Business Refocused

Jaksot

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  #189 - AI Agents, Real Leads, and What It Actually Took to Get There w/ Kirk Chester 15.09.2026 38min

  In this episode of Business Refocused, Carey and Lindsay are joined by Kirk Chester, CEO of Grit Insurance, to talk about something more agency owners are quietly wrestling with right now. Artificial intelligence, and whether it's actually a practical business tool or just the latest industry buzzword. Kirk comes at the topic from a different angle than most. Rather than using AI to write emails or summarize documents, he has built AI agents, complete with names, personalities, and a place on...
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  #188 - Do You Actually Know Your Agency’s Retention Rate? w/ Adam DeLaForest 08.09.2026 13min

  In this Coffee Break episode of Business Refocused, Carey and Lindsay are joined by AgencyFocus team member Adam DeLaForest to talk about one of the most important, and often misunderstood, metrics in an insurance agency: retention. Retention plays a major role in agency value, but many owners are not fully confident in the number they are tracking. Adam explains why agency management systems can make retention difficult to measure, especially when carrier downloads label rewrites as new busi...
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  #187 - Owner Compensation, Profitability, and Your Agency’s Value w/ Adam DeLaForest 01.09.2026 11min

  In this Coffee Break episode of Business Refocused, Carey and Lindsay are joined by AgencyFocus team member Adam DeLaForest to talk about something that can have a surprisingly big impact on an agency valuation: owner compensation. How an owner pays themselves can make an agency look more or less profitable on paper, even when the underlying business has not changed. Adam explains why AgencyFocus adjusts owner compensation during a valuation, what “reasonable compensation” means, and why ther...
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  #186 - How to Use Debt to Grow Your Insurance Agency Through Acquisition w/ Covington Carlson 25.08.2026 33min

  In this episode of Business Refocused, Carey and Lindsay sit down with Covington Carlson from Live Oak Bank to talk about one of the biggest questions agency owners face when they want to grow through acquisition: How do you actually finance the deal? Covington breaks down how banks look at insurance agency acquisitions, why some debt can be a powerful growth tool, and what buyers need to understand before taking on a loan. He explains debt service coverage, EBITDA, cash flow, seller notes, a...
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  #185 - When Is Enough, Enough? How to Know When to Sell Your Insurance Agency w/ Trey Siner 18.08.2026 36min

  In this episode of Business Refocused, Carey and Lindsay sit down with Trey Siner to talk about one of the hardest questions an agency owner can ask: When is enough, enough? After more than 20 years of building his agency from scratch, Trey started thinking seriously about what he wanted the next chapter of his life to look like. The decision to sell was not just about valuation or getting the right number. It was about his family, his time, his team, and whether he was ready to let go of som...
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  #184 - Calculating Adjusted EBITDA w/ Lauren Washington 11.08.2026 16min

  In this Coffee Break episode of Business Refocused, Carey and Lindsay are joined by AgencyFocus team member Lauren Washington to break down how to calculate your agency’s adjusted EBITDA and get a clearer picture of true operating profitability. They walk through the discretionary and one-time expenses that can distort your P&L, from country club dues and luxury vehicles to severance, rebrands, technology conversions, and other non-recurring costs. They also explain why properly categoriz...
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  #183 - How Benchmarking Drives Smarter Growth for Insurance Agencies w/ Kyle Becker 04.08.2026 29min

  In this episode of Business Refocused, Carey and Lindsay welcome back agency owner Kyle Becker to discuss how benchmarking changed the way he manages his agency. From improving financial reporting to evaluating technology investments, Kyle shares how understanding his numbers has helped him make more confident business decisions. The conversation explores why many agency owners only see part of the financial picture and how benchmarking provides the context needed to measure growth, profitabi...
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  #182 - Revenue Per Employee: The Insurance Agency KPI Every Owner Should Track 28.07.2026 9min

  In this Coffee Break episode of Business Refocused, Carey and Lindsay explain why revenue per employee is one of the most valuable benchmarks for measuring an insurance agency's operational efficiency and growth capacity. They break down how to calculate the metric, who should be included in the employee count, and why the benchmark is evolving as agencies adopt virtual employees, automation, and AI. The conversation also explores how revenue per employee can help agency owners evaluate staff...
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  #181 - How Better Agency Operations Increase Business Value w/ Jessica Yarbrough 21.07.2026 31min

  In this episode of Business Refocused, Carey and Lindsay welcome back Jessica Yarbrough, COO and co-owner of Johnson Insurance and founder of Agency Ops Advantage, to discuss how operational excellence can increase agency value while creating a better experience for employees and clients. Jessica shares how transforming operations, investing in technology, and building a high-performing culture helped her agency double in size and earn recognition as both a Best Practices Agency and one of No...
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  #180 - What is EBITDA? 14.07.2026 13min

