Episode 72: Your Brand – What People Perceive is What They Believe with Dan Mulhern

Looking to create your brand, then Dan Mulhern is the one to talk to.  Dan has helped us create our brand guide which determines what we look like from the colors we on our social media to the fonts we write with. But listen to how branding is so much more as Dan and I get into our conversation.

Highlights:

  • Dan’s creative background, switching from playing heavy metal music to getting a degree in art
  • Building his design business and his sister company for website development
  • The importance of branding to stand out from your competition
  • How branding can generate new customers or reinvigorate current ones
  • A strong brand can create a strong organization
  • Perks of having a strong brand
  • Core values in branding
  • How brand consistency is crucial to profitability success

 

About Dan Mulhern

“I’ve been creating visual art as long as I can remember. In elementary school, my teachers used to think that my parents created my art for me. As a child I always wanted to be a pilot and an architect.  Ending up as a commercial designer and brand expert doesn’t come as a surprise I suppose.  It allows me to explore new horizons and do it in such a way that I have to adhere to minute details in order to create a successful outcome. The best part, however, is experiencing my clients’ satisfaction when we’ve created something special that will resonate powerfully in the marketplace. That is what keeps me doing what I do, doing what I love.”

To find out more about Dan, visit www.MulhernDesignCo.com or give him a call at 951-764-3696.

 

Until next time, get out there and make a difference, be unstoppable, and leave no regrets!

Mike Stromsoe
The Unstoppable Profit Producer
Call 800-770-9984
Email [email protected]

Episode 71: Mike’s in the Hot Seat

We are turning things around on this week’s episode with Andrea Wyatt taking over the podcast. Agents have been contacting her with many questions, so she thought that it was time to put Mike into the hot seat to answer them.

Highlights:

  • Learning customer interaction skills at the age of eight working a drive-thru
  • Getting into the insurance business with his dad and moving on to forge his own path
  • Managing the quick growth of his company
  • How the UPP program began
  • The philosophy of the 3 Ps
  • The latest program UPP Fast Start
  • Technology changes – life in the industry before computers
  • Success stories of agents who implemented the training
  • Creating success from failures

www.uppfaststart.com

 

Until next time, get out there and make a difference, be unstoppable, and leave no regrets!

Mike Stromsoe
The Unstoppable Profit Producer
Call 800-770-9984
Email [email protected]

Episode 68: How Failure Leads to Massive Results with Chris Paradiso

 

Chris Paradiso is one of the most passionate and dynamic insurance agency owners today.   Recipient of the Safeco and Liberty Mutual National Agent for the Future Award in 2019, Chris understands that the process of success is looking in the mirror and learning from your failure.

Highlights:

  • Starting up in a small-town community
  • How a SWOT analysis revealed a micro-niche within a niche
  • Focusing on customer service
  • The fear of failure and how failure creates success
  • Realizing that employee failure may be due to leadership direction
  • Getting comfortable with being uncomfortable
  • The variations of the definition of success
  • The five lessons of making failure necessary
  • Overcoming your fears and grow
  • The purpose behind the magazine “Be The Last Agent Standing”

 

About Our Guest:

Chris Paradiso is one of the most passionate and dynamic agency owners in the insurance industry today. Within his 22 years as a licensed Insurance agent, Chris’s unwavering dedication to exemplary customer service has led him to build and grow his own agency to the 25+ employees that it is today. Established in 2006, Paradiso Insurance recently won Safeco and Liberty Mutual’s National Agent for the Future Award in 2019 and is currently licensed in 37 states with plans to be licensed in all 50 within the near future. Paradiso Insurance’s Parcel Delivery Division is currently the second largest in the country for insuring FedEx Independent Contractors and has recently grown to include Amazon DSPs and LSPs as well. Chris’s clear vision has helped direct other insurance agencies to push the envelope and find their own success as well through his coaching work with Paradiso Presents.

Chris currently sits on the advisory board of both Rough Notes, an Insurance Publication dedicated to educating the Independent Insurance Agent, and Journey Found, a nonprofit that provides behavioral, residential, and other support services to individuals of CT with pervasive developmental disorders and intellectual disabilities. In 2010, Chris was recognized for his work within his local community and throughout Connecticut when he received the Community Service Award from Rough Notes spotlighting the various ways he gives back including the Bikes for Reading program, Reverse Trick-or-Treat and Annual Flag Day Event.

