Refuse to be Average with Erik Sjolie, Episode #44

In this episode of The Power Producers Podcast, David Carothers and co-host Kyle Houck interview Erik Sjolie, the President of Sky Insurance Brokers. Erik talks about how he got into the insurance business and how he started his agency. He also shares the benefits of technology in their agency, and his podcast series entitled Refuse to Be Average.

Episode Highlights:

• David introduces Erik Sjolie. (1:34)
• Erik mentions that he got into the insurance industry in 2007 and became a financial advisor. (2:49)
• Erik shares that by the year 2011, he decided to be an independent agency owner, and started as a financial and life insurance agency. (3:36)
• Erik shares that when he brought in personal lines, his idea was to recruit life agents because life agents are always chasing first-year commissions. (6:53)
• Erik shares that they did a co-branding piece before the actual transition happened and made sure that they’re walking through and letting them know the process. (11:28)
• Erik mentions that they have been able to enhance the way they do business because they were a three-person operation and not much technology. (11:49)
•  What would be Erik’s biggest piece of advice, for somebody who’s planning to make an acquisition? (12:15)
• Erik shares that for the last couple of years it’s been a very focused effort to use social media, for the benefit of their agency and the community, as well. (16:14)
• Erik mentions that technology is gaining fast and he probably spent way more money and time, on systems and applications that he never used or implemented. (23:19)
• Erik shares that one of the systems that he settled on is Better Agency, and they’ve been building out service pipelines, and they have the team on board. (24:57)
• Erik thinks that they will see a shift when the acquisition market starts to change because some people are fundamentally changing the way they do work. (36:16)
• Erik shares that when the pandemic started, he witnessed a lot of businesses in different industries that were having to adapt, and they have seen a lot of closures in their area, as well. (39:41)
• Erik shares that they started their podcast, Refuse to Be Average, this April and their topics were focused on the impact of COVID-19 in the industry and business. (40:50)

Tweetable Quotes:

• “I think we just found our groove there so I brought on the personal lines. My idea behind that was it was going to help me recruit really good life agents because life agents are always chasing first-year commissions. So it’s always going after a billion that book of business and driving those opportunities.” – Erik Sjolie
• “I want to see where I’m thriving and build with the agency, the people I’ve met along the way, the ventures that I’ve created with people, and that’s what my mindset is going into post.” – Erik Sjolie
• “There’s so much technology, they’re always watching, listening, and I just had to get over that. Because if you go down that hole, you can really scare yourself and next thing you know, I’m living in a one-bedroom cabin in the mountains not talking to you.” – Erik Sjolie
• “Let’s focus and really build what our agency needs that can play to our strengths because we have a lot of good things working and what can we do to complement that, and that’s really the road we’ve gone down.” – Erik Sjolie

Resources Mentioned:

• David Carothers LinkedIn
• Kyle Houck LinkedIn
• Florida Risk Partners
• The Extra 2 Minutes
• Erik Sjolie LinkedIn
• Sky Insurance Brokers
• Refuse to Be Average Podcast