Episode #12 - The Power of Being Intentional w/ Pat O'Neill

In this episode, Carey and Lindsay sit down with Pat O'Neill to talk about the emotions of insurance claims, their process for change, and learning from other industries. 

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Episode Transcription: 

lindsay_wallace:

Hey, mom, how you doing?

carey_wallace:

I am doing well. I am thrilled that you're actually in town with me and able to be in the same office with me, which is a great treat.

lindsay_wallace:

I know it’s funny I can hear you through my computer and through the wall right now. T's a little trippy. 

carey_wallace:

It is a little trippy, but I'm super excited that I have one of my favorite agencies represented today on the podcast today, Pat O’Neil of O’neil Insurance in Wordsworth, Ohio is joining us. Thank you so much, Pat for being our guest.

pat_o_neill:

My pleasure. Thank you for having me.

carey_wallace:

I would be remiss if I didn't point out that you are a Miami grad and so is Lindsey. So I think it's pretty cool that are representing Miami of Ohio pretty well today. 

pat_o_neill:

Yes, we are, go red hawks.

lindsay_wallace:

Go red hawks. Yes, so Pat, tell us a little bit about your background and how you got into insurance.

pat_o_neill:

Sure. well, thanks for having me, Lindsey and Carry. It's a pleasure to speak with you both. I am a second generation agency owner. We are in Wadsworth, Ohio. That's where our agency is. We're in North East Ohio, little south of Cleveland, outside of Acron, Ohio and I got into the insurance industry right out of college. So as you mentioned, I graduated from my university, and from there I went and worked with Cincinnati insurance, so I graduated in two thousand and eight right in the middle. You know, the Great Recession and jobs were tough, and you know, I always kind of knew that I wanted to get into the insurance business, and my path into the business was to go work for an insurance company, so I started doing commercial lines underwriting. I had the opportunity to go out and be a field wrap, and that really opened my eyes to independent agencies, large public brokers, and I got to meet agency owners, work with different associates in those Insurance firms, and just really really enjoyed my experience. So the opportunity to work there for about six and a half years, and then transition back to North East Ohio, into our family agency about nine years ago. So my father Patrick is the founder of the agency and my grandpa worked for Westfield Insurance. So it's kind of in our D, N. A. and it's in our blood, And I know that's not uncommon for a lot of people in our business. But You know fortunate enough to be part of a team here, lead a great team and just really focus on being an independent agent and serving our clients and serving our team members.

carey_wallace:

You know, I love that you took a path path that wasn't directly into the agency. I think it's so critically important for you know the next generation to have some perspective other than the family business. I think it really positions you very well. you know, I get to see a lot of family run businesses without question, as I work with agencies across the country and those that have perspective, I think really are able to bring some unique Id. Yes, and um, you know different different way of doing things than the generation before them, but it also allows you to appreciate what the family business offers as well, right? 

pat_o_neill:

You’re right, it was. It was a fun journey, you know, being in the business, but not being affiliated with my family agency, And as I would go into other firms and I would talk to my dad and hear about the things that they were doing back in our agency. It really made me realize that Ou know they were doing so many things extremely well, being forward thinking, you know, being involved in associations and networks that were Yu know, different than what I had experienced on some of the some of the agencies that I called on. It was a great perspective and you know when the time was right, and you know, the team here back at my own insurance, felt like it would be a good fit for me to come back. You know, I wanted to come back and really be an asset to the agency and I had insurance experience, but again I didn't. I had never sold insurance, So when I came back, that was, that was my primary responsibility to to be a producer and to write new business focusing on commercial insurance. And Here we are nine years later. So it's been a great ride and continues to be a great ride. I love the business. Love the company that that we have here in the team that we have here.

lindsay_wallace: Well, I want to start the conversation around remote working, so I am a, am, a remote employee and I think one of the things that I find really challenging about it is that especially, I'm new, right, I'm twenty three, and I'm still trying to figure out how to be a good co worker, how to be a good employee. How to be a good team overall, and what that looks like in a remote setting. Sometimes I find myself Worried about keeping my teams like green, or making sure I'm always responding to a team's message during email as fast as possible, so they know that I'm there working. and I think it's so hard to build culture and build like team work around remote work. So it seems like you do this well. I was stalking your O’Neill LinkedIn page earlier this morning, Actually, and I saw that you guys do lots of uh, like office outings, like it, Baseball games and things, and that you were even named one of Ohio's best employers, so it seems like Onilis, a really fun place to work. And Oh, even you had a cameo announcement from Kevin from the office to announce everybody was coming back from the office. That's absolutely hilarious. So how do you manage the culture in this crazy remote in person hybrid dynamic that we're all experiencing right now?

