April 25, 2025 • 31 mins
What if finding your professional purpose wasn't a straight path, but a winding journey full of learning opportunities? Ryan George, Vice President of Part C, a national healthcare insurance brokerage, shares his remarkable story of resilience and discovery. Despite initial setbacks in financial advising and a commercial insurance venture, Ryan's passion for meaningful work led him to the Medicare industry, where he discovered his true calling. His journey underscores the power of perseverance and adaptability, offering insights into how even the most unconventional paths can lead to success.
Ryan's experience reveals the critical role of networking and genuine relationship-building in career growth. By fostering connections across various sectors, Ryan has successfully expanded his reach within the Medicare space, collaborating with financial firms, insurance brokerages, and pharmacies. He emphasizes the importance of educating clients to navigate the complexity of Medicare, reflecting his dedication to transparency and client service. Our conversation celebrates the art of teaching and simplifying complex information, underscoring Ryan's commitment to making a meaningful impact in the lives of his clients.
Throughout the episode, we also explore the significance of self-awareness and delegation in maintaining balance in a service-oriented career. Ryan candidly discusses the challenges of managing responsibilities while acknowledging personal weaknesses. There's a focus on personal growth and the role of supportive partners, highlighting the importance of honesty and authenticity in business. Whether you're an aspiring entrepreneur or a seasoned professional, Ryan's story is a testament to the rewarding nature of helping others and the continuous pursuit of growth and learning.
ABOUT RYAN
Ryan George has always been interested in business, which sparked his habit of daily reading. For 14 years, he worked in the insurance/finance industry, beginning with estate planning on the finance/insurance side. Though he found considerable success, he was unfulfilled by the work. During this period, he purchased a commercial insurance company, which proved to be an unsuccessful venture, leading him to sell it back to the firm. Just as he was preparing to exit the insurance industry to invest in veterinary clinics, his potential partner sold their clinics and became bound by a non-compete agreement. This circumstance led to his introduction to the Medicare space, where he currently operates.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hey, what is up?
Welcome to this episode of theWantrepreneur to Entrepreneur
podcast.
As always, I'm your host, brianLoFermento, and if you lived
your whole life thinking gosh, Iwas not a good student, I
didn't find the career path thatI enjoyed, but that's why
you're pulled toentrepreneurship, then you're
going to love today's guest.
You're going to love his story.
You're going to love his careertransitions and how he has
(00:21):
taken massive action to reallydo something cool in a space
that he was familiar with, butsomething where he gets to serve
so many people in a reallymeaningful and impactful way in
a very complex industry.
So let me tell you abouttoday's guest.
His name is Ryan George.
He's the vice president of PartC, which is a national
healthcare insurance brokeragespecializing in Medicare and
(00:42):
individual health insurance.
His path into the industry,though, was anything but typical
, because he will be the firstto admit that he was a terrible
student and he didn't read afull book until he was in
college, but his passion forbusiness led him to the finance
and insurance space, where hefound success in estate planning
, before realizing it wasn't forhim.
So what did he do then?
(01:02):
Well, he started his firstventure in commercial insurance,
and it failed.
And then he decided I'm goingto start toying around with and
maybe going into veterinaryclinics.
And he decided against that.
But that's when he discoveredMedicare and never looked back.
Now, ryan and his team helpMedicare beneficiaries navigate
their coverage, ensuring they'rein the best possible plans year
(01:22):
after year.
They partner with financialfirms, insurance brokerages and
pharmacies to support Medicareclients, and his journey, like
so many entrepreneurial journeys, is one of persistence,
adaptation and finding successin unexpected places.
So I'm excited about this one.
I'm not going to say anythingelse.
Let's dive straight into myinterview with Ryan George.
All right, ryan, I am so veryexcited that you're here with us
(01:47):
today.
First things first.
Welcome to the show.
Thanks for having me.
Speaker 2 (01:51):
I really appreciate you having me on.
Thank you very much.
Speaker 1 (01:53):
Heck.
Yes, I teased a little bitabout your entrepreneurial
beginnings with your bio, buttake us beyond the bio.
Who's Ryan?
How'd you start doing all thesethings?
Yeah, sure, so let me.
Speaker 2 (02:03):
Let me, I guess, uh, date back.
Like you said, I was not, uh,I'm not, a good student.
Uh, that was never my uh strongsuit.
I uh probably ventured moreinto the social aspect.
That was more of my strong suit.
Uh, out of college it wasn'treally sure what I was going to
do.
Uh, ended up going intofinancial advising and estate
planning world, was in that forabout 12, 13 years.
(02:26):
I did that with my partner,went to law school with my dad.
That's how I ended up gettinginvolved in that, but ultimately
it just wasn't for me.
I hated the aspect of justsitting around with wealthy
people just trying to handlethings all day.
For them wasn't really my speed.
For them wasn't really my speed.
(02:48):
So, yeah, like you said, Itransitioned over.
I bought a home and autocommercial insurance agency,
actually out of Florida, andthat failed.
It was miserable, hated that,learned real quick, was not a
fan.
And then, yeah, found a guythat I was going to partner with
for vet clinics.
He owned about three of them,ended up selling those had a
non-compete.
And then I fell into theMedicare space.
And here I am today.
Speaker 1 (03:10):
Yes, I love that overview, especially because,
ryan, here on this show, we soappreciate transparency and
honesty and the fact that youare so open about the fact that
your first venture didn't work.
I'd love for you to go deeperthere, because most sane people
we entrepreneurs we'redefinitely not sane, but most
sane people would go throughthat and say, all right, I'm
just going to go get a job.
That is the way, easier way.
Walk us through your mindsetwhen you decided, no, this is
(03:32):
the beginning of anentrepreneurial journey.
Speaker 2 (03:34):
Yeah for sure.
So this kind of dates back towhen I just graduated college,
wasn't real sure what I wasgoing to do and I started I had
to do a business plan, and thebusiness plan that I drew up, uh
, it was called party you.
Uh, I know not very uh, notvery creative uh, but it was
similar.
It was around 2010 ish.
(03:55):
This was similar to whenBarstool sports was kind of on
the rise and they were doingtheir uh kind of party stuff.
You know things like that.
Um, so I did that with a buddyof mine for a little bit.
That was kind of my firstsoiree.
Uh, we did some colleges andthings like that.
Uh ran out of money quick,realized I needed a job, went to
(04:16):
the uh financial world, if youwill, and then from there, uh
said, well, I got a lot ofbusiness owner clients, let's do
the commercial route.
Went there.
Um, they agreed to allow me tocome.
One of my largest clients was aprivately held tool rental
company.
That's nationwide.
So I thought that was going tobe a layup.
It was anything but Basically,when I got in, they said okay,
(04:37):
we don't really want you to dothe commercial aspect of things
anymore, we just want you tofocus on home and auto.
That was for about two years,couldn't take it anymore, bowed
out, and yeah, I was 25, 26, 27is when I got out of that.
But yeah, it was a tough pillto swallow.
I really thought that I couldkind of make it work and just
(04:59):
grind it out, but that wasanything but.
So, yeah, I mean I just I don'tknow, I'm just a big believer
in you know, you just kind ofkeep going until you ultimately
figure out what it is thatyou're kind of meant to do and
don't let things stop you,because at the end of the day, I
mean, the only way you're gonna, the only way you lose the game
is if you quit.
So I just kind of kept trudgingalong if you will and along if
(05:21):
you will, and that's how I endedup where I am today.
Speaker 1 (05:24):
Yeah, that's absolutely true, and it's I mean
, you and I are of the samegeneration.
So, looking at what with whatDave Portnoy did with Barstool
Sports, that was also aninspiration for me early on in
my entrepreneurial scene,because I think you and I would
both admit that it looks easierthan it is.
That's why I have all therespect in the world for Dave
and everything that they'vebuilt over at Barstool Sports.
