166: Overcoming Cancer to Build a $250M+ Insurance Business – Heath Ritenour of Insurance Office of America

166: Overcoming Cancer to Build a $250M+ Insurance Business – Heath Ritenour of Insurance Office of America

Background on Heath Ritenour of IOA:

Heath Ritenour joined Insurance Office of America in 1996. He was named Chief Executive Officer in 2008 and became Chairman in 2019. Since taking the helm, Heath has helped IOA grow to the 13th largest privately held insurance agency in the country. He firmly believes in serving IOA’s clients passionately, meticulously, and resourcefully. Heath strives for IOA to be a leader in innovation and to be different in an industry of sameness. In 2018, Heath was named a CEO of the Year honoree by Orlando Business Journal, and he has been named to Insurance Business‘ Hot 100 2020 list. Heath attended Liberty University where he played football and majored in business administration. He currently holds the property and casualty general lines (2-20) and health and life (including variable annuity contracts, 2-15) insurance licenses.

Heath is a board member of Cogent Bank and an elder at Grace Church in Longwood, FL, and he serves as the president of the IOA Foundation. He is a former board member of the Arnold Palmer Medical Center Foundation, Foundation for Seminole State College, Lifework Leadership Orlando Advisory Board, and Seminole County Public Schools Foundation. Heath’s personal interests include spending time with his family, working out, playing basketball, and watching the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Time-Stamped Show Notes:

[4:55] Heath Ritenour is the CEO of IOA, which stands for Insurance Office of America. IOA is one of the largest privately held insurance brokers in the US.
[7:11] Most of their business comes from middle market commercial clients. IOA represents a multitude of insurance companies to meet their client’s needs.
[9:26] Heath tells an interesting story of how IOA got involved and acquired other businesses.
[11:47] His father started a local insurance company called IOF or Insurance Office of Florida.
[12:49] In his college years, Heath was passionate about sports and football. However, one summer he tried spending time with their insurance agents, which was an eye-opening experience for him.
[18:28] His father’s humble beginnings in the insurance industry started in the door-to-door selling of debit life insurance policies.
[22:06] The first year selling insurance was a struggle for Heath. In his second year, things started picking up and he learned the importance of referrals.
[25:17] Heath offers some important tips when it comes to sales.
[28:04] According to Heath, it is a lot easier for sales people to find targeted opportunities today.
[30:50] Doing some changes in his selling strategy was a great move for Heath. He changed his approach from being just a salesman to someone who wants to bring value to the client.
[32:30] When his father offered him to become the CEO of their insurance company. His reply was – hell no!
[38:00] During his first year as the CEO of the company, their revenue went down by a million dollars. This was very frustrating for Heath but everything turned out great for them the following year.
[49:28] Heath offers some advice on how to handle the transition from being a sales producer to having a management role.
[53:18] One of Heath’s biggest personal battles in life is his experience with cancer.
[59:48] Heath talks about maximizing his day and being more productive.
[1:02:20] Being authentic and intellectually curious tremendously helped Heath in his career.

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Fabulous 4 Questions:

📖 📚 Favorite Book(s)? Never Split the Difference by Chris Voss
🙌😎 Favorite Amazon.com purchase? Everything. There are brown boxes at our front door daily
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💭💡 BIGGEST Challenge keeping your Business from GROWING? Getting our story out to the masses

Key Point from the Interview:

“Part of growing in sales is finding the best way to maximize every hour that you have. And if you find ways to do so and you become very efficient, you don’t have to work 12, 13, 15 hours a day.”

Resources Mentioned:

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