The Perfect 100

Hello and welcome back to the perfect 100.

I am Tammy Zarek, your host.

am a business coach in the East Memphis chapter in case you're looking and I am here to
talk to you today about smart networking, leveraging your strengths and creating

measurable success in BNI.

Today's guest is a 20 plus year insurance professional who's built a reputation on taking
care of uh

things that protecting her clients basically.

And in a field where trust and education are key, she has earned a name for making
insurance not only approachable but empowering for her people.

She's also been a BNI member for 13 years.

Before we jump in and talk to her, I wanna remind you to go to BNI, The Perfect 100 and
download that free.

networking tracker um that will get you some things outside of BNI that you can use to
help improve your networking.

But now let's go back and jump in.

Hi Michelle, how are you today?

Good morning, Tammy.

I'm great.

Thank you.

That was a wonderful introduction.

Awesome.

Let's go ahead and start with your 45 seconds so everybody knows who you are.

well great.

Well, I am Michelle Wilson, owner agent of State Farm Insurance, Michelle Wilson Agency,
located in East Memphis, Biserve, Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama, and Arkansas.

And we are built on trust, integrity, and educating our clients.

uh We believe in teamwork, mutual respect, and continuous learning, all with shared
commitment to helping people manage the risks of everyday life and recover from the

unexpected so they can realize their dream.

Our vision is simple, to be the insurance agency our community knows for remarkable
service, products, knowledge, and long-term relationships built on honesty and trust.

Our mission is clear, helping families and businesses protect what matters most.

We want to be the first and best choice for insurance and financial services.

And this isn't just about insurance, it's about making sure people we serve have
confidence, security, and the right agency team to help them when life takes the

unexpected turn.

All right, so talk to me about insurance.

How long you started your business?

27 years ago, how did you get into insurance?

Why insurance?

uh I really wanted to help and serve our community.

I live in a small town uh outside north of Memphis and I was a banker in the town.

I loved helping the community, the schools.

uh I handled a lot of their accounts, but I realized I just kind of hit a level where I
wasn't going to be able to help them on different platforms.

And so I started really thinking about what industry could I get into that I can help
people manage things that

a car accident wiped them out financially or an unexpected illness or injury did not wipe
them out financially.

How can they receive a paycheck?

When those things happen, they're very unexpected.

And opening savings accounts just wasn't doing it for me.

I wanted a bigger platform and more options and products for those clients to be able to
be taken care of.

And so that's why I started looking into insurance industry.

I thought I was going to be real estate.

I came from a real estate family.

I loved it.

However, insurance was kind of filling all the dots for me and I loved it.

And so I went to work for an agent in town who happened to be my father-in-law.

had to talk him into it and we worked it out and it was fantastic.

He was a great mentor.

The gentleman I worked for at the bank, they were great mentors to me.

A woman I worked for in the insurance.

uh and real estate industry, fantastic mentors.

So I realized quickly, oh, I love this.

And I love the opportunity it gave me, not just to have my own business, provide jobs, a
good environment for my employees, but to help people.

And that's really why I got into it.

And I love it.

I've never looked back regretting it.

It's been fantastic.

Awesome, I love that you mentioned mentors.

I've done the same in my career.

I feel like every step along the way, I've sought out mentors on purpose.

I'm kind of one of those people I don't like to spend a lot of time doing things that
somebody else has already proved don't work.

I would rather figure out what they did do well and do that than make it my own.

I love that mentors played a big part in your getting you where you are today.

Absolutely.

Absolutely.

And I wanted to do it with a company that was financially strong.

And so I looked at different companies and that's how I landed at State Farm because I
knew they could back the promise.

Right?

If I'm talking to a family or individuals or business owners, we could back that promise
that we're human-tending.

That was very important to me.

Awesome, so you've been in business for 20 some years, how has your business changed or
grown over the years?

Well, I'm working a little bit smarter.

You know, when you're you're first starting out, you're kind drinking out fire hose.

You've got all these wonderful things going on.

You're excited.

You're living your dream.

You're pursuing your passion.

uh And, know, sometimes you just put your hands in fires of different things that you
think are going to work.

And one of them was marketing.

Like I'm I'm so much better at marketing and how I spend my time because time.

Is our most precious commodity.

It's our most important thing we have.

We can never get it back, right?

So how are going to spend it?

So in my business, you know when you're launching, you're really building that and I
needed strong relationships in, you know, East Memphis, Germantown area.

I needed strong connections.

That's just something I'm very passionate about.