In 2011 Chris was excited to introduce “Paradiso Presents” a social media marketing program aimed at teaching other agencies how to survive and thrive in today’s complex online marketing world.  His innovative marketing solutions have been recognized and implemented into agencies nationwide.

Chris can always be found researching the next best thing in the insurance world and is seen as a digital pioneer in an industry that is behind the times as far as digital technology and automation. Through his work with Aureus Analytics, Chris is paving the way for insurance agencies everywhere to be able to provide better, more accurate data on their customer base which will lead to better customer service as well as a better bottom line. A family man at heart, Chris Paradiso leads his team with these fundamental principles: family is everything and if you do what you love, you’ll never work a day in your life.

 

Social Media Links:

Paradiso Insurance:

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/insurancect

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/paradiso_insurance/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/paradisoins

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/ctinsurance/

LinkedIn: http://bit.ly/24bQk3I

 

Paradiso Presents:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ParadisoPresents/?fref=ts

Twitter: https://twitter.com/ParadisoPresent

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/paradisopresents

 

Christopher Paradiso:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/paradisoinsurance

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/paradisoins/?etslf=8105&eq=chris

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christopherparadiso

 

Until next time, get out there and make a difference, be unstoppable, and leave no regrets!

Mike Stromsoe
The Unstoppable Profit Producer
Call 800-770-9984
Email [email protected]

Episode 67: Money Follows Trust with Todd Sorrel

Have you been looking for alternate ways to speed up your accounts payable and receivable process? Are you not sure exactly how well you are integrating your current technology into your overall systems?  Then this episode is for you. Todd Sorrel, the co-founder of EPay Policy, joins me today to discuss this and more.

Highlights:

  • How Epay is transforming the way independent insurance agencies utilize the mobile market to speed up their AP/AR accounts
  • Integration with today’s most popular management systems
  • Annual Insurtech Agency Awards with free technology analysis for all agencies that enter
  • Benefits of using a payment company that is focused on the needs of the insurance industry vs other companies like PayPal or Square
  • Being a generational insurance agent
  • Functioning in a remote workforce environment
  • Utilizing your management system to its full potential
  • Overview of the Epay Policy Customer Portal
  • Try EPay Policy with two months free of services if you sign up now! Use code #UPP2020

 

Epay Policy Links:

Website: https://epaypolicy.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/epaypolicy/

EPay Demos: https://epaypolicy.com/demos/

InsurTech Agency Award – Registration and free technology analysis: https://insurtechaward.com/

 

Until next time, get out there and make a difference, be unstoppable, and leave no regrets!

Mike Stromsoe
The Unstoppable Profit Producer
Call 800-770-9984
Email [email protected]

Episode 66: Strategies For Massive Growth with Nancy Mendizabal and David Brush

Today I have two special guests, the Unstoppable Nancy Mendizabal and David Brush, a brother and sister team from Apple Valley Insurance in Rhode Island. With each having over 30+ years of experience in the industry and a rapidly growing agency, you won’t want to miss this episode:

Just a few of the key takeaways we’ll discuss on this episode:

  • The benefits of being part of international masterminds
  • Overcoming obstacles and lessons learned
  • Having an open mind to new ideas to develop tricks and strategies for your agency

 

About Our Guests:

Nancy Mendizabal joined Scituate Insurance in 1990 after working in the banking industry for several years (and became an owner of Apple Valley Agency with her brother David in 2004).  She recently celebrated 25 years with Apple Valley & Scituate Insurance. Nancy donates her time to several organizations that support education, the Ponaganset Education Foundation and the First Class Scholarship program, and the VASA Order of America Scholarship Fund. She is Past President of the IIARI, and has served on the National Agents Panel for MetLife Auto & Home.  She, along with her siblings and dad, has supported the New England MS Society 3-day Challenge Walk in memory of her mother since 2001.  In her free time she enjoys traveling, skiing, and spending time with her family.

