Today we’d like to introduce you to Kerri Miene.
Hi Kerri, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Not many young people say they dream of working for an insurance company, but I’ve been blessed to be with State Farm for over 35 years. I always say, I’ve had 4 different careers but they’ve all been with the same company, After all these years, I still love coming to the office, coaching my team and meeting with customers.
Every day I get to talk to, sympathize with, celebrate, and materially help our neighbors in Irving and all over Texas. I get to work with a team of enthusiastic young people on my team and mentor them to take risks and raise their sights high in life, as someone once did for me.
This business was not something I dreamed of as a young university graduate. I was shy, organized, and—looking back now—very sheltered. From a small town in Iowa, I learned the great values of hard work and paying attention to details, But I knew nothing about leadership, taking risks or other cultures. Opening this insurance agency in Texas—a state I had only visited once in my life before the interview—was a culmination of people who helped me believe in myself. So now I try to do that for my customers, and, especially, the individual members of my team.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Every job I had at State Farm, I have loved. It is a company which rewards hard work, and I do know how to work hard! As often happens in life, it’s unexpected challenges that allow you to grow. My first position was in Lincoln, Nebraska in our data processing department in the 1990’s. I started a master’s degree in Adult Education when my first child was still a newborn, and I was still working full time.
Then I found myself looking for a new career with now two young children, after a surprise corporate reorganization. That led me to join our life insurance division and actually learn about insurance for the first time. After some special executive projects, I was selected to move back to Iowa for an agency consulting position with the company, so I was advising State Farm agents when I had never even been an agent myself!
Through that intense experience I finally had the courage to try to own my own business and become a Stare Farm agent myself. But in eastern Iowa where I was a consultant, agents tended to stay in place for decades. There was no one retiring whose agency I could take over. So I started applying all over the country, and it just so happened that Irving, Texas was the first interview that got scheduled. That’s how I ended up opening a business where I didn’t know the culture, economy, or even the insurance product!
After moving to Texas, I spent a year training and getting involved in the community, and finally the day came to open the doors of my agency on January 3, 2005. That week, my mom back in Iowa was diagnosed with Stage 4 breast cancer and passed away 30 days later. I was able to see her only once during her treatment and ultimately was by her side with my sisters, on the day she died. I still have an angel on my desk she gave me a few weeks before she even knew she was sick.
Fifteen years later, I was diagnosed with breast cancer myself. Fortunately a regularly scheduled mammogram identified it early, so treatment consisted of 3 surgeries but no chemo or radiation. I am so blessed to have a professional, compassionate team to handle the agency during my recovery, My husband and our blended family also supported me emotionally during the fear and ultimately the hard physical work of coming back from this experience. It’s not something anyone would choose to happen, but it’s helped me connect with other survivors and spread the word about early detection.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
Our agency is proud to offer a non-insurance like experience to our customers. Our office is in a house with hardwood floors and gas fireplaces we light during the winter. We offer cookies to our guests and invite them every year to review their policies. We often have new customers who come to our agency after having had insurance for decades, but never even met their agent! We want them to understand their policies but even more importantly, we want to know their families and goals and dreams. Our agency has won Best In Irving multiple times and even been recognized by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce as being one of the top 100 small businesses in America.
We’d be interested to hear your thoughts on luck and what role, if any, you feel it’s played for you?
Luck is not something I’ve ever counted on for professional success, but I do count my blessings. When I had been with the company for about 8 years and working in our life insurance division, I met and was mentored by a vice president who pushed me further than anyone ever had. He had the audacity to sign me up to do a presentation to State Farm’s CEO and the board of directors at the national headquarters of our company, and never let me think I couldn’t do it!
Having someone who believes in you—before you even believe in yourself—is life changing. It’s why I hire team members who already have self-learning characteristics and integrity, and just need that extra growth of mentoring to get to the next level of their life.
Pricing:
- State Farm offers multiple levels of discounts
- The longer you’re a customer the better the discounts get
- Our agency team makes an effort to personally know our customers, so we can recommend coverage that’s not too heavy nor too short.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.kerrimiene.com
- Instagram: @kerristatefarm
- Facebook: kerriloe.statefarm
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kerri-miene-a7a3a922?utm_source=share&utm_campaign=share_via&utm_content=profile&utm_medium=ios_app
Image Credits
Photographer: Andrea Orozco Miene