It's important to me to have that so uh creating that network around me and you know I
tried different things, but when I landed in.

BNI and I saw the focus and the drive and the accountability.

Not only that, but the professionals and the training.

mean, you know, we encourage each other and lift each other up and we bring each other to
a standard that uh really, really helped me really grow that area of my business.

And then, uh you know, I just was smarter with my time.

I had to be smart about how I used that time and where did I get the most bang for my
buck.

And naturally wanting to help people, being I was fabulous because you're really helping
other people get to their goals as well.

And it's so exciting to see somebody who's coming in and they're in this field that
they're just super passionate about, super excited about, and you are part of that growing

and vice versa.

And you learn about their journey and how they got there.

um So it's the same with my clients.

I'm learning about their journey.

I'm learning about how they got there and then where do they want to go.

It translates into that.

So I really took a lot of the things I use for my business already, brought it into BNI,
and then BNI helped enhance some of that.

ah And then, know, spending things that help with the community.

So a lot of

A lot smarter with my time, would have to say, know, just busyness doesn't mean
productive.

And is it adding is it adding value?

Is it adding value to your your business?

Is it adding value to your community and your relationships?

Yeah, I agree with that.

think, you know, when I think about the people I've coached, they're often kind of getting
started in their first business or a year or two in and they're trying to figure it all

out and they're doing all the things, right?

is when you're a solopreneur, you're everything.

You're doing all of the marketing, all of the sales, all of the work, all of the cleaning,
all the things.

So, you know, you have to figure out how to allocate your time.

So I love that.

Sounds like BNI, that's what brought you to BNI was the

building your network piece.

uh If you think back to you and I were in the original, my first chapter, I've spoken
about many a time, we were in the same original chapter and now we've found ourselves back

in the chapter that we're in together now.

We both went to other places and then ended up where we are again.

So we've both gone full circle.

If you think back to when you first started in BNI, what was the most challenging part, do
you think, of learning how to network in this way?

I think the most challenging part was uh making time to do the one-to-ones.

And I really had to be intentional with that uh because we feel like we're always so busy,
but it's really important to be busy with those important pieces and understanding that

this is time well spent when you're doing that.

The meeting itself was always very engaging, but it's very limited on where you get to
really know somebody, their drive, their passion, what they do well, how they do it, and

what's a good referral and vice versa.

It's just as important for them to understand how to refer you and your business and build
confidence in each other because that's really important.

That trust is something that I found in BNI, but

engaging in the one-to-ones you have to be very intentional with.

You've got to make time for that.

It's important.

Sure, yeah, and I love that we, it's even their structure for a one-to-one, right?

I think I remember my early days and people would come and visit the chapter and they'd
call me afterwards, hey, can we meet?

They weren't gonna be an BNI member and their intention in meeting me was to tell me all
about them and they didn't ask a single question about me.

And I was like, and we find that at other.

networking venues, know, where things are outside of BNI is people will they, you know,
hand out their business cards right and left and they only want to talk about them.

And that isn't, as we all know, if we're listening and you're in BNI, you know, it's a two
way street as we're trying to help the giver's gain of it all is we've got find out about

each other and getting into those one to ones is really where that and the structure for a
one to one because even that I show

know, people come to one-to-one with me and I'm known in our chapter, they say, it's not a
Tammy one-to-one.

You sometimes when they have one-to-ones, there's a difference between a Tammy one-to-one
and other one-to-ones apparently.

No, I love the structure and it really helps me share with them too, you know, just who
I've been with and maybe that's somebody they're looking for and vice versa.

And it really helps facilitate a productive meeting time together.

And really a lot of times we can leave together, are we having referrals before we leave
the meeting?

So it's very, that structure is fantastic.

Yeah, and hopefully that's the case, That's what we're looking for, is when we get
together that we can find those things for each other.

Let's have a look at your power of one scores.

So on the screen, we have an, will read it because not everybody's watching, some people
are listening.

um So we have a score of 50 in the yellow, attendance is 15 points in the yellow,
referrals per week are 20 points in the green, visitors per week are zero in the gray,

One to ones are 15 in the yellow and CEUs are zero in the gray.

So when you look at that, what are your first impressions of your own report?

I'm not sure because I do see use every week.

uh Visitors are the one the area that I want to work more on.

I feel like which is fantastic.

A lot of people I've invited they've attended or they're they want to attend again.

They've never been so they're really not first time visitors.

And that's all that counts on those reports are first time visitors.

And so that's an area where I'm trying to be more intentional with people who've who've
never visited BNI uh and you know have them come that way.