But I would also argue, I wantto add on to the point that you
(05:45):
made, and that is not only areyou willing to just do things
and figure it out along the way,but you also accumulated skills
, experiences, perspectives thatyou probably didn't realize
would serve you in futureendeavors, whether you like them
or not.
Talk to us about some of thoseskills or mindsets or
experiences that you picked upthat in hindsight you're
thinking, gosh, I'm glad I didthat, because now I use that to
(06:05):
this very day.
Speaker 2 (06:07):
Yeah for sure.
So, uh, I think one of thebiggest things is is, I mean, I
know it's cliche and kind ofcorny, but just networking and
just talking to people ingeneral.
Um, obviously, today this is apodcast, I guess, about me.
Uh, I'm not usually very.
I am open, I'm an open book.
I'm not usually verycomfortable talking about myself
, so ordinarily I just ask a lotof questions and listen to
(06:29):
people.
So that was one of the big keys, I would say, to kind of
getting to where I am andhopefully where I'm going to go
is just being able to mix it upwith different people in that
kind of way, because ultimatelyyou don't know where you can go.
So I don't ever really like toclose a book on anybody or burn
(06:51):
a bridge.
You don't know what ultimatelythe future will bring you.
So I always try to keep an openmind with that.
I always try to listen.
I never know who's going tohave an idea for me that might
not be for me in the currentmoment, but hey, maybe they have
a better sense of what's goodfor me.
So I'm always down to justlisten to people and I think
(07:11):
that's one of the key things.
And then, ultimately.
I used to want to own cardealerships growing up, so in
college I sold cars.
This was before any of the carsalesmen had computers or
anything in their desk.
So my dad was like, look, ifyou want to learn something and
I usually don't give him credit,but I'll give him credit here
he said, if you want to learnsomething, go learn sales.
(07:32):
And that's what I did.
So I did very good that summerselling cars Coincidentally blew
all the money on materialthings that my apartment got
broken into in college and allthe stuff got stolen anyways.
So I learned the hard way aboutnot blowing all your money.
But yeah, that's a roundaboutway of just, you know, keeping
your options open, learningsales, then obviously just
(07:55):
keeping doors open because youdon't know what the future will
hold.
Speaker 1 (07:57):
Yeah for sure, which leads us to the industry that
you are, in which, when I lookat that, I'm like Ryan.
Are you crazy?
The world of Medicare, holy cow.
What industry is more complexthan that world?
Talk to us about Part C.
Speaker 2 (08:10):
Yeah, so Part C, like you said in the introduction,
it's a national health insurancebrokerage firm.
We specialize in Medicare, butwe do all things health
insurance related.
It's really not that complex.
If you have insurance healthinsurance, and most people do
you can kind of figure it outand learn it.
The most complex part of it isthe hurdle of understanding the
(08:34):
differences between all theplans and the parts from social
security to CMS, which is Centerfor Medicaid and Medicare
Services, and ultimately it'ssomething that even when I was
doing financial advising andestate planning, I knew nothing
about.
My mom was a trauma nurse andshe has lupus, the autoimmune
disorder, so she had to go on toMedicare under 65.
(08:56):
Most Medicare people are 65 andabove.
She had to go on it under 65because she wasn't able to work
anymore.
I know I talk fast, so Iapologize.
Um, she wasn't able to workanymore and the guy that she was
dealing with knew of me andsaid hey, is Ryan interested in
Medicare?
I scoffed at it.
Uh, this was years prior and uh, now you know, uh, I am here
(09:18):
today doing it.
But it is a complex thing,especially when you're dealing
with the older generation veryface-to-face, very human
interaction.
They do not like dealing withyou on the phone, they do not
like dealing with it over thecomputer.
Really, a lot of times we getpeople that say, hey, I don't
even have a computer, can youguys help us?
(09:38):
And that's really where we kindof come into play.
And the most beautiful thingabout it, brian, is that
ultimately it is federallyregulated, so we don't get paid
off of the premium the way thatit was when I was in the estate
planning world and the financialadvising world.
So somebody that's sittingacross from me as long as you're
talking to a broker, that's themost important thing, because
ultimately we don't have a dogin the fight.
(10:00):
All we're there to do iseducate you and then we'll give
you our opinion, but you pickwhat you think is the most
suitable for you.
And I will say that thegovernment does a pretty good
job of that because ultimately,like I said, whether the plan
costs $1 or $1,000 a month, thebroker's getting paid the exact
same.
Speaker 1 (10:19):
Yeah, it's an interesting world.
I'm excited to go a little bitdeeper, but part of what I hear
is obviously your salesbeginning Huge shout out to your
dad.
I know you joke that you don'tlike to give him credit, but
honestly, the fact that he gotyou into sales early, that is a
transferable skill to literallyevery industry.
And when I look at yourprofessional background up to
this point estate planning,financial advising now you're
(10:39):
talking about insurance A lot ofthat is education.
Talk to us about the role ofteaching and educating when it
comes to serving the clientsthat you work with.
Speaker 2 (10:48):
Yeah, sure, so, uh, when I I always liked teaching,
shout out to teachers.
I think they have a very hardjob.
Even though I didn't likeschool, I like the idea of
educating and teaching andhelping people and walking
people through, and I think,with my background in estate
planning, for probably the firstfive, seven years I'd be in
(11:11):
these meetings with accountants,financial advisors, family
office advisors all differenttypes.
I had no business being in someof these rooms people that are
worth hundreds of millions ofdollars.
I had no business being inthese rooms, so I didn't really
get a chance to speak, which waskind of a blow to my ego, if
(11:31):
you will, because I set up thesemeetings but then ultimately
I'm in them and people prettymuch didn't even realize I was
there.
So I was able to, from that,learn a lot of valuable skills
when it comes to breaking downcomplex matters and then
basically giving it to you indigestible form, because, at the
end of the day, I have been inrooms with people that will go
(11:53):
round and round.
I've been on calls with peopleindustry, people that will go
round and round, and they justbore people to death.
And the one most importantthing I learned when it comes to
teaching and breaking thingsdown, is that if you just give
somebody the relevant stufftoday and ask a lot of questions
and try to figure that out, butif you're just giving them what
is most important to them todayand that does come with a
(12:13):
little bit of, I guess,emotional intelligence and
social awareness and all thatstuff and it comes with time but
if you are good at asking thequestions, listening and then
just giving them the basics ofwhat they need to know, that's
the most important thing,because we can sit here for the
next five hours and I can boreyou about insurance and Medicare
, but I could realistically giveyou a crash, crash course in I
(12:38):
don't know probably 12 minutesand you'd be able to go talk to
a relative with somewhat, uh,idea as to what the hell you're
talking about.
Speaker 1 (12:47):
Yeah, I love that and , ryan, I absolutely believe you
.
That's, that's usNortheasterners as we move quick
, we talk fast.
Absolutely, I love that.
I want I feel like this isprobably an appropriate part to
talk to you about networking,because you brought that up and
I know I cringe, even though I'man extreme extrovert.
When I think about networking,I'm just like no, I don't want
to do it, and I know that somany listeners feel that way as
well.
It seems like you leveragelistening and asking questions
(13:11):
and natural curiosity and, ofcourse, emotional intelligence.
It seems to me like youactually have learned to embrace
the networking side of what youdo.
Talk to us about how RyanGeorge navigates the world of
networking.
Speaker 2 (13:23):
Yeah.
So I would say I don't do thenetworking in the formal sense
because I hate it, the events,I'm not good at that.
What I am good at, though, isfollowing up.
If somebody's like hey, I wantyou to meet somebody, I will
talk to anybody, I'll have aconversation with anybody, and
then, ultimately, leveragingthose relationships not for me
(13:44):
but for them and something thatI can help them with.
And I know that's corny and Iknow it might sound self-serving
and things like that, but atthe end of the day, it really is
true.
I have a lot of differentconnections in different areas,
so I'm always trying to piecethings together for other people
, and I know that, ultimately,there have been times when I've
been left out of getting paid onthings or commissions or things
(14:06):
like that, and I know thathappens and it sucks, and I
don't want that to happen, but Ihave no real control over it
once I turn over therelationship.