pat_o_neill:

Yeah, you know it's It's interesting. Prior to Covid, we actually had a full time remote employee. So we, we had a woman that had been on her personal ends team and she got relocated to Florida, And you know she's worked there for a long time now. So you know prior to Covid, Kathie would hop on skype messaging. This was kind of before team of skype messaging, and connect with her personal team that way, And you know we call, We're in for or group meeting. So it was kind of part of us and we never really knew how much of a part it would be to our culture and to our team today. So it is a challenge, but it does take just an intentional focus. you know, my father, Patrick, you know, was very, very focused on culture. Always has been in a lot of different ways and about, We're going on seven or eight years. Now we. we Became part of the hyper forming culture. M. It's a kind of a consulting type firm that helps drive fundamentals and behavior, So you know that journey of being really intentional about our culture started seven or eight years ago, and obviously, when Covidhead and we all went and worked from home, you know we had this really strong foundation of you know, not only having a great team and having wonderful people that worked for us and several clients, but you know a strong Culture that was defined and we knew what it looked like, So obviously it's it's kind of changed and transitioned over that time. but Ou know we just continued to have to be focused on it because we are only in the office a couple of days a week. but we utilize microsoff teams, and really we try to try to schedule things out, you know, either intentionally throughout the year or as opportunities come up. So you mentioned the cameo video from Kevin from the office.

lindsay_wallace:

Hilarious,

pat_o_neill:

When we decided to bring the team Back. We, we had Kevin do a cameo and welcome the onial insurance team and said You're coming back to the office And it was only Ou know one or two days a week at that time, But it was. it was something fun. So you know, we really just try to engage everybody, so to make our remote employees that are fully remote, we have a couple of them to make them feel like they're part of the team, even though they may not be physically located here in North east Ohio. So you know we have Wednesday morning huddles. We've bee Doing our Wednesday huddles for a long time, and it's really an opportunity for everybody that's in the office and everybody that is remote to come in. It's a thirty minute meeting and we just have kind of a quick agenda and it's taken a couple of adorations over the years, but it's really focused on driving the core values that we have at our agency, sharing new business successes. As a team. we have moments of gratitude. So anybody on the team that Has something that they're thankful for that they want to recognize. You know, they have the opportunity to share that with team. So Um and again, it's just an opportunity for us all to state connected to increase communication. We try to be a really transparent organization, So we, you know we're transparent about our company results about our financial results, And you know you can really only do that with with communication. So our Wednesday morning huddles are really foundational to what we do, and you know, really, staying together and make Sure that not only are we um, connecting professionally and talking about our clients and our challenges and successes, but also making sure that we're connecting with our team personally, So our Wednesday morning huddles are just something we do first thing every single Wednesday. Um, you know, it's interesting. Some days we'll have ten people in the office and ten people on the screen. Um, some people have two people on the screen, and you know eighteen or nineteen in the office, So um, it's just kind of part of who Are and I really hope that you know we really. Just that our team that is really isn't in our office. They feel as close as everybody else does. so you know,

carey_wallace:

Yeah, that's the key. isn't it like? it's you know. I will tell you this, Pat. I had the clear village of being able to come into your office and experience your culture first hand. You know we don't. I was trying to think how many years ago that is? It's probably four or five years at this point right, But I was coming to your office and meeting with your leadership team. And what? what hit me is the fundamentals. The way that you started meetings, and the way that Conducted a meeting was very intentional to the point where when I came back for meetings, I think one of them I was like, Well, wait, don't we need to start with a fundamental? You know, it's it's. It actually rubs off, but it also sets this incredible tone for what we're here to do and what the culture is. first and foremost. So you know, I've never experience that in another agency. I will tell you that like it's very unique to nil, and the intentionality I think is the key right? 

pat_o_neill:

Yeah, absolutely. And It's really just about driving performance, you know, through behaviors and showing our culture that way, And you're right, you know. Obviously it has an impact on our team and how they interact with our customers. but we're finding that you know it's so ingrained it and who we are and what we do that that it makes an impact personally as well. so uh, yeah, we talk. talk about our fundamental the week every single week, and you know we lead all all meetings whether they're internal external with those as well, so You know that's a big part of what we do in what we're focused on with our culture, And you know again, it's really just about making sure that we're staying connected even though we're not, you know physically together all of the time, And you know we do that a couple o different ways we try to get you know our team members and their spouses together. You know we did a bowling night. We do just a monthly social hour where it's an opportunity. Just to you know, kind of shut down. Go into our conference room, hang out. Play some games. talk. catch it up, so you know different things that you know. Just continue to drive connection.

