Own Your Success - Interview With Brittney Stinnett

Brent Kelly:

Welcome to the Agent Leader Podcast, my name is Brent Kelly, your host. Thanks so much for joining me on another episode. As always the purpose of the Agent Leader Podcast is to help you as an agency leader gain clarity, build consistency, and make a commitment to become your best version possible. And I'm trying to continue on my promise of delivering world-class guests and I've had a few guests on, and of course recently I had Matt Fairbanks and hopefully you listened to that podcast, producer and sales leader, part of EHD Insurance. And Matt comes with a lot of experience, certainly at this point also coming from the benefits side.

Brent Kelly:

And I thought people would say Brent, "What about maybe newer producers that have been in the game maybe just a few years? What about them are they successful with some of the things you talk about? Could we hear some of their stories?" And I want to bring in a really special guest Brittney Stinnett today who is an insurance professional, sales leader, I'll call you that Brittney just because you lead. I know you're not the actual sales leader, but you do such a great job as an advisor and a producer out there with Peel & Holland in the great state of Kentucky. And I'll let you tell a little bit about your background and how you got into it, but I'll just tell this to the audience. If you want to listen to someone who has passion and energy and loves what she does and is getting great results, well then get your pen and paper because I guarantee Brittney is going to share some nuggets. Brittney, before I get to you officially, I do want to make one just quick announcement to the audience.

Brent Kelly:

As I mentioned before we have our Sitkins Network and our all-inclusive membership, which is a great opportunity for agencies to hear about some things that Sitkins is doing and be part of our programs that are ongoing. And by the way, Brittney may share a little bit about the program she attended as part of our network group on this interview as well, but we are going to be kicking off all of our core programs early this fall. So if you've been on the fence or wondering what this is all about, this is a great time to get in, to get your team registered and get started here as we kick off the second half of 2021. Just go to sitkins.com/aim that's sitkins.com/aim for all-inclusive membership. We'd love to talk to you to see if it's a good fit for you and your agency. So Brittney, are you ready to have a great conversation? Welcome to the Agent Leader Podcast.

Brittney Stinnett:

Yes, Brent, I'm very excited and I'm just humbled to be here to join in and have a conversation. And hopefully a few people after listening today will walk away with feeling inspired and encouraged, and ready to go out there and make some phone calls and get some new future ideal clients.

Brent Kelly:

Yes. I love it. And I told Brittney because she's like, "This is something new. I don't think-" this is your first podcast you've ever done is that fair?

Brittney Stinnett:

Yes that's fair.

Brent Kelly:

I said, "It's just a couple of people having a conversation over our pretend cup of coffee." And again, I have had many interactions with Brittney really as part of our ProducerFit program. And she also is one of our top people that went through that program. So we had a winners call because Brittney is a winner and she shared some more information within that. And I thought, you know what? She would be just such a great guest. Not only because she's just a likable person that people should hear from, but she's had results to back it up. So before I get into some of that just give us a background. I know outside of insurance talking to you, you've also got a family life out there. So tell the people just about your family, how long you've been in the business and just how you all got started.

Brittney Stinnett:

Yes. Of course. So I am married, my husband and I are about to celebrate our 9th year marriage in a couple of weeks. So we're very excited and we have two daughters, a five-year-old and a three-year-old so Isabella and Lucy. Isabella is about to hit kindergarten, so I am not ready for the school system. I think I'm so nervous about it, but it's okay and I'm excited for them. I've been in insurance at Peel & Holland for about for four years now, I just celebrated that a few months ago. My story is probably similar to getting into the insurance business as most agents I'm not a second generation, I don't have anyone in the business and I didn't go to school for insurance. I found myself at 28 working for a larger company in Callaway County. And I was a few years in my marriage and we had our first daughter and I was capped, I wasn't able to move up in the company.

Brittney Stinnett:

My boss was just a few years older than me, so he wasn't leaving and so I didn't have a lot of growth and I wanted more. I wanted more for my family, I wanted more freedom within my schedule and to be challenged and learning and growing. And so I got to a point where I was like, "Okay, I need to make a move, but we love our community." And so my husband actually helped me and he found the posting for Peel & Holland, and is the only company I applied for and I interviewed. And here I am four years later and I love it, I love the company, I love the culture, the people and insurance.

