Advertise on podcast: Agency Nation Radio

On this two-part edition of Agency Nation Radio, Will Jones, Editor-in-Chief of Independent Agent magazine, interviews Graham Blackwell, Applied System’s new CEO, about his vision for the company, how artificial intelligence (AI) is shaping its future, and why he wants Applied to become the insurance industry’s AI transformation partner. “We think we can be the organization that works with agencies at a desk level that brings them AI automation in the tools and the workflows that they already perform,” Blackwell says. In the second part, Kasey Connors, executive director of the Big “I” Agents Council for Technology, hosts a conversation with Matt Lane, senior vice president of product management at Applied Systems. Recorded at Applied Net, they explore the digital roundtrip of insurance and how agencies can leverage AI to streamline workflows and connect processes across the insurance lifecycle. “With Epic and Applied’s breadth of offerings, the things we think we can do are really to connect those interstitial pieces where the work upstream helps the work at the next step,” Lane says. “When we think about the digital roundtrip, it’s about getting those big pieces of work off our users’ plates, but more than anything else, making sure all the steps fit together.” Agency Nation Radio is where insurance professionals turn on the mic to share unscripted stories about leadership, technology, marketing, success, and failure—stories that helped shape their careers. From Main Street USA to the pages of Independent Agent magazine, these are the stories insurance professionals want to hear.

On this episode of Agency Nation Radio, we meet Todd Dailey, president and COO of Insurance Management Group in in Indianapolis, Indiana. Dailey takes a people-first approach to technology, prioritizing people, then process, and finally technology. He believes that employees who have the right support and resources are better positioned to deliver a positive client experience. That’s why he places greater emphasis on building effective processes than on the technology itself, ensuring employees have the tools and support they need to succeed. “Technology should come last because it only magnifies the quality of the process underneath it,” Dailey says. “If the process is poor, the technology can make the problem worse, but if the process is strong, technology can make it more effective.” Agency Nation Radio is where insurance professionals turn on the mic and share unscripted stories about leadership, technology, marketing, success and failure—stories that helped make them the professionals they are today. From Main Street USA to the pages of Independent Agent magazine—we’ve got the stories you want to hear. For more, catch Agency Nation Radio on your favorite streaming platform or visit iamagazine.com/podcasts. Dailey was also featured in the October issue of Independent Agent. Check out his interview or read the full issue online. This episode is sponsored by Liberty Mutual. When your small business book is full of next chapters, write them with us. The cafe owner who just bought out her landlord. The contractor who just landed his biggest job yet. The local distributor who just hired their first employee. Every line is yours to write. Explore new products, enhanced quoting, and more than 650 classes on our small commercial agent portal.

On this episode of Agency Nation Radio, Will Jones, editor-in-chief of Independent Agent magazine chats with Kristina Witzling, executive vice president, from Zeldis Research to unpack the results of the 2026 Agency Universe Study. The study is a research initiative supported by the Big “I” Future One Coalition, a partnership of more than 15 leading insurance organizations, and conducted by Zeldis Research. The study looks at statistics about independent agencies operating in the U.S., including their numbers, revenue base and sources, number of employees, ownership, mix of business, diversification of products, technology uses, non-insurance income sources and marketing methods.  The study found that independent agencies continue to see strong revenue growth, with 3 in 4 agencies reporting increases between 2024 and 2025—consistent with the previous year’s findings. At the same time, the share of agencies reporting a decline in revenue fell from 12% in 2024 to 8% in 2025. Growth was seen across both major lines of business, with about 7 in 10 agencies reporting increases in personal lines revenue and 2 in 3 seeing growth in commercial lines. While premium increases account for some of the revenue numbers, “a lot of it is organic growth,” says Witzling. “The vast majority told us that they're growing both personal and commercial lines—they’re really targeting growth,” she says. “We're seeing more cross-selling, and more agencies tell us that they're selling cyber; that's been going up every year.” Agency Nation Radio is where insurance professionals turn on the mic to share unscripted stories about leadership, technology, marketing, success, and failure—stories that helped shape their careers. From Main Street USA to the pages of Independent Agent magazine, these are the stories insurance professionals want to hear

