Culture Is Everything with Rodney Erb, Episode #215

In this episode of The Power Producers Podcast, David Carothers and co-host Kyle Houck interview Rodney Erb of Erb and Young Insurance. Rodney shares about his passion for connecting people, and discusses team development and different strategies for maintaining a great work environment, and company culture.

Episode Highlights:

• Rodney shares his background in the insurance industry. (2:54)
• Rodney explains that what has been fun for them at Erb and Young Insurance is that they prioritize culture over everything else. (10:47)
• Rodney mentions that they handle hiring and recruiting differently because hiring is obtaining someone quickly while recruiting is looking for someone over time. (12:03)
• Rodney mentions that they believe that they are a personal development company that happens to sell insurance. (16:08)
• Rodney shares the moment he realized that he was not good enough to play golf for a living. (22:02)
• Rodney discusses how they want to scale their commercial lines in 2023 using what they have learned from Killing Commercial. (30:49)
• Rodney explains that they aim to work in fields such as service, contractors, and trucking after learning a lot about it in 2018. (35:29)
• Rodney explains that on their team, their strengths and weaknesses sit right beside each other, and what makes them strong is also what makes them vulnerable. (42:01)
• Rodney discusses the process they use to empower employees in their company, and how they start by concentrating on people that are coachable and have a good attitude. (48:19)
• Rodney shares his thoughts about the word humility and explains that he is just a student going through the thing called life. (53:53)

Tweetable Quotes:

• “We were team builders. We realized that we had a passion for connecting people and bringing the right people to get the right people in the seats. And that’s really what’s holding true today. And that’s kind of where we’re having most of the fun.” – Rodney Erb
• “Our strengths and weaknesses sit right beside each other. You know, what makes you strong is also what kind of makes you a little vulnerable. What makes you valuable is also what makes you maybe a little bit of a liability.” – Rodney Erb
• “We believe that the size of the leader is determined by the size of the problem that that person is equipped to handle, correct, or solve.” – Rodney Erb

Resources Mentioned:

• Rodney Erb LinkedIn
• Erb and Young Insurance
• David Carothers
• Kyle Houck
• Florida Risk Partners
• The Extra 2 Minutes