David Brush joined Apple Valley Insurance in 1991, and has been an owner with his sister, Nancy Mendizabal, since 2004.  He enjoys participating and volunteering for organizations that support youth.  He donates time as an Academy of Finance board member at the Smithfield High School, and as a Greenville Public Library board member.  He, along with his four sisters, is active in the New England MS Society 3-day Cape Cod walk in memory of his mother. In his free time he likes to ski, travel, cook, go to the beach, play board games, and spend time with his wife, children, and family.

Visit their website: applevalleyagency.com

Like them on Facebook: Apple Valley Insurance Facebook

 

Until next time, get out there and make a difference, be unstoppable, and leave no regrets!

Mike Stromsoe
The Unstoppable Profit Producer
Call 800-770-9984
Email [email protected]

Episode 65: Undefeated with American Veteran Hero Joel McKinley

This is a very special episode of the Unstoppable Profit Podcast – celebrating Independence Day and the Undefeated status of our freedom. The freedom that allows us, as entrepreneurs and leaders, to grow our businesses, create wealth, and to have more freedom!

We are joined by our very own UPP team member and Veteran Joel McKinley, who’s story is amazing and game-changing.  Joel shares about the influence of his dad while being part of a military family, how his military life shaped his strategies in the business world and the mindset of not setting limits on yourself.

 

Enjoy!

Mike Stromsoe
The Unstoppable Profit Producer
Call 800-770-9984
Email [email protected]

 

Episode 64: Living “In Awe” with John O’Leary

I am extremely excited and honored to have on this episode, Bestselling Author, International Speaker, and fellow Podcaster, John O’Leary.   I had the privilege of seeing John speak in 2014 and knew immediately one day I will have him to one of our events.  He has been a great influence in my life.

Join John and me as we uncover:

  • The importance of the “reflection in the mirror”.
  • The strength and benefit of seeing the world with childlike curiosity and sense of wonder as an adult
  • The quality of leadership being not just about speaking but about modeling

 About My Guest:

Once expected to die, today John O’Leary teaches others how to truly live. As an internationally acclaimed speaker, bestselling author, and podcast host, John helps hundreds of thousands of people to live inspired each year, sharing his insights and inspiring message with emotional storytelling and unexpected humor. He is the founder of Rising Above, a lifestyle organization helping people and companies live an inspired life, and the author of the #1 national bestseller, On Fire. John inspires countless more through his weekly Monday Motivation essays, “Live Inspired Podcast” episodes and exclusive membership community. He lives with his wife and four children in St. Louis, Missouri.

Links:

http://johnolearyinspires.com/

Find his book In Awe: Rediscover Your Childlike Wonder to Unleash Inspiration, Meaning and Joy at http://johnolearyinspires.com/shop/in-awe-book/

Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/live-inspired-podcast-with-john-oleary/id1166682012

 

Until next time, get out there and make a difference, be unstoppable, and leave no regrets!

Gratefully,

 

Mike Stromsoe
The Unstoppable Profit Producer
Call 800-770-9984
Email [email protected]

Episode 63: Special Guest Jose Soriano

The Unstoppable Jose Soriano, co-owner of Global First Insurance and Tax Services, joins us on this week’s episode.  Jose is also the founder of the Business Owner’s Alliance.    Today’s topics include:

  • Jose’s drive to be a leading an innovative company
  • Moving forward even during the current crisis
  • Providing training access to team members in an inventive manner
  • Daily habits that contribute to success

About My Guest:

In 2008, Jose Soriano was introduced to the insurance industry at only 18 years old.  In just 6 months, he became the #1 producer helping over 110 families in just one month.  In 2012, he and his wife, Karla, made one of the most important decisions of their life – to open their agency.   They felt they could truly make a difference and positively impact many people’s lives in the process.  Since then they have helped thousands of families insure their future.  Always looking forward, their goal is to provide value to everyone they meet.   Their goal is legendary impact as they help pave the way for the agencies of the future.

Jose and Karla travel all over the U.S. attending seminars and training classes to ensure they are becoming more every day, being of value to their customers, and are up to date on all the changes that their industry is facing.  He and Karla have 20+ years of insurance industry experience, combined.

 

Find out more at Myglobalfirst.com

 

Until next time, get out there and make a difference, be unstoppable, and leave no regrets!

