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Insurance Town: Daily Summaries Delivered
by Heath Shearon
Welcome to Insurance Town! Your host is the Mayor of Insurance Town, Heath Shearon. After many years in different parts of the insurance world, Heath wants to share his experience with you. Join in on conversations with Heath and many of the friends he's made along the way.
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- 5 days ago52 min
How do I become a Trusted Advisor? (Re-Visit)
RE-VISIT episode with David Watson from 2024- In this weeks episode , the mayor has the awesome opportunity to sit down with his good friend, David Watson of Risk Advisor and they talk about what it means to be a risk advisor and how to improve the customer journey. But first David and I take a walk down memory lane and we talk all things David Watson and how he came to Mappus, and how he came up with the idea of Risk Advisor. WE then talk everything from Process & procedure to the old school but always popular Drafts (this one is the snack draft episode) Epsisode Sponsors:Canopy ConnectBind AIV!VA Teams
- 1 weeks ago49 min
How to Close More Sales Without Ever Pitching?
This week In Insurance town, the Mayor brings in a heavy hitter for this one, author, and sales trainer Steve Sapato to Insurance Town, and man. Steve has worn a lot of hats throughout his career, from IBM and small business ownership to real estate, public speaking, and sales training. And along the way, he's learned something that I think every insurance professional needs to hear.How many times do we walk into a networking event, jump on a Zoom call, or sit down with a prospect already thinking about what WE want to say next? We're so busy preparing our pitch that we forget to listen to the person sitting across from us.Steve challenges us to flip that script!We dig into his Three Minutes to Yes approach to networking, his Storytizing concept that helps speakers connect through stories, and his QL Method, which is all about asking the right question, at the right time, in the right way. And here's something I loved about this conversation: Steve reminds us that we're not selling policies, technology, or products. We're selling solutions to problems people actually care about.Sound familiar, insurance agents?!We also talk about how to make networking more intentional, why follow-up matters, how to have better sales conversations on Zoom, and why you should probably stop sending those generic LinkedIn messages! Steve even shares some wisdom from his book Learn to Win about setting goals, leaning into your strengths, and intentionally working to get better.Episode Chapters00:00 – Welcome to Insurance Town and our sponsors03:01 – Meet Steve Sapato and let's talk pickleball11:15 – From IBM to the speaking stage13:06 – Sell the solution, not the product15:26 – Three Minutes to Yes and better networking18:04 – What are your customers REALLY buying?22:19 – Storytizing, the QL Method, and asking better questions28:19 – Better sales conversations on Zoom32:13 – Asking the questions that uncover real needs38:15 – Networking follow-up that actually means something40:20 – Learn to Win and the importance of personal growth47:15 – AI, LinkedIn, and building genuine relationships52:15 – Why educating your customers still mattersA Big Thank You to Our Sponsors!Canopy Connect – Helping agencies simplify insurance intake, gather accurate information, and create better customer experiences.Bind.ai – Bringing AI-powered insurance solutions directly into the workflows agents already use, including email.V!VA Teams – Helping agencies grow and scale through dedicated virtual team members.Get curious. Listen. Find out what matters to them. Because at the end of the day, relationships still drive this business. And sometimes the best sales strategy in the world is simply making somebody feel heard.As Steve says, "Questions sell things."Now get out there, build some relationships, help some people, and make your little corner of Insurance Town a better place!Connect with SteveCheck out Steve's books, including Learn to Win, and learn more about his approach to communication and sales training.https://SteveSapatoBooks.comThanks for helping us keep the lights on here in Insurance Town!Until next time, Citizens... keep learning, keep growing, and keep building those relationships!
- 2 weeks ago48 min
How to Recognize and Recover from Burnout (Connected Conversations in Insurance Collab)
In this episode of Insurance Town, I release an episode of Connected Conversations, host Carrie of Canopy Connect. She interviews Brooke Liu, of MarshBerry, about the “quiet, creeping” burnout high achievers often hide—what Brooke calls operating in “low power mode.” Drawing from her work with her peers and her own intense travel schedule, Brooke explains that burnout is a capacity issue, not a motivation problem, and shares early warning signs like fatigue and declining sleep quality. They explore why women may carry extra burnout weight through credibility pressures, emotional labor, and difficulty delegating, and why asking for help can protect credibility more than masking struggle. Brooke offers practical strategies—accountability partners, communicating priorities, time-and-energy audits, and rejecting constant work-life balance in favor of seasonal grace—plus organizational ways to spot and reduce burnout through surveys, benchmarks, staffing, process standardization, and technology.Connect with Brooke:Email: brooke.liu@marshberry.comLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brookeacliu/Marshberry LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/marshberry/Sponsors of Insurance TownCanopy Connect Bind AI V!Va Teams
- 3 weeks ago14 min
How do I sell more insurance?