carey_wallace:

Sounds like a lot of fun. but here's here's another way that I know that Neil is incredibly intentional. In fact, I reached out to Patrick a few weeks ago for him to share your journey with e. o. S. and what that's meant inside your agency. I would love for you to share your perspective of the book Traction and the process of implementing Eos inside your agency. And actually, why don't we just start with defining what e o s is for the people who may not Be familiar with that, But can you talk a little but about EOS for us? 

pat_o_neill:

Yes, I'd be happy to! We began our EOS journey about five years ago and again it was just something that we came apros as an agency. We read the book Traction by a Genalwickman, and it's S, stands for the Entrepreneur operating system, And Ou know. at that time we were looking for a way to you know, Continue to drive processes and performance and our agency were very, very process driven agency. You know where we have our processes Documented and people are trained on them. They're held accountable to them. So that was always kind of part of our d. N. A. But when we got introduced attraction in Es, you know, it just felt like the missing piece. We always had you know a terrific agency in firm and this was really what. We felt. Something that was missing, you know, just to bring structure performance to help you know identify and drive metrics and our business. So we started that journey about five years ago. We Tried to implement Eos on our own, and for anybody that's tried to do it on their own, it's challenging. You still kind of fall into the same habits and behaviors and maybe avoiding some of the maybe difficult decisions or conversation. So we engaged a firm out of North East Ohio, called Culture Shock and they have professional Eos implementers, and we did that back in twenty eighteen. And you know it's It's made a huge difference on our agency In terms of our performance in terms of our growth in terms of our just overall cohesiveness into how everybody operate. So you know, es, um kind on the surface is really pretty simple. You have weekly meeting, so we have departmental meetings. Everybody in our agency has a weekly level ten meeting. Everybody has a score card number, so a weekly score card number that they are, you know, held accountable to. So it develops Cadence and just a consistency around certain meetings and expectations, And it's really been a huge, you know driver of performance for for our agency, So uh, I strong, strongly recommend anybody that has heard of S that has an explore. T. S. I mean, the book Traction is outstanding and it's just a way to bring structure and accountability into you know, already great performing insurance agency. So So yes, we spent a lot of time with E. o. S. We've you know. what we're finding Now is a lot of our business clients are operating their businesses on Eos, so it gives us a common language, you know to speak with other Eos companies that that run their businesses that way as well. so

carey_wallace:

Yeah, without question, I think that's super helpful and it also helps you know how to approach your client when you know that they're operating that way. You know what decision making process they are going to use. What? M. Honestly, The language alone is something that's super helpful. You know, Um, Pat. I would love to know how you see Eos playing a role as you transition ownership inside your agency. You know you had multiple partners. Um, you're obviously next generation and there's a lot that goes into transitioning from one generation to another, becoming partners with Um, with each other forming those relationships, transferring responsibilitie. S. all those things, and I have to believe having a defined well defined process in e o s really made that a very structured process, But I'd love to hear your thought process and your your perspective on what role that played or any other things that you wrestled with during that time? 

pat_o_neill:

Yeah, absolutely well, you know carry when we first met one another through the OIA, and we were working through, you know, an ownership transition in our agency and you know ownership transitions not only from you know, just the pure equity standpoint, but also just the responsibility and the leadership You know, has a lot of challenges and there's really no road map for it. so having EOS, having that foundation just brought a lot of clarity to that process, And you know one thing that is part of our agency is we rely on outside experts and we have a lot of coaches, a lot of outside experts that we look to to bring us ideas and resources that that we don't have so care. You are one of them at the time and helped us really think through a thoughtful transition and go through it in a way that you know was fair. That made sense. That was respectful. So you played an instrumental role and I'm incredibly grateful For you for that. And and that's part of kind of who we are today as well, So we still have an Eos implement or that we hired five years ago. You know, we meet with him several times a year. helps us tackle challenges. You know, part of their company is to go into the storm and to address address challenging situations or conversations head on. So they've really helped us do that as well as others as well. So you know, we really really utilize outside resources and experts That has played and continues to play a significant role in the transition of our agency. So you know, I mentioned earlier in a second generation, my dad, Patrick, is still involved in the agency, still owner in the agency, and just having not only the structure of S, but having outside voices and resources has really helped us with that, so about a year and a half ago we hired, we created an advisory board, so we had three outs. I'd advisory board members, you know, with different levels of experience from different industries, so we meet with them quarterly, and that, just as continued to help us not only with the transition, but also tackle some of our biggest challenges that we face. So that's really part of who we are to find. You know who else out there has gone through this or is doing it well, or has done it successfully, And are there things that we can learn so we continue to focus on that. Yes, es, the transition. This structure that that it's provided has really helped us create a healthy leadership, transition, planet or agency. That that is an evolution. It doesn't happen overnight. You know, it started four or five years ago. Carry when when we started working together, and it's on going today, But you know we've done it in a way that is productive. It's not always easy. but you know we're very lucky to that Have Have it kind of where we are today. four or five years later.

