Building Relationships One Conversation at a Time: The Walters Agency Story

Meet the Host: Timothy Walters Of The Walters Agency

Meet Timothy Walters, the man behind The Walters Agency—a Brightway Insurance franchise serving East Tennessee families, homeowners, and small businesses since 2018. Timothy's path to insurance wasn't a straight line; trained as an educator, he unexpectedly found himself drawn to an industry few people enter "on purpose." Seven years later, what began as a temporary detour has become a fulfilling career built on authentic human connections.

When he's not helping clients find the right coverage, Timothy embraces an eclectic range of interests—from hiking and working on his family farm to reading physical books (a deliberate choice to offset screen time), target shooting, and exploring culinary delights. This well-rounded perspective helps him connect with clients from all walks of life. Despite the challenges of working in an industry where customers often "resent what we have to offer" and frequently interact with him on their worst days, Timothy's educational background drives his mission to help people understand not just what insurance is but why it matters. 

To learn more about The Walters Agency visit:
https://www.brightway.com/agencies/tn/knoxville/0237/team
The Walters Agency
7009 Asheville Hwy
Knoxville, TN 37924
423-417-2070

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to the Walters Agency podcast, where
insurance meets peace of mind.
Hosted by licensed insuranceagent and owner, timothy Walters
, we're here to help families,homeowners and small business
owners throughout East Tennesseeprotect what matters most Our
mission Creating win-win-winsolutions for insurance.
Let's dive in solutions forinsurance.

Speaker 2 (00:31):
Let's dive in.
Welcome everyone.
I'm Skip Mauney, co-host andproducer, here in the studio
with Timothy Walters.
Timothy, how's it going?
Going well?

Speaker 3 (00:35):
Skip.
How are you doing?

Speaker 2 (00:37):
Doing just fine.
Doing just fine.
I'm excited to have you in thestudio today.
You know, over the years, Ithink you've developed quite a
remarkable following with youragency.
However, some of our listenersmay not be familiar with your
full journey or your story.
So, if you don't mind, let'stake it from the top.
Could you share a littlebackground about your company

(00:59):
and about what you do?

Speaker 3 (01:02):
Yeah, so I'm the agency owner at Bratway
Insurance, the Walters Agency inKnoxville, tennessee.
It's a franchise of BratwayInsurance which is based out of
Jacksonville, florida, one ofonly a handful of Tennessee
Bratway agents right now.
I started this office in springof 2018 up in Morristown

(01:23):
actually, which is where I livedat the time, where a lot of my
family is, and so I guess I'vebeen doing this for almost seven
years now.
Before that, I was with StateFarm, I worked at a local agency
in Jefferson City for a goodguy, todd Mounts, so I've got,
you know, actually a pretty goodchunk of time in the insurance

(01:43):
industry at this point, which iskind of bizarre to think about.
So here I am.

Speaker 2 (01:51):
How long have you been in the business?

Speaker 3 (01:54):
Since 2012.

Speaker 2 (01:56):
Since 2012.
You said that very good.

Speaker 3 (01:58):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (01:59):
For such a young fella.
You're doing great.

Speaker 3 (02:04):
Oh, you know, it's just the young things, right,
right.

Speaker 2 (02:07):
Well, Timothy, when you're not running your business
, what do you like to do for fun?

Speaker 3 (02:13):
I'm a little bit of a eclectic guy.
Yes, I do a lot of differentthings.
I like to do outdoor stuff.
I like to hike.
I like to get out and walk alot on the roads.
Hike, I like to get out andwalk a lot on the roads.
I like to go out and kind ofpick around at my dad and I's
farm that we're trying to get upand running in Newmarket.
I like to read I think we spokeabout before.

(02:36):
I like to read actual books,because I spend way too much
time on the screens at work andI really enjoy finding old books
like used bookstores and stuff.
I enjoy shooting when I havethe time and the money for
ammunition.
Uh, and you?

Speaker 1 (02:50):
know just kind of getting out and talking to
people.

