By Red Gorman
When I started my agency, I spent time sitting in a check-cashing store talking to people about non-standard auto insurance. It wasn’t exactly the picture most people have in mind when they think about starting a business. But I knew there were customers who needed coverage, and I was willing to go where they were, earn their trust and build from there.
That was the beginning of my agency. I’ve told that story before because it reminds me of something I know is true throughout PIA: every agency has a story. Some of our members started with one person, one desk and a phone. Others joined a family agency and eventually took over the business. Some bought an existing agency or became partners with people they had worked with for years. And we’re all continuing to write that story right now: opening new locations, acquiring other agencies or getting acquired, bringing sons and daughters into the business, hiring employees, or figuring out how to perpetuate what we’ve spent decades building.
That’s one of the reasons I’ve stayed involved with PIA for so many years. PIA members are at every one of those stages. We have people just beginning to build their businesses and people who have spent decades doing it. We have small agencies and large ones, family businesses and growing organizations with multiple locations. And there is tremendous value in bringing those experiences together.
As I begin my term as PIA National President, I want us to keep finding more ways to do that. I want us to create opportunities for agency owners to learn from one another, not just about insurance, but about running a business. How are other agencies finding and keeping good people? How are they using technology? What’s actually working with AI? How are they dealing with market challenges? How are they developing producers? How are they preparing the next generation to take on more responsibility?
And I want us to make sure we’re bringing more people into those conversations. That includes the emerging leaders in our agencies. One of the things I’ve enjoyed seeing is the energy around PIA’s Ascending Leaders Council and the growing number of up-and-coming professionals becoming involved with the association. They aren’t simply the future of our industry. Many of them are already running agencies, managing teams, developing books of business, and making decisions that will shape where this industry goes.
We need their ideas and their involvement. It also means continuing to learn from the people who have spent their careers building this business. There is an enormous amount of experience within PIA. Some of the most useful conversations I’ve had over the years have started with someone telling me what worked for them, or even, what they wouldn’t do again.
That’s something an association can make possible. As I begin my term, I’m also not coming in with a long list of things I want to change. There is already a lot of good work underway at PIA, and I want to keep building on it. We’ve been investing in technology, expanding professional development, strengthening our advocacy, creating new resources for agencies, developing the next generation of leaders and working more closely across PIA National and our Affiliates. I want to help move that work forward.
But I also think we have an opportunity to do a better job making sure our members know what’s available to them. I’ve been involved with PIA for a long time, and even I sometimes learn about a resource, program or benefit and think, “I didn’t know we did that.” If that’s true for me, I’m sure it’s true for some of our members.
That’s something I want to work on. Whether it’s education, a business resource, help navigating a legislative issue, a new market opportunity or simply a connection with another agency owner who has dealt with the same challenge, I want our members to know where PIA can help—and take advantage of it. Ultimately, all of PIA’s priorities come back to the agencies and people we serve.
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