The GRIT Factor by Insurance Group of America
🎙️ The GRIT Factor Podcast – Where high performers, bold leaders, and ambitious professionals come to learn what it takes to succeed.
Hosted by Drew Powell, this podcast dives deep into the core values that define true leadership and career excellence: Guts, Resilience, Integrity, and Tenacity. These are the values that drive high achievers and form the foundation of the culture at the Insurance Group of America (IGA).
Each episode features real conversations with industry leaders, top performers, and IGA team members who have embraced the G.R.I.T. mindset to overcome obstacles, take risks, and build lasting success. Whether you’re looking for leadership insights, career advice, or an inside look at what makes IGA a powerhouse of talent and culture, this is the podcast for you.
🚀 New episodes drop bi-weekly on Wednesdays.
🔗 Follow & Subscribe to stay inspired and level up your leadership!
The GRIT Factor by Insurance Group of America
GRIT & GRACE with Jamie Noe
This episode reveals how the values of grit shape leadership and culture at the Insurance Group of America. Jamie Noe shares his story of starting IGA and how cultural fit and resilience create opportunities for personal and professional growth.
• Introduction to the Grit Factor podcast and its vision
• Discussion on the importance of culture at IGA
• Personal anecdotes illustrating the journey of growth and change
• Examination of cultural fit versus skill sets in hiring
• Reflection on resilience in leadership and its impact
• Insights into the GRIT acronym: Guts, Resilience, Integrity, Tenacity
• Real-life success stories of employees thriving in the IGA culture
• Balancing grit with grace in the workplace
• Future vision for growth at IGA and opportunities for aspiring leaders
• Closing thoughts on the necessity of grit in facing life's challenges
Welcome to the Grit Factor podcast. I'm Drew Powell, and here we explore what it takes to succeed through the lens of guts. Resilience, integrity and tenacity these are the values that drive high-performing leaders and shape the culture at the Insurance Group of America. Each episode will sit down with industry trailblazers, iga team members and inspiring professionals who have embraced grit to overcome challenges, seize opportunities and create meaningful impact. Whether you're considered joining IGA or simply looking for the tools to take your career to the next level, you're in the right place. So buckle up. It's time to discover the Grit Factor. Jamie Noe, we're doing it. It's good to see you, buddy. Good to see you too, man. This is fun. The Grit Factor podcast episode one. How do you feel about it?
Speaker 2:Excited.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:I really am. I'm super excited because we've always internally knew what we have. Um and in some respects, at times we've had an opportunity to show it to the world, but not as consistently as we should.
Speaker 2:That's nobody's fault but our own. So hopefully and I don't think pictures and videos videos give some vibe of who we are, but hearing from our team and what goes on day to day I think will give a perspective that's probably never been given on the macro level to the world like this will. So I'm super excited, super grateful, appreciate, you doing this.
Speaker 1:Of course, man, I was excited about it too when you kind of pitched this, the vision behind this idea behind it. It made a lot of sense, cause it was like, yeah, at IGA, the culture here is very tangible when you're around the team. I've been at a couple of team parties and stuff like that but it does need to be experienced and talked about. It's hard to just see it on a website or whatever without having a conversation about it, and you're a big part of that. You created this culture and this company from the ground up and I want to hear, I want to hear a little bit of your story before we do just let's kind of give a general overview of this podcast. What can people come to expect? Just kind of your vision behind what we're going to be talking about in these conversations.
Speaker 2:Well, I think you just wrapped it up.
Speaker 2:I hope I hope in the vision would be is that people see what IGA is about.
Speaker 2:What it's about for our current teammates, what it's about for our clients, what it's about for our external vendors, whether it be insurance carriers or other folks we do business with, and, hopefully, people that are not thinking about going into insurance like, wow, this is not what I pictured.
Speaker 2:Like I'll give you a quick, funny story. So I met my wife 30 days before I started IGA and you know Carly well by now, but so you can totally picture this conversation but I told her I was going to start an insurance agency and in so many words, she's like I don't care, like I don't know you, I'm not tied to you and and no, no derogatory comment towards a state farm of the world but she didn't know the difference in what an IGA might be and what a state farm was, and we're completely different animals. It doesn't make one good or bad, but anybody that thinks about a life insurance salesperson or a state farm person or an all-state salesperson or something like that, compared to what we do apples and oranges and so um, I hope this podcast does the same thing for people viewing it that it that how it worked out for my marriage.
Speaker 1:Carly had no idea what she was signing up for.
Speaker 2:She still, she still does, and you won't either, if you come work with us.
Speaker 1:Well, that is a big part of it here, right, I mean it's called the grit factor podcast, and the point behind it is the culture. Here, grit is an acronym that stands for something that it's not just an aspirational saying or mantra. It's what you guys live out every day and it's a differentiator between who you are as a company and other companies. Why has culture been such a big deal for you from the from the time you started the company? Why does that matter culture been such a big?
Speaker 2:deal for you from the from the time you started the company. Why does that matter? Well, it's a great question, um, you know, I was thinking on the and I don't know if this a hundred percent answers your question, but we, you got to fit here and it doesn't. We're not. We're not about, um, how do I say this? It's, it's. It's not about good or bad, or can you do the job or not do the job, but it's about finding the people who fit.