You know, CEUs, there's so much great education out there.

And I've been watching your podcast and I've been watching Be Nice, so I shouldn't have
zero.

So what that tells me is, hey, I better start logging these things better because our
technology is so good.

It's so much easier than the way it used to be.

And I just think back and think, wow, my.

you know, thank you for closed business giving could be so much different if we would have
had that kind of technology and the tracking systems and the resources.

We have so many great things with BNI.

So I do know in the whole scope of that, visitors is really something I'm working hard on
and really first time visitors so they can experience this.

Because I'm sure they're just like us when you know they're starting, they're running
their business, they're doing all these things and they're just touching little, you know,

points but

Are they really getting any ROI on that?

Are they really getting relationships?

so visitors is the one area I'm really going to hone in.

And let's have a look at the Palms report while we're here.

So this is the last 23 weeks.

So absences, you've had uh a couple subsets, which is perfectly fine, uh one absence.

uh Referrals given inside 11, referrals given outside 28.

Referrals received inside two, referrals received outside 15.

Visitors zero, one to ones, 22.

And thank you for Close Business Given $54,608 and CEU7.

So a reminder, because you said the podcast is a CEU.

So if you're listening and you're being, remember going, give yourself a CEU if you listen
to this whole thing.

You got to stay till the end though, because it's an hour's one credit.

That's right.

And I would say as well, because I've had visitors and so if there's ever an issue that
just tells me I need to go and make sure they're registered somewhere because that is an

issue.

I've had several visitors so tabs there on them like, that's all right.

But we can get it fixed and that's the beauty of it, right?

Yeah, for sure.

I think I've said this before as well, but if you're just listening to this one and
haven't heard it before, everybody has access.

This is your personal Palms, so everybody can go in periodically if you think something.

You get on the app, you can pull on your phone and see what the totals are, but if it
looks wrong, then you can go to your personal Palms report, which is what we just showed,

and I'm going this way because I have it up on the screen, and it kind of shows.

every single week, what was what.

So if you're missing something, then for sure that's how you fix it.

And you can speak to your VP about getting those things updated.

um So in BNI itself, have you felt like it's made a steady impact for you or is it been
kind of an up and down journey over time?

feel it's made a steady impact for me.

There's been moments where, and they were brief, where I thought maybe this isn't working
out for me or, this is a lot of time right now.

But those are moments that uh I really had to reengage in activities and find a group that
was engaged.

That is so important.

uh That level of expectation.

uh

to encourage each other and help each other through that.

You notice how high my referrals were, right?

I have high thank you for closed business.

That's because I truly believe in that giver's gain portion of it, know, really helping
people.

Plus you are with people in industries that will help you stay motivated.

Sometimes you're just not.

Sometimes there's days you're like, oh, so much.

So finding the right group and, you know,

doing the things the one to ones to see use all the things that lead to that.

It does inspire I've been in a long time.

uh And if you're you're not doing those things, it will not work for you could be
discouraging and uh that they work.

It's a proven fact.

I mean, I've loved it just had a little at one time, but that was something I just picked
myself up refocused.

And it's great.

It's been nothing but positive for my business and

my team as well.

bring my team to the meetings.

It's very positive for them

Yeah, awesome.

And you mentioned something there that is, I think something that lot of people, I don't
know if the right word is suffer with, but if you're in the chapter that isn't as engaged,

it kind of can be a suffer, you suffer the consequences, I guess, of, I think it's the
rising tide raises all ships.

If we're all growing in the same direction and we're all striving to be at the top of our
game, that tends to,

I don't want to say force people, but it inspires people to, you know, be more, you know,
do more, get more.

And that's kind of the whole idea of why we track stuff is if we if we can measure the
power of one and the palms, whatever are all designed to show you what everyone is getting

out of it, right?

What's everybody putting in and what's everybody getting out because you can

There are plenty of circumstances.

I've pulled up the chapter, Palms Report, and showed it to people.

And several times I've seen where people are giving a lot, but they're not getting a lot.

conversely, some people are getting a lot and not giving a lot.

And if we never look at that, it becomes uh there's no change ever to happen.

So if you were

counseling somebody, you're one of the mentor coordinators in our chapter, if you were
counseling someone that was maybe not getting as much out of it or taking and not giving,

what would you do to maybe give them advice on how they might shift that engagement?

I would first encourage them to use the process for one-to-ones.

A lot of times when we see that, it may be that they don't really understand what that
other person's looking for, or they don't understand how to refer them.