But I have learned that if youare able to connect the dots for
people, that it comes back fullcircle, and it really is true.
So I would give advice ifanybody wants the unsolicited
advice to ultimately not reallydo the traditional networking
(14:31):
stuff, because, at the end ofthe day, the people that are
going to that, they usually havejust as little, if not less,
connections than you do, and alot of times it's people that
are just trying to you know, Idon't know kind of beat their
chest and say what they do andat the end of the day I just
don't really know how effectivethat is.
So yeah, I mean just talking todifferent people being in
(14:54):
different spaces, and especiallynow with being in the Medicare
space, because we deal withpeople that are at the Medicaid
line.
So that would be, you know,poverty line all the way up to
you know somebody that has acompany worth tens and tens of
millions of dollars, because atthe once you turn 65 or once you
are eligible for Medicare, mostinstances I won't get into the
(15:15):
weeds of it all, but mostinstances is when you get booted
onto it.
So we can't really discriminatethe way that I would when I was
in the financial advising andestate planning space.
So I think just talking topeople and just kind of seeing
what they do and seeing how youcan be of help and I know that's
become more popular over theyears and it can come across as
(15:35):
self-serving a lot of timesbecause people are usually a
little bit leery what are theytrying to do?
But I do think if you'regenuine with it and you're
honest about it and you reallyare trying to help, I think it
will come back full circle Notnecessarily from them, but maybe
from somebody else on the road.
Speaker 1 (15:53):
Yeah, and I think honestly, ryan, I'll tell you
this as someone who talks toentrepreneurs for a living.
It shines through in the waythat you talk about it and your
attitude of just openness andtransparency of hey, I love
helping people.
I know it'll come back in someway.
I don't know exactly how, butthat's why I'm here and and that
in and of itself is just anabundance mindset that you're
right, it just reaps rewards inso many ways.
I will ask you this while we'reon the air, because I'm so
(16:15):
fascinated by it Tactically howthe heck do you manage all of
the different people that youknow and how do you connect
those dots for people?
Because I'm not the best whenit comes to my phone.
I've always wondered how peoplelike you organize your phone,
your records, your thoughts.
How do you stay on top of allthat stuff?
Speaker 2 (16:31):
So I will say it probably goes back to my years
of not being good at schoolbecause the social aspect was
what I wanted to shine at.
So, you know, I honestly justwith my phone, and then we have
different platforms anddifferent systems and things
like that.
But yeah, I mean, that's kindof the basic of it all is that
(16:53):
we just try to find people thatare in one arena and that we can
possibly introduce them toanother arena and then let them
kind of run with therelationship.
It's not really our forte inall areas of insurance.
Obviously you can't be anexpert in everything, but you
know we have different peoplefor commercial insurance, we
have different people forpersonal insurance, we have
(17:15):
people for financial advice.
You know, there's just atotally different, different way
to go about it and everybodyhas a different way to go about
it.
But the other thing too is isbecause we do get a chance
especially me to sit down withso many different people.
I just try to keep it in theback of my head.
Okay, this person I just metwith a guy and his wife the last
week uh owns a home maintenancecompany and, coincidentally
(17:39):
enough, two weeks ago, uh, Itold my wife.
We need to find some sort ofhandyman.
I wasn't sure, uh, I knownothing about that stuff.
So, uh, now he's coming over todo some things for me.
So I just always am trying toconnect the dots and think that,
okay, if I can put this personwith this person, obviously
that'll look good.
And in Medicare it really isone of those things where one
(18:00):
person can turn to five, canturn to five to 20, so on and so
forth.
It's not necessarily that infinancial advising and estate
planning because everybody wantsto run from you.
I was the enemy sitting acrossthe tables of so many people,
but now we're just there, likeyou kind of stated more of the
educator, and that's all we'rethere to do is just educate,
(18:20):
listen and then, if we canprovide value afterwards.
That's something that we alwaystry to do and that we're always
trying to look, always lookingto do.
Speaker 1 (18:28):
Yeah, and it seems to me from the outside, looking in
that, a core part of yourstrategy.
It leverages so many of theseingredients that we've already
talked about, and that ispartnerships.
I think it is so smart the factthat you guys partner with
financial firms, insurancebrokerages, pharmacies.
Talk to us about thatpartnership strategy and how
it's become that driving force.
Speaker 2 (18:46):
Yeah for sure.
So, like I said about my mom,there was the Medicare aspect to
it and when I was in thefinancial advising and estate
planning world, we stuck to ourlane.
So if we needed a tax attorney,we would bring one in.
If we needed a specificaccountant, we would bring one
in.
So I kind of learned that young.
I started doing that, like Isaid, when I was 22, after my
(19:09):
first failed business, if youwill.
But yeah, when we partner withthese people, it's mainly
because the Medicare spacepredominantly is and I'm making
these numbers up, I have no ideabut I would say 98% of the
Medicare agents that we meet arekind of girl scouts in a sense,
where they just set up a boothand they're like hey, we got
(19:30):
Medicare and there's onlycertain times when you can
enroll in Medicare.
If you're new to Medicare, it'swhen you're turning 65.
And then everything else isduring the open enrollment for
all those annoying commercialsthat you guys all see on TV for
the last 30 years with JoeNamath, johnny Walker, things
like that.
But what we have done is we'vekind of taken a different
approach, and we're not the onlyones to do it.
(19:51):
There's a lot of greatbrokerages out there that do
this, but you partner with thosefinancial advisor firms, the
accountants, the pharmacies.
We had a contract that's onpause with one of the largest
privately held grocery storechains in the United States for
their pharmacy customers not fortheir employees, but for their
(20:13):
pharmacy and the customers whothey come through there.
So what we would do is we wouldjust basically go in and say,
hey, we can partner with you.
There are some legality issueswhen it comes to commissions and
things like that and how we pay, but ultimately we're just a
value add for people and we getbrought in a lot and it is
something that very few peopledo, uh, especially at a larger
level.
(20:33):
So we are kind of able to getin with people more from that
area, just because there aren'ta lot of people that specialize
in this, let alone people thathave big agencies or big
financial firms or pharmaciesthat even know somebody that
truly does specialize in solelythis.
Speaker 1 (20:51):
Yeah, it's so clear to me honestly, even more so
after our conversation heretoday, how important
relationships are to youhonestly even more so after our
conversation here today howimportant relationships are to
you and I'm just thinking aboutthe fact that you're managing
these partnerships andrelationships that you just gave
us insights on You're alsosimultaneously managing the
actual end consumers, theclients, the customers that
you're working with.
How's your time split up, ryan?
(21:11):
I'm so excited to hear how youmanage all these different sides
of the coin.
Speaker 2 (21:15):
So I will you know again.
I said I'm fully transparent.
I am not good at service work,not because I'm not responsive,
I just I hate it Because youknow kind of similar how you
were saying, like with theintrovert, extrovert type
scenario If I have a problem, Ihave no patience Maybe it's a
Northeast thing, like you said,and I just want to get things
(21:36):
done immediately.
So I call somebody as quicklyas I can to get it handled.
I have a lot of people thatrely on me and us for service,
so I'm not good at that.
So I try to get that off myplate as much as I can.
But when it comes to handlingall of that it's a lot of hats
to juggle and I know people aremuch better at it than I am.
(21:59):
Ultimately being able to passoff that was one of the things
that I learned at from theestate planning side.
The place I was at waswonderful in a lot of learning
and teaching lessons.
But yeah, just being able topass off like listen, you can't
be everything to everybody andthat's okay.
So I just try to get in, getout with what I know and then
(22:23):
afterwards just kind of followup, say, hey, you know this is
what we talked about.
These are your point of context.
Hey, you mentioned this.
This is my guy, derek, thathandles all this stuff over here
.