Speaker 2:So if you don't love what you do, you're not going to perform at your highest level. And so, finding people who want to think like we think and or also don't think like we think, and want to challenge us but see the vision of where we want to go, one or the other or both are great. You're about to have Allison Lee come on here sometime in the next few weeks on the show, and you'll see that she thinks very differently than I do, but it's awesome because she challenges us and makes us think about that. But she also sees the vision of where IGA is going and what that looks like, and so it's perfect. And so, but if you, but from a cultural perspective, if you're not willing to roll up your sleeves and say, hey, I buy into the vision. I may not buy into what this looks like, or this looks like, or this looks like.
Speaker 1:it's just not going to work, right Like yeah, well, and I think that's a big part of what we want to talk about is it is about the right fit and when someone works here and it fits of, what we want to talk about is it is about the right fit and when someone works here and it fits.
Speaker 1:it's a game changer for both the company and their life. I mean, people's lives have been changed by working here. But if it's not a good fit, it'll be equally as bad. And it reminds me the reason why I say that. Do you remember when you know, we've been buddies for a while now and I was in the transitional season and you had me go through the process of taking your tests and all that kind of stuff? And it just speaks to fit and we're close, you know, and you're a straight shooter anyway, but especially with me, you're unemployable.
Speaker 1:That's what you told me, Right right.
Speaker 2:SMA Right right.
Speaker 1:And after you got the results back on my test, you remember what you told me You're like good news. You'd be a great salesman. I would never hire you.
Speaker 2:Well, it's true, and so you know, in that perspective, like and it made sense why you scored the way you scored, and it was part of your story and part of who you are but what total, total deal, right, so you're crazy successful. You started your own company. You're crushing it. You're going to continue to crush it. You could have come here and sold insurance, but you weren't the right fit for us, right? And so why would I waste your time and waste our time and money where, uh, where, you are now doing what your God made you to do.
Speaker 2:You're literally doing what God made you to do right now, right Sitting behind that mic and doing what you do, and so it's not about good or bad, it's just about being the right fit, and so I was thinking this morning about that. It's like you know, I'm a five eight white guy right, and my vertical is about one inch, so you're not going to ask me to be the center on your basketball team. You're probably not even going to ask me to be the guard, because I can't shoot worth a shit either.
Speaker 2:Right, but that doesn't make me a bad guy, no, and means I don't fit on the basketball team anymore, right, or never did at the center, and so it's the same thing. It's about finding the right people that have the right skill sets, where they can be happy, where they can excel. And you're talking about life changing. I guess we'll get in this at some point, so I'll wait, but I can tell story after story of people that are still here. Andrew Bennett, our chief operating officer. I can tell story after story of people that are still here. You know Andrew Bennett, our chief operating officer. I think we hired him at a whopping $36,000. Employee number two. Essentially, nine years later, he's a shareholder, he's a chief operating officer. He literally I couldn't do this without him. Financially, he's making a lot of money and, candidly, he's nowhere even close to maxing our as we continue down this journey of scaling the company. And so, um, um, allison lions, I think you're getting ready to meet her. So kind of a cool story.
Speaker 2:She was, um. She started as an intern here. We met her where she was at mtsu. She worked for five years and, um, she resigned and went to a competitor for 11 months, a very good competitor, very good agency, um. But she got bored and she liked the craziness and came back and so she's been back 15, 16 months and you never say never. But I think she'll be here for a long time and we'll be a partner in the agency. And she handles she's my right-hand person, she handles all my largest accounts and takes care of me. So again started as an intern. She's my right-hand person, she handles all my largest accounts and takes care of me. So again started as an intern. She's 28 years, just turned 28 years old, and I wish I was making half of what she's making at 28.
Speaker 1:I mean so lots of cool stories in that and I love that, and one thing I've noticed is that you do take care of the people when it is the right fit and people get in and work hard for you. This is a company where there's a lot of growth opportunities for those right people and that's something that is important to you 100% and I hope it's okay for me to share this. But we were having a conversation not too long ago and you said something to the effect and, of course, correct me here, but something to the effect of I don't have a whole lot of ego around Jamie Noe and my brand, but I do want to build a company where people can find success and find freedom and find, you know, fulfillment. Say that in your own words. Yeah, I think what I said exactly is is you were.
Speaker 2:You were. It was around the context of building a brand around me and I said I don't have an ego about that, but don't misunderstand, I got an ego. My ego is to drive this company. It's for IGA and you were just talking about the books that are behind you and the great, the great leaders in good to great, like. That book's like 30 years old now but still the best business book of all time, and it talks about those great leaders that it's not that they didn't have ego, but they didn't have ego about themselves or putting themselves sales first. It was about the company and driving the company forward.
Speaker 2:And that's my heart. Like my heart is to grow something super cool, super fun, really hard. This is a hard place to work. I don't want to sugarcoat that Like we drive hard but create opportunities for people that they never could get anywhere else. And then for me, on my personal faith journey, to give the glory to Jesus Right and like that's the deal. And then for me, on my personal faith journey, to give the glory to Jesus right and like that's the deal. Like if it wasn't about that, I can assure you I would make a lot of decisions, both short-term and long-term, a lot differently, but I love that I get off on that.
Speaker 1:I've heard you say a lot and I want to go back and hear a little bit of your story and how you started IGA. But you said your line is you jumped off a cliff with Jesus. You started IGA, but you said your line is you jumped off a cliff with Jesus. You say that's part of your spiel. When people ask you about the and I love that about you You're unapologetic about your personal faith, and not that you project that on other people, but for you you hold true what you value, but talk about that jumping off the cliff. Give a little bit of the backstory of how IGA started.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so I worked for a large regional firm. It was about 600 employees. They were 26 largest in the country In 2011,. They sold to a private equity driven insurance agency, tried to resign then didn't work out. I ended up getting talked into staying in some equity to stay, stuck it out for about another three and a half years, but it just was.