Brent Kelly:

Well, Brittney, first of all you're right the story that you share is almost all insurance professionals that aren’t second or third generation. It's like you kind of found your way into it to some degree. It wasn't like you're probably dreaming as a small girl, "I can't wait to be an insurance advisor someday." But you used a word that I think is so important and why this business is so great and the word was freedom. And done in the right way there is such freedom in this business and I'm sure in the capacity to work with your clients, but also be able to do something that really does make a true difference out in the marketplace, yet still have the time and energy for family or whatever other endeavors you want to do. And certainly with a five and three year old, I know you're busy.

Brittney Stinnett:

Yes.

Brent Kelly:

I've got a three-year-old, I don't have a five-year-old anymore, but I got four others outside of that. Don't ever come to me for mentorship for daughters, but I have four of them so I'm sure I've done enough. I've had enough mistakes to learn something along the way.

Brittney Stinnett:

They’re very different.

Brent Kelly:

Yes. Well, just wait until the teenage years. I want ask you too, obviously here comes Brent asking the master of the obvious question that Brittney is also a female and there aren't that many females or at least as many as there should be in this industry. And we've talked about that a little bit on the side, so I don't want to set that up but it has to be a challenge. But in talking with you again through the programs that we've got to know each other. I know it can be difficult for a lot of females in this industry sometimes to breakthrough in different areas. And so share with me maybe some of the frustrations and challenges that you had, and then tell us about what do you specialize in and what is your book look like? A so just give some perspective from the business side of things if you would.

Brittney Stinnett:

You're right. There aren't a lot of females especially in the producer role on the property and casualty side, you see it more often on the benefits. And so especially where I'm at I don't run into that often, but I don't use it as a negative. I don't view it as something that I can't have what everyone else has or I can't be successful because I'm not a male. I'm just me and this is who I am and I love what I do and I want others to see that. And so for me my niche is actually going into more of a construction space. And so you can only imagine why would I pick that space being a female already in a male driven industry. And I'm a very feminine female. And so walking in and seeing that but I want them to know that, "Hey, the values that I can bring you as a company is so great and valuable, and you will be better off when you work with me."

Brittney Stinnett:

One thing that drives me and as I continue to grow is I want to when people look around the room and I'm the only female, or hopefully there's others beside me we're there for our intelligence and what we can bring and offer and the value for our clients and for those around them. And so that's what always pushes me to say, "That's who I'm going to be. I may not be there yet and I'm working on it, I'm continuing to grow but that's going to be my brand." So my book, I am definitely not a million producer yet.

Brent Kelly:

Yet I like that.

Brittney Stinnett:

But I am working on it by the end of the year I'll be a little over three and a half, $350,000 I'll be a little bit over that, which I've been in the industry for four years but I've really only been producing about two and a half. So it's not been a hardcore all four years going out, so I'm very proud of that.

Brent Kelly:

Well, so many takeaways, again, just listening to you... I told you the audience she's very likable and she just is, but she's really good for so many reasons at what she does. And again I don't think it has to always be a male/female thing, and it's just the obvious thing. But you're right there's so much talent that there should be in the insurance world more females. Because again you're just proof of what's out there and the opportunities are there. But I also think of it too is and again it's not just all male or female, but when you think about things like empathy, you think about things of being humble and humility I think Brittney's already demonstrated what that looks like. And a big part of just asking really good questions and determining your value.

Brent Kelly:

And so along those lines I want to go into my next question which is one of the big reasons, many reasons why I wanted you on this podcast. But we were doing, and again just to give some backstory, Peel & Holland the agency that Brittney represents, we started partnering with them officially this year. And so Brittney, you attended the ProducerFit program, which is one of the programs that our agencies get to participate in. And I think you started in the one in late January, is that right?

Brittney Stinnett:

Yes. Yes. That's correct.

