Being Extraordinary with Brett Young, Episode #40

In this episode of The Power Producers Podcast, David Carothers and co-host Kyle Houck interview Brett Young, CEO at Erb and Young Insurance. Brett talks about his journey into the insurance industry and the path that led him to build an insurance agency. He also shares his podcast entitled, Be Extraordinary Podcast.

Episode Highlights:

• David introduces Brett Young. (1:30)
• How did Brett get into the insurance industry and what’s the path that led him there? (2:06)
• Brett shares his background. (2:11)
• Brett mentions that he’s always dabbled with entrepreneurial ideas and always run different types of businesses. (2:25)
• Brett shares great advice that his father gave him. (2:44)
• Kyle shares that at present, St. Pete is the place to be, and that’s where all the coolest spots were, from downtown out to the beach. (3:58)
• What was the tipping point for Brett, from his two hours of conversation with an agency owner? (5:41)
• Brett mentions a conversation he had with the CEO of a pharmaceutical company before he got into the business. (5:52)
• Brett mentions that he had always been entrepreneurial in his background because he valued time, freedom, and he valued choice. (6:56)
• David mentions that there’s a big difference between being an income statement rich in building your income statement and beating the balance sheet rich in building an asset. (7:44)
• David thinks that sometimes, we lose focus of the fact that we’re building something that’s way more valuable, than any check that we’re going to get over the year. (8:20)
• Brett shares that he’s a guy that grew up, had different kinds of jobs and was always the lazy guy who was viewed as the person that just didn’t like to work. (9:35)
• What does Brett’s routine look like, today? (11:18)
• Brett shares that he saw a common theme and one of the themes was, they were obsessive about being the best at what they were going to do. (11:37)
• Brett mentions that there was a significant difference in regards to the kind of layout of, where they spent their time. (12:12)
• David thinks that being an entrepreneur is not a skill, and being an entrepreneur is not a skill that can be practiced. (13:25)
• David explains the difference between entrepreneurial and leadership. (14:05)
• Kyle thinks that the way to reach success is an ever-changing process. (15:56)
• Brett thinks that entrepreneurial tick is somebody who enjoys risk and uncertainty is something that they crave. (16:36)
• Brett mentions the epitome of entrepreneurship. (19:34)
• David mentions that his number one rule is not to hire a producer from the insurance industry. (20:42)
• David shares that it’s much more difficult to hire someone who grew up in commercial insurance and make them understand the value proposition, total cost of risk, indirect cost of claims, and more. (25:35)
• David mentions that as an agency owner, you can’t be a selfish person and maximize your agency. You can’t do that, and you have to be willing to give more than you take in most cases. (28:09)
• Brett shares that he doesn’t view the insurance industry differently than the other industries. If we give more than we receive inherently, that’s a good practice that could benefit us in the long term. (31:31)
• Brett mentions a book entitled Extreme Ownership: How U.S. Navy SEALs Lead and Win, by Jocko Willink. (33:06)
• Brett believes that there are two skill sets of entrepreneurship and those two skill sets, are the pillars to building any business. (33:54)
• What’s the focus of Brett’s agency? (35:48)
• Brett mentions that they started as a personal lines agency, then five and a half years later, they went into the commercial lines agency. (35:58)
• Does Brett have any specific niches? (37:57)
• Brett shares that his business partner Rod Erb, manages the commercial side of their business, and he has a lot of experience in the medical space. (38:04)
• Brett mentions that their main customers are the small business owners that want one relationship and want somebody to manage their whole account. (39:59)
• What were Brett’s goals, on the culture side? (40:28)
• Brett mentions that he’s a huge advocate for personal development. (41:24)
• Brett believes that progress is equivalent to happiness. (42:33)
• Brett shares his podcast entitled, Be Extraordinary Podcast. (47:58)
• What’s the best story that’s coming out from Brett’s podcast? (51:08)
• David shares that money can be made and lost. But the sincere desire to help people and to connect people is not something that you just walk into every day. They’ve been blessed with multiple platforms. (58:15)
• Brett mentions that patience is significant in the insurance industry. (1:01:16)

Tweetable Quotes:

• “I think so many times we look at what the career is, but we forget to look at what your day looks like. My dad was always good about saying, what’s your perfect day look like? And then once you find out what that is, you can figure out what type of career you want to be in.” – Brett Young
• “Our whole livelihood in our agency is to give people the opportunity that was once given to us and given to me, and there’s nothing that fills me up more to watch the light bulb come on for people in that same situation.” – Brett Young
• “The absolute epitome of what entrepreneurship is, is the courage to start something that you don’t necessarily know how it will end, the courage to start something knowing that it probably isn’t exactly where it will end up or where it should be, but the ability to be able to run and then figure it out” – Brett Young
• “In the producer game, I’m always looking for the art, we can get to the science part over time, and it’s evolving anyway, it’s never one of those things where you’re going to run through a one on one course and be done.” – Brett Young
• “One of the core philosophies we have here is that people talk about work-life balance all the time. And I fundamentally disagree with that. I think work-life integration is the holy grail of finding something that you love to do and finding something that can give people true fulfillment.” – Brett Young

Resources Mentioned:

• David Carothers LinkedIn
• Kyle Houck LinkedIn
• Florida Risk Partners
• The Extra 2 Minutes
• Brett Young LinkedIn
• Erb and Young Insurance
• Be Extraordinary Podcast