Speaker 3 (02:53):
Honestly, it's kind of my one of my favorite things
to do.
What do you like to shoot?
Oh, just, you know raffles andpistols.
Mostly I got a couple ofraffles, a couple of pistols and
a shotgun.
I don't nothing crazy.
You know, I've known people whoare really into into the gun
hobby and you know it's anexpensive one.

(03:13):
So it's fun to get out there.
But you know you start chewingthrough the brass and it starts
digging into your pockets alittle bit.
So I also enjoy good food, so Ihaven't got to balance that out
.

Speaker 2 (03:29):
Yes, shooting and food.
Well, I'm a shotgun guy.

Speaker 3 (03:30):
I like sporting clays is a lot of fun, if you've ever
done that and I'm not good- atit.

Speaker 2 (03:33):
Yeah Well, as far as marketing goes, Timothy, we all
know that's key to any businesssuccess.
How do you market your business?

Speaker 3 (03:42):
Skip, historically I've kind of been at old school.
I hit the bricks.
Our best successes have alwaysbeen by business-to-business
referral relationships.
So I go out and I talk topeople who can refer me clients.
So loan officers, realtors inthe commercial space are
probably our best referralpartners In the business space.

(04:04):
I'm still actually strategizingon that, but bringing in people
for the commercial and smallbusiness side of our products.
Again, just kind of going out,walking in and talking to people
and finding out, hey, you knowwhat do they need that we can
help.
Maybe they have a great agentalready and they don't want to
talk to us and that's cool.
But maybe I made a new friendor a new enemy or you know,

(04:26):
something happened Right.
So you know, like I said, that'smy favorite part of the job
actually is getting out andtalking to people and, you know,
building those relationshipsand people are interesting, you
know, for better or for worse,and that's again my favorite
part of the job is getting totalk to new people.

Speaker 2 (04:45):
Well, timothy, you're an extremely busy guy,
obviously because I have a toughtime getting up with you
sometimes.
In your own words, why are youdoing this?

Speaker 3 (04:55):
You know, maybe I had no other marketable skills
except talking to people.
No, that's an interestingquestion because you know you
and I talked about it beforeSkip, very few people I'm not
going to say nobody does,because there's always that one
guy who raises his hand and says, well, I did.
But very few people actuallyget into the insurance really on
purpose, like we tend to fallinto it.
I was on the education track,you know, when I was a kid I

(05:18):
wanted to be a teacher.
I went through college to be ateacher.
I did student teaching.
We're actually how I met Todd.
He was my mentor teacher atJefferson County High School and
that didn't work out.
That's kind of a story untoitself.
But Todd actually contacted meand asked me to come on with him
when he started his state farmagency.
And I did, and I didn't expectit to become a career.

(05:39):
I really didn't.
I thought it'd be a short-termsolution.
You know, try something new andit was hard, you know.
I honestly, you know I tellpeople all the time new agents.
You're probably going to thinkabout quitting almost every day
for a while because it's a lot.
There's a lot in this industry.
It can be stressful.
I mean you're dealing withpeople on bad days on a fairly

(06:00):
regular basis and we're notselling a product that you know
people can get immediateenjoyment out of.
So a lot of times people resentwhat we have to offer.
But again, my educationalbackground I want to help people
, I want to help them understandwhat it is, why it's important,
and yeah, so I think that'skind of what drives me.
I really do want to help peopleand our living, of course,

(06:21):
because you know food.
That's kind of what drives me.

Speaker 2 (06:23):
I really do want to help people and are living, of
course, because you know foodand guns right.
Absolutely Very good, very good.
Well, timothy, I love it.

Speaker 3 (06:31):
Keep doing what you're doing and we'll catch you
in the next episode.
All right, sounds good, skip.

Speaker 1 (06:34):
I appreciate it.
That's a wrap on this episodeof the Walters Agency Podcast.
Ready to find the rightcoverage for your home, business
or family?
Call or text 423-417-2070 for afree 20-minute consultation.
Until next time, stay covered,stay protected and keep winning

(07:01):
with the Walter Agency.