This week's Working Wednesday is brought to you by Larry Hazen {agency owner, sales, IT coordinator, consultant} of Hazen Enterprises.
Larry and I first met at an insurance event held by Vertafore for Agency Management Systems {basically a database that holds all the information we need}. Larry assisted me in getting involved with meetings and annual events in New England specifically for Vertafore user. He was similar to me in that he was "born into the industry". Without further adieu, his story.
My family has been in the
insurance business for some time. On my mother's side, my Great-Uncle, was an underwriter in Zurich, Switzerland. He came to work in an office outside of New York City in the 1930s. On my dad's, my Great-Uncle, left the Air Force and purchased an insurance
agency in the 1940s.
While residing in New York City, my Dad, worked for
an insurance company while dating my mother. My dad was raised on a
farm in Woodstock, Vermont, and when they had enough of the city life they moved to back. Once they arrived to town, my Great-Uncle {insurance agency owner}, asked my father and my uncle if they wanted to work there. They accepted and began work with my Great-Uncle. They worked for about fifteen years before purchasing the agency
from him.
As a child, my siblings and I were never allowed in the office, unless it was a life or death
situation. Heaven forbid a child go to "the office" in the middle of town owned by an uncle and Dad. To this day I cannot figure that one out...
I graduated High School and went to Florida with two high school buddies. We were sick of the small town
and wanted to explore the world. My two buddies left after six months; I enjoyed myself in Florida for three years. Was I in the insurance business in Florida? Nope, not insurance for this young man. I was a manager for the Colonel, Colonel Sanders
that is. Once I had enough of Florida and the Colonel, I moved back to my hometown and worked with friends painting houses by day and bar-tending by night.
After six months of being home my father called me to "the office". That may have been the first time I was invited to the office, so I knew "something was
up". I arrived at the office to meet with Dad and asked "What's
up?" He asked if I ever considered working in the office. {Note: At this point in my life, I did not go to college, I moved 1,500 miles from home and returned to paint houses and bar-tend. He wants to know if I
want to work in "an office".} I asked why. He told me his employee/producer of five years was leaving to purchase another
agency in town {coincidentally was in negotiations with my Dad to
purchase}. Dad was in a dilemma.
1) Ask me to join the agency
(I was the oldest of four, none of my siblings wanted
anything to do with an office, they wished to continue on with their own career paths).
2) Sell the agency (His last endeavor with the
employee who left, he decided not to take on other partners, except
me).
"How long do I have to decide?"
His reply was simply,
"Tomorrow would be great."
Newly married, recently purchased an 1850s farm house
in need of a lot of work, this was a pressing decision to make
overnight. I went home to my new wife and discussed it with her. The next day I went to "the office" and told my Dad I would join him.
That is how it all started, and I am glad I made that decision. It opened up areas of
opportunity I would not have if I had not made that
decision. Our agency was a Travelers appointment; they had training options for
me: home/office study and an agents school. Upon departure from the Travelers Agent School I came back to
the office to sit and learn the financial side of the business. A few years after working with the bookkeeper, one of our "girls", as they were termed in those days, decided to retire after working for the office since high school, fifty years. When
Dad advised me Francis was leaving I asked if I could
replace her with a computer instead of another
person. {This was the early 80s; computers were just getting started in the
workplace and insurance agencies.} My Dad nearly fell on the floor, not a good thing for a 200+ pound man. His response, "Have
you figured out how much the machine costs vs an employee?" I had
done my homework and reported there would be a small savings, and it would help us in the future as
many insurance companies and agencies were joining the
computer train. In a nutshell, how I got started in
the 35 years of being in the insurance business as well as the computer consulting side of life
as it is today.
Larry Hazen
Thank you Larry for guest blogging today. That is quite the story!
