Bryan Graham

Forest Products Manager

Associated Insurance Services

Boise, ID

Age: 32

Recently binged TV show: Ozark; The Office

In your earbuds: Pardon My Take; The Daily; Throughline

Most used app: Email

INDUSTRY CHALLENGES?

There will be some threats to the role of an agent and broker in the future. You already see this with direct insurers like GEICO on the personal insurance side of things. That will undoubtedly start to find its way into commercial insurance as well. However, that's more of a commodity game where who can find you the cheapest price is the only thing that matters.

Since recently joining The Beyond Insurance Global Network, our agency has completely transitioned away from that transactional mindset of insurance and instead focuses on a process that identifies the needs of our customers and finds ways to help their businesses succeed outside the normal insurance procurement process.

GOALS?

Our goal is to identify risks for the customer that they may not even be aware of yet and to provide solutions through proven risk analysis and management techniques that stop these outside threats from becoming a claim sometime down the road. We no longer just view ourselves as insurance professionals. We want to be considered an integral part of our customers business and be consultants on how to improve their entire operations from HR, risk management, compliance, or anything else they may need assistance with.

WORK/LIFE BALANCE?

Work to live, not live to work. I love my job and what I do and take it very seriously. But I've always felt that if you work hard, then you should also be able to enjoy the fruits of your labor. Life goes by too quickly to spend some of your best years worrying about work the whole time. My priority will always be my beautiful wife Shannon, our families and our soon-to-be first child who is due in September.

GOALS FOR THE FUTURE?

At this point, my top priority is to make sure our company can provide excellent and fulfilling careers for all of our employees and complete our agency's transition from “up-and-comer" to the benchmark of what every agency in Idaho strives to be. 

THE FUTURE OF INSURANCE?

There will always be a place in insurance for insurance agents and brokers, but not necessarily in the same capacity that they've been used in the past. Agents are going to have to bring something new to the table. At Associated Insurance Services we are risk advisors and our number one goal is to prevent something bad from happening to our clients in the first place, not just making sure the claim is covered when it inevitably occurs.

MILLENNIAL STEREOTYPES?

Unfortunately, I associate the term millennial as being a negative depiction of young adults because a lot of people seem to use it to describe our generation as being lazy. I actually Googled what the positive traits are for millennials! The one thing that probably fits me the best is having a work/life balance and flexibility.

Will Jones is IA managing editor.

This interview is the ninth in a series that profiles 10 millennials in the independent insurance industry, based on Independent Agent magazine's July cover story.