On this episode of Agency Nation Radio, we meet Kenneth Harper Jr., president & CEO of Harpco Benefits in in New Bern, North Carolina. Harper’s commitment to servant leadership has shaped his path in both the insurance industry and the political arena. That same commitment led him to attend the inaugural Insurance Campaign Institute, held just days before the 2026 Big “I” Legislative Conference this past April. “We had access to key strategists and deep field knowledge,” Harper says. “And then you actually could practice the skills on Capitol Hill after.” Harper ran for the U.S. Senate in 2022 and lost the Republican primary. Despite the defeat, the lessons learned and relationships built during the experience have opened new doors to serve his community. Agency Nation Radio is where insurance professionals turn on the mic and share unscripted stories about leadership, technology, marketing, success and failure—stories that helped make them the professionals they are today. From Main Street USA to the pages of Independent Agent magazine—we’ve got the stories you want to hear. For more, catch Agency Nation Radio on your favorite streaming platform or visit iamagazine.com/podcasts. Harper was also featured in the September issue of Independent Agent. Check out his interview or read the full issue online.

On this episode of Agency Nation Radio, Jamie Behymer, director of Diversity, Inclusion & Young Agents at the Big “I,” chats with Jenn Urso, founder of The Leadership Project, a professional development company that helps individuals and organizations become more effective leaders through practical, human-centered coaching, training and tools. Urso will also be one of the keynote speakers at the Young Agents Leadership Institute (YALI), which will take place Oct.1-3 in Baltimore. Behymer and Urso discuss what inspired Urso to become passionate about leadership coaching, common misconceptions companies have about effective leadership, and how emerging insurance professionals can step into leadership roles. Urso also shares a special teaser about what she’ll be discussing at YALI. “If or when you decide that you're interested in a leadership role, I think the first step is to look at your strengths,” Urso says. “Look at the competencies of what that role entails that you're aspiring to move into, and then create a plan of how you can start to perform those now.” Agency Nation Radio is where insurance professionals turn on the mic to share unscripted stories about leadership, technology, marketing, success, and failure—stories that helped shape their careers. From Main Street USA to the pages of Independent Agent magazine, these are the stories insurance professionals want to hear.

On this episode of Agency Nation Radio, we meet Doris Zampella, President of EAB Insurance Group in Green Brook, New Jersey, and her daughter, Jacquelyn Zampella As president, Doris built the agency on personalized service and strong connections within her community. With her daughter now joining the leadership team, she’s helping usher the family business into its next generation while staying grounded in the values that have shaped the agency for decades. “One of my best decisions was hiring my daughter,” Zampella says. “She brings a wealth of information to the table that I didn't have. Just different ideas, different ways to run things, different training. She brings a lot to the table.” Agency Nation Radio is where insurance professionals turn on the mic and share unscripted stories about leadership, technology, marketing, success and failure—stories that helped make them the professionals they are today. From Main Street USA to the pages of Independent Agent magazine—we’ve got the stories you want to hear. For more, catch Agency Nation Radio on your favorite streaming platform or visit iamagazine.com/podcasts. Zampella was also featured in the August issue of Independent Agent. Check out her interview or read the full issue online.

On this episode of Agency Nation Radio, Nancy Germond, executive director of risk management and education at the Big “I,” sits down with Dustyne Bryant, director of P&C content curriculum at WebCE, to discuss the latest developments in education in commercial lines insurance. Throughout the conversation, Bryant shares insights on emerging trends in commercial lines continuing education, dispels misconceptions about professional development and explains how agents can navigate an evolving insurance landscape in the age of artificial intelligence (AI). “Even if you already have the continuing education (CE) hours that you need to renew your license, do yourself one up and really take your CE beyond just checking that box and create the education journey for yourself that you need in order to be a well-informed professional,” Bryant says. Agency Nation Radio is where insurance professionals turn on the mic to share unscripted stories about leadership, technology, marketing, success, and failure—stories that helped shape their careers. From Main Street USA to the pages of Independent Agent magazine, these are the stories insurance professionals want to hear.

