Foresters Financial

Speaker 1 (00:02):

3, 2, 1. Hello everyone, and welcome to another edition of the Alliance Group podcast. Today we have Tony Morrison. Uh, he is the AVP and National Sales Manager from Foresters, and we're doing a little thing, uh, we're calling Coffee with carriers, uh, today, so Coffee with Carriers. Cheers. Tony, thanks so much for joining us on the podcast. You're welcome. Quick set. All right. So, uh, Tony, uh, you came all the way from Florida for this.

Speaker 2 (00:32):

Yes. Sunny Florida. You got it.

Speaker 1 (00:33):

Where are you living in Florida these

Speaker 2 (00:35):

Days? In between Tampa and Orlando. Okay. Lakeland, Florida.

Speaker 1 (00:37):

All right. And you're with, uh, foresters, which mm-hmm. <affirmative>, which is headquartered in

Speaker 2 (00:42):

Toronto, Canada,

Speaker 1 (00:43):

Toronto, Canada. I have got to get up sometime to Toronto. I too,

Speaker 2 (00:47):

Too cold right now.

Speaker 1 (00:48):

<laugh> too cold right now. Maybe a little spring trip would be nice, but I've always wanted, uh, to get up to Toronto Foresters. Uh, of course, as you all know, uh, you know, one of our carriers here at Alliance Group, um, and a living benefits carrier as well, Tony, which of course you guys know, we, we love Living Benefits here at Alliance Group. Uh, tell me a couple of, uh, there's, there's actually a couple of things going on at Foresters, um, as far as, uh, things that are new. One of them is this Fund Your Dreams thing. Yeah. That was just recently announced. Yeah. Uh, tell us a little bit more about the Foresters Fund Your Dreams, uh,

Speaker 2 (01:25):

Program. Yeah, and I'll tell you, it, it's a tremendous opportunity. You know, over the years, we've always, uh, had a trip, and trips are certainly wonderful. They're fabulous to go on. Sometimes the trips may not coincide with somebody's schedule.

Speaker 1 (01:38):

Oh, yeah. Especially when you have several of them.

Speaker 2 (01:40):

Absolutely. You have, you have several of them. And, and you know, what kids do things, whether it's skiing, soccer, baseball, whatever it is. So we tried to find something that would help an agent be rewarded for their production with us. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, and at the same time do what they wanted to do. Right. And so we put together a program that, that, uh, has kicked off that will pay up to 12% of somebody's commission, uh, or actually 12% of the premium as far as, uh, commission goes as an additional deposit into their commission account on a quarterly basis.

Speaker 1 (02:11):

Yeah. So this was, I was looking over some of these numbers. These are, this is a really significant bonus. Huge. This isn't, this isn't chump change. Mm-hmm. Right. I mean, it, it does make sense. You are kind of replacing the entire in incentive trip. And so if you're doing that, you know, these, the, these are pretty nice. Yeah. Nice bonuses you guys have thrown down. So 12%, 12% is the first kind of tier, right?

Speaker 2 (02:30):

Yeah. So we're gonna run it on a quarterly basis so somebody can, uh, you know, on a quarterly basis realize their, their benefit or their, you know, recognition for that. So the minimum tier is gonna be $20,000 a paid premium mm-hmm. <affirmative>, and we're gonna pay 12% of that back to the agent. Right. So, you know, that's gonna be what my Alabama math tells me. That's $2,400. Right. <laugh>. So once we hit, uh, to the $25,000 number, then we're gonna pay 15% on the 20 to 25,000. So it's incremental. Right. And then once they hit 30,000, we're gonna pay 18% on the 25 to 30,000 again, incremental. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. So there's a tremendous opportunity and in for the agent to realize some significant cash in their pocket. And so let's assume that the, somebody just hits 20,000 every quarter. I mean, you're looking at, uh, again, Alabama Math, that's about $9,600 in your pocket,

Speaker 1 (03:19):

Right? Yeah. Yeah.

