Today we’d like to introduce you to Jessi Park.
Hi Jessi, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
I started my business while on unemployment in January of 2017, used an air mattress as a desk. Finally decided I need an office environment so I would use my Orange County Public Library card to rent the student rooms for 4-hour blocks. After working there for close to a year, I was able to rent my first office in November of 2017. It was an office share space in downtown Orlando. I started building my team and quickly outgrew that space and moved into a 1300 square foot building in Winter Park in January 2018.
After being there a year, I decided to work from home for a bit because I had hit a rut in recruiting and not many agents were utilizing the office space. Working from home was great at first but after a couple of months, I felt the depression setting in. I needed human interaction and I had renewed goals of recruiting nationwide. So I moved to a slightly larger office in Altamonte Springs in November of 2019. And in the summer of 2020, during the height of the pandemic, I thought it would be a great idea to purchase a commercial building. We moved in August 2020 to a beautiful 6000 square foot office with plenty of room to grow. I now employ two assistants full-time as well as have over 150 agents nationwide.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Absolutely not. Starting out in a commission-only business is difficult for anyone. But especially a business that requires leads to convert. I wasn’t able to buy any and only was able to use free leads. I was determined to make it work though, as I am a single mother, and I needed to be able to provide for my children. It took me about eight months to write 1 million in business and that was the fastest that anyone had ever seen in the history of the FMO. As I previously mentioned, finding a place to work was also a difficult task. It’s an on the phone job, so having a quiet place to talk to clients is absolutely necessary.
Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about Inspired Insurance Solutions?
Inspired Insurance Solutions was born in 2018. At first, it was formed just for tax purposes under a different name, but the more I found my own identity in this business, the more I wanted to express myself with my own brand. Inspired insurance solutions is a nationwide brokerage that offers hundreds of insurance options across the country. We’re not captive, we truly care what is best for the client, and we represent major carriers like Blue Cross Blue Shield, Cigna, Aetna, Humana, United Healthcare, National General, Transamerica, Gerber life, AFLAC, etc. We are known for treating our agents right. The new building I purchased in August is stocked with amenities for the agent. I want them to want to come to work. It has a gourmet deluxe coffee maker that can brew over 90 different options. It has a game room with a gaming console and pinball machines. It has a Zen den that has a massage chair, a yoga mat and even a place to nap. I believe what sets us apart from the rest is that we truly care about the agents and the client. I feel like happy agents that are making money are likely to be more customer service oriented and treat the client better. Brand-wise, I’m very proud of the fact that my company and my story actually INSPIRES people every day to do better. How I went from someone on unemployment, working on an air mattress, to a seven-figure earner running a business and caring about my employees, agents and clients. I thought that branding an insurance company would be very difficult, but somehow we managed to make it be a breath of fresh air every morning in the social media feed.
We’d love to hear about any fond memories you have from when you were growing up?
My favorite childhood memory of all time would probably be when my parents decided to celebrate my father’s heritage and celebrate Hanukkah instead of Christmas. It was my first year celebrating Hanukkah and I was told I was going to get presents for eight days. Can you imagine the excitement? I was probably about 12 and my sister was about seven, and we took off on bikes and I remember we had to wait until sundown. We rode our bikes around the neighborhood until sundown and bust through the front door awaiting our first days present. I remember the next seven days being filled with memories of us riding her bike’s around the neighborhood waiting for the sun to go down. I actually lost my sister last month to cancer, and so I’ve been replaying that memory in my mind several times every single day.
Contact Info:
- Email: jessi@inspiredinsurancegroup.com
- Website: www.inspiredinsurancesolutions.com
- Instagram: inspiredinsurancesolutions
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/InspiredInsurance
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7FPb3fin97bG22t-N2D4bA