On this episode of Agency Nation Radio, we meet Miles Lee, transportation insurance broker at McGriff in Savannah, Georgia. After graduating from the University of Mississippi with a degree in risk management and insurance, Miles Lee had a clear vision for his career. It wasn't until he attended a Young Agents Committee (YAC) event in Athens, Georgia and connected with carriers, fellow agents and wholesalers that he discovered political advocacy as another way to make an impact. “I think advocacy and fundraising were never more prevalent or needed than they were for the fight at the Capitol [for tort reform],” Lee says. “During that time, I realized that insurance is top of mind for everybody—it doesn’t matter if you’re a business owner or an individual who buys homeowners and personal auto insurance.” Throughout the episode, Lee discusses advocating for tort reform, his active involvement with the Big “I” Young Agents community, and what it meant to be recognized as the 2025 Young Agent of the Year. Agency Nation Radio is where insurance professionals turn on the mic and share unscripted stories about leadership, technology, marketing, success and failure—stories that helped make them the professionals they are today. From Main Street USA to the pages of Independent Agent magazine—we’ve got the stories you want to hear. For more, catch Agency Nation Radio on your favorite streaming platform or visit iamagazine.com/podcasts. Lee was also featured in the July issue of Independent Agent. Check out his interview or read the full issue online.

On this episode of Agency Nation Radio, Ashley Engl, Director of Technology Learning & Innovation at Walsh Insurance and a member of the Big “I” Young Agents Committee, sits down with two emerging industry leaders whose journeys began on the football field. Hunter McHugh, owner of McHugh Insurance Group in Wilmington, Delaware, and Gannon Laidlaw, an insurance broker at Jaffe Insurance Agency in Napa, California, discuss how their experiences as former college football players helped shape the skills they rely on today as insurance professionals. They discuss the skills, discipline, and teamwork they developed through athletics and how those qualities have translated into their work as insurance professionals. They also share advice for current and former athletes considering a career beyond sports and discuss why the independent agency channel offers opportunities to compete, grow, and make a lasting impact. “As an athlete, you have to be willing to listen, put your ego aside, take feedback and apply it to whatever it is you’re doing,” Laidlaw says. “And that mindset translates very well into the insurance industry because as a broker, clients are relying on you for critical advice. And to do that well, you have to be organized, calm under pressure, communicate clearly, be personable, but also direct and honest, and you have to be willing to keep learning because the insurance market is constantly changing.” Agency Nation Radio is where insurance professionals turn on the mic to share unscripted stories about leadership, technology, marketing, success, and failure—stories that helped shape their careers. From Main Street USA to the pages of Independent Agent magazine, these are the stories insurance professionals want to hear.

Everyone in insurance talks about growing distribution. But the gap between wanting more producers and actually activating them fast is where agencies lose ground — and talent. In this episode, Kasey Connors, executive director of the Big “I” Agents Council for Technology (ACT), sits down with Jenn Knight and Niji Sabharwal, the married co-founders who built AgentSync after living through the complexity of insurance distribution infrastructure firsthand. If you've ever watched a promising new producer sit idle for weeks waiting on appointments and contracting, this conversation is for you. They dig into what's actually holding producer velocity back, what the path from recruited to revenue-generating looks like when the process works, and where the independent channel has more leverage than it realizes. The future they describe—where an agent's professional identity travels with them and market access opens up accordingly—is closer than most agencies think. Agency Nation Radio is where insurance professionals turn on the mic to share unscripted stories about leadership, technology, marketing, success, and failure—stories that helped shape their careers. From Main Street USA to the pages of Independent Agent magazine, these are the stories insurance professionals want to hear.

On this episode of Agency Nation Radio, we meet Jackson Rollo, president of Rollo Insurance in College Station, Texas. Insurance wasn’t always part of Jackson Rollo’s plan. Growing up around the family business gave him a firsthand look at the industry, but it wasn’t until he stepped into it himself that he discovered what would keep him there: the relationships, the responsibility, and the opportunity to make a meaningful difference in people’s lives. “Once I had the maturity and context to understand what insurance actually is, I fell in love with it,” Rollo says. “I loved the relationships, the freedom it creates and the impact you can have.” Now serving as president of the agency, Rollo is helping shape its next chapter with a people-first approach to growth. At a time when consolidation and rapid change continue to reshape the independent agency landscape, his vision stands out for its simplicity and purpose—building a stronger business by investing in the clients, employees, and communities that have always been at its foundation. Agency Nation Radio is where insurance professionals turn on the mic and share unscripted stories about leadership, technology, marketing, success and failure—stories that helped make them the professionals they are today. From Main Street USA to the pages of Independent Agent magazine—we’ve got the stories you want to hear. For more, catch Agency Nation Radio on your favorite streaming platform or visit iamagazine.com/podcasts. Rollo was also featured in the June issue of Independent Agent. Check out his interview or read the full issue online.

