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[00:00:04.85] CHRISTEN KELLY: Hey, welcome to the Insurance Technology Podcast. I'm your co-host, Christen Kelly. In this episode, we're going to be looking back at some of our best moments, talking to our guests around how they give back. It's one of the new topics that Reid has taken on this year, and I have loved hearing all the various ways that our guests get involved, whether it's mentorship, mission work, giving back time, and giving back money. We're going to start off with someone who's always giving back to the industry, but as we find out here, he's also giving back in other ways.
[00:00:44.60] REID HOLZWORTH: How do you give back? Do you give back?
[00:00:47.15] JASON CASS: [SCOFFS] How do I give back? Yeah, I feel like I'm bragging when I'm doing all this stuff. But God, you're the one asking the question, so that's what I'm supposed to do.
[00:00:57.90] [LAUGHTER]
[00:00:58.78] So I do everything that I can for other people. And I do missionary work in Cuba. And I've been there around 11, 12 times. The second time I met a man by the name of Junior. He was my translator. He's been a translator of mine for every time I'd go there. And I remember asking him one day around the third or fourth time, I said, hey, have you ever thought about going to America? And he just burst out in tears. And he's like, this is a dream of mine. But I'll never be able to do it and all this stuff.
[00:01:28.91] And so, finally, the next time I came back, I said, hey, if I found a way to get you to America, would you come? And he says, yeah, I'd come. And I said, OK, I'll get you to America. And I remember thinking to myself, I have no idea how I'm going to do this, but I'll figure out something.
[00:01:41.54] So in 2021, during the uprising, got him out of jail, got him out of Cuba. Him and his family moved into Guyana in South America. It's been a long adventure, but over three years now, we got through a coyote, ran him up through Nicaragua, all up to Belize, all the way up to Mexico. It was a phenomenal thing. We put them through the Cuban parole program. It took a year and a half. We just got word last week that they were approved by Department of Homeland Security to come here. We were sponsors of theirs. We had to be approved through Department of Immigration or whatever. So we're taking on that family and going to hopefully change their lives right now.
[00:02:26.69] In my hometown, we're probably pretty poor community in Centralia. I noticed that we needed to have after-school programs for kids. A lot of-- we're very high poverty. 80% free lunches at the schools. And they needed to be able to have after-school programs. And the problem with it was-- here's what we figured out-- is that a lot of these kids that were failing in math had parents who worked from 3:00 to 11:00. They worked the second shift. The kid comes home from school, nobody to help him.
[00:02:58.78] So what I found out was, is the class of 1996, which is the class I am, we have a bunch of really successful people in our school and our class. So I got them all together. And I said, hey, what if we could provide after-school tutoring for our schools. But I need money from you guys. And they were all sending money in. This girl would send in $1,000 here and there, but it was scattered across our city. So I said, hey, let me create something. So we called it the Centralia Youth Initiative. It's still today. It's a nonprofit. And what we did is I get all my friends to send in money at once a year. And we now take care of three different towns, all of the school systems we pay for after school for teachers to stay and take care of these kids.
[00:03:43.55] The most impactful thing happened the first year, Reid. And I was wondering like, should we continue to do this. And this mother came up to me, and it was in May. Her kid had just graduated, and she was crying. And she was a Black lady. And she said, I want you to know that my son for once actually likes mathematics. And she said, and he's been failing his whole life, and he now has a B. And he talks about it. And she says, and I want you to know I work the 3:00 to 11:00 shift. He goes home by himself, and he goes to bed by himself. He doesn't even hardly see me unless I have the time off.
[00:04:12.45] And so when I heard that, I thought to myself. And I recorded it, and I sent it to all my friends, and they started sending more money. So then we started taking on all the schools. So I'm not once again, I'm trying not to brag, but I do that. When I see a need, and I think, man, you know why? Because we're full of people in this industry that just like to talk and not do anything, right? And it's like-- and so it actually makes it pretty easy. Because somebody who just stands up and says, hey, that's a problem and we need to fix that. You usually can get the ears of people, especially, if you know the right people.
[00:04:44.80] And so, do I give back? I give back in every possible way that I ever can, and I absolutely love doing it.
[00:04:50.70] REID HOLZWORTH: I love that story. I love the story when you're doing missionary work. And you're just like-- you're like, hey man, if I could get you to the States, would you come? And the guy was like, oh, of course. And you just did it.
[00:04:59.89] [LAUGHTER]
[00:05:00.19] It's like a general conversation you'd have with most people, like, OK, see you later. All right. And you, like, literally spent the last three years of your life figuring that out.
