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?
I am a commercial lines client advisor.
What's your background?
I've been in the insurance industry for about seven years. I am originally from Charlotte, North Carolina. When I was growing up, I thought that I would eventually get out of North Carolina. I enlisted in the United States Marine Corps in 2010, shipped out to bootcamp in 2011 and I ended up a whole three hours away from home in Jacksonville, North Carolina on Camp Lejeune. So it didn't quite work out as planned, and here we are. I got married while I was active duty and my wife loves the Wilmington area. So we compromised and here we are in Wilmington, North Carolina. Right before I came to Wells, I was a full-time college student. I had gotten out of the Marine Corps in 2015, worked briefly for Travelers as a total loss adjuster in Charlotte and thought we would relocate the family to Charlotte. That ended up not working out. We're still in Wilmington. So I got my CDL and drove for seven years, finally decided to go do something with my GI Bill, and went to Liberty University through their online programs and graduated in May of '25 with a Bachelor of Science in Interdisciplinary Studies with focus on business and computational sciences.
Why Wells? What do you like most about working at Wells?
When I interviewed with Wells, Mandy, Jessica, and Gary sold the organizational culture here. It's a family owned company, it's a tight team, and that has an appeal to me. It's somewhere that you can build a career, feel like you belong, and when I showed up on the first day and met everybody, they definitely undersold, over-delivered.
What's the best lesson you've learned throughout your career?
The best lesson I've learned in life is to not take anything for granted and to be patient. The things that you want that you're willing to work for, eventually they'll come around.
What's the biggest challenge you've faced in your career?
Everything that I've done has had a unique set of challenges that go along with it. Again, it's probably just learning to be patient and really sit down and think about what you want and how to get there and do it. And that translates into every job, every title that I've had.
What's the biggest accomplishment in your career so far?
The accomplishment that I'm most proud of is being a dad. That's top for me. I've got two step daughters that are 25 and 22. I've got a nine-year-old. My wife and I are getting ready to foster a three-year-old girl as well. That's the most rewarding thing that I've ever done in my life.
What's the first job you ever had?
The first job I ever had was the best job I ever had because I worked in a grocery store. I worked for Harris Teeter and I was 16 years old. When you're 16, you're young, dumb, and invincible. You have fun. You feel like you work hard and you watch your friends that don't have jobs and they're all out having fun and you're working and making money. But at the same time, when you get further in life and you look at the responsibility that comes with further roles, especially when you start getting into a professional career, you realize you never get to slack off and have as much fun as you had at your first job.
If you could do anything for a living, what would you do?
I love cars and all things automotive. If I could be a curator of automobiles for a wealthy client, that would be a dream job. You know, I have a monocle, a nice mustache, and a pipe smoking tobacco that nobody's ever heard of and you're like, "What did you do today?" Oh, I drove a 1959 Ferrari. I drove the 56 Maserati. The 55 Aston Martin was just a little bit nicer to me. LOL!
What do you like to do when you're not working?
When I'm not working, I love to cook. I've got an old Mustang that I'm getting ready to start the restoration process on. So I'm excited to jump into that. Love spending time with my kids.
What non-profit/volunteer activity do you enjoy the most?
A couple of years ago, my wife and I volunteered with an organization that was packing food to send to third world countries in Africa.
What's on your bucket list?
The top of my bucket list is like a cross country trip in a classic car or on like a Harley running off of the major highways, you know, running like Route 66. Going on the scenic route that nobody takes anymore.
What's your biggest strength?
I feel like my biggest strength is communication. I'm very comfortable talking to people.
What's your biggest weakness?
Feel like my greatest weakness is sometimes I don't know when to stop talking. People are looking at you like, hey, we've got places to cook. Cut it off already.
What's your secret superpower nobody knows about?
I love to cook. I'm pretty good at it. Music is another thing...I play guitar.
Favorite book
The last book that I read that I was really into was a book called "The Life of Paul." It's about the Apostle Paul. You learn who the man was that wrote majority of the New Testament.
Favorite Podcast?
The Smoking Tire. That's an automotive podcast. Guy's name is Matt Farah and he started this YouTube deal called the Smoking Tire and they would review people's cars in the canyons in California. You would see old bucket Honda's from the 80s. They're driving the crap out of them through the canyons and then the next day he's got like a $300,000 Ferrari just blasting through. He's respectful to the people whose cars that he's driving. When he's talking about the cars, he's hitting the good things and the bad things and he's just so sincere about it.
Favorite TV Show?
Probably Parks and Rec. Parks and Rec and The Office. Some of those older sitcoms, you can just watch those over and over. They don't get old. The funny stuff holds up.
Favorite movie?
My favorite movie that I've seen recently was The Art of Racing in the Rain.
Favorite band?
My favorite band is The Black Crows by far.
How do you define success?
I define success by the feeling of satisfaction that you get from working. You know, when you look at it in terms of a career, there's definitely a financial aspect to it. Success to me financially is being able to pay my bills, but satisfaction from what you do in all aspects of life is that can I walk away from circumstances, situations, relationships, with satisfaction that I was sincere, I was genuine, I was honest. I gave people the best version of me.
What's the best advice you've ever been given?
Best advice I've ever been given is advice that most of us should get from our dads when we're young,"Don't quit." You persevere.
If you have questions about about Commercial Insurance feel free to reach out to Michael at Wells Insurance. Check out the Youtube version of this Employee Spotlight.