This is my guy, jeff, thathandles this stuff over here and
then just kind of leave it fromthere.
But I will be honest with you.
I'm not good with boundaries,and we get I get texts at 9 PM
(22:44):
on Saturdays and I do respondjust because I'm sitting here
and I don't have anything elseto do.
Uh, my wife and I don't haveany kids yet, so maybe when that
happens, uh, that'll change.
But uh, yeah, shout out to mywife too, because she does.
Uh, she has very understandingof it.
Speaker 1 (22:58):
I love that, ryan.
That's why we have that phrase.
Behind every great man is aneven greater woman.
Speaker 2 (23:03):
That's it.
Speaker 1 (23:03):
That's it for sure, and I will say, having
interviewed so manyentrepreneurs, I've always found
the baby effect is incredible,where actually, yes, time is
shorter, which places a largeremphasis on the fact that we
still need to get things done.
So I join you in having no kidsright now, but I imagine things
will change when we reach thatpoint in our lives.
(23:24):
So exciting things to lookforward to.
With that in mind, I lovereflecting on all the lessons
that you learned in the past.
So I do want to pick on thatentrepreneurial mind of yours of
what's different, because Iwould imagine that through each
experience, through each venture, you grew and you started to
operate differently.
When you look at the work thatyou're doing these days, where
in your mind do you say, oh mygosh, I've become so much better
(23:45):
of a delegator we just heard alot about your delegation skills
or a networker, or productivitywise.
What are some of those changesthat you acknowledge in yourself
?
Speaker 2 (23:54):
I think the biggest thing for me and you go back to
the delegation thing but I thinkthe biggest thing for me is the
self-awareness that I've beenable to and I still strive every
day to get better and be abetter person.
You know all that stuff,everything and being able to
(24:19):
swallow that Cause.
There's a lot of people that Ideal with or see on YouTube.
You know whatever that it seemsand I don't want to judge a
book by its cover but evenpeople that I know personally,
personally and intimately thatthey have a hard time passing
things off or saying like, look,I'm not good at this.
And it doesn't necessarily meanif you say I'm not good at
something, that you're not goodat your you know area of
(24:40):
expertise.
If you will, that was a veryhard thing for me to kind of
swallow at first.
Like I said, I was in thoserooms.
There was one time I got paid ona larger deal and I really it
was right when I was firststarting out, I was 22.
First time I made a little bitof money, right when I was first
starting out, I was 22.
First time I made a little bitof money and I didn't want to
(25:00):
pay this guy, not because hedidn't deserve it, but because
the way that it broke down washe wasn't really supposed to get
paid.
We were just kind of doing itbecause he was helping us and I
fought and fought because I was22.
I was like I need this money, Iwant this money.
And ultimately, when I went togo give him the check, he was
like, oh, he got paid.
So he didn't even know.
(25:23):
So it was one of those thingswhere I had to learn the hard
way, as ultimately, you can't doeverything for everybody and if
you don't know the answer,that's all right.
Just be honest and truthful.
The worst thing you can do andI hate when people do this is
when they try to lie or finagletheir way out of what you're
asking them.
(25:43):
You said it and you deal withpeople all day and you talk to
people all day.
You can tell ordinarily whensomeone's being genuine or
dishonest or whatever.
So I am as open as open can beand I know I talked to your
people about this before.
I am an open book.
I will say anything andultimately, if I don't know, I'm
going to say I don't know andI'll try to get you the answer
or at least put you in touchwith someone that has the answer
(26:05):
.
Speaker 1 (26:06):
Yeah, I love that, ryan.
It's something that I wasrecently introduced to this
quote that I think captures theessence of what it means to be a
Northeasterner who is just verydirect.
And that quote said that thetruth never minds being
questioned.
And so that's the thing, and tome, that's the fun part of this
podcast is I know that we haveamazing guests on that I can ask
you anything, because you don'tcare where we go, because
(26:27):
you're just going to share yourtruth and your story and so you
don't mind that, whereas I knowa lot of other shows and
especially I'm going to throw alittle bit of shade at the
traditional world of PR is thatthey like having these preset
questions and you can't go offscript.
We see it in the political arena.
That's why political candidatesaren't quite as honest as us
entrepreneurs all the time,because the truth doesn't mind
(26:48):
being questioned, but lies areso much more difficult and
treacherous to navigate around.
So huge kudos to the way thatyou operate, ryan.
I always love asking thisquestion at the end of every
episode because it's super broad.
You can take it in anydirection you want, and that is
what's your one best piece ofadvice Knowing that we're being
listened to by bothentrepreneurs and entrepreneurs
at all different stages of theirown business growth journeys.
(27:10):
What's that one thing you wantto leave them with today All?
Speaker 2 (27:13):
right, that's a good question.
Like you said, it's very broad.
So let me think here I wouldsay the one piece of advice that
I would say and I tell myselfthis too, and I kind of said it
earlier the only way that youare going to lose is if you quit
Now.
I don't think there's anythingwrong with taking a different
(27:34):
path.
If you grew up thinking youwanted to own car dealerships or
you wanted to cut hair, or youwanted to be a teacher, and then
ultimately, you don't end updoing that, and if you're truly
happy with your decision of notdoing that, that's one thing.
But if you really want somethingand you really want to make
something happen especiallybecause this is one entrepreneur
(27:55):
if you really want to be in thebusiness space which is truly
what I enjoy, I don't, you know,I don't think anybody wakes up
and they're like I loveinsurance or Medicare or what
have you.
I like the business space.
So as long as you are in thatspace and you don't waver and
you just keep going, you're notgoing to lose.
Yeah, you might have to pivot.
Yeah, you might have to takesome turns, but you will
(28:17):
eventually get there.
It might not be on your timelineand I know it certainly isn't
on mine, but you will get there,and I think that's the most
important thing for people torealize.
And if at some point, you'rejust not who you used to be and
you don't want the same things,that's okay too.
But I think having theself-awareness is the biggest
thing.
And if you're truly happy withwhere you are and who you are,
(28:39):
then I don't think anybody cantell you that what you're doing
is wrong or you're a failure.
Speaker 1 (28:43):
Boom Well said.
I think it was a WinstonChurchill quote where he said
that failure isn't fatal.
And, ryan, your stories, yourjourney, everything that you've
shared with us here today issuch a powerful testament to
that.
I love how frequentlyself-awareness has come up in
today's conversation, becauseactually you even joked about it
very early on in ourconversation, where you said it
(29:03):
was a bruise to my ego, and Ithink that we have to be willing
to go there, and that is whyI'm not surprised at all about
the work that you've been doingand the way that you show up in
the world.
So I'm super appreciative ofall that advice that you've
offered to our listeners todayand at this point, for anyone
who wants to see your work inaction, I'm so excited.
I've been on your LinkedIn andI'm super excited to stay
connected there, ryan, but dropthose links on us.
(29:24):
Where should listeners go fromhere?
Speaker 2 (29:27):
Yeah, so, uh, due to my past uh with the world I was
in didn't have, uh, any sort ofsocial media other than LinkedIn
.
So, yeah, you can just find meon LinkedIn and I think you can
get this from this episode.
I'm happy to talk to helpanybody, as long as they're not
pitching things left and right.
But, yeah, I'm happy to talk toanybody but LinkedIn.
It's just my name, Ryan George.
(29:47):
You can find me out ofPittsburgh, pa, right there, and
I'm happy to chat with anybody.
Speaker 1 (29:51):
Yes, and listeners, you already know the drill.
We're making it as easy aspossible for you to find Ryan on
LinkedIn down below in the shownotes.
You don't have to go.
Finding Ryan George is probablya pretty common name, so we're
linking directly to this RyanGeorge, the Ryan George down
below in the show notes, nomatter where it is that you're
tuning into today's episode.
Otherwise, ryan, on behalf ofmyself and all the listeners
worldwide, thanks so much forcoming on the show today.
(30:13):
Thank you very much.
I appreciate all your time.
