John Borja

Account Executive
Teague Insurance
La Mesa, California

Age: 34
iPhone or Android? iPhone
Favorite streaming service? Spotify
What’s in your earbuds currently? 2pac

What brought you to insurance?

It was entrepreneurial. My friend didn’t go to college—he was working for a small brokerage where he kind of learned the ropes, and then he had the bright idea of starting his own small agency. So he called me and I was like, “Yeah, let’s do it!” I wanted to get into something entrepreneurial. I didn’t look at it from the prospect of “Oh, it’s insurance.” I looked at it from the prospect of “We’re building up a company from the ground up, and that’s exciting.”

We had no experience, no insurance background, nothing. Even my friend’s experience was limited because he had been at a smaller brokerage. We started from ground zero. We’re not even talking about gaining appointments with carriers, the relationships you have with workers comp, the different underwriters you’re going to interact with—our focus was just on how do we build this company up so we can make a living doing it, and build it so other people can come and join? It was basically a shot in the dark.

What keeps you in it?

The fun part is being exposed to all these different industries. As a commercial insurance guy, all of a sudden you’ve got your hand in just about every single industry. I sit on the board for the chamber of commerce and I’m the one who ends up speaking the most. They’re like, “Why is that guy always talking?” But it’s because I’ve been exposed to it!

Perpetuation planning?

The industry always tries to find the “ideal insurance broker,” and we need to stop looking for that. Bring people in and mold them within your agency’s culture. We’re not the Marines. We’re an industry that has multiple talents and education levels, and our clients are the same way. There is no perfect type. If the industry re-evaluates its talent recruitment strategy, we may have better odds succeeding. 

Most annoying millennial stereotype?

That we’re lazy. We’re ambitious and driven. I’ve pretty much built my career from ground zero, and I don’t believe I’m an anomaly. Millennials aren’t going to sit on the sidelines. You either get them involved early and often, or they’re going to move on to another organization and contribute there. We have an opinion and we’re going share it, whether it’s unsolicited or solicited. At first, this agency was like, “What’s going on here? Too much energy.” And then they realized, “Alright, let’s work with this.” Instead of being defensive, they brought in wisdom and history and knowledge and got me to engage my thought process and refined my ideas. Now we’re collaborating. 

Millennial stereotype that fits you?

We don’t believe in the status quo. We’re challenging the establishment. We’re saying, “Wait a minute—I know it’s been going on since long before I was born, but is this the proper way of doing it? Is there a better way of making this better for the industry?” 

Next generation of consumers?

I’ll tell you when I already know I’m going to be working with a millennial—they’ll tell me, “Just give me a rate online.” And I’m like, “No, you’re going to come see me and we’re going to talk about what it is.” And I can tell when I get in there if they’re fully prepared. I’ll ask questions like, “What are your five-year projections?” They’ll say, “I don’t know, we don’t look out that far.” “Well, why don’t you?” Most startup companies fail within the first year or so. It’s important that they understand right off the bat that’s the reality, this is real now. 

Millennials believe we can take on a certain amount of risk and it won’t hurt us—that we’re averse to any danger. Every one of my clients believes they have their own solutions, which is great. I don’t ever want to undermine that. I just want them to listen a little bit, understand why these resources are around them. Because sometimes they’re like, “We have to get insurance because someone told us to.” No—you did it to protect your organization. I deal with it all the time. The biggest violators are in the tech industry—they just don’t care about insurance. They’re just like, “We’re going to build our company,” and all of a sudden they’re like, “Workers comp? D&O? What’s that? I didn’t know I had to do all that jazz.” And these are educated people. They went to top-notch colleges. They’re all super smart, but insurance is an oversight.

We have to do a better job of communicating this in simple language so millennials can conceptualize what we’re talking about and relate to it. It’s critical for an independent broker to show how these things are relevant to their business, not a commodity where they can say, “Oh, it’s a line item—we need to get workers comp.” You have to pinpoint something that’s going to get that person to think. Identify a quick gap and then put it in an email and just leave it out there for them to research. They’re going to research it anyway. Watch what’s going to happen: They’re going to come in with their own decision, so by the next time I meet with them, they’re not going to tell me I’m right—they’re just going to go with it and think, “OK, he’s proven his worth.”

And it’s not just identifying gaps with coverages, because they’re going to ignore anything about insurance coverages. It’s about identifying gaps within their operations. “How do you address wage and hour? How are you addressing minimum wage in California? How’s that working for you? How many harassment lawsuits have been filed against you? Just curious.” The restaurant industry has a lot of those issues. You just throw it out there because you know it happens, they just never tell you. All of a sudden you got their attention—they’re like, “Oh wow, we just had a lawsuit on that stuff.” And you tell them, “Look, it’s very common, we see it all the time, so I’m just letting you know that this is what it does to a person or a business. I’m not trying to give you a magic wand for everything. I’m just telling you how you can adjust some procedure internally to reduce your exposure.”

We have to condition the millennials, but at the same time we have to bring value to them. “I know you like buying things online—the reason I asked you to come here today is I wanted to go over these steps with you and to discuss it. I want to educate you on what you’re getting here today, because regardless of whether you go with me or not, that’s not relevant. What you’re buying here is important to you.” With millennials, you have to show care. You have to show love.

The industry’s always grinding people to sell, sell, sell, sell. And yeah, we know that’s how we survive, but that’s not going to help attract clients or improve our standing. Sometimes it feels like it’s sales before advising the client, or commission before duty of care. We have to do the opposite—show we care, show we want this to succeed. The money will come with that.

This article is the fourth in a series that profiles 10 millennials in independent insurance, based on IA’s July cover story. Keep an eye on IAmagazine.com and upcoming editions of the News & Views e-newsletter for more insights into how young people are working to secure the future of your industry.

Jacquelyn Connelly is IA senior editor.