  In this Coffee Break episode of Business Refocused, Carey and Lindsay break down one of the most important financial metrics for independent insurance agencies: EBITDA. They explain what EBITDA (Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization) actually means, how to calculate it, and why it's a critical measure of your agency's true operating profitability. Whether you're focused on growth, acquisitions, or maximizing your agency's value, understanding EBITDA helps you make be...
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  #179 - How to Successfully Transition a Family Business to the Next Generation w/ Catherine Garrity-Frans & Tom Garrity 07.07.2026 44min

  In this episode of Business Refocused, Carey and Lindsay are joined by Tom Garrity and Catherine Garrity-Frans of Compass Point Consulting, LLC to discuss what it takes to successfully transition a business from one generation to the next. Drawing from decades of experience working with family businesses across industries, Tom and Catherine share why succession planning is about much more than choosing the next leader. They explore how governance, clearly defined roles, healthy communication,...
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  #178 - Why to Use a Broker for Your Sale w/ Legacy Advisors 30.06.2026 34min

  In this episode of Business Refocused, Carey and Lindsay sit down with Mike Almberg and Max Olson of Legacy Advisors to discuss what agency owners should know before selling their business and why preparation matters long before a deal is on the table. The conversation explores agency valuations, buyer selection, market trends, and the importance of creating a competitive process. Mike and Max explain why selling an agency is about more than maximizing price. It's about finding the right part...
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  #177 - What Happens After the Deal Closes? The Real Work of Agency Mergers w/ Anne Baum 23.06.2026 32min

  In this episode of Business Refocused, Carey and Lindsay sit down with leadership consultant Anne Baum to discuss a critical piece of agency mergers that often gets overlooked: culture. While most merger conversations focus on valuation, deal structure, and financial performance, Anne explains that the real work begins after the transaction closes. The long-term success of any merger depends on how well leadership brings two teams together, builds trust, and create a shared vision for the fut...
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  #176 - How to Read Your Insurance Agency Financials Like a CFO 16.06.2026 20min

  In this episode of Business Refocused, Carey and Lindsay answer common financial questions they’ve recently received from agency owners and break down what a meaningful monthly financial review should actually look like. From analyzing six-month auto policies and understanding profitability to identifying discretionary expenses and building accurate financial reports, the conversation focuses on helping agency owners use their financials as a decision-making tool rather than simply a historic...
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  #175 - Get Your Agency a Health Check 09.06.2026 26min

  In this episode of Business Refocused, Carey and Lindsay explore how agency benchmarking is helping independent insurance agencies gain deeper financial visibility and make more informed business decisions. As more agency owners look beyond valuation and focus on long-term performance, health checks have become a powerful tool for measuring growth, profitability, book health, staffing efficiency, and operational risk. Carey and Lindsay discuss how agencies can use benchmarking data to underst...
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  #174 - Building a Sales Culture in an Independent Insurance Agency w/ Patrick McClure 26.05.2026 33min

  In this episode of Business Refocused, Carey and Lindsay sit down with Patrick McClure of Impact Performance Team to talk about one of the biggest challenges agency owners face: creating a true sales culture. Patrick shares his journey from commercial insurance producer to sales leader and entrepreneur, helping independent agencies improve sales performance, develop producers, recruit talent, and build accountability across their organizations. What started as sales coaching has evolved into ...
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  #173 - Building the Next Generation of Insurance Leaders with Launchpad 19.05.2026 30min

  In this episode of The Insurance Refocused Podcast, Lindsay and Carey Wallace welcome Beth DeLaForest back to the show to talk about Launchpad, a new webinar series designed to help the next generation of insurance professionals learn, grow, and build meaningful industry connections. Beth and Carey share why knowledge transfer matters more than ever as experienced leaders prepare to exit the industry and younger professionals step into bigger roles. They discuss the value of mentorship, outsi...
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  Run Your Agency Like You're Selling It Tomorrow (Carey & Insurance Leaders Lab) 12.05.2026 41min

  In this special re-release, we’re sharing an episode originally featured on Nina Shepard's Insurance Leaders Lab Podcast. Carey joins Nina to talk about financial clarity for independent insurance agency owners. They discuss why waiting until you're ready to sell is a mistake, how your compensation structure could secretly be tanking your agency's value, and the three key drivers that determine what your business is really worth—growth, profitability, and transferability. Originally fea...
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  #171 - The Story Behind the Numbers 05.05.2026 18min

  In this episode of Business Refocused, Carey and Lindsay break down what they’re seeing from real agency benchmarking data and how top-performing insurance agencies are driving growth and profitability. They walk through the key metrics that matter most, including organic growth, profitability, staffing, technology spend, and revenue per employee. More importantly, they explain how these metrics work together and what actually drives performance inside an agency. One of the biggest takeaways ...
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  #170 - Inside AgencyFocus: From Valuations to Fractional CFO 28.04.2026 45min

  In this episode of Business Refocused, Todd Hufford interviews Carey and Lindsay Wallace on the story behind AgencyFocus, how they each found their way into insurance, and what it took to grow the business beyond agency valuation. Carey shares how a role with the PIA of Ohio led her into valuation, perpetuation planning, and data analytics, eventually becoming the foundation for AgencyFocus. Lindsay shares her own path into the industry and how her experience helped shape the company’s next s...