Thanks for having me want togive a shout out to our amazing
(30:35):
guests.
There's a reason why we are adfree and have produced so many
incredible episodes five days aweek for you, and it's because
our guests step up to the plate.
These are not sponsoredepisodes, these are not
infomercials.
Our guests help us cover thecosts of our productions.
They so deeply believe in thepower of getting their message
(30:56):
out in front of you, awesomeentrepreneurs and entrepreneurs,
that they contribute to help usmake these productions possible
.
So thank you to not onlytoday's guests, but all of our
guests in general, and I justwant to invite you check out our
website because you can send usa voicemail there.
We also have live chat.
If you want to interactdirectly with me, go to
thewantrepreneurshowcom.
(31:17):
Initiate a live chat directlywith me.
Go to thewantrepreneurshowcom.
Initiate a live chat.
It's for real me, and I'mexcited because I'll see you, as
always every Monday, wednesday,friday, saturday and Sunday
here on the Wantrepreneur toEntrepreneur podcast.
Hey, what is up?
Welcome to this episode of theWantrepreneur to Entrepreneur
podcast.
As always, I'm your host, brianLoFermento, and if you lived
your whole life thinking gosh, Iwas not a good student, I
didn't find the career path thatI enjoyed, but that's why
you're pulled toentrepreneurship, then you're
going to love today's guest.
You're going to love his story.
You're going to love his careertransitions and how he has
(00:21):
taken massive action to reallydo something cool in a space
that he was familiar with, butsomething where he gets to serve
so many people in a reallymeaningful and impactful way in
a very complex industry.
So let me tell you abouttoday's guest.
His name is Ryan George.
He's the vice president of PartC, which is a national
healthcare insurance brokeragespecializing in Medicare and
(00:42):
individual health insurance.
His path into the industry,though, was anything but typical
, because he will be the firstto admit that he was a terrible
student and he didn't read afull book until he was in
college, but his passion forbusiness led him to the finance
and insurance space, where hefound success in estate planning
, before realizing it wasn't forhim.
So what did he do then?
(01:02):
Well, he started his firstventure in commercial insurance,
and it failed.
And then he decided I'm goingto start toying around with and
maybe going into veterinaryclinics.
And he decided against that.
But that's when he discoveredMedicare and never looked back.
Now, ryan and his team helpMedicare beneficiaries navigate
their coverage, ensuring they'rein the best possible plans year
(01:22):
after year.
They partner with financialfirms, insurance brokerages and
pharmacies to support Medicareclients, and his journey, like
so many entrepreneurial journeys, is one of persistence,
adaptation and finding successin unexpected places.
So I'm excited about this one.
I'm not going to say anythingelse.
Let's dive straight into myinterview with Ryan George.
All right, ryan, I am so veryexcited that you're here with us
(01:47):
today.
First things first.
Welcome to the show.
Thanks for having me.
Speaker 2 (01:51):
I really appreciate you having me on.
Thank you very much.
Speaker 1 (01:53):
Heck.
Yes, I teased a little bitabout your entrepreneurial
beginnings with your bio, buttake us beyond the bio.
Who's Ryan?
How'd you start doing all thesethings?
Yeah, sure, so let me.
Speaker 2 (02:03):
Let me, I guess, uh, date back.
Like you said, I was not, uh,I'm not, a good student.
Uh, that was never my uh strongsuit.
I uh probably ventured moreinto the social aspect.
That was more of my strong suit.
Uh, out of college it wasn'treally sure what I was going to
do.
Uh, ended up going intofinancial advising and estate
planning world, was in that forabout 12, 13 years.
(02:26):
I did that with my partner,went to law school with my dad.
That's how I ended up gettinginvolved in that, but ultimately
it just wasn't for me.
I hated the aspect of justsitting around with wealthy
people just trying to handlethings all day.
For them wasn't really my speed.
For them wasn't really my speed.
(02:48):
So, yeah, like you said, Itransitioned over.
I bought a home and autocommercial insurance agency,
actually out of Florida, andthat failed.
It was miserable, hated that,learned real quick, was not a
fan.
And then, yeah, found a guythat I was going to partner with
for vet clinics.
He owned about three of them,ended up selling those had a
non-compete.
And then I fell into theMedicare space.
And here I am today.
Speaker 1 (03:10):
Yes, I love that overview, especially because,
ryan, here on this show, we soappreciate transparency and
honesty and the fact that youare so open about the fact that
your first venture didn't work.
I'd love for you to go deeperthere, because most sane people
we entrepreneurs we'redefinitely not sane, but most
sane people would go throughthat and say, all right, I'm
just going to go get a job.
That is the way, easier way.
Walk us through your mindsetwhen you decided, no, this is
(03:32):
the beginning of anentrepreneurial journey.
Speaker 2 (03:34):
Yeah for sure.
So this kind of dates back towhen I just graduated college,
wasn't real sure what I wasgoing to do and I started I had
to do a business plan, and thebusiness plan that I drew up, uh
, it was called party you.
Uh, I know not very uh, notvery creative uh, but it was
similar.
It was around 2010 ish.
(03:55):
This was similar to whenBarstool sports was kind of on
the rise and they were doingtheir uh kind of party stuff.
You know things like that.
Um, so I did that with a buddyof mine for a little bit.
That was kind of my firstsoiree.
Uh, we did some colleges andthings like that.
Uh ran out of money quick,realized I needed a job, went to
(04:16):
the uh financial world, if youwill, and then from there, uh
said, well, I got a lot ofbusiness owner clients, let's do
the commercial route.
Went there.
Um, they agreed to allow me tocome.
One of my largest clients was aprivately held tool rental
company.
That's nationwide.
So I thought that was going tobe a layup.
It was anything but Basically,when I got in, they said okay,
(04:37):
we don't really want you to dothe commercial aspect of things
anymore, we just want you tofocus on home and auto.
That was for about two years,couldn't take it anymore, bowed
out, and yeah, I was 25, 26, 27is when I got out of that.
But yeah, it was a tough pillto swallow.
I really thought that I couldkind of make it work and just
(04:59):
grind it out, but that wasanything but.
So, yeah, I mean I just I don'tknow, I'm just a big believer
in you know, you just kind ofkeep going until you ultimately
figure out what it is thatyou're kind of meant to do and
don't let things stop you,because at the end of the day, I
mean, the only way you're gonna, the only way you lose the game
is if you quit.
So I just kind of kept trudgingalong if you will and along if
(05:21):
you will, and that's how I endedup where I am today.
Speaker 1 (05:24):
Yeah, that's absolutely true, and it's I mean
, you and I are of the samegeneration.
So, looking at what with whatDave Portnoy did with Barstool
Sports, that was also aninspiration for me early on in
my entrepreneurial scene,because I think you and I would
both admit that it looks easierthan it is.
That's why I have all therespect in the world for Dave
and everything that they'vebuilt over at Barstool Sports.
But I would also argue, I wantto add on to the point that you
(05:45):
made, and that is not only areyou willing to just do things
and figure it out along the way,but you also accumulated skills
, experiences, perspectives thatyou probably didn't realize
would serve you in futureendeavors, whether you like them
or not.
Talk to us about some of thoseskills or mindsets or
experiences that you picked upthat in hindsight you're
thinking, gosh, I'm glad I didthat, because now I use that to
(06:05):
this very day.
Speaker 2 (06:07):
Yeah for sure.
So, uh, I think one of thebiggest things is is, I mean, I
know it's cliche and kind ofcorny, but just networking and
just talking to people ingeneral.
Um, obviously, today this is apodcast, I guess, about me.
Uh, I'm not usually very.
I am open, I'm an open book.
I'm not usually verycomfortable talking about myself
, so ordinarily I just ask a lotof questions and listen to
(06:29):
people.
So that was one of the big keys, I would say, to kind of
getting to where I am andhopefully where I'm going to go
is just being able to mix it upwith different people in that
kind of way, because ultimatelyyou don't know where you can go.