On this episode of Agency Nation Radio, we meet Robert Strachan, President of Strachan Novak Insurance in Twinsburg, Ohio. Despite growing up in an insurance agency family, Robert Strachan was convinced he didn’t want to work on the brokerage side of the business. Instead, he pursued a career with a carrier. Years later, however, he recognized the opportunity to join his father’s agency with the goal of eventually leading it himself. “Once I realized the magnitude of the opportunity I had to carry on the legacy, to carry on that opportunity of helping generations of families and businesses, it became more than just a job for me,” Strachan said. Throughout the episode, Strachan reflects on his experience navigating the transition process into agency ownership, the various types of acquisitions he has been involved in, and what he enjoys most about working in the insurance industry. Agency Nation Radio is where insurance professionals turn on the mic and share unscripted stories about leadership, technology, marketing, success and failure—stories that helped make them the professionals they are today. From Main Street USA to the pages of Independent Agent magazine—we’ve got the stories you want to hear. For more, catch Agency Nation Radio on your favorite streaming platform or visit iamagazine.com/podcasts. Strachan was also featured in the May issue of Independent Agent. Check out his interview or read the full issue online. https://www.iamagazine.com/2026/05/01/declaration-of-independents-robert-strachan/

On this special episode of Agency Nation Radio, Will Jones, editor-in-chief of Independent Agent magazine, chats with Amy Zupon, chief executive officer, and Rick Warter, chief customer officer, both from Vertafore, during last month’s Accelerate conference in Las Vegas. The Accelerate conference is an annual event for independent agents and brokers and Vertafore users to connect, learn, and get a look at what’s next for Vertafore and the industry. During Jones’ conversations with the two Vertafore leaders, they chat with him about digital transformation, keeping a human in the loop and, of course, AI. “What I think AI brings to our digital transformation is something new that is going to drive us much faster than you’ve ever seen innovation happen in the channel before,” Zupon says. “It gives us opportunities for agencies and carriers to work differently than they have in the past.” Agency Nation Radio is where insurance professionals turn on the mic to share unscripted stories about leadership, technology, marketing, success, and failure—stories that helped shape their careers. From Main Street USA to the pages of Independent Agent, these are the stories insurance professionals want to hear.

On this episode of Agency Nation Radio, Will Jones, editor-in-chief of Independent Agent magazine, interviews Luke Bills, president of independent agent distribution at Liberty Mutual. They discuss the retirement of the Safeco brand and what the shift to a single Liberty Mutual brand means for independent agents. They also dig into how carriers and agencies can stay aligned through change, where the market may be headed over the next few years, and how technology and AI can reduce friction in day-to-day workflows—without adding yet another disconnected tool. “Everything that agents have come to love and know about Safeco is staying the same,” Bills says. “Our people are not changing, the products don’t change, and certainly, our long-term commitment to the channel does not change.” Agency Nation Radio is where insurance professionals turn on the mic to share unscripted stories about leadership, technology, marketing, success, and failure—stories that helped shape their careers. From Main Street USA to the pages of Independent Agent, these are the stories insurance professionals want to hear.

On this episode of Agency Nation Radio, Kasey Connors, executive director of the Big “I” Agents Council for Technology (ACT), dives into one of the most important themes from the 2026 Tech Trends Report: digital relevance in an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven world. Joined by Richard MackCoy of Experience.com, the conversation explores how search behavior is rapidly evolving—from traditional Google queries to conversational, AI-powered recommendations—and what that means for independent insurance agents trying to stay visible online. “Right now, the conversation totally changes and agents have the ability to be surfaced in those results based on their structured data,” Mackoy says. “It’s not just the same top three people hitting the top of Google anymore. AI is looking at all of those data points” Agency Nation Radio is where insurance professionals turn on the mic to share unscripted stories about leadership, technology, marketing, success, and failure—stories that helped shape their careers. From Main Street USA to the pages of Independent Agent magazine, these are the stories insurance professionals want to hear.