Declaration of Independents

Billy Wagner

Territory Owner
Brightway Insurance
Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.

Billy Wagner, 36, views insurance success as a beacon for those in need. When he set out to raise funds for Folds of Honor, a U.S. military charity with personal significance, he co-authored a book on the subject he knows best: “Insuring Your Peace of Mind,” personally putting up production costs and donating all proceeds. Sales were so successful that Wagner doubled his goal and raised $10,000.

Why Folds of Honor?

It struck home. Folds provides money to educate kids and spouses of U.S. military people disabled or killed while serving. My brother Bobby served three tours in Iraq and was killed there in 2004. He left behind his five-year-old son. These family needs are what Folds calls the “other side” of war. The work lets me honor my brother and others by helping their kids. It’s a bonus that it also lets me distinguish myself professionally as an insurance expert.

Life skills?

I was asked to help revitalize the curriculum that InVEST used at a high school near Brightway’s corporate headquarters. We conducted a day-long event, bringing the kids into the headquarters, teaching them skills like interviewing—what to say, what not to say, how to dress. The experience highlighted that so many kids don’t know how to interview and don’t have life skills in other areas, like handling money. This is an initiative where business leaders can work together to have a huge impact.

What’s next?

A kids’ book on life lessons. It started out for my own kids, but partly through work with InVEST®, I’m inspired to do more. I have a dream to build a foundation that takes up where the book leaves off—where business leaders provide a hand up for kids to learn life skills.