Running the Game with Tom Larsen

09/12/22 • 48 min

In this episode of The Power Producers Podcast, David Carothers interviews Tom Larsen CEO of Larsen Insurance Agency. Tom discusses the traits of a great mentor and how important it is to have a great mentor to help you grow your business.

Episode Highlights:

Tom introduces himself and shares his background and how he got to where he is today. (3:19)
Tom explains that his business is 1/3 habitational because he got involved in their local RIA group for landlords. (9:47)
Tom shares that he figured out how to stick with the business in about the 4th year of running his agency. (12:24)
Tom discusses that he is currently mentoring someone at the moment and explains that having a mentor makes things easier. (17:30)
Tom shares that baseball has been his passion ever since he was a little kid, and he even joined the little league when he was young. (22:41)
Tom discusses that he believes in great culture in a company, and looks at his staff as his teammates. (28:53)
Tom mentions that new agents are having challenges joining the industry as companies are not creating many opportunities. (32:45)
Tom shares that he started his cluster 8 years ago and has continued to grow it up until now. (37:42)
Tom advises listeners to find a mentor that doesn't mind sharing experiences and will give them time when they need answers. (43:58)

Tweetable Quotes:

"I look at my staff as teammates. I really believe in my heart, I really believe the culture in an office is everything. And one bad apple can suck a whole bunch. And I truly, truly believe in culture." - Tom Larsen
"I think the insurance companies have clamped down on newbies, and they're not opening their doors much." - Tom Larsen
"Find a mentor. That'd be my number one piece of advice. Find a mentor. It could be somebody that's in a different agency, or maybe somebody that's retired, or, you know, somebody in one of the Facebook groups, whatever, but find a mentor. It could be somebody that doesn't mind sharing the experience that they've been through." - Tom Larsen

Resources Mentioned:

Episode Highlights:

Tom introduces himself and shares his background and how he got to where he is today. (3:19)
Tom explains that his business is 1/3 habitational because he got involved in their local RIA group for landlords. (9:47)
Tom shares that he figured out how to stick with the business in about the 4th year of running his agency. (12:24)
Tom discusses that he is currently mentoring someone at the moment and explains that having a mentor makes things easier. (17:30)
Tom shares that baseball has been his passion ever since he was a little kid, and he even joined the little league when he was young. (22:41)
Tom discusses that he believes in great culture in a company, and looks at his staff as his teammates. (28:53)
Tom mentions that new agents are having challenges joining the industry as companies are not creating many opportunities. (32:45)
Tom shares that he started his cluster 8 years ago and has continued to grow it up until now. (37:42)
Tom advises listeners to find a mentor that doesn't mind sharing experiences and will give them time when they need answers. (43:58)

Tweetable Quotes:

"I look at my staff as teammates. I really believe in my heart, I really believe the culture in an office is everything. And one bad apple can suck a whole bunch. And I truly, truly believe in culture." - Tom Larsen
"I think the insurance companies have clamped down on newbies, and they're not opening their doors much." - Tom Larsen
"Find a mentor. That'd be my number one piece of advice. Find a mentor. It could be somebody that's in a different agency, or maybe somebody that's retired, or, you know, somebody in one of the Facebook groups, whatever, but find a mentor. It could be somebody that doesn't mind sharing the experience that they've been through." - Tom Larsen

Resources Mentioned:

Previous Episode

The Deeds Sessions 1

In this episode of The Power Producers Podcast, David Carothers sits down with Ryan Deeds of Ennabl. Ryan asks David to go through a typical Ennabl discovery process to illustrate what Ennabl does specifically to enable agencies to make themselves better.

Episode Highlights:

Ryan discusses his experiences working with insurance agencies and Insurtech companies. (3:23)
David discusses having his staff, particularly his account managers, work remotely these days. (9:28)
David explains that the only way he could go out and create middle market accounts was to identify who his ideal prospect was and stick to it. (13:07)
David explains how many accounts he has for his company's revenue. (17:39)
David mentions that he created a series on how to Build Passive Revenue Streams in your Agency. (25:25)
David explains that the majority of their work is in residential service contractors and light manufacturing, such as cabinetry. (31:13)
David shares how many carriers they have and how many of them are core relationships. (33:04)
David explains why your operation should not have more than two or three wholesalers. (37:36)
David explains that the only thing his producers do with Hawksoft is build the policy shell. (42:51)
David discusses his projected growth for Florida Risk. (45:29)
Ryan explains his takeaways from David's experiences, as well as what he wants to learn about in their next conversation. (47:13)

Tweetable Quotes:

“As a 20 year old, I never thought in a million years that I would love insurance agencies but that's kind of because I grew up in them and my career was based in them and the people that the people in Independence are just the best and they're just great people great families” - Ryan Deeds
“My agency, still from a technology standpoint, and the ability to handle service work for customers, very much resembles the agency that I started in the dining room in my home, the only way I was able to go out and write middle market accounts was number one, I had to know who my ideal prospect was and not deviate from that.” - David Carothers
“From a servicing perspective, my time is spent at the actual client, it's not spent doing insurance stuff. It's understanding risk management, walking the floor, doing those kinds of things” - David Carothers

Resources Mentioned:

Next Episode

Becoming the Protege with Bryan McCall

In this episode of The Power Producers Podcast, David Carothers and co-host Kyle Houck interview Bryan Mccall, Agency Owner of Sand Springs Agency and Contender on The Protege Season 2. Bryan discusses why he joined The Protege, and what he has learned so far from the competition.

Episode Highlights:

Bryan explains how he got into commercial insurance. (2:55)
Bryan expresses gratitude to Sean and the other Protege participants for their kindness. (9:44)
Bryan, David, and Kyle talk about the amazing Protege belt that IPFS funded for the winner. (18:36)
David mentions Ric Flair as the second professional athlete he called out on the show. (20:26)
Bryan explains why he joined the Protege. (26:15)
Bryan mentions that joining the Protege is like going outside of your comfort zone because commercial insurance was not in his wheelhouse and was not something that came naturally to him. (31:09)
Bryan discusses the most surprising aspect of The Protege process. (34:54)
Bryan believes that things that come easily never last, and that things that last never come easily. (54:27)
Bryan expresses his desire to become a permanent member of the Killing Commercial group. (57:29)

Tweetable Quotes:

“I wanted everybody to know how much fun this can be, you know, going through this process, seeing what's out there for commercial. And really, for me, I know that it's gonna seem like a stretch, stepping outside of your comfort zone. Because commercial was not in my wheelhouse. Like I said, I was licensed. But it wasn't something that came naturally to me.” - Bryan Mccall
“Things that come easy, never last things that last never come easy.” - Bryan Mccall
“My ultimate goal is to become a permanent part of your Killing Commercial group... I want to be a part of that and help anybody else. Whether they want to be mentored by me or not.” - Bryan Mccall

Resources Mentioned: