Find, hire, and retain A-players. Recruiting strategies, onboarding systems, and compensation models for insurance agencies.
78 episodes from Craig Pretzinger & Jason Feltman, hosts of The Insurance Dudes Podcast
02/27/2026 · 6 min read
The assumption that every great insurance producer needs a 'high D, high I' DISC profile is costing agencies great hires. The IDudes Mailbag breaks down what assessments actually reveal—and what they miss.
02/20/2026 · 5 min read
A paid traffic pipeline, group interviews, behavioral assessments, structured onboarding, and activity-based standards—here's the complete 5-step hiring framework from the Insurance Dudes Mailbag.
01/09/2026 · 6 min read
Jason Levine's path from aviation ambitions to enterprise-level agency operations produced a clear-eyed view of what actually drives sustainable growth—hint: it's rarely what you think when you're new.
11/07/2025 · 5 min read
Nathan Glass, founder of Utopia Risk, breaks down how everyday conversations reveal character—and why catching red flags early is the most valuable business skill you can develop.
08/01/2025 · 6 min read
Kathy Hitchcock opened Hitchcock Insurance Group in 2015 and immediately faced back-to-back rate hikes in the worst possible market conditions. What she built through that period is a resilience blueprint every agent needs.
07/16/2025 · 5 min read
Sethe Smith built a top-performing Fort Wayne agency by being relentlessly honest about the hard parts—hiring, retention, failure—and building a culture that turns those lessons into performance.
07/09/2025 · 5 min read
Tung Le launched his Allstate agency in Houston in March 2020—the same week the world shut down. Three years later he had a $12 million book. What he did differently is a masterclass in adaptation.
06/12/2025 · 5 min read
BJ Hill traded a basketball coaching career for insurance and built Summit Insurance into an $18 million agency in Loveland, Colorado. The leadership principles that win games also build extraordinary teams.
06/05/2025 · 5 min read
David Carothers built a powerhouse Tampa commercial agency by deliberately hiring people with zero insurance experience. His counter-intuitive approach to recruiting is producing results the industry can't ignore.
06/05/2025 · 5 min read
Dave Williams built a multi-million dollar insurance empire by mastering culture, hiring systems, and health-fueled performance. His non-negotiables for agency owners who want to scale are worth your full attention.
07/24/2024 · 6 min read
Jorge Carbonell has hired and developed more insurance producers than most agency owners will ever meet. In Part 1, he shares the hiring frameworks and culture principles that separate high-performing agencies from the rest.
04/23/2024 · 6 min read
Saying goodbye to a team member is one of the hardest things an agency owner does. Done well, it strengthens culture. Done poorly, it poisons the team. Here's the framework for doing it right.
03/28/2024 · 6 min read
The biggest hiring error isn't picking the wrong candidate — it's not being in the market until desperation forces you. Craig and Jason break down five strategies for hiring before you need to.
02/26/2024 · 5 min read
The most expensive line item in your agency isn't your lead budget or your rent. It's the wrong person in the wrong seat — and most agency owners can't see it until the damage is done.
01/31/2024 · 6 min read
Core values, mission, and vision aren't HR buzzwords — they're the operational infrastructure that separates agencies that thrive from ones that churn through people and plateau. Here's how to build them.
12/27/2023 · 6 min read
Flexibility without accountability is chaos. Eric Yaverbaum's Part 2 delivers the specific management practices that turn a flexible workplace into a high-performing one.
12/20/2023 · 6 min read
Ericho Communications CEO and author Eric Yaverbaum has spent decades studying what makes workplaces attract and keep top talent. His findings should concern any agency owner still operating 2019 policies.
12/04/2023 · 6 min read
Going remote without the right infrastructure is how agencies lose culture, accountability, and their best people. Kathleen Quinn Votaw's framework builds the foundation first.
11/29/2023 · 7 min read
Turnover is costing insurance agencies more than they realize — and the usual solutions aren't working. Kathleen Quinn Votaw of TalenTrust brings a decade of recruitment expertise to the real problem.
10/11/2023 · 5 min read
Most agencies underperform not because of bad agents but because of blurry standards. Here's how to define and enforce expectations that actually drive elite performance.