Speaker 2 (03:19):

That's

Speaker 1 (03:19):

So

Speaker 2 (03:20):

Pretty, pretty nice pop. Yeah. And again, you use the money for what you want. You know, if you're looking at a new car, a kitchen reno, your own trip Yes. You know, something for your kids. Exactly. $9,600 goes a long way

Speaker 1 (03:32):

For that. I mean, it, there, there is something to be said for that, because, you know, if generally you have top producers who are usually ones that are qualifying for these things, and they might qualify for two or three trips, uh, in the year, and then they've got their family who's like, Hey, can we go on a non-insurance themed trip sometime? Right. Right. Uh, and, you know, so you've got your own vacations to work into that. And also you're a top producer, so, uh, you can't be on vacation like half of the year. Right? No.

Speaker 2 (03:56):

You, you may not like Mexico. You mean you wanna go to Disney, then you, you go to Disney. You Exactly.

Speaker 1 (04:00):

Exactly. I, I, I I think it's fantastic. And, you know, the one thing, uh, our agents, uh, definitely love, I think it's ubiquitous across, uh, all agents is they don't mind a little extra cash in their pocket. Tony

Speaker 2 (04:10):

Ca Cash is never wrong.

Speaker 1 (04:11):

I have noticed that. I have noticed that, that that seems to be a pattern. Um, so let's actually talk about f first of all, that's mm-hmm. That, that's fantastic. We're really excited about that new program, the Fund Your Dreams Program. Um, so agents make sure you get your business in at Forster so you can, uh, so you can get some extra cash in your pocket. Um, let's talk about, um, you know, one thing that I have always felt kind of weird or or bad about is when we're on webinars and we're talking about Foresters, which is a fantastic company that has great living benefits, competitive rates across the board, one thing I always end up feeling like I have to point out is one thing that I view as a very, very strong suit of foresters, which is the way that they treat two, um, uh, types of clients that can be problematic at our other carriers.

(04:58)
Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, one of which being diabetics, right. The other being tobacco users mm-hmm. <affirmative> smokers, right? Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, uh, and Foresters does things with these groups of people that are really, really a advantageous mm-hmm. And that are different from what other carriers do. So I feel like I have to call attention to that. Let's, let's first talk about what you guys do with diabetics. Yeah. Which is, you have a really fantastic program, um, and kind of underwriting, uh, workflow when it comes to diabetics that can make it much easier for agents to work with those types of people and get them a, a, a, a plan in place, uh, without Right. You know, breaking their back over

Speaker 2 (05:35):

It. Sure. No, and, and, and I'll tell you, um, you know, it, it's a great opportunity for agents. I mean, listen, we run into diabetics all the time. You've got 34 million people who are diabetic. You've got significantly more. They're pre-diabetic than that. Yep. So, you know, is there an opportunity, listen, they need coverage. They have families, they have mortgages, they have other needs that, and we just found an opportunity for us, maybe a niche where we can go in and cover those, you know, on the strong foundation, which is the only product that we're gonna go real in depth on the diabetics. We can on the other ones. But as in depth as we're gonna talk about the strong foundation, we will actually go up to a table 12 non-medically, right. In underwriting there, A1C can be as high as 10.9. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, you know, 8.9 in below, which, which

Speaker 1 (06:16):

Is, which is huge. I, I don't, you know, I don't know a ton about it, but 10.9, that's a

Speaker 2 (06:19):

Two 10 point nine's a lot. It, it, it's a bunch. It's a lot. 8.9, we'll go up to table six standard at 8.9. Now granted, we need to make sure that there's not any neuropathy or things like that course. So, you know, I typically call it, let's say a healthy diabetic. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, you know, there are people out there that have diabetes that for some reason, maybe they're a1c, they can't control. Maybe it's higher than normal. Maybe it's in the sevens. If it's in the sevens, gosh, we're probably gonna be at a standard rate, assuming everything else is normal. If you get that person that's at nine and you think, gosh, I can't underwrite these, you know, this, this client, well think again, we can use the strong foundation. Right. And, uh, and still get that client underwritten. Right. We'll go to $500,000 through Table six standard, we'll go to 300 through table 12 through age 55. It's a great opportunity to offer coverage and it's

Speaker 1 (07:05):

Convertible. Yeah. And you guys have that awesome calculator, which is that I love too, because I, you know, it's sometimes with agents, it's like there's so much going on and you guys break it down to the most simplest, uh, you know, form possible, which is just like, you have like three or four questions, right. Answer them what's your, um, what's your latest a1c? Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, there's a couple of other questions