Brent Kelly:

So we ended the actual program sometime in March I don't remember the exact date, you probably know. But we always want to do follow-ups and we have monthly sales meetings, but we had a fun little game that we ran using our app, our Sitkins app and Brittney was one of the winners. And we said, well, for the winners let's do a group coaching call. And just prior to that, actually, I don't know if it was prior or right after but you came on the call, we had a great discussion.

Brent Kelly:

And then your sales leader actually reached out to me personally, Paul. And he said Brittney has already achieved her annual goal. And we're basically about a quarter of the way through the year in essence of where you were. And so my question is setting all this up is how have you been able to start 2021 with such strong results, and to interrupt my own question your book of 350 for two and a half years in is a pretty good career for a lot of producers out there. And I'm being serious of what's out there and there's no doubt you'll be a million dollar producer and beyond, I have no doubt in my mind. But how have you started this year? What has helped you hit some of those goals this year in 2021, Brittney?

Brittney Stinnett:

Yeah, that's a great question. And it would have to go back into 2020. You didn't know this Brent but I hit my goal in May last year.

Brent Kelly:

Woo.

Brittney Stinnett:

It was smaller than this year so I did increase it. But when I hit my goal one of the owners called me and he was congratulating me. We were home in COVID in all of the restrictions and one of the questions he asked me, "What are you going to do next?" And I thought a lot about that because I could choose to increase my goal and continue to push myself. Or I know I'm young in the industry and I'm an avid learner and time is our greatest asset. So I wanted to take the remainder of the year and grow professionally to grow on my technical side, on the sales process and sales business and servicing my clients and developing a CRM, all the things that I've seen or heard that successful advisors had but it wasn't in my daily routine yet.

Brittney Stinnett:

And so I went out and I found someone else on our team too and I said, "Will you be my mentor?" That was the biggest key is that they are a leader in our sales team, but also is that he's a partner at our firm. And I said, "Will, you be a mentor?" And that's a big ask, not because he's intimidating or that hadn't been an offer for anyone else in the company. But when you ask that mentor, you're asking them to challenge you, to push you and to show you your blind spots, but also to celebrate with you, to hold you accountable and you have to grow. And so we set those ground rules very early and we meet weekly. And through that, they didn't feed my pipeline, but instead I got to drive the conversation, "Here's the industry I want to focus in on. Here's where I think I want to grow. What should be on this list? What am I missing? Where are my blind spots?"

Brittney Stinnett:

And through that, "Hey, I'm going to make these calls this week. I have no idea what to say." So coaching me through that piece and actually, Brent, one time during our conversations he's like, "You're missing something and I can't give that to you. And you know what, I'm going to call someone who laid the foundation for my career. I want you to meet with Roger Sitkins." And he's like, "I'm going to give him a call and see what he's doing and I think that's what you need, and if it's not we'll find something else." And so I think it was around the time that he was actually launching your online trainings because of all the restrictions.

Brittney Stinnett:

And so that's how I got, our company got really involved and engaged with Roger and I got connected to ProducerFit and I loved it. It's a wonderful program and I can't implement everything and it's frustrating and that's a big challenge for me is when you're growing so much information is coming at you and how do you process, which ones should you pick up now and start working at it daily and which ones do you save for later. And Sitkins has really helped to lay that groundwork and that path for me to take.

Brent Kelly:

That's so good on so many levels. And obviously the one part there from our training is you can't implement it all we said that many, many times, but what's interesting is growth, hungry producers that's really hard for them. Because like, "Yeah, but I want to do that. And I want to do that. And I want to do that." Just get focused and stay consistent in a few areas and keep growing. I'm hoping I really do that the listeners, I don't care whether you've been in the business a long time, you're running the agency, you're a producer or certainly you're newer. Hopefully you're taking some notes and thoughts of what Brittney just stated because I truly believe... People might say, "Well, this is generic." But it's true. The number one characteristic that I see with producers who are successful, and this is true of any insurance professional probably of any professional is they're coachable.