Speaker 2:Honestly, I was not a good headspace, right. So you know, another thing I'm very open about is I fight depression and I don't. I think I don't think that's a weakness, I think that's a strength. And so I was depressed. I was, you know, I was single. I just wasn't in a good headspace and so I felt like God really convicted me, like you need to go do something.
Speaker 2:And so in the insurance space, we're an insurance agency or insurance broker. So space, so we're an insurance agency or insurance broker. So the easiest way for people who aren't familiar with the insurance space to understand this if you think about whatever local community you live in, there's an independent insurance agency on the corner right and I'll have these signs up that they represent Progressive or they represent Travelers Insurance. So we're a broker, we're an independent agency. So in that space, you can tell people all day how smart you are in insurance or how good of a salesperson you are, but if you don't have insurance carriers that are willing to to uh, do business with you, you got nothing.
Speaker 2:And that's like one of the biggest fears of people starting an agency or going away from a big firm that they work with or whatever is being able to get the carriers that can, that can give the products and and the pricing to be competitive, to compete with the larger agencies, right, and so what I've said for the last 10 years now we just had our 10-year anniversary is that I raised $550,000 of cash from a group of clients two CPAs and one childhood best friend and walked out the door with no insurance companies, no bond companies, no clients, took a 50% pay cut and jumped off a cliff with Jesus. And yeah, so that's 10 years ago. 10 years ago.
Speaker 1:A little over 10 years ago.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and I was telling the story a minute ago with you offline but in your previous life and how we met. I literally I resigned October 17th, I'd raised this $550,000 in cash and then, 45 days later, I go on a mission trip halfway across the world to Calcutta, India. And when I say halfway across the world, if you literally look at Nashville, Tennessee, and you look at Calcutta, India, it is exactly halfway across the world and I was negotiating, trying to buy some of my book of business from the previous agency, when I was literally halfway across the world.
Speaker 1:That's wild. Well, I wonder how that trip actually shaped the foundations, the beginning, of this business. You can't help but be impacted by what you experienced there, and I wonder how that has been hardwired into the DNA of the company.
Speaker 2:That's a great question. That's a question I hadn't thought about in a long time, but it's so true. So you know, entrepreneurship is all about getting your teeth kicked in. You're going to get beat up, you're going to get knocked down, you just got to get back up, no-transcript. And they have to walk a half a mile to get running water. And the abuse of adults to their own children is just unbelievable. And I say all that in context of like. When you see that and you see these people like literally have to walk a mile to get running water and port-a-potty they're excited to have a port-a-potty.
Speaker 2:And then the day that I get my teeth kicked in and some insurance company doesn't do what I want to, or a prospective client tells me no, or a prospective employee chooses not to come, it's like it certainly gave a lot of perspective of my worst day is better than their best day, right? And so get back up in a very polite way. Suck it up, buttercup. Get back at it, right. I've been given this great opportunity. So what? Get up, let's go.
Speaker 1:Takes what it takes right, grit factor, grit factor, that's it. Well, that's the heart behind it. Talk a little bit about. Well, hold on Pause for just a second, because I want you to brag a little bit on the thing that I know is most important to you. Talk about your, your kids, for just a second. I want people to get to know who you are, but I know, at the end of the day, everything you do is that that's your why. So, as people are getting to know you and listening and watching this podcast, uh, brag on your family just for a second.
Speaker 2:Well, yeah, and I brag on my wife too, cause I'd like to my best friend, carly. We've been married for eight years, been together for 10. I actually God dropped her into my life literally 30 days before I started the agency, and it's kind of a cool story. She was living in a little bitty apartment, driving her grandmother's car, and I'd been single for a few years and I'm totally going haywire on you. But this is a cool story.
Speaker 2:I dated a lot of different people and all these people I was dating wanted me to have money and I just didn't have it. And if I had it I'd already spent it and so I didn't have enough of it. And so I meet her. She's driving this old car. It's her grandmother's this little apartment she lived in on the west side of Nashville and I told her I was going to start this agency Nashville. And I told her I was going to start this agency.
Speaker 2:She's like I don't really care, like I got nothing to lose. I'm just met you and fast forward 10 years, four kids, and you know I won't go into our financial success because it can all be taken away tomorrow. But she doesn't live in a little bit of apartment, she doesn't drive a little car and she still doesn't ever ask for anything. So if you ever meet her and she has any kind of jewelry it looks like she's got something fashionable on it's because I wanted to have it and just to tell her how much I love her and appreciate her for what she's been able to do for our lives. Um so so god dropped her in my life um um 10 to 30 days before we started the agency building this thing with you from the beginning 100 100% and then so another note to kind of tell the story.
Speaker 2:So I've been in business two and a half months and I had to fire my first employee and that sucked. I didn't like that and I'm going to get to your question, but I think this is pretty valuable. So I've been in business two and a half months, I knew I was going to have to fire my first employee and I don't get off on that. You ever meet somebody that likes firing people? That's a narcissist, right?