Speaker 2 (07:27):

In there. Height and weight. How long have you had your diabetes, uh, your age. And I'll tell you, it's six questions. You hit enter and it gives you a general idea of where that client's gonna fit. Yeah. You know, because that's the question that comes up a lot when you have clients who are unhealthy as, gosh, I don't know where this is gonna fit. This is kind of our field underwriter now. I wish I could say we could hit, hit, hit, uh, this send, send button and it'd be approved, right. <laugh>, but it does have to go through underwriting. Yeah. <laugh>. But

Speaker 1 (07:49):

It, it does have to go through underwriting. But I mean, one, the agent literally answers four questions. It can take three minutes. Uh, and they will have a rating at the end. Cause it's either standard or a couple of substandard options.

Speaker 2 (08:01):

Yeah. Yeah. So we'll go through table 12. So really, when you fill out those six questions, you're gonna hit submit, it's gonna come back with either standard a rating class mm-hmm. <affirmative> or decline. Right. Uh, at that point in time, let's assume that it's standard or a rating class, you're gonna hit another button and you can go right to the illustration, the mobile quotes, and run an illustration right there, email it to your client. Uh, and it works very well. It generally gives you a good idea where that client will fit. Right. And then of course, you're gonna submit the application. We're gonna run the M I b prescription history, we're gonna look at some medical data. And then, you know, assuming that all that is is in where line it should be, it's, it's a, it's an issue.

Speaker 1 (08:37):

It's just, it's, it's just something that's really, uh, really nice for agents to have. You know, for me, in my head, when I, when I'm talking to a client and they say, I'm di diabetic, the first, the first place my head goes is, well, I'm gonna do this foresters, because it's easier that way. They, they, they know a lot about this space. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, they're very competitive in this space. And it's gonna make it easier on, it's gonna make it easier on my client. And that is a good thing. Now, the other thing, uh, the other area that I, that I mentioned, uh, that Forrester really excels in is tobacco usage. Yep. Which, as we know for all other carriers is, you know, anything tobacco, if you, if you look at a vape pen, you are tobacco, not really, but if you vape, if you use a, you know, if you smoke, obviously if you dip, if you chew, but even if you use nicotine gum or a nicotine patch, if you can test positive for nicotine, you are a smoker, uh, in these other carrier's books. Now, with you guys at Foresters, very specifically, you have to be smoking cigarettes Correct. To be considered a tobacco user. Right. Which is a very, which is a very big difference, as I said, between the other carriers. So here's the, here's the thing, Tony, is, I hate going back to what I was saying before. I don't want to people to look at for as well. That's where I'm gonna take all my diabetics and my smokers and, you know, and that's it. That isn't fair because you guys have, we're gotta

Speaker 2 (09:50):

Stay in business. Right. Right.

Speaker 1 (09:52):

Absolutely. Well, it, it, it's like I said, I think the reason that I want to pose that to agents is because you gotta work Forrester into your business somehow. Right. I, it is a fantastic company. You're awesome. We want to grow Forrester's business. I think we start with, if our agents can look at when I ha when I have a diabetic or when I have a smoker, I should be considering foresters. And that will get them into using foresters. Right. Once they're there, I, I think that they'll start submitting, uh, sure. A lot more business for their, of course, non-diabetic and non non-tobacco using clients, because you guys do have a very impressive product lineup. We do. Tell me about, um, from our alliance group agents mm-hmm. Perspective, what should they be looking at with their non-diabetic and, and, and non-tobacco using clients? Uh, as far as what you guys have Coursers.

Speaker 2 (10:35):

Yeah. And, and, and Samuel, thanks. I mean, you're absolutely right. I mean, the strong foundation is a niche product. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, where it's gonna look at the diabetics, it's gonna look at the smokers other than cigarettes or tobacco uses other than cigarettes. Mild C O P D is acceptable on that as well. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. Um, but we do have other product. We have the, your term product, which is our medically underwritten term. Yep. Um, tremendously priced. We think it, it competes very, very well in the marketplace. Again, it's a medically underwritten, and there's an accelerated accelerated underwriting component to that as well. Right. So should you

Speaker 1 (11:05):

Want it very similar to what you would see at the term products at, at, at our other carriers.