[00:05:09.98] JASON CASS: Reid, last Thursday, we found out. And I told my wife on Friday, I said, I've just now realized that there is nothing that I can't do. I did-- and this is where we were talking about the headstone when I die. I told her, I said, honey, we didn't predict the future. We created what was going to happen for that. And I think there's a lot to be said for people who do that. But, yeah, that was a great time.
[00:05:34.63] REID HOLZWORTH: So, good leaders, I believe, should give back. Not just to your people within your organization, but outside. So how do you give back, Taylor?
[00:05:42.04] TAYLOR RHODES: Yeah. Like we-- I agree with you 100% on that. Too much is given, much is expected. And especially in this crazy world, I feel like we have an obligation as leaders to give back. One way we give back, and it's just one way, is-- we're, my wife Stacey and I are really focused on intervening in the lives of vulnerable children. And so, that's meant different things to us throughout the years. And we've been involved in multiple causes. But we're deeply involved in an organization called World Vision, which is a non-governmental organization that focuses on eradicating poverty in the most vulnerable parts of the world.
[00:06:18.16] And that allows us to come alongside. This is an excellent organization that is really, really well respected for the impacts they make on the ground. That allows us to pour in resources and time and care into somebody who's out there making a difference at scale in the world for the most vulnerable people. This world does really, really nasty things to children and to women. And we are able to join up in the mission of making lives better for women and children around the world. So that's one way we give back.
[00:06:48.69] Another way is just have the good neighbor mentality. This is not a State Farm commercial. But being a good neighbor means being kind, being caring, being willing to actually spot when people need help. Whether that's just a listening ear or something else. And just be a good citizen. Be a good neighbor. The world doesn't have enough good neighbors.
[00:07:09.45] All this crud out there on social media and the cable news channels pits us against each other. And I always said, hey, when I retire, maybe I'm going to start something called Meet Me in the Middle, where we actually start being civil to each other again, being caring about each other, being collegial toward each other. So the other way my wife, Stacey and I just try to make a difference in our little world is be a good neighbor. Be a good person, be willing to actually care for others, and do something about it.
[00:07:37.07] CHRISTEN KELLY: And as we know there is plenty to be done around the world. And there's something to be said about doing work in your own community as well. A number of our guests have focused their efforts on just that, making a difference in their own backyards.
[00:07:54.06] REID HOLZWORTH: How do you give back?
[00:07:56.40] PAT CALDWELL: Oh, great one. It's a deep question. So it's probably changed based on where I've lived. So between the UK and the US, I think I've worked out-- I've moved about 10 times in the last 10 years. Which makes me like the worst volunteer for volunteer organizations. I must apologize to quite a few of them. But it's kind of varied.
[00:08:14.80] So when the first time I was in New York, I was actively involved in everything NYC Cares. So out doing gardening projects. I remember meeting with people who had been formerly incarcerated, looking for their first job, and needed to know how to do a job interview, how to talk about their incarceration, how to write a CV, trying to do stuff that way. It's always been quite like micro things that if I can add value to something, it's worth it.
[00:08:37.74] And I went back to London, I found a different purpose. Which kind of opened up the board role with the educational stuff that I'm doing at the moment. Which was working more closely with schools around their curriculums, and how they think about setting people up for work life and things like that. Because there's this huge disconnect between how schools are like, what schools are like, and what work life is like. So doing a lot of careers training, working with local colleges and stuff, they're always in need of help to be able to do that stuff, and they never know who to reach out to. And there's quite a few like, intermediaries on that space.
[00:09:11.03] And then my goal now genuinely, is to try and get back into something more related to paramedicine. So I haven't done anything on that front yet. Again, accountability. Stick it on the list. But finding those organizations local to Austin who sometimes they need a set of hands or donations or whatever it needs to be and try and pick it up that way. So it's been fairly kind of ad hoc, but it's usually been if there's something, I've probably defaulted to-- it's a good rule, actually, Andrew at FundApps used to have is you don't care about something unless you put your time or your money behind it. And I've always quite liked that.
[00:09:46.45] But I think most of the giving back, I've probably steered away from donations, rightly or wrongly, and probably put more of my time towards it.
[00:09:53.94] REID HOLZWORTH: Yeah.
[00:09:54.43] PAT CALDWELL: And probably continue to keep doing the same.
[00:09:58.41] REID HOLZWORTH: How do you give back, Jack? Do you give back?
