarter, once ayear.
Yeah.
But you also have to respect thecustomer where is that junk mail
(43:05):
to them?
And they're yeah, like I'm inthe industry, and when my
renewal comes and it's thisthick, you guys, I throw it in,
I look at the price, how much itwent up, yeah, I look at what my
monthly payment is, and then Ithrow the entire, I rip up the
pink slips from the one page,and then I throw the entire
document into my desk, and Idon't look at it again.
(43:28):
Now, I'm in the industry, so Iknow what's covered, what's not,
but 90% of the people aren't inthe industry, they get this big,
huge contract.
SPEAKER_01 (43:39):
Nobody reads them.
It's scary when somebody doesand they call you page by page
and they want to talk about it.
You're surprised, right?
You're surprised in that.
You're scared, you don't knowwhat to do.
Yeah, you're like, oh gosh.
So you're reading it with them.
SPEAKER_00 (43:50):
Yeah, the good thing is they trust their broker.
SPEAKER_01 (43:53):
Right.
SPEAKER_00 (43:53):
Do that for them.
And good brokers, the the peopletrust them, they should, and
that's great, and that's why youkeep customers, right?
SPEAKER_01 (44:01):
Right.
SPEAKER_00 (44:02):
So, what is that balance where we want to educate
our consumers, but still notgive them junk me, or they say,
you know what, you're myprofessional advisor, you you
let me know, and then that's it,right?
Now, I think where we somecompanies do better than others
is mitigation.
Like some companies now warn youthere's going to be a storm
(44:24):
coming, or you better do this sothere's not a sewer backup.
Here are some interesting tips.
Get your uh home ready for thewinter.
Do this to prevent water loss,do this to prevent, you know.
Those things I think can can dobetter, but we've got to find a
way to get to that customer sothat they look at it on their
(44:48):
time and their way.
So it's no longer sending,remember the bulk mails where
you send a pamphlet orsomething?
Nope, that's garbage.
That's gonna go right into therecycling, and nobody's gonna
look at it.
But can I push somethingdigitally to all my customers
and say, hey, in AtlanticCanada, we are we are looking
like in a week that we're gonnaget a huge remnant from a
(45:11):
hurricane or some flooding, dothis, this, and this, like an
alert.
I think that would be cool.
I would at least read it andsay, okay, am I in the path or
not?
And do I need to do anything,right?
So those are things that I thinkthe brokers and the companies
that do that better and reachthe customer the way they want
to be reached, I think they'llseparate themselves from those
(45:34):
that don't.
And for us, it's to, you know,we've collected everybody's
texts and emails, and for us nowis to say, okay, hey, what's the
right amount of balance thatwe'll send you?
And where do when do you want tobe notified?
And so, you know, force fires,right?
Like they didn't exist to theextent they do today, right?
34 years ago, with climatechange and everything else.
(45:57):
And so we can be an alert.
I mean, you know, we can say,hey, might not come to you, but
right now it's how manykilometers away from you?
Here's some of the things youcan do proactively to to put
yourself in the best placepossible, right?
I mean, so there are differentthings we can do.
(46:17):
Um, we've got to find the rightbalance and say, okay, how do we
reach that customer?
SPEAKER_01 (46:23):
Right on.
Now, Joe, we want to respectyour time and the hour.
So, Matt, if you're cool withit, I think it's a good time to
move along to our 10 questionsround.
SPEAKER_02 (46:30):
We, I just I just have one last question for Joe
before we do that.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, sure.
Is uh just uh because I kind ofwant to leave like the big chat
on there.
So 25-year-old starts working inthe insurance industry today,
right?
And they look up to Joe andthey're like, Holy smokes, how
do I get to be the president ofa company someday?
That's the way I want to workup.
(46:51):
Outside of the classic, justwork hard.
What's the advice that you givethem of like how does someone go
from starting to to Joe?
SPEAKER_00 (46:59):
Yeah, I mean, I never thought I'd be president
of a company.
Come on.
There's so much involved,including luck and being at the
right, yes, hard work for sure,but I'm gonna tell you guys a
funny story.
Um, and then I'll tell you whatthey think they should do.
Um, I failed kindergarten.
(47:20):
Okay.
And I got to be president of oneof the biggest brokers in
Canada.
That's pretty cool.
So when I mentor kids now, I Istart with that.
Um, I I came from Italy when Iwas two and a half years old,
and my parents didn't know manypeople, so they surrounded
themselves with other Italians.
So until I went to kindergarten,I didn't speak English because
(47:42):
nobody could teach me.
And so I I, you know, we were ina in an area where there is a
lot of Italian population inNiagara Falls, where I went to
school.
And so in kindergarten, there'sprobably eight of us that were
of Italian descent in similarshoes as I am, and then other
kids, and the eight of us got uhwhatchamacallit.
(48:03):
Back then they failed you, butthey they they left you back for
a year.
So the rest of the class went tograde one and we had to repeat
kindergarten.
I wasn't dumb, I just didn'tknow the language, and it took a
little longer.
So, but I start with that story.