And so what I try to do when I'm mentoring somebody, I'll give them like a little mock
one-to-one and I'll try to be in their world.

who are the people they are connecting with daily in their business?

Now, how can they incorporate my business into what they're doing already, right?

Who they're talking with and vice versa.

And we'll kind of play that, but the one-on-ones really help them and be transparent.

Just say, I'm really having a hard time referring to you or you're not in my radar.

Well, make sure you have a good...

45 second as well.

So you are in the radar, be very specific.

Sometimes it's just little tweaks.

I'll have mentor meetings with people and I'll be like, I had no idea that was the type of
business you were looking for.

Mention that, say that.

That's great.

It works great.

So I would really encourage them for that.

And then I also just see, you know, where they're at, how they're feeling, what do they
think is going well?

What are the areas they feel they can improve upon?

And then how much of that are they going to be intentional with?

And then we try to get them to schedule one-to-one, you know, right then and there with
another member maybe they think they would do well with that they want to refer to, but

they're not clear on how to refer to them.

A power partner, basically, something like that.

Yeah, I think it's, we're often, I don't know what they're, it's not afraid, we're, we
kind of tippy toe around the fact that, hey, you're not getting, you're not being clear.

You know, a lot of people will, they think it's clear what they're saying, and in reality,
what we're hearing isn't what they're putting, what they think they're putting out there.

So, having that sort of heart to heart with somebody is, look,

I know you think you're, at least I think you think you're being clear, but I'm not
picking up or they're using too much jargon.

You know, a lot of people, have to do the, what is it, the fifth grader?

Is that the third grader or fifth grader?

Talk to me like there's a show um and speak to me like I am in third grader or fifth
grade, because when you're using a ton of acronyms, you might think everybody knows, but

they don't.

So it's good to have somebody kind of bounce and even ask for that feedback as,

I have a list of questions I got from years ago that if you've done a one-to-one with
someone several times over, one of the questions, and I have them on my phone stored so I

can remember them all, but one of them is, what do you think I do?

And I think another one is, who do think I'm looking for?

And have the person tell you, and it's amazing what you hear back.

uh

you're not going to sometimes if you're being clear, you're getting exactly what you want,
but sometimes not.

And, you know, or they leave out, you know, they give you the one main thing, but they
leave out a couple of other things that you thought you were saying often enough to be

that they stick, but they don't.

So it's a great this, you know, who am I looking for is also a great, know, kind of they
they're not thinking who you're thinking.

So it's a good it's a good checks and balances thing.

All right, let's roll.

over to your So there we go.

So your number one strength is belief.

You have certain core values that are unchanging.

Out of these values emerge a defined purpose for your life.

Number two is responsibility.

You take psychological ownership of what you say you will do.

You are committed

Stable values such as honesty and loyalty.

Number three is positivity.

You have contagious enthusiasm.

You are upbeat and can get others excited about what you're going to do.

Number four is connectedness.

You have faith in the links among all things.

You believe that there are a few coincidences and that almost every event has meaning.

And number five is activator.

You can make things happen by turning thoughts into action.

You want to do things now rather than simply talk about them.

And you have also taken your full 34.

you have got that up for us.

So I'll give the rest of the six through 10.

uh Six is significance.

Seven is learner.

Eight is individualization.

Nine is woo and 10 is focus.

So when you first did this, what were your thoughts

it was very, um, I can't believe spot on and it made sense to me after going through it
and meeting with you and understanding a little bit more because really truly I am not

involved with anything if it does not serve a purpose and the purpose has to to better
something, right?

Better our community, better somebody's life, um, leave a positive impact, um,

you know, what's the footprint and legacy we're going to leave?

That is very important to me.

And then surrounding myself with people who can help get to that mission, but trust in
getting there.

And so I think when I started reading, was like, yeah, that's true.

And it means so much more to me too, to know that I'm connecting with people that have uh
these same type of things or goals.

Driven and it could be in business that could be personal life.

could be, um you know.

Making something better in like what Laura does a nonprofit agency.

It's so.

Important it matters so I will spend my time.

I will spend my dime.

I will give you those kind of things because uh it just will help everybody involved and
that's important to me.

Yeah, and it's funny when I was reading your assessment, one of the things, and I don't
remember exactly what the wording was, but you're always really good about welcoming the

visitors.

When we go around the room and do our 45 seconds or the sign off at the end, you always
make sure to include the visitors and thank them for coming.

I always think to myself,

I'm so glad you remembered to do that because it's important that we, I mean, we have the
Elba networking and all of that, but I think it's important that it's one more touch that

they feel important.