[00:10:01.65] JACK RAMSEY: Yeah. Yeah, I mean, my whole life we've been part of church families. So, I've spent so many years working with youth at the church. We moved to San Antonio now three years ago, haven't really gotten plugged as much in yet since moving here post-COVID as I would have liked. But, yeah, pour into kids. One thing that I also have started to do is financially play with the Children's Hospital. Contribute there knowing the good work that they do. Disaster relief is another one, like I mentioned, that area that's hit so hard by this recent hurricane.
[00:10:42.08] So we do financially. We financially help out. But I think the youth is a place that I'll always play a role in giving back. Because I think they need it. I think they need help and mentorship anywhere possible, and quite honestly, are just looking for some good people to come alongside them.
[00:11:03.11] REID HOLZWORTH: Totally, totally. That's awesome man.
[00:11:06.26] How do you give back or do you give back at all?
[00:11:11.57] ADAM DENNINGER: So a couple of ways. The first way is through my family. So my wife runs a not-for-profit. So we are-- of course, she gets paid somewhat. But she's running a not-for-profit. But she essentially dedicates her life at, let's say, a lot less than cost to help underprivileged women. So women that are coming out of halfway houses, women that are coming out of abusive relationships that need jobs. So she works for an organization called Dress For Success, Hartford. It's a subsidiary of a larger organization that's just called Dress For Success. Again, it helps these women who are in a bad spot, go get a job and then keep a job. And so me helping her and supporting her is actually a part of my giving back.
[00:11:59.33] The other way that I try to give back is-- actually that's the charity side. And it's not really charity, because what it's really about is just trying to make it possible for people to have open doors.
[00:12:10.15] REID HOLZWORTH: Yeah.
[00:12:10.91] ADAM DENNINGER: That's not charity. That's just the right thing to do.
[00:12:13.66] REID HOLZWORTH: Absolutely.
[00:12:14.41] ADAM DENNINGER: That's other thing that I do is a work-related thing. And what that's about is taking people who don't have the confidence to do what it is that they need to do, or that they want to do, or that they should have. And I don't care if they're in my organization or somebody else's. I am more than happy to take the time and the effort to help them learn how to be better, help them have the confidence they should have in themselves, help them learn new skills, help them succeed, tell them how to succeed and be able to take the credit for the things that they can and do do.
[00:12:50.58] I think a part of giving back there is just-- actually, there's another thing a leader doesn't do. A leader never takes credit for what the team did.
[00:13:00.92] REID HOLZWORTH: Yeah, totally. Yeah.
[00:13:02.75] ADAM DENNINGER: Right? So the idea here is how do you make sure that these people are seen as the heroes that they are? And that's a day-to-day thing.
[00:13:11.58] REID HOLZWORTH: Yeah Yeah.
[00:13:13.38] ADAM DENNINGER: And I hope it helps people. So--
[00:13:15.89] REID HOLZWORTH: That's awesome, man. That's very noble of you. That's really, really cool.
[00:13:19.47] ADAM DENNINGER: Again, is it noble or is it just the right thing to do? Like, I'm sure you do it too.
[00:13:23.19] REID HOLZWORTH: Well, I mean, dude, it's easier said than done, man. I mean, yeah. I mean, it's taken time out of your life to help people and do that. You're 100%, right. I don't disagree, that it is the right thing to do. But a lot of people don't take the time to step away and go, man, you're not like, really seen who you truly are. And let me help you to see that, because I want you to grow as a human and become, what I believe, I see in you. And it's not self-serving to you at all. You're like, literally just want them to be the best they can be. I mean, that's pretty badass, man. Not a lot of people do that.
[00:14:01.37] ADAM DENNINGER: Well, thank you. I guess I really hadn't put that much glory on it. But thank you for that. [LAUGHS] To me, it's just what you should do as a leader, I suppose.
[00:14:09.88] CHRISTEN KELLY: Another common theme that we have seen is helping women to achieve leadership positions within the industry. In this piece, we're going to hear from three very talented leaders who are helping other women to achieve success.
[00:14:26.29] REID HOLZWORTH: Do you give back? How do you give back?
[00:14:27.92] KATE PERRY: Yeah, yeah. So hunger relief organizations are really important to me. My mom grew up in a food insecure household in a mining town west of Pennsylvania. And I tend to do one donation to The Greater Boston Food Bank or a similar organization rather than to break my spending up. So that's one. And then the second is I do a lot of mentoring in the industry for younger people, especially women.
[00:14:53.18] REID HOLZWORTH: Oh, Yeah.
