It would be nice if 200 words could explain me, even 100.  “He’s a good guy, loves his family, rose petals, violins…”  There, that’s 10.

Those words are true, I hope.  But to be honest, I’m probably a bit more complicated than that.

“Visioned, passionate, nose to the grindstone…” is what I’d say.

“Pack mule, sap, easy to please,” might come out of the mouths of others.

Truth is, just like everyone else, I am and have been a lot of things.  Pastor’s kid, rebel, Father of three (minus two).  Husband, soccer player, artist, husband again.  West coast surfer kid, Hoosier, Vermonter, Hoosier again.  13 years as a teacher, and now consumed by insurance and business ownership.

The one thing I’ve never really done before starting Shine Insurance is sales.  Well, except the time I worked at Chess King in the mall circa 1991.  That lasted for two shifts.

I suppose teaching could be considered sales.  There was certainly plenty of time spent connecting, convincing, capturing, and celebrating. The whole captive audience thing makes any parallel to sales fit best with what it probably felt like working for AT&T when they had exclusive rights to sell the iphone .  Really, where else are people gonna go?

So like a wedding cake or a sandcastle I’m layers of everything that has come before.  And now that is applied to my current life: beautiful wife, wonderful son, and insurance, a truly admirable if sometimes miserably misunderstood vocation.

In this role, I’ve:

• helped lots of folks better understand their home and auto coverage.
• made a bunch of videos about insurance
• proved I can be good at something besides teaching and catching thrown grapes in my mouth
• established clout with great insurance companies
• offered a few stern observations to collision shop employees
• saved one client $16,000
• worked till midnight way too often

So what have I learned about myself?  More than anything, my personality traits have clearly come to surface.  Until 2013, I’d been a teacher my whole adult life.  Only now can I see, in the light of a completely different occupation, what traits were a result of the environment and what was just who I am.

My wife still has to listen into the evening about details of my work day.

I still won’t stop until something is done well, even if time swirled down the toilet to get me there.

Authority can be a problem for me.

I’m still better at getting what I want in a phone call with a stranger than a meeting with a colleague.

Starting Shine Insurance has taught me more about who I was, who I am, and who I want to be than anything I’ve done before.

It’s a new cake, a better sand castle and the first opportunity I’ve had as an adult to dream as big as I want and realistically imagine getting there.

“Good guy, family, insurance policies, rose petals, & violins”