FIVE THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT
Bobby “Boots” Adams, President of Integra Insurance Services
Not many people would call the insurance business exciting, let alone fascinating. However, Bobby “Boots” Adams, owner of Integra Insurance Services, is one of the few who does. After working for three large companies early in his career, Adams used his experience to build a business that could compete with corporate America without acting like corporate America. Since starting Integra Insurance in 2002, Adams has grown his business, which offers a wide variety of insurance coverages, through old-fashioned hard work and managing client relationships—though he’ll be the first to tell you the success didn’t come without some mistakes along the way.
1) Undergoing two acquisitions by larger corporations during his time with big agencies in the Pacific Northwest taught Adams he wanted to be the one doing the facilitating. It was then that he decided to start his own company based on his vision that an insurance broker should work for the client, not for insurance partners.
2) The key to Adams’s success: staying ahead of changes in the industry. “Many agencies today wait to react to changes within our industry, where our belief is to proactively work hard and create those very changes our industry adopts,” Adams says.
3) Adams believes that by learning from every decision—even bad ones—he has been able to build a better organization. “Any business can overcome bad decisions with hard work, honesty and integrity,” Adams says. “In my case, I never wavered on what the vision is for our company and clients.”
4) The most difficult part of the job for Adams is assisting clients with claims and losses. “It’s reassuring when we can help them financially with dealing with those losses or claims, but it’s still a difficult process to go through with a client who you genuinely care about,” Adams says.
5) If Adams wasn’t an insurance broker, he’d be a baseball coach. Adams is passionate about teaching, coaching and educating youth, having served as a volunteer coach for 10 years. “My son plays baseball in college, and I enjoy the mental side of the game, so much so those around me ask me to please keep quiet,” Adams says.
Read the full Q&A at businessreport.com.