So I always appreciate that you're, I'm gonna guess that's your individualization kind of
coming in and positivity and connectedness all kind of working together to make sure

everybody feels like this is a great place for them to be.

um If you think about your strengths, can you think of a specific example where one of
them really helped you

push through a challenge or seize an opportunity, whether that's in BNI or just in your
business.

I would say, you know, I believe in what I do, right?

That's important.

But we have so many obstacles and so many things that we go through.

And sometimes things are great and sometimes they can be down.

But that responsibility, that commitment, that is really something that helps drive what
we do in our business, our agency.

We have a core value there that, you know, we are responsible.

to our clients, our customers.

We are responsible to each other in what we do.

We are responsible to the groups that we network with or are part of.

So responsibility is probably one of the things that really helps drive what I do because
there are some days you're just like, my God, I'm so, I'm overwhelmed a little bit, but

hey, you know why you're doing it.

Now do it.

You've got a responsibility here.

So, yeah, yeah, let's just get it done.

Yeah.

Yes.

Yeah.

direction and let's go.

So you've been in your business for a long time and I know a lot of people that are
listening to this have maybe they're starting out in their journey.

You know, you've I think that the key points are you make it past your first year.

you make it past your second year and then fifth year and then a decade, right?

So once you've kind of hit that decade, you should be smooth sailing because that's sort
of the indicator.

You've got enough systems in play and enough clients that you can keep things going.

Has there ever been a moment where you thought to yourself, I might not make it?

No, and I have not, you know, the first year I felt like I don't know if I want to make
it.

No, I'm just kidding.

The first year was really hard.

And I didn't think I wasn't going to make it, but I was exhausted.

And then the second year, little less exhausted.

But I will tell you, surrounding yourself, the power of words is so impactful.

Surrounding yourself.

with people who are positive and truthful that will help you.

Like if you are down, there's something that's not going right and maybe it's something
that, maybe a process you're doing or a hiring issue or something like that.

And you're able to have conversations with people who have been in the same situation ah
and how they overcame it, but they're truthful with you.

Cause maybe I was doing something wrong or maybe I was looking in the wrong places and
accepting that.

taking it and working with it to make it your own so you do succeed in the areas maybe
you're not doing well in.

That's important.

You should be able to do that.

Adapt it to what you need in your business and then move forward with it.

My mom was very impactful in my life.

She was very supportive in anything I did.

It could have been music.

It could have been, you know, school, an event, anything that I was a part of.

But having that positive influence into you and breathed into you, parents just don't
understand how much of an impact that is, especially when their children grow up.

And in business, it's important that you're surrounding yourself with people that are
positive and a good impact in your life, that it helps you drive and focus to your goals

every year and your longevity in your business.

I found that working with, I worked with a lot of photographers as a coach, helping them
build their business.

And for whatever the reason, think, I don't know if it's because it's a creative field or
why this is, and I think it's not probably limited to just photographers, but I found a

lot of family members to be less than supportive when they've gone out to start their own
business.

I don't know if that is a, they want them to

They're wary of the fact that, you know, maybe that's a hard business to get into and make
money at and support yourself with or oftentimes I feel like it can be a well, that's not

what we did.

You know, we worked for someone else and we we don't want it's kind of a how do I put this
it's sometimes can be perceived as a you're better than me because you're now out there,

you know, you think you can make it and

you know, that's not who we are.

Those are different people.

uh What would you, have you, and you had a supportive family, so it doesn't sound like
you've experienced that, if you could think to, if you were mentoring somebody who had

that circumstance where maybe they don't have a supportive family, uh what kind of advice
would you give them to kind of move around that?

I would say be brave and know your why.

um If this is something you want to pursue, uh then do it.

You'll get resistance no matter what field you go into.

I mean, I was starting my business when I had teenagers and some gay and go off to
college.

It was probably the most financially expensive time in our lives.

um But we wanted to do this.

in a way that would help support what needed to get done.

And we knew it was going to be hard.

If you really believe in what, and I have an artist for a son.

mean, I understand that concept and that thinking because as a parent, you're thinking,
can they make a living on this?

This is something they can do.

Well, if it's your dream, you're passionate about it.

you believe you can get it done, then you need to make sure that you're setting yourself
up to succeed.

You're going to be brave about it.

You're going to know your why and then do the things that will help make you successful.

I'll tell you, networking is probably one of the biggest things you can do to help with
your success and doing the right networking and finding a mentor in the field you're in

that you really admire and believe that you can learn from, but you can still make it your
own.

but you still want to surround yourself with that type of mindset.