Brent Kelly:

They want to be coached. Think about the best producers. They want to be coached. They want to be held accountable. The worst ones don't. Success leaves clues as we always say. And so how do you find someone who wants to be coachable? Well, that's a really good question but you can sometimes you just kind of see it and feel it. Like, "I want more. Tell me what I could do." So coachability was huge and you've heard me say, Brittney, that the greatest investment that you can ever make is the one into yourself. Of where do I need to get better personally? Where can I improve professionally? And you're not going to have all the answers. And those are really hard questions, but that's what high achievers do and I applaud you so much that you found a mentor. Someone there that as you said no one's forced to be a mentor, but I will tell you is I've even transitioned in my career.

Brent Kelly:

I still want to be a mentee, but I can now find myself being a mentor in kind of both of those roles, there's nothing more satisfying that people that really want it and you can give them just something. A little something. And so I can think back just... You've never heard me share this story Brittney, but back early in my insurance career the first agency I started with, I went through a lot of different trainings and they were really helpful. In fact, some that were affiliated to some degree with some of the Sitkins stuff, they were just different names at that time. But the best thing I ever did was I found a couple of mentors and I just hung out with them. I just watched what they did, how they interacted with people. I was able to ask questions and they knew that I cared so they would give stuff back.

Brent Kelly:

And it's just obviously my thing that I want to share to listeners is if you're a hungry to find a mentor they will appear. It doesn't mean it's always going to be easy, "Well, I asked someone and they said, 'No.'" Well, then you don't really want a mentor. But if you have the right state of mind you say, "Listen, I'm really looking to take my career to the next level. I've been watching you. I really appreciate what you do out there. Would you be willing to mentor me and help me if I have questions." I will tell you people will step up to do that. I'm kind of rambling here, Brittney, but I love what you shared. Anything you want to add to that, just in that conversation.

Brittney Stinnett:

I agree completely. The mentorship, it's changed the trajectory of my success at Peel & Holland. There's so many lessons that I have learned from him and just it's exciting to see because he’s sharing in my vision. He wants to see me just as successful and it's not about him in those moments when we meet it's like, "Okay, Brittney, what can I do to help you? I'm working for you." Part of that whole point I'm choosing, "Hey, I'm hiring you." And he's willing to do that and step up and it's not just for me, that's what's so great. He's like, "If I can do it for others-" I do I think if you're looking for it, you can find it. I'm confident you can find someone who wants to see young producers who are hungry to be successful.

Brent Kelly:

That's so good. I'll just say this, you are who you hang out with and that's Jim Rohn, you're the average of the five people you hang out the most, all those different things. I heard this early in my career. I'm like, "Okay, that sounds good." I'm like, "Well, okay. I'll listen and do my best for it," but it's just one of those things of your associations do matter. And again if you seek it out, "Well right now Brent my associations aren't very good. 'Okay. Well, start to find some new ones.'" It's not going to happen overnight, but just seek to find people who have been places you want to go and learn from them. And that's how you quantum leap your career. I've had those conversations with Rogers Sitkins as well like, "How can I help quantum leap your career to help you take you, take you places faster that you don't have to learn all the stupid things that I did. I can help you with some of that."

Brent Kelly:

Again, thanks for sharing that's so powerful. And just thinking about, again, associations it's peers, it's mentors, it's coaches, and we were certainly fortunate. We learned so much from people that go through our program. You mentioned you started ProducerFit in January, but you couldn't implement everything. Just for the audience’s sake, again, we're not having to go through everything for the sake of time, but what were some of the key takeaways for you Brittney in particular from just the producer program itself and what are you applying? What's jumping out at you right now?

Brittney Stinnett:

Like you said there's so much information and I actually created a list after each session of what I'm going to implement now and what's for later, because it's so good. Biggest thing I'm working on is the greatness tracker, the weekly tracker and that's just a weekly pulse check of, "Okay, here are the things that I want to focus on now." And each week I fill it out and I have a grade and it's a... So many times we meet with our coach quarterly or annually. And by then we've created new habits and they can be bad habits and it's hard to break that cycle. And if you're working well ahead of the renewal cycle, and you have those bad habits where you don't have enough, you're behind, you're running behind, we have to work so many days ahead of the renewal.