Speaker 2:I don't enjoy that it has to be done sometimes but it's not something enjoyable. And I'd hired a second employee, like six weeks before, outside of insurance. She barely could spell insurance at that point. She just knew to the business and so forth. And so I told her hey, listen, I'm going to have to let this guy go, I will babysit you, I will find you a mentor. And so I call some insurance carriers like, hey, do you know somebody that might want a mentor? So forth, and so on. And one of them said, yeah, I know this lady that retired from a big agency in Knoxville, she's moved back to Middle Tennessee because her mom's elderly, and so forth. So I was supposed to meet with her at a Panera Bread and two hours before I did. I remind you, I'd met Carly three months earlier, so my wife, I'd met her and she's just my girlfriend at that time, three months Maybe. I met her four months and the agency was three months old and three hours before I'm going to meet her, meet this lady that's potentially going to be a mentor.
Speaker 2:After I'd had to terminate my first employee, my second employee barely had any experience and I'm not a great operations guy. It doesn't take long to know that I get a call that my dad's got cancer from my sister and so, and actually his birthday was yesterday and so, and in a couple of weeks will be his 10-year death, but anyway. So I call him and say, hey, I've got this meeting, I'll pack a bag and then I'm coming to Louisville Kentucky to see you. They were transporting him from the small town I grew up in to Louisville Kentucky and so I had that interview. I go, I had 30 horses 30 horses, my wife's from Chicago. Okay, and I leave her. We're four months into dating and I leave her with these 30 horses.
Speaker 2:We were a three-month-old insurance agency. This lady that I had said I would have a mentor for, I leave. She'd had six weeks insurance experience. She'd only done one certificate of insurance. When I left to drive 200 miles north and be with my father Saturday morning, the doctor comes in and says you will see this, this is February, you will see this Christmas, you won't see next Christmas. So basically, you got 10 to 18 months to live. He died the next Friday. So it's three months into business, four months into a relationship.
Speaker 2:My, my, my, my girlfriend at the time, now wife relationship. My, my, my, my girlfriend at the time now, wife uh, from Chicago again, I remind you, it's total city girl was taking care of 30 horses. I had an employee here taking care of you know, we we it wasn't small companies, we had people paying a million dollars in premium back then and she blessed her heart. She barely knew what she did doing. I found out later. She went home and cried every day, but by the grace of God, we got through that Um out. Later she went home and cried every day, but by the grace of god, we got through that. Um.
Speaker 2:And so I'll land the question about my kids. So, fast forward, we have four children. We have a 23 year old son named emmanuel emmanuel. That's from calcutta, I'm sorry, from cali, columbia. We adopted him when he was 16 years old. My wife and I struggled with infertility and so God laid it on our hearts to adopt, so we adopted when he was 16. So that's seven years ago. And then we have three biological little girls Lucy, that's five, lindley, that just turned three this weekend, and Laney, that just turned one. So we got four kids, 10 years in business. And it's incredible. Yeah, it's been a wild journey.
Speaker 1:And it was one of them, is a big tv star as of a few weeks ago actually a couple, it's two of them yeah, yeah yeah, they, they, uh are.
Speaker 2:We were out west for vacationing and, um, our, our babysitter actually had my five-year-old do a picture, do a video of her dancing with the three-year-old playing to taylor swift and, and our three-year-old had a pink cowboy hat and they're doing, you know, doing this dance and stuff. And she's like oh my gosh, oh my gosh, and started pointing to our one-year-old, soon to be one year old. At that time said, catch this. And so my five-year-old puts the video on her and she, the one-year-old, 11 months at a time, took her first steps, caught it and so.
Speaker 2:And so our babysitter's like, hey, do you mind if we put that on social media? I'm like we don't care, whatever she calls us the next morning, like flipping out. It had gone viral overnight on TikTok. At that moment it had over a million likes, six million views. That's crazy, fast forward. We get back home and a few days later a lady calls me. That was a retired professor from MTSU and she was on Eastern Time Zone. We're on Central Time Zone here in Nashville and she's like your kids are famous, they're on the Today Show. And I'm like what are you talking about? And sure enough, that TikTok video got put into the Today Show. And I forget the lady's name Yoda Hoda.
Speaker 2:Hoda it was Hoda's Goodbye Mornings and showed that deal and so they're all famous now, that's my retirement.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's super fun. Well, you know we talk about grit factor. That's obviously a big part of this company. That's hardwired into the DNA of the company. Um, it's also just because I know you personally. It's how you you live. You know you and Carly have been through a lot in the last, you know, 10 years and have persevered and so you can't help it. But it's, it's how you live is also how this company operates.
Speaker 1:You know I've talked to a lot of the staff here, and when I asked them about what's the magic here, what does it make it work, and a lot of them will say it's it's Jamie, it's his drive, it's it's this grit, and so that's what this podcast is going to be about. We're going to kind of go deeper into different levels of what what it means to live out grit, and so it's going to be about iga, but it's also going to be transferable to any, really any, walk of life, personally, professionally, all those things. Can you quickly just unpack for us the grit mantra and just what that means, the grit R I, t and cause we're going to go we don't have to go deep into it, cause that's what we're going to be talking about in the next few episodes. Um, but how'd you come up with that and what does that? What does that mean here for the company?
Speaker 2:Well, so the the grit mantra kind of came out of the word grit meant a lot, right, so it's all about being. You know, people say, well, what's it take to be successful here? And I used to joke all the time that if you, if, if you jumped out a window and you got glass in your face and you get back up and you growl, you'll be, you'll be crazy successful, right, and so we had to come over, come over the mantra around the grit, and so it's, it's guts, resilience, integrity and tenacity, right, and so that's it's so, true, it's, it's who we are and what it is. But I think that the answer is and I think I said this earlier on entrepreneurship maybe we were off air, I don't remember now, but the bottom line is is that you're going to get knocked, and to your point about, this is life, this is like you're going to get knocked down.
