Chris, where have you been?
For those of you who I have friendships or have relationships through business or social media and have tried to contact me over the past several months I apologize for lost time. I also have not been able to keep up with my blog during that time and fell behind but now I am back and will begin my regular postings.
I sold my interest in McGregor Insurance in Ocean Shores, Washington to my former partner Mike McGregor and left the agency effective 11/01/2012. It was a very hard decision to make as I loved Ocean Shores and the North Beach of Grays Harbor County. I loved serving my clients and felt an acute responsibility for the protection of their families, assets and business. I also very much appreciated and enjoyed working with my partner Mike McGregor. You could say that the lifestyle and career at McGregor were ideal and you would be right!
Do you know how you are going along in life and have the nagging feeling that you are going down the wrong path? I had that feeling for some time. I had a different vision on where I wanted to go with the insurance agency than my partner and his wife and after discussing with my contemporaries in the insurance field and hiring a business counselor for advice my wife and I decided that nothing would change unless I changed. You might draw the conclusion that this was a difference between right and wrong and that I was right and my partner was wrong but nothing could be further from the truth. My partner Mike McGregor was and is to this day an excellent insurance agent, an honorable man who I trust and admire. He runs an excellent insurance agency and I know that my former clients are in good hands in his care. In fact, Mike is still my insurance agent.
When we were going through the process and decided to sell my wife Lisa and I discussed what should we do next? We have lived on the Washington coast in the same house for 22 years. Our children are grown and we do not have family locally. What else was out there for us to experience? We decided that if we were going to sell our share of the business this was also the time for us to move our household. We discussed what we wanted in a new community and what I was looking for in the insurance field to continue my career.
I spent the entire month of November researching communities for lifestyle and their insurance markets that met my professional goals. In the end Lisa and I had selected specific locations in Washington, Oregon and California where we felt we could be happy and successful. I then researched the agencies in these communities and sent out packets with my resume and bona fides. My membership in the insurance coaching and training group Quantum Club opened a number of doors for me and I was blessed with 17 interviews within these three states. I traveled for two weeks in December meeting with agency owners and managers and discussing my goals and needs. I met some fantastic and charismatic leaders during my travels and I am richer today for the experience, the contacts and in some cases friendships that I made.
Lisa and I spent Christmas through New Year’s discussing our options and we settled on a specific region and focused on the opportunities in those communities. We traveled together in early January and spent a week exploring and meeting with the insurance agency owners and in the end we were thrilled to join Ted Hamm of Ted Hamm Insurance of Paso Robles, California. Ted has a wonderful agency, a great team and is also a Quantum Club member. We share a similar vision for the future of our industry and our role as advocates for our clients. I am very excited to have joined Ted effective February 11th and now I am catching up with the transition and making new relationships.
Lisa remains behind in Ocean Shores, Washington for now as we finish a remodel in our home and then place it on the market for sale this spring. She also has commitments to her job at a local bank that she wants to see through. Once those commitments are met and we either sell or rent our home she and my daughter will move to Paso Robles to join me.
I am licensed to place insurance in Washington, Oregon, California and Arizona and I am looking forward to being of service to my clients in all of these states. I will share more in time as my family gets settled and I invite anyone who would like to stay in touch to contact me at my personal email chris@fiducia1.com .