Speaker 2 (11:08):

Very, very similar in, and like I said, very competitive with the price. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, uh, smart ul, which is our current assumption, UL 4.55 rate right now, 10 laps protection guarantee. You can sell that either non-medically or medically. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. So non-medically, we'll go to 400,000 through 55, up to 150,000 through 8 75 mm-hmm. <affirmative>. So you have that client that wants permanent coverage, but doesn't wanna go through medicals. Uh, there's an opportunity there, and it's favorable to diabetics with an 8.9 a1c and below. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. So it's favorable there. It's just not as liberal as a strong foundation.

Speaker 1 (11:41):

Right. So that's, that's a fixed ul. Fixed

Speaker 2 (11:44):

Ul. Okay.

Speaker 1 (11:44):

Beautiful. Yeah. Yeah. Which is, which is something that we're, you know, we we're, there is room for that. Um, in our other carriers lineup. It's very nice to have one at Foresters as far as a fixed UL with a very competitive

Speaker 2 (11:57):

Rate. Yeah. And the other product that you may not hear a lot about, you know, because we've always talked about a lot of term is our Advantage Plus product, which is our participating whole life plan. Again, great current and great cash, uh, um, you know, growth product. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, um, a lot of people are using that for traditional whole life. You can do it again, non-medically, up to 400,000 through 55. Right. 150 through 75, or you can use it medically, um, for, you know, just tremendous cash value. A lot of people are using that product, and we do a ton of that product and college funding, infinite banking, those types of concepts, because it's got both single and flexible, paid up, additions, riders. We have a tremendous group in Minneapolis that can run the quotes for you mm-hmm. <affirmative>. Uh, but again, the guarantees are strong, the cash accumulation is strong. Good grief, you can put up to $200,000 a year into the paid up petitions rider. Wow. Uh, so you're looking for somebody that is looking to grow cash. Um, listen, as a participating product, I think it'll compete with anything that's out there.

Speaker 1 (12:55):

Awesome. Yeah. So, uh, the, the other really big thing, uh, that I wanted to make sure that we talked about, uh, was the members benefits mm-hmm. <affirmative>, which you and I were, were talking before the podcast. And, you know, it's, it's kind of one of those things. It's so unique Yeah. That you have to bring it up all the time. You do. Because agents don't expect a program like this to be coming from a carrier. So why don't you give us a quick rundown of the members' benefits. Now, you actually, this isn't for agents, this is for people who own a certificate, as you guys call it, which is a policy. Mm-hmm. <affirmative> is, is the way most of us would think about it. Right. This is for policy holders. Could be an agent, could be a client. Anyone who owns a fortress policy has access to the member's benefits. So yeah. Give us a quick rundown of that program.

Speaker 2 (13:36):

Yeah. And, and you're absolutely right. It's unique. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, listen, I've been in this business for 32 years. This'll be my 32nd year. And, um, this is one of the most unique things that I've seen in 32 years. And, and I've been with Foresters, I'm going on eight years this year. But the beautiful thing is, listen, we've got great products. We've talked about those already. We've got some unique situations with those products. But the member benefits are what really make us stand out. The member benefits are, uh, basically items that allow us to enrich ourselves, our community. Um, and, and I think you'll notice a lot when you look at Forresters as a nonprofit organization mm-hmm. <affirmative>, uh, we pay no federal and state income taxes. Right. So we take those monies that we would typically pay, and we put it back into the member benefits that I'll talk about in just a second.

(14:20)
Uh, so there's a significant amount of money available for a client to use, again, for their families mm-hmm. <affirmative> for the, uh, the communities in which they live. And one of those are going to be competitive scholarships. Forrester actually awards, uh, 250 competitive scholarships per year. I'm sorry. We just increased that 300 competitive scholarships per year. Wow. Uh, worth up to $2,500 per, uh, year. So it is, when we talk about competitive scholarships, it's not always for those people that are at the top of the class. You may have somebody that has a 3.2 gpa, but does a lot of community service. That's the, the, you know, applicant that we're looking for mm-hmm. <affirmative>. Um, and it works very well. And the beautiful part is it's, uh, the scholarship's available for the client, for the policy holder, their spouse, their children, or their grandchildren can apply. So you've got grandma, grandpa that maybe they're buying a smart UL or an Advantage Plus, or one of our final expense plans, $10,000 or more, their grandkids can apply for that. Yeah. Then matter of fact, we just opened up this scholarship application opportunity now. Right. But again, it's something, if you're in the family market, why aren't you talking about this? Right. You're not seeing this with other care carriers. Yep. And again, $2,500 doesn't seem like a lot, but it's a ton when you're the parent writing the check. Oh, yeah.