Speaker 2:Tough things are going to happen, right, whether it's personally, professionally and professionally, and and and it's the the question is are you going to get back up? And when you get back up, how are you going to react and are you going to push forward, or are you going to to back up? And you know, and so grit is like it doesn't mean it's easy, but you got to get better. Right, there's a, there's a. There's a story. Andrew bennett tells it because he was a. He's retired from the, the national guard now. But it's that. It never gets easier. You just get better. It's what the military says it never gets easier.
Speaker 2:You just get better, and that's what we're about, right, like. So you just you just have to. You have to push forward and and and know that tough crap's going to happen but you're going to get back up and and and and. The other part is is, you know, is being willing to bind our system right, like bottom line is like I'm not, we don't have the perfect system. We're, you know, we're all a bunch of humans, which means we're all broken, right, which means, in some respect, our system's broken.
Speaker 2:But we got a system and and and and the data shows it works from a financial perspective, from a growth perspective, from a from what opportunities it's created for people's perspective. But it's not perfect. But the point is, whether it's imperfect or not, you have to buy into it, right, like, we've got a way of doing stuff, and if you'll buy into that and you will and you will humble yourself to do so and and and listen to what we had to say and be willing to get back up once you get punched in the face, there is a hundred percent chance that you'll be successful here.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, that's good. So there's something that you say all the time, I quote you on and I love this, actually, because of the, the humility and the honesty.
Speaker 1:I'm really nervous right now. Well, you just said crap. A minute ago. I was like thinking to myself crap, before you say this, you say I and I'll botch it and you'll correct it. But I wake up scared and I go to bed scared and everything in between is the grace of God. And you said that to me when I was starting my business and it really deeply impacted me because, first of all, I could relate. I was like man, I'm scared, this is scary stuff, right, and outside of business, just in life, it's like people are fearful, there's a lot of fear out there, but you have this mentality in this. It's really, yeah, a mindset in your leadership of I wake up scared, I go to bed scared, everything in between, the grace of God. Unpack that, that statement for me.
Speaker 2:Well, I'll unpack that along with saying that regret hurts more than failure, right, and regret hurts more than failure, right. And so I think they go hand in hand, right? So, um, man, I, you know, everybody listens to things and hears things and receives things out of different lenses. So I'm a little hesitant to say this, but I've never held back before. But, um, so why would I now? It's my podcast.
Speaker 2:Um, hope you get it um, but you know, reality is truly like, by the grace of jesus, I could retire, I could sell this company and I could retire. And literally in the last four months we have, we have literally doubled down um, dramatically financially, people wise, and I have no desire for that like again, because my, my, my mission in life is to, to help people and grow something cool and watch people have opportunities personally and professionally, that maybe they would maybe they would have found it somewhere else, but maybe not and create a safe place to do that. Right, um, and so to to with that comes taking risk. You know, I mean I, I, literally I do. I wake up scared every morning. Um, I got up at four 30 this morning. I was, I was with my personal trainer at five o'clock this morning doing a hit training, high interval intensity training, and that's as much. That's not that I'm trying to be buff, it's I'm trying to deal with stress and anxiety and so forth, and so, and then, and then, when things get quiet at night, after the girls go to bed, I get scared again. And in between, yeah, it's the grace of Jesus, right, like so I mean it's it's taking risk, it's it's making calculated risk decisions. It's not, it's not wild and crazy, but it's still risk, you know, and and so to to grow the way we have grown and the way we want to continue to grow, you have to take risks right.
Speaker 2:Like you know, so many people think that, like from an insurance agency perspective. They think, like your, your grandpa's insurance agency, like it's bored, boring, it's got. You know, you got a, a shelf of books over there. It's got dust on them. I hope our books don't have dust on them, um, but you know it's, it's boring, it's crusty, it's in the box and we're anything but that, like we're pushing the limits. Uh, we're going to always do the right things for the right reasons, for the right people and and and do the ethical thing and be moral about it, but we're going to push, like we're going to push things and so, and we're going to, we're going to take those risks and so in doing that, um, that creates fear because, you know, you get in your own head, other people get in your head, and the more success you have candidly, the more people who doubt you, and so.
Speaker 2:But I go back to the second saying I said just a minute ago is that regret hurts worse than failure. I can get back up from failure. I've failed more than any human in the world. Like anything you talk about the little bit of success that we may have had here, there's a hundred decisions behind that that I failed at. We're just talking about the one I succeeded at. Like we can do this podcast in about 10 minutes on successes.
Speaker 2:If you want to talk about failures, you know, yeah, sit here a while, right, it's gonna be a long day, right, um, but that doesn't hurt as bad as looking back and regretting and I've had to think about that a lot lately because we've we've doubled down. I say double down, we've quadrupled, we've 10x down, candidly, and we're on a path to 10x. Grow over the next 10 years is our vision and if we hit it, if we don't, you know, maybe, maybe I have egg on my face, but I would again regret hurts worse than failure. Have egg on my face, but I would again regret hurts worse than failure. But in doing that and taking those risks and continue to push forward, it does, it creates a ton of anxiety when I wake up and a ton of anxiety when I go to bed, and it's the grace of Jesus in between.
Speaker 1:Well, and talk about this for a second. Hopefully this is not too much of a rabbit trail, but this is just what you made me think when you're talking. You know, in my life there's just so many instances where I'll tell myself if I can just get to that next level, or if I could just get to where, if I can get to where Jamie's at right now, then there'll be no, I'll have no problems.