I'm president of a pretty coolcompany right now, and I failed
kindergarten.
So I think the lesson there forme is anybody can do it.
(48:24):
Now, you need a lot of luck, youneed a lot of mentoring, you
need to do a lot of things.
The tips I would give someoneyoung, 25 is put your head down,
take risk, learn the business,whatever it is, insurance,
automotive, whatever you'regoing into, learn it really
well.
And take risks in your career.
You know, take an assignmenthere, get transferred here, look
(48:48):
at try to get all theexperiences you can that makes
you understand the world thatyou're working in much better.
And then with some luck and somesuccess, who knows?
Anyone can get to where I got.
That's that's that's how I wouldexplain that.
SPEAKER_01 (49:02):
It's a great answer.
SPEAKER_00 (49:04):
Great answer.
SPEAKER_01 (49:04):
All right, now we're going to get to some questions.
Some of these are smart, some ofthese are silly, okay?
So they're just fun curves.
SPEAKER_00 (49:10):
You're doing really good on silly.
I don't know about the smartones.
SPEAKER_01 (49:13):
All right, okay.
So, Matt, I'll kick it off, bud.
Um, okay, Joe, the first job youever had.
SPEAKER_00 (49:20):
Oh, laundry for a whole motel, doing laundry for a
motel.
SPEAKER_01 (49:23):
Right on.
Okay, where's that at inOntario?
SPEAKER_00 (49:26):
Niagara Falls, big uh hotels, but big uh visitor,
uh, whatchamacallit tourists.
Oh, yeah.
13 years old doing laundry foruh 28-room motel.
My mom was the chambermaid, Iwas the laundry person.
SPEAKER_01 (49:39):
Oh, that's cool.
Right on, all right.
SPEAKER_02 (49:42):
Question number two.
So, what is a risk that you tookthat really paid off?
SPEAKER_00 (49:48):
Uh, I left a real good job to start a brokerage
from scratch with three others.
And no money.
SPEAKER_01 (49:59):
No money, okay, and no bunny parts, the scary part
there.
My gosh, yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (50:05):
Starting a broker from total scratch.
SPEAKER_01 (50:08):
Yeah, wow.
SPEAKER_00 (50:09):
You have to raise money, everything.
SPEAKER_01 (50:11):
Right, yeah.
Your opinion, what's the mostunderrated Canadian city and
why?
SPEAKER_00 (50:17):
Underrated city.
Oh, wow.
SPEAKER_01 (50:23):
Could be anywhere in Canada, just surpass your
expectations.
SPEAKER_00 (50:26):
You know what?
Um I'm gonna go back to uh I'mgonna I'm gonna do a province
because it's as big as a city.
Prince Edward Island.
We we went there with my familyuh and spent a week there.
It was so peaceful, so relaxing.
I we thought we were back in the70s.
(50:48):
Um what a cool place.
And I I know it's a province andnot a city, but it's it's small,
and we saw a lot.
We had some great seafood, butwe connected as a family, played
board games and stuff becausethere were you know, we had
rented a house near the waterthere.
There wasn't a lot to do, therewas no nightlife.
We weren't right in the likeVancouver's a cool city,
(51:10):
Toronto.
They're all cool cities, butman, that was just just
connecting, and that was a realcool experience for me.
So that one comes to mind.
SPEAKER_02 (51:19):
That's a great answer.
So, question number four if youwere an animal, what animal
would you be?
SPEAKER_01 (51:29):
Lion.
Lion, okay, lion, all right.
SPEAKER_00 (51:33):
I'm gonna be king of the jungle.
SPEAKER_01 (51:35):
There you go.
Okay, are you a beer guy, wineguy, cocktail?
What's what's your drink ofchoice?
This is uh founding on beer.
SPEAKER_00 (51:44):
I'm all you know what, this is uh it's not this
isn't a sellout, it's it's thetruth.
I'm uh all three.
SPEAKER_03 (51:50):
Oh, yeah?
SPEAKER_00 (51:51):
With my buddies on a hot afternoon, pound a couple
beers, no problem.
Go to a nice dinner restaurant,a couple couples, nice glass of
wine.
And um when you're really havingfun, like they did uh where was
I?
Uh, we were at a wedding and acouple of my best friends were
(52:11):
there.
We did some pounded some shotsand cocktails.
Good stuff.
Good stuff.
I think it's because I'm not abig drinker, I'm a social
drinker, and so it depends onthe audience and what I'm doing
and where I'm at.
So I don't discriminate.
SPEAKER_02 (52:25):
That's great.
Question number six.
Uh, what is a movie or book thatyou really enjoyed this year?
This year.
SPEAKER_00 (52:36):
If I go back a few years, yeah, sure.
Um there's um I like um I likemovies that are based on uh real
life, but they they add somedrama to it.
And so um, I watched it a coupleyears ago.
It's an older movie.
Have you guys ever watchedInvincible with Mark Wahlberg?
(52:57):
Yep.
Based on just a normal Joe guywent on as a walk-up, a walk-up
at a Philadelphia Eagles camp.
No college, no university ball,nothing, just high school, and
made the team.