Speaker 1 (15:41):

Oh yeah. A hundred percent. And so, and these member benefits to, uh, to clarify, these come automatically free as soon as you, you don't have to enroll or, or anything like that. They, you automatically have access to all these programs

Speaker 2 (15:54):

Face amount of $10,000 or more. They're open. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, you know, the other one that we see come up talking about being in the middle market is, um, is our law assure, which is our, you know, our will power of attorney and healthcare directive. And a lot of people don't realize the value of that, especially when you're younger. But if you've ever had to deal with an, a situation where you had to use those, you understand, right? Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, but you know, when you become a certificate holder of foresters, you have the opportunity to access, uh, an online portal that allows you to create your own will. Mm-hmm. <affirmative> your own power of attorney, your own healthcare directive, again, at zero cost. And you can change those as you need, do what you want to. But again, the value of that is if you're a client out there, ta, if you're an agent out there talking to clients, you're talking about their retirement, you're talking about their life insurance. Absolutely. You're talking about their health insurance. Make sure you include the will, the healthcare directive and the power of attorney. We're gonna make it a little easier for the client to mm-hmm. <affirmative> to get that. And again, it kind of completes the circle Yep. Uh, with that family. Um, and in addition to that, the orphan benefit, the orphan benefit is huge.

Speaker 1 (16:55):

Yes. You know? Yes. Yeah. I, I I love this one.

Speaker 2 (16:57):

He, it, it's phenomenal. I mean, here, here's an opportunity. So let's say that we, uh, we go out and we visit with mom and dad. Each of them buy a hundred thousand dollars term cheapest that they can listen. We, we obviously know that's not enough. They got three kids. Right. You know, they got so many other things that a hundred thousand, but that's all that they can afford. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, um, no matter what the face amount, as long as it's 10,000 or more, foresters is going to pay $900 a month per child until that child is the age of 18. Should mom and dad pass away? Should those children become legal guardians of somebody? Should they become orphans? Right. Uh, and you know, then a legal guardian will pay the $900 a month. So for three kids, that's $2,700 a month. Right. Roughly $31,000 a year that foresters is gonna pay that legal guardian for those kids who are technically orphans. Right. And again, that's a member benefit. That doesn't cost a penny. Doesn't,

Speaker 1 (17:47):

It doesn't cost a penny.

Speaker 2 (17:48):

It, it reduce a death benefit. Nothing.

Speaker 1 (17:51):

And this is what you're getting along with your forester's policy. That's right. So, absolutely. It's, I think it's crucial for agents to understand, um, this should be something, if you're selling a Forester's policy, you've got to be mentioning this stuff. This is a bonus. I mean, the reason that people are buying a policy in the first place is to protect their kids. God forbid if something should happen, they absolutely should know about, uh, about, you know, th things like member benefits, like the orphan, uh, program.

Speaker 2 (18:16):

Hey, you see kids running around, you see a bicycle in the front yard, you see pictures on the mantle. You gotta talk about this. Absolutely. Because again, it's an opportunity to help protect that family. But it doesn't stop there, because when those children turn age 18, there's another opportunity for each child to receive up to $6,000 per year per child for up to four years per child. Wow. So in, in our case, of three children here, that's in potentially $72,000 to use for higher education. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, whether it's a University of Georgia. Right.

Speaker 1 (18:44):

Whether it's no

Speaker 2 (18:44):

Dogs, <laugh>, there's, you know, university of Miami, go Canes, <laugh>, uh, or maybe it's it's tech school, maybe they wanna be a a, a nurse or a a, you know, a paramedic. These are things that Foresters does to help enrich the family. Absolutely. Um, now how do we enrich the community? Because we talked

Speaker 1 (18:59):

About that as well. Yes. That was where I was going next. This is actually my, my, my favorite one. Um, as far as from a marketing mind, I, I just think this is, this is absolutely brilliant, especially for agents to utilize. Possibly.

