Austyn Thurman

I got my insurance license about seven years ago. I worked in the business for about two years, then took a five‑year break and went to a large, well‑known corporation, where I worked my way up to training and coaching 60 to 90 salespeople a year. I learned more from teaching them than I ever did doing the work myself. I grew up around this business and I've always loved it, so now I'm back in it full time, with my own company.

My first real sales job was selling landscaping. It's an easy idea to understand: you take a yard that needs work and you make it look the way it should. I look at retirement plans much the same way. Sometimes you're just not headed where you want to go, and a small correction now, a couple of degrees, can change where you end up.

I'm big on the education side, and that starts with listening. I don't come in with an answer already picked out. I want to hear about your family and what you already have, and if you're happy with something, I'll leave it alone. Then I'd rather give you the information and let you decide than talk you into something. You'll hear what a product does, what it costs and where the risk is. If I'm not the right person for you, I'll say so, and you can still call me with a question down the road. And yes, I'll be in a suit and tie when we meet. I take this seriously. When your situation calls for it, I bring in people who do what I don't, such as an attorney for wills and trusts.

Outside of work, I have four kids, I love football, and I won't turn down a good cigar and a glass of bourbon. Every year I help with a thousand toys at Christmas for kids in need and a hundred turkeys at Thanksgiving. I've been part of that since I was a kid, and it's the best I feel all year.