This week in insurance town te Mayor Heath Shearon sits down with Christ Warren of Determined Vision for a conversation about how AI, mentorship, and a serious mission mindset are changing the way insurance professionals prospect, serve, and grow. Christ shares his journey from Cameroon to the United States, the discipline that shaped him, and why he sees life insurance as a way to give families choice when the worst happens.They also dig into practical agency lessons: how to use AI and VAs to protect time, why mentorship shortens the learning curve, and how to keep sales conversations centered on the real problem instead of the product.Timestamps00:00 - Welcome to Insurance Town and sponsor overview 00:58 - Meet Christ Warren and clear up the pronunciation of his name 03:37 - How Christ found the podcast using AI outreach 04:42 - Using AI for prospecting and audience targeting 06:30 - Why credibility and core values still matter in insurance 08:50 - Christ’s move from Cameroon to the United States 09:17 - Growing up as the oldest of seven, with six sisters 11:27 - From biology and medical school to insurance 13:18 - Learning from a mentor who scaled from six figures to millions 16:54 - The Mamba mentality and doing the reps 20:11 - Why mentorship matters at every level 23:36 - Focus, repetition, and mastery over chasing shiny objects 24:34 - Slowing down to speed up in business 25:06 - Christ’s partner helps shape the AI and exposure strategy 26:37 - The Eisenhower framework for urgent, important, and delegable work 29:23 - What agency owners should protect as their highest-value activity 31:28 - Why purpose and client impact matter more than admin tasks 32:57 - The call log test and surrounding yourself with stronger people 34:44 - Why Christ sees passion as a superpower in life insurance 35:06 - Volunteering and seeing end-of-life reality up close 36:53 - Keeping the mission front and center in agency training 39:00 - Why repeating the vision helps shape the culture 41:19 - What life products Christ works with 42:01 - Diagnosing first before recommending coverage 43:14 - The ripple effect when a breadwinner dies uninsured 46:20 - Why the work is serious, not just sales 47:50 - Real examples of families changing spending habits after the right conversation 49:50 - How Cameroon still shapes Christ’s view of choice and planning 54:48 - AI and VA systems helping the industry return to old-school fundamentals 57:43 - Technology should create more time for relationships and service 58:45 - Where to find Heath and the upcoming AI conference in New YorkSponsorsCanopy ConnectBind AIV!va Teams
- Oct 8, 202639 min
AI Is Moving Fast. But Who’s Watching the AI?
On this episode of Insurance Town, I sat down with Joseph Varga, founder of Forge Orbital, for a conversation about AI governance, agentic AI, and what businesses especially those of us in highly regulated industries like insurance need to be thinking about as this technology continues to move at an unbelievable pace.Joseph breaks down the difference between the AI most of us have gotten comfortable with and the proactive, agentic systems that are beginning to take action on our behalf. And while that creates incredible opportunity for efficiency and growth, it also creates a whole new set of questions around accountability, transparency, data, and trust.One of the biggest ideas we unpack is the concept of the AI “black box.”If an AI system drafts an email, makes a recommendation, assists with underwriting, or helps influence a claims decision, can you explain exactly how it arrived at that answer?And more importantly, could you recreate that decision two years from now if a regulator, customer, carrier, or attorney asked you to?That’s where Joseph believes governance becomes critical.We also get into the idea of having AI check AI. On the surface, having one model review another sounds like a strong safeguard. But as Joseph explains, if both systems are probabilistic, you may simply be getting a second opinion—not actual proof.For insurance professionals, that distinction matters.Joseph also shares how Forge Orbital approaches governance differently by operating as a deterministic layer in the background—helping organizations create rules, evidence boundaries, audit trails, and human checkpoints without creating yet another dashboard employees have to manage.And yes, we absolutely talked about dashboard fatigue.This conversation isn’t about being afraid of AI.It’s about using AI responsibly.Because the more AI moves from answering questions to actually taking action, the more important it becomes for agencies, carriers, MGAs, and insurance technology companies to understand what’s happening behind the scenes.If you’re already experimenting with AI, building AI into your tech stack, or simply trying to understand where all of this is headed, this episode will give you a few things to think about.Joseph’s biggest message is a simple one:Use the technology. Take advantage of what it can do. Just make sure you understand what it’s doing on your behalf.Because AI is moving fast. And the companies that win won’t just be the ones that adopt it fastest—they’ll be the ones that learn how to use it responsibly.Timestamps00:00 – Welcome to Insurance Town00:30 – A big thank you to our sponsors: Canopy Connect, Bind AI, and VIVA Virtual Solutions02:54 – Meet Joseph Varga of Forge Orbital05:25 – Joseph’s background and his path into AI technology07:35 – What does “AI governance” actually mean?09:52 – Human-in-the-loop vs. true AI governance11:17 – The evolution from reactive AI to proactive, agentic AI13:16 – Where AI could be headed next15:07 – When will government regulation catch up with AI?16:28 – Where Forge Orbital fits into AI governance17:26 – Is having AI check other AI actually enough?20:07 – Why companies need to start preparing for AI governance now21:46 – What insurance agencies and carriers should be doing today24:17 – How Forge Orbital