In this episode of Business Refocused, Carey and Lindsay sit down with Patrick McClure of Impact Performance Team to talk about one of the biggest challenges agency owners face: creating a true sales culture.

Patrick shares his journey from commercial insurance producer to sales leader and entrepreneur, helping independent agencies improve sales performance, develop producers, recruit talent, and build accountability across their organizations. What started as sales coaching has evolved into leadership consulting, recruiting, and operational support for growing agencies.

The conversation explores why many agencies hit a growth ceiling, how agency owners can transition from producer to leader, and what it takes to build a team that consistently generates new business.

Key takeaways include:

• The difference between managing producers and leading them
• How to build accountability without micromanaging
• Why recruiting the right people matters more than insurance experience
• The five non-negotiables of a successful sales organization
• How agencies can move from referral-driven growth to intentional sales growth

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Follow AgencyFocus for more conversations that help agency owners build clarity, confidence, and long-term value. Learn more at https://agency-focus.com/

Show previously named Insurance Refocused

In this episode of The Insurance Refocused Podcast, Lindsay and Carey Wallace welcome Beth DeLaForest back to the show to talk about Launchpad, a new webinar series designed to help the next generation of insurance professionals learn, grow, and build meaningful industry connections.

Beth and Carey share why knowledge transfer matters more than ever as experienced leaders prepare to exit the industry and younger professionals step into bigger roles. They discuss the value of mentorship, outside perspectives, peer relationships, and learning from leaders who have already walked the road ahead.

The conversation also highlights the heart behind Launchpad: creating a free, collaborative space where future leaders can hear from experienced voices across the industry on topics like leadership, delegation, imposter syndrome, AI, and building confidence in their careers.

Link to Upcoming Launchpad Sessions

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Follow AgencyFocus for more conversations that help agency owners build clarity, confidence, and long-term value. Learn more at https://agency-focus.com/

Show previously named Insurance Refocused

In this special re-release, we’re sharing an episode originally featured on Nina Shepard's Insurance Leaders Lab Podcast. Carey joins Nina to talk about financial clarity for independent insurance agency owners.

They discuss why waiting until you're ready to sell is a mistake, how your compensation structure could secretly be tanking your agency's value, and the three key drivers that determine what your business is really worth—growth, profitability, and transferability.

Originally featured on the Insurance Leaders Lab Podcast

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Follow AgencyFocus for more conversations that help agency owners build clarity, confidence, and long-term value. Learn more at https://agency-focus.com/

Show previously named Insurance Refocused

In this episode of Business Refocused, Carey and Lindsay break down what they’re seeing from real agency benchmarking data and how top-performing insurance agencies are driving growth and profitability.

They walk through the key metrics that matter most, including organic growth, profitability, staffing, technology spend, and revenue per employee. More importantly, they explain how these metrics work together and what actually drives performance inside an agency.

One of the biggest takeaways is high growth doesn’t always mean high marketing spend. In fact, some of the fastest-growing agencies are spending less than 2% on marketing, relying instead on referrals, niche strategies, and operational efficiency.

They also dig into how technology, AI investments, and compensation structures impact profitability, and why simply adding tools or people doesn’t always improve results.

Key insights from the episode:

• How to use benchmarking as a health check for your agency
• Why growth and profitability vary based on strategy
• The real impact of marketing spend on organic growth
• How technology and staffing decisions affect performance
• Why compensation structure can limit profitability

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Follow AgencyFocus for more conversations that help agency owners build clarity, confidence, and long-term value. Learn more at https://agency-focus.com/

Show previously named Insurance Refocused

In this episode of Business Refocused, Todd Hufford interviews Carey and Lindsay Wallace on the story behind AgencyFocus, how they each found their way into insurance, and what it took to grow the business beyond agency valuation.

Carey shares how a role with the PIA of Ohio led her into valuation, perpetuation planning, and data analytics, eventually becoming the foundation for AgencyFocus. Lindsay shares her own path into the industry and how her experience helped shape the company’s next stage of growth.

Together, they talk about how AgencyFocus evolved from a valuation-focused business into a firm that also provides fractional CFO services, mastermind groups, and deeper financial consulting for independent insurance agencies.

This episode is a behind-the-scenes look at agency valuation, fractional CFO services, insurance industry career paths, and what it takes to build a business focused on helping agencies make better financial decisions.

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Follow AgencyFocus for more conversations that help agency owners build clarity, confidence, and long-term value. Learn more at https://agency-focus.com/

Show previously named Insurance Refocused

In this episode of Business Refocused, Lindsay and Carey sit down with Todd Hufford, CEO of Conner Insurance, to talk about on a topic that’s shaping the future of agencies: bringing in young talent.

The conversation starts light but quickly gets into something more meaningful. Todd shares how his perspective on time, shaped early in life, led him to think long-term about building an agency. Not just for today’s revenue, but for the next generation of leaders.

Todd shares how Conner Insurance scaled by consistently bringing in and developing talent, even when it meant short-term tradeoffs. Over time, that investment compounded into real growth.

That means hiring early career talent with no book of business, funding their development, and accepting that not every hire will work out. For Todd, that’s not a risk. It’s part of the strategy.

A few key ideas from the episode:

• Hiring young producers is an investment, not an expense
• Most agencies struggle here because they protect short-term profit
• Training matters more than experience, especially early on
• Data builds confidence when recruiting and developing talent
• Every team needs proof that success is achievable

Agencies that grow aren’t just better at selling. They’re better at building people.

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Follow AgencyFocus for more conversations that help agency owners build clarity, confidence, and long-term value. Learn more at https://agency-focus.com/

Show previously named Insurance Refocused

In this episode of Business Refocused, Carey and Lindsay sit down with Nicole Malachowski, retired U.S. Air Force Colonel and the first female Thunderbird pilot, to talk about transition.

Not just planning for it. Actually going through it.

Nicole’s career ended unexpectedly after a serious illness forced her out of the role she had built her identity around. What followed wasn’t a clean next step. It was the messy middle that most people don’t talk about.

Her perspective is simple and practical: transition comes whether you plan for it or not. What matters is how you respond.

One idea that stands out is yield to overcome. Accept where you are so you can move forward with clarity.

For agency owners, this hits directly. Transition is rarely about the numbers alone. It’s about identity, control, and what you carry with you into the next phase.

A few key takeaways:

• Transition is emotional before it’s strategic
• The hardest part is letting go of your role
• What you’ll miss isn’t always what you expect
• The skills that built your agency still matter, just in a different way

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Follow AgencyFocus for more conversations that help agency owners build clarity, confidence, and long-term value. Learn more at https://agency-focus.com/

Show previously named Insurance Refocused

The agency owners who walk away from a sale feeling good aren't the ones who got lucky — they're the ones who prepared. In the final episode of this series, Carey and Matt talk about fixing problems before they become deal killers, how to know what kind of seller you are, and why the question of what comes next matters just as much as the closing number.

In this episode:

• How to fix valuation issues before you go to market
• The three seller personas — and why knowing yours changes everything
• What a competitive process does that a direct negotiation can't
• Why so many owners hesitate to pull the trigger (and what to do about it)
• How to make a decision you won't regret two years later

Connect with us:
Follow AgencyFocus for more conversations that help agency owners build clarity, confidence, and long-term value. Learn more at https://agency-focus.com/

Show previously named Insurance Refocused