Business Refocused

In this episode of Business Refocused, Carey and Lindsay sit down with leadership consultant Anne Baum to discuss a critical piece of agency mergers that often gets overlooked: culture.

While most merger conversations focus on valuation, deal structure, and financial performance, Anne explains that the real work begins after the transaction closes. The long-term success of any merger depends on how well leadership brings two teams t...

In this episode of Business Refocused, Carey and Lindsay answer common financial questions they’ve recently received from agency owners and break down what a meaningful monthly financial review should actually look like.

From analyzing six-month auto policies and understanding profitability to identifying discretionary expenses and building accurate financial reports, the conversation focuses on helping agency owners use their...

In this episode of Business Refocused, Carey and Lindsay explore how agency benchmarking is helping independent insurance agencies gain deeper financial visibility and make more informed business decisions.

As more agency owners look beyond valuation and focus on long-term performance, health checks have become a powerful tool for measuring growth, profitability, book health, staffing efficiency, and operational risk. Carey and Lind...

In this episode of Business Refocused, Carey and Lindsay sit down with Patrick McClure of Impact Performance Team to talk about one of the biggest challenges agency owners face: creating a true sales culture.

Patrick shares his journey from commercial insurance producer to sales leader and entrepreneur, helping independent agencies improve sales performance, develop producers, recruit talent, and build accountability across their or...

In this episode of The Insurance Refocused Podcast, Lindsay and Carey Wallace welcome Beth DeLaForest back to the show to talk about Launchpad, a new webinar series designed to help the next generation of insurance professionals learn, grow, and build meaningful industry connections.

Beth and Carey share why knowledge transfer matters more than ever as experienced leaders prepare to exit the industry and younger professionals step i...

In this special re-release, we’re sharing an episode originally featured on Nina Shepard's Insurance Leaders Lab Podcast. Carey joins Nina to talk about financial clarity for independent insurance agency owners. 

They discuss why waiting until you're ready to sell is a mistake, how your compensation structure could secretly be tanking your agency's value, and the three key drivers that determine what your business is real...

In this episode of Business Refocused, Carey and Lindsay break down what they’re seeing from real agency benchmarking data and how top-performing insurance agencies are driving growth and profitability.

They walk through the key metrics that matter most, including organic growth, profitability, staffing, technology spend, and revenue per employee. More importantly, they explain how these metrics work together and what actually...

In this episode of Business Refocused, Todd Hufford interviews Carey and Lindsay Wallace on the story behind AgencyFocus, how they each found their way into insurance, and what it took to grow the business beyond agency valuation.

Carey shares how a role with the PIA of Ohio led her into valuation, perpetuation planning, and data analytics, eventually becoming the foundation for AgencyFocus. Lindsay shares her own path into the indu...

In this episode of Business Refocused, Lindsay and Carey sit down with Todd Hufford, CEO of Conner Insurance, to talk about on a topic that’s shaping the future of agencies: bringing in young talent. 

The conversation starts light but quickly gets into something more meaningful. Todd shares how his perspective on time, shaped early in life, led him to think long-term about building an agency. Not just for today’s re...

In this episode of Business Refocused, Carey and Lindsay sit down with Nicole Malachowski, retired U.S. Air Force Colonel and the first female Thunderbird pilot, to talk about transition.

Not just planning for it. Actually going through it.

Nicole’s career ended unexpectedly after a serious illness forced her out of the role she had built her identity around. What followed wasn’t a clean next step. It was the messy middle...

The agency owners who walk away from a sale feeling good aren't the ones who got lucky — they're the ones who prepared. In the final episode of this series, Carey and Matt talk about fixing problems before they become deal killers, how to know what kind of seller you are, and why the question of what comes next matters just as much as the closing number.

In this episode:

• How to fix valuation issues before you go to market
• Th...

Your agency might be worth less than you think — and the reasons probably have nothing to do with your revenue. In part three, Carey and Matt dig into the valuation drivers most owners never see coming: producer-owned books, aggregator contracts, leadership concentration, and the transferability issues that quietly discount an otherwise strong agency.

In this episode:

• Why a multiple of EBITDA is just the starting point
• Produ...

Selling your agency isn't just a financial transaction — it's one of the biggest decisions you'll ever make. In part two of this series, Carey and Matt get into what it actually looks like to navigate an exit, whether that's keeping it in the family or going to market. They break down the difference between a broker and a true advisor, why the fee question is the wrong place to start, and what it really takes to feel good abo...

Most agency owners are great at insurance. The financial side? That's where things get fuzzy. Carey Wallace sits down with Matt Naimoli of Legacy Advisors to talk about what financial clarity actually looks like inside an independent agency — and why getting there changes everything from hiring decisions to long-term value. This is part one of a four-part series.

In this episode:

• Why most agency owners are making big decisi...

In this episode, Lindsay and Carey sit down with Adam DeLaForest to explore the key factors influencing agency valuation, including financial management, operational efficiency, and market conditions. Our guest, Adam DeLaForest,  shares insights from his experience completing valuations on numerous agencies at his role in AgencyFocus, emphasizing the importance of profitability, contracts, and strategic planning for agency own...

In this episode of Business Refocused, Lindsay and Carey focus specifically on benchmarking and why it might be the most underutilized tool in an agency owner’s toolbox.

A lot of owners think benchmarking is just a “nice to have” report. In reality, it is a financial health check. It gives you a clear, unbiased look at how your agency stacks up against others your size and where you may be off without realizing it.

...

In this solo episode of Business Refocused, Lindsay sits down with sales coach and founder of The Sales Collective, Steve Heroux, for a direct and eye-opening conversation about why so many agencies struggle with producer hiring, motivation, and growth.

Steve shares his journey from a painfully shy kid to a top national sales performer, and now a coach helping organizations rethink how they hire and develop sales talent. He breaks d...

In this episode of Business Refocused, Carey and Lindsay welcome AgencyFocus Fractional CFO Lisa Melroy, CPA, for a very real conversation about budgeting inside independent insurance agencies.

Lisa has spent more than 30 years in financial roles, including working directly with independent agencies and networks. She shares what actually happens behind the scenes when agencies either skip budgeting altogether or build one that looks...

In this episode of Business Refocused, Lindsay and Carey sit down with Laurie Barkman, owner of The Business Transition Sherpa, to talk about one of the most common (and most avoided) conversations in independent insurance agencies: how to transition ownership without losing value, momentum, or key people.

Laurie reframes “exit planning” as transition planning, emphasizing that leaving your business is a moment, but...