In the insurance industry, career paths like Bryan Fontenot’s are a rare breed. The Big “I” young agent and recipient of this year’s Maurice Herndon Scholarship has known he would be an insurance agent since he was just 15 years old.

Now a corporate account executive at La.-based independent agency Brown & Brown of Baton Rouge, Fontenot remembers very clearly the first influence that nudged him toward the business: the mother of his best friend in high school, who he affectionately refers to as his “second mom.”

“She told me at 15, ‘You will become an insurance broker or agent one day,’” says southern-born Fontenot, who calls himself folksy—a storyteller. “I asked why, and she said ‘Because you love people—you love a challenge.’ So the seed was planted very early.”

Fontenot went on to earn his Bachelor of Science degree in business administration from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, selling appliances at Sears during his college years. “I knew I wanted a career in business—I love business development, I love working with people,” recalls Fontenot, who started off as an adjuster with Allstate.

What prompted him to cross over from enemy territory? The same woman who planted the insurance seed to begin with.

“She called me about two and a half years in and said, ‘I’m sure you’re tired of traveling—I’m sure you want to come home and plant some roots,’” Fontenot explains. “And she was right. I was killing myself in regards to claims. Everybody’s opinion was if you’re going to do double the work, you should be rewarded for it. Sales was the perfect opportunity for that.”

Since joining Brown & Brown more than three years ago, Fontenot has certainly jumped at the chance to plant roots in his local community, getting involved with groups like the National Council on Compensation Insurance state’s advisory forum and the education committee of his local National Association of Home Builders chapter. And he serves on multiple non-profit boards, including Forum35, a group for Baton Rouge young professionals, and Capital Area Corporate Recycling Council, which provides refurbished computers to low-income families.

Fontenot was also appointed as a mentor to other young agents at his agency, assisting in the development and insurance education of new hires. “The one thing I would tell any young person about insurance is give it a chance to at least learn about it,” Fontenot says. “On the surface it may seem dull and boring, but it’s a very exciting world once you pull the curtain back.”

Presented each year to one young agent who is a first-time attendee to the Big “I” Legislative Conference, the Maurice Herndon Scholarship allows the recipient to attend the conference free of charge. Its namesake refers to the former head of the 1949 Big “I” Washington, D.C. office, who built the association’s government affairs and grassroots operations.

That mission hits close to home for Fontenot, who is eager to gain a broader perspective on the inner workings of the legislature. “As young people in the industry, a lot of times we want to have a voice, but we don’t know how to go about that process,” he explains. “To get a deeper look into how the system works—that’s going to benefit me on a local level and on a state level.”

In Fontenot’s home state of Louisiana, constituents are concerned with a wide range of insurance issues, from workers comp to Biggert-Waters. And Fontenot is looking forward to using his small business know-how to contribute to future developments.

“I think we’re really starting to hone in and listen to the needs of our constituents, and that’s what politics is all about,” he says. “I’ve seen politics shift from far left to far right. We need to work together to get back to the middle and figure out how we can make some concessions on both ends for the common good.”

Jacquelyn Connelly is IA assistant editor.