integrates into an existing tech stack26:07 – AI governance use cases for independent insurance agencies27:41 – Building Forge Orbital for highly regulated industries29:50 – Why governance shouldn’t mean another dashboard32:33 – What happens when employees use AI from their phones?34:07 – Why Joseph became passionate about AI governance36:11 – How to learn more about Forge Orbital37:54 – Joseph’s final advice for businesses adopting AI39:04 – Closing thoughtsA Big Thank You to Our SponsorsInsurance Town would not be possible without the partners who continue to support this community.Canopy Connect helps agencies simplify insurance intake and collect the policy information they need faster. Check them out at usecanopy.com/heath.Bind AI helps insurance agencies use AI to uncover opportunities, create capacity, and work more efficiently across the commercial insurance lifecycle. Learn more at Bind.ai.<a href="h
- Sep 24, 202620 min
Networking Not Working, Live From InsuranceFest 2026
This episode is live from the Santa Monica Peir at Insurance Fest 2026. Sponsors:Canopy Connect -Making it easier for agencies to collect insurance information directly from clients and prospects, helping speed up the quoting process and improve the customer experience.Bind AI- An AI-powered digital teammate built to help insurance professionals automate repetitive work, increase efficiency, and give their teams more time to focus on the human side of the business. V!VA- Helping insurance agencies scale with trained virtual professionals who can support service, operations, marketing, and more giving your team additional capacity without sacrificing the customer experience.
- Sep 17, 202646 min
Can I Scale My Insurance Agency Without Losing My Culture?
This week in Insurance Town, Mayor sits down with longtime friend and fellow insurance leader Heath Barnett, co-owner of Legacy, for a conversation about growth, culture, ownership, and building a business people actually want to be part of.Heath Barnett is an insurance agency leader and co-owner of Legacy. After beginning his career in the captive insurance world, Heath transitioned into the independent channel and helped build Legacy into a multi-state insurance organization.His leadership philosophy centers on developing people, creating opportunities for ownership, giving local leaders autonomy, and building an organization where professional success doesn’t have to come at the expense of family and the things that matter most.Heath’s story starts in Memphis, Texas, where he grew up around agriculture, small-town relationships, and a family Farmers agency. After working alongside his grandfather and eventually purchasing the agency, Heath began seeing opportunities beyond the captive model. That journey ultimately led him into the independent insurance world and to what has become Legacy—an organization that has grown to roughly 250 people across multiple states.But this episode isn’t simply about getting bigger.It’s about how you grow without losing who you are.Heath and Mayor talk about the importance of training agents to understand what they are actually selling instead of competing on price alone. They dig into what the captive world can teach independent agencies about carrier training and development, why Legacy intentionally recruits coaches and teachers, and why the right culture can become one of the strongest recruiting and retention tools an agency has.They also get into ownership, succession planning, producer autonomy, burnout, family priorities, faith, and creating an organization where people have the opportunity to build something of their own.If you’re an agency owner thinking about growth, recruiting, producer development, culture, or succession, there are plenty of nuggets in this one.Episode Timestamps00:00 – Welcome to Insurance Town03:21 – Meet Heath Barnett09:27 – Leaving the captive model for the independent channel10:34 – Rebuilding culture in the independent insurance world15:43 – What Farmers got right about training and support18:26 – Stop selling price and start understanding the product21:54 – Why Legacy recruits coaches and teachers29:19 – Burnout, family priorities, and faith at work32:53 – The original vision for Legacy’s growth36:54 – Why producers choose the Legacy model41:41 – Ownership, succession, and protecting an agent’s book43:42 – Why Legacy moved beyond the traditional last-name agency model44:53 – Connecting with Heath Barnett and Legacy45:45 – Legacy’s growing multi-state footprint46:02 – What could be next for Legacy49:19 – Texas football, Texas Tech, and the Longhorns51:15 – Closing thoughtsLearn more about Legacy at legacyinsurance1.com.Proud Partners of Insurance TownCanopy ConnectStop chasing down declaration pages and PDFs. Canopy Connect helps insurance professionals collect verified insurance information directly from prospects and clients in seconds, creating a faster and easier experience for everyone involved.Bind AIFormerly 1Fort, Bind AI is helping insurance organizations put AI to work as a digital teammate—supporting workflows, increasing capacity, and helping teams spend more time on the work that requires human judgment and relationships.V!VA Virtual SolutionsV!VA helps insurance agencies build effective virtual teams by focusing on more than simply placing a VA. Their approach centers on processes, training, accountability, and helping agencies create measurable return on their investment.Insurance Town listeners can receive $1,000 off when getting started with V!VA Virtual Solutions.Thank you to our partners for supporting Insurance Town and helping us continue bringing real conversations, practical ideas, and stories from people doing the work across the insurance industry.One change I particularly like here is positioning the episode around the question, “How do you grow without losing who you are?” That feels very on-brand for Insurance Town and gives the entire episode a stronger through-line.