Speaker 2:I'll have no stress. You need somebody else to look at.
Speaker 1:Set the bar low. But you know what I mean. In our life it's always if I could just this or if I could just that, and what we're trying to outrun sometimes are these emotions of fear or anxiety or whatever else. But when you talk I'm like it helps me realize that, living in it, sitting in it and embracing that. Yeah, what are your thoughts on that?
Speaker 2:Well, so I didn't have this list of sayings written down. I told you I hadn't looked at your questions.
Speaker 2:It, I didn't have this list of sayings written down. I told you I hadn't looked at your questions. It's like I'm totally freestyling here, but it came to another saying of like. I read this the other day on social media is that today's inconveniences were your dreams five years ago, or something like that. And it's so true, right, like, oh, I got to get up and make these 10 sales calls with young salespeople Five years ago. It's my dream to have that. And it's not an inconvenience now, cause I still love it, but it's like it's different and so, um, man, you know it's.
Speaker 2:I don't want to. I don't want to say it's always chasing the carrot, cause I don't feel like that at all. I don't feel like I'm chasing it and a carrot, um, and nor do I want to put that carrot out in front of anybody else and they're always dangling it in front of them and stuff. But I think that we all believe as humans and there's a book, but there's a couple of books back there called winning and relentless, and it's the personal coach of it was Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant's personal coach. I think all and and and I think we all think, um, as humans, that we, we can't get as far as we think we can. In other words, somebody can push us and we can get to places we didn't think we could.
Speaker 2:What I try to do in my own personal life is to push myself there and that's look, I've got a life coach good friend, bob Goff that you know. I have a counselor. We have two business coaches that come around. So I need a lot of guardrails and help with those things to help us think through strategically, both personally and professionally. But having people like that and you end up going further than you thought, and then you get there and like, well, shit, now what am I going to do? You know, do I just sit back and or do I double down and like yeah.
Speaker 2:I'm double down.
Speaker 1:Right, right. And now. And one thing I do respect about your leadership is your care for the employees that work here. It matters to you. It's like hey, drew. In the early days I knew I could live in my car, I could do whatever. Now, failure means the pressure if that's the right word is around. There's other lives here at stake and you care about that.
Speaker 2:There's 45 employees and families that are here currently that look at me to make good decisions, right when they can go home with a paycheck, right, um, where they can go home, where they're, where they can go home with a paycheck. And, and not only that, then there's probably 15 investors that have a minority stake financially, that also have um either either invested from an equity or a lending perspective to us to look at me to make make that those good decisions, those decisions, and so, yeah, that's that's pressure, right, and and, and it's so true, like I will tell you this, like back to like I don't want to sell, and so forth, and like, wow, we're 10xing is like some of these people that you're going to interview over the next few weeks, like Allison Lyons, like Andrew Bennett, allison Lee, jesse Grinnell they would have a job the minute that IGA sold, but it probably wouldn't be like it is today, and I want something different for them, right, and so they. They are highly wicked, intelligent people, super gritty, pouring to our clients, and so that's pressure.
Speaker 1:Yeah, to make those decisions yeah.
Speaker 1:So let's go here for a minute. So, on one hand, you've got grace, right, the grace of God. Everything you know wake up, scare, go to bed everything in between is grace of God. And then you've got grit. You've got these two things that a lot of people might say are on the opposite side of things, because there's like, okay, well, I'm living in this risk and faith and trust and all this stuff, but then also there's like but I also got to show up and do the work. Talk to me personally and also in your leadership how do you balance the tension between?
Speaker 2:grace and grit. That's a great question. I'm really glad you brought that up because I wanted to land that, because what I wouldn't want to be perceived from this podcast is that we're talking about God and faith and all over here, and then we still got to make tough business decisions and we are a for-profit business, we're not a nonprofit, and so there's a couple angles here, but the one I want to hit on the most at first is that we do a lot of personality assessments before, and actually we're getting ready to do even more. You know. So if somebody's watching this and they're thinking about potentially talking further about coming to iga, like you, might as well get ready to take multiple personality assessments, right. And again, it goes back to me being that you're not going to have me be the center of the basketball team, right. I got a one inch vertical and I'm 5'8. It ain't happening, so, but I don't think I'm a bad dude, but I'm not the center of the basketball team, right? I got a one inch vertical and I'm 5'8. It ain't happening, so, but I don't think I'm a bad dude, but I'm not the center of the basketball team, right, and probably not the guard, and so it's the same thing here.
Speaker 2:So we have made a lot of failures over the years because, um, we bring somebody in that we like, um or that, but but ultimately they didn't fit. And then, because we want to show grace, they probably stayed around, either on their own terms or our terms, too long. Because, you know, we want to show love, we want to show grace, we want to be somewhere where people love. But the reality is and I'd say this to anybody looking for jobs out there this is, this is universal. It's like if it's not a great fit for you, then move on, and and and. And.
Speaker 2:If, if somebody does a personality assessment with you and says you're not a good fit for this, don't take that personal. Thank them for that opportunity, because that's going to clear them up, um, it's going to give them, push them down a different path that's more fitted for them. Right, and so one thing we're really intentional about and we're getting more intentional about, we're super intentional about it, but we're getting, we're even adding layers into that is do people are still people, and I can't I can't make a decision for you, what you do on friday night or saturday morning, or your life choices, and, and there's things that are out of your control and things are in your control, but personality assessments in 2025 are amazingly accurate, and so we are trying to put as much of those around and look at our key people that we currently have and make sure the people we're bringing on had the same qualities as those people, because when the right, when the right people get here, they stay right.