And Disney did a movie on thestory, and um, it's just one
(53:18):
where you know someone workedtheir ass off and threw all
kinds of doubters and stuff andstill got to play in the NFL for
a couple years.
Just uh a feel-good I'm notgetting all mushy, but it's it's
it's just a feel-good movie.
SPEAKER_02 (53:33):
It was a great movie.
It hurt my soul as a Patriotsfan to see another Patriots fan
play of character who played forthe Eagles, but other than that,
great.
Yeah.
Mike 97, over to you.
SPEAKER_01 (53:46):
Yeah, something you're surprisingly bad at.
Something you just suck atdoing.
It could be any in any any anyfacet of life.
SPEAKER_00 (53:55):
Yeah, reading my reading my wife.
I get into so much troublebecause I'm like, I shouldn't
have said that, right?
SPEAKER_02 (54:06):
I don't think that's necessarily specific to you, but
sure.
SPEAKER_00 (54:10):
Yeah, that's what I suck at.
Sometimes I read totally wrong,and uh, yeah, okay.
Missed on that one.
I have I I'm gonna get introuble for saying this.
My two girls when we weregrowing up, they would text me,
Dad, mom got her hair done, justremark at dinner that it's
there.
So they always had my back,which is kind of cool, but that
stuff just gets just flies rightover my head.
(54:30):
I just wouldn't think of stufflike that, right?
SPEAKER_02 (54:33):
All right, so question number eight, and this
is really important.
So you've been in riskmanagement pretty much you know,
that career most of your life.
How much would you wager thatthe Blue Jays are gonna win the
World Series?
SPEAKER_00 (54:49):
You want a percentage instead of a dollar
amount?
Sure, sure.
However, you want to answer.
I think they're going.
I I would I I would wager highpercentage that they're gonna go
to the World Series.
I'm uh like you know, they justcrushed the Yankees, and um
Yeah, it was wonderful watchinglast night.
I I think they'll they have ahuge leg up on whether it's
Seattle, Detroit.
(55:10):
I think they'll crush them.
I am worried about the Dodgers,guys.
Okay, that team is that team isjust based on money.
Like they're you know, theirpayrolls, I don't know how many
hundreds of millions more thaneverybody else, because baseball
is one of the few sports withouta cap left, right?
And so that one worries me, butyou know what?
(55:31):
So what?
I'd like I give them a 50-50%chance of winning against the
Dodgers.
If it's any of the other teams,like if the Dodgers get upset,
uh I like I like their chances.
I I I think they got some mojogoing.
I think they're like a team ofdestiny, nobody expected them.
So I'm hoping, guys.
SPEAKER_01 (55:48):
Good answer.
We're all hoping.
Yeah.
One of your favorite meals.
This could be from any type partof the world.
SPEAKER_00 (55:55):
Oh, yeah.
A meal?
Like a favorite meal.
I'm a big pasta guy.
SPEAKER_01 (55:59):
Oh, yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (56:00):
My my waist says to me you can't eat it a lot.
But man, good pasta, yeah.
Something in particular, like aplate.
No, my my wife actually makeshomemade pasta with the machine
now.
She learned that's mom, which isoh, cool.
That is just a melts in yourmouth when it's fresh.
Yeah, 100%.
Way better.
SPEAKER_01 (56:19):
Milky, how's that for a oh yeah, yeah.
A kid loves that now.
Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (56:26):
So, question number 10 before we get to the last
call here.
So, why kind of quickly sum itup?
Why do you feel that peopleshould consider working in
insurance?
SPEAKER_00 (56:38):
No regrets.
No regrets.
Okay.
Sorry, just to sum it up, you'llhave no regrets.
SPEAKER_01 (56:46):
Awesome.
I like it.
Cool.
All right, this is what we uh wecall this the last call.
It's a question we ask every oneof our guests.
I don't know how many episodeswe're in now.
125, Matt, roundabout?
125?
Something like that, yeah.
Okay.
So we uh we say, What's onepiece of advice you were given
in your life um that you'd liketo share with us and others
listening today?
SPEAKER_00 (57:05):
Yeah, um just be kind.
Um, you don't know what peopleare going through or their
journey.
People struggle, don't knowwhere they're coming from.
And I think this world is justtoo quick to now judge and hate.
I someone once told me just bekind.
(57:27):
They told me if you walk into aroom of a hundred people and
everybody puts their problems ina bucket, you wish that you took
yours back, probably 99% of thetimes.
Because people are goingthrough.
So I just be I thinkunfortunately in today's world,
be kind is kind of the minority.
(57:49):
So it's it's simple, but I Ithink it's it's more appropriate
today than it has ever been.
SPEAKER_01 (57:55):
Agreed.
Love it.
Yeah, yeah.
Well, Joe, this was awesome.
Uh cheers to you, my friend.
This was a great conversation.
And thank you for having me.
I appreciate it.
Thank you very much.
And uh come back for a secondround any time.
There you go.
We appreciate it.
Thanks again.
SPEAKER_00 (58:14):
Take care, okay.
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