Speaker 2 (19:10):

Yeah. And so, how do we enrich the community? Listen, as a nonprofit, we wanna make sure that we're involved in the community, that we're doing a number of things that we can to help enrich the community and which our clients live. So we have a, a number of member of benefits. We're not gonna cover 'em all today, but, you know, some of the favorites, um, we have our Foresters Care grant. Our Foresters Care grant came about at the beginning of the pandemic when, gosh, everybody was locked down. We had so many frontline workers that were just being worked and worked and worked. And so here was an opportunity where an agent or a client, uh, could apply for a Forrester's Care grant. It was a $200 very simplified grant issued grant. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, where we would give a debit card to the client, the client could go buy pizza if they wanted, and have it delivered to frontline workers. Just as, Hey, listen. Thank you. Right. We wanna be involved in the community.

Speaker 1 (19:57):

Yep. I remember that, that time there was a lot of pizza being bought for <laugh>, a lot of nurses and, and things like that.

Speaker 2 (20:03):

Yeah. Yeah. And it, and it went very well, you know, and, uh, so we've seen that kind of morph. We kept it, and we've seen that kind of morph into a really useful opportunity. You know, my grandsons and I did one for a, uh, an at-risk student, um, center there in my town mm-hmm. <affirmative>, where we went out, uh, got a $200 grant, went to Sam's, bought a bunch of, uh, food items, things that they needed and delivered them to this organization. Uh, it was tremendous. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, you know, not only for them, but for us as well, because we had the opportunity to participate in what they were doing. Um, and again, it's very simple to, uh, you know, to apply for and, and you get it back pretty quickly. Yeah. Um, you know, we were talking earlier that, uh, we did a drawing at Five Rings for a couple of these, I think it was five of them. And, um, one person used theirs to buy food for another shelter. Another person used theirs to send down to Fred and Fort Myers to use for their, um, uh, I forget the name.

Speaker 1 (21:03):

Oh, yeah. For the, the, the, the Volunteer Emergency Relief. Volunteer

Speaker 2 (21:06):

Emergency Relief.

Speaker 1 (21:06):

Right. EE Relief, uh, Fred Martin's down there. Yeah.

Speaker 2 (21:08):

Yeah. So it, it went very, very well. And so that's, that's the, the $200 Forrester Care grant. Something very simple. Um, then we have the, uh, volunteer grant, the Community volunteer grant, which is a $2,000 grant. Yes. And you, as a policy holder, certificate holder can apply for up to three of those per year. So whether you're paying, wow. $18 a month, $1,800 a month, you have the ability to apply for up to three of those per year. Those, again, are worth $2,000. A little more paperwork involved. Right. But we see them used a lot for, let's say, um, uh, maybe it's a shelter, a a homeless shelter, women's shelter, veteran shelter. Sure. Where you can provide, you know, hygiene bags and things like that, that, that they're always in need. Socks are a big thing, always in need. Yeah. Um, you can see 'em being used for school book bags, at-risk schools that, uh, gosh, they're always needing something. And, you know, principals and parents and all will want that. But there are so many opportunities there. And as your clients, or as your clients become Foresters members, they have the ability to log on mm-hmm. <affirmative> to my forrester.com and everything's right there to help them along.

Speaker 1 (22:15):

That is, that is really what I want people to know, is that, you know, I, I was asking you earlier, so how do people find out more about this? Right. It's just, say it again. The

Speaker 2 (22:23):

My foresters.com,

Speaker 1 (22:24):

My foresters.com, my foresters.com. You're gonna learn about all of these number benefits and how you can get access to 'em. I absolutely love the idea of, you know, as an agent, you could, you could apply for this. Go have a nice fundraising or a, a nice event at the school where you're, you're donating book bags or you're doing something in the, in the community. It's so important not only to help these, these, you know, these members of your, of your community that need it, but also it gives you, it gives you visibility. It gets you involved in the community. Right. Right. Uh, it gets people seeing you, giving back to the community. And that's, that's always good for you. It's good for them. It's good for your soul. Yeah. Uh, and it can also be good for your business as well, which is a nice little side