lindsay_wallace:

I love that you said that you brought those people in in order to represent diversity among your leadership. I actually just wrote a paper last night for I'm finishing up my graduate program for public administration, And so I wrote a paper that was all about how boards are the super power of the public sector, and like the non profit space, because they bring such a diverse range of perspectives into the journ Of your organization, So I love that you said that, and I think that Gaining diversity among not only your leadership, but your staff in general is so important. How are you like? What are you doing to attract talent and attract new diverse ideas into your agency?

pat_o_neill:

It's a really good question and I'm sure we're not alone. It is obviously a challenge. you know, Despite all the hiring challenges across ou, know the United States in every industry the last couple of years, I mean in the insurance business is no different. You know. we've always had a pretty successful track record of bringing people from outside of the insurance industry into our agency and teaching them insurance. So you know again, Part of EOS, part of having it defined cultures. Really hiring for culture fits. so first and foremost we're looking for people that are going to fit our culture. They're going to add to our culture. They're going to drive our culture, and then we can either teach them insurance, or you know. Hopefully you know the ones that have insurance experience. you know. we'll continue to bring new ideas to us. So yeah, it's it's something that we work on every single day. You know, we're focused on even if we don't have open positions. if we come across somebody or enter To somebody. You know that is that is really talented. We'll find a place for them and bring them into our agency and continue to build them. So um, it's it's something that we're focused on. It's something that we struggle with, but again you know, there's a lot of different avenues to try to attract and keep our talent. So obviously attracting them is one avenue, and then and then keeping our team members heal happy healthy, keep them engage, keep them motivating and really, keep them fulfilled. not only fulfilled with the work they're doing, but Fulfilled where they're in an organization that has a vision that you know, has a defined culture where you know they feel like the work that they do is meaningful. so all of those things are components into what we're trying to trying to do here at our agency.

carey_wallace:

So Pat, you know, Honestly building the right culture is the foundation of everything. Once you have that you know your largest asset is always your people. No question about it, but you know, as I talked to agents all around the country and they're trying to position themselves for the next thirty years. Not what they did the past thirty years, but what they're going to be for the next thirty years. You know, lots of agents are talking about tech. They're talking about Creating efficiencies. they're talking about really focusing on strong procedures. they're embracing things like remote workers or virtual assistants. They're really focusing on robot. I mean, there's there's all kinds of things they're talking about. But technology is part of that conversation without question. Can you? what are? What's your approach or your thought process? Is someone who very likely has several decades left in your car Rear. What do you think Agents of today should be focusing on in order to prepare for that? Um, the customer of today and the customer of the future. 

pat_o_neill:

This is such a good question. There's so many different challenges. I mean, the needs of insurance buyers obviously has changed. You know. the needs continue to get more complex as you know the risks that businesses and commercial clients of ours face Ou know. they're obviously different now than they were ten years ago, fifteen years ago, and in the same thing you know for our personal and clients, so you know, at the end of the day, you know we're really focused on wet. We know That technology, we know that innovation is important and we need to know what's out there to make sure that we are staying up to date and really being focused on on what those next innovations are. But we're really looking at tech in a way. How can we protect our clients Better at the end of the day were in the business of protecting our clients, whether it's you know, Ahomanauto, for a family, or Or an individual or or or a business, clients, so focusing on protecting our clients and identifying technologies and changes that will either streamline that that will assist in. That is really what we're focused on. So you know we've We've made technology investments in our agency that helps you know, create efficiencies that helps you know Stream line some of the insurance buying process. You know we are. I don't want to say we're not the most text Because we're extremely tech save. but I haven't found a technology out there that you know is really going to change our agency. But when I look ahead to the agency and what we do, independent agents, that's the role that we play. We're advisors with professionals, we understand insurance, we understand coverages, and if we can align not only our team and our culture, but supplement that with resources that drives protection, because things change And in our client situations every single day, And you know if we don't know about those changes, Um, then it's hard to put the proper insurance in place, so really, that's kind of the filter that we make decisions through at our agency. Whether it's an investment, whether it's you know higher. it is this going to drive the protection for for our clients, So that's that's kind of the filter that we that we look to make dicis.

