Agency Nation Radio
Agency Nation is the leading digital publication helping insurance professionals dominate marketing, sales and technology in the modern marketplace.
Episodes
July 9, 2025 • 24 mins
On this episode of Agency Nation Radio, we meet Courtney Jacobs, owner of Insurance Done Right (IDR) in Biloxi, Mississippi. Since launching her agency seven years ago, Jacobs has navigated the complexities of growing a business along the Gulf Coast—where the unique challenges of flood insurance and storm exposure are a constant concern—while also serving in the Air National Guard and giving back to her community t...
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June 26, 2025 • 14 mins
On this episode of Agency Nation Radio, Ashley Engl, chair of Big I New York’s NextGen young agent committee, hosts a conversation with two Generation Z agents: Jackson Doyle, commercial risk adviser at J. Krug in Itasca, Illinois; and Brooke Stout, receptionist and assistant account manager at Chalk & Gibbs Insurance & Real Estate in Morehead City, North Carolina.
Together, they discuss how they got their start...
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June 12, 2025 • 13 mins
On this episode of Agency Nation Radio, we meet Brock Elliott, Producer and partner at
Elliott Insurance Group in Louisburg, Kansas. Elliott got his start in the industry when he turned 21 and bounced around a couple roles before finally finding his stride as an account executive.
Throughout his career, Elliott has played a pivotal role in the Big 'I' community at both the state and national levels—leading as ...
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May 29, 2025 • 23 mins
On this episode of Agency Nation Radio, Will Jones, Big “I” director of communications and editor-in-chief of Independent Agent magazine, is joined by Nancy Germond, Big “I” executive director of risk management and education, and Amanda Juratovic, Big “I” vice president of E&O operations, to discuss one of the independent agency channel’s most-pressing issues: rising errors & omissions claims.
With the hard mar...
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May 14, 2025 • 13 mins
On this episode of Agency Nation Radio, we meet Jorge Wetenkamp, agency owner of Desert Crest Insurance in Saint George, Utah.
Wetenkamp’s career in insurance was unexpected. After working at In-N-Out Burger and at the DMV, he took a job with AAA Insurance when they started offering DMV services. This opened his eyes to the opportunities for career growth and serving the Hispanic community.
In 2021, he starte...
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April 30, 2025 • 46 mins
On this episode of Agency Nation Radio, Peter Van Aartrijk, executive vice president with insurance branding firm Aartrijk, hosts a discussion with Ryan Towle, vice president of Davis & Towle Insurance Group in Concord, New Hampshire, and Keith J. Mangini, vice president and commercial team leader at InsurBanc in Farmington, Connecticut, on best practices when making an agency acquisition—whether it’s your first pu...
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April 9, 2025 • 17 mins
On this episode of Agency Nation Radio, we meet Michelle O'Connor, president of O'Connor Insurance Associates in Charlotte, North Carolina.
When O'Connor and her husband started their insurance agency 25 years ago, they knew from the very beginning that joining the Independent Insurance Agents of North Carolina (IIANC) was a must. Michelle knew of other successful agents that belonged to the Big “I" and also kne...
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March 26, 2025 • 46 mins
On this episode of Agency Nation Radio, Susan Bonner, Big “I” vice president of marketing and communications, chats with Denise Johnson, president and CEO of Big I Oklahoma, and Jill Epstein, CEO of Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of California (IIABCal), about their achievements as women in the independent insurance agency channel and how they’re shaping the industry by offering more women-led events and hi...
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March 12, 2025 • 16 mins
On this episode of Agency Nation Radio, we meet Kelly Gonyo, owner and agent of Blue Line Insurance in Lake Placid, New York.
Gonyo worked every role in an independent agency—from working the front desk to producing—before starting her own agency at 32 years old with “minimal money in a tiny little office," she says. Today, Blue Line Insurance has four branches and 15 employees, 14 of whom are women.
“I'm pro...
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February 26, 2025 • 19 mins
On this episode of Agency Nation Radio, Johanna Holling, volunteer relations program manager at National Invest Program, hosts a conversation about attracting young talent to the insurance industry with Ashley Engl, business development manager at Jencap, and Hal Soden, Jr., principal and risk management advisor at Oliver L.E. Soden Agency Corp. Together, they discuss what Invest is, how they got involved with the ...