Yeah, I love that.

We said a couple of things in there is that your artist son, so my husband is went to art
school.

And I think he probably, although his dad was an entrepreneur, but it was a very rocky
road.

They were up and then they were down and it was not good.

So I think he had some trepidation for lack of a better way of putting it about starting a
business.

he worked for, he didn't go into the art world because he, you know, like,

A lot of us, we think, well, uh I have a creative side.

I was a portrait photographer for, had a photography business for 12 years.

Most of us think, well, we can't make money in that field.

There's a limitation.

It's a roadblock that we put up in our head, but somebody's doing it.

Somebody is making money doing it.

Why not it be me?

The mentor piece you said was a big thing is surrounding yourself in the right mindset.

um I think our own limiting beliefs oftentimes lead us to not do things, right?

So have you ever had those thoughts or what is, maybe you had a challenging season in your
business.

What did you learn from that?

What was a lesson that you took away that would maybe inspire somebody else?

So I have had those moments, you know, there's, have to adapt, you know, our, our lives
change and technology changes, things change in the way that we are doing things change.

You know, we have to adapt to those things and you know, there's moments where you can,
you question like, do I have this to continue at this pace?

You know, and one of the things that really helped me get through was why?

Why was I doing this?

And then how do I make this better?

So I'm not always exhausted or always.

I can't run like this forever.

Don't give up.

OK, just step back and reevaluate.

Start with your why, why you're passionate about it, what you want to do with it.

And then reevaluate, we all have to do that as business owners.

Sometimes we're just running so fast and doing so fast and wearing so many hats that we
lose the drive, the why, the passion for it.

Step back, there's times where you need to step back and reevaluate.

um We don't get there because.

We're lazy.

You know, we get there because we had a vision and a dream and we were following it.

And it's not always easy.

And when you're in it, sometimes it can be hard.

mean, I remember Tammy, Tammy was my photographer and she went to Paris to do something
and she was sharpening her saw and she was surrounding herself with people.

Right, Tammy, you were surrounding yourself with people that you could.

help them and inspire them and you guys can motivate each other and just kind of re-engage
with that fire of why you were doing what you were doing.

I would say that to the entrepreneur.

Re-engage with the fire of what you are doing and why you want to do it and then reassess,
re-evaluate and refocus.

I love that.

so that Paris trip that you were talking about, uh I was helping teach a workshop there,
but I was there for three and a half weeks in Paris.

we had, we taught four workshops, but had a lot of downtime in between.

So we were uh diving deep into our creativity in the off days where we could explore and
bring things to, just reignite the passion, I guess is the best way to put that.

I think that's your.

your why.

know, there's a book called, uh gosh, think it's, oh it's something like the artist's
journey.

I can't remember exactly what the words are, but it speaks to when you're burnt out.

And I think that's a lot of us as well, as you get to a certain point and you mentioned
that time or you're just working like crazy.

And we often are like campsters on a wheel.

We just work, work, work, work, work, work.

And we're not using that time efficiently to

across all the different things that you need to accomplish.

like we just are working to be busy uh and not necessarily accomplishing something.

But taking that moment to step out of the grind, so to speak, and figuring out what feeds
your soul.

uh Taking that week off, I never take time off.

I never take it off.

I know, I'm the same way and I'm still thinking about work, yes.

But I will reassess, yeah.

part of my, or fortunately, I'm not sure how you're gonna look at it.

It's part of my strengths is I enjoy working all the time, you know, so it is very
challenging to unplug.

But sometimes you realize when you take that time for yourself and go do something that's
fun, that you enjoy, that feeds your soul, you know, all the words, that you come back

with new...

excitement, new passion, new all the things that are going to launch you forward.

ah What is um something that you what's a business decision that you made that you were
really happy that you made?

ah Maybe something that you were you weren't really sure what was the right way to go, but
you went that way and looking back at it, you're like, I'm so glad I did that.

I would have to say uh business decision.

You know, the process for my team, I've been so thankful for uh having a team that is
focused on our culture and our customer service.

That's really something that I personally work with each of them.

Whenever we bring our new team member, I'm super excited.

I got another new team member and we're looking forward to the growth in the agency.

One of the things I'm very, they don't dread, you know, coming to work.

The culture was very important to me.

then seeing how they've helped somebody when maybe an accident happens or a disability
protecting their paycheck, what they did on their front end and what we did as an agency

on the front end helped protect them through that situation.

