Who are the people that our clients talk to, trust, and work with year after year? Get to know more about our agency by getting to know the people through our Employee Spotlight Series.
What do you do here at Wells and how long have you been here?
I am on the broader commercial team and within that team I'm with our marketing team where there are three of us that work closely together to market particular accounts, new business accounts to various carriers to negotiate terms for the carriers. To make sure that we're getting the proper product, what the customer is looking for at a premium, that's affordable.
How did you get started?
My wife and I had been looking to move to the beach. When we finally made that decision, I threw out some resumes, did a little research, and really liked what Wells had to offer in terms of the things that I could see online. I had a really good phone interview, came down from Charlotte, had a pretty long interview with a lot of different folks, enjoyed it tremendously, and thankfully they enjoyed me as well. They provided me with the opportunity and of course I accepted. So I've been here at wells for about 4 1/2 years now.
Why Wells? What do you like most about working here?
What I like most about working here is that it’s a really good family friendly atmosphere. It doesn't matter if you're talking to one of the owners or anybody within the organization. It's always basically an open-door policy for anything that you want to talk about. There’s assistance from all different levels, there’s a really good team atmosphere, especially within our department, and they’re always willing to help each other out in any way possible.
How has working here positively impacted your life?
Working here has been a great positive impact on my life, mainly because I feel like Wells does a whole lot to create a work life balance. It's given me a really good opportunity to do a lot of coaching with my kids (recreational ball, travel sports and things like that). They do their very best to make sure that I have every opportunity that I can to be able to accommodate scheduling both ways.
What do you like most about your specific job here at Wells?
Every single account is different, and that's really the great thing to me about Commercial insurance. Every account may have a very similar nameplate on the front door as to what type of business it may be, but there's going to be something unique about it and provide a different challenge. Being that problem solver is a challenge, but it allows me to be creative in what I do and what our team does.
What's the best lesson you've learned throughout your career?
I think the best lesson is just to keep pushing through, no matter what obstacles you're up against. With some of these accounts, there's some really big obstacles that you've got to go through to get some types of products out there for the insured.
Favorite TV Show?
Seal team.
Favorite Movie?
Shawshank Redemption.
Favorite Book?
Anything by John Sandford.
Favorite Band?
Charlie Daniels band.
What's your favorite non-profit/volunteer organization?
Watching my kids grow up, I heard a lot about recreational sports not being very good or not being very organized. I truly think that people develop those opinions because they don't have the proper coach in place. I want to be that proper coach. I want to see a kid that maybe was getting ready to quit the sport, but then I coached him for a season and it lights that fire again so that they're going to continue to do it. That makes you feel good inside. I'm pretty involved with my church as well, but most of my time I'm volunteer coaching.
What's on your bucket list?
Top of my bucket list would be to play golf at the old course, Saint Andrews. That would be the top of my bucket list for sure.
How do you define success?
I think success would be defined for me as the ability to overcome. You're always going to go through these obstacles and if you can overcome those obstacles, even if it’s just baby steps, it's still success in the greater world of success. In parenting, as long as my kids can look up to me and at some point say, “Dad did a good job”, that's success for me.
What's the most memorable part of your career?
When I first got into this business back in 95, I loved going out to visit manufacturing accounts and seeing how things are made. If you're not in that world, you have absolutely no idea how something is made. It's really amazing to go see how efficient some of those things are. You would have absolutely no idea how a milk carton lid is made. I had a client that made collegiate basketball courts all across the country. Seeing how those things are made and created is just really neat.
How have you used your experience to help people?
I've used my experience to help clients find exposed gaps in coverage, where had they experienced a loss could have been in real trouble. Anytime you can fill that gap and see the insured eyes open saying, “Wow, thank you so much for pointing this out and for bringing this to our attention.”
What do you like to do when you're not working?
When I am not working, I am coaching my kids a lot in basketball, soccer, and baseball. I love to be outside, either at the beach or on the boat going fishing or just riding around, but I guess my true passion is probably playing golf. I'm just not very good at it, but I love to do it. I grew up playing different sports. I didn't excel in any of them, but I've always loved it. I've always been a big sports guy. I love to watch sports on TV. Basically, the only TV I watch is live sports, so that's kind of been my passion.
What's the best advice you've been given?
Just keep pushing. Don't give up, just keep pushing. Just keep swimming, as Dory said.
Garrett works hard in our Marketing department, helping to connect and our commercial clients
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