Speaker 2 (23:00):

Side effect. It is. It, it, it is. And that's why, listen, I'm not advocating, advocating that every agent go out and buy a Forester's policy, but as a client, the clients are the ones that have the ability to use it. So if you're an agent wanting to make a difference in your community as well, then you gotta own a

Speaker 1 (23:13):

Forester Certific. You gotta own a policy. That is the catch. Yeah. That is the catch. You gotta be a, a member to get the member benefits. Absolutely. Um, okay. So Tony, we've got, um, let's see. I think I've covered everything I wanted to cover here. Um, we're we, there's a little, uh, a little kind of fun segment that we do to get to know a little bit more about Sure. About Tony Morrison. Um, so we're gonna do a quick little, uh, you know, could we call it rapid fire questions Here? Let's do it. Um, you gotta answer. Make 'em easy. You got, yeah. Well, I'll try. You gotta answer 'em fast. That's the only thing You can't too much. All right. So here we go. Tony Morrison from Foresters. What is your favorite drink?

Speaker 2 (23:51):

Coffee. Definitely

Speaker 1 (23:53):

Coffee. Hey. Hey. Cheers buddy. Cheers. Cheers. Let's go ahead and get a quick, a little, little forgot it was, uh, coffee with carriers here for a second. Okay. Question number two. Uh, morning person or Night Owl?

Speaker 2 (24:05):

Oh, good gosh. Lately it's been both, but I would say, uh, probably Night Owl <laugh>.

Speaker 1 (24:11):

Well, it's both. I just don't sleep. It's great. <laugh>. Uh, alright. So what was your favorite subject in school?

Speaker 2 (24:16):

Girls

Speaker 1 (24:17):

<laugh>?

Speaker 2 (24:18):

Yeah. No, uh, gosh, I don't know. There was one, I think my father actually told me the night before my graduation he was gonna go up there and take the diploma cuz he felt like he earned it more than I did. <laugh>.

Speaker 1 (24:28):

So, uh, worst subject in school.

Speaker 2 (24:31):

Um, everything. No. Um,

Speaker 1 (24:33):

He loved, he loved, uh, studying girls and didn't like studying anything else. Yeah. I

Speaker 2 (24:37):

Would probably say, what you can probably tell is it was English. I hated English. May, maybe it was the instructor, but I mean, I've got, I've gotten to like her over the years now that I know her more, but at that point in time, she wasn't my favorite.

Speaker 1 (24:49):

<laugh>. That's fantastic. All right. What, uh, getting a little deep here. Yeah. What advice would you give your younger self?

Speaker 2 (24:55):

Oh, good gosh. Um, be willing to change anything. Listen, I mean, you know, we, we have these grandiose ideas of how things should go, but we've gotta be able to pivot mm-hmm. <affirmative> and pivot with confidence. I mean, take your time. Look at things, you know, certainly, uh, looks at the, the pluses and the minuses, but when you do make up your mind, go with 110%. Cuz if you don't, you just cheating yourself.

Speaker 1 (25:20):

I love it, man. That is sound solid advice. If you could live anywhere in the world, where would that be?

Speaker 2 (25:26):

Uh, anywhere. My grandkids are <laugh>,

Speaker 1 (25:29):

So I Where where are your grandkids now? In

Speaker 2 (25:32):

Lakeland. Oh, you

Speaker 1 (25:33):

Go? Yeah. Yeah.

Speaker 2 (25:33):

So they're about five minutes away, which is good.

Speaker 1 (25:35):

You'll live in the dream.

Speaker 2 (25:36):

Well, you know what? I told my, my son that if they moved we wouldn't. But, uh, that's a lie. I mean, we would be there in a heartbeat.

Speaker 1 (25:43):

That's fantastic. Uh, any phobias?

Speaker 2 (25:46):

Snakes? Definitely snakes. I

Speaker 1 (25:48):

Have the same phobia. I think, I mean, when they're live in front of me, I'm fine. But like, I have those, the only recurring nightmare I think I have is like the one where snakes are everywhere.