Gratefully,

 

Mike Stromsoe
The Unstoppable Profit Producer
Call 800-770-9984
Email [email protected]

Episode 62: Special Guest Alana Fulvio

I am joined today by Alana Fulvio, the “People First” Business Thought Leader.  This business strategist focuses on hiring done right.   Today our discussion will journey into:

  • Bringing best hiring practices to companies such as LinkedIn and GoPro
  • The failure in assuming everybody understands the culture of the company
  • The value of Intentional Leadership

 

About My Guest:

Alana Fulvio is a 13-time world record-holding athlete in Skydiving with over 3500 jumps, Silicon Valley Founder and CEO, writer, female solo traveler, humanitarian, Super Connector, sentient being advocate and global volunteer. In 2014, Alana quit her 13-year corporate Silicon Valley career as a Lead in-house Recruiter and Talent Acquisition Advisor for companies like LinkedIn and GoPro, after taking them public, to found her company Pendulum; she saw where companies were getting hiring wrong and has created the solutions to eliminate this costly blind spot.

She’s the “People First” Business Thought Leader who has cracked the code on how to get Hiring, Retention, Culture, Employee Performance, and Profit right, earlier than ever in history. She is disrupting the global Startup and small to medium-sized market by eliminating the biggest business profit loss blind spot with her innovative “plug-and-play” solutions, offering the market what it never had before. Alana has personally innovated top business strategies and solutions so businesses get hiring right — in any industry — and is known for building “WE Cultures”: high-performing cultures of retained and profit-driving employees with the least spend and time, with the highest ROI.

She’s an intuit and seer and can see things far deeper and faster than most in the world making her a priceless partner. Alana delivers a differentiating partnership giving her clients the upper hand and accelerating their growth and profitability.

Find out more at: http://www.pendulumglobal.com/

 

Until next time, get out there and make a difference, be unstoppable, and leave no regrets!

Gratefully,

 

Mike Stromsoe
The Unstoppable Profit Producer
Call 800-770-9984
Email [email protected]

Episode 61: Special Guest Andy Priesman

 

Andy Priesman joins me on this episode of the Unstoppable Profit Podcast.   Andy is a veteran in the insurance industry and has led it with utilizing innovative technology and processes.   Join us as Andy and I discuss:

  • Growing the business using direct mail to bring in new clients
  • Utilizing a Producer style program for sales
  • Cover Desk: Hiring assistants to allow the account managers and producers to focus on acquisition and retention

 

About My Guest:

Cover Desk founder, Andy Priesman, is an insurance industry veteran with significant and extensive operational experience. He knows what it takes to make an independent insurance agency run well because he’s done it in his own business. Andy has blazed a trail of innovation in an industry not known for being on the cutting edge of technology or new processes.

With Cover Desk, he’s bringing his experience and innovation to agencies like his who need help competing against the big insurance brands.

Before Cover Desk, Andy established Greenway Insurance in 2007 and still owns the company today. Andy started his career with the New York Life Insurance Company and later started a Farmers Agency in 2005. In 2008 after Hurricane IKE, Andy saw the writing on the wall with Farmers. He decided to turn his agency into an independent insurance agency, specializing in personal and commercial lines insurance. Andy expanded carrier markets and opened up locations offices in Dallas, Austin, Texas, and Oxnard, CA, and Manila, Philippines. Andy added insurance agents, new carriers, and ultimately serves the client and not only one insurance company.

Today Greenway Insurance is a tech-focused mid-sized independent firm serving consumers and businesses in Texas, Florida, and California.

Greenway Insurance has received numerous awards, including the INC 5000.

Andy Priesman is a native Houstonian and grew up in Sugar Land, Texas, and later earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of Kansas. Today Andy lives in Austin, Texas, with his beautiful wife Elana and his daughters Mia and Evie.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/andy-priesman-6286834/

http://www.greenway-ins.com/

https://coverdesk.com/

 

Until next time, get out there and make a difference, be unstoppable, and leave no regrets!

Gratefully,

 

Mike Stromsoe
The Unstoppable Profit Producer
Call 800-770-9984
Email [email protected]

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