And then we were with them all throughout.

So I really think

making sure the culture in the agency or your business, but for me, it was my culture and
my agency and then hiring, bringing in the right people that were smart, educated, they

could help the clients and they had empathy and compassion.

That was really important to me because you understand when you go somewhere and you get
horrible service, right?

You can go to dinner and have horrible service.

I mean, how do you feel when you leave there?

We want everybody to feel, including our team,

appreciate it, that we're grateful for them, we're thankful for them, and then leave just
feeling like that was a great experience, you know?

And then we adapt because technology, I can't even keep up with it sometimes.

It's so fast that we've even had to adapt to that doing more things like what you and I
are doing with the client through video and things like that.

We're just...

We're just really making sure we're staying on top of what's important.

And that to me is the best business decision you can do for your business.

It's like understanding your client, customer, what's important and having a good culture
in there.

Yeah, so a couple things you said in there kind of sparked some thoughts in my head is one
of the things is you guys are dealing with people potentially at their worst, As they lost

everything, um you know, they don't know which way is forward.

How do you cope with that?

How do you, when people are calling in and lost, you know, perceived loss of everything
that is precious to them, maybe even they've lost their family members.

How does that, how do you manage through that?

So we do deal with that a lot.

We have people who do lose family members or devastating fires where they're burnt down to
the ground.

uh They've lost everything.

And so we, as a team, when we're onboarding and developing and doing those things, we have
the conversations of what does that look like for them?

But how do we help them get to the point, how to focus and get to the point?

that they need to be at as far as a place to live.

Like we have a job.

Let's get them lined up for a place to stay because our home is uninhabitable.

I speak a lot to people who've lost family members.

We are very empathetic with them.

We are very concerned, caring.

We will send cards.

And we deal with a lot of that.

And a lot of that can really weigh on our hearts and minds.

So we do take time to disengage a little bit and work through

some of those things, uh talk through it.

I check on each of my team members, talk through things with them.

But really truly we're there to help the customer and they understand this.

I mean, they don't even get hired unless they understand we are dealing with serious
situations and this could be a scenario.

How do you feel about that?

What would you say to them?

And then we work through it.

But our job is to help people get through that.

I have an in-house claims representative that I

check on her all the time because claims are very stressful.

Auto claims, team drivers, know, all of that.

So we're communicating a lot to make sure that we are in a good space, that we get the
client to where they need to be taken care of, the customer taken care of.

And then we get tons of thank you cards.

And I give the thank you cards to the team.

I read them in our meetings.

I say, what you're doing matters.

How you help that person matters.

We have to take care of our minds and ourselves.

So we're ready to help them when those challenges come up for our customers.

And you also mentioned uh technology, which in today's world, it's changing at the speed
of light.

And AI is something that is really obviously taking a foothold and everybody's kind of
unsure where that's going to go.

Has that impacted your business at all?

For me directly, the way it's impacted, it's made a little fun.

You know, we can post, you know, little creative things.

um However, it is something that everybody should be a little concerned about if they're
in, you know, customer service or things like that.

It's to help make some of it easier because things can be generated.

If I have to do all my posts for a month, I can put in a topic and say, help me.

generate a post for this.

mean, it's really helped with efficiency, but we are always going to be answering the
phone.

Like I'm all about answering the phone, talking to the customer, answering the emails,
know, doing those things.

I think AI can be a very positive thing.

We've used it in a way that's helped enhance our agency.

I'm not living in fear, like I'm going to be wiped out by an AI machine.

You know, that kind of thing.

Because I think it's important, you the whole foundation of State Farm is that, you know,
agent and being there for the customer, being that good neighbor.

And so, you know, I can't say forever it won't be AI, but I would say right now, in the
time I'm in and how we're helping our customers today, it's, we're using it in a way that

helps enhance that customer experience.

Okay, so being in an insurance, what's something that people don't think about often and
they should think about often?

That's a great tip that you could give us that if you haven't thought about this, you
really should.

If you haven't thought about this, what I would say is what are you trying to protect and
what could get in the way of that?

Is it a car accident, low liability limits?

Your limits, everybody's coverage limits should be in line with their income, any of their
assets, and then how they want to financially leave their family.

What financial way do you want to leave your family if something unexpected happens to
you?

or a spouse.

And so those are the things people should consider.

And we do a whole approach on that because everybody's different.

We're not cookie cutters.

But if you have a hundred thousand dollar income paycheck a year and you're driving with
twenty five thousand liability, there's an issue there.