Speaker 2 (25:57):

<laugh>. That's

Speaker 1 (25:57):

Right. And I'm like, I don't dunno what that says, but

Speaker 2 (25:59):

Yeah, I don't, I don't care if it's non poisonous, whatever. They just scare me to death. <laugh>. I, I don't know why

Speaker 1 (26:03):

They creepy man. Yeah. People who own snakes. It bets I got my eye on you. Yeah.

Speaker 2 (26:08):

We, we need to talk

Speaker 1 (26:09):

<laugh>. I just want, you know, that least

Speaker 2 (26:12):

Have you talk to somebody.

Speaker 1 (26:13):

It doesn't love you. It would eat you if it could fit you in its mouth. That's all I'm saying. That's, it's not a great bet. That's, uh, what do you believe is your best non-physical feature? Cuz you obviously have very many physical features, <laugh>, that are fantastic. What is your best non-physical feature?

Speaker 2 (26:26):

Oh, good gosh. I think I'm loyal to the death. Yep. So uhs uh, listen,

Speaker 1 (26:31):

That is a fantastic quality.

Speaker 2 (26:33):

You know, here's the deal. I mean, it's, I I think it's incumbent upon each of us to be that way. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, you know, it's if people expect you to be loyal, um, and, you know, that's, that's how you get your deep friendships. But yeah, certainly loyalty I think is, is a huge

Speaker 1 (26:46):

Attribute. I love it. I totally agree. All right. Now here's, uh, here's the final question. Maybe the deepest of all, what would you change about yourself?

Speaker 2 (26:54):

Oh, good. Gosh. Uh, you know, it's interesting you asked that one because it's definitely weight <laugh>,

Speaker 1 (27:00):

Maybe I should say nonphysical again. <laugh>. Cause we would all take 20, 30

Speaker 2 (27:04):

Pounds off. You know, it's, uh, you know, I bought this Apple watch thinking, listen, it's gonna track everything. It's gonna help me. Um, yeah, it doesn't help at

Speaker 1 (27:11):

All. It just reminds you, it just

Speaker 2 (27:11):

Reminds me, you know, to stand up to do exercise or whatever it is. So,

Speaker 1 (27:15):

Uh, Hey man, you haven't, uh, you haven't stood up in three hours. That's right. Thanks Apple. Watch. That's right.

Speaker 2 (27:19):

Silent. Oh, it's funny. So, uh, so we'll see how that goes. I've had it about three weeks, but, uh, we, we'll see what happens there. Um, gosh, what would I change about, um, you know, I wish I'd listened to myself earlier. Mm-hmm. <affirmative> know, we talked about, uh, making changes. You know, we get comfortable in, in listen. I think comfort at times is a detriment to everybody. I

Speaker 1 (27:37):

Agree.

Speaker 2 (27:37):

So, you know, the opportunity to, to push forward on something and take the chance. But, you know, certainly with taking the chance, you gotta have somebody that's gonna be beside you. You know, certainly a spouse, a significant other. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, but also look for that mentor. That's some, somebody that has been down the road that you've been and that can help lead you.

Speaker 1 (27:54):

That's very true. That's very true. I have to remind myself all the time, you know, it's, it's so easy to get, to get comfortable and just, sorry, this is my little, this is my box, this is my area of expertise and I'm just gonna focus on doing this. But when you stop learning, you stop growing. When you stop growing, what are we even living for? Right? I mean, we, we, we have to continue to learn, continue to, to, to expand our skillsets. Um, and, you know, live, live life that way. Yep.

Speaker 2 (28:19):

Yep.

Speaker 1 (28:20):

Certainly. Uh, Tony, thank you so much for joining us. You're welcome. For copy, for Cares. I really always appreciate you coming up. We're gonna film a lot of fantastic content while you're here. Yep. Uh, for those agents that are on the Line Alliance Group agents, we're gonna have a brand new Alliance group course under virtual courses. It's gonna be a forester's course. Um, and, uh, that's what we're gonna do with Tony the next couple days. So we look forward to it. Tony, thanks for joining us again on Group Podcast. Yeah.

Speaker 2 (28:40):

Appreciate it. As always. Of

Speaker 1 (28:41):

Course. Listen to this interview group.

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