So I don't ever really like toclose a book on anybody or burn
(06:51):
a bridge.
You don't know what ultimatelythe future will bring you.
So I always try to keep an openmind with that.
I always try to listen.
I never know who's going tohave an idea for me that might
not be for me in the currentmoment, but hey, maybe they have
a better sense of what's goodfor me.
So I'm always down to justlisten to people and I think
(07:11):
that's one of the key things.
And then, ultimately.
I used to want to own cardealerships growing up, so in
college I sold cars.
This was before any of the carsalesmen had computers or
anything in their desk.
So my dad was like, look, ifyou want to learn something and
I usually don't give him credit,but I'll give him credit here
he said, if you want to learnsomething, go learn sales.
(07:32):
And that's what I did.
So I did very good that summerselling cars Coincidentally blew
all the money on materialthings that my apartment got
broken into in college and allthe stuff got stolen anyways.
So I learned the hard way aboutnot blowing all your money.
But yeah, that's a roundaboutway of just, you know, keeping
your options open, learningsales, then obviously just
(07:55):
keeping doors open because youdon't know what the future will
hold.
Speaker 1 (07:57):
Yeah for sure, which leads us to the industry that
you are, in which, when I lookat that, I'm like Ryan.
Are you crazy?
The world of Medicare, holy cow.
What industry is more complexthan that world?
Talk to us about Part C.
Speaker 2 (08:10):
Yeah, so Part C, like you said in the introduction,
it's a national health insurancebrokerage firm.
We specialize in Medicare, butwe do all things health
insurance related.
It's really not that complex.
If you have insurance healthinsurance, and most people do
you can kind of figure it outand learn it.
The most complex part of it isthe hurdle of understanding the
(08:34):
differences between all theplans and the parts from social
security to CMS, which is Centerfor Medicaid and Medicare
Services, and ultimately it'ssomething that even when I was
doing financial advising andestate planning, I knew nothing
about.
My mom was a trauma nurse andshe has lupus, the autoimmune
disorder, so she had to go on toMedicare under 65.
(08:56):
Most Medicare people are 65 andabove.
She had to go on it under 65because she wasn't able to work
anymore.
I know I talk fast, so Iapologize.
Um, she wasn't able to workanymore and the guy that she was
dealing with knew of me andsaid hey, is Ryan interested in
Medicare?
I scoffed at it.
Uh, this was years prior and uh, now you know, uh, I am here
(09:18):
today doing it.
But it is a complex thing,especially when you're dealing
with the older generation veryface-to-face, very human
interaction.
They do not like dealing withyou on the phone, they do not
like dealing with it over thecomputer.
Really, a lot of times we getpeople that say, hey, I don't
even have a computer, can youguys help us?
(09:38):
And that's really where we kindof come into play.
And the most beautiful thingabout it, brian, is that
ultimately it is federallyregulated, so we don't get paid
off of the premium the way thatit was when I was in the estate
planning world and the financialadvising world.
So somebody that's sittingacross from me as long as you're
talking to a broker, that's themost important thing, because
ultimately we don't have a dogin the fight.
(10:00):
All we're there to do iseducate you and then we'll give
you our opinion, but you pickwhat you think is the most
suitable for you.
And I will say that thegovernment does a pretty good
job of that because ultimately,like I said, whether the plan
costs $1 or $1,000 a month, thebroker's getting paid the exact
same.
Speaker 1 (10:19):
Yeah, it's an interesting world.
I'm excited to go a little bitdeeper, but part of what I hear
is obviously your salesbeginning Huge shout out to your
dad.
I know you joke that you don'tlike to give him credit, but
honestly, the fact that he gotyou into sales early, that is a
transferable skill to literallyevery industry.
And when I look at yourprofessional background up to
this point estate planning,financial advising now you're
(10:39):
talking about insurance A lot ofthat is education.
Talk to us about the role ofteaching and educating when it
comes to serving the clientsthat you work with.
Speaker 2 (10:48):
Yeah, sure, so, uh, when I I always liked teaching,
shout out to teachers.
I think they have a very hardjob.
Even though I didn't likeschool, I like the idea of
educating and teaching andhelping people and walking
people through, and I think,with my background in estate
planning, for probably the firstfive, seven years I'd be in
(11:11):
these meetings with accountants,financial advisors, family
office advisors all differenttypes.
I had no business being in someof these rooms people that are
worth hundreds of millions ofdollars.
I had no business being inthese rooms, so I didn't really
get a chance to speak, which waskind of a blow to my ego, if
(11:31):
you will, because I set up thesemeetings but then ultimately
I'm in them and people prettymuch didn't even realize I was
there.
So I was able to, from that,learn a lot of valuable skills
when it comes to breaking downcomplex matters and then
basically giving it to you indigestible form, because, at the
end of the day, I have been inrooms with people that will go
(11:53):
round and round.
I've been on calls with peopleindustry, people that will go
round and round, and they justbore people to death.
And the one most importantthing I learned when it comes to
teaching and breaking thingsdown, is that if you just give
somebody the relevant stufftoday and ask a lot of questions
and try to figure that out, butif you're just giving them what
is most important to them todayand that does come with a
(12:13):
little bit of, I guess,emotional intelligence and
social awareness and all thatstuff and it comes with time but
if you are good at asking thequestions, listening and then
just giving them the basics ofwhat they need to know, that's
the most important thing,because we can sit here for the
next five hours and I can boreyou about insurance and Medicare
, but I could realistically giveyou a crash, crash course in I
(12:38):
don't know probably 12 minutesand you'd be able to go talk to
a relative with somewhat, uh,idea as to what the hell you're
talking about.
Speaker 1 (12:47):
Yeah, I love that and , ryan, I absolutely believe you
.
That's, that's usNortheasterners as we move quick
, we talk fast.
Absolutely, I love that.
I want I feel like this isprobably an appropriate part to
talk to you about networking,because you brought that up and
I know I cringe, even though I'man extreme extrovert.
When I think about networking,I'm just like no, I don't want
to do it, and I know that somany listeners feel that way as
well.
It seems like you leveragelistening and asking questions
(13:11):
and natural curiosity and, ofcourse, emotional intelligence.
It seems to me like youactually have learned to embrace
the networking side of what youdo.
Talk to us about how RyanGeorge navigates the world of
networking.
Speaker 2 (13:23):
Yeah.
So I would say I don't do thenetworking in the formal sense
because I hate it, the events,I'm not good at that.
What I am good at, though, isfollowing up.
If somebody's like hey, I wantyou to meet somebody, I will
talk to anybody, I'll have aconversation with anybody, and
then, ultimately, leveragingthose relationships not for me
(13:44):
but for them and something thatI can help them with.
And I know that's corny and Iknow it might sound self-serving
and things like that, but atthe end of the day, it really is
true.
I have a lot of differentconnections in different areas,
so I'm always trying to piecethings together for other people
, and I know that, ultimately,there have been times when I've
been left out of getting paid onthings or commissions or things
(14:06):
like that, and I know thathappens and it sucks, and I
don't want that to happen, but Ihave no real control over it
once I turn over therelationship.
But I have learned that if youare able to connect the dots for
people, that it comes back fullcircle, and it really is true.
So I would give advice ifanybody wants the unsolicited
advice to ultimately not reallydo the traditional networking
(14:31):
stuff, because, at the end ofthe day, the people that are
going to that, they usually havejust as little, if not less,
connections than you do, and alot of times it's people that
are just trying to you know, Idon't know kind of beat their
chest and say what they do andat the end of the day I just
don't really know how effectivethat is.
So yeah, I mean just talking todifferent people being in
(14:54):
different spaces, and especiallynow with being in the Medicare
space, because we deal withpeople that are at the Medicaid
line.
So that would be, you know,poverty line all the way up to
you know somebody that has acompany worth tens and tens of
millions of dollars, because atthe once you turn 65 or once you
are eligible for Medicare, mostinstances I won't get into the
(15:15):
weeds of it all, but mostinstances is when you get booted
onto it.