We help you understand the coverages or the customer understand the coverages to line it
up with their life and what's important to them.

Awesome.

So a lot of our listeners, our business owners themselves, what's one practical tip that
you could share that they could put into action this week?

That's really work for you.

I would say practical.

Look at your calendar.

See where you're spending your time.

And is it effective?

Is that time well spent?

There's certain things that we do.

Like we talked about the busyness.

If you know we're busy all the time, but it's not being or affecting our business in a
positive way or impact in the community or our relationships, then it's probably something

we've

shouldn't be doing, right?

Yeah.

So you want to do the consistent things that lead to consistent results, know, those kind
of things.

Yeah, I was just working with a client who they were in my perception undercharging for
their services and a lot of their services were time-based and you know they were like,

you know, it doesn't take me that much more time to do this and you know they're spending
time doing that and this other thing and so you know when you start to add up that time

and I asked the question how much time do think you're spending and they weren't real
sure, you know, they had a general idea but then when you start to track it and you

realize

wow, I am really spending a lot of time on this.

And so if you kind of go through your week, maybe just take a day or two, or depending on
what your business is, maybe you need a week to see how much time am I really spending on

these things and copy it down, write it down so you can look at it later and decide is
this time well spent?

So I love that that's a uh great tip.

So when you look forward to the next few years, what excites you about your future in your
business?

So, personally, I'm getting two more grandbabies, so I'm super excited about that.

October, December, I know I'm excited.

uh But business wise, you know, I've got a really great team in place and anybody that's a
business owner understands employees.

you know, that can be challenging, having the right team in place.

I'm super excited about that because we have some goals and planning that we're going to
do for our 2026 year.

So I'm looking forward to that time spent and just continue growing and making a
difference in our community.

So I just love what I do.

And I'm super excited about my team and our growing team.

oh And I have a thing that the last guest leaves a question for the next guest, which I'll
ask you for before you go.

But the last guest left this question for you.

Beyond the numbers, what does having a perfect 100 score on the power of one mean to you
personally?

That means to me that I am contributing in a way that's very positive for our BNI group.

And it's positive for me too.

I just, I need to do it right though.

I need to put in the numbers and use the measuring app, all of that.

So I love it.

To me, it's affirmation that I'm doing the right things and I'm a positive participant in
uh our BNI group.

So I definitely want that.

I want to be in the green.

Yes.

and I'll add to that.

I think that I haven't always had a perfect 100 in the 11 years I've been in, but it's
hard to do.

It takes a lot of intentional activity to keep that going.

But for me, it's been a personal goal because I want to show that if you do everything the
way it's prescribed,

it will help you.

Right?

So, and the more it's funny because, you know, we all have ebbs and flows in our
businesses.

And I definitely in the past, I've seen, you know, I've always strived to be green.

And whether it was a perfect 100 or not, was always green.

And I definitely have seen those ebbs and flows when when I slack off a little bit, so to
speak that things get better.

So it's a great way to kind of keep that focus is okay, got it.

And when I'm coaching people,

It's like, you know, you gotta keep putting stuff in the top of the funnel for it to come
out the bottom and that's kinda how I look at it.

So I add my two cents worth.

And then finally, when you look back at your own journey, what's a lesson you have learned
that you would share with others to take?

um I would say for me, a good lesson is, know, do what you say you're going to do.

That will carry you in every aspect of your business.

Do what you say you're going to do.

Yeah, and your number two responsibility.

It's all that.

People with high responsibility definitely want to accomplish what they said that they
were going to do because that means something and then you throw in your belief and all of

that kind of just amplifies all of that.

So love that, but I 100 % agree is I hate it when people say one thing and do another and
don't come through for you in the end.

Well, thank you so much for being a guest here on the podcast and sharing that all with us
today.

You're welcome.

Thank you, Tammy.

I enjoyed this a lot.

Thank you.

It's my pleasure and thank everyone that is listening for listening and remember to go get
that tracker at the perfect 100.com you can download that and if you want to take the

CliftonStrengths assessment if you download the tracker there'll be the next page will
give you the opportunity to purchase the CliftonStrengths assessment and then there's also

a little thing about coaching after that if you have any interest in that and working with
me on that but if today's conversation gave you any insights

I would love for you to share it with your chapter, your friends, your everyone, and be
sure to subscribe, because that helps me bring more of these to you.

It also helps you never miss an episode.

And if you're a BNI member, I'll remind you again, get your CEU credit, because you're
almost at an hour.

So make sure you do that so you get that credit.

And thank you for listening to The Perfect 100.