Best Startup
We are a five generation family owned independent insurance agency. Founded in 1978 by Lee Kohlhase. We write all lines of business. Even home and auto in Mexico.
We are committed to providing our clients with the highest quality insurance plans offered combined with some of the lowest rates available in the timeliest manner possible. Backed by a wealth of 35 years of industry experience, our goal is to provide you with valuable insurance, financial and retirement planning services.
Tell us about yourself?
I began working in the agency in 1998. I graduated from Arizona State University with a Wildlife Biology Degree. I worked with the BLM before joining Lee at the agency. Since 1998, I have obtained my CIC (Certified Insurance Counselor) and CRIS (Construction Risk and Insurance Specialist) designations.
If you could go back in time a year or two, what piece of advice would you give yourself?
I would give myself the advice to have a specific goal. Yeah everyone has a goal and I have had the same goal since I took over the business.
But to set metric goals for myself. For the business. Not big crazy ones, even tho those are always in the back of my mind. But a checklist with metric goals.
Okay I wrote three business’s this month, next month I want to write five, the month after that I want to have 15 personal lines policies. To set smaller goals to reach the BIG goal. And to defiantly take one day at a time! Everyday is a new day, a new day to accomplish something.
What problem does your business solve?
We solve all insurance problems. From helping business’s with claims to helping customers find the best home and auto insurance. We help businesses with all their insurance needs and requests.
What is the inspiration behind your business?
Lee has always loved helping people and when he knew he could help them with insurance he decided to start the company. Our inspiration is to help.
Each one of our staff members has an aspiration and will to help. Not a lot of people are educated when it comes to insurance and they just click and pay or they end up with lawsuits because they were never properly educated.
Lee is a people person and everyone who has met him talks about his big giant smile. I feel like hearing that from customers has kept us motivated and inspired to keep working harder. Never stop. Keep the business going because so many people do know us as a family owned insurance agency.
What is your magic sauce?
We are a brokerage. We contract with numerous A+ carriers allowing us to find the best policy that is suitable to our client and also get them a much better rate rather then a captive agency. We genuinely care about our clients, our businesses that we have. We are constantly working harder to seek ways to improve our customer service. And we want the feedback as well.
What is the plan for the next 5 years? What do you want to achieve?
The plan has always been to keep the business in the family. I took over the company from my father Lee and both my daughters work in the office. We really want to continue to grow the company and make our name known. Make it known for why we are different but to also be able to say that most of our clients we have had for 20+ years.
What is the biggest challenge you’ve faced so far?
Right now our biggest challenge is not having enough agents. We have myself who writes commercial and one other personal lines agent. There is never enough time in the day to accomplish everything I want.
How do people get involved/buy into your vision?
We want to be more involved with the community and our customers. We are primarily focusing on commercial lines. All business owners we want to reach out to, build relations with them. You can always see whats going on with us on any of our social media sites or see who we are from our website.
