Episode DescriptionRyan Chao came into insurance in 2015 with a clear motive: ownership, income, and residuals. He had just come out of going broke on impulsive investments and wanted something stable he could build. His first agency did not cooperate. He came in without understanding a 25 minute sales cycle or a one call close, hired people who reminded him of himself, and watched a six figure investment go sideways. Around Christmas, in a stretch where the agency had not written anything in three days and his marketing budget was draining, Joseph Puckett called him at 6PM with an offer to run the Georgia sales agency for Craig Wiggins. The catch was that Ryan would have to close his own agency to take it. Within four or five days, it was done. Eighteen months at Craig Wiggins gave him the piece he was missing. Not self belief, which he already had in surplus, but process, hiring, accountability, and profitable growth. He opened again with a modest goal of $100,000 in written premium a month and hit it every month. The agency started with a $720,000 book, grew to $17 million organically in under five years, acquired another $11 million, and now sits right under $30 million with a team of eight sales agents, eight service team members, five internal telemarketers, and two managers. Every one of them works remote. Ryan has still never met fifteen of his own agents in person. The most useful part of this conversation is the part most owners skip. Ryan is direct about the fact that scaling exposed him. He is a relationship leader and a pleaser, and when he brought in takers and avoided friction, that team started running his business. He built a culture he did not want to walk into. What turned it around was a deliberate leadership rebuild built on visualization, neuroplasticity, and a rule he now applies to every hire, every metric review, and every hard conversation: friction up front. If you are an agency owner who has ever taken a bad number personally, tolerated a toxic producer because they wrote business, or found yourself apologizing after a conversation you wish had gone differently, this episode is your mirror. Key TakeawaysSelf belief without tools guarantees failing forward. Ryan came in overestimating himself, not knowing what a one call close was, and it cost him a six figure investment.Friction up front is the whole hiring philosophy. Candidates put their best foot forward, so you have to create friction in the interview to hear the blame, negativity, and victim mindset before you hire it.Never hire the wolf in sheep's clothing, no matter how many items they can write and no matter how desperate you are.If you are a pleaser and you hire takers, that team will run your business, and you will let them because it is easier than confrontation. Scaling puts every weakness you have on stage.Internal visualization rewires how you lead. Ryan cites a 12 week study where guided visualization produced an average of 13.5% muscle growth, and applies the same neuroplasticity principle to rehearsing hard conversations.You are the common denominator in every interaction in your life. Ninety nine percent of what comes at you is that person's issue, not an attack on you.Metrics are a carrot, never a stick. There is a story behind every number, and asking for the story instead of reacting is what keeps agents from working out of fear.Ambiguity is the enemy of scaling. The job offer, the handbook, and the contract set the deal in black and white, which lets you stay kind and empathetic without ever lowering the standard.Culture scales, and it scales remote. Ryan's entire team is remote, they show up voluntarily, and he has never met fifteen of them in person. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
