Young Agents Building business and community Olga Torres's agency offers choices to her Latino neighbors By Elaine Tolen When Olga Torres opened her agency in the Denver area five years ago, one of her goals was to provide options to the area’s Hispanic community. “Most of the Hispanic agencies seem to go after the nonstandard auto market,” Olga explains. “I wanted to be the agency that meets more needs. Our community deserves better choices.” Her agency’s name—Metropolitan Insurance Options—was carefully chosen to reflect her philosophy of providing choices. Its acronym—MIO—means “mine” in Spanish, reflects her pride of ownership and connection to the Hispanic community. Besides providing more insurance choices in her area, Olga has also become a local leader and mentor. “Community is like family, and our Latino culture is very important to us,” she says. So separating business from community is not in her frame of reference. Last summer, Olga was named “Business Woman of the Year” by the Denver Hispanic Chamber of Commerce—not just for being a success in the business world, but also for her volunteerism and being an ambassador to small business owners. To America Olga’s journey to agency ownership began with her move from Puerto Rico to the United States as a 13-year-old. Settling with her family in Elizabeth, New Jersey, it took Olga two to three years to learn English, and several years to get used to other aspects of American life—like winter. After graduating from high school, Olga went to college for several years and then decided to enter the workplace. In 1985, then in her early 20s, she interviewed with The St. Paul Companies and her insurance career was born. She was hired as a rater/coder in commercial general liability. “And that was back when you did everything on paper,” she says. After two years of working at St. Paul and looking for a change of scenery, Olga moved to San Jose, California, where she quickly got a job at Fireman’s Fund as a rater in the small commercial (BOP) area. She moved up to underwriter trainee, then underwriter. In 1992, Fireman’s Fund consolidated operations in that area and didn’t need as many employees; Olga was one of several who were laid off. Fortunately, four or five months later, Fireman’s Fund called her back, offering her a territorial sales manager trainee position based in the Fresno office. Her responsibilities included marketing and selling The Fireman’s Fund BOP to existing and newly appointed agents, building relationships, and increasing sales in the territory. “My peers had much more experience. I had not as much sales experience, but I worked well with my agents and they trusted me,” Olga says. “Instead of being scared about making presentations to agents at the beginning of my sales career, my greatest fears were having to drive to new places, maneuvering my way around the big trucks on the highway, and getting lost on my way there,” she muses. During this time, Olga learned more about the insurance industry, sales, and operations from her direct manager and mentor, Maureen McCormick. “She told me that I was resilient and she admired my approach,” Olga says. “I was willing to learn from my mistakes.” In 1996, Olga had the opportunity to move to yet another climate—the mountain and snow country of Colorado—where she was a territorial sales manager for Fireman’s Fund. Her territory included Colorado, New Mexico, and Wyoming. “As I traveled to the different states I learned a lot from agents. Carl Frilling, agency principal of Insurance Exchange, in New Mexico, first told me about SIAA [Strategic Independent Agents Alliance], which I later partnered with when I started my agency.” After several successful years in this position, Olga began to sense that there had to be “something more” in her career future. She began to ask herself, “What am I going to do next?” The logical “next step” was to start her own business. From employee to entrepreneur Using her retirement funds, in 2000 Olga founded MIO, in Aurora, Colorado. “No one could relate to the Latino population the way I could. At that time, mostly captive agents sold to the Hispanics in my area. I saw a need and a good niche,” she says. “I gave up the company car, the salary, the vacations, to work out of my home with no clients,” she laughs. “Through my alliance with SIAA, the companies were there; I just had to get the clients.” While working part time in other jobs to pay the bills, Olga found her first clients through family and friends as well as through relationships that began in the Denver Hispanic Chamber of Commerce (DHCC). She had joined the DHCC a year earlier, knowing that when she started her own business, this connection would be an important one. One of her beneficial associations has been the DHCC’s “Contactos”—the only metro-area Spanish-speaking group—which meets to exchange business leads. Only one company from a given industry can belong to the group, and Olga feels fortunate to have been asked to be the insurance representative. “We’re establishing relationships all the time with customers who trust us,” says Olga. So when a customer has a need that a Contactos member can help meet, Olga says, the customer knows she will steer him or her in the right direction. Being