[00:14:53.67] KATE PERRY: I think this is an industry where 60% of the employees are female. And yet if you look at the senior ranks of every place I've ever worked, most of my peers have been men. And that's crappy. [LAUGHS]
[00:15:04.94] REID HOLZWORTH: Yeah
[00:15:05.15] KATE PERRY: And there are reasons for that that are largely systemic, I believe. Just having seen what I've seen. And so whatever I can do to help break that down so that we have the fullest range of talent in the C-suite is really what I'm aiming to do.
[00:15:19.44] REID HOLZWORTH: I recently interviewed Deb Smallwood. I don't know if you know.
[00:15:21.70] KATE PERRY: Yeah, I've met her before. Yeah.
[00:15:22.76] REID HOLZWORTH: She's semi-retired now, and that's her mission.
[00:15:25.29] KATE PERRY: Yeah, yeah.
[00:15:26.04] REID HOLZWORTH: It's just that. Which is really cool.
[00:15:27.51] KATE PERRY: Yeah, yeah. I mean, look, when my grandmother was born, and she was learning civics in third and fourth grade, she was growing up to be somebody who couldn't vote, right? Because it was before women had the vote. When my mother got married, my father had to sign off on her credit card, because until the Married Woman's Credit Act, women weren't necessarily allowed to get credit cards in their own name. So it would be ridiculous for me to sit here and say, we haven't come a heck of a long way, baby. [LAUGHS]
[00:15:54.22] But there's ways to go. And I think the things that hold women back are lack of role models, some of the entrenched behaviors in corporations, et cetera. And those are things that can be overcome. I'm hopeful for my daughter that this won't be the case when she hits the workforce.
[00:16:11.14] REID HOLZWORTH: Do you give back? How do you give back?
[00:16:13.42] JEN LINTON: It's tough when I feel like my first commitment is to the company, my investors, my stakeholders, my employees, my customers. I feel like I have to first-- sort of like in the airplane, right? I got to take care of myself, and then I can take care of them. But beyond that, yes, I have a real love for underrepresented founders, I feel that kind of speaks to me. And so when there are opportunities for me to-- I was just interviewed for an article. So I try to step out of my comfort zone to show-- doing this interview is me stepping out of my comfort zone, Reid.
[00:16:47.68] [LAUGHTER]
[00:16:48.03] But I try to do those things and in some way I think this is giving back. I think it's helping other people to see what I couldn't see. I didn't have a lot of great female mentors or people that think differently. Mentors. And so I just want to put it out there, it's OK. Be yourself, be authentic. And if that helps anyone then, and I hope I've given something back.
[00:17:11.31] REID HOLZWORTH: How do you give back?
[00:17:14.10] LETICIA TREVINO: Well, our company is very philanthropic. And, I think, talking about my childhood and kind of where I came back and grew up from-- I've been over the years thinking like, how do I give back to my community? And being led by Mike Heffernan, our CEO, just seeing the things he's done. Every year for Christmas, I get a gift from him. And it's a monetary gift that I can give to somebody, and it can be an individual or it can be a nonprofit organization.
[00:17:39.86] And I remember the first year I got it-- I've been getting it from him for the last probably 15 years-- I just was tearful. That, oh my gosh, it's so kind that somebody would do that. They would go out of their own kindness and say, here, do this. I'm going to donate this in your name and your honor.
[00:17:53.90] REID HOLZWORTH: Wow.
[00:17:54.25] LETICIA TREVINO: And so, for me, I'm thinking, how do I do that? So actually I'm in the midst now of setting up a scholarship fund.
[00:17:59.12] REID HOLZWORTH: Wow, no kidding.
[00:18:00.23] LETICIA TREVINO: I'm calling it the Poder Scholarship Fund. Poder, meaning you can. Poder means, yo puedo, I can. Tu puedes, you can. Podemos, we can together.
[00:18:09.68] REID HOLZWORTH: Oh, Wow.
[00:18:09.98] LETICIA TREVINO: And so, I'm actually going to be targeting someone that looks like me. So a female Latina. Going back to my high school, I think had I had that opportunity-- now I've had an incredible career--
[00:18:20.38] REID HOLZWORTH: Totally.
[00:18:20.68] LETICIA TREVINO: --and a great life.
[00:18:21.68] REID HOLZWORTH: Yeah.
[00:18:21.88] LETICIA TREVINO: But I think back, what would it have been had somebody invested in me at that time and said, hey, just because you're a homemaker and your mom's taught you how to cook tortillas and clean up a house, you can still go to college, and you can still be something special.
[00:18:34.58] REID HOLZWORTH: Yeah.