carey_wallace:

You know I am. I love that you say that because I think there's a lot of agents that think texts gonna be the magic bullet or replace some of the core things and it can't like. I firmly agree that you have to have connection with your customers and know what they want and be text should enhance what you're doing, not replace what you're doing, And so I think the agents that understand that are going to be able to continu That huge connection, because as things get more complex, people want to know that they were doing business with someone they can trust. That's going to protect them appropriately. I can tell you for sure. that's the way I approach insurance as an insurance consumer, and I would also tell you, Even in Lindsey's generation, it's not like I just wanted to be fast. I want to know that I'm covered because you know it fast doesn't always mean something that makes sense for us, you know? 

pat_o_neill:

It is. It's a balance. You want it to be efficient and you wanted to be quick. You don't want to have unnecessary steps, but at the same time, you wanted to be thorough and thought through and know that you know somebody on the other side knows what your situation is. And and really you can only do that by asking good questions. So you know, we spent a lot of time talking with our team, whether it's on the front end with new clients or on the back end with the existing Pl. It's about you know, being pro active about reaching out about asking questions about having structure and processes in place to make sure that as things change, you know that that we're there to ask the right questions to make sure we know about them. So there's tools. There's resources out there that we that we utilize, But again, at the end of the day it still is about you know, arming our team with those resources so that they can do their job as effectively as they can.

lindsay_wallace:

So my favorite question to ask our podcast guests andl close out episodes with is if you could go back to Pat, who just graduated from the Great university Miami University, leaving those red bricks in your past. What advice would you give to yourself? knowing what you know now?

pat_o_neill:

It's a great question. You know, I would say. At the time, I've been very fortunate. I've a lot of wonderful mentors and people around me, but it's just aligning yourself with you know, people that have the same values, the same ambition that you know, have achieved success, and that's not only business success, but personal success. you. I think it's something that I've done as you know, I get kind of later into my career, but you know as a young person right out of college, you know T wasn't necessarily might focus. Um, but it comes eventually, so I would just say, find great people that you admire that want to help and you know, try to learn as much from them as you can, because you know really, When when I mentioned our advisory board earlier, you know everybody out there really wants to help, especially people that have achieved. whether it's you know, family success, business success or they've you know, Learned great things, so you know, Find people that want to share, Help you and contribute to your success along the way. So it's it's a lot of fun. It's a great journey. The insurance business obviously is a wonderful industry. and so I think, just for anybody out there that is looking, whatever the career is is you know. Just just find a handful of people that you can learn from and it will just expenentially. you know, speed up your growth process, So There you go.

lindsay_wallace:

Thank you for that. I appreciate it. 

pat_o_neill:

That's my. You're welcome.

Lindsay_wallace:

Thank you so much for coming on the show. We really appreciate it.

pat_o_neill:

Thank you both for having me. I really really appreciate it and it's so great to see you both and talk to you both. So thanks for having me.

carey_wallace:

So Pat, If someone has a question on something you've talked about, where can they reach you at?

pat_o_neill:

Yeah, I feel free to reach out to me any time. I'm an open book. I try to share as much as I can, but obviously there's There's a lot more so I'm on linked in Pattoneil. If you go to our websiteoneal insurance dot com, my email, My phone number should be on there as well, but feel free to call me. Shoot me an email. Any tie? happy to help? So that's you know, I didn't really touch on it, but you know I'm fortunate enough. I've got a strong network of other independent agency owners that that I talked to pretty regularly from all over the county. And you know we see each other a couple of times a year at conferences, But you know a lot of our challenges. They deal with the same thing, And Ou know you're not always going through the same thing alone, even though I might feel like it, so reach out and lean on that network and lean on other agency owners out there.

carey_wallace:

It's one of the beauties of our industry, isn't it the willingness to help each other and the commonality of the challenges that we all face, So pat, I can't thank you enough for inviting me to be part of one of your mentors. Um, several years ago, it was an absolute pleasure and for also coming and sharing with us today. So thank you so much for coming on.

pat_o_neill:

Thank you, both.

carey_wallace:

I hope to see you soon. 

pat_o_neill:

Hope to see you soon as well.