- Sep 10, 20261h 4m
How do I grow my agency using Virtual Employees?
in this weeks episode, Heath Shearon sits down with Rob Lopez, CEO of V!VA, for a wide-ranging conversation about insurance, outsourcing, virtual assistants, and AI. Rob shares how his path from broadcast journalism and sports radio led him back into the insurance world, and why his focus has always been on building real departments not just filling seats.They also dig into what makes V!VA different: process-driven onboarding, bilingual support, nearshore staffing in El Salvador, and a consultative approach that helps agencies document workflows before adding talent.https://vivateams.com/insurancetownTimestamps00:00 – Welcome, sponsors, and introducing Rob Lopez from V!VA03:33 – Why Rob stays present in the industry05:32 – Rob’s early life as an Allstate kid06:30 – Broadcast journalism, the Houston Rockets, and a career shift07:26 – The first life insurance claim that changed Rob’s perspective07:55 – Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, and Wilma08:44 – Distribution work, aggregators, and building agency networks09:35 – Why aggregator margins eventually hurt the value proposition10:29 – Rob’s sports talk and media background12:30 – Why catastrophe work mattered more than commissions14:53 – Rob’s father and front-line catastrophe response17:37 – Delivering a claim check and overcoming fear at the kitchen table18:43 – Why showing up during claims builds trust20:40 – Heath and Rob discuss the mission behind insurance22:32 – How Rob entered the virtual assistant space23:43 – Hiring for impact, not headcount24:39 – The story behind V!VA’s first hire27:18 – How that first hire became part of V!VA’s origin story29:13 – The evolution from “VA” to trained insurance team members30:13 – Why checklists and SOPs are essential32:03 – Using virtual assistants to document workflows33:27 – Why Rob is willing to say no to the wrong client fit36:01 – Cheap labor versus true partnership37:26 – Building departments instead of relying on one person41:06 – Why turnover is inevitable without documented processes42:31 – The impact of losing a virtual assistant44:21 – V!VA’s systems and strategy review process45:48 – Quarterly check-ins and role alignment47:12 – Virtual assistants, licensed agents, and career growth49:17 – Why nearshore support can be effective for insurance agencies51:06 – AI versus humans in the agency53:30 – V!VA Front Desk and AI-powered communication55:22 – AI for after-hours lead capture56:48 – Cost savings, payroll, and E&O coverage60:04 – How to contact Rob and access the Insurance Town offer61:26 – The $1,000 setup credit for Insurance Town listenersSponsors: Canopy Connect - get dec pages , gather information , meet your clients where they are Get a discount using my code !! 1fort.ai- it is AI for insurance agencies , save time, be more efficient and win more deals with 1 Fort AIViva - see why more people are going to viva for near shore talent. And get a massive discount for being a listener of the show
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About Insurance Town
Welcome to Insurance Town! Your host is the Mayor of Insurance Town, Heath Shearon. After many years in different parts of the insurance world, Heath wants to share his experience with you. Join in on conversations with Heath and many of the friends he's made along the way.
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It's a free AI-powered email that summarizes new episodes of Insurance Town as soon as they're published. You get the key takeaways, notable quotes, and links & mentions — all in a quick read.
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