Brittney Stinnett:

And so, with the greatness tracker, I catch my blind spots or where I'm dropping the ball at faster and I'm able to pivot and get back on track. And so that's what I love about the greatness tracker. The PODs has been a game changer. I used to be intimidated to do your low-risk practice, but once you find out what separates you apart from the competition it's easier to practice because you know the value you're bringing to your future ideal clients. And so that's been fun I don't have five PODs that I can memorize and go through that process and I'm still growing, but I do have two and I'm working on a third one this quarter and I'm just going to continue to grow and master those skills, so when those conversations come up I'm confident in what I'm offering to the client.

Brent Kelly:

Wonderful. Part of it, you said you can't have them in all of it, but those are again... I jokingly, I started doing this on the more recent ProducerFit sessions. So I don't think you heard me say this but every session I ever start off I go, "Well, you're all in luck because this is my favorite session today." But I have fun with it because I do enjoy each session because they're unique, but they're also important. But as you said, you've got to find those that really apply to you as you move forward, and they all tie together. But just to start with the greatness tracker and some people might be thinking, "What is she talking about the greatness tracker?" In essence and again just to give the audience some context it's just a very basic checklist.

Brent Kelly:

And of course, we have producers customize and I'll ask you Brittney if you've customized yours a little bit, just that you can look at as you said your habits and behaviors. Because we always say you can't manage your numbers. And this is what happens to a lot of producers happens to agencies is, "Well, I want my growth rate to be better or my retention to be better." And it's like, "Well, how do I manage that? 'Well, go sell more.'" Okay. That's not a strategy that's just a wish or a hope. But the greatness tracker says, "What are the few things that I need to do exceedingly well every single week, that are going to keep me accountable and on the right track." I think that was really important what you said, there's something that I believe Brittney called the drift, which is no different than if you're on a lake or an ocean I guess whether it be faster.

Brent Kelly:

And you start off when you're kind of there close to shore and all of a sudden, maybe you fall asleep or something happens you look back and go, "How did I get so far away from where I was? It's just that drift." And if we don't have something every week to say, "Am I doing the right things?" And to catch it before it gets too far away, it is very easy for producers to drift. So maybe could you give one example from your greatness tracker, that's been the most impactful for you to track every week?

Brittney Stinnett:

Yes. I'm not very good at it. And I think that's why I'm going to say this, writing notes every week. Taking time to write a personal handwritten note, the ones that I have sent a few of them of the client or even the future ideal client has responded, or I've seen them out in passing, "Hey, I got your letter. Thank you for that." And I need to remember those when I make excuses of, "I don't want to write that note card today." Or, "What do I say? I want it to be personal but short." And just finding the words and getting in your head but I think that's so rare now because you get so many emails and to take time to write those notes and make a difference, "Hey, I'm thinking about you and you are valuable. And I just want you to know that." So I've seen a lot of return on that.

Brent Kelly:

Yeah. That's very complex things we teach Brittney, right? That thank you card.

Brittney Stinnett:

Yeah. I know.

Brent Kelly:

I'm obviously joking when we say it's really easy to do, but it's really easy not to do. And that's for a lot of things that we see, but again, these small deposits that you're making with that is important. And one of the things we talk about and this is again one aspect, we actually have 10 areas of the greatness tracker. And again, producers can customize this as need fit. But one of them is just would you write five thank you cards every week, and just put five cards on your desk and by Friday make sure they're gone. That I'm just thinking about you as these visual reminders so that's awesome. I do want to ask you about the PODs because you might've used the word PODs.

Brent Kelly:

I've used it on this podcast before, but if you don't know, POD stands for points of differentiation. We always talk about trying to differentiate, but you mentioned within PODs so you try to differentiate yourself. And we asked producers to come up with five, but I love the fact that you have two and you're using them effectively. And you’re smiling I know people can't see we're doing this video and you're laughing at me a little bit, but the point of it is to have two really good ones, is way more established than many producers out in the marketplace. But part of that then you mention the low-risk practice. So what has practicing just how you present yourself and your value meant for your confidence and your success overall Brittney?