Speaker 1:They're here forever right, like their lifers right, and even use allison line.
Speaker 2:She left and went to a phenomenal other agency. But she came back because this is we're her, we're her tribe. Yeah right, we're her people. So she and she'll be here forever and and um, and and so they stay. But but we've had a lot of people come and go when they weren't the right fit. Not that they're good, not that they're bad, not that we're bad, not that they're good. It just wasn't the right.
Speaker 1:It's not a right or wrong. It's not a right or wrong.
Speaker 2:It's just about fitting. And so in saying that, if you get the right people, the grace you're using is in a manner of oh, they made a bad decision, made a mistake, but they're still the right lifers here and pushing forward versus all rats. We didn't get the right person, and now either they're going to have to make a tough decision for themselves or we're going to have to make a tough decision for them, and either way that works out, it kind of sucks. It sucks Right.
Speaker 1:It does and it's a disservice to that person my story.
Speaker 1:If you would have, if you would have offered me a job after that thing I probably cause I was in a pretty desperate season I probably would have taken it. Also, knowing you would have helped me be successful. I was like that would have been a safe, a safer route for me. But because you said hey, I'd be doing you disservice to hire you because of x, y and z and for me my personality was you're too entrepreneurial, like we have a system that we know that works and you're going to be challenging all the time not that you don't like being challenged, but when it comes to knowing the system and what works, you've got a proven and tested, you know way to operate and you're like drew, you're meant to go forge your own path and I'm so glad you said that because it took me down a scarier but a more ultimately more fulfilling. And what?
Speaker 1:was right for me and I think about that times where I've lost lost a job or was fired or moving or whatever it might have been. Those are tough decisions but at the end of the day you're really caring about that person because sometimes it forces them to go on the journey that they need to take that they won't take on their own 100, yeah, one, one, 100.
Speaker 2:And what I would tell you, you know it's I don't know who all will be watching this a lot of different angles, but if you're somebody that are that is considering iga as a career and we get you to the point of interviewing you at this point, you have you, you will have, uh, gone through several assessments, which means you have a really high likelihood that you're going to be really successful here. Right, because if, if you hadn't, we would already put those guardrails and just said hey, hey, uh, sir or ma'am, you're not, you're not the right fit here. Right, and so that's cool, because then that grace is more focused on we all screw up, we're all messes, but it's about focusing on where we're going as a company.
Speaker 1:Right.
Speaker 1:And we messed up on this, Not like, ah man, we missed it and this person's just not the right fit, and and then, and then they, they or us have to make a Well, speak a little bit more to that potential person who's looking, who's watching this or listening and is really just kind of in some ways, courting IGA, right Deciding, because a lot of the people that come on the team here have been very successful in other industries and you've invited them to come and look at being a part of IGA. How do you see the grit values really impacting the future leaders here at IGA?
Speaker 2:That's a great question. So there's kind of two segments of our business. There's sales and service, right, and then in service. I could go 18 different directions, but just for this conversation we use sales and service. So I'll start with sales. So we have it laser dialed in from a personality assessment, what it takes here, laser dialed in from a personality assessment, what it takes here. So if I'm interviewing you or somebody's interviewing you on a sales side, we know that you've got that stuff. But you have to be gritty.
Speaker 2:I was in Mississippi with a young salesperson on Friday. I love this young man and this young man is going to be an absolute rock star. But if I gave you his name and number and you called him right now and you asked him how his Friday went, it didn't go very well. And it didn't go very well because I was tough, I was hard on him, I you know there's a little Nick Saban came out and it was because this, this young man, is wicked, talented, wicked, talented and and and his effort. He's working hard, but he's not working very efficiently or intelligently and part of it's just maturity. He's 21 years old, right, and so obviously I wasn't very, didn't work very efficiently at 21 either, um, but but at any rate, like I can assure you, because of grit and and and and his and his trusting in our system, that he probably went home and licked his wounds on Friday, but by Saturday morning he was up ready to go back at it, so forth and so on.
Speaker 2:And so I had no fear that, because I was really hard on him, that he's not going to bounce back and be wicked successful. But simultaneously, if I wasn't really hard on him in those moments, he's not going to get to his potential. That's right. And I'm more worried about what he can be versus what he is. And so if I have to be the bad cop in those moments, it's kind of like being that tough dad love, like I'll be that guy, like you don't have to love me right now, love me when you're wicked, successful professionally and you have a work-life balance in 10 years it's amazing in your mid-30s and and and you get to go wherever you want and coach softball for your daughter or football for your son on travel sports, and you had the financial means to do it and you had the flexibility to do it. Yeah, so you can thank me. Then you can be a little upset at me now, right, but it takes a ton of grit and you've got to buy into our system and be willing to understand.
Speaker 1:That Is that part of your leadership philosophy here at IGA. From the standpoint of you're talking about being tough, right, one thing and I don't want to blow your cover, but I, because I know you very well personally I know you um an extravagantly generous person as well, you and Carly but you're tough, you've got a you you know, you've got a gritty exterior. When you're in a room, like you're a straight shooter, right. So you balance both of these things. Is that part of the vibe here? Like, are you going to?
Speaker 1:get some tough coaching when you're here.
Speaker 2:And also on the sales. On the sales side on the sales side, you're absolutely going to get some tough coaching.