in the Contactos group has provided opportunities for Olga to meet other professionals also. For instance, recently she participated in a community round table in support of a local nonprofit organization’s business development program and met Sara Fuentes, president of Denver Business Associates. “During our brief conversation she said that many of their clients are smaller Hispanic contractors who have the know-how to deliver on the big jobs but may lack experience in bidding on federal, state or local government contracts,” Olga says. “In many cases these contractors would rather deal with a smaller agency that can identify with them, and help them secure the right insurance and contract bond needed to bid on these types of contracts. Sara asked if I could, and I gladly agreed to make myself available to work with some of her clients. I don’t know much about contract bonds, but here’s another opportunity to learn something new and meet the needs of this business segment.” In the five years since Olga opened her agency, her book of business and expertise have grown at a rapid pace. “Three years ago, I had a potential heating and air-conditioning installation client whom I tried to get coverage for, but at the time I just couldn’t offer what they needed. I ran into one of the owners recently and with some history and experience under my belt, I am now in a better position to work with them,” she explains. Making a difference Besides connecting with the Hispanic community in Denver, Olga has found that aligning herself and her agency with others in the insurance industry has expanded her personal and professional world. She joined the Professional Independent Insurance Agents of Colorado (PIIAC) as well as the National Association of Insurance Women, International (NAIW), while working at Fireman’s Fund. “My relationships were more from the company perspective,” Olga says. “When I opened my agency, I knew I needed to get more involved with my new peers—agents.” Her recent participation in PIIAC includes serving on the Membership Committee, which she will also is chairing for the 2005-06 term. “I’m always looking at how to contribute; thinking about those who will come behind me. As more Hispanics start their own agencies, I believe it’s important for them to get involved in, and take advantage of all the benefits PIIAC has to offer. My personal goal is to promote the association to more Latino and other minority and underserved agency owners.” Olga encourages young people, especially Latinos, to enter the insurance industry. “There is so much potential in young people,” she states. “And there will be a great need for Spanish-speaking support staff in agencies in the future. I would also like to contribute however I can to help revive PIIAC’s InVEST program, where high school, community and junior college students can job-shadow in agencies to help them enter into a new career and bring new blood to the local industry.” And for those who aspire to follow in Olga’s steps and one day be an agency owner, she cautions: “Personality doesn’t guarantee success,” she says. “You have to have insurance experience as well as capital. Expect to struggle for awhile until your business gets off the ground. And be hungry for opportunities to grow, not only financially but also as an asset to your community.” She has become a local mentor through her volunteer work at Mi Casa Resource Center for Women’s Business Development Program, which educates primarily low-income Latino women who want to start their own businesses; and the Aurora Business Development Center, an arm of the City of Aurora which provides assistance to start-up and existing small business owners. During Mi Casa’s 12-week training program, Olga teaches the section on business insurance. But beyond the technical training, she also shares her personal experience as a Latina who started her own successful business. “I’ll get a call from someone starting a business and they’ll say, ‘I heard you speak....’ Sometimes I’ll get business from these calls, but the primary goal is to educate the participants—although not the expected outcome—getting to write their first business insurance policy is a bonus and a pleasure.” Olga’s persistence has certainly paid off as she enters her sixth year as an agency owner and looks ahead. “There are huge opportunities to grow,” she emphasizes. One key to growth, Olga says, is “anticipating what customers want. For instance, young people use the Internet so much; you have to have a Web presence.” She hopes to have her Web site up and running soon. “It will be bilingual and have links to community outreach interests.” Olga’s goals include expanding her physical presence also. Currently, her staff consists of a full-time assistant who works in the office with her, and a part-time agent who works at home. Olga would like to open an office in another Colorado city soon or buy another agency. While the Latino market is definitely her niche, she doesn’t limit herself to only the Spanish-speaking market. Her long-term goal for Metropolitan Insurance Options is to “grow to become a lasting institution. I would like my business to be here long after I’m gone.” * |
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