So we can't really discriminatethe way that I would when I was
in the financial advising andestate planning space.
So I think just talking topeople and just kind of seeing
what they do and seeing how youcan be of help and I know that's
become more popular over theyears and it can come across as
(15:35):
self-serving a lot of timesbecause people are usually a
little bit leery what are theytrying to do?
But I do think if you'regenuine with it and you're
honest about it and you reallyare trying to help, I think it
will come back full circle Notnecessarily from them, but maybe
from somebody else on the road.
Speaker 1 (15:53):
Yeah, and I think honestly, ryan, I'll tell you
this as someone who talks toentrepreneurs for a living.
It shines through in the waythat you talk about it and your
attitude of just openness andtransparency of hey, I love
helping people.
I know it'll come back in someway.
I don't know exactly how, butthat's why I'm here and and that
in and of itself is just anabundance mindset that you're
right, it just reaps rewards inso many ways.
I will ask you this while we'reon the air, because I'm so
(16:15):
fascinated by it Tactically howthe heck do you manage all of
the different people that youknow and how do you connect
those dots for people?
Because I'm not the best whenit comes to my phone.
I've always wondered how peoplelike you organize your phone,
your records, your thoughts.
How do you stay on top of allthat stuff?
Speaker 2 (16:31):
So I will say it probably goes back to my years
of not being good at schoolbecause the social aspect was
what I wanted to shine at.
So, you know, I honestly justwith my phone, and then we have
different platforms anddifferent systems and things
like that.
But yeah, I mean, that's kindof the basic of it all is that
(16:53):
we just try to find people thatare in one arena and that we can
possibly introduce them toanother arena and then let them
kind of run with therelationship.
It's not really our forte inall areas of insurance.
Obviously you can't be anexpert in everything, but you
know we have different peoplefor commercial insurance, we
have different people forpersonal insurance, we have
(17:15):
people for financial advice.
You know, there's just atotally different, different way
to go about it and everybodyhas a different way to go about
it.
But the other thing too is isbecause we do get a chance
especially me to sit down withso many different people.
I just try to keep it in theback of my head.
Okay, this person I just metwith a guy and his wife the last
week uh owns a home maintenancecompany and, coincidentally
(17:39):
enough, two weeks ago, uh, Itold my wife.
We need to find some sort ofhandyman.
I wasn't sure, uh, I knownothing about that stuff.
So, uh, now he's coming over todo some things for me.
So I just always am trying toconnect the dots and think that,
okay, if I can put this personwith this person, obviously
that'll look good.
And in Medicare it really isone of those things where one
(18:00):
person can turn to five, canturn to five to 20, so on and so
forth.
It's not necessarily that infinancial advising and estate
planning because everybody wantsto run from you.
I was the enemy sitting acrossthe tables of so many people,
but now we're just there, likeyou kind of stated more of the
educator, and that's all we'rethere to do is just educate,
(18:20):
listen and then, if we canprovide value afterwards.
That's something that we alwaystry to do and that we're always
trying to look, always lookingto do.
Speaker 1 (18:28):
Yeah, and it seems to me from the outside, looking in
that, a core part of yourstrategy.
It leverages so many of theseingredients that we've already
talked about, and that ispartnerships.
I think it is so smart the factthat you guys partner with
financial firms, insurancebrokerages, pharmacies.
Talk to us about thatpartnership strategy and how
it's become that driving force.
Speaker 2 (18:46):
Yeah for sure.
So, like I said about my mom,there was the Medicare aspect to
it and when I was in thefinancial advising and estate
planning world, we stuck to ourlane.
So if we needed a tax attorney,we would bring one in.
If we needed a specificaccountant, we would bring one
in.
So I kind of learned that young.
I started doing that, like Isaid, when I was 22, after my
(19:09):
first failed business, if youwill.
But yeah, when we partner withthese people, it's mainly
because the Medicare spacepredominantly is and I'm making
these numbers up, I have no ideabut I would say 98% of the
Medicare agents that we meet arekind of girl scouts in a sense,
where they just set up a boothand they're like hey, we got
(19:30):
Medicare and there's onlycertain times when you can
enroll in Medicare.
If you're new to Medicare, it'swhen you're turning 65.
And then everything else isduring the open enrollment for
all those annoying commercialsthat you guys all see on TV for
the last 30 years with JoeNamath, johnny Walker, things
like that.
But what we have done is we'vekind of taken a different
approach, and we're not the onlyones to do it.
(19:51):
There's a lot of greatbrokerages out there that do
this, but you partner with thosefinancial advisor firms, the
accountants, the pharmacies.
We had a contract that's onpause with one of the largest
privately held grocery storechains in the United States for
their pharmacy customers not fortheir employees, but for their
(20:13):
pharmacy and the customers whothey come through there.
So what we would do is we wouldjust basically go in and say,
hey, we can partner with you.
There are some legality issueswhen it comes to commissions and
things like that and how we pay, but ultimately we're just a
value add for people and we getbrought in a lot and it is
something that very few peopledo, uh, especially at a larger
level.
(20:33):
So we are kind of able to getin with people more from that
area, just because there aren'ta lot of people that specialize
in this, let alone people thathave big agencies or big
financial firms or pharmaciesthat even know somebody that
truly does specialize in solelythis.
Speaker 1 (20:51):
Yeah, it's so clear to me honestly, even more so
after our conversation heretoday, how important
relationships are to youhonestly even more so after our
conversation here today howimportant relationships are to
you and I'm just thinking aboutthe fact that you're managing
these partnerships andrelationships that you just gave
us insights on You're alsosimultaneously managing the
actual end consumers, theclients, the customers that
you're working with.
How's your time split up, ryan?
(21:11):
I'm so excited to hear how youmanage all these different sides
of the coin.
Speaker 2 (21:15):
So I will you know again.
I said I'm fully transparent.
I am not good at service work,not because I'm not responsive,
I just I hate it Because youknow kind of similar how you
were saying, like with theintrovert, extrovert type
scenario If I have a problem, Ihave no patience Maybe it's a
Northeast thing, like you said,and I just want to get things
(21:36):
done immediately.
So I call somebody as quicklyas I can to get it handled.
I have a lot of people thatrely on me and us for service,
so I'm not good at that.
So I try to get that off myplate as much as I can.
But when it comes to handlingall of that it's a lot of hats
to juggle and I know people aremuch better at it than I am.
(21:59):
Ultimately being able to passoff that was one of the things
that I learned at from theestate planning side.
The place I was at waswonderful in a lot of learning
and teaching lessons.
But yeah, just being able topass off like listen, you can't
be everything to everybody andthat's okay.
So I just try to get in, getout with what I know and then
(22:23):
afterwards just kind of followup, say, hey, you know this is
what we talked about.
These are your point of context.
Hey, you mentioned this.
This is my guy, derek, thathandles all this stuff over here
.
This is my guy, jeff, thathandles this stuff over here and
then just kind of leave it fromthere.
But I will be honest with you.
I'm not good with boundaries,and we get I get texts at 9 PM
(22:44):
on Saturdays and I do respondjust because I'm sitting here
and I don't have anything elseto do.
Uh, my wife and I don't haveany kids yet, so maybe when that
happens, uh, that'll change.
But uh, yeah, shout out to mywife too, because she does.
Uh, she has very understandingof it.
Speaker 1 (22:58):
I love that, ryan.
That's why we have that phrase.
Behind every great man is aneven greater woman.
Speaker 2 (23:03):
That's it.
Speaker 1 (23:03):
That's it for sure, and I will say, having
interviewed so manyentrepreneurs, I've always found
the baby effect is incredible,where actually, yes, time is
shorter, which places a largeremphasis on the fact that we
still need to get things done.
So I join you in having no kidsright now, but I imagine things
will change when we reach thatpoint in our lives.
(23:24):
So exciting things to lookforward to.
