In the News
Brandi McKinney embraces service mindset as Big l Arkansas President
Article originally posted in Big I Arkansas publication for independent insurance agents of Arkansas.
At a Big I convention back in 2004, Brandi McKinney was still a Yankee with a northern accent. Smitten by the Southern hospitality and family atmosphere she encountered, she said, “I’m going to be a big part of this.”
Since then, her accent has faded, but not her enthusiasm for her industry and community.
McKinney, 46, is AVP for McGhee Insurance NWA (Relation Insurances Services) in Rogers, and the new Big I Arkansas President.
“I will never not have the Big I family,” she said.
Finding a path
Originally from Chicago, McKinney went to college in Indiana and earned her degree in psychology. She intended to get a master’s degree and teach before she “fell into insurance” after a carrier saw her resume on Monster.com. and offered her the opportunity to travel and have a company car and expense account. In her early 20s and single, it was enough to persuade McKinney to become a territory manager for a company under Baldwin & Lyons, Inc.
When the company said they wanted to give her Arkansas as a territory, McKinney told them she wasn’t exactly sure where the state was. But as she traveled throughout Arkansas, Mississippi, and Alabama, she quickly fell in love with the area.
“The South is amazing,” she said. “The people are nice. Our state is beautiful. The pace is calm. People talk to you and hold the door open.”
McKinney is particularly excited to have found a home in the northwest corner of the state.
“In Northwest Arkansas, we’re unique in a sense. We’ve got some of the top companies in the United States. Walmart and Tyson bring in so many people from out of town,” she said. “It’s becoming a real melting pot, but we are not losing that Southern flavor.”
“The opportunity for young people in Northwest Arkansas is huge. It’s a great place to start a business and raise a family,” said McKinney, whose family now includes her husband, Or. Brandon Munson, who is a chiropractor, and their three sons, Tobin, 16, Eli, 13, and Jax, 11. Family life revolves around kid sports, including swimming, basketball, baseball, football, and travel, but they make a point to get to Chicago each year for major league baseball. When they’re home, the family has season tickets for the Arkansas Naturals.
Finding a mentor
In 2004, after becoming friends with longtime independent insurance agent Bill McGhee of Little Rock, McKinney said to him, “I can open an agency and move to Arkansas.”
“We kept talking and finally decided to do it,” she said. McKinney went home and told her friends she was moving to Arkansas, which she did with the help of two agent friends, one of whom bribed a group of construction workers with a case of beer to move her belongings into her third-floor apartment while the complex was still being built. McKinney was inspired by how McGhee ran his agency.
“He treated his team like family more than any office I had ever been in,” she said. “He took care of his people. That made me trust him and want to be part of it, and he took a huge risk on me.”
Building a business
In the summer of 2006, they opened the agency from scratch.
“We didn’t buy a book. I had to network my butt off,” said McKinney, who quickly joined the Chambers of Commerce in Bentonville, Rogers, and Springdale. She attended Business After Hours events, coffees and lunches, and got involved with a network group for women. “Those were a huge resource for me. I got to be out and about, and I met so many good friends.”
In 2013, McKinney bought the agency from McGhee, who retired.
“I just grew the agency and loved it,” she said of the business, which has been Relation Insurance since 2013. “And I still love it.”
“We have six people on our team, so we’re a small agency,” she said. “But one of the things that enticed me about how Bill ran his business is there is not a single thing they couldn’t ask me to do. Whether it’s to pick up snacks, take out the trash, or help with customers’ problems, they wouldn’t hesitate to ask.”
That kind offlexibility and willingness to serve at every level is one of the keys to success in the independent agency world.
“As independent agency owners, we kind of have to be everything to everybody, which I love,” she said. “That tests my knowledge and makes me understand my value to people.”
“People come to you for everything. At first, it was mostly personal lines, like home and auto. That’s
how I started and grew the business,” she said. “It has morphed throughout the years as I’ve worked with small businesses and nonprofits, which challenged me to learn and grow.”
Giving back
Since arriving in Northwest Arkansas, McKinney has given back to the community through the Kendrick Fincher nonprofit organization and serving on the advisory board for Signature Bank. During (OVID, she volunteered as a substitute teacher at her children’s school.
“Northwest Arkansas has so many nonprofits, so there are tons of opportunities to volunteer and help,” said McKinney, who also speaks and teaches at Saving Grace NWA, an organization that supports young women who are aging out of the foster care system. “It’s been a great experience.”
Community service is something McKinney believes independent insurance agents are well-suited for.
“We’re very service oriented. That’s just part of our DNA,” she said. “When someone calls, we just want to help people. We’re also flexible, which opens up more opportunity for us to do those things.”
McKinney has also supported independent agents in their careers, as McGhee did for her. She helped David Teigen, a California native with a background in employee benefits, open an office in Eureka Springs.
“He was amazing. He embraced the things that Bill instilled in me and put his own take on it,” said McKinney, who also helped two AAA partners in Fayetteville, who approached her for support.
Nurturing relationships
Helping independent agents be successful in Arkansas is part of what drives McKinney.
“I believe in our industry, and I want people to open agencies and be part of the independent agency family,” she said.
Independent agents have a different ethos than the corporate insurance business model, especially in Arkansas.
“It’s the same thing in all independent agencies,” she said. “They’re like a family and so welcoming.”
After meeting colleagues from other areas at national programs, McKinney believes the sense of community among independent agents is particularly strong in Arkansas.
“They are baffled at the relationships that we have here,” she said. “This is how Arkansas is. Independent agents,regardless of competition, are still friends and family.”
While technology has changed tremendously in the insurance industry, McKinney is happy to reassure younger independent agents that they will not be replaced with Al (artificial intelligence).
“That’s not going to happen here in the South,” she said. “We’re big on people. We still want an actual person to talk to and visit with.”
“Our industry is 100 percent relationships,” she said. “If you can go out and meet and talk to people, you can be successful.”
“Everybody needs insurance, whether it’s for their car or a new business,” she said. “You start small, put yourself out there helping people. Then they trust you, and they tell other people.”
While McKinney didn’t study insurance in college, her degree in psychology has proven useful.
“We are basically therapists, and we listen better than most,” she said. “We become a trusted advisor. The last thing we talk about is policy, which is why we’re successful.”
“I tell people it’s not their job to know insurance. That’s our job. We’re here to guide and help,” she said. “Their responsibility to tell us what’s important to them, so we can advise them.”
McKinney understands that when people buy insurance, they’re not 100 percent sure why. They just know they have to have it.
“I like to tease that people don’t realize who we are and what we do until something catastrophic happens,” she said, recalling conversations with clients after a recent tornado in Rogers. “Our job is to get to know them, their family, and their
property. These are things that matter in the event of a catastrophe. As an advisor, I’m supposed to listen and know what they need in case something happens. At the end of the day, we’re here to help make them whole.”