Brittney Stinnett:

It has leaps and bounds of my confidence by just practicing. And I used to just run through my head what I thought it would be, but I never spoke out loud or talked to a teammate of, "Hey, I'm going out let me practice on you." And having those PODs and they're like, "Hey, that was actually a closed-ended question. Why don't you reword it this way?" And working with other teammates getting another coworker to come in here and say, "Hey, do you have five minutes? Let's walk through this." Or really challenge me, find out where it's uncomfortable. If I have to ask the direct question coaching me through that of, "Here's how you should word it," or, "I feel uncomfortable did you mean-" Just even your presence when you walk in that room because now we're getting back out there.

Brittney Stinnett:

We're meeting with people face-to-face again. And so just how you present yourself and make them feel is so important. Especially on the first meeting people don't know you and they're sizing you up quickly to see if they like you and you're relatable. And so it's very important I feel in that first meeting to just make a great impression and be genuine when you meet with them.

Brent Kelly:

Well Brittney, you heard us say this a million times - be conversational and comfortable. And I think what practice does, it helps you be conversational, confident, and comfortable. And for so many insurance professionals, certainly producers out in the marketplaces they just kind of wing it and hope that they'll be okay. And you've heard us say this, "You can do okay. You can do okay, but you'll never get to level you could or should be. And more important there's so many opportunities you'll miss because you're going to either walk away or be hesitant because you're not as confident. 'Well, how do you get confidence?'” You could practice. And we always joke about it but it's like could you imagine... Here's a thought for all the sales leaders that are listening to this, the agency leaders that run sales departments in particular. Could you imagine a sports team, let's just use football for this example, they go out to practice on Tuesday.

Brent Kelly:

And they all walk around and they stand around the sidelines of the field and they just talk about stuff. They never go out in the field and actually run some reps and the drills. It's like, "Well, of course they wouldn't be, that's silly." But how often do we see insurance professionals, "Well, I'm kind of talking about this and this and may do that," but they don't get in front of a camera. They don't get with a coworker. They don't get with a mentor or coach and say, "Could you help me fine tune this question? How do I ask it better? What am I missing? How do I position myself?" So kudos, kudos to you. It's a big reason why you hit your goal in a quarter-

Brittney Stinnett:

Yes.

Brent Kelly:

.. because you did some of these things. And you're setting yourself apart. I did not prepare you for this question, so I apologize.

Brittney Stinnett:

That's okay.

Brent Kelly:

But I wanted to talk real world. Can you think of an example where you've been out and because you've been prepared, because you've done some practice, that you could tell immediately that you ask a question or position something where this future ideal client is like, "I don't know, Brittney no one's asked me that before." You can just tell immediately that your level of credibility went way, way up because of the time you put in before that meeting.

Brittney Stinnett:

Yes. I don't remember the exact question but the end result, which I'll tell you in a minute how I know I earned their trust. So I had called on this client last year, this future ideal client last year and I didn't get much traction. It just wasn't going anywhere, whatever the excuses were and I wasn't very confident. And so I actually had missed out this year. I'd lost an account, not a lost account but I was presenting, and they chose to stay with the incumbent and I was so down. I was like, "I should have won this." So instead of just having a pity party, I sent out 30 emails and phone calls to different people and they responded and said, "We want to meet with you this year." So I followed back up and we got an initial meeting and it was a Zoom meeting, and it was just supposed to be an initial conversation just to talk to them about what their experiences are, very open and learn about their business and then talk about next steps.

Brittney Stinnett:

And I was like, "Okay, we're getting to the next steps." And they're like, "Well, can we just do it with you?" And I was like, "Oh, okay, sure!" And so I was like, "Here's the process." So at that point we uncovered it wasn't the placement of insurance that was the pain point, it was just the level of care and wanting to know about their business and understanding what their needs are and their employees needs were, and that if we could meet those then they wanted to do business with us. So I would say at that point, I couldn't tell you which question I asked but it was several of them for them to give me an AOR. And I was very, very excited and taken back.

Brent Kelly:

Brittney, that's what we call a buying signal when they say, "Could you just maybe take this over. Can you do this?"

Brittney Stinnett:

"Sure. Why not?"

Brent Kelly:

"Yeah. I probably could figure that out."

Brittney Stinnett:

It was funny I had to contain my smile because I was like, "Sure."