With that in mind, I lovereflecting on all the lessons
that you learned in the past.
So I do want to pick on thatentrepreneurial mind of yours of
what's different, because Iwould imagine that through each
experience, through each venture, you grew and you started to
operate differently.
When you look at the work thatyou're doing these days, where
in your mind do you say, oh mygosh, I've become so much better
(23:45):
of a delegator we just heard alot about your delegation skills
or a networker, or productivitywise.
What are some of those changesthat you acknowledge in yourself
?
Speaker 2 (23:54):
I think the biggest thing for me and you go back to
the delegation thing but I thinkthe biggest thing for me is the
self-awareness that I've beenable to and I still strive every
day to get better and be abetter person.
You know all that stuff,everything and being able to
(24:19):
swallow that Cause.
There's a lot of people that Ideal with or see on YouTube.
You know whatever that it seemsand I don't want to judge a
book by its cover but evenpeople that I know personally,
personally and intimately thatthey have a hard time passing
things off or saying like, look,I'm not good at this.
And it doesn't necessarily meanif you say I'm not good at
something, that you're not goodat your you know area of
(24:40):
expertise.
If you will, that was a veryhard thing for me to kind of
swallow at first.
Like I said, I was in thoserooms.
There was one time I got paid ona larger deal and I really it
was right when I was firststarting out, I was 22.
First time I made a little bitof money, right when I was first
starting out, I was 22.
First time I made a little bitof money and I didn't want to
(25:00):
pay this guy, not because hedidn't deserve it, but because
the way that it broke down washe wasn't really supposed to get
paid.
We were just kind of doing itbecause he was helping us and I
fought and fought because I was22.
I was like I need this money, Iwant this money.
And ultimately, when I went togo give him the check, he was
like, oh, he got paid.
So he didn't even know.
(25:23):
So it was one of those thingswhere I had to learn the hard
way, as ultimately, you can't doeverything for everybody and if
you don't know the answer,that's all right.
Just be honest and truthful.
The worst thing you can do andI hate when people do this is
when they try to lie or finagletheir way out of what you're
asking them.
(25:43):
You said it and you deal withpeople all day and you talk to
people all day.
You can tell ordinarily whensomeone's being genuine or
dishonest or whatever.
So I am as open as open can beand I know I talked to your
people about this before.
I am an open book.
I will say anything andultimately, if I don't know, I'm
going to say I don't know andI'll try to get you the answer
or at least put you in touchwith someone that has the answer
(26:05):
.
Speaker 1 (26:06):
Yeah, I love that, ryan.
It's something that I wasrecently introduced to this
quote that I think captures theessence of what it means to be a
Northeasterner who is just verydirect.
And that quote said that thetruth never minds being
questioned.
And so that's the thing, and tome, that's the fun part of this
podcast is I know that we haveamazing guests on that I can ask
you anything, because you don'tcare where we go, because
(26:27):
you're just going to share yourtruth and your story and so you
don't mind that, whereas I knowa lot of other shows and
especially I'm going to throw alittle bit of shade at the
traditional world of PR is thatthey like having these preset
questions and you can't go offscript.
We see it in the political arena.
That's why political candidatesaren't quite as honest as us
entrepreneurs all the time,because the truth doesn't mind
(26:48):
being questioned, but lies areso much more difficult and
treacherous to navigate around.
So huge kudos to the way thatyou operate, ryan.
I always love asking thisquestion at the end of every
episode because it's super broad.
You can take it in anydirection you want, and that is
what's your one best piece ofadvice Knowing that we're being
listened to by bothentrepreneurs and entrepreneurs
at all different stages of theirown business growth journeys.
(27:10):
What's that one thing you wantto leave them with today All?
Speaker 2 (27:13):
right, that's a good question.
Like you said, it's very broad.
So let me think here I wouldsay the one piece of advice that
I would say and I tell myselfthis too, and I kind of said it
earlier the only way that youare going to lose is if you quit
Now.
I don't think there's anythingwrong with taking a different
(27:34):
path.
If you grew up thinking youwanted to own car dealerships or
you wanted to cut hair, or youwanted to be a teacher, and then
ultimately, you don't end updoing that, and if you're truly
happy with your decision of notdoing that, that's one thing.
But if you really want somethingand you really want to make
something happen especiallybecause this is one entrepreneur
(27:55):
if you really want to be in thebusiness space which is truly
what I enjoy, I don't, you know,I don't think anybody wakes up
and they're like I loveinsurance or Medicare or what
have you.
I like the business space.
So as long as you are in thatspace and you don't waver and
you just keep going, you're notgoing to lose.
Yeah, you might have to pivot.
Yeah, you might have to takesome turns, but you will
(28:17):
eventually get there.
It might not be on your timelineand I know it certainly isn't
on mine, but you will get there,and I think that's the most
important thing for people torealize.
And if at some point, you'rejust not who you used to be and
you don't want the same things,that's okay too.
But I think having theself-awareness is the biggest
thing.
And if you're truly happy withwhere you are and who you are,
(28:39):
then I don't think anybody cantell you that what you're doing
is wrong or you're a failure.
Speaker 1 (28:43):
Boom Well said.
I think it was a WinstonChurchill quote where he said
that failure isn't fatal.
And, ryan, your stories, yourjourney, everything that you've
shared with us here today issuch a powerful testament to
that.
I love how frequentlyself-awareness has come up in
today's conversation, becauseactually you even joked about it
very early on in ourconversation, where you said it
(29:03):
was a bruise to my ego, and Ithink that we have to be willing
to go there, and that is whyI'm not surprised at all about
the work that you've been doingand the way that you show up in
the world.
So I'm super appreciative ofall that advice that you've
offered to our listeners todayand at this point, for anyone
who wants to see your work inaction, I'm so excited.
I've been on your LinkedIn andI'm super excited to stay
connected there, ryan, but dropthose links on us.
(29:24):
Where should listeners go fromhere?
Speaker 2 (29:27):
Yeah, so, uh, due to my past uh with the world I was
in didn't have, uh, any sort ofsocial media other than LinkedIn
.
So, yeah, you can just find meon LinkedIn and I think you can
get this from this episode.
I'm happy to talk to helpanybody, as long as they're not
pitching things left and right.
But, yeah, I'm happy to talk toanybody but LinkedIn.
It's just my name, Ryan George.
(29:47):
You can find me out ofPittsburgh, pa, right there, and
I'm happy to chat with anybody.
Speaker 1 (29:51):
Yes, and listeners, you already know the drill.
We're making it as easy aspossible for you to find Ryan on
LinkedIn down below in the shownotes.
You don't have to go.
Finding Ryan George is probablya pretty common name, so we're
linking directly to this RyanGeorge, the Ryan George down
below in the show notes, nomatter where it is that you're
tuning into today's episode.
Otherwise, ryan, on behalf ofmyself and all the listeners
worldwide, thanks so much forcoming on the show today.
(30:13):
Thank you very much.
I appreciate all your time.
Thanks for having me want togive a shout out to our amazing
(30:35):
guests.
There's a reason why we are adfree and have produced so many
incredible episodes five days aweek for you, and it's because
our guests step up to the plate.
These are not sponsoredepisodes, these are not
infomercials.
Our guests help us cover thecosts of our productions.
They so deeply believe in thepower of getting their message
(30:56):
out in front of you, awesomeentrepreneurs and entrepreneurs,
that they contribute to help usmake these productions possible
.
So thank you to not onlytoday's guests, but all of our
guests in general, and I justwant to invite you check out our
website because you can send usa voicemail there.
We also have live chat.
If you want to interactdirectly with me, go to
thewantrepreneurshowcom.
(31:17):
Initiate a live chat directlywith me.
Go to thewantrepreneurshowcom.
Initiate a live chat.
It's for real me, and I'mexcited because I'll see you, as
always every Monday, wednesday,friday, saturday and Sunday
here on the Wantrepreneur toEntrepreneur podcast.
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