Speaker 1:Because that's your background. Sales is yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah. So if you're going to sales with us, you know I mean, but check this out Like and I don't want to just again just throw numbers out there but literally in 10 to 15 years you'll be making a million bucks. So we can take a 21-year-old kid, so 21, add 15 years, that's 36. So how many people you know that didn't have to raise capital, that didn't have to go into debt, that were paid a salary along the way and had the opportunity? It's not guaranteed, but they can make a million bucks, right. And so I'm sorry, suck it up, buttercup.
Speaker 1:Let's go, let's do this.
Speaker 2:So, yes, on that side, I would say not as much on the service side Um, it's, it's way more. I don't want to use the word structured, cause it's very structured on the sales side as well, right. But you know, I again, I have three girls, right, and I have a son, emmanuel that's 23. I don't speak the same way to my three-year-old that I speak to my 23-year-old son, right, and so the, the grittiness, the grittiness is is extremely important on that side too, but how we communicate is differently.
Speaker 1:Right.
Speaker 2:Sure. And so, again, it's all, no one knows those, those personalities, what Enneagram they were, what? How do they score here, how do they score there? And then we understand how to communicate, articulate to them, how them, so forth, and so on, and so, but I do want to make sure, before we move on, talk about grit on the service side, because it's super important.
Speaker 2:Like, um, you you have, you have got to, you've got to be gritty on our service side. Right, like, like, if you're a person that's just said, we give you step one, two and three and you stop at step three, man, you're probably not a great fit for us, but but you're. If you get step three and you're like, I don't want to screw up, I don't want to mess up, I don't want to, I don't want to do anything intentional or unintentional, it's going to make a bad situation, but I think four, five, six and seven need to be done for this client, that's the type person you've got to be willing to push through that right, like. Again, on the service side, there's I mean there's people that the financial side are doing really, really, really, really, really well, but they're worth every penny of that They've done a phenomenal job, but they've also done what it took to get there right, like there's been times they didn't clock out at 4 pm.
Speaker 2:You know they had to stay till 6. That's not a consistent thing. We want work-life balance. We believe in that Uh, cause you know, if you're worn out all the time, you're not going to perform at your highest level. So don't hear what I'm not saying. But there's times you got you know it takes what it takes that book back there, you got to do what it does and so. But I will tell you the people that have that philosophy and I can name three right off hand. I think two of them you're getting ready to interview in the next few weeks and the other one would be Andrew Bennett They've never asked for a raise and I was. I was with one of them talking about the other one in a professional manner, but they're actually sisters, so they have conversation off, offline and the sister told the other sisters like here, here's what, how much money I wanted to make at this age and and, and she's making 30 more, wow and she's never asked for a raise.
Speaker 2:Wow, I said we're taking care of that person. Make sure, because she's a lifer here, she's a badass candidly and let's make sure, um she, she gets what she needs, right and I can vouch for you.
Speaker 1:You take care of your people. Yeah, that's something that's really important to you and, like you said earlier, a little ego around that actually like, hey, I care deeply about you know, caring for the people who are willing to exemplify that. I just have a couple more questions. This is, this is great. Hopefully you'll come back. We're going to interview some of the other people, the people you mentioned because I want to hear their perspective of what it's like to really embody this value system here at IGA. But there's a lot more leadership conversations you and I want to have as well that impact the company here. But a couple quick questions to close out with what advice would you give someone that's considering IGA, that's watching this, listening to this right now, who's who's kind of courting us just around this grit mindset, Like, if you're, if you're to say here's what it's going to take to win here and not to be redundant, because I know we've talked about this quite a bit, but speak directly to that person.
Speaker 2:If you want an opportunity to go somewhere that you never thought was capable, both personally and professionally, from a from a from a financial perspective, for an opportunity to to exceed goals, uh, if you're, if you're goal driven, you will not find a place in the United States in or out of the insurance industry that will create opportunities for you. Right, we're, we're. We're going to 10 X. Okay, hell or high water, we're going to 10 X. And if we're going to 10X, okay, hell or high water, we're going to 10X. And if we're going to 10X, we got to have a lot more leaders, we got to create a lot more people, and so there's going to be more opportunity here than anywhere you could go without question, and I can assure you, if you're that type person and you're driven, you will never ask for a raise here. You will exceed what you think you're worth. We will exceed that 20, 30% financially. I love that.
Speaker 1:All right. Last question we're going to go back, and this is almost. This is probably an impossible question, but I'm asking it to you anyway, cause I want to hear what you want to say for aspiring leaders. What is one thing that you wish you would have known earlier in your career? Humility.
Speaker 2:I was an arrogant prick, and the older I've gotten and the more life has kicked me in the butt, the more I realized that you have to lead with humility. And it's I fail at this still some today, but it is my biggest goal to always lead with humility. That's good stuff, Jamie.
Speaker 1:This is fun man, Thanks.
Speaker 2:Thanks for what you built here.
Speaker 1:This is an amazing company and excited where this podcast is going to go. Man, yeah, thank you, drew. Well, thanks for joining us on the Grit Factor podcast. We hope you're leaving inspired, equipped and ready to embrace the grit values in your own life and career. If you enjoyed today's episode, be sure to subscribe, leave us a review and share it with someone who's ready to level up their leadership. And if you're interested in learning more about the culture and opportunities at the Insurance Group of America, visit us at igabiz. Forward slash careers. Remember, success isn't about avoiding challenges. It's about facing them with grit. Until next time, stay bold, stay resilient and keep pursuing excellence.