[00:18:34.93] LETICIA TREVINO: And I didn't have anybody at that time that did that. And so, I-- now that I'm at a point in my career and in my life where I can give back, I'm doing that. So I've been networking with some of my colleagues here to--
[00:18:46.35] REID HOLZWORTH: It's awesome.
[00:18:46.65] LETICIA TREVINO: --donate to that scholarship fund. And I hope to be able to positively impact several little girls just like me.
[00:18:52.33] REID HOLZWORTH: That's so awesome. Congrats on that.
[00:18:54.25] LETICIA TREVINO: Thank you so much.
[00:18:54.91] REID HOLZWORTH: It's super cool.
[00:18:56.52] CHRISTEN KELLY: And while making a difference to some means giving money and others, it means giving time through mentorships. And we know mentorship is essential for leaders to give back. In addition to his knowledge and time, Bradley Flowers is also involved in a charity that is near and dear to our hearts. The Little Sparks Project.
[00:19:18.72] REID HOLZWORTH: Do you give back? If so, how do you give back?
[00:19:21.90] BRADLEY FLOWERS: You know, a couple ways. I mean, obviously, I feel like I give back a lot to the-- I call it insurance land. Whether it's--
[00:19:30.07] REID HOLZWORTH: Oh, yeah.
[00:19:30.85] BRADLEY FLOWERS: --podcasts, helping agents. I do a once a month ask me anything call. So I've always had agents reach out to me and ask for like an hour of my time. And unfortunately, like, I don't have it right now. And so, what we're doing is I'm doing a once a month, ask me anything call or I have anywhere from 10 to 30 agents on there where we're just like spitting out-- and it's more of a group thing. It's less-- it's not the Bradley Flower Show that people are doing. And it's-- the link, if you want me to drop it, is portalinsurance.com/ama.
[00:20:04.66] And so, I love helping people like-- back to me reaching out to that mentor that's dealt with that problem. Like I love helping people with their problems. From a charity aspect, my wife is very charitable. She's involved in a lot of stuff.
[00:20:20.74] It was funny. We both did a risk assessment with this consultant. And she looked at hers, and she looked at mine, and she said, here's the biggest difference in you two. She said she is very likely to donate her time to a charity. You are very likely to donate your money to a charity and not your time. And I was like, sister, you hit the nail on the head.
[00:20:47.49] So between the two of us, we do pretty well with that. We give back, we tithe, and we donate to people who are doing mission work in Africa and anything here locally. Anytime I see something that touches my heart-- our friend Raghav Tanna started Little Sparks Project.
[00:21:09.79] REID HOLZWORTH: Yeah.
[00:21:10.80] BRADLEY FLOWERS: And that was near and dear to my heart. Those Little Sparks, they help parents who have kids who are going through medical stuff. My youngest son was in the hospital for two weeks, like, the longest two weeks of my life. Thankfully, he's OK. And I just remember thinking the whole time, luckily my wife and I have the means and the type of job where we can be away for two weeks if we need to. But there's a lot of people there that didn't. Like the number of kids in that hospital, that had no parents with them throughout the day, because the parents had to work, was just heartbreaking. I'm talking like young kids.
[00:21:40.03] REID HOLZWORTH: Yeah.
[00:21:40.35] BRADLEY FLOWERS: And so, we raised recently about I think $9,000 for Little Sparks. I did a-- I was like, hey, I don't know how to do much, but there's a few business skills that I have. And so I did a webinar on recruiting that was $99. And so, I was able to do something that I liked while also raising money for charity. So little ways like that. I'm not-- you know there's certain people that everything they do runs through the altruistic filter. I'm not one of those people, but I eventually make my way there.
[00:22:22.75] REID HOLZWORTH: Yeah, that's awesome, man. I didn't realize that you were donating to Raghav's Little Sparks. That's pretty cool. For the listeners that don't know, Raghav Tanna is the founder of Tarmika, now runs all the commercial lines at Applied on the tech side. Raghav is a great dude. He's been on, maybe even a couple times now, but-- he's having an event soon. It's like coming up in a couple of weeks.
[00:22:44.56] BRADLEY FLOWERS: I'm going to be there. It's in December. It's in December.
[00:22:46.57] REID HOLZWORTH: OK, yeah.
[00:22:47.32] BRADLEY FLOWERS: I'm going to be there. It's in Boston. You can still get tickets now.
[00:22:52.00] CHRISTEN KELLY: Reid and I loved hearing all of the ways that our guests are giving back and can't wait to hear from more of our guests for the end of this year and going into 2025. As we go into our season of giving here in the US with Thanksgiving just a few weeks away, I really hope that you look to share your time and your knowledge with others and give back.