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February 12, 2025 • 23 mins
On this episode of Agency Nation Radio, we meet Megan Carroll, president of Stein Insurance in Lindstrom, Minnesota.
“I worked as a property & casualty reinsurance broker at Willis Re," explains Megan Carroll. “That was my first 'big kid' job."
However, the absence of a succession plan at her family's fourth-generation independent insurance agency and a desire to keep it family-owned drew Carroll into the fam...
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January 29, 2025 • 36 mins
On this episode of Agency Nation Radio, Molly Abboud, Big “I" director of political affairs, hosts a discussion with Charles Symington, Big “I” president & CEO, and Nathan Riedel, Big “I” senior vice president of federal government affairs to discuss the 2024 election results and how they will impact the Big “I” legislative agenda.
They examine the key factors behind President Trump’s victory and discuss what to...
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January 17, 2025 • 15 mins
Insurance has been a part of Jay Fribourg’s life from the very beginning. His insurance career began when he interned at his family’s agency filing and scanning documents. After graduating from college, Fribourg joined the family agency but eventually broke off and started his own agency, Bentley Insurance, named after his 130-pound Great Dane. In 2012, Bentley Insurance was acquired by Pinnacle Insurance Group.
...
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December 27, 2024 • 20 mins
On this episode of Agency Nation Radio, Jennifer Becker, Big “I” Senior Director of Agent Development and Research and Education, is joined by Andy Siegel of Siegel Insurance and chair of the Big “I” council for Best Practices and Katy Stewart of Olis/Akers/Arney Insurance & Business Advisors and a member of the council for Best Practices to discuss about benefits and data that can be gleaned from the study.
...
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December 12, 2024 • 14 mins
On this episode of Agency Nation Radio, we meet Stephanie Dew, President, Agency Owner of WinStar Insurance Group in Cedar Park, Texas.
In 2022, Dew, then 20% owner of WinStar, learned that the other two owners would be retiring. She didn’t want to see the agency absorbed by the large buyers circling overhead and decided she would buy it herself—even if it meant mortgaging her house.
“It devastated me to thi...
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November 26, 2024 • 56 mins
On this episode of Agency Nation Radio, we explore technology and its real-world impact on independent agencies. Join host Bobbie Collies, chief insurance officer at Coterie Insurance, as she unpacks how technology is not just about tools and software—it’s about people.
Collies is joined by two industry leaders: Chris Cline, executive director of the Big “I” Agents Council for Technology (ACT), and Todd Jackson, B...
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November 13, 2024 • 23 mins
On this episode of Agency Nation Radio, we meet Andrew Ryan, vice president of Hertvik Insurance Group in Medina, Ohio.
Despite being unimpressed by the software on offer when he first joined the independent agency channel, Ryan has relished the opportunity to constantly innovate and improve agency technology and processes.
Currently, Ryan is embarking on a new project—Engineered Insurance Services (EIS)—whic...
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October 23, 2024 • 13 mins
On this episode of Agency Nation Radio, AnneMarie McPherson Spears, news editor, Independent Agent magazine, interviews Kristina Witzling, executive vice president and property & casualty practice lead at Zeldis about the findings from the 2024 Agency Universe Study.
The Agency Universe Study by Future One, a collaboration of the Big “I" and leading independent agency companies, is hailed as the most comprehens...
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October 9, 2024 • 8 mins
On this episode of Agency Nation Radio, we meet Haley Andrews, vice president of Gaines Insurance Agency in El Dorado Hills, California.
Growing up in a family where insurance was a topic of conversation at the dinner table, Andrews' future in insurance was written in the stars. After earning a degree in business with a concentration in insurance and risk management from Sacramento State University, Andrews acce...
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September 25, 2024 • 27 mins
On this episode of Agency Nation Radio, Joseph Cox, director of marketing at Trusted Choice®, hosts a conversation with Jamie O'Hearn, president of O'Hearn insurance in Lowell, Massachusetts, and Philip Schmitz, chief client protection officer at Schmitz Insurance in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, about the role of social media in a modern insurance agency.
The guests share how they’ve boosted client engagement throug...
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