Brent Kelly:

Cover your mouth like, "Sure. We could do that. That's something we can consider." Part of that is that we talk about points of differentiation and specifically asking really good questions that you're prepared for and you continue to reinforce. We always say that these agent of record letters, for example, or broker of record letters are the outcome of a really good process. And what you did is you walked them through a process to help them see things that maybe they didn't see in that light before, not because you told them a bunch of stuff. How great Peel & Holland is and, "I'm the greatest in the world. And we do this and we do that," because you just were patient and prepared and asked really good questions. Awesome. Awesome story. All right. I have one more question for you and then I'll let you go out and sell more business, how does that sound?

Brittney Stinnett:

Sounds good.

Brent Kelly:

All right. We talked a little bit about some of the things that you've done in your mentorship, so that may be part of this answer but whatever comes to your heart or mind please share. A lot of agents out there they've got a new producer or maybe a struggling producer and so one or two they plateaued or just can't get it going. As someone who's been in the business for four years, already written 350,000 to book and I'm telling you will be a million dollar producer very soon and beyond. What's one piece of advice that you would give?

Brittney Stinnett:

I would say to a new and struggling producer, own your success. Take responsibility. I am sure if you're a listener to the Agent Leader podcasts, or a part of Sitkins, or considering to be a part of Sitkins Network. You work for a company who wants to see you be successful, who wants to support you but it's a life-long haul and we're still trying to master what exact steps you need to take to be successful, they have all the tools and generations of knowledge and wisdom and people who want to help you, but they don't know where you're at. And if you can own, "Okay, here's who I want to be. And here's where I'm at."

Brittney Stinnett:

And you humble yourself and you say, "I need help. I'm going to go ask and I'm going to go find it." And allow those people to come into your life and invest in you and coach you through those processes as you are growing then I don't see why you can't be successful because you have a team, you're not doing it by yourself. I think if you're sitting... The flip side is just waiting for someone to come invest in you. And a lot of times at least I sense that other people are watching. Do you want it for yourself? Do you have the drive to say, "I want to be successful. I want to work here forever. And for a long time and I care about my clients." And so by owning that piece and going and asking for advice and your success then I think you can take on anything. At least I'm optimistic about it.

Brent Kelly:

No listen you've proven it. And again, I wanted to have you on here because I knew you'd be authentic and genuine and share value to the audience and you, boom, you hit the home run Brittney. So great job. As you said it's funny because there's two parts. The last part which I love is that you own your success. And you mentioned this briefly, but at Sitkins we have Me, Inc that you're Me, Inc that you own your company and you're accountable to that of your success. But guess what, you're also part of We, Inc, which is the agency, about what you said earlier the mentors, and the coaches, and the people. And that's part of owning it is, "I'm going to own to seek out the right people."

Brent Kelly:

"Well, I don't know anybody." Well, look harder. And I will say this to you, you are in a great environment with Peel & Holland and what they do and the resources, but every single insurance professional I guess there's two ways of looking at it. Will you truly own it? Will you truly own it? And if you're an agency leader, are you giving your team the resources and tools and the capability to grow as much as they can, someone like Brittney who's just absolutely flourishing at Peel & Holland. So Brittney thank you so much for being with me. I appreciate it. You were awesome. Any last words or anything you want to say before to the audience before we go?

Brittney Stinnett:

No. Just thank you, Brent, for inviting me to be a part of your podcast. That you even think that I would be, have some words of advice to give to those who have a lot more experience than I do in the insurance agency. So I'm very humbled and honored to be here. And thank you, thank you, thank you, Brent. Keep up the podcast because I love them.

Brent Kelly:

Well, thank you. I appreciate that. Again, thanks to all the listeners for being part of this. If you enjoy this episode and others, please go and subscribe and give a rated review. We're always looking to grow this podcast to a bigger audience and help more agencies sell more, retain more, earn more all by becoming their best version possible. And as Brittney mentioned too as part of the network, and again we are continuing to look to grow the network moving into the fall season and beyond. Just go to sitkins.com/aim to learn more about our all-inclusive membership. So with that I wish you all the best in your success. Thanks.